Unable to stop the tears from flowing, she quickly looked down at the floor. She wanted to wipe them away, but he would see. This was pathetic. Here she was so confused and strung out on him that she was about to have a nervous breakdown, and he was satisfied with uh-huh.
Suddenly the car came to a screeching halt and Sophie found herself thrown against the wall.
Chapter 26
She looked up to see Eliot standing beside the controls, as calm as a summer day. Had he pushed the button on purpose?
“What are you doing?” She finally wiped at her eyes, having a hard time seeing through the tears.
“Finally…” He released a heavy sigh. “I was starting to think you were made of stone.”
“What are you talking about?”
He walked to her, and lifting a finger he caught a tear on his hand. “This is real. Not all that bluster and bullshit you were giving me in the hall. This.” He lifted his hand to show her the tiny puddle of water in his palm. “ThisI believe.”
She concentrated as hard as possible but was unable to stop the flow of tears. “I hate you,” she finally cried out. “I hate you so much!”
“No, baby…you hate that you can’thate me. You want to.” He huffed. “I know, because I want to hate you, too.”
“Start this elevator car, right now!”
“No, not until we get some things straightened out.”
“Start this car, El! I mean it!”
“We need to talk, really talk, and this is the only place we can.”
“The alarm will go off soon, then what will you do?” She smirked.
“Not unless someone attempts to open the door.” His eyes narrowed. “And don’t even think about it.”
“Fine! You want to talk? Talk!” She folded her arms across her chest and backed into the corner.
“I swear.” He shook his head. “It’s like trying to hug a cactus.”
She huffed. “Well, this cactusdoesn’t want your hugs.”
He moved closer. “This cactusneeds hugs more than most.” Bracing an arm on either side of her head, he effectively locked her in place. “What’s changed, Sophie? Can you tell me that? You’re still the woman you were last week. I’m still the same man—”
“No! You’re not!”
“Do I sound any different? Do I look any different?” Lifting her hand, he pressed it against his chest, and she tried to ignore the rapidly beating heart beneath the suit jacket. “Do I feel any different?”
“Define different.”
“What?”
“Define different.Elberto, the man you pretended to be—is he real and therefore differentfrom Eliot, the heir to the Fulton fortune? Which is real, Eliot or Elberto? How would I know different, if I don’t know the real you?”
“You know the real me.”
“Everything you told me was a lie.”
“Not everything.”
“Everything!”
“Come on, Sophie, you know that’s not true.”
“You have got my head so screwed up, I have no idea what is true! Is the man I fell in love with true or just a figment of my imagination? How can I ever be sure?”
“You’re just going to have to trust me.”
She laughed. “Plleeaasse.”
Eliot stared at her.
“You’re kidding me! Everything you told me from the moment we met was a lie. And I’m supposed to just trustyou? How many kinds of fool do you think you can make me?”
“You’re not a fool. Just a little too trusting.”
“Not anymore. Thank you for the education.” She was having a hard time ignoring his familiar musk cologne. It was working on her sense like an aphrodisiac.
He was watching her carefully, as if he were trying to see inside her head. She looked away, and he tilted his head to maintain eye contact.
“Sophie, have I ever told you how your eyes sparkle when you’re thinking about sex?” He smiled. “It was the main reason I couldn’t resist you—I didtry. But then you would look at me with those hungry eyes.” He took a deep breath. “Those sweet, hungry eyes. What man could walk away from that? Your eyes would sparkle the way they’re sparkling now,” he said. He leaned even closer until his hot breath was on her neck.
Sophie swallowed, feeling his lips so close to the skin of her neck. So close. “Leave me alone,” she whispered.
“I can’t.”
“I don’t want to have sex with you.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I despise you.”
“Maybe, but that doesn’t change what we both want.”
“I don’t want you.”
His eyes dropped to his chest, then back up to hers. “Look.”
Sophie followed his eyes and realized at some point she’d reached up and taken hold of his jacket lapels. She instantly released him, and the shock did what anger could not. It stopped the tears.
“Do you really want to ruin both our lives over one idiotic move?”
Sophie couldn’t answer. She was too shaken up by her body’s involuntary reaction to him.
“Close your eyes.”
“No.”
He tilted his head to the side. “I promise not to kiss you, just close your eyes.”
“No.”
“Okay. I was on my way out to find you some more clients, but if you’d rather spend the day trapped in an elevator with me, I’m willing to accommodate you,” he said.
“Fine.” She closed her eyes and then they instantly popped back open. “But I swear, you better not try anything.” Then she closed her eyes once again.
“Now, try to imagine yourself in ten years. Imagine what you would look like, how you may have changed, and the goals you’ve set for yourself.”
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
She released a heavy sigh. “This is silly.”
“Tick, tock, tick—”
“Fine, I see myself in ten years.”
“Where are you?”
“Why does that matter?”
“Where are you?”
Another deep sigh. “I’m in the bakery. Grandma has retired, so I’m running the store.”
“Who’s there besides you…and Wayne.”
She smiled. “What makes you so sure Wayne will be there?”
“Trust me, Wayne’s there. Who else?”
“Lonnie and Dante, and the realbaker I hired ten years before to replace you. He’s wonderful by the way, in the bakery andin the bedroom.”
El smiled at the smug little smirk on her lips. “I can’t believe this. You’re actually trying to make me jealous of a figment of your imagination.”
“Let’s not forget you’rea figment of the imagination.”
“No baby, I’m a real, flesh-and-blood man, no matter how you may want to deny it.”
“Eliot Wright is real, El was a dream—or should I say nightmare.”
“We’re getting off track. Who else is in the bakery with you?”
“I’ve had to hire all kinds of new staff to service our huge and growing clientele.” She smiled, truly seeing that future now and liking what she was seeing. “We gained many more clients after Fulton Foods went out of business,” she said sarcastically.
“You won’t have to wait long for that,” he muttered.
Her eyes popped open. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t worry about it. Close your eyes.”
“El, don’t try to take on your uncle—”
“Close your eyes, stubborn woman.”
Hesitantly, she closed them again.
“Who else is there, other than the staff?”
She frowned. “Who else would be there?”
“A husband, maybe a child or two. Who do you share your life with, Sophie?”
“I don’t know. I’m still getting over you.”
“But you can see someone in your future?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
He watched the pained expression cross her face.
“Where am I?”
“How would I know?”
“Aren’t we still in touch?”
“Of course not!”
“Why not?”
Her eyes popped open. “Because ten years ago you broke my heart and made it impossible for me to ever love another man as much as I loved you.”
El looked directly into her eyes. “Do you ever think about me?”
Sophie hesitated for several long seconds before saying, “All the time.”
“Why don’t you pick up the phone and call me?”
“Because it still hurts.”
“But not as much as it used to?”
She looked away. “No, not as much. Besides, you probably already married.”
“No, I never did.”
“Really?” She looked into his eyes.
“Really. I spent the years trying to find a woman to fill the void
you left in my life, but it was never right. And I couldn’t bring myself to settle for less than what we had. But I do still think about you all the time, and occasionally I drop by and visit Mama Mae and she keeps me up to date on how your life is going.”
“You’d actually try to pump information out of my grandmother?”
“I wouldn’t have to try; she would willingly offer it. She still loves me, unlike her granddaughter. She always wished we could’ve worked things out.”
Sophie felt an eerie chill run down her spine, remembering Mae’s parting words as she left the bakery earlier.
As if he’d worked some kind of magic spell on her, Sophie was amazed to find the pain of his betrayal did seem less sharp than earlier that morning. It was as if he’d really transported them through time and allowed her to see that the pain would eventually heal.
She pushed against him, and moved away from the corner. “This is silly.”
“I agree. Two people, both miserably unhappy for the rest of their lives, all because of one really stupid mistake that will one day be long forgotten. You’re right, that is silly.” He came up behind her. “Can’t you see it, Sophie? A future where you and I are running the bakery together? Our children eventually getting big enough to help out, and then we’ll teach them the business so they can pass it on to the next generation. All our days together, all our nights together.” He slipped his arm around her waist. “Can’t you see it, Sophie?”
Feeling weak with need, she laid her head back against his chest. “Don’t do this to me, El.”
“I’ve gotten a little gray around the edges, thanks in part to that stubborn-as-a-mule daughter you gave me.” He laid a possessive hand across her midsection. “And your perfect flat stomach now has a few beautiful stretch marks.” He kissed her cheek. “I like to think of them as battle scars.”
“Please, El, I’m not this strong.”
“We have a beautiful home now, and the mortgage to go with it, but we still keep the little room in the back of the bakery for
our afternoon rendezvous. One day our youngest son found it and asked why we kept a bed in there. Remember the lame excuse you gave him?”
She shook her head, refusing to get caught in the wonderful imaginary future he was painting right before her eyes.
“Sure you do,” he continued. “You told him that we kept it there in case one of the customers fainted while in the store.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “That’s the best you could do? You’re right, that is lame.”
“Don’t blame me. It was yourexplanation.”
“I’d come up with something a lot more clever than that.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, for instance, I’d tell him we kept it in there as a memorial of when we first met. He’d of course ask what I meant, and I’d tell him the story of how I came home from the hospital on crutches and there you were.”
“And I’d tell him how the first time I laid eyes on you I knew I had to have you.”
“And I’d tell him what a filthy, lying bastard you were, and how all the time you were plotting and conniving to run us out of business.”
He kissed her cheek again. “And I’ll tell him how you punished me for that, by scaring me to thinking we would never be together again. And then how you forgave and redeemed me and made me a better man.”
She stepped out of his arms and turned to face him. “If you want redemption, talk to God.”
“I just want you, and that future I can see so clearly.” He held out his hand to her. “Well…what will it be, Sophie? Are we going up or down?”
“Neither.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his, and Eliot eagerly accepted the invitation. Lifting her from beneath each thigh, he wrapped her slender legs around his waist and backed her against the wall.
Chapter 27
Feeling his body pressed to hers, Sophie wanted to shout her joy and satisfaction to the heavens! How she’d missed this. The feel of his large hands holding her thighs in his firm grip as his mouth took hers.
“I promise, Sophie, no more secrets,” he said. Pressing his groin against her center, he simulated all the things he would do to her. And as always, it felt like he was issuing a silent challenge. Daring her to meet his passion with hers. And when she tried, he’d only push her further and further until Sophie was certain there could be nowhere else left to go.
“I’ve missed you,” he said, and then moaned against her shoulder. “Don’t ever push me out again. Please, baby, hit me, throw something at me if you have to, but being away from you is torture I cannot stand.”
Sophie had no words for him. All she could do was tell him with her body what she wanted. She wrapped her arms around his waist, her fingers wiggling beneath the material of his jacket, and he instantly understood. They pulled the jacket off his shoulder and threw it across the car.
She began to unbutton his dress shirt, and he quickly took over, so she turned her attention to his tie. Soon his beautiful, muscular chest was revealed. The soft, brown curls that sprinkled it led down into his slacks.
Sophie ran her fingers down that line, thinking that had to be one of the sexiest parts of a man’s body. The way their chest hair served as a treasure map. She quickly pulled her shirt over her head, and he came to her at once. Pulling the white bra straps down her arms, baring her shoulders for his mouth.
She went weak-kneed as his open mouth clamped down on a shoulder. His large hands wrapped around her bottom, pulling her up against his hard arousal. There were always too many clothes between them.
Feeling his throbbing organ pushing into the crotch of her jeans, Sophie opened her legs wider. He took the invitation and pushed hard against her, rubbing deep into her slit. The tough blue jeans didn’t stand a chance against a man determined to reach his destination.
The bra slipped off a breast as his hungry mouth took its place, sucking her into the warm cavity. His tongue circled and darted around the hardened nipple until it was sore with his attention. As if sensing her growing discomfort, he released the other and turned his attention there.
“El.” Her head moved left and right, seeking, wanting, not knowing how to tell him. Her mind was scrambled with the sensory delights coming at her from all angles. All she could do was stand pressed against the wall where he held her, accepting and waiting for whatever would come next.
She didn’t have to wait long. He moved like a bolt of lightning. Kneeling before her, he quickly unsnapped her jeans and pulled them down over her hips.
Plunging his tongue in the V-crotch of her silky panties, he licked and laved until they were wet with both his juices and hers. She twisted restlessly, wanting the jeans off, wanting his mouth fully against her.
But still he continued to torment her. His hands, wrapped around her bare bottom, squeezed the pliable flesh between his
fingers. Firmly holding a cheek in each hand so she could not squirm out of his reach.
Feeling the fire at the core of her being beginning to burn out of control, Sophie grabbed on to his soft locks, trying to find some stabilizing force as the first wave washed over her. Her whole body trembled in release, and before the sensations had even stopped, he was pulling her jeans down farther. Lifting first one leg, then the other, he peeled away her tennis shoes and pants and tossed them aside.
Sophie thought how awkward she must look, standing there completely bare except for her bra, which was still snapped around her midsection. Eliot couldn’t have cared less as he stood before her, unbuttoning his pants.
He gave them one hard push to get them down around his hips. From a pocket he produced a condom and quickly slipped it over the head of his full erection, then lifted her again. Looking directly into her eyes, he pushed her against the wall once more, but this time it was with him buried deep inside her.
Eliot held her firmly in place. As he pushed even deeper inside her, he whispered in her ear, “Open for me, baby.”
And she tried, using his shoulders to pull herself up. She cried out as she felt him sinking even farther into her center. She felt her body stretching to accommodate him as he continued to go even deeper.
“El, I can’t…” she moaned, far beyond the ability to form complete sentences. With her face pressed against his bare chest, she could hear his pounding heart racing beneath his skin.
“Ssh, yes, you can,” he said quietly, his deep voice rumbling from somewhere over her head, his throbbing organ growing inside her.
“El—I…” She shook with force, crying out, her back arching as the second orgasm struck her with an unexpected suddenness.
Eliot held her tightly in his arms as he was drenched in liquid woman. “That’s it, baby, that’s it,” he said between gritted teeth, as his orgasm followed on the end of hers.
His arms tightened around her body as he pushed one of her legs farther up on his hip, opening her wider. Taking long strokes,
he rode his release to completion, pushing relentlessly into her body until Sophie didn’t think she could take any more.
Then suddenly another orgasm followed his, and she gripped his strong arms and rode the wave. As she slowly came down from the final orgasm, she laid her head on his broad shoulder. Feeling wonderfully exhausted, she opened her eyes and found herself looking directly at a small, black bulb in the far top corner of the elevator.
“El?”
“Hmm?” he muttered, placing gentle kisses along her shoulder and arm.
“Is that a camera?”
He froze, then slowly turned to look over his shoulder. “Oh shit!”
Like cold water being poured over their heads, the sensual mood evaporated as he dropped her legs. He scrambled around to get her clothes and pushed them into her hands. Lifting his arms, he tried to block her from the camera. “Hurry up, and get dressed,” he said.
She quickly shimmied into her jeans and briefly glimpsed a serious frown on his face. Then pushed her bra back in place up on her shoulders, and he watched with growing desire as she re-cupped her breasts. By the time she slipped her top over her head, Sophie was shivering with pent-up laughter.
Soon, El was laughing with her. He rested his forehead on her shoulder, and sighed. “I bet I know what we’ll be discussing at the next tenant meeting.” And then they both burst into laughter again.
Later that night, their bodies twined together in his large bed, Eliot held her arms over her head as he entered her body once again. The moonlight streaming through the slightly opened window brought with it a cool late summer breeze.
“I love you, Sophie,” he whispered against her hair. He knew that no place in the world could ever feel as good or right as where he was right now. Buried deep inside this woman he adored.
“I love you, too,” she moaned, her back arching as she welcomed him into her.
Shifting his body weight to his elbows, he put his lower back
to work, slowly thrusting and withdrawing from her, until she was clinching to hold him inside. Still he continued his slow assault, pausing occasionally to hold back the quickly rushing orgasm. He wanted this to last as long as possible.
He leaned back on one elbow, cupping a small, perfectly formed breast in his hand. He simply held it, enjoying the play of the moonlight across her flawless, dark skin.
“What?” she asked, seeing his thoughtful expression.
“You’re so beautiful.”
“According to you.”
He shifted back over the top of her. “Does anyone else’s opinion matter?”
She smiled. “No.”
“Then my assessment stands. You’re beautiful.”
Her smiled widened. “As long as you think so, I’m a happy woman.”
Pulling back, he watched the emotions run across her face, as he pushed into her…pleasure. As he pulled back…regret, and then he returned, plunging deep inside…relief.
She was indeed beautiful, everything from the softly perfect body that brought him hours and hours of pleasure to her kind heart and generous nature. He loved that she was sharp-minded and could match wits with him on almost any topic, but she wasn’t showy about her intellect. Never needing to prove anything to anyone. She was comfortable in her skin and confident in her ability. Eliot knew that they were the perfect complements to each other.
She pushed herself on him, trying to force him to move. But Eliot only grinned wickedly down at her face. “No, you made me wait too long for this. I plan to enjoy every minute of it.”
“What about me?” She pouted coyly. “I need you right now.”
He chuckled and winked. “We’ll take care of you next time.”
She punched his arm. “Oh, no, you didn’t just say that!”
He laughed, and released an exaggerated sigh. Then quick as a flash, he moved, lifting both her legs over his shoulder, leaving her wide open as he drove himself to her very center.
“Is that better?” He gritted his teeth, fighting to hold back his
release once again. She felt so damn good, it was incredible that he’d held off this long.
“Yes, oh, yes, much better,” she whined. Reaching up, she grabbed the headboard. “Love me, El, please…please!”
If there was a man out there somewhere strong enough to resist such a plea, Eliot knew he’d never met him. And he certainly was not that man. Bracing his body on his hands, he lifted himself and sunk deep inside her.
A deep growl escaped his throat as she exploded around him. Bucking beneath him, she whimpered and moaned as the ecstasy of the moment washed over her.
Eliot was closely following, but he fought with everything in him, needing to be with her like this as long as possible. Sweat was rolling in streamlets down the center of his back to his narrow waist, and then her hands were there. Around his waist holding him, while she pushed herself on him, gyrating against him, and finally he could not hold back any longer as he poured his soul into her.