Page 24 of Rough Ride

seven

Eli ran the flat of his tongue across her nipple and sighed with pleasure. Delight danced through his blood as he licked his way down her body. Cocoa colored skin that tasted of heaven and sin all rolled into one—he never expected this. When he reached her pussy, he glanced up at her. Her arms were tied to his headboard, her eyes covered with a blindfold.

“Spread your legs, Crysta. I want to see that dripping pussy I own.”

She didn’t hesitate. Eli sighed again. She was glistening with arousal. He leaned down to gain a lick, but a loud buzz stopped him.

Eli woke with a start, then fell off his bed onto the wooden floor. Sharp pain exploded in his head as it smacked against the hard surface. Even before he opened his eyes, he was seeing stars.

“Fuck.”

Reaching up, he grabbed his alarm clock and yanked it out of the wall. After tossing it on the bed, he opened his eyes. He was just lucky he landed on his ass and not on his stomach. He could have done some serious damage seeing that he was painfully aroused. Slowly, he sat up. Eli winced. Damn. He was going to have bruises on his bum.

Two weeks and he was in a state about his partner. Each night the dreams got more detailed. He could still taste her on his tongue. Not that he knew what she tasted like, but he had a good imagination.

He rose to his feet and scrubbed a hand over his face. The last couple of days, he had slept until his alarm sounded. That wasn’t normal for him. Of course, a man in his late thirties having wet dreams about his partner wasn’t normal for anyone either. Better to jump in the shower and rinse away the memories of the dream. Before he could make it, there was a knock at his door.

“What?”

“Are you alright?” Crysta asked.

“Of course I am.”

She paused before saying anything else. He didn’t blame her. He had barked out the order and he knew he sounded downright mean. It was his only defense.

“Okay. It’s just I heard a loud crash.”

“I didn’t crash.”

Another pause. “If you say so. See ya downstairs.”

He listened to her retreating footsteps. Sighing, he headed into the bathroom. A cold shower should do him up good, then he could deal with work. And at some point, he needed to get over to Oahu and Rough ‘n Ready. Dreaming about Crysta proved to him he needed a release. Once he got a fix, he would stop dreaming about her.

Even as he thought it, he knew it was a lie, but clinging to that thought was the only thing keeping him sane.

* * *

Crysta stared out the kitchen window, her coffee sitting on the counter untouched. Instead, she tapped her fingers on the counter and attempted to calm her temper. She had no idea what had set Eli off, but she knew she needed to give him space. That was easier said than done. She had spent many of her nights wide awake thinking of him. Worse, when she had slept, he stole into her dreams. Waking up unfulfilled and irritated was not the best way to start off the day. Neither was dealing with a surly man.

It was getting harder every day with Eli being such a bear to her. When she first learned the information about the will, she expected him to be an ass. Seriously, she would have understood. But he had been welcoming, showing her stuff about the ranch, sharing information.

Now, his niceness seemed to have worn off. He was being an ass on a regular basis. She knew he fell out of bed. He had lied to her, then got pissed that she checked on him. Men. As much as she understood about them and their egos, she could never understand why they reacted as they did. Most of them lashed out at you if you tried to help. She could remember her usually laid back father being a total pain in the ass when he was in the hospital.

She shook those memories away and thought about Eli. Crysta knew part of it was her fault. Well, not that he fell out of bed. She’d been so preoccupied with Eli she hadn’t been sleeping well. She couldn’t seem to get the idea of submitting to him out of her mind. After watching him on the ranch the last few weeks, she knew Eli would be a stellar Dom. Submitting to him would probably be the stuff dreams were made of.

Those thoughts were whirling through her head as she lay awake. Then, she heard the crash.

“That smells good,” Jerry said as he walked through the door and headed toward the coffee pot.

She shook her head trying to ignore her last thoughts about Eli. She smiled at Jerry.

“You haven’t had a cup yet?”

He nodded but didn’t explain further. She’d enjoyed the talks they’d been having every morning. He reminded her a lot of Joe and her father. His dry humor and no nonsense way of looking at life always delighted her.

“Where’s Eli?”

“He’s walking into the kitchen wondering just why you seem to have taken up time with Crysta again.”

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