Page 29 of Defending Love

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Dani

W hen I awoke Sunday morning, I expected to be alone.

While it was only a little after six in the morning, Eli was still present, his breathing steady.

I wasn’t certain if he’d been up and working throughout the night.

By the time I closed my eyes for the night, Eli had kept his word, his tongue, lips, teeth, and hands all working in tandem to bring me to an earthquaking orgasm.

That wasn’t the end.

We lay for a while, his arm around me, and talked. For the first time, it wasn’t about Dad or his murder. It wasn’t about Sinclair Pharmaceuticals. He asked me more personal questions.

What was my favorite color?

How old was I when I knew I wanted to be a chemist?

Favorite childhood memories?

It was refreshing and intimate. Sometimes, I’d recount stories as I lay with my shoulder and face on his hard chest, swirling his chest hair with my fingers.

It wasn’t all one-sided. I asked Eli questions, too.

At first, he seemed reticent to give more than a few-word answers, but in time, he opened up.

He told me about his decision to join the military.

His father had been a marine. Eli felt compelled to follow in his footsteps.

Guardian Security came after his final tour.

He said he hadn’t been looking for security work to be his profession; Benjamin Clark sought Eli out.

He'd been with Guardian for nearly ten years.

A question I’d never before thought to ask came up. I asked how old he was.

Elijah Rhodes was eight years my senior.

Looking him in the eye, I giggled, telling him he was the oldest man I’d ever slept with.

That was apparently the encouragement he needed to show me that he definitely wasn’t too old.

That round was slower with more touching, but the climax didn’t disappoint as we came together, filling the air with our sounds of pleasure.

“Good morning,” Eli said, rolling and covering me with his arm.

I wiggled my behind against his front. “Good morning.”

“If you keep doing that, I don’t think I’m going to allow you to leave this bed.”

“Allow me?”

He nodded, his warm breath blanketing my neck as kisses peppered my shoulder.

With his morning erection probing my lower back, I didn’t want to leave the bed.

I gasped as Eli shifted my legs, impaling my pussy. Arching my back, I wiggled to accommodate his size as his hands caressed my breasts. His rhythm began slow and gentle. In and out. As the speed increased, so did his ferocity. The friction brought my body to life as the heat within me built.

I couldn’t think of a better way to start a day.

We rolled until I was up on my knees. The room filled with primitive sounds, noises that men and women have been making since Adam and Eve. High notes from me and baritone notes from him. They were our chorus, the refrain that one could listen to forever and always.

My orgasm came like the building of a pressure cooker. Higher and higher until I collapsed onto my stomach, Eli falling to my side. I lifted my head, meeting his green gaze for the first time this morning. “I was surprised to find you still in bed.”

He kissed my nose. “You’re hard to leave.”

“I think you were the one who was hard.”

“I was,” he said with a grin. “And you are soft.” He ran his palm down my spine and over my behind.

Closing my eyes, I exhaled. When I opened them, Eli was still looking at me. “What?”

“Ben told me something the other day. He said to listen to my gut.”

“Is your gut telling you something?”

“It’s telling me that I’m in way over my head with you. I don’t know what you want.”

I sat up, pulling the sheet over my breasts and feeling my well-fucked core. My lips pursed in a grimace.

“You can always say no,” he said, watching my expression.

“I never doubted that.” My hand cupped his cheek. “If I ever want to say no, I will. As for what I want…” I inhaled. “I want Dad’s killer found, and if I’m completely selfish, I want this, you and I together, every night and every morning.”

Eli laid his hand over mine and tugged it down. Intertwining our fingers, he lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles. “I don’t think any of that sounds selfish.”

“But it is,” I admitted. “Last night you told me about your career with Guardian Security. If you’re someone else’s bodyguard, you would be with them, not me.”

“Dani, I’ve never been with an assignment before. You said you don’t sleep on the second day. I don’t fuck my assignments. I’m not sure what the future holds, but I’d like to explore it openly. Guardian has other positions, people behind the scenes.”

“I can’t ask you to give up your passion. You’re not asking me to walk away from Sinclair Pharmaceuticals.”

“Passions change.” He leaned back against the headboard, the sheet slipping to his hips, a trail of dark hair disappearing just under the cover. “My passion was the Marine Corps and then Special Ops. I enjoy most of my assignments.”

“Not all?”

He shook his head. “Not all. I’ve lived rather frugally over the last ten years and have been paid well.

I’m sure I’m not as well-off as your family, but I’m hardly a pauper.

I could spend some downtime and figure out what’s next.

” He again reached for my hand. “I don’t want us to move too fast and frighten one of us away. ”

“It’s fast and it’s slow.”

He leaned over, kissing my cheek. “I understand completely.”

I sat forward. “I’ll shower and then…I think I have some eggs and bread. I can put together some kind of breakfast.”

“Coffee?”

My lips curled. “Definitely coffee.”

A few minutes into my shower, the bathroom door opened. Through the steam on the glass doors, I watched as Eli entered wearing only his boxer briefs and set a coffee cup on the vanity. “Um,” I said, “thank you.”

“Cream, no sugar.” He slid the glass barrier and scanned me up and down. “If I wasn’t waiting on a phone call, I’d consider joining you.”

“It may be difficult to do your job if you’re too distracted.”

“No. You’ll remain safe. The alternative isn’t an option.” One more scan and Eli shut the shower door.

I didn’t dry my hair, but I dressed in comfortable clothes, a teal green sports bra and leggings, covered by a wide-neck top.

The morning sky was crystal blue as I opened the blinds in the bedroom.

The sidewalks below were nearly empty, a big difference from last night.

In the kitchen, I found not only eggs and bread, but bacon.

Once everything was cooked and warm, I walked down the hallway to Eli’s office. It was also his bedroom; however, I had high hopes the bed would go unused. He was standing at the window, with his phone to his ear.

“Breakfast,” I said softly.

Eli spun toward me. There were now blue jeans covering his boxer briefs but no shirt. I stared at his fit torso and wide shoulders. The smile and shimmering gaze from before were gone. If I were to evaluate, I’d say he looked angry.

“What happened?” I asked.

His Adam’s apple bobbed. He nodded. “Keep looking into it,” he said into the phone. “Let me know as soon as you have an answer.” He disconnected the call. “Two handwriting experts agree that your father wasn’t the person who wrote that letter.”

“No.” I furrowed my brow. “I know my own father’s handwriting.”

“It was similar. Whoever wrote it did a very good job of trying to imitate it. The experts look at more precise markers. The places where there’s more pressure. While it’s consistent in the letter, it’s inconsistent with other handwriting samples they used for comparison.”

“So, someone forged a note that basically sounded like Dad knew he was in danger. Why?”

“To throw us off.”

I shook my head. “That’s stupid. The note made us want to look more. What about the FBI guys?”

“It’s connected. It’s all connected.” He quirked his lips. “Did you say breakfast?”

“I did. I really need to grocery shop.”

We began walking toward the kitchen. “Can you have them delivered?”

“I mean, I can, but I’d like to get out.”

“Give me until tomorrow. I want to keep working on some leads.”

We sat at the breakfast bar. “Okay. I’ll have them delivered.” I picked up my phone. “I have a text message from Damien.” I looked up at Eli. “He’s on his way over. He wants to talk about Preston Ayers.”