Wild Reunion (Dark Pines Pride Book 3) Page 5

  He cleared his throat. “You’d just gotten into grad school. I couldn’t settle anywhere, Ellie, and I didn’t want to stifle your dreams.”

  “Don’t call me that,” she whispered.

  “Ellie?”

  She closed her eyes, trying to keep the tears in. “Don’t,” she said. “Just don’t.”

  He made a pained sound in his throat. “Okay.”

  “What are you doing here, Will?” she asked. “Really. What are you doing here?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know anymore.”

  That clean scent of him—fresh snow, pine needles. His muscular form right in front of her, his arms hanging at his sides, palms forward, like he’d offer her anything. Irresistible. Taking the one step to close the space between them, Eleanor stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to Will’s again.

  Heat. Affection. Love. She wanted it all. He was here now, and for now, at least, he was hers. It was what she’d dreamed of and what she’d yearned for, and she knew he would not deny her. She took his hand and guided it to one of her breasts, squeezing herself through her long-sleeved t-shirt. He groaned into her mouth and kissed her harder, his tongue tasting her lips until she opened for him.

  She took a step back, then another, but she locked her arms around his neck, holding him to her. He followed where she led for a few steps, then let out a growl of frustration. “Where’s your bedroom?” he asked.

  “Down the hall,” she said.

  The walls of her living room seemed to spin as Will picked her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist. He took long, but uneven, strides to the hallway. He threw open the first door, but it was the bathroom.

  “Next one,” she said, unable to stop her smile.

  “Don’t want to wait for the bedroom,” he said, pressing her up against the wall.

  “Fine by me.”

  He helped lift her shirt off, then leaned into her again. She could feel his cock, hard through his jeans. It pressed against her stomach. They were the wrong height for this.

  Before she could say so, he knelt down and let her go long enough to pull down her jeans. She kicked off her underwear—plain, sensible black cotton. He kissed her bare hip, then moved his lips across her lower belly to kiss the other hip.

  “So beautiful,” he said, before pressing his face against her curls. “And you smell so good.”

  Eleanor looked down at him, on his knees before her. He glanced up, those deep blue eyes swirling with lust. Slowly, so slowly, he dragged his hand up from her ankle to her knee, to her upper thigh. Her breath was ragged. Nothing existed except for his touch on her skin. When he reached her folds, he moved his finger across them, collecting some of her moisture.

  With a sexy smile on his face, he put his finger into his mouth. Then he pulled it out of his mouth and leaned forward on his knees, and gave her one long lick along her folds.

  A wordless, needy sound escaped from Eleanor’s lips.

  He did it again, keeping his tongue flat. Eleanor writhed, unable to keep still. He brought one hand to her hip, holding her in place, and used his other hand to spread her folds slightly, giving him better access to—

  “Ohmygosh,” she said, biting back a squeak.

  Chuckling against her, he plunged a finger inside her as he licked. His tongue found her clit and lapped at it lazily.

  “Will,” she said. “Will—I’m going to—but I want your cock—”

  He stilled his finger inside her and stopped licking. “I don’t have a condom. Do you?”

  “No,” she panted. “But I haven’t been with anyone. I’m safe.”

  “There’s been no one else since you,” he said. Maybe another guy would have felt self-conscious to have gone four years without sex, but Will’s heated gaze was entirely serious and unashamed. “But I don’t want to get you pregnant—”

  “No danger there,” she said. She’d been on the pill for the past two years for irregular periods, so she wasn’t worried. And if he said he hadn’t been with anyone else, she believed him. Maybe she didn’t understand why he’d left, but she still trusted him.

  Heaven help her.

  He kissed her again, his mouth scorching, alighting every sensation she possessed. She heard the clinking of his belt buckle, the shifting of fabric as his jeans fell. Reaching toward him, she lifted the edge of his thermal and he pulled it off, exposing his chest and abs. She ran her hands over his muscles, over his pecs and down those pronounced abs to his hard cock, which was already twitching for her. He groaned again, and it sounded animalistic, powerful.

  He lifted her up by her ass until she was off the ground, her breasts at the same level as his face. Eleanor gasped as he pressed his lips to one of her nipples, swirling his tongue around the tip, sucking gently. She ground herself against him as the pleasure shot from her nipple to her clit. But he wasn’t done with her, yet. He lavished the same attention on her other nipple, kissing and sucking, until Eleanor couldn’t stop the whimpering noises coming from her throat.

  Then he slowly lowered her down. She felt his hard tip at the side of her entrance, so she reached down and guided his cock while Will lowered her onto it. Delicious agony. He stretched her almost to the point of discomfort, so she held in place, unable to move right away.

  “You all right?” he murmured into her neck.

  “Uh…yeah,” she said. It was a struggle to breathe. Her entire being was focused on the point where the two of them joined.

  He pressed a sucking kiss to her neck, causing her to shiver. “You sure?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I’m good.”

  He moved within her, creating a warm, wet friction that made Eleanor want to wriggle in pleasure. The heat built within her, until his pace seemed too slow. He held her in place between him and the wall, one of his arms beneath her, cupping her bottom. The other hand he brought around and used to send feather-light touches over her breasts. He pinched one of her nipples delicately at first, so lightly Eleanor could barely feel it. Then he increased the pressure, bringing her to near-pain, and she hissed, “Yes, Will. Yes.”

  She was climbing higher and higher, helping their speed by bracing her thighs on his hips to propel herself up and down even faster. Will’s breathing turned to ragged gasps and he kissed and licked her neck. He bit her skin gently, and she arched into him, wanting more. She wanted to be closer to him, as close as possible.

  She could feel her clit dragging back and forth over his pelvis, the friction matching their now frenzied thrusts, and the repeated pressure he put on her nipple, his biting kisses. She cried out when she came. “Will!”

  He pumped within her and she felt his release, hot and wet. His arms were like thick bands around her, pressing her even closer to his chest. “Ellie—Eleanor,” he said.

  Eleanor didn’t sound quite right. “Ellie,” she whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder. “You can call me Ellie.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Will had been given a gift. He didn’t know how or what he could have done to deserve it. He didn’t know why Ellie had reached for him like that and kissed him in her living room. All he knew was that before he’d walked up to her house, his gut instinct had been right. Because everything—everything—had changed.

  “My next piano lesson,” Ellie said, her voice mildly panicked. “It starts in fifteen minutes.”

  Will found her underwear and helped steady her while she put them on. She was shaking—whether from the physical act of their lovemaking, or the emotional ramifications. He was certainly shaken up.

  He felt ripples of joy moving through his body, just from the simple act of touching Ellie’s skin, helping her step into her jeans, putting her shirt right side out so she could pull it over her head. She was here, and it was enough.

  But the same gut instinct that had told him everything would change if he stepped into her home was telling him that there was so much more to come. And the future held an equal dose of pleasure and pain.

  Someth
ing bad was coming to the Dark Pines territory—he could feel it. And now that he was with Ellie again, there was no escaping it. He didn’t even want to. Whatever it was, he’d have to stay and fight, and keep her and his family safe.

  “I’ll walk you out,” Ellie said.

  As they passed through the living room, Will noticed a stack of graphic novels on her coffee table. Interstellar Love Connection—it was the series that was doing so well for Bookspirations. Before he could say anything, they’d reached the door.

  He bent to kiss her forehead, her cheeks, her chin, and then her lips. “Ellie,” he whispered. “Thank you.”

  She walked him out, and they held hands as they walked down her porch steps. They came to a stop next to his truck. He cleared his throat. “This was—”

  “Are you leaving?” she asked.

  “What?”

  Her gaze was directed into the back of his truck, where his duffel bag still rested after Hayley had moved it.

  “Oh, that,” he said. “I had planned—”

  “I can’t believe this.” Ellie gripped her mass of curls in both hands and shook her head, her gaze accusatory. “You were planning on leaving this whole time, even while we were…doing that…in my hallway?”

  “Well, no,” he said.

  She looked like she was about to interrupt him, but she took a deep breath instead, and held her hands to her chest. He couldn’t even imagine the pain she must be feeling. The street was quiet except for a car engine in the distance, and the sound of Ellie’s breathing. Every movement she made projected her pain. How could he explain this quickly, before her student arrived?

  He cleared his throat. “I was planning to go, before, but now—”

  A car approached Ellie’s driveway, and he and Ellie both turned to look at it.

  “My lesson’s early,” she said, miserably.

  “Ellie, look at me, please,” he said.

  She shook her head. “I can’t do this right now.”

  “I don’t want to leave you like this.”

  The car pulled into the driveway, and a teenage boy got out of the passenger’s side. “See you in thirty, Mom,” he called before closing the door. The car pulled away from the curb and drove off.

  “Please go,” Ellie said to Will. She pasted a smile on her face and turned to the boy. “Colton, hi! Come on in, and we can get started.”

  She turned and walked up the path with her piano student. Will watched her go, waiting for a last wave or some kind of indication that she’d be willing to talk later, but she didn’t turn around.

  His heart ached, because he knew how much she must be hurting right now. He watched her walk away and marveled at her beauty. She was his mate, whether she’d ever know it or not. He was determined to work this out.

  Taking his phone out of his pocket, he sent two texts. The first was to Ellie: Please let me explain.

  And the second was to Hayley: I need to stay at Marius’s place for a few more days, if he doesn’t mind.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Eleanor couldn’t believe that just six hours ago Will had been worshipping her body. He’d treated her like she was some kind of sex goddess, not a piano teacher who hadn’t done a sit-up since eighth grade.

  She slumped into her couch cushions and stared at the stack of Interstellar Love Connection books on the coffee table. Never, in the past four years, had she believed she’d have the kind of life-changing, world-rocking sex that Dirk and Joona shared in their books. But that was exactly what had happened with Will earlier that afternoon.

  Her phone buzzed with a text, and she glanced at the screen.

  Will: Can we talk?

  She ignored it. A couple of minutes later, her phone rang. Will’s name was on the screen. She picked up Fido, who was doing his squeaky, attention-getting meow, and let the call go to voicemail.

  It was Will, though. He’d keep bothering her, at random times, until she gave in. As a boy, he’d chased her for damn near ten years. So she maneuvered Fido to her lap and texted back, I don’t want to talk to you right now.

  Will: Later?

  Eleanor: I don’t know.

  She wished she could talk to a girlfriend about all of this, but the closest people she had to friends were Summer and Hayley, who were both related to frickin’ Will! She picked up her phone and scrolled through her contacts list. Just about everyone on there was either related to her or paid her for piano lessons. Her fingers hovered over Hayley’s number. Perhaps just hearing Hayley’s friendly voice would be enough to sooth her. They certainly didn’t have to talk about Will.

  That was it—she could call under the pretense of rescheduling Hayley’s lesson. It had to happen anyway, right? Before she could second-guess her own logic, she tapped on Hayley’s name.

  Hayley picked up almost immediately. “How did the talk with my brother go?”

  “Oh, um…fine,” Eleanor said. She blinked back tears. At least Hayley wasn’t here to see them. “I was calling to reschedule your lesson.”

  Hayley didn’t respond right away.

  “You there?” Eleanor asked.

  “Yeah, I’m here. But I don’t think you’re being entirely honest with me.”

  “Darn it, what is with you guys?” Eleanor said. “You always know.”

  Hayley laughed softly. “Sorry. Did something happen with Will? You sound unhappy.”

  Eleanor started to respond, but emotion clogged her throat. She took a big, gulping breath, then another.

  “Eleanor?”

  In a rush, she forced the words out. “Why does he always want to leave?”

  “Oh boy,” said Hayley. “Okay, we’re coming over and we’re going to properly forget that twitching asscan.”

  “We’re coming over?” Eleanor asked in alarm. “Who’s we?”

  “Be right there. Ten minutes. No, twenty—gotta pick up supplies first.”

  Hayley ended the call, and Eleanor stared at her phone. People were coming over? To her house? To socialize? It had been one thing when Will was here—she’d been much too distracted to think about engaging in conversation.

  Tonight, she’d be visiting with people. Sharing things about herself.

  What did she have to share? She lived in Joona and Dirk’s world. She had a cat and a piano and Dr. Bridges’s app, and that was about it. She yearned for more excitement in her life, yet she was afraid to try for it. The science fiction world of Interstellar Love Connection was the most excitement she’d ever seen. If Hayley was coming over with some unnamed other people, what on earth was Eleanor going to say to them?

  She stood up abruptly and rushed back to her bedroom. As soon as her last piano student had left, she’d changed out of her jeans and sweater and back into her grubby sweats. Now she found the jeans and sweater rumpled at the top of her clothes hamper and she yanked them back on again.

  She hurried back to the kitchen and found a can of Pringles which she’d kept for emergencies, and her stash of dark chocolate which, thankfully, she’d recently replenished. She dumped the Pringles into a bowl, and broke up a couple of the candy bars and placed the squares on a little plate.

  Someone knocked on Eleanor’s door. “We’re here,” Hayley called.

  Eleanor walked over to the door and pulled it open. Before her stood Hayley and just one other person, Summer. Eleanor sighed in relief. For some reason, she’d been imagining Hayley would show up with a big group of people.

  “Come in,” Eleanor said, giving them a genuine smile.

  Hayley stepped forward with her arms laden with plastic bags and gave Eleanor an awkward hug because of all the stuff she carried.

  “Hey,” Summer said, grinning. “I hope you don’t mind me joining Hayley.” She stepped forward and pulled Eleanor into a hug, as well. She carried one thing: a giant bottle of margarita mix.

  “I don’t mind in the slightest,” Eleanor said truthfully. “I’m really happy you’re here.”

  Hayley found the kitchen and began unp
acking the plastic bags. “So we’ve got barbecue and margarita mix, and we can talk about men or not,” she said. “We’re here for you, Eleanor, okay?”

  Eleanor’s chest felt full. Did she have pneumonia? Was liquid collecting there? She breathed deeply, but didn’t detect a rattle or difficulty breathing. Not pneumonia. This feeling—it was gratitude and overwhelming emotion. “Thank you,” she said, blinking back tears. “I don’t even know what to say.”

  Eleanor helped Summer pour the margaritas while Hayley loaded up plates of ribs for the three of them. They took their food into the living room and settled around the tiny coffee table. Fido overcame his fear of strangers to investigate the plates.

  “He’s so sweet,” Summer exclaimed, petting him with the side of her hand that wasn’t coated in barbecue sauce.

  “He’s a menace,” Eleanor said, shaking her head. “He seems sweet now, but he’s still a kitten, and he doesn’t seem so sweet when he’s running across my face at three a.m.”

  Hayley laughed. “He’ll grow out of it, and then he’ll be a sedate, princely little predator.”

  They talked about cats, and their jobs. Summer had some disgusting tales to tell about her work as a dental hygienist. Hayley was excited to start classes for getting her contractor’s license.

  “Eleanor, you’re a piano teacher?” Summer asked.

  “Yeah. It’s not glamorous,” Eleanor said, “but I get to work from home, and I enjoy it.”

  “Can you play something for us?” Hayley asked.

  “What? Not a good idea. I’ve been drinking, my fingers would be all floppy.”

  “Please?” Summer asked.

  Eleanor grumbled through her smile. “Fine. But if it sounds terrible, I blame the margarita.”

  She sat down and found the opening notes for “Summertime.” She’d always liked Janis Joplin’s version, with the harsh, strident sounds of Joplin’s voice, and her incredible range. As she played, she remembered summers spent with the Jaynes siblings. Mostly Will. He’d been there every day, waiting at the edge of her yard until her mom had said she could go out. They’d hike around the wooded area behind her house. As soon as he could drive, he’d bring her over to his place, and Paris Lake, and they’d wade in the shallow water and look for frogs with Hayley and Jackson.