[A/N - There's smut ahead.]
***
"Your father?"
I scrunched my face in confusion, the snippets of information swirling around in my head like scrambled puzzle pieces.
"Okay, I'm going to need to know everything now."
Elijah heaved a deep sigh before finally nodding once.
"Let's go somewhere we can talk."
I was focusing on my breathing, trying to ignore the flashes of terror that kept creeping into my thoughts. Every time I closed my eyes, I was reminded of the man in the skylight.
Looking back at Dolly, I noticed she had already fallen asleep at the foot of the bed.
"Come on." Elijah's hand slid down to wrap around mine as he led me back out the door of his missing sister's bedroom. We walked silently down the hallway until we reached a pair of French doors.
When Elijah pushed open the doors, a patio was revealed, complete with stone benches and a rectangular marble fire table.
He leaned down to turn the knob on the bottom of the table and after a few soft clicks, the whoosh of the flames startled me out of my tumultuous thoughts.
Elijah sat on the stone bench and pulled me down beside him, curling his arm around my shoulders to ensure I stayed warm.
He rubbed the side of my arm with his palm when he noticed I was shaking, not realizing it had nothing to do with the crisp air swirling around us.
"Are you okay out here?"
I nodded, glancing at the meticulously groomed bushes and trees surrounding us. With the twinkle of the stars above, it felt like a scene from a dream.
If only the conversation didn't have to be so terrifying.
"Now, I need you to prepare yourself. You will not like the things you are about to hear, and I know you have plenty on your plate as it is."
"It's okay, Elijah. I'm ready."
His free hand covered mine, giving a comforting squeeze as we both stared into the flames.
"Do you know exactly what it is that my brothers and I do for a living?"
"Uh.." I dropped my gaze to the floor, and felt my cheeks grow warm. I didn't want to lie, but I didn't want him to know what I had been imagining, either.
"You think we're in the mob, don't you?" He chuckled darkly at my lack of response. "I can assure you that it's not that sinister, lovely Amelia. Although I would be lying if I said we didn't encourage the fear and respect that comes along with that assumption."
"Well, that's a relief," I admitted. If Elijah wasn't in the mob, then he wasn't as dangerous as I had thought. "So what is it that you do, then?"
"We run a security company of sorts. My father Mikael created the system a number of years ago, after a string of assaults had the people of Mystic Falls leaving town in droves. The business owners would pay my father a monthly fee, and he would protect their stores for them."
"That sounds reasonable." There was a similar security system in place at the elementary school, for which I was grateful.
"Years later, my brothers and I discovered that my father had arranged the assaults himself to ensure the need for such monitoring," Elijah spat, his distaste for his father palpable.
"We also found evidence of various crimes, including staged robberies and fake witnesses. After a particularly nasty fight with my brother Niklaus, we realized our father was mentally unstable and therefore, a liability to the business."
"I'm sorry, Elijah. He must not have been pleased to hear that."
"No, he certainly was not. He went so far as to threaten Niklaus' life, before we made a decision to have him committed to the Fauline Asylum in his hometown of New Orleans."
"But if he's been institutionalized, how is it possible that he is responsible for any of this?" I asked, my brow furrowed.
More pieces of the puzzle weren't locking together, and now my temples were throbbing. I knew I was on the verge of an anxiety attack, but I had to understand all of this if I was really in danger.
"Kol found a note under our door this evening. It was simply an M scrawled on a piece of paper in blood red marker. That was the calling card my father would use when he wanted to meet with an employee years ago. The mark became synonymous with violence and fear, as the recipient was usually never seen in town again. When we called the asylum to check on him, they admitted he escaped over a year ago."
He wrapped his arm around me tighter, drawing me so close to his chest I could feel his heart beat.
"And now you think he robbed the supermarket? Why would he do that?"
"We don't have any idea of his motives yet. We do, however, have knowledge of a red M scrawled on the register that had been emptied. We have also seen the surveillance footage that showed one of the men studying your face during the robbery."
The edges of my vision were beginning to blur, and my lungs were uncomfortably tight. I swung my eyes over to Elijah.
"I'm scared."
He let a soft sigh slip from his lips, before turning to press a gentle kiss to my forehead. My heart rate slowed a bit.
"You don't have to worry here. My brothers and I are going to keep you and Evelyn safe and secure until we can get Mikael back in the facility where he belongs."
"Have you told the MFPD about this? Jackson would probably want to know that there is a dangerous criminal lurking in the streets."
I didn't miss the way Elijah's jaw ticked at the mention of Jackson.
"Officer Kenner is not privy to this information, and I see no reason to include him. My brothers and I, along with our loyal employees, will ensure the safety of Mystic Falls."
I widened my eyes at the snippiness of his reply, a teasing smile playing at my lips.
"Someone might think you didn't like Officer Kenner for some reason," I purred, nestling further into the security of his chest.
He nodded, frowning slightly as a flush crawled over his neck.
"You could say I'm not his biggest fan."
"Why is that?" My voice was just above a whisper now, and I held my breath as I waited for his response.
"He's after something that I want for myself."
His words made me gasp, my wretched anxiety melting away into something hotter. The flames of desire were ignited once again.
I could still taste Elijah's kisses from hours earlier, and I wanted nothing more than to taste him right now.
He turned to face me, his dark eyes pooling with a hunger I was certain mirrored my own.
I pulled his face to mine.
Our lips met again and this time, it was like someone lit a match in a room filled with gasoline. The sparks were instantaneous, the kiss quickly turning passionate despite the darkness lingering over us.
When his tongue slipped between my lips, I could think of nothing but the yearning that was washing over me.
His taste, his scent, his touch.. I was overcome with need for this man. I climbed onto his lap and wrapped my legs around him, before pressing hot, wet kisses down his neck.
"Amelia," he sighed, tilting his head back to allow my tongue to trail along his Adam's apple.
"I know you're frightened, and I don't want to take advantage of that."
"Elijah, I need this and I think you do, too." I was panting now, feeling him grow hard beneath me as I ground down against his lap. I had forgone panties in my rush to dress earlier, but now I was glad; they would have been absolutely drenched.
His hands were gripping my waist, and I could feel his indecision. He was torn between being a gentleman and taking what I was offering so freely.
When I grazed the tender lobe of his ear with my teeth, I could almost hear his last shred of doubt slip away.
I unzipped my hoodie, shrugging it off quickly while maintaining eye contact with him.
His gaze was smoldering, and for once in my life, I wasn't afraid to get burned.
When I wrapped my fingers around the hem of my tee shirt, pulling it over my head, I could swear I heard him growl. His hands moved to cover my bare breasts, palming them tenderly while keeping his eyes locked on mine.
"You're beautiful," he whispered, his voice low and velvety smooth, before pressing his lips to mine. His kisses were hungry, his tongue sliding over mine through open lips.
His thumbs rolled over my tight nipples as I worked his hoodie back over his shoulders. I gasped when he tweaked them without mercy, feeling the echo of the sting in my core.
When I pulled at the hem of his shirt, he helped me slip it over his head, his hair slightly tousled from the effort. I ran my hands over his chest and sighed in appreciation of his beauty.
"Are you sure you want this, Amelia? Because--"
I bit down on my lower lip and felt the blood rush to my cheeks. "I'm sure. Unless you don't?"
He rose to his feet and walked us backward, until we were covered by the shadows of the patio.
"Oh. I want this." He pressed me back against the stucco wall, gripping my wrists in his hand with more force than I'd expected. Dipping his head down to my chest, he wrapped his lips around my nipple.
"Elijah.." I sighed, quietly moaning as his teeth grazed the sensitive bud. I was trembling now, my core clenching around nothing as I waited for him to touch me.
I could feel his cock pulsating against my warmth, cursing the layers of soft clothing still separating us.
Wrenching free from his brutal grip, my hands dropped to the button of his jeans. I opened them quickly, desperate to push them down his hips. My eyes followed the trail of soft, dark hair beginning at his naval, gasping audibly when he sprang free.
"Oh, yes," I whispered, my mouth watering at the sight. He was already rock hard, a bead of precum resting at the tip. I wanted to taste him.
But before I could drop to my knees, Elijah was tugging down my lounge pants with eager fingers. I kicked them off quickly, and his eyes widened when he saw that I wasn't wearing anything underneath.
His fingers danced down my torso, one hand sliding down to my thigh to lift it high against the wall. The other was suddenly between them, tracing my folds with expert fingers.
"Shhhh," he warned, his lips now pressed against my ear. "We have to be quiet if we don't want anyone to know what we're doing out here."
The thought that someone might find us had another wave of desire rolling over me. Elijah's soft hiss was proof he'd discovered the evidence.
"So wet for me," he smirked, his tongue trailing down the curve of my neck. His warm breath ghosted over the shell of my ear and I rocked my hips against his hand.
I heard his quiet groan as his fingers finally swiped through my slit, coating his fingers with my hot arousal. When he slid one thick finger inside me, I gripped his bare bicep for support, turning me on even more.
"That's a good girl," he praised quietly, as he slid in one more. A soft tap of his thumb against my clit had my eyes rolling back, my hips rocking against his hand desperately searching for more.
I wrapped my free hand around the base of his cock, the velvety skin hot to the touch. I stroked him carefully, trying to gauge his reaction to see what he liked best while his lazy fingers drove me wild.
When he began to roughly thrust his fingers inside me, I whimpered. He crooked them expertly, twisting his wrist so he had me violently shaking and dangling over the edge in seconds. I closed my eyes as I felt the first wave of ecstasy preparing to crash over me.
But then he pulled them from my entrance, amused by my shocked reaction.
"I want to feel you come around my cock," he panted, pulling my hand from its grip on his dick.
I loved the fiercely protective side of him, but the dominating tone of his voice had me growing even wetter.
My breath hitched when he shoved me up against the wall with one powerful forearm. He spread me wide open, pressing my thighs back to the wall as he pushed up against me.
His bare chest heaved against mine, the feeling of his hot skin almost more than I could bear.
"Remember, we have to be quiet," he murmured, pressing his lips to my neck before swiping his length through my folds. His tip was dripping with my arousal after only a few passes.
Then he sank himself deep inside of me, stretching me deliciously with his generous length. My head rolled back against the wall as I swallowed a moan.
I gripped the chocolate brown strands of his hair as he pulled back from my warmth. His face was twisted with the exquisite pleasure our bodies were providing.
When he thrust back inside, reaching even deeper than before, I had to bite down on my lip to keep from screaming his name. As someone who was typically very vocal, keeping quiet while he pumped into me was proving to be a challenge.
Every nerve ending in my body was singing, every cell on the verge of happy tears. The angle of his thrust was perfect, hitting me in spots I didn't even know I had inside me.
I'd had sex before: hot, sweaty, bed-breaking sex that left me with a full library of movies to replay in my mind on lonely nights under the covers.
But nothing could compare to the feeling of this man moving between my thighs as he fucked into me beneath the shadows.
Higher and higher we climbed together. My legs wrapped tightly around his waist, causing more friction than I could stand. Just as I was about to cry out his name, his lips slanted over mine forcefully.
His tongue slipped between my lips, tamping down the screams that were desperate to escape. His teeth grazed my bottom lip, tugging it viciously into his mouth.
My fingernails were digging into his skin so hard they drew blood, but I was too far gone to care.
With another forceful thrust, his head dropped to the curve of my neck.
"Come for me, Amelia. I want to watch you fall apart."
I rocked my hips against his, meeting him thrust for thrust. His hand dropped down to tease my clit, the feather light touch sending me over the edge.
"Elijah!"
I knew I was supposed to be silent, but I couldn't hold back anymore.
Wave after wave of pleasure washed over me as he hammered into my pulsating core. My vision blurred, toes curling, as my orgasm rocked my body.
With one final thrust, his hips stilled, and I felt him bathe my walls with streams of his hot release. The feeling was so intense I nearly swooned.
He rested his forehead against my shoulder, rocking into me gently as we came down together from our highs.
We were silent for a long moment, the only sounds our ragged breaths and the quiet chirp of nearby crickets.
"I think I've been dreaming of that since the moment I laid eyes on you," he admitted.
My already erratic heartbeat skipped at his words, but I didn't want him to see.
"Bullshit. You barely spoke to me the first time you laid eyes on me," I reminded him.
He chuckled as he helped me to my feet, assisting me while I dressed, though I could tell he was in desperate need of sleep as well.
Then he picked me up as if I weighed nothing and carried me to his bedroom as my eyes fluttered shut.
The next thing I knew, he was tucking me under the luxurious navy bedspread, the scent of his aftershave teasing my nose.
"So beautiful." He pressed a soft kiss to my temple, his knuckles lightly rubbing against my cheek. He was still bare chested as he settled into the bed beside me.
"Elijah..." I began.
"Shhh. You need your rest, Amelia. We will have plenty of time to talk tomorrow."
But as I nuzzled into his chest, overcome with exhaustion, I had no idea that when the chance to talk finally came, I'd be long gone.
[To be continued..]