The last box was bigger than the other two, but it wasn’t as heavy. Elias shook it playfully. “What is it?”
“You’ll know when you open it, but it’s probably my favorite of the three,” she told him.
That made him curious. He opened the present and found a shirt inside. He took it out, holding it up to find it was a plain black shirt.
“Turn it around,” Eri instructed.
When he did, he couldn’t help but laugh. The back of it read,If you can read this. She fell offin white and red lettering.
“I see why it’s your favorite. I like it,” he told her. “I liked them all. Thank you, Amate.”
“You’re welcome, but I don’t expect anyone to ever read that while we’re riding because you’d better not let me fall off.”
Elias placed the shirt aside and pulled her into his arms. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
His lips were soon on hers, and he led her in a slow kiss. He knew vaguely that the singing had stopped and there was movement in the living room, but his focus was on the taste of the woman in front of him. She tasted sweet, like all the fruit she’d been eating throughout the night, and Elias had to reel his thoughts in when they drifted to how her lower set of lips would taste.
A throat clearing filled the kitchen, and with a final kiss, he pulled away, turning to see his cousin in the doorway.
“We’re moving everything in the living room back. Do you need us to do anything else before we head out?”
“No,” Eri responded. “We can handle the rest.” Marco left them alone, and Elias released Eri. “Go put these away, and I’ll keep cleaning in here,” she instructed, handing him his birthday gifts.
It was a few minutes after one in the morning when everything was finished. After rearranging the living room, everyone left except for Eri. Honestly, it wouldn’t have taken them as long to finish if he hadn’t stopped to steal a kiss everyfew minutes. Much like he was doing now. He had her caged between him and the counter, her lips pliant under his. He placed a hand under her shirt, his fingers trailing up her side, thumb brushing her ribcage. Eri nudged his chest, releasing a shaky breath when he pulled away.
“It’s late,” she said. He heard her, but was distracted by the way her pupils had dilated.
“You can stay,” he responded. In their current position, he realized how that sounded and added. “It wouldn’t be your first time staying in my guest room.”
She studied him for a moment. Searching his eyes. “Yeah, okay.”
“I’ll grab you something to sleep in.”
They exited the kitchen; Elias went into his bedroom, and Eri entered the guest room. He grabbed a T-shirt and a pair of boxers and went to the room.
“Everything is still where it was,” he informed, placing the clothes on the bed. “And you know where I am if you need anything.” He kissed her. “Good night, Amate.”
“Good night.”
Elias walked into his en suite and started the shower. He undressed and brushed his teeth while the water heated before stepping inside. The shop was closed tomorrow, and he only had a few finishing touches to put on the bike he was working on, but he planned to spend his Sunday lazing around until he went to his parents’ house for dinner. He’d see if he could get Eri to spend the day with him until then.
After his shower, he dressed in boxers and slid into bed. Elias knew it would take him a while to fall asleep. He was hyperaware of the woman in his guest room, much like he’d been the first time she stayed with him. The difference now was that their relationship was different, and while he wanted her in bed next to him, under him, he would wait until she was ready.
An hour ticked by, and he’d just thought he would be able to go to sleep when movement at his door caught his attention, and he found Eri standing there. She was in the T-shirt and boxers he’d left her, and he assumed she was sleepwalking again. He sat up, getting out of bed so he could take her back to the guest room.
When he stopped in front of her, her hands came up to his abdomen before trailing down to the band of his boxers; when her fingers hooked in it, pulling slightly, Elias caught her wrist in his hand, and those deep doe eyes stared up at him, the same arousal he’d seen in them in the kitchen present.
“Tell me you’re awake,” he demanded.
“I’m awake,” she responded, and no sooner had the words left her lips were his on hers.
He released her wrists, picked her up and pulled a gasp from her, which he swallowed down as he carried her to his bed. Elias had no intention of doing anything she didn’t want him to do, and if she only wanted to be in bed with him, then he was fine with that.
He laid her on the bed, and Eri again reached for his boxers, and again he grabbed her wrist.
“You know I’m awake,” she told him.
“That isn’t…are you sure?” She bit her lip in the soft glow of the dull streetlight shining through a sliver in the curtains. When she said nothing, he moved her hand. “Ask me when you’re sure.”
