Page 39 of Duke of Ruin

“I understand,” I say without looking at him.

“Can we trust Stacey?” he asks.

“No.” I look up at him. His eyes widen in confusion.

“We’re putting a lot at stake on her word, and you say we can’t trust her?” Eli sits up and put his elbows on his knees as he scrubs a hand down his face.

“I don’t trust her, but I know her, and as long as the situation benefits her, she’ll do everything she says. I don’t trust that she’ll stick her neck out for us, or that she’ll go out of her way for our sake if shit goes sideways, but I know that she’ll do whatever it takes to put Gianni Carbone in jail. That’s all she really cares about.”

“And you know this because…?”

“We went to school together, like I said,” I tell him. “We went into law enforcement together. She always wanted to be a cop. That was her whole life. I knew she was destined for something like the FBI.”

“Why?” Eli asks. I’m not sure what he’s asking exactly, but I continue anyway.

“Her father was a cop.” I stand up and move to sit on the bed next to him. “He was killed on duty. There were a lot of rumors that he was dirty, but nothing was ever proven. I think for a long time she wanted to be a cop to exonerate her father. She spent a long time looking into his death, but nothing came of it.” I take his hand, but look up at the ceiling. “When nothing happened after her investigation I got the feeling that he wasn’t exonerated—probably the opposite, actually. I think she learned that he was shady, and it only made her more determined to ‘get the bad guys,’ so to speak. That’s what it’s always been about with her. I trustthatcompletely.”

“So what happens if this goes sideways?” Eli squeezes my hand.

“Well, she’s not going to be worried about protecting us. She’s going to do whatever it takes to get Gianni.” I finally look at him. His bright green eyes are pensive and tight, but he seems to understand what I’m trying to say.

“Okay,” is all he says. I wish I could read his mind right now. I want to beg for his forgiveness all over again, but it doesn’t feel right.

“I trust you,” I whisper.

“That doesn’t seem smart,” he whispers back with a soft chuckle.

“Yeah, well, maybe you make me stupid.” I nudge his shoulder, and he turns toward me.

“You definitely make me stupid,” he says, and presses his lips to mine.

My heart starts pounding as he probes my lips with his tongue. I cup the back of his head and pull him tighter against me, bruising my lips against his. I unclip his shoulder sling and pull it away from him so I can pull his shirt over his head and he can wrap his arms around me. Eli pulls us back onto the bed. I kiss down his jaw and his neck. His breath catches, which sets my pulse racing. I push his knees apart and settle myself between his legs, grinding my already hard dick against him. He strains against me as I kiss down his chest and run my fingers across the planes of his abs. He’s so damn sexy. The soft hair on his chest tickles my lips and fingers as I kiss across it, licking and sucking at his nipples until he groans in pleasure and grinds against my stomach.

I sit up and pull his sweatpants off, licking my lips as his dick leaps from beneath the waistband. He pulls my shirt over my head and runs his hands across my back, pulling me back on top of him. I wrestle my pants off, feeling the length of our shafts pressing against each other. We grind into each other, sliding our cocks back and forth, the velvety skin dragging and slipping against our hard shafts. He reaches over and grabs some lubricant off the table. I eye him warily. I’m not sure where he got it from, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

In a surprising motion, he flips me over onto my back and straddles my stomach. I reach out and grab his shaft as he opens the lube, and he rolls his head back with a groan. He drips the warm oil across my stomach and uses his hand to coat my dick while I stroke him. He takes my hand and drips the oil all over it before pouring it onto his own dick, moving slickly against me and moaning again. He guides my other hand between his legs and I slide a finger into his ass, slowly curling it until his eyes roll back, and then I put in another one. He moans against me and his cock flexes in my hand as he reaches down and starts stroking me. I move both of my hands to his hips and guide him toward me, and he directs the tip of my dick toward his opening.

I damn near see stars as he settles his weight over me, pushing me into him all the way to the hilt. “You’re so fucking amazing, Eli,” I gasp, trying to hold back my orgasm. I roll his hips against me and fight to keep myself together. He takes his cock in his hand and starts stroking it.

“Look at me,” he says, and I do. I look up at his piercing green eyes. I roll my hips, fucking into him as he jacks his dick, and all I can do is hold my breath. “Look at how hard I am for you,” he says, and my eyes immediately drop to his hand, where he starts pumping faster.

I don’t know if it’s intentional, but I start rolling my hips in time with his hand, building faster and faster as I watch the veins in his neck protrude as he nears orgasm.

“Come for me, Eli,” I gasp, unable to take my eyes off him. “Come all over me.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you,” he moans, throwing his head back.

“Fuck yes I would,” I answer, and thrust into him harder. He gasps in pleasure and pain as I fuck him, keeping my hands on his hips to guide his movements. I feel him tightening around me, and I fight to hold back, at least until he comes. I roll his hips with each thrust until he’s shouting my name. His dick gets harder and harder until it finally spurts, spilling cum all over my stomach and chest. With one final thrust I come inside him and he falls against me, our sweaty, sticky bodies still connected.

“Goddamn, I love you, Eli,” I say against the side of his head as he pants on top of me.

“I love you, too, Noah,” he breathes before finally rolling over next to me.

We lay there panting for the next several minutes in silence. I know we should sleep, but neither of us wants to. Everything is going to be over tomorrow, one way or another, and all I can do is hope that we’ll survive and Eli will still be there once it’s done.

14

ELI

---