War of Shadows

False Hope

Chapter 8

Eli had a spread of roasted chicken and creamy mashed potatoes ready for me when I strolled out of the bathroom, steam rolling out from behind me. I had done some thinking, and decided that whatever he was about to tell me, I could handle it; worst case scenario, I lock it up and address it when I’m ready to do so. The thought of finally having a face to put to my father, or even get to meet him someday was…unnerving. He was always this out-of-reach background character in my life, and I would daydream or fantasize about meeting him but it always felt out of reach for me. Now, not so much.

The smell of the chicken wafted over to me and I plop into the chair with a groan before digging in. I point to Eli with my fork. “Whatever you’re about to tell me needs to wait another minute. I can’t have this experience tainted with your negativity.” I dig in appreciatively, moaning at the onslaught of flavors. After eating here, all the food I make at home just tastes like cardboard with a side of paper.

Eli quirked a brow. “‘The experience’ being the chicken?” He huffed out a laugh.

“Hey,” I mumble between chewing, “Not everyone gets a Michelin chef to cook for them everyday. Now hush, you’re ruining my experience.” Eli rolls his eyes and leans back, watching me finish.

“Done?” He asks impatiently.

“My compliments to the chef,” I wiggle an eyebrow and sip on my wine. “Okay, so what did you find?” All teasing aside, we had important things to discuss. I push the empty plate aside and lean my elbows on the table and something in the air changes between us.

Eli’s are soft and warm. “I love you. I need you to know that before we talk about anything else. I love you, Stella, and nothing is going to take that away or scare me.”

Eli reached over the table to rest his hand over mine. I’m caught off guard, but a warm feeling pours from my chest to the tips of my fingers. Looking into his eyes, I see nothing but the adoration and care that he’s shown me since he brought me back here. He hurt me at first, and a small part of me still cringes at his initial rejection of me. But now, after such a short time together, Eli’s smoothed over old wounds in my heart, and made me feel secure, despite the uncertainties of how exactly we were going to pull this off. I trust this man wholeheartedly, and that doesn’t scare me anymore.

I don’t have a wolf, and maybe that’s just due to the fact that those genes are so recessive, But all the same, I’ve felt that pull from Eli from the first time he popped into my life. There’s a tug I feel toward him that I can’t deny or avoid any longer.

“I-”

“You don’t have to say it back right now, I just-” He sighed. “I love you so much.” Eli pulled away and raked both of his hands through his hair. “Your father was… a very powerful man. It took a lot of digging, but once we had our suspicions, I threw everything into it; including my father. This is a lot bigger than me, and we’re going to need his support.”

Confusion whirled in my head. “Okay, who is he? Is he…” The thought of my father being dangerous didn’t settle well in my stomach. Eli’s hesitancy and down-right stress over the matter was doing well to amp up my anxiety. Was my mother hiding me from him? Is that why she kept me so small, why Eli all of a sudden needed to protect me?

His eyes soften. “He was a good man, Stella, such a good man.”

Was. The word clanged through my head, and I don’t know why it never caught my attention before. “He’s dead.” Eli knew it wasn’t a question and subtly nodded his head, his eyes locked onto me. I nod and swallow.

“I’m sorry,” he says softly. Eli leaned onto the table and covered the bottom half with his hand, rubbing his shadow.

I push it to the side. “Who was he?” I ask quietly.

He watched me warily. “He was a High Lord.”

“Like… he governed a city?” I wasn’t sure why he wasn't forthcoming with information, and it was irking me. I throw my hands up in frustration. “Eli, just f*****g tell me. Stop giving me crumbs to work with and tell me what you found out!”

“Your father was a Fae Lord, and your mother was a shifter.

I shook my head with a sigh and the tension leaves my body. Eli was wrong on this one, way off the mark, which means there’s still a chance that I could find out who my father is. “Look, I really appreciate you trying to look into it, I really do, I just think you’re wrong. My mother never showed even an inkling of being a shifter, I mean she raised me around humans for Christs’ sake. On that note, I’m human. I’ve shown no sign of even inheriting the shifter gene until you triggered my bond.”

“There’s a lot we need to figure out, but we aren’t wrong, Stel. We have a meeting with my father about it in…” he flips his wrist to glance at his watch. “Three hours. Why don’t you go lay down and nap until then, I’m sure you’re tired.”

I was. It’s nearly three in the morning, and my feet still ached from my shift. There isn’t a bone in my body that believes Eli is correct, so I don’t have any desire to talk about it further- but I can’t just brush off his father. So, I nod and pad over to the bed, pulling the plush comforter aside before settling my head on the cool pillow. Eli remained sitting at the table, stuck in his thoughts.

I won’t admit it out loud, but I feel somewhat relieved that we didn’t find my father. If we did then everything would change, and I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with change right now. I just found my bond and got thrown into the drama surrounding that alone, I’m not sure if I want to add more into the mix right now. I wouldn’t voice my doubts to Eli because I know he’ll take it personally and see himself as a burden to me. With everything that he’s done for me already, he doesn’t deserve that.

I prop myself on an elbow.

“Are you coming? Or would you rather brood mysteriously by yourself?”

Eli smirked and slid his eyes to mine. “My, my. Are you inviting me to bed, Stella?”

I refused to let myself blush and conjured up some courage. “Yes,” I answered bluntly, never dropping his gaze. Whatever heat or supernatural puberty I had gone and left by now, but the magnetic pull I felt to Eli held strong.

“After seeing you like that tonight, I don’t think curling up with you in bed would be a great idea at the moment.” Eli looked away and twisted to retrieve his laptop, and something inside of me purrs at the idea that Eli craves me just the same as I crave him.

“I do.”

Eli assessed me before he groaned and strolled over to the bed, shifting the sheets behind me. I smiled as his scent cocooned me and his body pressed against my back, leaving me all warm and tingly. He innocently pressed his lips into my neck as we settled onto the pillows, and I pulled his arm over my waist and wiggle back into him. I know exactly what i’m doing, but of course I play innocent.

“Don’t do that,” he whispers in my ear, his breath tickling against my skin. I giggle.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Since the day I left here, I hadn’t stopped thinking about Eli. At night, I would replay what happened in his office and I haven’t been able to chase away the fantasies about what could have, or should have, happened that night.

I love you.

The echo of his words swirl in my head, along with the fact that I didn’t get to respond to him. I do. I love Eli in a way that’s completely foreign to me. I had loved a man before, the kind of love that’s conditional and possessive; but with Eli, this kind of love is so deliciously different. His love is like a glass of cold water on a hot day, or a cup of hot chocolate after a long day of sledding.

I twist under his arm and rest my hand on the scruff on his cheek. He places a kiss on my palm and cups it over his heart. “What?” He asks.

I pause for a moment. I don’t want him to think that he had rushed me into saying it, or I felt an obligation to him to say it back. No, he’ll see the sincerity on my face the same way I knew he meant the words he had said to me. “I love you too.”

Eli loosens a breath before breaking into a heart-stopping grin. “My Stella,” he murmurs. His golden eyes glitter with unabashed joy and my heart flutters at the sight. His hand leaves my waist and he drags his thumb across my cheekbone before claiming my lips on his own.

His lips claim mine firmly but slowly, eager yet patient as his tongue teases me as if asking for more and I gladly oblige, opening myself to him completely. My body begs for more of him when he moves his fingers down to the hem of my shirt and runs his thumb idly across the skin underneath. His touch is gentle and makes my heart flutter at how he handles me as if I were as fragile as a flower. The tingles erupt, and I bite back a moan of impatient eagerness. His hand slides further up and I can’t hold back a whimper when he kneads my pebbled breasts, pinching the peaks between his thumb and finger. The heat between my legs is almost too much to bear, and I push the hem of Eli’s shirt over his head, only breaking our kiss for a brief moment before he reclaims my lips on his, losing our fingers in each others’ hair.

Our hunger for each other takes over turning the slow and gentle pay into something more desperate for each other, and by the time our clothing get tossed to the floor and Eli’s finger slides between my slick folds I’m nearly already tumbling over the edge. Leaning over me, his lips and teeth graze the soft flesh of my neck and my chest, and I turn into a moaning mess when he finally slips a finger into me.

I’m a virgin, and although the feeling of his finger teasing just barely inside of me is somewhat foreign, I can’t help but melt into it. I should be nervous, laid bare before him without a second thought, but I don’t. Instead, as his palm applies pressure against my hood and need pulses in my core in response, all I can think about is having more. Having all of him.

“Eli, I want to feel you.”

He holds my gaze, his eyes glazed over with need. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

“Yes,” the word tumbles out of my lips confidently.

And so, he takes me.