Glitter on the Web (36 page)

I yanked away. “Are you really going to put the moves on me while your sister is missing in a thunderstorm? Have you learned nothing, Eli?”

He dropped his hand, though whether in frustration or desperation I couldn’t be sure. “Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” His voice softened. “I trust you.”

Just as I opened my mouth to suggest we get the hell out of the barn for a start, his cell phone rang. He answered in a second. “Did you find her?”

I couldn’t hear the other half of the conversation. Instead I watched Eli closely. He walked over to his bed, where he flopped again—this time from sheer relief. “Thank God. We’ll be right there,” he started, but the other person cut him off. “What do you mean she doesn’t want to see me?” I could feel his throat close from where I stood. His heart shattered right in front of me. He listened intently for long minutes. Finally he said, “Fine. But can you just do me a favor, Michael? Tell her I’m sorry. And tell her I love her.”

He could barely say the words. I walked over to the bed, where I sat beside him again. He tossed the phone aside, dropped his head in his hands and cried. I rubbed his shoulders for comfort, holding him together as he fell promptly apart. It took long minutes before he could compose himself.

“That was Michael,” he finally said.

“I know.”

“She doesn’t want to see me.”

My heart broke for him. “I know.”

“They’re taking her back to Denver tonight. Beth knows a treatment center they can use. One of her friends went there.” His voice cracked. “She lost her battle.”

I leaned my head on his shoulder. My little wooden puppet had finally become a real boy, but at what cost? “At least someone knows how serious it is.”

He snorted. “The irony. The most vapid among us actually developed a plan of action. Michael said she was devastated when she realized how much had happened right under her nose.”

“Maybe they can save two people,” I said.

He nodded. “Is it too much to hope for a whole family?”

I brushed his hair from his face. “Aren’t you the one who always says to hold on to your dream? Seems silly to give up on hope now, especially when you need it so badly.”

He offered a humorless chuckle. “Leave it to you to throw my words back in my face, Sunshine.”

I leaned into him. “The name is Carly.”

His eyes met mine. “That’s why you hate that name, isn’t it? Just another mask you refuse to wear.”

I shrugged. I didn’t know what it meant.

“Everyone is packing up now. They said to avoid the house for a while.” He flopped on his back and stared at the sky overhead. “Probably for the best. Gives the storm a chance to pass.”

I found myself lying next to him. I didn’t have the heart to break it to him this particular storm was going to last a lot longer than he knew. Instead I held him. He wrapped his arms around me and together we watched the lightshow overhead.

I don’t know who first turned to whom. I think maybe we turned to each other at the same time. But suddenly we were locked in a long, silent gaze. I leaned forward, my lips parting over his.

He gathered me into his arms as he deepened the kiss. There were no cameras to record it, no friends, family or fans to dupe. I wanted to kiss him. And so I did.

He eased me over on top of him, until I straddled his hips. His hands cupped my face as he kissed me harder. I could feel the desperation in his kiss, as well as the desire in his body. I knew it only mirrored my own, as I kissed him back, rubbing my body against him.

It may have started as a lie, but it was real now. I wanted this man. More than that, I wanted to be claimed by this man. He didn’t require me to change. He didn’t hold his affection out on a stick, keeping me shackled to his expectations. Instead, he learned who I was, bit by bit, piece by piece. And it was okay.

I was okay.

I was what he wanted.

And God help me, he was what I wanted. This wasn’t just some schoolgirl crush anymore. We had been true partners for months, working together, sharing our lives, our thoughts and our dreams. He had started as a thorn in my side, yet somehow evolved into a friend.

And now he was kissing me like he’d die if I let him go.

When he began to peel the damp shirt from my shoulders, I didn’t resist. Instead I unbuttoned his shirt, one by one, sliding my hands across that satiny chest. He reached behind me to unhook my bra. The second it fell away, his mouth was on my breast, toying with me, teasing me. I gasped as I writhed against him.

He flipped me onto my back easily, crawling between my legs as he kissed his way down my shoulder, across my chest, licking every square inch of my breast until I squirmed beneath him. Those incredible blue eyes met mine. “I feel like I owe you something,” he murmured.

Our eyes locked and held as he trailed his tongue from between my breasts and across my stomach. He made quick work of the jeans I wore, unzipping them and peeling them from my body. My legs opened for him, but he took his time with his task, kissing and licking my sensitive inner thighs as he got ever closer to his target. I felt his breath warm me an instant before his tongue pinpointed my clitoris. I gasped again. Unlike the first time he had seduced me in such a manner, I didn’t take off like a bottle rocket. Instead it was a slower burn, because he took his time, savoring the taste of me. Those eyes watched my face as he gauged every move, changing his repertoire according to my gasps and groans. He’d take me right up to the brink, then slow it down again, blowing air against me, allowing me to float a little closer to earth, before he would repeat the process all over again. Finally I couldn’t take it anymore. “Eli, please,” I whimpered.

He latched that incredible mouth against me and suddenly I didn’t care about the storm raging outside. I was in outer space, orbiting Pluto. It wasn’t like the high of marijuana. This was pure pleasure releasing the endorphins in my brain, intoxicating me on nothing more than the man between my legs.

As I spasmed under him, he rose up to face me. Our gaze held as he slowly unfastened his belt and unzipped his jeans. Not-so-little Eli sprang forward, throbbing and impossibly hard. My whole body responded with need. I couldn’t stop myself from reaching for him even if I wanted to. He filled my hand, which only made other parts of me jealous. I used my other hand to reach for his neck, to pull him down for a kiss. I could taste myself on those lips. It was so primal I felt my head spin. I tugged his jeans over his ass, and he finally kicked them free before turning back to face me. He propped himself over me, to study me in the brilliant flashes of lightning just outside. When he finally lay on the makeshift mattress, he landed on his back, so that he could straddle me on top of him. His eyes focused on my face as he rubbed himself against me. “You’re so wet, so warm. I want to be inside you, Carly. I need to be inside you. Please.”

I shuddered. It was all I wanted. “Eli,” I started, though I had no idea what I was going to say.

He sat up, pulling me closer for another kiss. He searched my eyes with his as his tongue penetrated my mouth. “Don’t turn me away again. I need you. I want you. Tell me you want me too.”

I could barely speak as he kissed me deep and slow. “Eli,” I started again, as my brain and my heart waged an epic battle for control over my body.

“Please,” he repeated again, in a voice so soft it nearly shattered me. “Love me.”

I was defenseless after that. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him hard. His fingers dug into my back as he fought to get closer. There was only one way we could. I reached in between our bodies and positioned him, sliding down on top of him until we were one.

He shuddered against me as I buried him inside of me. Our kisses grew even hungrier. Our need was even greater. He grabbed both breasts in his hands as his mouth liberally explored mine. In between kisses, his eyes locked with mine, as if he could see my whole entire life play out before him. No secrets. No lies. Every good thing. Every bad thing. He wanted it all.

His hands slipped around my back, sliding down to cup each hip in his hand. He tilted my pelvis until he found the right spot, which I rewarded with a sharp cry. The target was locked. He used those hands to guide me as I rode him. My eyes started to close the closer I got to yet another orgasm. He shook his head.

“Look at me.”

I didn’t want to, but I obeyed. The look in those eyes helped push me over the edge. Suddenly I was coming. Then I was screaming. I’m not sure when he started to cry out as he bucked underneath me. I think I was still on my second orgasm, but who the hell knew? He knew just where to touch, just where to stroke. I was incoherent as I rode him. The way he lost control made me lose control.

I believed him. How in the hell did I believe him?

He released into me with a roar, his body pulsating inside me as he clutched me so close I couldn’t tell where he ended and I began.

He gathered me into his arms as he lay on his back, protecting our embrace, as though he wasn’t quite done yet. As if he couldn’t let me go.

Or maybe…

Just maybe…

That was me.

CHAPTER
TWENTY
-
TWO

Since our vacation was cut short by everything that happened in Fairplay, Eli decided that we needed to have a real vacation somewhere fun. I knew he needed a distraction, to keep his mind off of Gabby, so I agreed. He suggested Vegas. I made the mistake of confessing I had never gone, which sealed the deal. We boarded our private jet and hopped on over to Nevada. He had put in a call to the concierge at his favorite hotel, which had everything ready for us by the time the limo picked us up at McCarran International Airport.

We had made out like teenagers all the way there, so we continued the trend in the limo on the way to the resort. “We should fuck in the limo,” he suggested with that irrepressible smirk.

“We’re not fucking in the limo,” I told him, though I had to admit the idea did have some merit. I’d never done that either.

He pulled me into his lap, where I was straddling him on the seat. “You already conquered one fear. What’s left to be afraid of?”

He kissed me before I could answer the question… not that I had one.

Eli Blake had claimed me as sure as anyone had ever claimed anyone. From the moment that he disappeared inside me, I became another person entirely. Someone who needed someone else. I wanted him to touch me. I wanted him to take me.

I wanted him to love me.

It was the worst possible position to be in, yet I couldn’t resist him when he reached for me. I had been dickmatized by the biggest dick I had ever met, but yet I was powerless. My body hungered for him. His touch felt like a promise the universe had forgotten to fulfill. Time stopped for every kiss.

I had to wonder if it could put off our breakup indefinitely. After five more months with this man, how would I ever be able to walk away? Or let him go?

Fuck, I was a moron.

It didn’t help that he pulled out all the stops. He got us a penthouse suite with its own private balcony. He ordered an endless supply of champagne and flowers to fill the rooms, while he catered to my every desire.

“It’s Vegas,” he said with a smile. “You can have whatever you want. You should have whatever you want,” he added before he kissed me again.

He spun the web tighter around me. I was very, very close to disappearing entirely.

We went to shows, we gambled, we made love endlessly. We forfeited sleep on a nightly basis, just to get one more hit from this intoxicating new drug. He panted around me like a puppy after I finally knelt on my knees in front of him and fulfilled the tease I had started months before. He practically wilted onto his knees beside me when I was done. “Where did you learn how to do that?”

“Fat girls try harder,” I quipped. “Hadn’t you heard?”

His eyes were hard as he examined my face. “You’re not a fat girl, Carly.”

I shrugged. “So what if I am? There’s nothing wrong with it, is there?”

He carried me to the bed where he answered that question with his hands, his mouth and his body. If there was anything wrong with me, I sure didn’t know it.

No one could lie like Eli Blake.

On our last day he took me to the revolving restaurant on top of the tallest observation tower in the United States. He toasted me with a smile. “So what’s next for OGWO?”

I chuckled. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve become co-owner of the hippest club in Hollywood. You’ve become a sensuous model in demand. You’ve fucked me,” he grinned. “What’s my fearless girl going to tackle next? Marriage? Parenthood? A run for office?”

I laughed. “You first.”

His eyes met mine. “Suits me. Let’s do it together. Why not?”

I shrugged. “What’s your argument? That we’re not built to settle? And anything less than perfect would be a waste of time. And perfect doesn’t exist.”

“We’ve been together so long you finally sound like me,” he conceded.

“OGWO, remember?”

He chuckled as he leaned forward. “So how long is this one going to last, Oh Great Wise One?”

My gaze never wavered. “Until January 12.”

He sat back against the chair, swirling the wine around in his glass. “Touché.” He glanced out the window, staring into the night as he drank. I knew I had thrown too much reality on our dinner date. I knew I should probably apologize, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.

Instead, he turned to me with that trademarked, world-renowned smirk. “I think I know what we can do.” My eyebrow arched. “How do you feel about heights?”

Whether it was the endless string of orgasms or the constant river of alcohol, he managed to talk me into doing a jump on a zip line from the 108
^th
floor. (Told you. Dickmatized.) My first response was that of a normal person. “What? Are you crazy?”

“You’ve lived with me going on seven months and you still need to ask me that?”

“Apparently not,” I deadpanned.

“Come on,” he urged. I still shook my head, wasn’t interested, no thank you. That was when he called me a chicken and made some corresponding noises, attracting attention from passersby.