Kiss and Burn (9 page)

His
smile was sheepish as he stood there, appearing as though he had no idea what
he should do next. “Sorry.”

“Is
there a
reason
you decided to throw
me around?”

Eli
tilted his head. “Yes there is actually.”

“Which
would be…?”

He
smirked. “I had decided to ravish you in the filthiest of ways and now… Now I’m
wondering if I should take a different approach.”

She
swallowed. “Erm,
different?
Why do we
have to go with different? I find myself pretty attached to the first idea.”

The
curve of his lips broadened as he leaned forward and placed his palms on the
bed. “You may find yourself pretty attached to different also.”

He
prowled forward on his hands and knees until he hovered just a hair’s breath
away from her. His arms then bracketed her on either side as he gazed down into
her face. “Hi.”

Someone
this position was more intimate than any other they’d ever been; including the
minutes that his oral fixation had taken hold. Carmen’s grin was slow and shy.
“Hi.”

“You
don’t mind this do you?” he asked as he used a thigh to nudge her legs apart,
placing the strong muscle between them. “The different approach I mean?” He
moved his leg in a way that made her arch upwards, her hands coming down on his
shoulders. Eli leaned forwards, rubbing the tip of his nose against her own.
“Fucking you senseless holds its merits but making you ache,” he placed a kiss
at the corner of her mouth. “Listening to you purr,” one arm found its way
around her waist, pulling him deeper into the curve of her body. “Watching your
eyes glaze over and your chest shudder with the inability to breathe,” he
trailed the fingers of his free hand up her torso. “Well the appeal of that is
greater.”

Yeah.
Yeah it was. They hadn’t be alone five minutes and already the seat of her
little cotton briefs were soaked. She’d gone for comfort rather than general
allure and
almost
wished she’d chosen
another pair seeing as how these were printed with the Looney Tunes. Carmen
stopped considering the design of her underwear the moment Eli licked the seam
of her lips. She also stopped breathing.

He
repeated the motion and she opened her mouth, groaning at the wet lash of his
tongue as it tunneled inside, tangling with hers frantically. Eli moved her
legs so that he now rested between them and those lovely jersey shorts revealed
every steel inch of the thick length that rested between his thighs. Overtly
large he was not, but big enough to make her eyes roll back when he bumped the
apex of her thighs? Yes.

She
clutched at his back, writhing beneath him as his hips pumped against hers.
With fabric between the two of them, the desperate gasp that left her throat
shouldn’t have manifested but, the absence of pleasure for so long had left her
needy and Eli was obviously more than willing to put salve on that particular
wound. Her legs spread further, her ankles locking at the base of his spine
while they ground into one another in greedy, ridiculously obscene motions.

“I’ve
been hard for you all week,” he rasped against her throat after releasing her
mouth. “Remembering the way you tasted. The way you screamed.”

A
whimper rumbled out of her.

“Thought
about the way you clutched my head, how your nails skimmed my scalp,” he
continued. “Thought about the way your thighs tensed when I wrapped my lips
around your clit.”

Carmen
bit the bottom rim of her mouth to keep the small sob resting on her tongue at
bay.

“Look
at me,” Eli demanded. “Look at what you have me doing.” He moved against her
faster. “Acting like a fucking kid. Coming in my pants because you feel just
that good.”

She
jerked his head down, sure that if he kept talking she’d black out. He sucked
on her tongue and the sensation swept across her skin, awakening every
sensitive part of her. If this wasn’t him fucking her senseless, then God only
knew what would happen when they finally got undressed.

“E-Eli,”
Carmen breathed. “I’m—”

“Coming?”
he prodded, rolling his hips against her in a slow counter clockwise motion
that made an orgasm tear up her spine hard, relentlessly hard. “Fucking. Good.”

Her
eyes slammed shut as the climax took hold and didn’t release her until it wrung
her dry. When they finally stopped moving, Eli simply rolled to the side, chest
heaving.

She
waited for him to say something,
anything.
And then he did.

“Do
you want to use the shower first or should I?”

He
didn’t want to break her, didn’t want her to stop calling him on his shit but
he
did
want her hungry. Hunger led to
confessions, confessions led to action and, action led to gratification in some
way or another. Eli had a goal. By the end of this week, Carmen wouldn’t be
able to walk away from him like he was a simple itch that she needed relief
from. No, she’d feel the same uncompromising obsession that he had the first
time he kissed her. It made him selfish, it made him irrational, it made him a
complete bastard but he couldn’t be the only one utterly fixated between the
two of them. She had to want it too. She had to be as preoccupied with him as
he was her.

Eli
couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a conversation with a woman that
didn’t include a flash of thigh or a light squeeze to his bicep, nonsensical
words spilling just for the sake of filling the air between them with niceties
until the end goal of sex was met and completed. He wanted to know her favorite
color, wanted to see her eyes light up when she talked about possibly expanding
her restaurant again and he wanted to understand why in all
fuck
she was still single because right
now he couldn’t grasp it. He wanted to but he really couldn’t and to outright
ask may send the wrong impression.

Which would be what, asshole? That you may want
more than to dirty up a few hotel surfaces with her? Isn’t that the point of
all of this?

It
would seem that way considering the thought of her with someone else,
anyone else,
made him want to hurt
things. Eli sucked in a deep breath and tried to ignore the agony in his groin
as he took a step out of the shower and snatched down a towel. A quick glance
at the clock told him it was a little ways past 2 p.m. which meant there was a
fully seven hours to go before the 70’s party tonight. Though he’d left Carmen
to bathe without making another advance, he was in no ways opposed to making
good of the time between now and the event they all planned to enjoy.

Eli
wrapped a towel about his waist and padded to the door, steam from the
previously used hot water rushing out. He had every intention of dropping that
towel and making Carmen scream loud enough that the neighboring people on each
side of them mistook her pleasure for a horror movie but she was gone. Narrowed
eyes found the note she left on the bed.

Gone for the spa and a tour. –Carmen.

Involuntarily,
he smirked, twirling the small piece of notepad paper through his fingers. Oh
he didn’t mind the tour or the spa time. She needed all the relaxation she
could handle before he got his hands on her later tonight.

His
smirk turned into a leer as his gaze caught on her suitcases neatly tucked away
in the open closet. Eli dropped the note. For once, he was glad that Carmen had
left him alone.

***

Coward.
She was such a coward. The moment the bathroom door had closed behind Eli and
she could hear him humming Adele, Carmen had taken off with no more than a note
and a backward glance. A few hours of being rubbed down, waxed and taken about
the coast, had managed to muffle the echo of her own screams in her ears. Eli
did things to her that weren’t plausible or natural and she liked it. She liked
it entirely too much. In a moment of panic, sure that he’d come strolling out
of the shower, smelling like clean soap and sex god, she’d run. And now with
the never ending throb pulsing between her thighs because of what they’d done
hours ago, she wished she hadn’t. Maybe then her lust could’ve been sated.
Maikao and Addison had more than likely been breaking their bed in.

Bottom
lip caught between her teeth, Carmen approached her room’s door and slid the keycard
through. They only had a half an hour before the party began and she needed to
get ready. The second the door swung open she stopped in her tracks, eyes
blinking repeatedly in the hopes that she would understand what she was seeing.

“Eli?”

He
swung around from the mirror he’d been standing in front of and his lips spread
into a wolfish grin. “Well hello there, foxy.” Gliding towards her, he stopped.
“How’s it hanging?”

Carmen
bit the inside of her cheek and gave him a once over. “What… what happened to
your hair?”

Frowning,
he reached up and patted what she thought
had
to be a wig. “Don’t kill my vibes, sweetness. This here is what’s called a
Jewfro.”
The thick mass of curls had
come from literally
nowhere.
“Usually
I keep it tamed with a little product but tonight I figured I’d let it do its
thing.” He materialized a pick and combed through it.

“Give
me a moment. I’m attempting to process the anomaly before mine eyes.”

Combined
with his “
Jewfro”
Eli had shaved the
majority of his beard so that it was nothing but a cleanly cut goatee around
his mouth now. Thankfully he’d left his side burns alone. His lightly haired
chest was partially visible through the opening of his plaid leisure suit’s
unbuttoned shirt and jacket; as was the thick gold Star of David medallion he
wore. On his left pinky sat a class ring and when Carmen glanced down she saw
something that made her brows touch her hairline.

“Sir…
is that a
sock?”

Running
his thumbs on the inside of his waistband, he rocked back and forth on the
leather ankle boots he wore, tsking, “Baby, baby, baby, why would I need a
sock?” His grin was slow and wide. “When I have all this here?” He jerked the
pants about.

“And
I’m done now.” She turned on the heels of her feet and headed for the closet.
“I’m getting ready for the party and avoiding your eyes for the rest of the
night because I’m feeling rather disturbed.”

He
chuckled. “You do that. I’m going to cool it out on the balcony.”

When
he strode past her there was a slight dip to his walk that would’ve blended
perfectly for the era he was imitating.
“Dios
mío, ¿quién es este hombre?”

She
didn’t know what perturbed her more; the fact that he’d gone through so much
trouble to stuff his broad ass into that suit or the fact that she
liked
it. Rolling her eyes towards the
ceiling, Carmen rifled through her suitcase until she found the short pleated
high-waisted skirt and bell sleeved blouse she’d been looking for. Her make-up
kit already sat on the bathroom sink and without much trouble at all she slid
everything into place. The skirt went on with ease, the shirt tied beneath her
breasts and the thick headband she’d bought, pushed her hair back without an
issue. She completed the look with knee high socks and stacked Mary-Janes. With
a few finishing touches to her make-up, she was out the door and running into a
hard wall of chest, covered in a polyester blend.

Eli
stared down at her and gave a wolf whistle. “You look—”

She
slapped a hand over his mouth. “If the words
out of sight
leave your lips, you will be buried in that suit.”

She
felt his lips curve beneath his palm. Reaching upwards, he lightly gripped her
wrist and tugged it down. “For your information, I was going to say you look incredible.”

Carmen
nodded once. “Thank you.” She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “Party
starts in ten. We should probably go hose Mak and Addie down.” Moving to step
past him, she was surprised to find herself facing the wall, her back pressed
to Eli’s chest.

“Not
so fast, sweetness. I’m curious about something.”

Swallowing
as she felt Eli’s palms sliding against her torso and down her hips, she softly
asked, “What?”

“Would
you happen to be,”—he licked the shell of her ear, one hand veering to her left
breast—“wearing panties?”

Her
heart stopped momentarily before speeding up to a rapid pace that pounded in
her ears. “Y-yes…”

Grunting,
he flicked his thumb across her nipple and said, “I want them.”

Carmen’s
mouth went dry. “You want
what?”

“Your.
Panties.”

She
didn’t move.

“I’m
going to back away, you’re going to turn around, slide them down your legs and
hand them to me. I’m then going to tuck them in my pocket and keep them for the
rest of the night, well aware that at any moment I can place my fingers between
your legs and touch you without any barriers. Now, let me ask you Carmen, do
you have any objections to that?”

Breaths
shuddering out, she shook her head jerkily.

Eli
hummed. “Good.” He backed away from her.

Carmen
turned slowly and kept her eyes on the carpet.

“Look
at me,” he demanded.

She
lifted her gaze and locked onto his, unable to keep her promise to avoid eye
contact. With shaky hands, she slipped the hem of her skirt higher up her
thighs and hooked a finger into the side of her thong.

He
stood and watched as she slid the scrap of lace past her thighs, allowing it to
pool about her ankles. Without a word, she dipped to pick them up and held them
out. Irises smoldering, Eli took them, twirled them around one finger and then
stuffed them into the breast pocket of his jacket.

Her
shoulders hit the wall as she tried to draw in a normal inhale.

Clapping
his hands together her said, “Now let’s go boogie, baby.”

Repeating
the swagger heavy steps from earlier, he ambled to the door, tossing her a wink
over his shoulder. He was trying to fucking
kill
her.

***

He
was a goddamned masochist; had to be. That was the only explanation for why he
would actually take Carmen’s
underwear
and
carry them around all the while watching her across the club,
knowing
she’d probably gotten freshly
waxed today. Yeah. Goddamn masochist. The skirt she’d chosen to wear…

“You
don’t look relaxed at
all,”
Maikao
pointed out, coming to stand next to him by the bar as Pink Floyd began to
blare out of the speakers. Eli’s friend had chosen a full on flower child
ensemble complete with bell-bottoms and a fringe vest. He’d had more than
enough fun mocking him while complimenting Addison on her choice of a white
maxi dress and wreath of flowers in her hair.

“Because
my dick hurts,” Eli growled, taking a drink from a bottle of beer in his hand.

“The
information that I receive involuntarily would chase a demon back into hell,”
Maikao stated. “Am I right in assuming the pain in your unmentionables is due
to a certain insane lust you have for one Ms. Sanchez?”

“It’s
making me crazy,” he retorted. “Every thought I have. Every move I make.
Everything
centers around
her.
And what disturbs me the most is
the fact that not all of it involves her naked. I sometimes just want to…to…”

“Talk?”
the other man filled in with a gleeful tone that made Eli want to smack him in
the mouth.

“Yes.”
He followed the movements of Carmen’s hips as she danced with Addison to
Dream On.
“What is happening to me?”

Maikao
laughed. “I’d tell you but you may hit me in the face and ruin my undeniable
beauty.”

Eli
frowned. “Tell me what?”

“Oh
no,” Maikao replied, shaking his head. “I will not be a party to the bruising
of my face.”

He
scowled. “The fuck are you talking about?”

His
friend only smiled and backed away slowly. “You sir, are falling.
Falling.”

“What?
Falling? Speak English!”

Maikao
said nothing else, just continued on his merry little way in his merry little
fringe vest with that merry little smile that creeped the shit out of Eli.
Falling?
Into
what?
Love? He thought Eli was falling in…
love?

Grimacing
from just the thought, he downed the rest of his beer in two swallows. Love?
Nah.
Him?
Just… nah. He shook his
head and scanned the crowd of moving bodies, again finding his gaze drawn to
Carmen and Carmen alone no matter how many asses were on display and how much
skin he could see. It should’ve bothered him. It should’ve made him shift uncomfortably,
made him turn on the balls of his feet, find the nearest attractive woman and
fuck her just to prove a point to himself. He could’ve. He
should’ve.
He… couldn’t.

With
hard inhalations, he watched her face split into a grin as
Bohemian Rhapsody
suddenly came careening out of the sound system,
she and Addison sharing a look right before they conjured imaginary microphones
and began to lip sync to the music, while swaying in tandem. There was
something about that. Something in the way her skin flushed slightly, her
fingers curling into her palm, her hair moving just so over her shoulders. He
suddenly got a vision on the little girl she’d described to him hours ago over
donut holes and lemon cream cakes. The one that had to find her way before she learned
exactly who she was, the one who hadn’t always felt confident or sexy, the one
who adored her best friend and worshipped her mother, the one who he could see
in her gaze every now and again when she cast a mischievous grin. There she was
and incredibly enough… he needed her. He needed her
now.