Straddling the Fence (10 page)

She nodded.

“It’s just a house, Bell, on a piece of dirt. A big wooden
box for all those special memories, like a keepsake chest where you toss
newspaper clippings and old photos and letters. And if the house goes away, the
memories won’t. You’ll always have them, no matter what. You got the best part
of them both. Even though your cousins took all the material stuff, you carry
them around inside you every day, right here.” He touched her chest over her
heart. “I think right now you’re so attached to the place because you’ve just
moved back and everything feels connected. Being there, in that house, makes
you feel closer to your grandparents, even though they’re gone. It’s like a
grounding rod for you, something tangible you can touch. A safe harbor when you
needed it most. But you won’t always need it. Does that make sense?”

She sniffed, wiping the dampness from her cheeks. “Sure.”

When Eli rolled to his knees in front of her, she sat back
on the couch, making room for him between her legs. “I can understand how you
might feel overwhelmed or scared, moving to a town where you don’t know a
living soul, taking over a business from your uncle and having to prove
yourself to his customers. But you’re brilliant and funny and determined, so
you’re going to do just fine. Better than fine.

“Here’s what you need to know most of all, though—you’ve got
friends who are pulling for you. There’s Kai and Fritz and Sage. Mom and Dad.
Most of all, me. And even if this thing between us ends, I’ll always be here
for you as a friend. Always. No strings attached.”

“You really mean that?”

“Wouldn’t say it if I didn’t. I told you I like you, and
that includes
all
parts of you, not just your body.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in
his shoulder, her words muffled when she said, “You’re the sweetest, kindest
man I’ve ever met. Also, the hottest.”

He laughed while he rubbed her back. “I’m just being honest,
sugar. I hate seeing you upset.”

“I appreciate what you said, and it does make sense. It
might be that I do have to sell the place one day, but right now, I need it for
all the reasons you mentioned and some you didn’t. I’m not ready to let go
yet.”

Eli could certainly understand wanting to hold on to
something…because he was starting to hope he never had to let go of her.

Bellamy came awake to the feel of Eli’s breath stirring her
hair, his body solid and warm behind hers, his rough palm gliding up and down
her spine beneath her shirt. Firing nerve endings under the skin with the slow
yet deliberate caress.

They were spooned together on his couch, where they’d fallen
asleep after their talk. And wow, what a talk. He’d moved her like she’d never
been moved before. Filled her heart with feelings she didn’t know how to
handle. Except to acknowledge they felt good. A bit frightening, but she
suspected that was because they were new and different and fragile as glass.

She started to roll over to face him but he stopped her,
tightening the arm that crossed her chest just below her collarbones. “Hold
still,” he murmured, the rough order like a tongue stroke across her nape.

Then his fingers deftly unhooked the clasp of her bra, that
one talented hand coming around to move the lace cup aside and cover her left
breast. He caught her nipple between two fingers and squeezed, then kneaded her
until she arched into him, pressing her bottom to his groin.

He was hard against her, hot even through the layers of his
clothing. She wanted to reach back and cup him, stroke his length with her
palm, smooth it down to the tender sac beneath, squeeze and hear him groan in
her ear. Feel him grow even harder and hotter from her touch.

“Unbutton your jeans,” Eli said, fingers still toying with
her nipple. Her hands shook as she did as he instructed. “Push them off, but
leave the underwear.” That task wasn’t as easy with his arm still holding her
trapped against his chest, but she managed to wiggle them down her thighs,
where he hooked a foot in the fabric and shoved them the rest of the way off.
Bellamy kicked them to the floor.

“Better,” he said.

She held her breath while his hand moved down her stomach to
tunnel beneath the elastic band of her panties. No teasing outside the scrap of
cotton. No hesitancy either. His palm cupped her mound while a long finger
eased between her lips, separating her, finding the slick entrance to her body
and sliding inside. The hot intrusion pushed a low moan from her throat. He
drew the dampness back up to her clit, getting her wet with her own juices so
his finger could move easily along the cleft.

“I love touching you,” he said, the low timbre of his voice
fueling her excitement. “Could listen to you make those sounds all night long.”

He thrust a thigh between her legs and lifted, urging her to
spread for him, make room for him to work her harder. Drive her slowly mad with
each stroke. Her fingers curled against his forearm and thigh, aching to cover
the hand on her sex, needing something to hold on to as the pleasure built
between her hips. Her face heated, lips parting with her gasping breaths.

Eli pressed his mouth to the side of her neck, using his
nose to push her hair aside so his lips could brush her skin. She was on fire.
Flames licked between her thighs. Beneath his fingers, her clit grew molten.
Her hips rolled into his touch while behind, he pressed close to her ass, a
subtle pressure on his cock.

When his teeth closed on the tender skin beneath her ear,
the frenzy broke and Bellamy came, shuddering and groaning as Eli’s arm cradled
her to his chest. His hand slid from her panties, impatiently shoving the
material down her hips before going to his fly. He freed himself, adjusted
their bodies to his liking, and slid his cock between her thighs.

His harsh “fuck” as he thrust once across hot, hypersensitive
tissue made arousal flare again, scorching and so sharp it was almost painful.
She felt it in her throat, low in her belly, in the palms of her hands and the
soles of her feet. She squeezed her thighs together, knowing she was pushing
the limits of his control, forcing him to that razor’s edge between letting go
and holding back. His hand tightened on her hip as he flinched and cursed
again.

“You have no idea how bad I wanna slide inside you bare.”

Bellamy almost said, “Do it,” drugged by the raw need
dripping from his comment, but she swallowed the reply, waiting him out. No
question it would feel amazing without the artificial barrier, and she was on
the Pill, safe and clean, but now wasn’t the time for that sort of serious
conversation. Not when they were both so caught up in the moment, their
judgment compromised by emotion.

But then he was releasing her to scramble off the couch,
common sense overtaking lustful urges. He was back in less than thirty seconds,
jeans open and loose around his hips while he rolled a condom down his shaft.
Just that sight made her shiver.

“Get on your hands and knees.”

Oh God, that voice
. Gruff and demanding, with just a
hint of desperation. His words chased another tremor down her spine as Eli
worked her panties the rest of the way off her legs and snugged himself in
behind her, the tip of his cock nudging once before sliding deep inside. The
stretch was so unbelievably good, laced with a tinge of discomfort as her body
adjusted to his size. Her head tipped down, hair falling forward against her
cheeks and throat, catching in the corners of her open mouth as Eli rocked into
her, bottoming out on a hard groan. His fingertips dug into her flesh, layering
sensation upon sensation, pain on top of pleasure.

Bellamy curled her fingers on the fat arm of the couch, the
leather soft and supple beneath her hands and knees. She lifted her head with
the intent to look back at him over her shoulder when her eyes caught on their
reflection in the window next to the couch. It was dark as pitch outside,
transforming the smooth surface of the glass into a mirror. With the curtain
pinned back, the view was unimpeded.

And to borrow a phrase from Eli,
Goddamn, what a view
.

Her breath caught as she watched him move—his flexing abs,
shoulders and biceps tight, facial features lax as he stared down at where
their bodies were joined together. The image was so erotic she felt another
orgasm begin to gather in her core.

Eli huffed out a short laugh, drawing her gaze to his in the
glass. “I think you might have a kinky side, honey.”

She tried to smile, too caught up in the moment to speak.

Another handful of deep thrusts, then he wrapped an arm
around her waist and drew her up and back to rest against his chest, whipping
her remaining clothing over her head. Their motions slowed until they found a
new cadence that worked with the position, but once they were in sync, it was
pure magic.

“Touch yourself. I wanna watch while I fuck you.”

Jesus
. This was all so new and different for her.
Never before had she been so turned-on by a man or his dirty, bossy mouth
during sex. Or anytime, really. One look, one word from Eli and she was lost.
Except he didn’t believe in keeping it short and sweet. No, he preferred
detailed and filthy.

“That’s it,” he said as her fingers circled her clit. “When
you do that, you get so tight around me I nearly come on the spot.” After a few
lazy strokes, she moved them down to where his cock slid in and out of her
wetly, attempting to make a tight ring of her thumb and middle finger. He
grunted, pinched her nipple, saying, “Damn, you’re evil.”

She grinned. “Just trying to unravel you.”

“S’working,” he murmured, voice drunk with endorphins.

Bellamy dropped her head onto his shoulder while he thrust
into her. In the glass, her expression looked hungry, the whole picture a bit
lewd but no less arousing. He covered a breast with a big hand and one of hers
landed on the back of his neck, fisting his hair, while her other hand worked
at pushing her past the tipping point.

An orgasm that rivaled them all burst from her center,
radiating outward in scalding waves, one after another, until the breath
trapped in her chest turned into a sharp cry. Eli’s arm tightened. The hand on
her hip slid to her stomach, holding her closer as he came, shuddering and
whispering her name into her hair, the sound making her heart flutter behind
her sternum.

Breathing hard, she stared at their reflection, watching as
the tension gradually ebbed from their bodies. Sweat shone on her belly, on the
side of Eli’s throat and high on his cheekbones. His dark hair fell across his
eyes. She looked decadent, thoroughly debauched, her hair wild around her
flushed face.

Who was that girl? And what was this man doing to her?

His features softened then his gaze met hers in the glass.
He dropped a kiss to her shoulder before disengaging his body from hers.

“Shower,” he said, hiking up his jeans.

After a quick rinse amid playful gropes and sloppy kisses,
they migrated to his bedroom. It was decorated much the same as the rest of the
house—simple, masculine and homey, in soothing shades of tans and browns, the
exterior walls being the natural logs with cream-colored chinking between each
one. A flat-screen television hung on the wall opposite the bed. Dark green
curtains covered the only window. If he did the decorating himself, she was
impressed.

He tossed her one of his t-shirts to sleep in while he
stepped into a pair of loose plaid boxers. So far, all she’d seen him in were
the snug kind, not that these weren’t sexy too.

At Bellamy’s curious look, he said, “I like to let the boys
breathe at night.”

“Ah. I’m sure they’re grateful. Why not just sleep naked?”

“Never could get into it.”

Together they climbed onto his
giant
manly bed with
its amazing mattress and fluffy pillows and soft, rumpled sheets that smelled
like Eli’s skin. Bellamy was practically snoring by the time she pulled the
blanket up to her chin and he switched off the lamp on the nightstand.

“Talk to me about this vegan thing,” he said.

Now?
She thought great sex was supposed to put a man
into a coma.

“Must we?” She rolled onto her side to face him and cracked
an eyelid.

His head was propped on one hand, his eyes much too alert
for the hour. He nudged her with a knee beneath the covers. “Come on, I want to
understand it.”

“Well, for starters, I’m a vegetarian, not a vegan. There’s
a difference, but please don’t ask me to explain because there are varying
degrees of veganism. We could discuss the particulars all night. I simply don’t
eat meat. Once in a while I might have a piece of fish, but I couldn’t tell you
the last time I did.”

“So for protein you just eat what? Eggs?”

Bellamy rubbed her nose. “Plus nuts, dairy, soy products,
beans.”

“Huh. And you don’t miss meat at all. Not even a fat, juicy
burger?”

“Nope. Even when I did eat it as a kid, it was always in
small quantities.”

“Does your job have anything to do with it?”

She shrugged. “I’m sure it does in some ways, since I work
with tame animals for the most part, but I doubt the majority of large-animal
vets share my aversion to meat.”

“Anyone give you a hard time about it?”

“Oh yeah. Over the years, I’ve heard it all. My dad thinks
it’s unnatural. Says humans didn’t climb to the top of the food chain to eat
grass.”

“That’s harsh.”

“And terribly antiquated, but that’s my dad. He’s former
military. Speaks his mind no matter whose toes he steps on, even if they’re his
only child’s.”

“But it’s part of who you are.”

“A very quiet part, because it always throws people for a
loop for some strange reason. I’ve never tried to force my choices on others or
shame them for theirs.”

Eli grinned, making adorable crinkles appear at the corners
of his eyes. “Well, you did trick me into eating tofu sausage.”

“To be honest, it never dawned on me to say something. We
were discussing so many other things, I forgot. And it wasn’t tofu, it was
soy.” She placed her palm on his chest, feeling the organ behind his rib cage
thump at a steady beat. “It’s good for your heart.”

He covered her hand with his and rolled onto his back,
pulling her close to his side. “You’re like the metaphorical onion. I keep
discovering all these layers.”

She bit his shoulder. “I’m not that deep.”

“Definitely not that smelly.”

“But just you wait. One of these days you’ll catch me after
vaccinating a litter of piglets and think differently.”

* * * * *

“I wanna show you something.”

Through the steam rising from her mug of tea, Bellamy
studied Eli’s somber expression. Something had shifted in their relationship
last night. She couldn’t exactly put a name to it, but she knew they’d moved
way past casual territory and into something more serious, perhaps dangerous—to
her heart, at least.

Dressed in faded jeans, a blue-plaid shirt that made her
think of bedtime’s sexy boxers, and scuffed brown lace-up boots, his hair pushed
back from his face and curling around his collar, he looked yummier than the
honey she’d poured in her cup. Twice as golden.

He was the one who was layered, not her, except it was one
of those mile-high confectionary masterpieces made up of thin layers of cake
alternated with sinful chocolate frosting. Sweetness stacked on tenderness
covered in decadence. She was just a mess of uncertainty and worry and fear.

Whatever he wanted to show her, she wanted to see. “Okay.”

Outside the sun was just cresting the horizon as they
finished a simple breakfast of buttered toast and scrambled eggs. Eli polished
off his coffee and took her empty mug from her hands, exchanging it for a slow
kiss that curled her toes inside her boots.

Sharing a perfect morning together like this was treacherous
when coupled with all the rawness and honesty from the night before. It was
comfortable and easy to be with him. Addictive, even though it made her feel
vulnerable. She didn’t know where they were headed, but if it was anywhere other
than forever, it was going to hurt like nothing ever had before. Might even rip
her to pieces.