The Sweetest Summer

Chapter Twenty - Eight - pov

I woke to Eli's thumbs caressing my skin. It was strange being half conscious, but fully aware of who shared my bed, of who could touch me and burn right through me so easily. I blinked my eyes open slowly, enjoying the way the air conditioning licked my skin, and the expensive cotton sheets sheered against my nakedness as I turned toward Eli's touch.

His eyes were open and staring at me, two of the most brilliant sapphires, where his handsome face was resting in his palm. I took my own thumb and traced the full lines of his lips, the slope of his tan jawline, the way his dark hair fell into his eyes a little. I wasn't the only one who had gone without a haircut this summer. The summer that was almost over...

"It's morning." I admitted, my voice feeling like it had ran a marathon, and enjoyed screaming along to Dua Lipa while inhaling more fumes than a tour bus.

"You're very perceptive." Eli teased, tracing his fingertip across my collar bone. I shivered against his touch and rested my own head on my palm facing him.

"Franc called." I blurted before I could stop myself. If I tried to work up the courage to tell Eli my news, I knew I'd never tell him. I didn't fully understand, but it almost fell like thinking about my future, would eliminate any future with Eli.

"He did?" Eli asked, his voice a little too calm, but he continued to trail the pad of his finger along my skin, moving down my rib cage now.

"Yes." I nodded, trying to not be distracted. "He thinks I can do some makeup campaign for Dior."

"That's great!" Eli beamed and his finger slowed long enough for him to hug me to him. My head found the burrow of his neck easily, breathing in the mixture of sweat, and swimming pool, and summer.

"He wants to fly me to Paris..." His hands began to rub circles on my back, but his chest felt tighter than usual. Beyond the muscle and the bone, he seemed tense.

"When?" He attempted nonchalance but didn't quite hit the mark.

"Four days from now. He told me to pack for a year..." My own voice was even more strained. "But I don't know if I'm going to go." I admitted, sitting up and needing some space while my head swam again and my dead cellphone judged me.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't know if I'm ready. I don't think I can just uproot my life and leave everything behind for some crazy dream..."

"Why not? I did it..." Eli held his arms out wide as if to say 'and look all that I have to show for it'.

"It's different." I mumble, worrying my lower lip between my teeth and he sat up slowly to remove it with his thumb. All eight of his tan abdominal muscles winked back at me in the low light of the window. The master bedroom was beyond spacious with white walls, and white bedding, and white curtains, and a dry Palm Springs breeze blowing through the open windows.

"Its not different. You're worthy Avery. You're absolutely beautiful." Eli began to gently peel away the emerald crystals from around the corners of my eyes.

"The way your green eyes light up when you see a dog..." Eli pulled off another crystal gently.

"The way you scrunch up your nose when you laugh..." Another crystal hit the bedspread.

"The way you frown a little when I call you 'kid'." Another crystal.

"The way you gasp when I first push myself inside of you..." The space between my legs pooled a little in response.

"The way you don't judge me or my family when I talk about their fucked up marriage..." I swallowed at the hurt in his eyes. He plucked what felt like the last crystal from my face, cupping his palm against my cheek.

"The way you love me when I least deserve it..." His voice was barely above a whisper, and I couldn't hear any more. He was listing off all the things he loved about me, but he couldn't know that everything he loved about me was what I loved about him. He loved my faults, cherished my insecurities, and soothed every square inch of my heart.

Without intending for it to happen, Eli had pulled me under, into a depth of love and longing that made me feel breathless as I swam through the sea of devotion to him. Franc Blanchett and Paris were a great tidal wave, rising from the shore, but in this moment they did not exist.

The only thing that existed, in the entire world, was this man. I knew it was unhealthy to love someone as much as I did, and be as codependent as I was, but I didn't have a choice. Elijah West commanded me completely - body and soul.

I slowly pulled my shirt over my head, never breaking eye contact with him, desperate to feel as naked physically as I felt emotionally in that moment.

"So beautiful." Eli's voice was thick with emotion as he planted a chaste kiss to my collar bone and I returned the favor, kissing the place on his chest where his heart lay. He trailed his fingers along the middle of my back as I slowly peeled my underwear off too.

"Absolute perfection." He leaned in, kissing my right breast and my head fell back as his tongue lapped at my nipple.

"Eli." I pleaded, not sure what exactly I wanted from him, but he knew. He always knew.

"Come here." He pulled off his basketball shorts quickly, and I scooted until I sat on his naked lap. He was already hard, his erection tickling my belly button.

We stayed like that for many moments, our foreheads resting against one another, causing his blue eyes to blur together into one beautiful orb. His hands continued to rub up and down my spine, sending my body into a flurry of goosebumps in the warm desert breeze.

I shifted my hips a little, so I could guide him toward my soaked eager entrance, not bothering with a condom this time. Our eyes never left each other, our breathing morphing into one combined breath as our bodies merged together. My own breath hitched a little as he found the deepest spot inside of me, but his lips were quick to cover mine.

He kissed me slowly, his tongue taking a leisurely track around my mouth and I threaded my fingers into his hair as I rocked my hips slowly against him. We had nights of fucking, and hair pulling, and Eli pounding into me, but this felt ten times more intimate. This felt like making love.

I moaned into his mouth as he slowly turned me over, never breaking our kiss. We stayed like that for a lifetime, Eli inside of me, his mouth on mine and his hands framing my face as he slowly rocked into me and pulled back out. When I felt my climax looming I almost regretted it, wishing I had longer with him like this. Feeling sudden panic that this could be the last time I felt Eli this way.

I said none of this, only kissed him harder as he came long and hot inside of me, filling me in great spurts, one after the other until there was nothing left inside of me but Eli.

He pulled slowly out of me and pulled me into his chest, kissing my hair and stroking my back until I fell asleep again.