Page 167 of Dare To Fall

“It stank like a rundown bar in here.”

“How do you know what a rundown bar smells like?”

She rolls her eyes. “Fine, how I think a rundown bar would smell.” She unfolds herself from the bed and stands.

I appreciate the view of long bare legs clothed in short pajama shorts and a cropped top that displays her navel and the hint of her breasts. When I reach her face, she’s got one eyebrow arched.

“Enjoying the view?”

The smile feels weird on my face, but I don’t stop it from forming. “Very much.”

The mildly offended look melts away from her face and is replaced with a grin. She crosses the room and rises on her toes to wrap her arms around my neck. Burying her face into the curve of my throat, she breathes in.

“You smell good,” she murmurs.

I tweak the end of her hair. “You’re just trying to get into my pants again.”

Her soft laugh sparks my nerve endings to life. “And that’s my cue to tell you that your dad and my mom know about us.”

“They … how?”

“They walked in while you were asleep.”

“Fuck.”

She shakes her head and leans back to look up at me. “They’re okay about it. It was a bit weird, but they didn’t seem annoyed. If you’re feeling okay, we could go down and talk to them?”

The hesitancy in her voice is clear. She doesn’t know how I’m going to react to the idea. I wind an arm around her waist and pull her closer to me.

“We should do that.” My stomach chooses that moment to make some strange, ungodly sound. “What time is it?”

“Almost midnight.” She frowns at me. “When did you last eat?”

My silence as I try to remember is answer enough. She pulls out of my embrace. “Put some clothes on. The kitchen staff won’t be here, so I can invade their space without them yelling at me.” She flaps her hands at me when I don’t move fast enough for her. “Clothes, Eli. So, I can feed you.”

I toss her a half smile. “Do you promise to fuck me afterward?”

Chapter 112

Arabella

Seeing Eli smile makes my heart flip-flop in my chest. “As many times as you want me to.”

He captures my hand, brings it to his lips and presses a kiss to my knuckles. “Is that a promise?”

I roll my eyes at him and giggle. “Forever and always. Now get dressed. I need to feed you.”

He finds some clothes and tugs them on. The second he’s presentable, I grab his hand and tug him out of the door along the dark hallway, toward the stairs. A light is on in the reception hall downstairs.

I stop on the bottom step to give Eli a quick kiss, and then head for the kitchen.

It’s a surprise to find we’re not alone. Elliot and Elena are sitting huddled at the kitchen table with two glasses of milk and a plate of chocolate cookies in front of them.

The second he sees his son, Elliot smiles. “You caught us.”

Eli frowns. “Have you been waiting for me to wake up?”

“Maybe a little, but we’ve grown into the habit of having a warm drink and cookies before bed most nights.”

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