Holiday Hostage

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

“ I don’t know about the rest of you, but I need a shower, and then I’m going to crash.” Eli gets up and puts his plate in the sink. “It’s been a long-ass fucking day, and the adrenaline rush is wearing off.”

“I’m going to finish cleaning up from dinner first,” Koda says. Bryce leaves the table and heads outside, grabbing his jacket from a hook by the door on his way out.

With a yawn, I stretch my arms over my head and arch my back. “Is the couch where I’m sleeping?” I don’t want to be presumptuous. It’s a three-bedroom cabin, and they weren’t expecting a fourth member in their party.

“Nice try, Laiken.” Eli shakes his head and barks out a laugh. “I hate to break it to you, but you’re a bit of a flight risk. We can’t just go to sleep and leave you out here on your own. I’ve got the first watch. You’re with me in my room tonight.”

“Your room?” I squeak out. The thought of sharing rooms isn’t one that’s occurred to me.

“Yep,” he replies, popping the p on the end. “Come on. I want to get in the shower before Bryce gets back and decides to hog all the hot water.”

“I don’t think Bryce will be taking a hot shower today.” Koda laughs, tossing a glance in my direction. Eli laughs and shakes his head before grabbing my arm and pulling me down the hall to his bedroom.

“Each room has an en suite.” Eli jerks his head toward a bathroom as he crosses the room to a small chest of drawers and pulls out a pile of clothes. He sets a pair of gray sweatpants and a navy blue T-shirt on the bed. “Here, you can change into these so you have something more comfortable to sleep in.”

“Thanks.” I pick up the clothes, waiting for him to go into the bathroom for his shower before I start undressing. Eli leaves the bathroom door ajar, so I wait a little longer until I hear the shower door open and close.

I take a brief look around the room before slipping into the sweats and T-shirt. It’s a good-sized room, larger than I expected when I saw the exterior of the cabin. The natural wood tone of the walls closely matches the floor. It almost feels like I’ve been transported back to the 1800s, save for the light fixtures and outlets on the walls. The bed catches my attention, and I immediately start thinking about what it’ll be like to share it with Eli.

The sweats are too long. No amount of rolling will make them fit, but the shirt is almost long enough to be a nightgown. Afraid Eli will finish before I can exchange my skirt and blouse for the makeshift pajamas he’s given me, I don’t bother unbuttoning every button or dragging the zipper all the way down before I strip. I tug the shirt over my head, scoop up my pile of clothes, and drop the bundle on the armchair by the cast iron potbelly stove; catching a glimpse of Elie in my peripheral vision.

A very naked Eli.

I shouldn’t. I know I shouldn’t. It’s wrong and depraved to watch him like this—without his permission. I never thought I would be a voyeur, but watching Eli run sudsy hands over his defined pecs and chiseled abs down to that sexy V I’ve read about in romance novels but never seen in real life, I can’t look away. I don’t want to look away.

How can watching someone get clean be this dirty?

He moves under the spray of water, tilting his head back as he rinses away the soap. The bubbles sluice their way down his flawless body before swirling down the drain. I’m still watching, entranced by such raw masculinity, when he shuts off the water and steps out of the shower. The ache I felt between my legs earlier is back and more intense than ever as he drags a terry cloth towel over his skin. It’s the most erotic thing I’ve ever seen.

Which speaks volumes about my sexual experience. Or lack thereof. I’ve been so busy, first taking care of Grammy when she got sick and then running the bakery on top of that, there just wasn’t time for boys. A recurring theme now that the bakery is mine. Sure, I fooled around in high school, but never more than second base, and that would be the reason my one and only boyfriend dumped me after graduation. He was looking for a hot summer fling before heading off to college. There were plenty of willing girls who weren’t nursing their dying grandmother available for him to choose from.

Shit. I’d been so busy taking a trip down bad-memory lane that I almost missed Eli turning to hang his wet towel over the bar mounted on the wall. Damn, the man looks as good going as he does coming. Speaking of, how would he look coming? I could almost feel him inside me, the weight of his body on top of mine as he…shit.

Get control of yourself, Laiken. He’s going to catch you watching him like some perv, and then what are you going to do?

I rush across the room and climb into bed on the side farthest from the bathroom. Curling up with my knees almost to my chest, I pull the blankets over my head.

The mattress dips under Eli’s weight as he slides in beside me. My heart is beating like a wild animal caged within my chest as he wraps his arm around my waist and tugs me close, spooning me from behind.

“Wh-what are you doing?” I stammer. I’d planned on pretending to be asleep, but there’s no way I can pull that off after the shock of Eli crawling into bed with me.

“I’m not sleeping on the floor, Laiken.” His mouth is so close to my neck that I can feel the hint of his lips brushing against my skin. He ratchets his arm tighter around my waist. “Can’t risk you running away in the middle of the night. Though, with the way you were watching me, I don’t think running is what you want to do tonight.”

“I wasn’t watching you,” I lie, but it’s a waste of breath. There’s no way he can’t feel my racing heart or rapid pulse.

“You were definitely watching me, Laiken, and I think you liked it.” Just the warmth of his breath on my skin is enough to have me trembling in his arms. “Didn’t you, beautiful? Tell me you liked it. I want to hear you admit what we both already know. Tell me how much you liked watching me, Laiken.”

God, the way this man says my name. I’ll tell him everything, every secret, every desire, every fantasy I have, just to hear my name on his lips again. “Yes.”

“Yes what, Laiken?”

“Yes, I liked watching you.”

“Good girl.” He loosens his hold, sliding his hand from my left ribs around to rest on the flat of my stomach. “You can do more than watch, Laiken. You can touch too. Do you want to put those delicate hands on my body? Feel your nails rake across my skin?”

“I’ve never…I haven’t been with…I don’t know what to do.” Embarrassment grips my vocal cords, my words barely above a whisper.

“You’ve never…you're a virgin?” Eli presses his lips against a sensitive spot behind my ear and down to my shoulder, gently biting. “Fuck, baby. That’s so fucking sweet. So fucking sexy.”

I’m not sure how my inexperience can be sexy, but his tongue leaving the spot where he just pressed his teeth into my skin has taken over the number one spot for the most erotic experience of my life.

“Do you trust me, Laiken?”

I don’t know why, but my answer is an immediate yes.

“I want to touch you. Let me teach you what it feels like to have a lover’s hands on your body.”

“Okay,” I say breathlessly while Eli’s hand slips under my shirt.

His fingertips run over my stomach, leaving a trail of shivers behind. But nothing could prepare me for his fingers traveling south. He dips into my waistband and shoves his hand down my pants.

I gasp in shock when he finds my panty-covered center.

“Mmm, so hot for me,” he murmurs against the shell of my ear as he grabs my panties and pushes them to the side, exposing my pussy to his touch. “Let me feel how wet you are for me.”

I moan when his fingers make contact with my heated flesh. I let my head fall back against his shoulder, and he takes the invitation and trails kisses down my neck. At the same time, his index finger explores me down there. Gentle but firm, he presses his thumb against my clit, and I can’t help but arch my back a little.

“You are so responsive.” Eli’s voice is low and gravelly now, and it seems to have a direct link to my downstairs because when he speaks, my core tightens.

“Oh my God!” I blurt out when Eli dips his finger inside of my tight channel.

“You are so wet for me. I can shove my finger into you with ease.” He groans behind me, his finger thrusting into me while his thumb massages my clit.

I might be a virgin, but I’ve touched myself before, yet it never felt like this. So good, so all-consuming. Before I know it, my eyes squeeze shut, and my toes curl. My whole body tightens, and an orgasm like I’ve never felt before clashes into me like a tidal wave.

“That's it, come all over my finger,” Eli orders while rubbing my clit furiously through my release.

When I finally come down from mind-blowing pleasure, I slump against Eli’s hard body.

“Wow…” That’s all I manage to get out. My body relaxes, and my mind is still in a daze. Eli pulls his hand out of my pants and brings his fingers to his lips to lick my juices off them.

“You taste good,” he whispers before wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me close. I can feel him hard against me, but he doesn’t do anything about it. “Good night, princess,” he whispers into my hair, and before I know it, sleep finds me.