Lost & Found Pt. 04

AUTHORS NOTE: This is the final part of "Lost & Found". I want to thank my volunteer editor James for making this story a lot better than it originally was when I started! Would love to hear from you readers what you thought of this story.

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Chapter 11

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Winter went by fast for Carly, perhaps because she spent a lot it sleeping. Eli joked that she was a mama bear hibernating.

It was a drizzly winter morning. Carly had some breakfast in bed, walked around the vineyard, watched TV and fell asleep again. When she woke up, no one was in the house. Her parents had gone out to visit friends. Lydia and Eli went to pick up nursery furniture.

She woke up and watched the rain fall outside the window.

She had lived with Eli for a while now, and every day she still could not believe it: that she was going to have a baby with a man she barely knew and had both hated and wanted to kill, only the man turned out to be sort of a diamond in the rough that no foresighted girl had discovered earlier because said diamond spent the last decade mostly in dusty warzones deplete of women, then when he returned to society he did not shave for a very long time. Well, technically, he didn't return to society either.

She was getting to understand Eli more now. Beneath the cynicism, there was a tenderness that had always been there, but was never nurtured because the environment was harsh. She thought the cynicism protected the tenderness, as luck would have it, until he was put in an environment where tenderness was praised as a virtue.

She had never thought of herself as generous. In fact, she often felt ashamed. Though she never openly admitted, the moral observer in her had always graded Carly Morris as a spoiled privileged girl, raised only fit to complain about first world problems.

But Eli told her in several different ways that she was generous. She had a lot to give. It sounded as if he was suggesting that because she was never broken, she had a well of kindness that she could endlessly draw upon. She could give and give and give. Sure, she would judge and complain a little on the way, but she gives.

Carly sighed. He was putting her on a pedestal and that was not a good thing. He was the one who had never had much love from the world.

Hmm, maybe I should start this daily exercise of thinking "What is one thing I can do for Eli today?"

She went through her skill sets. She was a veterinarian and accidental EMT, but he wasn't getting injured anymore. She could cook but her parents were even better cooks and did all of the cooking. She was a good horse rider, but she couldn't ride horses during pregnancy and Eli didn't care about horses. She read books, but book discussing already happened frequently and didn't seem special.

Ahhh, this is hard! She watched their truck pull into the driveway with the furniture box in the back. Lydia hopped out of the passenger seat and helped Eli carry the furniture to the garage, up through the stairs, then into the nursery next door.

She would have never guessed that Lydia would become best pals with Eli. Once Eli figured out that Lydia liked things unfiltered and uncensored, the floodgates -- Pandora's box -- or whatever you call what comes out of his arrogant mouth, were let loose. Lydia asked and he answered. By virtue of being usually within 20 feet of them, Carly got to know way too much about what went on in a field porta potty. Most of the time the conversations were obscene and harmless, but when a bachelor party arrived consisting of Eli's old friends, Carly had to make sure her parents didn't notice that Lydia gave the them keys to the cellar and they ransacked the barrels. She was very sure Lydia had sex with at least one of them.

Lydia went back to her room. Eli walked in. His hair was wet and his long cotton shirt was damp, revealing the masculine contours underneath.

Carly broke into an evil smile. There was one thing she was also very, very good at. And surprisingly, she had not used that skill on him.

"What is that smile about?" Eli looked at her amused.

"Hmm....so....I....want...to...do...something....interesting..." she said with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Uh-huh..."

"But it requires your participation..."

"OK..." Eli was getting the idea, but he wasn't entirely sure.

"You just have to stand here...right here..." Carly motioned for him to stand right by the bed as she kneeled on the bed, "And the rule of this game is, you are not allowed to move."

"No moving?"

"Well, more precisely, you are not allowed to do anything. You cannot use your hands too."

"This is terrifying." Eli mumbled.

Carly smirked and made sure he complied to the no moving rule before she let loose her plan. She put her hands on his chest and started feeling him up and down his body, stopping right beneath the navel and going under the shirt. She pulled up the shirt as she leaned in and landed small kisses in the area.

"Hmm..." Eli closed his eyes and leaned back a little, enjoying the treatment.

"Ah, one exception, you can move your arms so I can take this off." Carly pulled off his shirt and started blowing wet, warm air on his chest, occasionally licking him a little.

"Where is this going?" Eli smiled.

"Going down..." Carly drew her tongue past below the navel and unbuckled his jeans. She pulled his jeans down and allowed him to step out of it. Then she happily felt her palm around the fabric that was hiding the thing beneath that was getting hard.

"Well look who's at attention, petty officer Rhodes..." Carly licked her lips. A few things were bound to get a reaction from Eli, and this was one of them.

Eli sighed, "You will drive any man crazy with that."

"Hey, don't move, or I'll punish you!" Carly smiled as she pulled off the remaining hindrance to reveal her final target. She wanted to play a little more with words, but just the sight of his hard on made her so excited that she started taking it into her mouth immediately. His cock had started out small enough to fit in her mouth easily, but that lasted only about the first few licks. She put up her hands around the end of his shaft so she wouldn't have to fit all of it in her mouth at once.

"Ahh...fuck, Carly!" Eli grunted, "You don't need to do this."

"Oh, but I want to..." Carly's own pussy was aching. Electric currents were shooting through her body even though he wasn't touching her and she was doing all the work. This was making her incredibly horny. But she resolved to stay the course. To give, not to take. For once, she wanted to focus on his feelings and maximize his pleasure.

She licked along the shaft and around the sensitive tip, like it was the most delicious lollipop she had ever had. In fact, it was delicious, and she was rewarded with gasps and grunts from the poor fella who was not allowed to move but had to endure all the giving. She alternated between licking, twirling her tongue, and occasionally traveling down further and cupping the balls with her warm palm and taking it to her mouth as well. Judging from the uncontrolled heavy breathing and sighs from up above, she was doing an excellent job.

She looked up at Eli and gave him a mischievous smile. Licking along the shaft while still maintaining eye contact, she said in the sweetest voice possible, "You like this? I think you do." She giggled. Nothing made her feel powerful than to have her hunk of a man be completely controlled by her.

Eli sighed loudly and tried to grab her hair. Carly gave him a stern look, "What did I say?"

Eli looked at her dotingly as he let go of his hands, "OK, OK, I'm sorry."

It was time to get serious. This required effort and concentration. She needed some stability, so she sat down at the edge of the bed. Ideally she would kneel on the ground but with her growing belly, the wooden floor was going to penalize her knees too much. She couldn't squat in her pregnant state either. Hmm, one day I need to find the right height for this, today I'll just wing it. She thought as she opened her mouth wider, took a deep breath, then plunged herself forward until she felt him hit the back of her throat and that was about all she could take, but it was pretty much all in. She was careful to not have her teeth scratch him on the way out, before plunging right back in to give him a rhythmic, truly fantastic deep throat experience.

Her jaw was sore from the exertion but it was paying off, because the target was getting harder and expanding and she could tell he was on the edge. In fact, he had to say it, "Fuck...I'm going to come if you keep doing this!"

I want you to come, that's the whole point. But she couldn't say it because her mouth was entirely filled with his rock-hard dick. She kept pushing forward and pulling back and licking him on her way out and hitting him in all the places she found him to be sensitive to.

"I'm not going to be able to stop...if you don't stop now..." Eli warned her.

Carly ignored his warning and kept pushing him. She could tell he was near because he disobeyed her and put his hands on her shoulder and started pumping her proactively for his final release. He grunted through his teeth and hit her hard. She clenched her jaw and bore all of it, fighting the gag response and determined to see it through. Eli groaned loudly as he pumped his cum into her mouth, pulling out towards the end, dripping it over her chin and down her clothes.

Eli was truly dazed. "You are one crazy lady. Why would you do that?" He went to get her a towel to clean up.

Carly licked her lips and tasted the cum. She loved it. "You liked it a lot, right? I'm pretty good at it, right?"

"I'd grade it somewhere between amazing and fucking amazing. But you are a silly girl. You got nothing out of it."

Eli helped her out of her top, then sighed as he looked at her naked upper body. Her breasts had become fuller with the pregnancy. Her belly was a round little bump that he loved feeling. He pulled her naked body in and kissed her passionately, not caring that she had just swallowed his cum. His hands groped her ass and slid between her thighs.

"Hmm...wait..." Carly tried to talk, "We have to go to lunch, remember? It's noon...we'll be late...Lydia is waiting."

Eli's eyes were burning with desire, "Lunch can wait. I need to repay you."

Carly gently pushed him away and ignored the pulsating desire that was circulating through her body. No, she didn't always need to have her needs met. "I don't want to be late. It's fine. If you have enough energy later today, you can return the favor."

She put on a new top with a light coat. Eli changed into a striped shirt which made him look ridiculously fuck-worthy again. Lydia was waiting downstairs and they all got into the car.

Lydia, in her usual manner, was on her phone as soon as she got into the car. Swiping left swiping right. Typical college gal. Then she suddenly blurted, "Shit."

"What?" Carly asked.

Lydia looked at her, "Mayra just texted me that he-who-shall-not-be-named just arrived. At lunch. Our lunch. And she-who-shall-not-be-named is with him. I think Mrs Maple didn't remember about you guys, or that she just didn't care and think this is all bygones now."

"Are you kidding me? He's here?" Carly closed her eyes, "Oh, right, it's spring vacation."

"Yeah, shit, we should've foreseen that." Lydia bit her lips, "We still going?"

Carly was silent.

"I don't get the Harry Potter reference. Can you elaborate?" Eli asked Lydia.

This made it clear he had no idea what the backstory was. Carly never mentioned it. Lydia was usually considerate towards her sister's feelings but this time, her mischievous nature got the better of her. She'd been hanging out with Eli long enough now and knows other parts of Eli's character that Carly was less aware of. Lydia knew that it was usually hard to get him fired up, but a few things were certain to trigger a response.

"I'll give you the TL;DR version," Lydia began thoughtlessly, "So last summer there's this guy who we shall not name that sis and I met at a friend's house. And sis being sis got into him. He goes to school in NYC so this was long distance. They were kind of serious, like, she was applying for residency in New York. Then this summer she found out that he's been sort of cheating all this time with a girl who we shall not name. Then when sis confronted him about it he completely denied it and as soon as he got back to New York he just went out publicly with she-who-we-shall-not-name. And...that's why sis was all sad and went to Europe...oh shit." Lydia's voice trailed off and she realized what she had done. For once she was sorry she always spoke first then used her head.

Eli was silent, which made both Lydia and Carly extremely uneasy. Lydia's mischief may have worked just too well.

"Maybe we should go back." Lydia mumbled.

"No," Eli said, "We're going." And he made it clear that was the end of the discussion.

Carly had to do something. She had not seen him erupt for a while, and there being no guns and knife on him, she thought the chance of an actual death was low...maybe? She made up her mind to keep Eli close to her side. This meant as soon as they got out of the car and started walking towards the house they were going to eat lunch in, she grabbed his arms to force him to walk beside her. With the growing belly, her walks were becoming that signature duck walk, and her lungs were compressed for air. On top of that, he had much longer legs. She panted as she struggled to keep up with him, "You will keep your wits with you, mister!"

This worked. At least she felt it worked. "Of course," Eli put his arms around her and walked slower, "but don't avoid them, OK? And tell me their names."

"Kurt and Meredith." She whispered back.

Everyone else was already there and standing near the lunch table, which was in an extended part of the house, built like a greenhouse extension with glass windows covering ceiling to floor. They could hear the rain dancing above their heads and see the well-manicured garden right outside. The lunch group was small and Eli already had met most of the other folks, so he easily spotted the targets.

Carly saw Kurt for the first time since that fateful morning when she saw the texts from Meredith. He looked the same -- well-dressed, hair styled, athletically built. But there was no charm in him that attracted her anymore. He felt like a lump of ugliness with glittery makeup on. This was the first time she'd seen Meredith, and Carly's good nature was undecided about what feeling she should have towards her. She was pretty and neatly dressed. Meredith looked at Carly, and from that brief glance, Carly knew Meredith knew when she did not. She was an accomplice. A lump formed in her throat.

With Eli still hanging by her arms, she went up to them, "Hi, long time no see."

"Hey, Carly." Kurt looked a little awkward, "How are you doing?"

"I'm pretty good. This is Eli."

"Hi there, nice to meet you." Kurt extended a hand.

Eli responded with politeness. He treated Kurt like every other person he had met for the first time. This gave Kurt the false impression that Eli didn't know about their past. Kurt introduced Meredith, who was also relieved that Eli and Carly acted like they were strangers. They did small talk about the rain, the lack of cold, and whether snow pack would be good at Tahoe this year.

They sat down for lunch. Kurt and Meredith, thinking that they had hit the reset button, were very much their charming selves. They talked about Kurt's impending graduation this year and his job search. Other guests chatted about Carly's pregnancy. The parents and grandparents in the room inevitably had to make cliché jokes like "You should sleep a lot now! Once the baby comes you won't get any of it!" Eli answered questions and jokes directed at him in his brief mannerism (his default mode unless he was with only Lydia and Carly) and appeared so normal that nothing could have possibly been wrong.

Carly was quiet throughout lunch even when baby jokes were directed at her, but the guests just took that as being a shy expectant mother. In reality, she was both worried about Eli and haunted by Kurt's presence. The fact that he talked about his school and Meredith like he never had any relationship with her, hurt.

"Are you guys thinking about staying on the east coast after graduation?" Someone asked.

Kurt smiled, "Yes, we will both be looking for jobs in New York City. It has always been our dream to live there together as a couple. It's such a wonderful place, you know. So much to do! The best food in the world and the best entertainment in the world. I'd probably go see a Broadway show every weekend."

Carly's face lost all color. The same NYC dream that she and Kurt has discussed!

It was all a lie.

"What about children?" An older guest teased.

Kurt looked at Meredith and they exchanged that signature couple's smile, "We're still young, you know. It just doesn't seem to be quite what we'd do right now."

Carly felt like throwing up.

The older guest who had asked the question realized her mistake and laughed awkwardly, "Well...you don't always get to plan that! Accidents happen!"

Other guests also smiled and quickly moved on to another subject so they could stop embarrassing themselves and the pregnant lady.

Lunch was done and the older folks moved to the couch to chat some more. Carly's feet were swollen and she was given a roomy corner and a pillow to lie back onto. She casually listened to the older folks talk. The rain got stronger and any distant chatter had become a blur. Carly was almost falling asleep on the couch, when she saw Meredith standing across the room by the piano, looking with confusion at something behind her back. She turned to see Eli and Kurt talking at a corner, with Eli's back towards her and Kurt's face mostly blocked from her line of sight. Their conversation ended and Eli came to her. His body language and facial expression expelled any remaining drowsiness in her.

Shit! She completely forgot that she needed to keep him close. She glanced back to check that Kurt, who was now walking towards Meredith, still had all his body parts. He was walking in a funny manner, though.

Eli didn't look at her. His eyes were fixated in the distance and there was the same uncontained rage that she had seen when he killed Antoine. His body was tense and strung, ready to unleash all the violence he was capable of. It was a state she never wanted to see him in again.

She swallowed hard and tried to sound calm, "What did you say to him?"

Eli didn't answer. Carly was almost afraid to touch him, but she put a hand on his arm and asked again, "Eli...tell me what you said to him."

Eli withdrew his gaze. "Not much. Whatever it is you're drinking, it must be non-alcoholic, right? Can I have it?"

Carly handed him her rooibos tea. He took a sip and frowned, "This tastes like dirt."

Eli got up to use the bathroom. As soon as he left, Lydia swooped in out of nowhere, her face a mixture of excitement and awe.

"Oh my god," Carly was pale, "What in the world did he say to Kurt?"

From Lydia's confused and convoluted description, she made out that the conversation started by Eli approaching Kurt and Meredith and kindly asking Meredith to leave them alone for a moment. Meredith hesitated, but decided to oblige. At first, Kurt didn't really suspect anything because Eli had been acting so polite this whole time.

"So, Kurt, I learned today that you used to date Carly."

Kurt's face put on a "OH SHIT" expression. Kurt already knew from the other guests, especially the old ladies who liked to gossip, what Eli's former profession was. But Eli had been very civil and this was not a warzone, so he put on the same defense he always used, shrugged and said, "Yeah, for a little bit I guess." Like it was no big deal.