Page 10 of Drawn By Dragonblood
Not a single one of them had ever tipped my life sideways as Elijah had done though, not even that man from the streets of New York.
I sat on uneven ground in a figurative sense, fearing leaning fully one way or another would send me tumbling into an abyss. While the unknown caused my heart to race with sweet anticipation, dread of what awaited me through the fog clouding my future tightened my chest.
I continued to brush against Jon with my usual affection, seeking assurance. I also hoped he took comfort in my nearness, but he seemed intent on Elijah rather than focused on the jealousy that must burn in his stomach.
My eyes stung over my body’s betrayal of my one true love.
How long would Jon be disappointed in me? Would I be given the chance to prove myself to him? Assure him of the faithfulness I’d pledged to him not that long ago before the Justice of the Peace that had declared us husband and wife?
Regardless of the tension among Elijah, Jon, and I, we remained social, Jon more gracious than I’d expected. Casual conversation flowed, all surface stuff that held no meaning beyond passing the time until we went our separate ways.
Hopefully sooner than later.
The three of us discussed the peaks Jon and I had climbed and the ones I still wanted to see and take pictures of. The White Mountains had always felt like home even though we’d both been born in upstate New York, and as with everything, Jon agreed to do what I wanted when it became clear we had to cancel our trip to Bermuda.
But would he forgive me this time since I’d gone way beyond my usual unusual interest in strangers?
I fought off tears all through our shared breakfast while faking a smile, my body and mind at war over arousal I couldn’t stop. Soaked panties clung to my pussy, my nipples tight and aching because of one dark stranger whose presence tempted me to be unfaithful to the man I trusted to be my partner until death parted us.
The crisp morning air hinted at an approaching storm like the one raging inside me. The dark clouds crept toward us from the southwest and trailhead where we’d parked our old car for the week, matching my mood and unsettled emotions I fought to keep contained.
Elijah glanced at the horizon then at the double sleeping bag Jon and I had slept in the night before after stargazing while enjoying our usual pillow talk. “Do you have a tent?” he asked.
I squeezed my thighs together against the desire his voice incited like an alpha in one of my shifter romance books.
Me and my damned fanciful mind.
“Yeah we do,” Jon replied, tucking an escaped strand of hair behind his ear, “but you know what they say, ‘If you don’t like the weather here in New England?—’”
“—wait a minute.” Elijah finished with a smile, his attention still on the approaching clouds as though he too was wary of what they might bring. “The storm was forecasted to pass south of us, but that appears not to be the case. And, with the flash flooding and dangerous winds they said would accompany the storm...”
“Maybe we ought to hike out of here,” I said, setting my scraped-clean bowl aside, my feet itching to move.
Toward Elijah.
No.
Away from him, hand in hand with Jon who owned my heart.
My mind felt torn in two, my body doubly so. Eyes stinging, I stared at Elijah, wishing I could name what it was that drew me to him.
“You’ll be soaked long before making it back to civilization, regardless of what trails you take,” he said, his gaze on Jon, thank goodness, because I wouldn’t be able to deny him if he looked at me with the same desire as he did my husband.
Jon shrugged as though unaffected by Elijah’s blatant hungry stare, but I noted the tension in his shoulders and the tightness bracketing his lips. “Can’t be helped.”
“My house is a short distance away,” Elijah reminded us. “You’re welcome to wait out the bad weather there.”
Jon scanned the mountains and rocks around us as my pulse thrummed at the thought of spending more time with Elijah. Nothing good could come from it even though my body begged otherwise.
“You really have a place in these mountains?” Jon asked. “I thought this was a national forest.”
“It is, but my ancestors lived here long before the government made this protected land. We’re the ones who sold most of it to them, in fact.” Elijah spoke without any hint of bragging in his voice. “I’m the last of my line and have been able to keep the retained land in seclusion by a private road that I keep gated.”
“What do you do in the winter?” Jon asked.
“Helicopter when the weather isn’t too bad, Humvee when it is.”
“You have power all the way out here?”
