Finding Our Forever(30)

She was seconds away from the best climax of her life. Cora felt the escalation, the compulsion of her body to reach that pinnacle.

Then the doorbell rang.

Trying to force her sluggish brain to work as it usually did, she started to get up. She thought Elijah would stop so she could deal with her guest, especially because his truck was outside. They couldn’t be caught doing something like this. It wouldn’t look good. But he muttered a gruff, “No!” and held her that much more tightly as he continued his ministrations.

He was so insistent that she let her head fall back and reached for the sides of the table. She had to hold on to something...

“Cora, you there?”

Doug. Of course. He would show up at the worst possible moment.

“The door!” she whispered emphatically, but Elijah wouldn’t let Doug take this away from her. She felt his beard growth on her thighs as he shook his head in refusal.

Fortunately, the climax she’d been chasing burst upon her soon after, despite the fact that Doug knocked again.

After Elijah heard her gasp and felt her body jerk, he straightened in satisfaction. He’d given her one hell of a climax. She could tell that had been his goal, but he didn’t seem pleased. “Damn him,” he grumbled, his voice low as he scooped her off the table, set her on her feet and bent to retrieve the belt to her robe.

“What should we do?” Her mind scrambled to decide how best to explain Elijah’s presence, her disheveled appearance and their delay.

After a brief hesitation, he took charge. “She’s in the shower,” he called out, turning her toward the bedroom and giving her a little push.

As she hurried down the hall, he headed for the door.

“When I got here, she yelled for me to come in,” she heard him say as soon as she was safely behind the closed door of her bedroom. “But I’ve been waiting for fifteen minutes, and she’s not out yet. So you might want to leave those here or come back later. I’m going to come back myself.”

Doug said something in reply. Cora couldn’t make it out. His voice wasn’t as strident as Elijah’s. Then there was silence, and when she peeked out, they were both gone.

Smooth move, she texted to Elijah.

What I did with Doug or before? came his response.

Although she could tell he was teasing, his words let her know he was still very much fixated on what had occurred—and she couldn’t blame him. She was having a hard time forgetting about it herself, and she was the one who’d at least been satisfied. Pretty proud of yourself, huh?

That felt good—even to me.

Lol. I won’t lie. You could win an award with that technique.

Glad to hear it. Then maybe you’ll see me again tonight.

She could only imagine how aroused he’d been when he’d had to leave. Being interrupted at that point was never fun. But she wasn’t sure they should continue what they’d started. She’d been thinking of this fling in such a harmless way. She’d presented seeing Elijah to Aiyana in a harmless way. And yet...spending more time with him was beginning to feel dangerous.

Can’t. Going to LA to see my folks.

Until that moment, she hadn’t planned on returning home. She was essentially running away. But she knew where she’d spend the night if she didn’t get out of Silver Springs, and she needed to put on the brakes, gain some perspective, rethink what they were doing. The tenderness she felt at any thought of him frightened her. This wasn’t nearly as casual as she’d imagined.

When will you be back?

Tomorrow night.

Call me when you get in.

Okay, she wrote back. But she didn’t return until it was late—too late to consider seeing him before school started the following morning.





Chapter Nine

Eli had never had trouble concentrating. Not since he’d overcome what he’d been through as a child and grown into an adult. He was so focused on his job and the boys he served that there were days when he almost forgot to eat. Work was what he enjoyed, what kept him going and looking forward to each new day. He was especially busy this time of year, when there was so much to do in order to get the semester started off right.

On top of that, his two youngest brothers were back, and Dallas, the middle brother who’d taken them climbing in Yosemite, was temporarily visiting. The following week, Eli spent most of his evenings with them, which he enjoyed, but he often found his mind drifting when it shouldn’t. He kept remembering what it had been like to make love to Cora, felt such a strong craving to be with her again he couldn’t help watching for her whenever he was on campus. She’d texted him when she left LA last Sunday night but only to let him know she’d be getting back too late to see him. With Dallas in town, Eli hadn’t thought much of it. He’d told her to let him know when she’d be available, which indicated he wanted to see her again, but he hadn’t heard from her in six days. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking. Although she’d smile and wave if she happened to bump into him—she wasn’t unfriendly—she’d turn away right after, wouldn’t really meet his eyes. And she never called him or reached out to him, even at night. Since Dallas was staying at the big house with Aiyana, Liam and Bentley, they could’ve seen each other despite Dallas’s presence on the ranch, if she’d acted interested.