A Little Harmless Ride (19 page)

He knew his need to be near her had gotten worse.

“
Have you talked to your father?”

She shook her head. “I called him that night. It was so late here, and of course it was morning there. He wasn’t happy. I’ve talked to him almost every day since. He likes to pretend there was something to talk about every day, but I know he’s checking on me.”

“
I’m amazed he didn’t try and get you to come back to the mainland.”

She glanced at him. “First, he knew it wouldn’t happen. He also said he trusted you.”

She dipped her sandwich in the tomato soup and munched on it while Eli tried to figure out what she meant by that comment. A father trusted his daughter to Eli. Foster kid and SASR dropout. The man must not be a good judge of character.

“
Of course, I told him I didn’t need some man to protect me.”

He chuckled. “Yeah?”

“
Yeah. He should know better. I can handle myself.”

He sighed. “But you’re still his baby girl. I just can’t believe he trusts me that much.”

“
Oh, he doesn’t trust you
that
much. He wanted to know if we were sleeping together.”

Eli choked on his tomato soup. She pounded on his back as he tried to drink water.

“
Are you okay?”

He nodded. “What did you say?”

“
I asked if you were okay.”

“
No. To your father.”

“
Oh. I told him we slept together once but thought it was best that we didn’t continue.”

For a second, he wondered how long it would be before Hamm showed up to kill him. Then she started laughing.

“
Oh. My. God. The look on your face. That was fantastic.”

It took her a few minutes to calm herself.

“
Are you telling me you didn’t tell your father?”

“
Of course not. My father still probably likes to pretend I’m a virgin.”

“
So you were just fucking with me?”

She shrugged then started giggling. “If you could see your face.”

And with the rain falling on the roof, he looked at Crysta and gave up and fell in love. It wasn’t going to do him any good and hell, he didn’t even know if they were compatible as Dom and sub. But, apparently, none of that mattered. He was in love with a woman.

He couldn’t resist. He leaned forward and brushed his mouth over hers. She stopped laughing.

“
Eli,” she said, but he set his fingers against her mouth.

“
No. I just had to kiss you.” Then he stood. “I’ve got some work to do.”

He took his bowl and plate to the sink then headed down the hall. He had a lot to think about and he wasn’t too happy about it.

* * * *

Crysta was in a mood. She had been all day, but after last night, no one should be able to blame her.

That little kiss Eli gave her had kept her up all night. She knew he’d slept like a baby. She’d heard him snoring when she’d gotten up to get a glass of warm milk. Butthead.

“
That horse is going to get pissed and kick you if you keep brushing her like that,” Eli said from behind her. She turned and found him standing at the doorway of the barn, leaning against a bale of hay.

“
I’m not in the best of moods.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I heard.”

“
What do you mean by that?”

“
Well, first, Jerry said I should avoid you. He said that he figured you were stressed out and needed a break.”

“
Did he?”

Eli nodded again. “Then, there was Aiona. He said you scared him—more than he was scared of May.”

“
That’s mean.”

His lips twitched. “Well, I heard you threatened to shave his head.”

“
He asked me if I was PMSing. He deserved that.” She crossed her arms knowing that she was acting like an idiot, but she couldn’t help it. She had never been a woman who could handle herself without enough sleep. Add in her frustration with Eli and the situation with their ranch, everyone was lucky she wasn’t using them for target practice.

“
Do you want to talk about what’s really bothering you?”

“
No. Nothing is bothering me. I just didn’t sleep well last night. I haven’t…” since they returned. The truth was, she didn’t know if it was fear, or if it was the man. Something told her it was the latter. Eli St John was a man women lost sleep over.

“
We need to talk about Honolulu. We need to talk about us.”

She couldn’t face it. Crysta rarely hid from problems, but right now, she couldn’t deal with this. She wanted him more than she wanted her next breath and she couldn’t handle him knowing that.

“
There’s nothing to talk about,” she said. “We had one night, it was good, it’s over. We both said it was for the best.”

He cocked his head to the side and watched her for a moment. “Is that so?”

She turned around and started brushing the horse again. “Yes.”

Eli stepped closer. She wished she could see him, but that would be admitting the need she had for him. The cocky Dom knew she wanted him, but it didn’t mean she had to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging her attraction.

“
So, you think you can resist me?” he asked, his voice deepening. She felt his breath against her ear and she shivered.

“
What you don’t seem to understand is that I have control over my own desires. I’m not some little sub who is awed by the popular Dom.”

“
Hmm.” It was all he said as he nibbled on her ear.

It took all her willpower to step away from him and the temptation he represented. Crysta turned then settled her hands on her hips trying to keep from reaching for him. Every fiber of her being wanted that…but she’d been truthful. She might be a sub, but she wasn’t inexperienced.

“
We have to run this ranch together for months. I don’t think it’s a good idea to get tangled up.”

He wasn’t happy, that was easy to see. His narrowed glare almost made her laugh. Had no one really ever rejected this man? Probably not. He was a Dom…a good one. The fact that he was a cowboy with a sexy Aussie accent was enough to make most women swoon.

Crysta was made of stronger stuff. Resisting him, the lure of a submission to him, was the only thing that could save her heart. He might just be in it for fun, but she wouldn’t be. She would fall in love with him, then it would be bad.

He moved forward and slipped his hand to her waist. Ignoring her protest, he pulled her closer and kissed her. It was a full frontal assault that had her senses reeling. She could smell the leather and sweet Hawaiian air on him as he thrust his tongue into her mouth. She resisted for a second, and then surrendered to the pleasure.

In the next instant, he was gone. Eli released her and stepped back.

“
If you want another taste, it comes with a price,” he said.

Both of them knew the charge would be her submission.

Chapter Nineteen

Eli heard her footsteps before he saw her. They had been avoiding each other for over twenty-four hours. He had done it for self-preservation. He couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t drop to his knees and beg for her to accept him.

That wasn’t the thing for a Dom to do.

He was sitting in the library again, sipping on whisky. The sun was setting in the distance, and it had been a hard day—which had been preceded by an even harder night. After letting Crysta know that he was interested in moving forward, he let her come to him. Many people would look from the outside and wonder if he truly was a Dom.

He smiled. He knew that much of what the public thought about submission and Domination was fucked up. And, from the moment he found an outlet as a Dom, he stopped caring what other people thought about it. For him, it wasn’t that he had to convince her that he wanted her. She knew that. He also knew Crysta wanted him. That night in Honolulu had taught him that.

No, now when she came to him, she would be giving him the ultimate surrender.

And what Dom wouldn’t want that?

A floorboard creaked behind him and he hid a smile as he took another sip. He had no doubt who was there.

“
Have you eaten dinner, yet?” she asked.

He glanced over his shoulder and hid his reaction. At least he hoped he did. She’d been to town with Jerry and she was wearing one of those sundresses she loved. This one was yellow, bright like the sun and her personality.

“
I had a bite to eat earlier. Did you and Jerry have a good time?”

She chuckled. “I’m not sure if I would call it a good time. Jerry might never recover from shopping for my Dad’s birthday. The man acts like he’s never been out shopping with a woman.”

“
I have a feeling he hasn’t been for awhile.”

She sighed and walked to the chair in front of his desk. “Are you going to stop avoiding me?”

“
I haven’t been. I’ve been giving you time to think.”

“
About?”

“
Don’t play coy, love. You know what I want. You want it to, but I know you needed the time to think about it.”

“
And it’s my choice.”

“
I want you. I think we both know that. And I know that having you submit to me will be the most amazing experience.”

“
We need rules, Eli.”

He nodded. “I always have rules, love.”

“
No. About the ranch. That’s business. Submission, that relationship stops when we leave the bedroom.”

He nodded. “Agreed.”

She stared at him for a long time. He knew she wanted it as much as he did.

“
Okay.”

His heart squeezed tight as he tried to accept that she had just agreed. “Well, then, I think we need to go upstairs.”

* * * *

Each step up the stairs had made her hotter. Crysta had never been one for rushing things. Anticipation always made sex—especially when playing—so much more intense.

When they were in Eli’s room, he said nothing, leaving her standing in the middle of the floor.

“
One thing I noticed about our time together was how much you liked to be spanked.”

He stepped closer and moved her hair, draping it over her shoulder.

“
Doncha?”

She nodded.

“
So, I guess I need a safe word, and then, you agree to submission for tonight. You do as I command in this room. Do you have any kind of things you won’t do? Anal?”

“
It’s been awhile. So…”

“
Well, not tonight. Besides, I have so many other things I want to do to you.”

She shivered, her nipples tightened. She wasn’t a novice, but the first night with a new Dom was always like an initiation. And something told her that Eli took her submission very seriously. He wouldn’t have asked for it otherwise.

“
Safe word.”

“
Anchor.”

For a second he said nothing, then, he said, “Navy brat, through and through. I need you naked. Fold your clothes and place them on the bed.”

She pulled off her shirt first, then her bra. Her body was already very sensitive, ready for his touch. She unbuttoned her jeans and slid them down her legs. When she picked them up to fold them, she realized her hands were shaking. It made sense. This was the first time in over a year she had submitted.