Page 36 of Overeager (Extra Credit #1)

Eli

E li found Noah waiting for him in his driveway when he pulled up.

The sight of him was enough to catch Eli’s breath in his throat—it always was, with his handsome alpha. Noah’s beautiful curls, his broad shoulders, the effortless confidence he exuded, confidence that would no doubt only grow with time.

But it was the look on his face that had Eli’s heart pounding.

He couldn’t get out of the car fast enough, pinching his fingers in his efforts to untangle himself from his seat belt in such a hurry. When he finally got the damn thing off, he practically fell out the door, righting himself only long enough to leap into Noah’s waiting arms.

“I didn’t get fired!” Eli cried, beaming up at him.

“You didn’t get fired!” Noah cried back, that wide grin practically splitting his face in two. He hoisted Eli up, and Eli wrapped his legs around him, his arms already circling Noah’s neck.

They’d texted earlier about his job status, of course, but Eli needed to say it out loud. It was a victory, however unearned, after months of uncertainty, and he wanted them both to revel in it.

“I love you so fucking much,” Eli said, then smashed their mouths together for a ridiculous kiss, both of them still smiling too wide for it to be anything other than teeth clashing against teeth.

A throat cleared.

Eli startled, breaking the kiss only to realize that, in his excitement, he’d missed the other figure hiding in the shadows of his driveway wall.

Ash.

That made sense, actually. Noah’s car was in the drive, meaning Ash must have come to return it. He seemed to have come alone, the alpha Ryder nowhere to be seen.

Eli coughed, slapping at Noah’s arms discreetly so he would put Eli down.

Noah only tightened his hold. “You remember my brother?” he asked.

As if the last interaction they’d had with Ash was something Eli was likely to forget.

“Vaguely,” Eli croaked. God, was Ash going to yell at them both again? If so, he really wished he was doing something more dignified than clinging onto Noah like a frazzled koala.

“He’s come to apologize.”

“Oh.” Eli nodded frantically, still slapping at Noah’s arms. “Um …”

Ash rolled his eyes. “Dude. Noah. Put the poor guy down. You’re acting like a caveman.”

Noah grunted at his brother in annoyance, but he finally loosened his hold, allowing Eli to climb down his tall frame with a bashful smile, straightening his clothes as best he could as he greeted Ash properly. “Hello.”

“Hey.” Ash wasn’t exactly opening his arms wide for a hug, but he wasn’t glaring at Eli like he was the devil either. Instead, he poked Noah in the shoulder. “Give us a minute.”

Noah cocked a brow. “Ask nicely.”

“No.”

Noah let out another put-upon sigh, ducked down to give Eli a swift kiss, and then turned to head into the house.

Which, more than anything else, was enough to convince Eli that Ash was here with good intentions. Noah would never have left them alone otherwise.

To his credit, Ash didn’t beat around the bush. “I’m sorry,” he told Eli as soon as Noah had turned away. “I was out of line the other day.”

“I get it.” Eli resisted the urge to fidget in place. “He’s your brother. Of course you’d be … concerned.”

“I could have handled it better,” Ash admitted, sounding frustrated with himself. “Sometimes my mouth works faster than my brain, you know?”

He ran a hand through his curls, ducking his head down away from Eli’s gaze.

Objectively, he was just as handsome as Noah, but he lacked the innate warmth of his brother.

He was a little cooler, a little harsher.

Young was all Eli could think. Never mind that he was only a couple years younger than Noah.

Eli cleared his throat, trying to throw Ash as much of a bone as he could. “Thank you for apologizing. It’s gracious of you.”

Ash’s head stayed tilted toward the ground, but he peered up at Eli from behind his lashes. “He’s not just my brother, you know. He’s a good person. Genuinely. All the siblings, like, worship him. I just didn’t want anyone taking advantage.”

“I don’t think I’m doing that,” Eli told him slowly, exchanging honesty for honesty. “He is good to me. The best. But I also really like him.”

Ash smirked. “You love him ‘so fucking much,’ actually, if I heard correctly.”

Eli coughed. “Yes, well … Yes.”

Ash’s gaze quickly turned sharp. Assessing.

“He’s crazy about you, you know. It’s kind of wild.

He’s always been content, but it’s been this, like, inward thing.

It’s never been about anyone or anything outside of him.

But ‘content’ doesn’t cover what he’s been lately. His happiness is so … intense.”

Eli couldn’t help his proud grin.

Ash grimaced. “Fuc—I mean, god , you guys are mushy.”

Eli didn’t dignify that with a response. They’d earned the right to be mushy, hadn’t they? He tilted his head toward his house. “You wanna come in?”

“No.” Ash held up his phone, where a little decal of a car was moving closer to his location. “I’ve got a car coming. Ryder’s waiting for me.”

“Well, thank you again for speaking to me. And I’m sorry we couldn’t tell you sooner.”

Ash shrugged. “Just keep making him deliriously happy, I guess. It’s nice to see, even if it’s weird.” His lips dipped down into a brief scowl, as if he couldn’t help himself. “Don’t tell him I said that.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Eli mimed zipping his lips.

Despite Ash’s assurances that he could handle himself, Eli waited until his car had arrived and he was safely on his way before Eli headed into the house.

They didn’t speak much more than they already had, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence.

Whatever Noah had said to his brother about his and Eli’s relationship, it seemed to have sunk in.

Noah was waiting for Eli in the entryway, having clearly been watching them through the window. “He behaved?”

“He’s …” Eli tried to think of how to put it. “Well, ‘sweet’ definitely isn’t the word. But he cares.”

“He does.”

Eli sagged with a sudden realization. “Oh god, I’m going to have to go through that five more times, aren’t I?”

Why the fuck did Noah have to have so many siblings?

Noah’s grin was unrepentant. “Don’t forget parents. And the roommates.”

“I should’ve found myself a lonely, friendless orphan.” But Eli was smiling too. He felt … giddy. Almost high. He stepped closer to Noah. “I have to teach summer classes this year.”

“Your penance?” At Eli’s nod, Noah wrapped him up in a hug. “I’m sorry, baby. But there’s still a little gap in between classes, right?” He nuzzled Eli’s hair. “You ever been backpacking? I want to take you backpacking. In the Sierras.”

“With the dirt and the mosquitos and the lack of bathrooms?”

“And the breathtaking scenery and crystal-clear lakes to swim in.”

Eli wasn’t a natural outdoorsman, as far as he knew, but after spending so much time cooped up, hiding themselves from the world, running away to the great wide open actually sounded amazing. Room to breathe. Room to settle.

A little adventure, just the two of them.

“Okay. Yeah. Let’s go backpacking this summer.” He laughed. “Why the hell not?”

They’d tried. They really had.

They were supposed to be catching up on their missed work—Eli’s grading, Noah’s schoolwork.

But somehow Noah’s hand was now down Eli’s pants, his fingers grabbing greedily at Eli’s ass while his mouth terrorized Eli’s neck.

“How did you—oh god,” Eli whimpered as Noah nipped him, as if chastising him for speaking, “end up over here?”

They’d started on opposite sides of the couch, hadn’t they?

Eli could feel Noah’s grin against the tender skin of his throat. “Did you know you get very distracted when you’re in work mode?” He tugged Eli’s shirt down to mouth at his shoulder, marking new territory. “I bet I could get my dick in you without you even noticing.”

“I—” Eli gasped as Noah’s finger pressed against his hole deliberately. He’d be able to slide it in no problem, if he wanted—Eli was somehow already dripping slick. “I highly doubt that. Your, um, member isn’t exactly sneaky.”

Noah finally leaned back to give him an incredulous look. “My member ?”

“I don’t know!” Eli flapped his hands, his cheeks heating as he tried to decide if he was going to push Noah away or demand he get naked. “My brain fritzed.”

They really should be working right now, but …

He scooted back to give Noah’s member an assessing stare. “How fast can you be?”

Noah gave him a look. “Baby, I’m twenty-one. I can last thirty seconds if you let me.”

Eli giggled. Things had always been good and easy between them—from that very first night, really—but there was a new lightness to it all. Yes, they were still technically secret until the end of the year, but that was just in public, in the kind of settings administration might be involved with.

Their families, Noah’s roommates—Eli and Noah would finally be letting them in.

It felt good. Fucking amazing, actually.

Noah was already working on the button of Eli’s pants. “I study better after sex.”

“Liar,” Eli accused, leaning back to let Noah slide his zipper down. His erection was pressing too hard against it, and he wanted the relief. “If anything, you get hornier after the first round.”

“Okay, okay. How about this,” Noah offered as he toyed with the band of Eli’s underwear, sending goose bumps along Eli’s lower belly. “Sex. Then lunch. Then more sex. Then studying.”

Eli pretended to think it over. “Or,” he countered. “Sex. Study . Lunch. Study . Then possibly more sex, if I deem you’ve studied enough.”

Noah’s brow furrowed into a mock frown. “I think mine was better.”

“Take off your pants.”

Eli had never seen Noah move so fast. Eli followed suit, finishing what Noah had started, and when they were both naked—Deadly having left the couch in a huff with the flurry of activity—he crawled back onto Noah’s lap, hovering over Noah’s knees.

God, his alpha had a beautiful cock. Thick and veiny, with that knot at the base just waiting to inflate inside Eli’s welcoming body.

Eli gripped the shaft in his hand, lining himself up before lowering, breathing out to encourage his body to accept the welcome intrusion.

Noah groaned with every conquered inch, his hands skating over Eli’s sides as he threw his head back. “Yeah, um, thirty seconds might be a generous estimate.”

Heat flashed through Eli. He knew it was a joke—Noah had lasted much, much longer than that many times before—but it was also one of Eli’s favorite things, the way Noah wanted him so badly.

The way he acted like every sexual experience with Eli was a gift from heaven.

It made Eli feel beautiful. Desirable. Almost wanton.

He gave a slow roll of his hips, closing his eyes to savor the sensation.

Mm . That was good. Eli didn’t have to go fast and hard at all for Noah’s thick, perfect cock to hit all the right places.

He could keep going like he was, with long, smooth movements, mouthing at Noah’s skin absently wherever he could reach—his collarbone, his shoulder, that little spot behind his ear, where his curls tickled Eli’s nose.

“Baby,” Noah eventually murmured, his arms curved behind Eli’s back, holding him close as Eli rocked.

“Mm?”

He could hear the smile in Noah’s voice. “I thought you needed this to be quick?”

Oh. Right. Eli’s cheeks heated, a warmth to match the fiery tingle that was already running down his spine. Because he’d told Noah they needed to hurry up, and then he’d planted himself on top of him for the most leisurely fuck of the century.

“I got, um … distracted?” he mumbled, the words coming out muffled against Noah’s shoulder.

Noah tugged Eli gently by the hair until he was looking up at him, able to see his grin. “Did you? By what?”

Eli squirmed in place, embarrassed in spite of himself, only to bite back a moan as the movement jostled Noah’s cock deep inside him.

Noah grunted, and Eli repeated the movement.

“Does it feel good, fucking yourself slowly like that?” Noah asked, setting a stilling hand on Eli’s hip, holding him securely in place. He didn’t sound like he was teasing anymore. He was asking seriously, checking in the way he always did.

“Mm.” Eli nodded dreamily. “So good.”

“Can I help?”

Eli nodded again, and Noah’s hands traveled to his ass cheeks, where they settled with a firm grip. When Eli started rocking again, Noah helped his movements, and ohhh , that was really fucking nice. So deep. So perfect.

Eli let his head fall back, gasping.

Noah swore quietly. “Fuck. You look …” He let out a harsh breath. “God, you’re pretty.”

He started using his hold to speed Eli’s pace, and that was good too. They were supposed to be going fast, weren’t they? They were supposed to be … working?

The thought left Eli’s head as soon as it had entered it, flushed out by their frantic panting and bitten moans and the way Noah’s cock speared him so deeply he thought it might just stay there forever.

When Eli was close, he looped his arms around Noah’s neck again, tucking his head in where Noah’s scent was the strongest, breathing in his pheromones like a man possessed. So fucking delicious .

“I’m close,” he murmured.

“Me, too, baby.”

One of Noah’s hands sneaked between them to stroke Eli’s cock, and that was it. Eli shuddered and clung to his alpha, every inch of his skin pressed against Noah in some way as Noah grunted, shaking against him as they crested over together.

It was so unbearably intimate, with them clasped so closely together, their pheromones and their sweat mingling. A shared kind of vulnerability.

I love this man so fucking much.

Eventually, when the feeling returned to his limbs, Eli untucked his head from its pheromone hoarding place. He gave Noah’s chest a little pat. “That was longer than thirty seconds.”

Noah laughed weakly. “My bad. Should we try a redo?”

“Later.” Eli pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Be good and do your homework and I’ll blow you after lunch.”

He giggled at the dazed look on Noah’s face. Eli wasn’t always that blunt, but he was feeling light and giddy and almost deliriously pleased with the state of things.

Noah cleared his throat. “Well, okay then. It’s a deal.”