“Yes,” he grinds out.
I lose my battle with control, and my cock goes hard against his ass. I growl against the back of his neck. “You liked my cock down your throat, didn’t you?”
“I’ll submit to anything to save her.”
“That’s not an answer.”
He curses again. “It’s the only one you’ll get.”
Yeah, that’s not going to work for me. I have eight years of revenge to play out, and letting Eli make noble sacrifices isn’t on the list. “Pass. When I fuck you again—and I will—it will be when you get on your knees and ask me nicely. You will say please.” I ignore his shoving back against me. “And after I make you come, you will thank me for the pleasure.”
“Not fucking likely.”
I set my teeth to the back of his neck, and Eli’s breath shudders. Oh yeah, he feels that inconvenient attraction, too. Well, he can choke on it just like he choked on my cock. “Everything I do to Harlow, she welcomes.” I shouldn’t offer even that much, but it slips out despite my best intentions.
“Liar.”
“Ask her.” I shove away from him. “Then again, you don’t seem to listen to a single fucking thing she says, so why start now?” I turn back toward the house. There’s shit to accomplish, and it’s going to be a pain in the ass, but I fully intend to reward myself by seducing Harlow tonight.
She’s one hell of a reward, and if it infuriates Eli to know his woman welcomes me between her thighs, all the better.
9
Eli
It’s more than a little shocking how seamlessly Abel takes over the compound. Within two hours, my people are gone and his are established in their place. I don’t get a chance to see much of the other Brides; Abel sends me to my rooms and leaves me there. I’ve just showered and pulled on a pair of pants when Harlow walks through the door.
She stops short when she sees me. “Hey.”
“Hey.” This is what we’ve come to. As awkward and unsure as strangers.
She shuts the door behind her and tugs at the bottom of the shirt she’s wearing. Abel’s shirt. Impossible to miss that silent message he’s determined to send to me; he’ll take everything from me.
Harlow. My home. The faction.
“Harlow—”
“You look like shit.” She crosses toward the closet. “Let me change, and I’ll put some butterfly bandages on the deeper cuts.”
I want to ask her if she’s okay, but it couldn’t be clearer that she doesn’t welcome the question. So, instead, I sit on the bed and wait for her to return. When she comes back in, she’s put on a pair of jeans and a black tank top. She’s also carrying the first aid kit we keep stashed in the bathroom. I can’t remember the last time we’ve had to use it, not since the first year after I took over for my father. There were some challenges during that time and for a few Lammas after. I took down every one publicly enough that they stopped coming.
Until now.
Harlow sets the first aid kit next to me on the bed and begins setting things out in a neat little row. “How are your ribs?”
“Bruised, but nothing serious. I can breathe just fine.”
She nods, not quite meeting my gaze. “This will sting.”
I close my eyes as she disinfects the cut on my cheekbone. She’s right. It stings like a motherfucker, but not nearly as much as the understanding of just how impassable the chasm between us has become. I wait until she starts on the bandages to speak. “He said he won’t touch you if you don’t want it.”
“I know.” She pauses. “Eli, I will do anything to keep our people from feeling the brunt of this. And that includes allying with Abel.”
I tense. She’s being so damn practical, but I can’t help feeling like she’s choosing him over me. “You have no reason to trust him.”
“I have to try.” She shrugs and presses the last bandage to my cheekbone. “Someone has to clean up this mess.”
There it is. The truth is that we’re in this situation because of me. Because of what my family and the other factions did on that night eight years ago. It doesn’t matter that I had no knowledge of my father’s plans for Abel and his brothers; the only thing that matters is what was done. “Abel cut down seven of the best people we put down there. All of them are undefeated.”
“All of them were undefeated.” She sits back. “Eli, why did you chase me down into the sand?”
“You know why.”
She stares at me with dark eyes. Over the years I’ve seen those eyes go hazy with pleasure, alight with joy, and even darker with sorrow. I’ve never seen her look like she’s disappointed in me. “After all this time, I don’t understand how you can be so determined to see me as a damsel in distress. I survived twenty-seven years before we got together, twenty-four of them in a faction ruled by Bauer Paine. If we start comparing scars, you grew up more sheltered than I ever could have dreamed of being.”