The Innocent Liar (19 page)

She nodded at his reassurance, but her brow was creased, and her nod was quick.

“I better go. Might have lost the asshole, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to stop looking. Frankly, I think he’s too worried about his own ass and keeping himself out of jail to worry too much about you. The others, the ones who still think they have a chance of escaping unscathed, they’re the ones you need to worry about most.” He hugged her once more, and he turned back to Eli who was still sitting at the table. “Walk me out, Elijah.”

Her focus suddenly found him, and he could see the worry. She was damn near trembling with it.

Eli nodded and stood, following Sam but glancing back to her once just to see her biting her thumbnail as she looked after them.

The moment the door closed between them and Brynn, Sam glanced to him. “I knew I picked you for this job for a reason.”

Eli chuckled. “You mean so I could be a dick to your daughter for the first few weeks she knew me and then start sleeping with her after that?”

“I really should kick you in the balls for that.” Sam laughed for a moment, but then he got quiet and stopped walking. “Do you love her?”

Eli didn’t even bother pausing before he responded. “Yes.”

“Like I said, knew I’d picked the right man for her.”

Eli’s own mood shifted then. He knew Sam expected the world of him. Brynn was his daughter, and he obviously loved her, however unconventional their relationship may seem. Could Eli actually live up to those standards? It wasn’t the first time he’d had that worry, but he didn’t need to vocalize it for Sam to see it.

“You understand her. You may not realize that yet, and you certainly don’t know why, but you are both so very much alike.
That’s
why I wanted you for this. I’m proud of you, Eli.” Sam clapped a hand on his shoulder as they reached his car. “There’s so much yet to be said between the two of you, but you’ll get there.”

Eli nodded. He still didn’t feel like he was worth much in comparison to Brynn, but he loved her enough to try to be. That he didn’t question, and apparently, neither did Sam.

He raised his hand as Sam backed out of the driveway, and when he turned back to the cabin, she was in the doorway, watching him warily and still gnawing her fingernail. He approached her, looking down at her as she peered up to him, her eyes wide and reactive.

“What did he tell you?”

“Relax. Your secrets, whatever they may be, are safe with him. Can you at least tell me why you don’t want me to know?” He was hopeful she could answer at least this one.

“Because I want you to love me.”

“I already do.”

She glanced away as her lips pursed and her forehead scrunched into a line of worry. “Because I want you to keep loving me.” She looked to him quickly before turning and walking away to the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Chapter Thirty-Five

“I
understand how you feel.”

Brynn had heard Eli enter the shower enclosure minutes after she left him staring after her as she escaped him. She didn’t turn to him now, though. She was almost afraid he would see just how terrified she was if he actually saw her face. But this man couldn’t possibly understand where she was coming from.

He kissed the side of her neck, and then his mouth was back at her ear. “I know you don’t think I do, but I get it. There’s plenty in my life I’m worried will drive you away.”

She turned then, letting him pull her into his chest.

“But at some point, we’re going to have to take that leap. If we don’t, then this is going to fall apart. We can’t build a life on secrets.”

She looked up to him then, biting on her lower lip. “Not yet.”

He shook his head. “Not yet.”

Their shower was only the start of two more amazing days with him in Cooke City. That night they got drunk with the locals at a hole in the wall bar. They met another couple in town and made plans the next day to snowmobile with them. It was a long day that left them both with pink windblown cheeks and stiff muscles, but it was nothing an extended hot bath couldn’t fix, and that’s how they ended their day. The next was snowshoeing and more pink cheeks, and come Friday morning, they were lazy and not ready to return home.

But they did. Eli had gotten little work done, although she’d caught him up in the middle of the night, roughing out some sketches. She knew he was feeling the pressure to get some results and bids out the door. But none of that urgency to get back to work much mattered when they walked into a silent workshop to pack her an overnight bag mid-Sunday evening when they finally made it back to Jackson.

He walked up behind her the moment she started strolling across the workshop toward her loft. His hands trailed over her bottom, and he squeezed. “Eli.” Her voice was warning, but they both knew she had no intention of stopping him.

“Shut up so I can figure out exactly how I want to fuck you.”

She swallowed harshly over a lump in her throat. It was still very much a reaction, and he didn’t miss it.

“You’re amazing in missionary position, and it’s become a favorite of mine thanks to you. You’re also incredible to watch when you’re on top of me.” He leaned down to her ear as he pulled her bottom back to his groin. “But I want to try you in every position I can get you in.” He bit the lobe of her ear, and her breath lurched in her throat. “You’ve given me no assurance that you intend to stay here permanently, so there’s no time to lose.”

His words pierced her heart. It wasn’t his fault. It was hers. She’d given him no way to even gauge what her future intentions were, and though he knew she loved him, he must still wonder what it all really meant.

When he finished rounding her body, he looked back down to her with his finger to his lip as he judged and decided. “Do you have any objection to being tied up?” She swallowed again, and his lips pulled up slightly at the sight of her throat trying to work. “I only ask because I don’t know yet what might make you uncomfortable.” His eyes narrowed for half a second as he challenged her.

She shook her head.

“See, now that’s a difficult response to read. Either you’re saying, no, you have no objections, or you’re saying, no, please don’t tie me to the sawhorse so you can fuck me however you like and consequently, wherever you like.” His smirk stuck that time, and he studied her closely as he folded his arms on his chest.

She was panicking, but this panic felt as good as it did terrifying, and all she could think about was being bent over that damn A-frame contraption and tied to it while he had sex with her. That was both horrifying and arousing all at the same time. The “wherever he liked” aspect of this challenge was also mortifying. She had to admit the concept was plenty arousing, but she had too many bad memories that didn’t support the arousal. Of course, she’d thought she felt the same way about sex, and he’d easily shown her just how incredible that could be, memories or no.

When he leaned to her ear again, his voice was warm and seductive. “Answer me.”

“I have no objection.”

“I’m very happy to hear that.” He turned to her cheek, pecking her quickly before he turned and walked away.

“So you have a bondage fetish, I take it?” Her voice trailed after him, and he stopped midstride returning to her.

“No. Nor do I have an anal fetish. But I
am
going to enjoy sticking my cock in your bottom.” He leaned down, pushing his tongue past her lips and flicking hers. When he finally pulled back, he looked down at her with all the seriousness in the world. “I have a
you
fetish—any and every way I can take you. If you need more reason than that, call it a trust exercise.”

“Whatever happened to free falling back into someone’s arms?”

He laughed. “Have I mentioned how much I love that sarcasm of yours?” He winked as he watched her.

“Yes, usually when you’re trying to change the subject.”

“Fine then, would you like to discuss it more before you agree?”

She shook her head, and he turned from her, walking toward the workbench.

She watched as he rustled through some of the workbench drawers, pulling out a wound up ball of twine. He looked at her, holding the ball up, shook his head as his eyebrows shot up and dropped it back into the drawer. Then he pulled out a long length of rope. She knew it very well. Usually the men used it to tie heavy furniture blankets to furniture pieces when they were preparing to transport something. It was white, and it looked at least marginally soft compared to the fibrous twine.

She breathed deeply as he walked toward her. “Go get your heels.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re not quite tall enough. Feel free to leave your clothes upstairs.”

She walked from the room calmly, but when she hit the stairs, she practically sprinted. She was the most perfect form of terrified ever. She wanted this so bad she thought there must surely be something wrong with her. She stripped out of her clothes the moment she walked through her door, and she slipped the crimson colored faux patent leather heels on seconds before she slipped back out the door.

As she crossed the shop floor, he watched. His jaw clenched tight, and his nostrils flared as he inhaled. He’d stripped out of his shirt, and he stood in front of her by the sawhorse wearing nothing but his jeans and work boots. His muscles were ripped and taut. She studied him as her body started flooding with warm wet need that she was positive was going to drip down her leg at any moment.

“You look absolutely stunning. You know I love you?” He pulled her into his arms murmuring against her ear as he leaned down to her, and she nodded. He’d tossed one of the furniture pads over the top of the sawhorse, and it draped six inches off the end that was closest to them. “Stand against the end, and spread your legs as wide as the end frame.” He crouched, securing first one ankle, then the other, to the lower end of the legs. The top of the sawhorse, conveniently covered in the furniture blanket, extended out in front of her to the other end frame, and she placed her hands on the top as her legs started to tremble.

He kissed a trail up the back of her thigh and over her bottom to her lower back. His hands gripped her waist as he let his lips move slowly over her skin on his way up her back. When he was standing behind her, he pushed his groin against her bottom as he pulled her hips back, grinding against her. He leaned down kissing the top of her shoulder and nibbling a path up to her ear.

“I’m going to eat your pussy.” His tongue flicked the lobe of her ear. “Then I’m going to eat your ass.”

She shuddered as a whimper escaped her, and her knees started to tremble. “Then I’m going to watch you suck my dick. Then I’m going to fuck your ass, and I’m not going to stop until I’ve come inside you. Do you understand?” The palm of his hand ran gently up the front of her throat as she nodded and panted like a rabid animal.

He rounded the sawhorse, standing at the opposite end. His expression was seductive. She was losing her mind, yet he was a cool cat standing casually in front of her. When he lowered the zipper of his jeans, her mouth fell open, and she watched as he tucked the waist of his underwear under his testicles.

He gripped the shaft of his cock, sliding his hand over the surface as his neck muscles clenched and he gasped. His testicles were large and tightly pulled up and engorged in this state, and she could seem to do nothing but stare like a dumbass as he showed her what he was going to fuck her with. A pearly drop of pre-come leaked from the slit in the tip, and she licked her lips. He brushed the pad of his thumb over the silky, shimmery come and trailed it down the length of his erection.

“Lean down across the top.”

It took no encouragement at all, and when her chest was resting comfortably on the thick and dense furniture pad, he kneeled down using one short length of rope to secure her hand to one side of the frame. He did the same on the other, and she was left with her torso securely pinned along the top. The A-frame ends had a brace a third of the way up, and he’d conveniently secured her lower than the brace, making it impossible for her to pull her chest up, and as she tried, a trill of anxiety coursed through her, and her breath left in a rush.

He leaned to her mouth, thrusting his tongue between her lips and stifling her fear with the warm laving motion of his tongue along hers. She’d been bound before, and there was no good excuse for why she wanted to do this with him—none at all, but it didn’t stop her from wanting it all the same. When he pulled back, he smiled gently at her, and then he disappeared.

She could hear him behind her, but there was no way to see him, and after craning her neck in vain, she gave up and shut her eyes. Touch was all she had at this point, and she intended to enjoy it thoroughly. When she felt a finger trail between the lips of her vagina, she held her breath.

“Fuck, you are so wet.”

She didn’t need him to tell her, but the obvious arousal in his voice was certainly nice. Maybe touch wasn’t all she had. She figured out quickly, she was right. She listened as his finger started thrusting into her. It was wet and sloppy sounding, and in any other situation she’d be mortified, but he was moaning quietly as his fingers worked—first one, then two, and then she was quite certain three, given the intense pressure.

When he pulled his fingers from her pussy, she could feel the come run a trickling line down the inside of her thigh, and then his finger trailed over the line of it. She suddenly felt his tongue flick over her swollen clit, and her body jolted, and the sawhorse legs screeched against the floor. She could feel and hear his chuckle against her slick skin, and then his tongue thrust into her, lashing around her clit and licking her into ecstasy. She fell apart within a minute as she orgasmed, letting every muscle in her body tense as she came before she rested slack on top of the sawhorse as her muscles released their tension. But the relaxed state didn’t last when she suddenly tensed as his tongue passed up to her anus, licking gently across the puckered skin.

“Oh, fuck.” The words escaped her as the balls of her feet pushed hard against the floor. Her movement lifted the sawhorse slightly, and he gripped her thighs as they started to shake. He kissed, and licked, pushing his tongue past the constricting muscles, and he moaned and hummed a warm vibration against her most intimate skin. He gripped the cheeks of her bottom hard, squeezing and pulling her buttocks apart as he kissed. She trembled and moaned, and eventually, she relaxed into the feel of it. He ran his fingers through the wetness between her lips, and then a finger pushed into her bottom, but she was too catatonic to tense. She panted one slow exhaustive breath after another as he started gently pushing and pulling, stretching her tight muscles.

She wasn’t entirely sure she wasn’t in a trance by the time he finished, and when he stood, rounding the sawhorse to her head, she murmured incoherently. This was too much heaven for one person to stand. She was positive of that much, and as he grabbed a rag from a nearby workbench, she watched him. He wiped his wet fingers on the rag, and he crouched down in front of her, chuckling warmly as he watched her. She could barely hold her eyes open. They fluttered as he gently ran his fingers through her long dark locks after dropping the rag to the ground. She let her eyes close for a while. He stroked her hair, and she was lulled away peacefully for a few minutes. She could feel the wetness as it ran down her legs, and her bottom was very mildly sore, but she focused on the gentle touch on her scalp. He stood, leaning over her and kissing and sucking on the skin of her back. First it was her shoulder blade, then her spine, and she started moaning as his mouth moved. Soon he had his fingers in her hair again, but this time, they twisted in the hair along her hairline, and her head was pulled back, so her chin rested on the top of the sawhorse.

“Open up please.”

Brynn looked spent as though every muscle in her body was done, but as she opened her mouth, and Eli pushed the head of his cock past her lips, her eyes flashed with life. He watched his dick sink into her mouth, and then he held the depth, waiting for her to relax. The moment she did, he pushed farther into her throat, studying her eyes. They weren’t startled wide or watering, so he pulled out and pushed in deep again, looking for panic. Her hands remained relaxed and her eyes calm, and he took his time, pushing and then withdrawing. It was a ridiculously slow movement, but he was just as mesmerized by the sight of her open mouth and his cock pushing into it as he was about the incredible warm feeling surrounding his dick.

Eventually, he started humping—slow at first and then faster. She was watching the motion of his hips, and it was only then that he pushed his jeans down past his butt, freeing his overly restrained balls.

“Look at me.” He could barely get the words out as his thrusts sped, but he wanted to see her clear blue eyes as he fucked her face. Her focus shifted up to his eyes, and he pulled out quickly, kneeling in front of her and resting his chin on the top of the sawhorse mere inches from her. He focused on her eyes as she panted, and he did too. Her lips glistened with saliva, and he slowed his breathing. He’d come close to ejaculating in her mouth, and while he wasn’t at all opposed to it, he had other things in mind, and he’d damn near fallen apart. But as he stared at her and she watched him, it wasn’t his arousal that brought him up short. He was simply struck by how intensely he cared about her. It was something of an unfamiliar feeling for him, and it left him shocked.