Page 17 of Forsaken

“Hawke…Hawke said you were on vacation.”

“No,” was all Mav said and then he leaned in. Not to kiss me, but to brace his hand on the car next to my head. The move had his body just inches from mine and I automatically dropped my arms. Because if he did take what I could see in his eyes that he wanted, I needed my arms free so I could wrap them around him in case he tried to change his mind.

“Is that dinner invitation still open?” Mav whispered.

I swallowed hard and nodded. “Yeah,” I said after what seemed like forever to find my voice.

“Good,” Mav responded and then he was straightening and I felt the loss instantly. I turned around long enough to lock my car and I forced myself not to look back as Mav followed me to my apartment. Even though he was at least a couple feet behind me, it felt like his body was brushing mine with every step I took. Though I’d been with more men than I could count, I’d never once felt desire. Sure, there had been times when my body had physically responded, but that had been nothing like what I was feeling now. My skin felt itchy and too tight for my body and it felt like sparks of electricity were going off deep inside my body. My earlier panic had completely dissipated the moment I’d seen Mav and now all I felt was an incredible rush of heat and longing that was so fierce, I actually felt a moment of fear that there was something seriously wrong with me.

By the time we reached the landing at the top of the stairs and I felt the heat of Mav’s body at my back, I was a knot of need, and instead of turning the key in the lock once I managed to get it inserted, I just held there and tried to get control of my erratic breathing.

“What’s wrong?” Mav asked.

I could only shake my head as my brain and my body warred with one another.

“Eli,” Mav whispered.

If he hadn’t touched me at the same time, I would have been fine. I would have been able to just collect myself, turn the key in the lock and go inside and make dinner for him like it was something I did every day. But when his fingers settled on my upper arm, I let out a rush of air and turned around and leaned back against the door.

Mav’s head was already slightly bent and I wondered if he’d known what I was thinking or if he’d been planning to kiss the back of my neck like he had that day in the garage after he’d spoken the foreign words to me.

We both just held there and I knew just by the way Mav was watching me that if I wanted this, I’d have to take it. The concept was so foreign to me that I wasn’t sure I could go through with it. But when Mav shifted just the tiniest bit like he was going to back away, I reached up to snag him by the back of the neck and I held him there as I lifted enough so I could brush my mouth over his. The contact lasted a split second, no more. But the impact was devastating.

Because I’d long ago learned to stop wanting something I couldn’t have.

Only my body didn’t care because the electricity that was lighting up every one of my cells, the fire that was threatening to consume me – it all collided together in a rush and I was leaning in for another taste before I could even consider what it might cost me.

Chapter 7

Mav

Nothing I’d conjured up in my head could have prepared me for how good Eli’s lips felt. Every pass of his lips over mine was brief and hesitant and while I ached to taste more of him, my brain maintained a shred of sanity as his lack of experience became more evident. I could tell he wanted more as his mouth started to brush mine with more urgency and his fingers dug into the back of my neck where he was still holding on to me, but it wasn’t until he separated from me just the tiniest bit and brokenly whispered, “I don’t know how to do this,” that my suspicion was confirmed.

He’d never kissed anyone before.

A rush of primal need surged through me as I realized I was this first for him, but I tamped down on the need to slam my mouth down on his and claim him the way I wanted. “That was fucking amazing,” I responded and it was the complete and absolute truth. I ghosted a kiss over his trembling lips before saying, “Can I show you?”

Eli clearly understood what I was asking because he nodded. He squeezed his eyes closed as I kissed him again and when I ran my tongue over the seam of his lips, he let out a startled gasp and reflexively opened his mouth even as he pulled back from me. With the door at his back he had nowhere to go, but instead of plunging my tongue into his mouth like I wanted, I kept up the tender kisses. Every time I gave his supple mouth the tiniest of licks, he sucked in a breath. But instead of closing his lips, he let them part just a little more each time and when I finally dipped inside, he let out a big sigh and I felt his free hand come up to rest on my shoulder, the Spiderman doll pressed against my shoulder blade.

I bit back the rush of lust that went through me as the sweetness of Eli’s taste dripped over my tongue and focused instead on giving him what he needed. The first time I stroked my tongue over his, he flinched, but by the third and fourth time, his tongue was seeking mine out. Within a matter of minutes, Eli was hungrily kissing me back and as I experimentally drew back, he followed until he was pressed flush against my body. I wrapped my arms around him to hold him in place as I finally kissed him the way I’d been longing to and he eagerly met every thrust of my tongue. My cock filled fast and when I tried to put some space between our bodies so we could both catch our breaths, Eli refused to release me and his tongue was pushing into my mouth. My good intentions fled as my body lit up like a brush fire and I slammed Eli back against the door and held him there with my body. I grabbed his ass with my hands and lifted him enough so his mouth was level with mine and I used my hips to hold him against the wood as I began thrusting against him.

The excited, needy whimpers spilling from Eli’s throat were killing me and if it hadn’t been for a catcall coming from the street, I would have been reaching for his zipper then and there. Eli and I separated long enough so that we could both look towards the front of the building where a guy walking his dog was watching us and giving us a thumbs up. While the man continued on his way, the spell was broken and Eli tugged free of my grip. I expected him to panic or try to escape me, but instead he leaned back against the door and brushed his fingers over his mouth. His eyes were bright with desire and something else, but before I could question him, he turned around and unlocked the door. I was sure he was going to tell me he’d changed his mind about dinner, but instead of closing the door, he left it open as he walked into the apartment. I followed him in and watched him drop down to wrap his arms around Baby before getting up and going to the kitchen. Baby came to greet me and while I ran my fingers over his sleek body, I kept my eyes on Eli who was pulling things from the refrigerator.

He finally stopped and looked at me and then smiled. It wasn’t a smile I’d ever seen from him before, but I liked it and I couldn’t help but grin myself. I should have been regretting the kiss because knowing what I now knew about Eli, I was even more certain that any kind of relationship, physical or otherwise, would mean something more to him than it would to someone else…someone like me.

But I couldn’t bring myself to wish it hadn’t happened. Even now, I was barely refraining from striding up to him and finishing what we’d started.

“Do you want something to drink?” Eli asked. “I have beer, soda, water.”

“A beer would be great,” I said as I closed the door behind me. Eli handed me the bottle of beer and our eyes held for a moment before he dropped his gaze and started working on dinner. “What are you making?” I asked.

“Chicken Enchiladas. Is that okay?”

“Sounds great,” I said. “Can I help?”

“No,” Eli responded, casting me a look over his shoulder. “It’s pretty easy to make. And besides,” – he shot me another quick grin – “It’s my mother’s secret recipe. If I told you what was in it, I’d have to kill you.”

I chuckled and said, “Fair enough.” I dropped down into one of the kitchen chairs and focused my attention on the big dog who dropped his massive head in my lap. “How did you end up naming a dog like this Baby?” I asked.

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