Page 44 of In Darkness Transformed
That didn’t mean she was going to waste a single second on regrets. She opened the oven to check the cookies. She set the tray on the stovetop to cool and turned off the oven. “I meant to tell you how much I liked your friends.”
Eli looked up from the gun he was cleaning at the kitchen table. “They’re good guys, both of them. You can trust them to do right by you.”
Something in his voice made her think he wasn’t talking in generalities. “Is there a reason you think I’ll need to trust them?”
The lines of his cheekbones and jawline looked sharper than usual, as if recent events had worn away the last vestiges of softness in his face. “I hope not, but maybe.”
He set the gun aside and joined her by the counter. “They think those men I told you about are still hunting for me. I’ll deal with whatever they lob in my direction, but I won’t risk you getting caught up in my mess. Mike wants me to check in with him or Doc at least every other day. If they don’t hear from me, they’ll come running. I asked them to make sure you’re safe.”
Before she could say a word, he put his fingers over her mouth. “And, yes, you have all those kickass moves and can defend yourself. But these guys aren’t like anything you’ve ever encountered. They’re black ops with deep pockets and powerful friends.”
“They have no reason to come after me, and I hate that they want you.”
“Me, too.”
She shivered in response to his grim acceptance of the situation and leaned into the warm strength of Eli’s bare chest. He whispered near her ear, “Let it go for now. I’ve got other things on my agenda at the moment.”
“Like what for instance?”
“Like picking up where we left off right before breakfast.”
The heat in his smile sent a whole different kind of shiver through to her core. Neither of them had felt the need to get fully dressed when they’d finally rolled out of bed. He wore a pair of flannel pajama bottoms, while the soft cotton T-shirt she’d stolen from his closet was the only thing she had on. It meant for a lot of skin-to-skin contact and easy access for wandering hands to explore.
His fingertips traced an intricate pattern on her back before moving on to tug up the hem of her shirt. “So what do you think? Unless you have other plans for the morning, I suggest we adjourn to the other room.”
Safara did a little exploring of her own, slipping her hands beneath the elastic waistband of his pajama bottoms. When she gave his ass a hard squeeze, his hips flexed forward, pressing his burgeoning erection against her belly. “I like the way you think.”
One kiss led to another and another before they finally moved out of the kitchen. She was pretty sure he originally intended for them to end up back in bed, but they only made it as far as the couch. The space was cramped, not that she was complaining. It just led to more creativity on both their parts, along with a lot of giggling, a few curses, and potentially a bruise or two.
When they both finally collapsed in a boneless heap, Safara was limp but strangely energized at the same time. When Eli didn’t seem inclined to move off of her, she tugged on his hair. “You need to move.”
He didn’t budge an inch as he muttered, “Why?”
“Because I need to breathe sometime today.”
It took him several more seconds to make any effort to comply with her request. Finally, he pushed himself up to his elbows, giving her lungs the room they needed to work. He appeared fascinated by the movement of her chest. “Um, my eyes are up here, Eli.”
“I know that.” Not that he apparently cared.
When he finally rolled to the side, his main motivation seemed to be to use his free hand to capture one of her breasts. He began kneading it gently, smiling as his eyes drifted shut. If she didn’t get moving, she’d be stuck there on the couch with him snoring softly in her ear. There were worse fates, but she did need to get moving.
With some determined wiggling and a few hard shoves, she managed to make her escape. After retrieving her T-shirt, she picked up Eli’s pajama bottoms and tossed them on his head. “I’m going to take a shower.”
He mumbled something in reply that she didn’t quite catch. She launched one more salvo as she headed toward the bathroom. “You’re welcome to join me. I promise to make it worth your while.”
She must have scored a direct hit. Eli charged up off the couch and swept her into his arms before she made it halfway down the hall. Together, they cranked the shower up to steaming hot.
FOR THE SECONDtime in two days, Eli’s pleasant morning was interrupted by the sound of a vehicle approaching the cabin. Who could it be this time? Not Mike or Doc, for sure. They’d call first.
It seemed doubtful that the black-ops guys would come driving up in broad daylight, which didn’t leave a whole lot of other possibilities. In fact, he could think of only one likely suspect. Praying he was wrong, he peeked out the front window. Yep, that was Jakes Dennell’s cruiser. Damn. He hustled back to rap his knuckles on the bathroom door. “Safara, your father is pulling up out front.”
She popped open the door, her eyes wide with panic. “Are you sure it’s him?”
“It’s his car. I didn’t think you’d want to be running around the cabin naked right now. Not that I personally would mind, but I have a feeling he might have a different opinion on the subject.”
Safara rolled her eyes. “You think? Stall him for as long as you can.”
He laughed and got out of her way as she bolted for the bedroom to get dressed. “I’ll try to entertain him for a few minutes, but somehow I don’t think he’ll be okay with that for long.”
