I gave him a tiny salute. “At your service, Mr. Morelli.”
Eli narrowed his eyes at me. “Are you trying to get fucked in the bath, little girl? Do you want another load in your slutty little pussy?”
I nodded.
Eli was right though. Since that night the sex has been non-stop. I’m sleeping with him and Bobby in the morning and then Adriano and Doc in the afternoon and sometimes one of them will get bored and join in again. In the evenings it’s usually a three-way or a foursome with whoever’s interested and a few times I’ve taken turns going down on them, while they watch TV, servicing them one after the other. I can only imagine what strangers might think, but to me, it’s the best kind of fake degradation. The idea that I’ve been paid for, that I’m a maid these four gorgeous men have hired to use in their cabin hideaway.
I don’t think the sex is a bad thing. It’s purifying all of us. Reminding us that we’re human and that even if someone hurts us, we can still feel pleasure. That we’re alive and whole and able to take care of each other.
There is one problem. I never got my phone back after the wedding which means I can’t track my cycle…and I’m pretty sure my period is late. That’s not such a huge deal but I’m usually regular and my nipples are sore. And things are starting to smell weird. I was basting a venison roast last night and something about the rich, bloody smell almost made me throw up into the tray.
I know what that means, but I can’t say it. I can’t even think it. To acknowledge it, even in my own mind is too terrifying. Who knows how long we’re going to be in this cabin and if I tell the guys I’m…differentthey might do something drastic. Doc will want to take me to a hospital and hook me up to every medical device there is. Eli might decide to send me away to Naples—which he debated when we first came to the safe house. Adriano could decide there’s no way he can let my baby and Mr. Parker exist at the same time and try to invade Parker’s compound and kill him. And Bobby…well, Bobby is the most reasonable one, but he’d still tell the others.
So, it’s my secret.
Besides, people have gotten and stayed…the way I am…for tens of thousands of years without medicine. And Zia Teresa once told me a lot of women miscarry in the first few weeks of…this. That could easily happen to me. Maybe it would be better if it did. It doesn’t feel like the right time.
In fact, I’m sure it’s not.
Which is why this morning when Eli retreated to the secure room and Doc, Bobby, and Adriano went hunting, I focused on making walnut soda bread and rabbit and red wine stew. And now the bread is baking, and the soup is simmering away while I’m sitting at the kitchen counter reading an old copy of Vogue magazine and drinking peppermint tea.
There’s no need to panic. None at all.
“Hello,bella.”
I turn and see Eli climbing the stairs to the kitchen. His dark hair is longer than I’ve ever seen it, curling, almost to his collar. He hates it but I think it suits him. It makes him look like an old-fashioned knight. A romantic hero from some other time. He’s wearing a crimson sweater with a small hole in the neck and somehow, he makes it look like high fashion.
“How’s work?” I ask.
He shrugs, which means there are no changes. “How are you? Are your men still off hunting moose?”
I raise a brow. “Moose?”
“Adriano claims it tastes more like steak than venison. I doubt that very much, but I think they need the challenge.”
I laugh though inwardly I’m wondering what the heck I’ll do with moose meat. I’ve never even heard of cooking moose. I notice Eli watching me with such naked affection I have to glance away. “Um… Hi?”
“Hello.” Eli walks up to my chair and wraps his arms around me. “If I didn’t know you were an angel before, I have absolutely no doubt of it now.”
I smile. “Thank you, Daddy.”
He presses his stubbled face against my cheek. “You like being here.”
“I do,” I admit. “At least I like the cooking. And how close we all are. Living at Velvet House is like living in an old-timey mall sometimes.”
He huffs a laugh into my hair then his hands drop to my breasts, braless through my T-shirt as they usually are these days. He gently teases my nipples through the fabric. “You’re my little goddess of the hearth. My Esther.”
To my surprise, I feel tears burning in my eyes. It can be overwhelming sometimes, to be so loved. Like a few days ago when Adriano, Bobby, and Doc, all separately brought me wildflowers. It’s like a skill to be so adored, to expand your heart and take them all in. To adore them in return.
“When we get home, I will drown you in diamonds,” Eli mutters. “I will give you everything your heart desires. You will only have to think it and it will be yours.”
I smile. “Thank you, but I’m starting to like second-hand clothes. That way it doesn’t matter if I get food on them. Or anything else.”
“You’re better than we deserve,bella.” Eli moves away from me, stretching his arms above his head, and it occurs to me that his skin looks brighter, the whites of his eyes whiter.
“You like it here too,” I accuse. “You look well rested and…happy.”
“I agree I’m sleeping better,” he says. “I’m drinking less too. But still…”
