Page 24 of Life

“Which would be?” I sigh and then lock my lips together. No, no, no. This is so wrong.

Do not encourage him, Maria.

“Us. Naked. You flat on your back with me pounding every inch into you, over and over until you scream out my name. Nothis. Because when I lay you down, there will be no substitutes, nothing between the sheets but me and you, Spicy.”

“Detener.Stop.Por favor.I can’t take it.” I dig my fingers into his muscled pecs.

Eli drags his lips up the side of my neck until I gasp. Then he lifts my chin with both hands. If I were psychic, I would announce he was planning to kiss me. With my last shred of dignity, I shake my head a few millimeters. Just enough to get my point across.

Not here. Not now.

“Soon, Spicy. You’ll take everything I give and beg for more.” He leans forward and kisses my forehead. Then he’s gone, already back around the counter and tending to the food. My body still feels him, yearns and aches for him to be right back where he was, between my legs, pressing up against my heat.

I suck in a loud, ungraceful breath. “Señor, dame fuerzas,” I whisper under my breath, attempting to quell my body’s lustful response.

Eli plates the food and sets it in front of me.

“Eat. You’re going to have a long day of twiddling your thumbs while I deal with your ex.”

Long day myculo. If Elijah thinks a couple of harsh requests and a manly man grumble are going to keep me in his bounty hunter Batcave, he’s smokin’ something righteous. But I’m not stupid. I realize there’s a serious threat out there, so instead of hailing a taxi and heading where I needed to be, I call Gigi to pick me up. I expect Austin, now that he’s healthy enough to be back at work after being taken down in Mexico by Danny. That dose of etorphine Danny gave him almost killed the guy. Thankfully, he was found in time and given the antidote. Only Austin wasn’t who showed.

The black stretch limo looks like black oil gliding along concrete as it pulls up to the curb. Jack Porter, the guy Gigi calls Chase’s “linebacker,” exits the car. He comes to the entrance of Eli’s home, looking left and right as he ascends the stairs. I fling open the door, having watched him through the window. When I am about to exit, Jack grabs my arm and tugs me toward the car and down the steps quicker than my feet can carry me. Before I know it, I’m hustled into the limo wondering what the heck happened.

Gigi’s sitting prettily in the back of the limo. Chase prefers her closest to the driver, especially when he’s not in the vehicle with her. Overprotective nut.

“Where’s Austin,cara bonita?”

She rolls her eyes. “Protecting my husband. Unfortunately.”

“Why unfortunately?”

Gillian flattens her lips and speaks through clenched teeth. “Because Austin allows me a bit of privacy. Jack is all up in my business, all the time. It’s exhausting.”

I smile, loving I’m finally back where I want to be. Where I can just be me. Withmi familia. “That man of yours is wildly protective. And now that you’ve got theniñosto think about…I can only imagine what you have to look forward to.”

She sighs and leans her cheek on her hand. “Ria, you havenoidea. Chase doesn’t want me working, going to yoga, doing anything strenuous, basically anything I want to do. He says it’s not good for the babies.” Again she rolls her pretty green eyes.

“At least he cares. That counts for something.”

“Has a woman ever killed her husband because he was too nice to her?” She taps her bottom lip with one manicured index finger.

I shake my head. “No,lo siento. I think most women pray to God for that kind of man every night.”

“Pity.” She yawns and smiles.

“Tired?”

“Right now? Always. Doc says it’s normal toward the end of the first trimester, especially with twins. Joy.” She yawns again.

“How’s Kat?” I ask, afraid to hear. Right before the funeral she was undergoing extremely painful skin repair surgery of some kind. At the time, I couldn’t string two words together let alone understand what type of treatment my soul sister was getting in the burn center.

“She’ll be better when she finally sees you,” Gigi says.

“I was there every day until the funeral. She just wasn’t awake.” I pout and cross my arms.

Gigi pats my knee. “I know, honey. And she knows, too. She asked about you yesterday. Wished she could have been at the funeral, even though she was in so much pain.”

Just thinking about how I couldn’t get to her, how the smoke was billowing out of the theatre window where I smashed my bare feet into the wooden beams that shouldn’t have been there. My feet are still sore. That sick bastard Danny knew exactly what he was doing. He ensured doing the most damage by locking Kat in her wardrobe closet and boarding up the window so that we couldn’t get to her, and she couldn’t get herself out. Even though I went in, she still suffered severe burns to her right arm and side. The prognosis at this time is still uncertain.

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