“Please.” He mumbled the word against the velvet of her lips, right before he pressed it into her, taking more before she could argue.
In the silence of the room, the only noises were the crackle of the flames devouring the logs in the fireplace…and their breathing.
Then his cell phone rang.
Eli clenched his eyes shut, mentally cursing whoever had the audacity to call and interrupt him. Like they knew what he was doing, but still. Pulling away, he blew out a breath through his nose and smiled, trying to downplay the frustration to the woman sweetly looking at him, a smile tugging at her mouth, but still so cautious. Her head was still resting against the couch, her brow furrowed, the worry present, just staring at him.
Without looking away, he shifted and pulled the cell out of his jeans pocket. Without turning to the screen, he answered as he continued to grin at the beautiful woman sitting next to him, hoping she would stay sitting and not take this opportunity to run to the safety of her temporary bedroom only a few feet away.
“Yeah?”
“Hey, E. I’ve got you on speaker phone here with Jess.”
“What’s up, Emery?”
“Dallas near you?”
“No. Do you want to talk to him?”
“No. No. We have a situation.”
His eyebrow went up as he took in Honor’s face. The grin on his face fell away instantly and he focused on the serious tone. The sudden panic sent his stomach plummeting. He blinked rapidly and pulled in a long steeling breath. With his eyes fixed on Honor and with her hand in his, he dared ask.
“What…kind…of situation?”
CHAPTER TEN
The pain of wanting the gorgeous devil sitting sideways on the couch with his whole sexy body close to hers and the tingle of his kiss still on her lips, was nothing compared to the pain that shot through her entire system at his question to the caller. The fear on Eli’s face as he spoke said volumes, and the way he stared at her so intently was excruciating.
The worry lines immediately spread across his forehead. The warmth of his hazel eyes vanished, leaving cold fear in its place.
Everything bad comes by way of a phone call. Her mother, Travis, Kolby. Everything.
Eli gripped her hand, almost painfully in his. She stared hard, watched the flare of his nostrils, the flash of his eyes, and the instant narrowing. His gaze remained locked on hers. Without looking down, she could see the rapid rise and fall of his chest. The phone call was unbearably long, but she never spoke, never tried to hurry him, never interrupted.
Manners be damned, she just didn’t want bad news. Call it women’s intuition, a sixth sense, a mother’s instinct. She knew. This wasn’t Eli’s problem, this wasn’t about the school, this wasn’t about him personally.
It was about her son. Her son.
Eli ended the call and laid his cell down on the coffee table. His motions were slow and deliberate, as if he was afraid to tell her what was going on. Her nerves gave way as she started to slide into a panic. She may not have wanted bad news, but if the man didn’t start filling her in within the next three seconds she was going to come unglued.
“Eli..?”
“I promise everything will be okay, he’s going to be fine.”
“You’re
not going to be okay if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on.”
He grabbed for her other hand. His fingers running their random patterns again, but in his uneasy state, the patterns were drawn fast, not the same lazy sexual patterns of moments ago.
“That was Jesse and Emery. They overheard some stuff a couple of the boys who are staying with them said.”
He was drawing out the inevitable, apparently choosing words that wouldn’t frighten her but, in all actuality, he was scaring the ever-lovin’ hell out of her. If he attempted to take one more deep breath, so help her, it would be his last.
“Damn it, Eli. Just spit it out.”
“It’s one of the older boys, not one staying with them, but I guess there’s one who’s really jealous. It’s that number seventy-nine. The older Highlends boy. I guess he’s been mouthing off to the other kids even though he knows we saw them get into it the other day.”
“Shit.” Her heart started beating, pounding in double-time to catch back up as she fell back against the couch. “Is that all?”
His eyes went wide in shock then narrowed in disbelief. “Is that…all?”
“You scared the hell out of me.”
He eyed her with a confused look. “Well, I have to say I’m still pretty freaked out. Why aren’t you?”
“He’ll be okay.”
“How in the hell can you be so calm? I don’t get it. He’s not my child, but I’m at a loss. We’ve never had this problem before. I’m so sorry, Honor.”
“Eli,” she said as she pulled one hand out of his hold to gently stroke his forearm. Trying to reassure him, she said, “There is no one here at this school to blame. He’ll be fine.”
“Honor—”
“Eli, it’ll be okay…really.” She shrugged, trying to find the words to explain without coming off arrogant. “We…we’re kind of used to this. We deal with this kind of crap on a regular basis.”
“You’re kidding me?”
She shrugged. “I wish I was. Everything was great until a couple of years ago. When kids started recognizing his name, well, let’s just say he’s had to watch his back on the track a few times.”
Dallas
had never gotten hurt deliberately, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t being given a hard time, regularly. Mac told them both it was bound to happen more and more, the older and better he got. Dallas never complained about or let the nasty comments and close calls on the track get to him. He acted like it never happened, so Honor followed his lead.
She wanted to panic, wanted to pull him out of the sport, but she couldn’t. What mother in her right mind would allow her child to remain in harm’s way? But she had other things to consider, and him quitting because she was scared wasn’t an option.
Honor watched Eli. The way his face held so much worry, and the way he looked so upset by the news. She tilted her head, studying him. His feelings were on the surface, so visible and so genuine, she could feel him working his way into her heart.
The cracks he’d been creating were widening. The kisses just about sent her into a tailspin. Sitting on the couch, she blamed the alcohol. It kept her from moving, it made her listen to his words, it prevented her from escaping the torture of desiring a man she couldn’t have.
He was too perfect. He was so amazing and so gentle, she could get lost in him. There was a warmth she’d never felt in a man’s arms before. She wanted to curl into him, let the world pass by around her, and never worry about another thing. Unfortunately, she knew how cruel reality was—it was unavoidable, inescapable.
Eli offered a dream. One she couldn’t risk taking, not when she wasn’t the only one who would get hurt. She would never gamble when it came to her son’s heart. For him she’d walk away from the one man who set her on fire with just a single kiss. The one man she instinctively knew, without a doubt, could love her wholly.
She understood the look on his face as she studied each line, the crinkles at the corners of his eyes, and the lines indented in his forehead. The sickened gaze. Those were the marks made on a parent’s face when their child was on the line.
Honor swallowed hard.
Shit.
She knew just how attached
Dallas had become to Eli. Honor let out a slow breath, reading the mutual feeling written all over Eli’s face.
“He’s not my son, Honor, I realize that, but I really think we should tell him. I thought after the other day, it was all over, but according to Jess and Emery and what they’ve heard, it sounds like things might be escalating. He has to be warned to watch his back. He has to keep his wits about him on the track. It’s only right,” he said, trying to convince her.
Unexpectedly, he pulled her into his arms. He obviously needed comforting. He seemed so unsure about what to do with the news, unsure of his next move. It was as if he was looking to her for her experience as a mother.
He wanted to protect her son. That was clear. She had no defense against something like that.
Without wanting to, she melted into him. If only for a little while, for a moment in time, she could pretend this was her world. She could pretend she wasn’t alone.
****
Eli dried the water from his face and laid the hand towel back down on the bathroom counter. He gripped the cold granite trying to steady himself through the wave of pain by shutting his eyes so tight he could damn near see stars. He held his breath and arched his back as the line of pain streaked down, arcing around to his left hip and radiating down his leg. With his breath held and his jaw clamped tightly shut, Eli shifted his weight to his right side, desperately trying to ease it.
The last several days had been the best in a long time, and the worst since he’d been forced into retirement. Working with
Dallas sparked a fire in Eli he thought had died when the doctors informed him he’d never make it back. The boy listened perfectly, was open to ideas, and was more than willing to do things Eli’s way.
When it came to respect, the boy had it in spades, and it made him a dream student. His riding was smooth and he had such natural ability, it made training with him exciting. But he got so into working with
Dallas that he forgot he’d been on his feet way longer than his back would allow. Also, there’d been several times he’d shown him how to do something on the bike by doing it himself first, and the extra movements were adding up.
Eli pulled a pair of cotton pajama pants out of his drawer. After putting them on he made his way to the fresh coffee he knew Honor would have waiting for him.
This morning, instead of her usual bashful grin, the one he seemed to catch her with every morning as she fluttered around his kitchen whipping up something delicious for breakfast, she was hunched over the table. She rolled her shoulders, apparently unaware that Eli was up yet, and rubbed Dallas’s back.
After the phone call Eli received the night before, he and Honor slipped downstairs and filled
Dallas in on the speculations. The boy never flinched, almost as if he had been expecting it. There was no drama, no yelling, no panic, just a quiet shrug of his shoulders and a timid smile. His mumbled, but sincere
thanks
almost did Eli in.
Last night never even seemed to faze the boy. However, this morning surrounded by textbooks, notebook paper, and worksheets, he was downright distraught. Eli stood leaning against the doorway listening to the soothing encouragement Honor gave her son. He watched as time and time again
Dallas erased the pencil marks he’d just written with a frustrated sigh.
Eli sat down on
Dallas’s other side and clasped his shoulder. “What’s going on, buddy?”
Dallas
’s shoulders slumped, and he lowered his head even more than it already had been. For the first time since Eli met him, Dallas wouldn’t look him in the eye.
This wasn’t the boy he knew, the boy who was fearless on the track, completely in control of his every move. If possible,
Dallas sunk down even further within Eli’s grasp. He peeked over the boy at Honor, and her face said it all. The worry, fear, sadness, and pain were all written in every line of her face, the furrow of her brow. She hadn’t been nervous at all for him to clear the triple out on the track, but buried in fractions and spelling words, the two of them appeared almost hopeless.
“Tell you what, guys, Dallas, go grab a shower buddy, and then I’m taking—”
“Eli, we have to get through this.” Honor’s face pled for understanding. “I know you want him on the track as much as possible while we’re here, but he’s falling behind in his schoolwork. Work that was already hard for him. We can’t. I know that was our deal. I’m so sorry.”
He shook his head with a sly grin on his face. “Trust me. I promise I won’t let you down.” Eli turned his attention back and patted
Dallas’s back and found a small glimmer of hope in the child’s eyes. “Go on. Be ready in twenty minutes, okay?”
Dallas
started to pack up his papers, when he picked them up off the table Eli snaked a hand out. “Leave ’em.”
Both
Dallas and Honor glanced at him, puzzled about his intentions. He wiggled his eyebrows, quite proud of his plan. He knew exactly where they were going, who they were going to see, and exactly what the results would be. As usual, he was going to have to prove to Honor, not only how much he cared, but also in his ability to take care of her and Dallas.
After
Dallas left the room headed for freedom from his books, Eli turned to Honor and waited for her to lash out. Not only assuming, but expecting her to question his dismissal of Dallas’s schoolwork.
Instead she stood up, went to the
coffee maker, filled the mug she had waiting by it, and added a generous teaspoon of sugar, just the way he drank it. Bringing not only it, but also the four pills she apparently knew he needed, along with a basket of still warm blueberry muffins. Placing all of her gathered loot in front of him, she sat, tilted her head, and waited.
Eli smirked to himself. The simple fact they had a routine made his heart swell. The gesture of having his coffee and much needed pain relief ready was enough to make him want to shake her, or hug her—maybe both—just to point out the obvious. Surely she wanted him, doing little things like that proved to him she did. Whether she realized it or not, those were huge gestures that meant she cared.
“So…?”
Eli took his time pulling the paper wrapper off the muffin, the sweet smell making his mouth water. He had begged her to relax while she was in his home and told her she didn’t need to cook or do anything else while she was his guest. She never listened. His arguments were becoming halfhearted with every bite of her food.
“Eli.”
She broke into his concentration, and he turned back to her with a smile. “I keep telling you, Honor…I want you. So, please, let me take care of you.”
She shook her head with her eyes narrowed. “But this isn’t about me, Eli.”
He held the coffee up, poised to take a nice long swallow. Pulling in a deep breath of the aroma, Eli glanced over the mug into the deep violet eyes trained on him. He tried to ignore the way she looked in the fitted t-shirt and worn jeans. Tried not to let the way her hair was thrown up in a haphazard bun, that left her neck bare to him except for a the few escaped curls calling to him. With an unraveling thread of control, he tried not to put the coffee down and pull her into his hold, kissing her, and showing her how much he wanted her.
“Isn’t it? The way I see it, sweetheart, if I take care of Dallas then, in effect, I am taking care of you. He needs help, help that I know how to give him. So, please let me.”