Better Off Dead Ch. 04

I was a wreck the night of Raye's engagement party. I was supposed to be there at three to help with the decorations, but by two thirty I was ready to call Jane and beg off. Mentally, I gave myself a shake and stood in front of the hall mirror giving myself a pep talk.

"Today is not the day to bail," my tone was soft and gentle but the weight of my fears hit hard. As the tears started to form, I clenched my fists and shook my head. "You can do this."

My whispered words were punctuated by a sharp ring and my phone buzzed from its place on the hall table. It took two more rings for my mind to clear, when I answered, it was with a hesitant, "Hello?"

"I'm headed down to the restaurant to help decorate, figured you might like a ride."

That weight lifted a little at the thought of having back up. It would be easier to navigate the sea of people and waves of questions if Eli was there to field some of them. He was just driving me there, it wasn't really a date.

"Maya?" He said, followed by, "Mariah?"

"I'm here," my laugh sounded weak and half hearted. "I'd like a ride, thanks. How long will you be?"

"I'm out front."

This time my laugh was a little more real. "Thanks for the notice. I need a few more minutes, you could come in if you like."

My answer was the slamming of a car door and heavy foot falls up my front stairs. The minute I swung the door open, I was blinded by a warm smile that seemed to brighten my life with a steady solar flare.

"Mariah," he said. I liked the look of contentment that had washed over his face.

"Eli, come on in. It's not the cleanest, but..." My voice peatered off. Eli slid by me and headed straight for the living room. Instantly I was regretting letting him come in.

The room hadn't changed at all since my Aunt Mae's death. Hell, I don't even think I'd stepped foot inside it after she died. Every dusty porcelain doll, every cross stitched item sat exactly in place. The plastic covered furniture sat without a wrinkle or stain. Everything was just as Mae had left it.

He took it in without a word, doing one full sweep as he turned around slowly, Eli finally let his eyes settle on me. We watched each other for a moment. His eyes slid from my upswept hair, a simple black dress and a pair of beautiful black heels. I was too busy soaking him in to see the warmth and appreciation in his eyes.

Eli looked dangerously good. He'd gone with his signature all black suit, his hair was neatly styled, he wore his glasses. He looked as he always did, good. Only now I knew what lay beneath that cool exterior, I'd been victim to those hands and heard arousal in his voice, it did things to me. Even like this he did things to me

"Go get dressed," he told me. "We can't stay too long."

"I don't need to change," I said. Holding my dress out to the sides I asked, "What's wrong with my dress."

"Nothing, if you're going to a funeral." Eli winked at me and headed to the stairs. "You have all these dresses you never wear, Mariah, it's criminal."

My laugh made him smile and there was nothing I could do but follow behind him. "Why are we going to my room?"

"I need to show you which dress to wear."

"Why don't you just tell me which one?"

"Because if I do that, I don't get to see your inner sanctum, your Bat Cave." Eli's smile was infectious and despite my better judgement, I pointed to the door on the left. He disappeared behind it before I could even reach the landing.

It wasn't anything much, I told myself. I hadn't done anything to it over the years. A twin bed, with one side pressed up against a wall, had a side table to one side of the head of the bed and a trunk at the foot of it. There was also a closet, dresser and a table with a chair by the window which held piles of books and a CD player at the moment. Other than that it looked like the rest of the house, a snap shot of an earlier point in time. Pastels, flowers, crochet, and cross stitch.

Again he did that sweep, stopping his turn when we were facing each other. Him at the centre of the room and me frozen in the door ways. We watched each other for a minute and I eventually took a slow, deep breath.

Eli moved to the closet and pulled the door open. Without a word he started riffling through the hanging clothes and pulled out a sapphire blue dress I hadn't worn in a couple of years.

"This is pretty," he said, "Would you try it on for me? Just to see how it looks." Again we just watched each other, until I stepped forward and took it from him.

A few minutes later I was back, stepping through the door with an aroused buzz that made it hard to think straight. It fit a little tight, but that didn't seem to bother Eli. His eyes raked their way down my body and I shivered.

"I like that dress," he said softly. Those sinful eyes lingered at the swell of my breast and a huge part of me wanted to step forward and ask him to kiss me. I didn't, and sooner than I would have liked, he met my gaze and held out another dress. "This one next."

After that there were two other dresses. With each costume change my desire rose. There was just something about putting on a show for him that sparked a need in me so deep it felt out of this world.

"How many more?" I asked when he handed me the bright green vintage cocktail dress. "Are you going to need to see everything in my closet before you can decide? We're going to be late."

Eli chuckled, "Try that one, I have a feeling that's the one."

He was right while the first dress felt too tight, the second too revealing, and the third too short, this dress felt right. I was Goldilocks and the four dresses and this was the one.

When I stepped out my eyes were instantly drawn to the spark in his. "That's the one," he said.

I nodded and his grin widened. "Can we go now? You're making me late."

With a handful of hands on deck, we managed to turn Jane's family's restaurant into a Japanese garden oasis. By the time the guests started to arrive, I felt ready to head home, but the horror that was social interaction had only just begun.

After Raye's enthusiastic hello, the entire line of people coming through the door thought they had license to touch me too. I, and my grimace of a smile, cringed my way through every hug and then moved to the bar where I downed two gin and tonics before Eli found me hiding on the patio in a dark corner. He stopped a few feet away, blocking the view and making it nearly impossible to look at anyone but him. Holding out a martini glass he said, "How are you holding up?"

"It's a great party, I'm having a good time." We both took a drink at the same time.

"Don't lie to me," he said. There was no anger, frustration or judgement in his tone. "Lie to them," with his martini glass in hand he pointed to the people behind him then at himself, "but don't lie to me."

After an uncomfortable moment or two, my shoulders dropped and suddenly every cell in my body was weighing me down. "If one more of those people hugs me, I'm not going to be held responsible for what I do."

He chuckled and took a step closer. In this limited light he was cloaked in shadows, giving him an 'angel of darkness' vibe that was working for him, well it was working for me.

"Seriously Eli," I said unable to hold back my shudder. I tried and failed to keep it from my voice. "My skin is crawling, I washed my hands four times and I still feel dirty. I don't like it when people touch me."

He took another step forward and took my glass placing both his drink and mine on a nearby table. When he turned back, Eli reached for my hand and wrapped it in both of his. With little to no effort he woke the dormant side of me and warmth slowly spread through my cold bones.

"You like it when I touch you." He motioned for me to give him my other, which I did without hesitation.

"Yes." I did, one night at the club, one mind blowing orgasm and things had changed. All I wanted was for him to touch me.

"Yes, what?" There was a twinkle in his eyes, well, I thought there was. It was hard to tell in this light. Still, I played along.

"Yes, I like it when you touch me, Eli."

He smiled at me and I swear my heart stopped. Eli dropped my hands and took me by the shoulders pulling me in for a hug. After all the discomfort of having unwanted people touch me. This felt like heaven. My hands slid inside his open suit jacket and around his waist and I relaxed against him. I was tall enough in these heels for him to rest his chin on my head without leaning down.

I took a few deep breaths relishing the scent of old spice and him, I found it intoxicating, that could have been the gin and tonics talking but I went with it. "I needed this," I said into his shirt. "Thank you." I tried to pull back but his arms tightened.

"I'm not ready to let go yet." His arms were around me too, pressing me closer than I would have dared normally. He had a gift for getting me to let him push down my barriers. "I brought something for you."

I pulled my head back and looked up at him. "What's that?"

Now he pulled back but held onto me with one arm so I couldn't go far. "Give me your hand. I held out my left hand and turned my body a little so I could watch as he slid something thin over my hand and around my wrist. I looked up at him with a frown.

"An elastic band?" What a strange thing to give me.

With a wicked grin Eli pulled it tight and let it go. The resulting snap brought with it a burst of pain that shot tingles like buckshot up my arm then up along the back of my neck, spreading like fireworks across all parts of my brain. It was heaven.

My arm tightened around him and I clung to his shirt. I sucked the surrounding air in with a horribly aroused gasp and my head dropped back baring my neck as my eyes rolled back into my head. "Green," I whispered. "Please Eli, green."

He chuckled and did it again. This time I turned into him and bit down on the slight curve of his bicep. It was his turn to suck in a sharp breath and the hand he kept around me tightened pulling me flush up against him. "I'm the one who's supposed to leave bite marks," he said in a dangerously husky voice.

I didn't reply, I didn't think...clearly. My still throbbing arm came up and pulled his mouth down to mine. I swallowed his gasp of surprise and wound my other arm around his neck. I was holding on so tight, had he stood up just then I would have been dangling around his neck. Only he didn't stand up, He wrapped both arms around me and held me just as tight as I was holding him.

It wasn't until I'd pulled back and dropped my head to his shoulder, struggling to catch my breath that he finally spoke. "No one touches this Mariah," his words were firm, and he gently snapped the elastic again. "No one touches this but me. Not even you, do you understand?"

I turned my face into his neck and breathed him in. "Yes Eli, I understand."

One of his hands found my face and tilted it up for him to kiss again. "Go be social, when you need to feel that again, come find me." With that he pushed me away and gave me a gentle tap on the ass. "Not even you Mariah."

"Maya!" As soon as I went inside Raye flagged me down. She was standing next to a very nice looking, very freckled man with brown hair and a small smile. He looked like I felt, uncomfortable. "Maya," she pulled me over as soon as I was in reach. "This is Jacob, he works with Derek. Jacob, this is my best friend Maya, she's in marketing."

Then she up and left me. So much for 'no more blind dates'.

Across the room I watched Eli hesitate and his look darken. All of a sudden I was me again. Nervous, uncomfortable, antisocial me. Jacob looked equally as uncomfortable, we both stood awkwardly for a moment or two before I said, "I'm sorry, I don't know what she was thinking," and ran away. I was beyond caring what he was thinking or how he felt. I had one thing on my mind.

As I passed by Eli on my way to the bathroom, I grabbed his hand and pulled us both around the corner out of sight. Looking up at him, I saw the concern in his eyes when I started hyperventilating. "Green, Eli," I held out my wrist. "Green."

Without a word and without breaking eye contact he pulled the elastic and let it snap back into place. Breathing came a little easier and before I could ask for another he gave it to me. My grip on his hand lessened and he moved his hand so he could lace his fingers with mine.

"Better?"

I nodded. He glanced around the corner and sighed. "Raye's looking for you. Let me guess that was supposed to be some blind date." There was something in his voice that made me hesitate but I was too busy clinging to him to take serious notice.

"I want to go home."

"Not yet, you can do this."

I held up my hand so he could see the shaking. "I don't think I can. Not even your delightful elastic band is going to save me from unwanted hook ups."

"You're not hooking up with him." The words were sharp and bit into me. I was trying to say I didn't want one, why did he make it sound like I was about to do something wrong. "Just because Raye introduces you to someone doesn't mean you have to hook up with him."

"She expects me to start dating, she always pushes me into it." I was thinking back to a dozen short lived relationships organized by Raye. I had my first kiss because she pushed me into dating Steve Errn, I went to first and second base because she hooked me up with Andrew Hagen, I lost my virginity because she insisted I date Ted Wathen. I wouldn't have had a social life if it wasn't for Raye.

"Grow a backbone Mariah," the edge in his words cut just as deeply the second time. I looked up to find him glaring at me. "When are you going to stand up to her?"

"She means well."

He snapped the elastic again, bringing my full attention back on him. Once more Eli glanced around the corner then sealed his lips to mine in an angry kiss. "The next time you need this," he lightly snapped the elastic, "you have to give me something for it."

"Like what?" I asked, but he'd already disappeared around the corner.

An hour later I found him at the bar ordering a martini, I slid in beside him and held out my credit card. "I'll buy his drink," I said, "and I'll take the same." When the bartender stepped away to mix my drink, I turned to Eli. "Does that count as giving you something?"

He gave me a killer smile and my knees went weak. "That'll do." He slid a hand down my arm and I turned my wrist towards him. The snap hit in just the right spot and I moaned. Eli leaned towards me and chuckled. "I'm starting to think I could make you cum with nothing more than that."

I had the distinct pleasure of watching lust flood his eyes when I said, "So am I."

"You're killing me." The words were whispered in my ear as I took the drink and my card from the bartender. "A guy can only take so much you know."

"Before what? We have rules, no feelings, remember?"

With a hand on my elbow he stopped me before we hit the crowd and said, "I don't need to have feelings to fuck your brains out Mariah."

I think I died right there.