Page 28 of Defending Love

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Dani

I tried to establish a timeline. The university website had a list of past and present deans. Preston took over after an interim dean, a Ralph Phillips. Prior to Phillips, Eric Olsen was the dean of research.

A quick check to be sure Eli wasn’t near, and I called my brother. Damien answered on the second ring. “Dani.”

“I have a quick question for you.”

“Shoot.”

Watching the doorway, I leaned back against my soft chair. “I’m looking into Preston Ayers. Didn’t the original research for Propanolol come from Indianapolis University?”

“Yes. We acquired the early research in ’18.”

“We paid the university for the research?”

Damien cleared his throat. “The university had completely shut down their research. I’d already made our interest known. They hadn’t gotten a patent. It was simply intellectual property.”

“Who did we pay?”

“What difference does this make?” he asked.

“Ayers was the dean of research in ’18.”

“He wasn’t in on the original research. It was shut down before he was appointed dean.”

“It still seems odd that he now wants on our executive board.” I had more questions. “Did Dad pay someone off for the formula? Was David Carpenter in on it?”

“David believed in what his father-in-law created. The market was wide open. David needed the funding and facilities to conduct further research and development. The university had no intention of continuing what it had started. Sinclair provided David with the means to complete the research and development.” Damien took a breath.

“Jack Webb mentioned that you got into Dad’s safe. What did you find?”

“You were in it after Dad was shot.”

“That entire week is a blur. You’re right. Stephen and I got into it to find Dad’s insurance policies. We didn’t go through everything. I figured you and I would do that with Mom. Fuck, at that point, we weren’t sure she’d make it.”

“I’m sorry. I should have waited for you. It was after Eli and I discovered the journals missing from his desk that I wanted to find out if things were missing from the safe.” I grinned. “Grandma’s necklace was in there.”

“The one Sharlene wanted?”

“Yeah. Mom should sell it if money is an issue.”

Yes, I was fishing.

“No, it meant more to Dad since it was his mother’s. Why would money be an issue? It can keep collecting dust. What journals were missing?”

“All the ones in Dad’s desk. The drawer is completely empty.”

“The fuck?” Damien questioned. “Did you alert the Sumter County Sheriff?”

“Eli is working on it.”

“Hey, I should have told you that Eli was coming back. Everything since Dad’s murder has been hard to keep straight.”

“I was shocked to see him, but all is good now.”

Eli stepped through the door, his eyebrows arching in a questioning manner.

“Speak of the devil.” I spoke to Damien. “I need to go. I’m still not sure about Ayers.”

“We can talk tomorrow. It’s good you’re back. We need to be united before the meeting on Monday.”

“Bye.” I disconnected the call and met Eli’s green stare.

“Damien called again?”

“Did I say it was Damien?”

“No, but who else would you be discussing Ayers with. Plus, when I saw you, you were putting off guilty vibes.”

I stood and made my way to him, craning my neck to keep his green gaze in sight. “I’m not guilty. I called him, not the other way around. I had a question. It doesn’t concern what happened to Dad, but something we were talking about with Preston Ayers.”

“Did Damien have an answer?”

Inhaling, I shrugged. “Not completely. I realized that Preston Ayers was the dean of research when Sinclair acquired the research on Propanolol. I asked Damien if Sinclair paid Indianapolis University for the right to research Propanolol. He said the university had shut down its research. The formula was not patented. It was simply intellectual property that came with David.”

“David Carpenter who died after Sinclair received the patent.”

“Eric Olsen was the dean of research while they were studying the formula, and he was killed. According to Mom, he was shot on a park bench in broad daylight.”

“And now your father.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Five or more years later. Why now? This can’t have anything to do with Dad’s death.”

“It seems like a lot of people ended up dead who worked on Propanolol.”

“I worked with David. I’m still alive.”

Eli’s warm hands came to my waist, his long fingers splaying beneath my sweatshirt. “You’re going to stay that way.”

“Only for the next fifty or sixty years.”

His touch moved upward until his eyes opened wide. “Well, Dr. Sinclair. It seems you forgot to put on a bra when you changed your clothes.”

“I didn’t forget. They’re torture contraptions.” I ran my palm over his soft t-shirt, feeling his hard chest. “Men don’t have to wear a band around their chest with underwire pinching them all day long.”

A laugh rumbled from his chest. “If the chemistry and science thing ever gets old, you should work for a lingerie company. I’m sure that description would enhance bra sales.”

“I love chemistry and science. Solving a murder is more stressful.”

Eli leaned down, bringing his lips to mine. “You shouldn’t be trying to solve a murder. That’s my job.”

“I like your other job better.”

“Which is?” he asked.

“Distracting me.”

He arched an eyebrow as his cheeks rose. “Are you done in here for today?”

I looked back at my desk littered with Dad’s journals and other papers. My monitors illuminated the area behind the desk. “Nothing that can’t wait for tomorrow.”

He tugged on my hand. “Then you should get some sleep.”

My head shook. “No. Distracting first. Sleep second.”

Through the living room, Eli stopped to check the lock on the front door, probably for the fifth time since our dinner was delivered.

I turned off the fireplace. With my hand in his, we made our way to the primary bedroom.

My king-sized bed was large for one person, the idea of sharing it made me smile.

Words weren’t needed. We’d talked a lot. Not about personal things, but it seemed talking led to discussions related to Dad’s death. This time was not to rehash what we knew, but to put that all aside.

Eli lifted my sweatshirt over my head, his laser green gaze going to my breasts which grew heavier with each passing second. “You should never keep them bound up.”

“When you’re a double D, there isn’t much choice.”

“Doubly delicious,” he said with a gleam to his eye before bending at the waist and sucking one nipple and then the other.

My head lobbed back as I concentrated on the electric sensation. The energy wasn’t contained to his fingers splayed on my ribs or where his mouth teased my nipples. It ricocheted from nerve ending to nerve ending, small explosions detonating beneath my skin.

Step by step, we moved until my legs collided with the bed.

Eli lay me back, reached for the waist of my yoga pants, and pulled them down past my ankles. As he reached for my panties, I sat up, tugging the hem of his black shirt. His bicep flexed as he helped pull it over his head.

“Jeans next,” I said with a grin.

“Bossy.”

“I can be.”

His sexy grin twitched as he unbuttoned the top of his blue jeans and lowered the zipper. As the denim fell to the floor, he kicked off his loafers and stepped from the pants. “Now we’re even.”

Memories of last night added fuel to the heat smoldering within my veins. I slipped from the bed to the floor, landing on my knees. My line of sight was the large bulge beneath his boxer briefs.

“Fuck, Dani,” he said, his voice an octave lower than seconds before.

I looked up through my hooded eyelids as my breathing quickened. “I want to taste you.”

His nod was almost imperceptible, but it was the low growl and the way his nostrils flared that let me know he wasn’t about to stop me.

Licking my lips, I reached for his waistband and pulled the silk fabric down to the floor.

I’d felt the girth of him last night, but this was my first visual.

The sight of his hardened cock with veins popping to life and precum glistening at the tip made me squirm as my core clenched.

Reaching with one hand, I stroked the velvety surface, aware that my thumb and middle finger couldn’t touch.

Opening my lips, I took the head into my mouth.

The salty, musky scent matched his taste.

Up and down, I ran my hand and lips. Each time taking a little more and a little more.

“Fuck, you’re killing me,” he said as he reached for my hair.

I gasped as he fisted my loose bun and moved me, pulling me to him as his penis teased the back of my throat. Over and over, the pace grew faster. I held onto his thick thighs for support as his warm seed streamed over my tongue.

Kissing and licking, I swallowed all that he gave.

When I looked up, the desire in his gold-flecked orbs rattled my world.

Eli offered me his hand. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“I’m a little rusty,” I said as I stood.

“You’re fucking amazing. Now, my turn.”