Owned by Him (9 page)

Dale laughed. “It’s
refreshing being with a girl who speaks her mind. I’m relieved you’re not a
virgin.”

“Good, that’s good.”

Looking down at her glass,
she waited for the conversation to pick up.

“You’ve never been on a date
at all, have you?”

“I just said I hadn’t.”

Again, he laughed. “Okay,
I’ll start everything off. Do you have any family?”

“I have family. I’ve not
been in contact with them in a long time. We’re not close.” She stared at her
glass.

“Any
siblings?”

“No, just
me.”
She was silent again.
“Erm, what
about you?
Do you have any family or siblings?”

Sipping from her drink she
waited for him to speak.

“I’ve got a Mom and Dad and
a step-dad. Also, I’ve got two older brothers and three sisters. It was mad
growing up.”

“Did you always want to be a
lawyer?” she asked, focusing all the attention on him.

“No, I wanted to be a doctor,
but then I couldn’t stand the sight of blood.”

Amber listened to him talk.
She drowned out the rest of the room, but when Elijah entered the club, she
felt it. It was the strangest feeling in the world. Tingles went up and down
her arms. Glancing past Dale’s shoulder, she saw him stood, watching her. His
gaze reminded her of a hawk stalking its prey.

She excused herself to go to
the bathroom. Her date was not going great. They had nothing in common, and the
few bits they were talking about didn’t give her a thrill.

Elijah followed her into the
toilet. It was empty, which was a surprise. Was fate or destiny trying to tell
them something?

“You’re bored, and you’ve
got nothing to talk with him about.”

“My date is none of your
business.”

He took a step toward her.
“Does he make your pussy wet? Do you ache for him to touch you?”

She bit on her lip, stopping
herself from attacking him. The instant she’d sensed Elijah, she’d grown warm
from the inside out.

“I bet if I was to feel your
pussy you’d be soaking wet for me and me alone.”

Amber backed up against the
wall. Elijah followed her path until she was trapped against the wall and his
hard body. There was nowhere else for her to go and staring up into his large
brown eyes, she didn’t want to.

****

Seeing her date had set him
on edge. He needed to stake his claim before he lost control. She shouldn’t be
out with anyone but him. For the last couple of days he’d kept his distance,
giving her time to get over the pain he’d caused her.

“Why are you doing this to
me?” she asked.

“I told you I wasn’t backing
away.” He pressed his palms to either side of her head, surrounding her. “If you
tell me to back off and you want the dude in the suit, then tell me, Amber.”

She stayed silent as she
looked at him.

“Will you back away?” She
gazed over his shoulder.

“No.”

“No
matter what I say?”

“I’m not going anywhere.
From the night of Heather’s eighteenth, you’ve been mine. You’ll continue to be
mine.” He cupped her cheek, tilting her head back to look at him.

The door to the bathroom
opened. He turned to see Ashley stood, glaring at him.

“Amber, your date is
waiting. This is your chance to experience something new. Go, now.”

His woman ducked under his
arm and left the bathroom. Elijah turned to Ashley. The other woman was glaring
at him.

“She told you about us?” he
asked.

Ashley entered the room,
letting the door swing closed. She folded her arms and stared at him. “She told
me everything.”

“I doubt that.”

“Then you’re a jerk,
Sir
.”

He gasped, staring at
Ashley.

“We may not share everything,
but we get there in the end. There are parts of ourselves we keep silent about.
Not everyone needs to know the sordid truth of our past.”

She stepped closer. The
anger radiated off her, startling him.

“She loves me, and I love
her.”

“I have no doubt, but what
you’ve done to Amber is not acceptable to me. When she was supposed to be
dating, she wasn’t. My girl has been hung up on you.”

“I’m going to make it right
by her,” he said.

“I’m not some dumb innocent
you can blind with your words, Elijah. I’ve been out in the world, and I know
it’s cold, harsh and downright fucking painful but you get through it. Amber
has been getting through her life, and I don’t think it’s fair for her. She
deserves to be loved, and you’re not the right man for the job.”

They were stood toe to toe.
Her eyes were blazing with accusation. His earlier assessment of the four friends
was not entirely accurate. They kept secrets from each other, but no matter
what the secret, each of them had the others’ backs regardless.

“I love her. You’re not
going to stop me from loving her.”

“It’s not my intention of
stopping you. I’m telling you right here and now, you either do right by her,
or you’ll be answering to me and I don’t play nice at all.”

She turned on her heel and
walked out of the ladies’ room. Ashley was quite terrifying. He’d never seen
her look so dangerous. She looked ready to castrate him. The idea was not a fun
one at all.

Leaving the ladies’ room, he
walked toward the bar. He searched the whole bar looking for his woman. Elijah
spotted her on the dance floor. Her date had his arms wrapped around her waist.

“Hey, butt-head,” Heather
said, coming up beside him.

“Are you ever going to call
me by my given name? I believe our parents took forever to name both of us.”

“No can do.” Heather flicked
the hair of her neck, bouncing to the beat. “What are you going to do about Amber?”
she asked, taking him completely by surprise.

“What?”

His sister snorted at him.
“I wasn’t born yesterday. I see the way you look at her, and I also saw your
boxers in her laundry. I’ve seen her naked, so unless she’s got a male
underwear fetish then they’re yours.”

“You’re far more observant
than I thought you were.”

“Also
taught you a lesson.
I made sure you
could hear me that day.” Heather leaned against the bar with a hand on her hip.
“We’re not perfect, but we’re the best of friends.”

“I love her, Heather. She
means everything to me.”

“I don’t know how long this
is going on, and to be honest, I don’t really care. If you have feelings for
her and care about your, erm, stuff, you’ll do right by her.” She nodded at
Wade, and the barman started walking toward them.

“You’re giving me your
blessing?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m giving you my
blessing within reason. Treat her right, Elijah. She deserves a man who’ll love
her for her.”

His gaze found hers. The
song had changed to a slow number, and Amber’s date had his arms wrapped around
her.

Amber was staring at him as
she danced with another man. Pain shot through him at the sight of his woman in
another man’s arms. Amber was getting from her date what he’d not been able to
give her. He’d never dated her, and he’d never even tried to get to know her
outside of the club and the sex they shared. Not only did he not want to date,
but Amber insisted on keeping their relationship secret. He couldn’t force her
to date him when she didn’t want Heather to know about them.
 

Heather grabbed her drink
and left him alone with his thoughts.

He spent the entire time
watching Amber on her date. When it was time for them to leave, he turned into
a stalker. Elijah followed her home and even took the stairs, hiding behind a
large planter to watch the scene unfold.

“I had a nice time tonight,”
Amber said, getting her key and turning her back to the guy. “You really didn’t
need to bring me up to my room.”

Her door was opened, and her
date circled a hand around her waist. Elijah destroyed a branch of the plant he
was hiding behind. He tightened his fist and forced himself to be rooted to the
spot.

She was turned and pressed
against the wall. The door to her apartment was partially open.

Her date kissed her. Elijah
didn’t know how he managed to stay seated during the whole episode, but he
watched without giving himself away.

The date pulled away. “You
don’t want me, do you?” he asked.

“I’m really sorry, Dale. It
has been someone else for a long time.”

“Call me if things go badly.”
Dale stroked her cheek and then turned away.

Amber let out a sigh before
going inside her apartment and closing the door.

Elijah left the building
seconds later. His hands were shaking as he took out his cell phone. Amber had
turned him into a stalker. He opened up a new message and sent Amber a text.

Elijah: Give me a chance. Meet me @ the café across
the street tomorrow.

He hated text talk. Walking
down the street he waited for his cell phone to go off.

Amber: Y?

Elijah: I can make it worth your while.

Amber: Y
shud
I trust u?

Elijah: I’m putting up with your bad text spelling.
Meet me there or I’ll come and get you.

Minutes passed, and Elijah
stared down at his phone.

Amber: Fine!

Pocketing his cell, Elijah
started to make some plans. There was no way he was sitting through another one
of Amber’s dates. It was not going to happen again.

Chapter Eight

Amber made her way through
the crowds to get to the café where Elijah wanted to meet. Her date last night
had been interesting, but she knew she was never going to date Dale again. He
was fun to be around, but there was no chemistry between them. The kiss they
shared was nice, but again, it was nothing exciting or exhilarating. Every
second she spent with Elijah was exhilarating, frustrating, and annoying.
Together they possessed heaps of emotions and chemistry.

Even from his text she’d
been aching for him.

She found Elijah sat,
reading a paper as she walked into the café.

He put the paper down the
instant she approached the table.

“You’re right on
time
,” he said.

Taking a seat, she watched
Elijah signal the waitress over. They both made an order for some coffee. She
wasn’t hungry for food and declined the offer.

“Why did you want to meet
here?” she asked, flicking her hair off her shoulder.

“This is our first date.”

He reached across the table
taking her hand.

“It’s the morning.” She
glanced around at the empty café.

“In a few hours this place
would be heaving. I wanted to get a good seat and have some time together
before the chaos starts up.”

Amber laughed. “You call
this a date?”

“We’re together. I never
thought you wanted to date.”

She stared at him. “You
didn’t want to date me.”

“I’ve never really dated
anyone, Amber.”

The waitress bought their
coffee and left without a word.

“Have you, erm, have there
been a lot of women after me?” she asked.

In all the years they’d been
together she’d never once thought to ask him about his other commitments with
other women.

“No. Since the moment we
were first together there hasn’t been any other woman. You’re the only one I’ve
been with. Erika, the blonde, wasn’t anything. I never spoke to her after that
moment. Please, don’t think about her.”

Amber nodded, not wanting to
think about the blonde. She was happy with the news about his lack of other
women. For the first time she felt awkward in his company.

“This is why I don’t like to
date. There is always a lot of pressure to make everything perfect. When we’re
together, I feel the world moving, and I never want that feeling to end.”

“Then why do you always walk
away?” she asked.

“Because part of me was
always afraid of losing that feeling with you, and don’t forget, you walked
away as well.”

“I know. What makes you
think now is different?” His words lifted her world and brought her down again
with a large crash.

“We’ve been doing this for
over seven years, Amber. If we were going to fall, it would have happened.
Every time feels like the first. My world explodes when I’m with you. Even now,
holding your hand, I feel tingles like electricity shooting up my arm. I’ve
never felt this with anyone. I love you. I want to be with you, and I’ll date
you. I’ll do everything I have to in order to prove to you that I’m not going
away.”