“Why?” I breathed, my heart so full from this man. I covered his hand with mine, holding him to me, hating that he was afraid and loving the reason why. He was making up for his lies with a kind of bare honesty that hooked me deep.
“You’re so much to lose,” he said, pressing a kiss to my temple. “Too much. You’re everything. And I was holding you away, so it wouldn’t hurt as much when it went bad. But then I thought you were gone, and I knew trying tosave myself was useless because I was already in love with you. And this…” Eli stroked his knuckles over my cheekbone with a reverence that melted me. “This feels like the second chance I don’t deserve, but I won’t waste it.”
His mouth on mine was slow and sweet. I threaded my fingers into his hair and held him there, connected. His hands touched my body, and we moved together like we’d known each other a lifetime—unhurried, savoring every touch, every breath. I wrapped my arms around him again, stroking down the smooth skin of his back, feeling the flex of his muscles under my hands as he filled me over and over in a gentle rhythm, building the pleasure slowly, careful not to jostle my head or my bruised body. I wouldn’t have cared. It was so good, so perfect, I didn’t think I would have felt an ache if one had dared to appear, but Eli wasn’t taking any chances.
The last traces of fatigue fell away, chased out by bliss.
Eli followed me when I came, my name on his lips.
After, he tugged me out of bed and into the shower. Standing under the spray, he washed me from head to toe, his eyes cataloging every scrape and bruise. When I was clean, I did the same, lingering over all that was Eli. His back was a mess of bruises, and his forearms had minor burns, but overall, he’d escaped with fewer injuries than me. At least we were both better than we had been.
Clean and almost fully functional, we pulled on clothes, and Eli floated the crazy idea that we camp out on the sofa in the living room like normal people. I grabbed my laptop and followed him.
“What are you doing?” he asked when I got comfortable and flipped the screen open.
“I don’t know, honestly,” I said. “I feel like I should work on the next season, but I can’t get my head in it.”
“Have you thought about what you’re going to do about your van?” Eli asked, his eyes heavy with an uncertainty I wasn’t sure I understood.
“Not really,” I said. “Not yet. I’ll have to start looking for a new one, I guess. And figure out where to live while I fix it up…” My voice trailed off as I remembered I had more problems than just the assassin sent to kill me and my lack of a new season for my podcast. I was homeless, and almost everything I owned had been burned to ash.
Eli cleared his throat, looking more unsure of himself than I’d ever seen him. “I have an idea about that.” He reached out to close his hand around mine, squeezing before turning his palm and staring down at my fingers, twining his through mine. “Move in with me.”
“What?” I asked, my brain stalling at his suggestion.
On the face of it, the idea was insane. We barely knew each other. It had been… I counted. Eight days since we met. And yes, I’d fallen in love and so had he, but it was way beyond too early to move in together.
“We haven’t been out on a date yet.” I heard my inane response, and my cheeks heated.
Eli’s mouth curved in a slow smile that sent my heart beating faster. “I’ll take you on a date, Sylvie.” He turned my hand in his and rubbed the back against his stubbled cheek as if savoring my nearness.
“I don’t even know where you live,” I said, trying to stop myself from talking so I could think for a second. But even as my mouth kept saying stupid things, my heart, thudding in my chest, didn’t care about any of them.
I wanted to stay with Eli. I didn’t want to retreat to another van or an apartment while he took me on dates, and we did this thing the normal way. I didn’t want flowers or dinnerout.
I just wanted Eli.
He leaned in to press a soft, lingering kiss to my lips. “Right now, I live in a building we call the barracks. The rest of the team is there too, but we all have our own space. Mine is bigger than your van was. Plenty of room for both of us. And if it’s not working, we can find something else.”
“Will the rest of the team mind?” I asked, breathless at the idea that I was moving in with Eli. Because I was. Any other option left me feeling flat and empty. Cold. I had Eli. Why would I want to be anywhere but with him?
“No,” he said, shaking his head, his dark eyes bright with what I hoped was happiness. He looked content in a way I’d never seen him. “They all like you. And the place is huge. You won’t be crowding anyone.”
“Okay,” I whispered, lifting my face to his for a kiss. He didn’t make me wait. “But if they try to have us committed for moving too fast, you’re coming to the asylum with me.”
“I’ll go anywhere with you,” he said. “But first we have to neutralize the asshole trying to kill you.”
“I know.” I looked at my laptop screen, trying to shift my brain to a new track. “I had a thought.”
“Yeah?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“What if I go out and use my cards? My debit card or credit cards. Now that they’re working again, what if we use them to draw him out?”
“Set a trap?” Eli asked. “With you as the bait? Fuck no.”
“Do you have a better suggestion? This is a pretty nice safe house,” I said, giving the room a scan, “but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life here.”
Maybe that was Eli’s plan: keep me in the safe house until the bomber died of old age.Not going to happen.
