Page 44 of Elliot

She foldedthe paper carefully and put it back in the box. “Young, idealistic, and all alone in the world.” She glanced over at him. “I met Olivia at an event the college put on. They invited some of their most successful alumni back for several seminars. She was encouraging but realistic. She gave this assignment. I’ll never forget it. It was, tell me exactly what steps you’re going to take when you graduate to further your dream for your reality.” Maya chuckled. “I worked on that assignment nonstop. It was as if someone had put her directly in my path for this one reason. I brainstormed, edited, refined, re-refined, and polished that presentation.” She moved to get more comfortable on the floor. “I gave it to her, and she looked at it for a long time, and without any emotion at all, she looked at me and said, ‘My dear, your dreams are too big.’ I was obliterated in that second. Then she put her hand on my arm and continued, ‘Too big to achieve by yourself. This is excellent work. You’ll need introductions and someone to open doors for you.’ She pulled out her card, wrote her cell phone number on the back, and gave it to me. She whispered, ‘Call me when you graduate. I’ll introduce you and open those doors, but the work is on you, and it won’t be easy. Be prepared to fight for what you want.’”

“So, you fought.” Elliot gently bumped her shoulder with his.

“I did.” She nodded. “I dedicated my life to my businesses.” She looked up and around her bedroom. “And then this happened.”

“This will pass.” He glanced up at the spray paint on the walls. “Shall we start cleaning up this mess?”

“Goodness, yes,” she said. Elliot stood up and offered her a hand. She looked up at him. “Thank you. You don’t have todo this. I’m sure cleaning up after maniacs isn’t in your job description.”

He reached out and ran his finger along her jaw. “I think you know you’re not the job anymore. This has become personal for me.”

She smiled at him. “It's personal for me, too, but it’s nice to hear you say it.”

He leaned down and kissed her. “I’ll say it as many ways as you want when we go to bed, but first …” He looked around the room.

“I’ll hold you to that,” Maya said, grabbing the cardboard box holding garbage bags. “You hold, I’ll stuff.”

He popped out a bag and opened the thing. “Ready when you are.”

CHAPTER 15

Elliot tossed the last garbage bag into the corner near the elevator. Maya had gone to his room to shower after they’d finished. The bastard who’d destroyed her clothes hadn’t destroyed her. That simple cardboard box they’d overlooked was her world. Elliot went back to retrieve it from her bedroom and bring it into his. He set it on the bedside table on what he considered her side of the bed. Then he shrugged out of his shirt and slacks, putting them in his laundry bag along with his t-shirt and socks.

He turned as the bathroom door opened. Maya stood in the doorway wrapped in a white bath sheet. The thing shrouded all of her except her bare shoulders. Desire spiked with that small peek of bare skin. He knew what was under that wrap, and like a man crossing the desert desperate for water, his entire beingcravedher. His soul was parched for their connection, for the feeling he’d thought he’d never have. For the joy he’d been sure he’d lost forever.

She smiled at him. “I think we should conserve water tonight.”

He licked his lips, so on board with that idea. “Do you?”

She crooked her finger at him. Who the hell was he not to abide by his primary’s requests? He dropped his briefs and tossed them toward his laundry bag, not really caring whether they made it.

As he reached her, she lifted her arms, and the bath sheet fell to the floor. He dropped his lips to hers and backed her into the en suite. He opened one eye enough to direct them straight into the shower. She laughed as the water sprayed them, and he couldn’t help smiling at her. She had every reason to cower in a corner, yet she wasn’t.

He tipped the showerhead so it wasn’t drowning them and then moved her against the steamy glass. She gasped when her back touched the cooler glass. Elliot dropped to his knees in front of her. She pushed her hands through his wet hair, and he leaned forward, taking her nipple into his mouth. He ran his fingers up the inside of her thighs and found her core. When he entered her and twisted his fingers to reach that one special spot, she slapped the glass with both hands. Her legs trembled as he made a map of her erogenous zones. Maya wasn’t a silent partner, and he thanked his lucky stars for that. She told him if she needed him lower or higher or if she wanted him to go faster or to slow down. He worked her body with his fingers until she was close, then he sat on his heels and parted the luscious and hot folds of skin. He ran his tongue up one side of her clit. She grabbed his hair with her hands and held him against her.As if he was going anywhere anytime soon.

He doubled his efforts with his fingers and mouth. Her legs straightened, and her body tightened. He could feel her body trembling on the verge of climax, and if that didn’t make the caveman inside him roar with pleasure, nothing would. When her core tightened against his fingers, he removed them and used his tongue to lap up her essence as she came. When herbody went lax, he stood up. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “God, do that again.”

He smiled and took her hand, moving her over to the bench. He sat down on it and had her crawl onto his lap. She lifted enough that he could enter her. The slide of his cock inside her as she gripped his shaft shot vibrating sensations straight to the base of his cock. He hissed as he hilted. “So damn good.”

She leaned forward and hummed in agreement. He lifted her hips and rocked into her. She moved a bit and found a way to lift and lower as he entered her and retracted. The sensation catapulted him closer to that edge. Maya reached behind her and cupped his balls. His body jerked, and his eyes shot open. She rolled them, and he damn near bit off his lip, keeping himself from shouting. His thumb found her clit, and he rubbed it on the side with a bit of pressure, just as she liked it. She arched backward, and he lost himself inside her. As he went, he felt her body spasm around him. He wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her toward him so he could keep her upright.

When she finally lifted off him, he opened his eyes. “You almost killed me,” he said with a huff of laughter.

“What a way to go!” she said, sending her soaking wet hair to her back with a loud splat. Then she reached for the soap. He held onto her as she stretched and then brought the bar back. She started rubbing the soap on his chest. “I’ve never done this.”

Elliot cocked his head. “Washed a man’s chest?”

She laughed. “Well, that, too, but had sex in a shower.”

“To be honest, I haven’t either.”

She looked up from the design she was drawing in the suds. “What?”

He sat up straight, and she squealed as she slipped from his lap. He caught her and pulled her back up. “I’m not really a ladies’ man. I’ve only had a handful of relationships.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re not one of those love-them-and-leave-them kind of guys, then?”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

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