Signed and Sealed (18 page)

Martin smiled. “Whatever you decide, I will back you completely.” He paused. “Not to change the subject, but might I ask what it is that’s going on between you and Will?” Martin ventured. “Are you still testing him?”

“He’s completely innocent as far as the blackmail stunt. He knew nothing of what Katrina was up to until she called him for help. He’s just one more of Katrina’s victims. Will is a good person.” When Elijah described someone as a good person it was his highest compliment of character. He’d never been verbose or eloquent but he had always been clear. Martin knew the value of the word “good” when attached to an individual.

“You seem to like him.”

“It’s much more than that, Martin.” He ran his fingers through his hair and stared up at the stars. “God help me,” he muttered with a grin.

Will
showered and changed into a fresh pair of pajama pants and a cotton robe. Sleep wasn’t going to be easy tonight. He sat down on the window seat and looked out over the ranch. It was an impressive operation. Elijah had worked hard and wisely to make it what it was. Will shouldn’t question his methods, but this incident involved him, and the outcome wasn’t sitting well. William Drake would be the ruination of an entire ranching operation, and that was exactly what it would boil down to. He would be the cause for many people to lose their jobs, their homes, and who knew what else. Without his realizing it, tears began to fill his eyes. It started slowly, with a single tear running down his cheek, and then he erupted into sobs before he had a chance to stifle the emotion. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d cried. He hadn’t even cried at his parents’ funeral. “I’ll cry later,” he told his aunt, but he never did.

Will heard a light knock at the door but decided to ignore it, hoping that whoever it was would just go away. He was in no mood to be seen. Will kept his eyes focused on the window as the knocking persisted. Finally, the door opened, and someone entered.

“May I come in?” Eli asked contritely.

Will didn’t answer him. He quickly took his arm and wiped his eyes. He didn’t want Eli to know that he had upset him to this degree. He wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

Instantly, Elijah was on him, taking his face in his hands and gently turning Will to look at him. His eyes looked down into Will’s with what appeared to be care and concern. With his thumbs, he wiped away the last of Will’s tears and kissed his forehead. He seemed so different at this moment, so different from the frenzied passion they had experienced during their picnic. There was a connectedness that Will hadn’t felt before, and a true tenderness that touched his heart and caused the tears to flow again.

“I’m sorry,” Eli whispered. “Don’t cry.”

Will expected him to demand to know why he was crying, but he already knew. He knew too much sometimes.

“It’s okay, it doesn’t matter. You have to do what you have to do,” he choked. “It isn’t important.” He wanted to end the searing contact with Eli’s skin and his eyes. He needed Eli to go away and let him wallow in his pity.

Elijah leaned over and kissed him lightly on both eyes and then on his lips. The kiss was gentle and apologetic, not demanding. He was comforting Will as if he were someone he cared deeply for.

“It does matter,” Eli said as he slipped his one arm under Will’s legs and his other arm around him and, in a slow, almost hypnotic movement, lifted Will in his arms and carried him over to the bed.
I should be struggling, but I’m not
, Will thought. Eli sat down on the edge of the bed and held Will on his lap, holding him and soothing his tension.

Will snuggled into his chest and just decided to forget who he was and what he was doing. He just wanted to feel good, and Eli made him feel very good. His arms felt like a security Will had never in his life known. It was the security of knowing that someone cared about him.
This isn’t real
, he reminded himself, but he was willing to fool himself for a few moments.

“I won’t dissolve relations with Adam Gerard,” Elijah whispered against his cheek. “Not yet, anyway.”

“What changed your mind?” Will asked, his voice hoarse from the tears. His breath brushed Eli’s throat and sent a sensual tremor down his spine. He wondered what it would feel like if Will actually kissed him there.
Will he ever be at ease enough with me to let himself go completely?
He came close this afternoon, but there always seemed to be a limit. His fear and distrust of me remained in the way.

“
You
changed my mind,” he answered, turning Will toward him and hugging him even tighter. He ran his hand down Will’s back and cupped his thigh, pulling him against him. His face was buried in Will’s hair that was hanging in thick waves just above his shoulder. “You grossly underestimate your importance around here, William.” Elijah’s voice was husky and possessed a desperation that was uncharacteristic.

Will sighed deeply, but did not speak.

Elijah lifted Will’s head to look at him. He then ran his hand along the side of his face, threading his fingers in his hair and holding him firmly in place. He wanted to tell Will that he loved him, but he wouldn’t hear him, or if he did, he wouldn’t believe him. He looked back at Eli with dark, misty eyes. Eli’d never enjoyed touching and being close like this with a man before.
I can’t lose him. I will do whatever I have to, even if it means kidnapping Will and running off to a cave somewhere. I don’t want to be alone anymore.
Elijah smiled at the desperate rambling of his own thoughts.

“I don’t believe John meant to be offensive,” Will mumbled into his shirt collar. It was an attempt to pull himself back to normal, but it failed. Elijah wasn’t interested in John or what he said. He wasn’t interested in anything except Will, the feel of his body in his arms and the touch of his lips against his.

“Let’s not talk about John,” he whispered against Will’s lips as he lowered him to the bed and shifted his body, positioning himself between Will’s legs.

His lips were warm, soft, and loving. He wasn’t demanding anything; he was just being close to Will, caressing, savoring, and relishing the moment. He could be such a gentle man that Will had difficulty equating him with the man everyone had described him to be. Will knew he could be rigid, cold, unrelenting; he had seen that in him, but he’d also seen the better part of him, the understanding, kind, and considerate Elijah Hunter.

Elijah’s mouth moved from his face to his throat, burning a trail of desire down and across Will’s shoulder. Gradually, he eased Will’s robe off as his hand moved, stroking his clothed thigh to his now-bare chest and stomach, his hands running over the tight abdominal muscles. Eli’s hand moved beneath the band of Will’s thin pajama bottoms, heading closer to full intimate contact. Will gasped as Eli began running his fingers through the tuft of hair above his dick, marveling at its softness. This wasn’t about pulsing, all-consuming lust, but about tender love and an exploration of each other’s bodies.

Will found Eli’s mouth and captured it in a searing kiss as Eli took him in his hand and began stroking the fullness of his member. Will clawed at Eli’s shirt, finding him much too clothed for the situation, and he was quickly divested of the item. Will ran his lips across Eli’s defined chest muscles, taking each hard nipple bud into his mouth and running his tongue in circles around it. Eli grunted in pleasure, feeling his own cock growing rock hard in his confining work jeans.

Will found himself entirely intoxicated by Eli’s farm-honed body, nothing but tanned skin and hard muscles, an entire buffet for his sexual appetite. Pushing him back, Will kissed down Eli’s body, running his teeth down Eli’s rippling stomach until he reached his goal. Popping the button on his jeans, Will made short work of them, and Eli lay completely exposed in front of Will. Eli’s throbbing cock pointed skyward begging for release, which Will heartily gave.

He took Eli in his mouth in one swift motion, causing Eli to gasp with surprise at Will’s enthusiasm. Will couldn’t believe how much he wanted this man; he was willing to do things he hadn’t done for anyone else. Never before had he blown someone with such gusto and want, lapping up and down the immense length. He opened his throat and, with a hand on the base, took as much as he could.

Eli felt like his head would explode if he didn’t come soon; Will’s ministrations were setting his body on fire like nothing else had. He grabbed Will under the arms and dragged him up his body, reconnecting their mouths in a kiss that Eli hoped would convey the depth of his love for him. Rolling them over, he decided that he needed to be inside Will, desperately.

Reading the look in Eli’s eyes, Will got on all fours and opened himself up for penetration, wanting nothing else in that moment other than the feeling of Eli pushing inside him.

Eli groaned at the wanton display of Will opened up in front of him and he dove in, eating Will out. Will felt his eyes bug out at the feeling of Eli’s tongue piercing him, loving him. Eli had never done this to a guy before, feeling himself above the act, but now nothing seemed too good for Will, and he was willing to give his full measure of devotion and beyond. Finally sheathing his cock, he positioned himself at Will’s entrance and entered slowly, groaning at the tight heat that enveloped him. When he was buried balls-deep inside of Will, he stopped and continued stroking Will’s back, waiting for him to get used to the fullness. Will gave him the go-ahead, and he began pushing in and out, savoring the feeling and the closeness of their sex act.

Will arched his back and moaned like a whore in love, wanting more and more of Eli inside of him. This was the closeness he had yearned for his whole life, the feeling of being totally loved and adored.
If only this wasn’t an act for him
, Will thought sadly before pushing the thought from his mind and letting himself be once again carried away by the sensations.

Eli pulled Will flush up against his chest as he continued pounding away at the tight glove. He let his hand wander down Will’s sweat-slicked chest, not stopping ’til he found Will’s fully erect dick, bouncing with each thrust. He knew he was close, and he wanted Will to come with him. He matched his strokes with his thrusts as he endeavored to bring Will to climax. Within a few minutes, Eli was grunting and Will was gasping as Will painted the covers in front of them with his seed, and Eli filled the condom deep within Will. They collapsed in a sweaty, cum-covered heap as they kissed each other through their orgasms, not wanting to be separated just yet. Eli noticed Will’s eyes begin to fill with tears and was immediately concerned that he’d gotten carried away.

“Oh God, did I hurt you?” Eli said, his voice thick with concern.

“No, I’m just so happy. No one has ever touched me like that.”
I wish it was real. I wish you loved me
, Will thought forlornly.

Eli licked the tears away and wrapped a blanket around them as sleep took Will off to dreamland, and Eli followed soon after, taking them each to a place where everything was perfect.

The
ranch phone ringing on the bedside table awoke them both from their slumber. The shrill ring broke into Will’s dreams, and it took a minute for him to register where he was, what had happened, and why Eli was wrapped around him in his bed.

“Ignore it, Will,” Eli groaned, his lips taking Will’s in a fiery, all-consuming kiss. His hand maintained its hold and pressure on him, as did his entire being.

Oh, how Will wanted to ignore it, to go on and lose himself in him again. Will admitted to himself that he was in love with Elijah, but he was also aware that Eli was just playing with him. Even with this knowledge, he still wanted to live in his fantasyland where everything was right and he was loved. He wanted to have Eli, taste him, and be a part of him for a while.

The telephone did not stop, and each mind-lacerating shrill brought him back closer and closer to the surface of reality. The mist cleared, and the consequences of his actions became painfully clear. Will tried to pull away from him, but Eli was holding him so tightly that he could not move, he could barely even breathe.

“No,” Eli sighed, his frustration clearly evident. “Please, Will.”

Will thought he felt him shaking, but that couldn’t be. Elijah Hunter didn’t shake. He was not a man who trembled with emotion or anxiety. The telephone finally stopped ringing; yet the sound continued to echo in his ears.

Elijah moaned, and shifted himself to one side and looked down into his eyes. He saw sadness and he saw guilt. “It’s okay,” Eli said. His tone and his expression were soft and understanding, but also laced with frustration.

Will was considerably moved by the apparent depth of this man.
If this is a game
, he thought,
he is the master.

“I shouldn’t have pushed you.” Elijah bent toward Will and kissed him softly, yet with an added element of hunger and possessiveness. “But then again, you are very hard to resist.” He smiled gently.