SWNOVELS Alluring Darkness: Chapter 27
By the time we reach Blackwater, I’m so completely drained that I don’t even protest when Eli lifts me out of the passenger seat and carries me into his house. We run into Rico in the hallway, but neither of them speaks. He and Eli just hold each other’s gaze for a few seconds, as if they have some kind of silent way of communicating with only their eyes, while Eli walks past and makes for the stairs.
His strong arms hold me tightly as he strides towards his bedroom. I’m still a bit drunk. Not nearly as wasted as I was back in that bar, but still drunk enough that I’m having trouble thinking straight. Or maybe that is more due to the feeling of Eli’s warm muscular chest against my cheek and his intoxicating scent that fills my lungs with every breath.
After closing the door behind him, he walks across the room and then into his bathroom before setting me down on the closed toilet lid. I know that I should probably be fighting him or antagonizing him in some way, but I just can’t bring myself to care about anything right now. So all I do is sit there and stare blankly at the bathroom.
It’s not a massive one, but it’s surprisingly elegant. Apart from the toilet I’m sitting on, there is a white marble sink with a gilded mirror above it and a spacious shower with one of those rain shower heads. Warm light from the expensive-looking lamp in the ceiling fills the room with a golden glow that seems to shimmer against the white tiles.
“I don’t have a bathtub, so you’re going to have to stand for a few minutes while you take a shower,” he says while reaching in and turning the water on.
“I don’t need to take a shower,” I answer, speaking for the first time since the car ride back.
Eli cuts me a look that makes embarrassment creep into my cheeks. Running my hands over my forearms, I realize that they’re sticky. I must have spilled a drink, or five, on myself at some point.
“Fine,” I mutter.
My legs are still unsteady, so I sway a little as I strip out of my clothes and shoes and drop them in a heap on the otherwise spotless floor. Eli remains where he is, blocking the doorway. With his arms crossed, he watches me as I undress and then move towards the shower, as if he’s making sure I’m actually following his orders.
The skin on the back of my neck prickles, and heat pools inside me, at the way he is watching me. But I turn my back on him as I step into the shower.
Water splashes down on me.
I let out a sigh.
Standing there under the warm water, I close my eyes and just let it wash over me.
“There’s shower gel on the shelf,” Eli says.
I ignore him. The water soaks my hair and wraps around my body like a warm blanket. It feels so good that I don’t ever want to move.
“Princess,” Eli pushes.
Only the splashing of water on tiles answers him. Tilting my head back, I let the water rush down over my face as if to wash away the lingering intoxication.
“Fucking hell,” Eli growls after a while.
My stomach lurches as a hand lands on my shoulder and roughly spins me around. I blink against the water still clinging to my lashes.
Once my vision is clear, I find Eli standing right there.
In the shower.
Naked.
With me.
Water soaks his black hair and runs down his broad shoulders. With my mouth still slightly open from the surprise of finding him here, I run my gaze over his muscular frame.
God, he really is a fucking work of art.
With his honed body and the scars across his skin, he looks like a god of war who could make men and women drop to their knees in both fear and admiration. Lust stirs inside me as I drink in the sight of him.
While I’m distracted, he plants a hand against my collarbones and pushes me up against the wall. The tiles are cool against my heated skin, and it jolts me back to reality. But Eli has already squeezed some shower gel into his hand. After rubbing them together a few times to create a lather, he starts running his palms over my skin.
My heart leaps in my chest.
For a while, I’m so stunned by his actions that all I do is stand there while he washes my body.
He has pushed me up against the wall in the corner of the shower, and his muscular body is blocking my way out. But it’s the way he is touching me that is making my heart pound in my chest and heat pool between my legs. He is running his hands over my body as if he owns it. His to touch, his to caress, his to bend and break and use in whatever way he sees fit. It makes my clit throb with need.
Just to test that theory, I take a step forward as if to move past him and out of the shower.
He immediately plants a hand against my chest and shoves me back against the wall. Keeping his hand there, he pauses his work and instead locks eyes with me.
Water clings to his dark lashes and hair, and drops of it run down the ridges of his powerful muscles. But we’re mostly out of the still splashing water now, so there is nothing to obscure our vision as he stares me down.
I can feel the silent command pulsing from his body, can see the glint of challenge in those beautiful eyes of his, as if he is daring me to move without permission again. Since I know that I will lose this battle, I slump back against the wall again.
Satisfaction swirls in Eli’s eyes.
Taking his palm off my chest, he instead draws it down along the curve of my breast. Lightning skitters across my skin in its wake. He slides his other hand up the side of my ribs.
A sigh escapes my lips. I rest the back of my head against the wall as Eli takes his time washing my chest. His hands massage my tits with slow and tantalizing motions, circling around the edge and towards the center.
I bite my lip to stop a moan as he rubs his thumbs over my nipples. His eyes stay locked on mine, studying every expression on my face. He rolls my nipple between his thumb and forefinger. I suck in a shaky breath. My pussy throbs.
A smirk plays over Eli’s lips.
Then he draws his hands down my stomach. I shift my weight to relieve the ache between my legs as he teases his fingers across the skin right above my pussy. He moves his hands down my legs. My heart pounds in my chest as he crouches down and washes my legs, starting at the ankle.
With every inch he moves upwards, the fire in my veins burns hotter. I draw in shuddering breaths as he reaches my thighs. He straightens again and locks eyes with me as he slips his hands down to my inner thighs.
My brain flickers and I brace my palm on the cold tiles behind me as Eli draws his clever fingers across my sensitive skin and up towards my pussy. The whirling tension inside me is so wild that I can barely breathe properly.
But right before he reaches that spot where I really want his fingers, he stops and pulls his hand back. I blink, disoriented, and stare up at him.
“There,” he says, a sly smile full of challenge on his lips. “Now you’re clean.”
Only the splashing noise of the water still rushing down behind his back fills the elegant bathroom as we stare at each other in silence. My pussy aches with need. I hold Eli’s smug gaze for another few seconds. Then I throw my pride and restraint to the wind.
Wrapping a hand around the back of his neck, I yank his stupid smirking mouth down to mine. Our lips clash in a violent kiss. A smug laugh rumbles from Eli’s chest, so I bite his bottom lip hard. He answers by sliding an arm under my ass and lifting me up while kissing me so furiously that I forget to breathe.
Air escapes my lungs as Eli slams me up against the wall. I wrap my legs around his waist while he continues stealing what little breath I have left with his forceful kisses. His tongue tangles with mine as he claims my mouth with dominant strokes.
My head is spinning and it’s all I can do to remember to breathe. This kiss is unlike anything I have ever experienced. He is unlike anything I have ever experienced.
His fingers dig into my skin as he holds me up and presses me hard against the wall while he kisses me like he is fighting a battle. But I have already lost that war, and I don’t even care, because all I want is more.
Bracing my hands on his shoulders, I shift my legs around his waist so that I can get my pussy in position above his cock. He uses his grip on my ass to help move me into place. While still kissing me violently, he slides me down and then thrusts into me.
I gasp into his mouth.
He snatches my next breath from my lungs too as he pulls out slightly and then shoves his cock all the way in to the hilt. A dark groan tears from deep within his chest.
For a few seconds, we stop moving entirely. His breath caresses my wet skin as he rests his forehead against mine. I suck in deep breaths while my soul thrums from the feeling of his thick cock inside me.
Then I dig my fingers into his toned shoulders as I lift myself upwards before sliding down his shaft again. I’m rewarded by another moan from Eli at the mind-numbing friction it creates.
That breaks the spell.
With his strong arms around my ass, he shifts my body as he starts up a brutal pace of thrusting into me. I roll my hips and move in rhythm with him as he pounds into me. My back hits the cold tiles with every dominant thrust.
Shifting my position slightly, I angle my hips so that his cock grinds against my clit when he moves.
Lights flicker in my brain.
I pant, keeping my legs around his waist and bracing myself on his broad shoulders, as he fucks me hard against the wall. Pleasure builds inside me with every thrust of his hips.
Breathy screams rip from my lungs as release crackles through my veins.
My legs slip as the wave of pleasure courses through my limbs, but Eli only tightens his grip on my ass as he continues fucking me through the orgasm. His groans join mine as he comes deep inside me as well.
God, why does this feel so good? Why does he feel so good? His dominant hands on my body, his hard cock inside me, his violent kisses claiming my mouth, his lethal body pressed against mine… It’s like my own personal drug.
When Eli at last pulls out and sets me down on the wet tiles again, I can barely stay upright. My already unstable legs wobble as I straighten, and I have to brace myself against the wall for a while before I’m confident that I won’t topple over.
Eli remains standing right in front of me, running his gaze over my body like it’s his property. My cheeks are already flushed from the orgasm, so I don’t think he notices the heat that floods them when he’s looking at me like that.
“Aw, princess,” he begins, a smirk lifting his lips. “I got you dirty again.”
I flick a glance down at the cum running down between my legs.
Eli uses my moment of inattention to grab me by the hips and pull me with him as he steps back into the flowing water. It washes over us as he stops there underneath the rain shower head.
After washing his cum from my skin, he turns the shower off and steps out. I’m so utterly spent now that all I can do is stand there with one hand against the wall. Water runs down my body and drips from my hair.
Eli towels himself off and then puts on a pair of fresh boxers. Then he turns back to me and arches a dark eyebrow when he finds me still standing there, naked and wet in the shower. He rolls his eyes.
While muttering under his breath, he yanks down another towel and stalks back to me. His hands are surprisingly gentle as he towels me off as well. After hanging the towel back up, he grabs a t-shirt from one of his drawers and tosses it at me. It hits my chest, and I barely manage to catch it before it can flutter down to the wet floor.
“Put it on,” he orders.
Since I don’t have anything else to wear, and I don’t want to put my own sticky, alcohol-soaked clothes back on, I do as he says. The shirt is so big that it falls halfway down my thighs. It smells like laundry detergent and… him.
“Fucking hell, princess,” Eli mutters.
That’s when I realize that I’m still standing there in the shower.
Eli stalks back to me and scoops me up into his arms. I’m too exhausted to protest as he strides back into his bedroom and then puts me down on his bed.
Sleeping here is probably a really bad idea, but fuck, I’m so damn tired and this bed is so ridiculously comfortable. Adjusting my position, I nestle deeper into the fluffy pillow. A click sounds, and then the room is plunged into darkness.
The mattress dips to my left as Eli climbs into bed as well and lies down next to me.
For a few seconds, everything is silent. My eyes start to droop as sleep begins to pull at my body.
“What happened tonight?” Eli asks, yanking me back to reality before I can tumble into the land of dreams.
“I already told you what happened,” I reply, staring up at the dark ceiling. “I had dinner with my family. Then I got drunk.”
“Why did you get drunk?”
“I told you that too.”
“You told me half of it. Why did your mother say that you’re messed-up in the head?”
“Because I am.”
The bedframe groans as Eli abruptly rolls over on his side and wraps his hand around my jaw. Electricity zaps through my spine at the fire I see in his eyes when he forces me to turn my head and meet his gaze.
“Answer the fucking question, Raina,” he growls.
I blink at him in surprise. He rarely calls me Raina. It’s almost always princess. Which means that, for some reason, he considers this a serious enough matter to use my actual name.
Any remaining traces of a fight bleed out of me, and I heave a deep sigh. “Fine.”
He releases my jaw, but he remains lying on his side, his eyes locked on mine. I can’t handle the intensity in them, so I turn my head back and stare up into the dark ceiling again.
“My father was a hitman,” I begin. Even though I have to choose my words carefully, since I can’t accidentally let it slip that I’m Connor’s sister, it still somehow feels like a relief to finally speak these words out loud. So I tilt my head back and meet his gaze again. “And he used to take me with him on his missions. Ever since I was a little kid, he brought me with him when he killed people.”
Eli’s dark brows furrow slightly. “Why?”
“Because it was the perfect cover. No one ever suspects that the nice man with the young girl next to him is an assassin.”
“So you grew up… watching your dad kill people?”
“For as long as I can remember.” I shrug. “My therapist says that it permanently affected my love map. Whatever that means. Or she said that, at least, before Dad had her assassinated too because I had told her that he was a hitman.”
He raises his eyebrows in surprise.
I shrug again. “That’s why I’m so fucked-up in the head.”
Anger flickers in his eyes. “You’re not fucked-up in the head.”
“Yes, I am. All my life, everyone around me has been telling me that I’m crazy. And I’m pretty sure there’s a reason for that.”
“You’re not crazy. You’re insane.”
A surprised laugh rips from my chest. Raising my eyebrows, I study his very serious face. “What?”
“You’re not crazy. You’re insane,” he repeats. “There’s a difference.”
“There is?”
“Yes. Being crazy means that you’re a nutjob who needs to be locked up. Being insane just means that you don’t play by the same rules as everyone else.”
My mouth drops open slightly, and I stare at him.
“And I would rather have someone insane in my corner than some boring fucking normal person.” His dark golden eyes sear into my soul. “Every fucking day of the week.”
Warmth spreads through my chest. It feels like tiny bursts of sparkling fireworks. I open my mouth to say something, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what.
As if suddenly realizing what he just said, Eli blinks and then gives his head a couple of quick shakes. “We should get some sleep.”
“I, uhm… yeah.”
The mattress shifts underneath me as he adjusts his position and reaches towards me.
Wrapping an arm over my chest, he pulls me closer until I’m lying flush against his warm half-naked body. With his arm holding me there, he drapes his leg over mine again, trapping me completely against his body.
But as I nestle deeper into his embrace, I don’t think I want to escape this time.