Page 98 of Tangled Hearts

He stops, turning to me with a half-terrified, half-annoyed look. “What do you mean? Tonight’s a huge night. What if it goes bad? What if I freak out? What if everyone hates it?”

Oh… “We can wait to tell Holden and Julian if that would make you feel better.” Fuck, I really don’t want to do that, though. The light at the end of the tunnel just arrived, and I don’t want to stay in the dark anymore.

“What?” Eli asks, his eyes going wide. “What are you talking about?”

“What areyoutalking about?” I counter.

“My speech tonight. It’s the first time I’ve ever given a speech. What if I’m bad at it? What if people hate it?” He sucks in a sharp breath. “Oh my God. What if I forget everything I was going to say? Or I throw up? Could you imagine? Just puking all over the front row?”

Oh, I’ve got to put a stop to this. “Eli,” I say, stepping closer to him. “That’s not going to happen.”

“But what if itdoes?What if I trip up the stairs? Are there even going tobestairs? Or worse, what if there aren’t stairs?” How would that be worse? I’m so confused right now. “What if I forget my speech and then everyone laughs at me?”

“Eli. Stop.” I grab his face in my hands, forcing his gaze to mine. “No one is going to laugh at you.”

“They might. I’m hilarious,” he mumbles, trying to be flippant, but I can feel the ragged rise and fall of his chest. He’s really freaking the fuck out.

“Do you want me to make your brain quiet?” I whisper, sliding my hand from his face to his throat. The second my hand is wrapped around it, his entire body slumps, his knees going weak as he inhales a slow breath.

“Please,” he whispers, looking up at me with chaos-filled eyes.

I give his throat a squeeze, not letting loose until his breathing slows and his eyes flutter shut. “I want you to go back to our bed, okay? Then strip naked and wait for me.”

“How long will you be?” he asks, eyes still closed.

“Not long, baby.” I press a kiss to his nose. “I’m going to take Kassie out so she’s not stuck waiting on us, and then I’ll be right there.”

Eli blows out a slow, controlled breath. “Okay.”

“Good boy.”

I let go of his throat, and he takes a step back and then another before turning and making his way into our bedroom.

I make quick work of taking Kassie out, and when I step into the bedroom, Eli is sitting naked in the center of our bed, his eyes closed, his hands resting palm-down on his spread thighs. His cock is already hard, arching up toward his stomach, flushed red, and leaking at the tip. “God, doll. You are so fucking gorgeous and such a good boy.”

His cheeks turn a dusty shade of pink, his eyes opening and finding mine. “You think so?”

“I do think so. So pretty, doing exactly what I told you to.”

He nods slowly. I strip my clothes off, watching him the entire time. He’s watching me too, his eyes following each of my movements.

“On your hands and knees, doll. I want your chest against the bed and your ass in the air.”

He scrambles to do what I’ve asked, and when he’s settled, he turns his head to face me. “Are we going to be late?”

I actually don’t know. I hope not, but if we are, we are. We’ve done a lot of legwork to get ready for this fundraiser, but if Eli needs his brain settled down, then that is my number one priority. “You let me worry about the time, baby. You just worry about being my good boy.”

Every single muscle in his body relaxes. I climb up beside him and place my hand on the back of his thigh. He shivers. “I don’t want you to think about anything, doll. You feel my hand?”

He whimpers. “Yes.”

“Good. Just my hands and my voice. Nothing else, okay?”

“Okay,” he whispers.

I run my hand up the back of his thigh, over the curve of his ass, and up his back, squeezing gently when I get to the nape of his neck. I repeat the motion over and over, mindlessly melting him with my hand.

I adjust, moving until I’m behind him. I cup his ass cheeks, gently kneading the skin and brushing over his hole with my thumb. He moans, rocking his hips back against my hand. “You’re doing so well.”