🥊 Hate or Fate 💕 {Enemies to Lovers}

.4.

I awoke to the smell of fresh coffee percolating and stretched my arms into a mound of goosefeather pillows. My hand automatically reached for Elijah's side of the bed, slipping over the sheets to see if his spot was still warm. 

It wasn't.

No doubt he'd gotten up hours ago to squeeze in a little work before breakfast.

He was one of those 'wake up early and seize the day' types, which I admired. He refused to settle for second best and that's why he was successful at anything and everything he put his mind to.

I always knew Elijah was going to do great things. After college, he got his MBA, which he parlayed into an amazing job offer in marketing with the Seahawks.

Gingerly lifting my head to squint at my phone, I found it was only eight in the morning, which was far earlier than I'd planned on getting up. 

I was more of the 'sleep until something or someone forces me to leave my cozy bed' type, much to Elijah's frustration.

With a tiny sigh, I slid out of the covers, shivering as soon as my naked flesh hit the chilly air to make my nipples tighten. Grabbing Elijah's plush bathrobe from the door of our walk-in closet, I padded out to the kitchen to investigate.

"Hey, baby," he greeted me while I stared at the sculpted muscles flexing in his bare chest as poured me a cup of coffee. "How'd you sleep?"

"Great," my smile opened up into a sleepy yawn that made Elijah grin.

"What are your plans for the day?" He asked, turning to grab the creamer off the counter, which shadowed the ridges of his midsection in the light filtering in from our living room.

I like cream and sweetener, only the raw sugar packets though, none of the pink or blue fake stuff. I couldn't stomach coffee without a little (alright, a lot) of sugar to offset the bitterness.

My diehard sweet tooth was something Elijah had tried to change about me for years without much success. 

Essentially, I don't understand how people get through the day without at least consuming some type of confection or dessert food, and I flat-out refuse to accept that a sugar-free diet would benefit me in any way.

"Oh, I don't know," I hedged. I was kind of counting on spending the day together, and his question had thrown me off a little. "What about you?"

"I'm hiking with Grady this morning," he replied easily. "I told you about this. He asked me to go last week."

I took a sip of the liquefied candy bar in my mug, "I must've forgotten."

"See? This is why we need a shared calendar," Elijah remarked lovingly, shaking his head as if this was an adorable habit of mine.

I'm usually really good at remembering dates. Waking up early, not so much, but anything to do with planning and organization was my jam. 

I had to be meticulous about that stuff with the minefield of memories that I kept locked away safe and sound. Avoiding those crucial dates (that shall not be named) and the life-crushing events that transpired, meant all was well and dandy in my world.

"Grady and I should be done by eleven," Elijah told me as he finished pouring his own coffee, which he took black with no sugar. "I would have asked you to come, but you don't really like this kind of stuff."

"Hiking. In the drizzling cold rain? No, thank you," I stuck out my tongue. "You know me so well."

It wasn't that I minded a hike in the outdoors, it was the constant spittle of Northwest rain soaking my clothes and making me perpetually cold that I wasn't exactly fond of. Besides, there were plenty of indoor activities to keep oneself toasty warm. Like what we did between our sheets the night before, for example.

"Do you want to go out for dinner tonight?" He asked

"Sure, tonight is wide open," I beamed, taking a seat on one of the chrome chairs at our sleek kitchen table. "How about we cook together instead? I'll wear that lace thing you like."

"That sounds," Elijah matched my feisty grin and stole a glance at my bare leg poking out of his bathrobe, "better."

I never wanted to go out and Elijah was the life of the party. Somehow, we balanced each other out. 

It helped that I was promising to wear the black lace teddy that he bought me from his trip to Dallas last year. It made my boobies look like they were going to burst out of the seams at any second, so it was totally impractical, but that's okay because it never stayed on my body for very long.

"When are you leaving to meet Grady?"

"In about an hour," Elijah answered, folding himself into a chair.

I gazed at him in wonder. 

He exuded confidence when he was fully clothed, but half-naked, he was a muscled specimen of manhood that I enjoyed objectifying freely. He'd recently returned from a business trip to Florida, and his skin still held a touch of bronze to make Elijah's stomach look like it was carved from tawny stone.

"What?" He demanded with a playful smile.

"Just enjoying the view," I purred.

Elijah stood up, abandoning his coffee to bend over the table and pull me into a passionate kiss. I peeked through my lashes to watch his handsome face as a groan rumbled in his throat.

"I'm going to shower," he announced, pulling away too soon. "Wanna join me?"

"Only if I'm allowed to do dirty things while you're getting clean," I quipped, picking up my mug for another sip to hide my satisfaction at my own wordplay.

"You are the perfect woman," Elijah sighed, striding around the table to scoop me up into his arms.

Cradling me against his solid chest, we made our way to the bathroom kissing deeply to distract from the task of walking straight.

After bonking our shoulders and heads on the doorframe, which sparked carefree laughter followed by tender affirmations, Elijah lowered me onto the cool granite counter of our double sink. I wrapped my legs around his waist.

Peeling back his robe, Elijah raked his hands up the curve of my hips to knead one of my bare breasts.

"Fuck, Isla," he exhaled a rakish breath that sent a zing right into my lady parts. "You're so hot."

I've been an avid runner since high school, which has helped me deal with the residual traumas of my past while allowing me to consume all the sugary goodies I want. It's one of Elijah's favorite things about me and I adored watching him adore me.

Hefting my full c-cup breast to his lips, he licked the peak of my nipple before pulling it into his mouth. He sucked hard enough to evoke a throttled cry from my core as I shuddered and pressed my hips against him to tease the pleasurable bulge between his legs.

"I think I'm gonna be late meeting Grady," Elijah growled as his teeth grazed my shoulder.