Page 123 of Eyes in the Shadows

I cry out, just as it becomes too much, and he lets out a choked groan. His cock is warm in me, but his cum feels different—warmer, maybe—and I swear I notice as I’m suddenly even more full of him.

As we both come down, panting harshly, I become suddenly aware of how cold my legs are, and how much my thighs burn with the effort of keeping them up. I let them fall, which drags my body down the cool metal. It tilts my hips back down, so his cock naturally slips out a bit, and I feel the trickle of his sperm follow.

“You’re amazing,” he murmurs, helping me sit up and slide off the car.

I tilt my head up for his cold, sweaty, sloppy kiss that lights the fire right back in my pussy every time. I love how full of emotion it is, like I can taste how much he wishes he didn’t have a refractory period. Like he wants me all the time.

“Right back atcha, sharpshooter.”

44

Eleanor

It’s just part of being in love with a dangerous man, I guess.

“Well, it’s official. I’m unemployed.”

I toss the phone onto the top of the box I just finished taping up. I had some missed calls in the first half of my “vacation” that petered off as time went on. I assumed, but needed to actually call in to hear from the owner, Jack, that Bistro Jacques no longer employs me.

The only real shame is that I didn’t get to quit first.

“Perfect. More time to work on your business,” Mac says, shrugging in his customary no-worries-everything-works-out way.

We’re packing up my apartment, putting my stuff in storage until we find a place to stay. Mac stands, grunting with the effort of lifting the box he swore could hold the weight of my food processorandblender. He stacks it on top of the others near the door. He’s been equally as silly about the crates full of all my cookbooks, thinking a 60-pound box is no big deal. But I suppose I only have myself to blame because I wouldn’t let him hire a moving company, nor would I let Dimitri or Wesley help. It’s seriously only going to take the two of us a couple of hours.

I’ve been pretty filled with emotions the whole time. I can’t put my finger on why I’m so sad. Objectively, this is a happy event. Mac and I are going to live together in the mansion until the lease runs out, then we’re going to live in one of the fancy buildings in the city with a pool and a well-appointed gym. And a doorman, obviously.

And obviously, I’m beyond thrilled about it. I’m so excited to start my life with him and have him around and all to myself, I can barely stand it sometimes.

So, why does it feel like there’s a hole in my chest?

“Eleanor?”

I whirl, my guard coming up a little at the use of my name and not an endearment.

He’s holding the silver frame with the grainy picture of me in the middle of the target circle. He must have found it nestled in among the other photos on my shelf, wedged in between the one of me and Mel as kids and the one of my parents at the beach.

“You kept it?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I say, plucking it from out of his hands and hugging it protectively to my chest.

His eyes narrow. “You said it was creepy. ‘Really fucking creepy,’ if memory serves.”

“Yeah, but you’re the one who took it. And gave it to me.”

“So, let me get this straight,” he says, taking a heavy step towards me. Grinning ear to ear, I back away a step. “You didn’t keep it because it’s a picture of yourself.”

I shake my head as he advances and I retreat. I don’t have far to go; the couch is right behind me.

“You kept it because I gave it to you.”

The backs of my thighs hit the armrest and I tilt my head up towards him. “Yup.”

His hand slides up my arm, over my shoulder, around my throat. “Even though you think it’s creepy.”

I inhale sharply. “Well,you’recreepy. And the creepy gifts, the stalking, being chased and cornered with a hand on my throat…” His lips twitch and his fingers flex, just a hair. “It’s just… part of being in love with a dangerous man, I guess.”

He kisses me, then, and I melt into him. Just as I feel the stirrings, there’s the sound of a door closing down the hall and we’re both reminded that mine is open. I can tell from the distance and direction that it wasn’t Harrison’s and my heart sinks a little since I still haven’t seen him yet.

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