They walked around the small downtown area for almost an hour. Eli allowed her to dictate which stores they stopped in and stood there awkwardly as she perused the racks of clothes on hand. When it came time for her to try things on, he sat and waited just a few feet away while she changed behind the curtain.
The first boutique was a cute little store with lots of women's clothes in hot pink with fringes and pom poms on their items. Skeptical at first, Ava tried on a couple of dresses and found one that suited her style. A little black dress that was stretchy enough to feel comfortable with her expanding waist and chest. After putting it on, she liked it so much that she flung back the curtain to show Eli, searching for his endorsement.
He looked up from his phone on the leopard-print sofa meant for guest seating, "Very sexy," he said, looking at her with serious intent that could not be mistaken for anything but lust.
She looked back over her shoulder to see her reflection in the mirror and ran her hands over her belly, seeing how the loose skirt of the fabric concealed it until she wanted to accentuate it.
"You're showing a lot more now," his voice spoke with approval, "You're definitely getting that one. What about the others?"
Ava bit her lip, "The blue skirt was nice, it's the same fabric and really stretchy. The other stuff can stay."
Eli arched an eyebrow, "You sure?"
"I'm sure. But I really want you to take me to that fudge shop we passed on the way here from the restaurant."
He grinned, "Absolutely."
They checked out soon after. At the register Ava eyed a pair of earrings for a moment, just brushing them with her fingers to see if she really liked them and before she could ask Eli pulled them off the rack and tossed them on the pile with the clothes.
The saleswoman ringing them up was very chatty. "That's what I like to see. A man who knows how to keep his woman happy. Happy wife, happy life, right?"
Eli made eyes at Ava and smiled, "You're right about that."
A lurch behind her navel made Ava suddenly quake at the knees. The reasonable, sane part of her was screaming that this was a bad idea, that she was being manipulated by hormones and his uncharacteristically sweet behavior, but the wanton, feverish heat between her legs held her more in thrall and she forced herself to ignore her misgivings as they walked back out onto the street.
His jacket felt warm on her shoulders, but his arm around her waist felt even warmer. On their way past the fudge shop, they saw another boutique next to an antique store. After buying a heavy box of fudge Ava pulled Eli's hand in the direction of those shops. Eli didn't argue once. He followed along dutifully, squeezing her arm before he opened the boutique door for her.
The antique store was, unfortunately, closed. With a sigh, Ava made for the second boutique, letting Eli open the door for her as she walked into the smell of patchouli and cardamom.
This store was less kitschy and closer to the coastal grandma look Ava wanted to avoid, but she walked in anyway, reasoning that it was still more time to kill and another new place to see after 10 straight weeks of being trapped in the same place.
Pashmina scarves and wide-brimmed sunhats were arrayed on the tables and several mannequins. They all wore loose-fitting chino pants in various colors with chunky, cable-knit sweaters and gaudy costume jewelry. Ava walked the store with Eli just behind her, carrying the bags from her shopping as she touched and looked at a couple of items here and there.
One item of interest, in particular, was situated toward the back. Near the rack marked FINAL SALE she found a lavender sweater that looked almost modern, with little white tulips stitched along the front in vertical intervals. It still looked somewhat matronly, but it reminded her of her grandma and her small home in the mountains of Massachusetts. Every spring her front garden had been awash with tulips but the white ones were her favorites. Tears pricked her eyes at the memory.
"Can I get this?" she asked Eli in a wobbly voice.
"Of course, you can," his face switched from boredom to concern, "Hey, what's wrong? I thought we were having a great time."
She nodded, "We are, I just… this sweater reminded me of my grandma and I…" her voice cracked. It was the first time she had shown emotion in front of him regarding anything but her current trauma. Never before had she opened up to him about her family or the loss of her parents.
Eli dropped the bags on the floor and pulled her into his arms, "Hey, hey, it's okay. Shh. I'm right here."
Ava wouldn't let herself give in to the full swell of grief that rose up. To think of her grandma was to think of every holiday at her home, which was to think of her parents and their senseless deaths leaving her alone in the world. They had died together at least, but less than a year after her grandma succumbed to cancer. Now Ava was in this predicament with no one looking for her in earnest. No one except a few friends to even notice she was gone. She clung to the sweater with white knuckles as if it might somehow bring her grandma back to her, a voice of reason to tell her what to do in this impossible situation she had found herself in.
Eli's hands were stroking her back and her hair as the tears leaked out the corners of her eyes. She wanted to hit him and be comforted by him all at the same time. Of course, she caved under the slightest show of affection after being starved for contact with anyone in the outside world aside from 30 minutes with a nurse shoving a probe up her snatch.
It wasn't easy to halt the tears, but finally, she pulled her face away from Eli's chest when her sniffles were soft enough to manage. He held her face in his hands and looked down at her with such tenderness. Why couldn't this be real? Why couldn't he be who she thought he was? Why had she blindly trusted him and why had he chosen her of all people?
He kissed her forehead and let his lips linger for a moment before he reached down for the bags he had dropped and gently pulled the hanger from her hands, carrying the sweater up to the counter to pay for it.
Ava stood there dumbly towards the back of the store waiting for him to tell her what to do. She watched him interact with the cashier, then pay and look back at her with a reassuring smile. She gave a weak one in return.
After Eli was done, he beckoned her to join him. The sweater was in a brown paper gift bag hanging on his wrist, and when she came closer he pulled her to him in a sweet embrace. Her lips pressed together tightly to avoid crying again.
At the counter, the cashier who had rung Eli up was watching them attentively. Ava turned to look at her, feeling intensely self-conscious to be stared at so obviously, but perhaps this woman would see her and realize something was amiss. Maybe she would see the possessive way Eli followed Ava around and her obvious emotional distress, and understand that she was a young woman in need of help.
"You two make a beautiful couple," the woman suddenly effused, leaning over the counter with a wistful look in her eyes.
"Thank you," Eli grinned, looking at Ava as if to say, See? Everyone can see how great we are together. Why can't you?
To add insult to injury, he rubbed the small bump along her front and said for the cashier's benefit, "Hopefully this one will have all their mother's beauty."
The woman's eyes lit up, "Oh my God. A baby?! Oh, it's too good to be true! Congratulations to you both! Mazel tov!"
Ava smiled and whispered 'thanks' as the tears began to leak out again. Dammit, why couldn't she turn them off until they were in the car at least?
"Aww, your husband told me how the sweater reminded you of your grandma. There there, dear, have a tissue. She wouldn't want you to be sad, not when you have such a handsome husband and a beautiful baby on the way."
She laughed at the woman but managed to conceal it with a cough, although in doing so she inhaled a few of her own tears still streaming down her cheeks. Eli's hand felt heavy against the small of her back and she remembered to utter a meek, "Thank you," just before he steered her out the door.
Out on the street again, she took a deep breath and wiped her face, hoping Eli wouldn't take her behavior in there as insolence.
Cautiously, she reached her arm around his waist, hoping to disarm his temper if it was indeed boiling, but he wrapped his around her shoulders and squeezed her tight with a peck on the cheek. From this point down the main street area, she could see the parking lot not far away, and behind her, the early afternoon sun shrouded by clouds cast the whole town in a sunny, picturesque light.
"We should leave soon to make sure we get there in time for dinner," he offered, walking at a slower pace to allow her to keep up.
"Mmhmm," she nodded, looking behind them towards the overlook over the ocean. This was her first taste of freedom and if his broad smile was any indication, she had passed his test with flying colors thus far.
"Can we go sit on a bench for a few more minutes?" she pleaded, "I just want a little longer."
At first, he looked like he was going to be firm and say 'no' but then she put her hands on his waist, holding him close, intimately, and it both melted his tough exterior and took her breath away as she looked into his face and saw the way he stared at her in utter wonderment.
"Just a few more minutes," he breathed, and for a moment Ava thought he would kiss her. His face came closer and she held her breath and closed her eyes. If he kissed her now, she might just jump him out here on this brick walkway. Even as the two halves of her brain warred with each other over whether she should feel this way or not, her loins had already made up their mind.
A metal bench sat facing the ocean with a perfect view. Ava sat down and wrapped her arms over her stomach to stay warm, feeling somewhat ridiculous in Eli's oversized jacket. He sat down next to her and set the bags down at their feet. His arm snaked around her shoulders just as she leaned forward to pull the sweater out of the bag and bite the tag off with her teeth.
"Eager, are we?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow.
She didn't answer him. His jacket was shucked off as she yanked the sweater over her head and pulled her arms through. It was a good fit. There was room enough to grow in the midsection, and the knitting was tight and warm, leaving her leaning against Eli for his body heat but unwilling to wear his jacket again just yet.
"Still cold?" he asked, and she lowered her head onto his lap, resting her cheek on the top of his thigh as she looked out over the Pacific.
"Just a little. You should have your jacket back though. It looks good on you."
It was stupid to encourage him with any compliments, but her cunt was beyond being reasoned with. She nuzzled his leg almost like a dog might, and she made sure to let her head rub against his cock, feeling his instant reaction.
"Ava…" he warned, "You know exactly what you're doing, love. Don't play games you're not willing to finish."
She sat up and looked at him with a lustful gaze, "You always make sure I finish, remember?"
Eli's hand grabbed her shoulder like he needed support to avoid falling over. He gave a sharp intake of breath and closed his eyes, but when she looked down at his lap she could see the evidence of his struggle straining against the confines of his pants.
Ava remembered they were still in public and if she wanted him to fuck her soon they needed to make it back to the car. It was fun to toy with him this way though. It gave her a sense of power that was sorely lacking in most of their daily interactions. Seeing him like this made him human, just another man with the same base desires as other men, and herself.
When she stood to her feet Eli almost jumped up, readjusting the waistband of his pants to conceal his erection while she watched him, holding his suit jacket out to him once he was done. Begrudgingly, he donned it again, buttoning it and readjusting his tie like he was prepared to enter a boardroom.
"Better?"
"Much. Do I look like a coastal grandma now?" she asked with a smirk.
He glanced down at her and laughed, "A very sexy coastal grandma, yes."
The entire walk back to the car she felt his hands roving her waist as much as he could without attracting attention in such a public place. It was a sleepy seaside town on a weekday in the early autumn, but as they got closer to the car she felt the burgeoning pressure between her legs grow. Her skin felt like fire everywhere he touched.
At the car she felt almost giddy, imagining him pulling her into the backseat with him and going at it like teenagers. Instead, he opened the door for her calmly, no part of his demeanor betraying how much he was struggling to remain composed.
Ava got in and did her seatbelt in record time. Eli slid in on his side and she held her breath, waiting to see what he would do.
The car started and she took a hard breath. Her chest constricted painfully at the realization he was not going to give her relief here. Before she could find the words to ask him what the plan was, he began backing the car out of the spot. They were on the edge of a curved highway with low visibility past both bends in the road that turned out of sight behind trees and tall cliffs. Ava gasped when Eli, after checking both ways twice, pealed out all of a sudden, like he was on the run from the law rather than leaving a delightful little seaside town after a surprisingly enjoyable afternoon.
On the road, he slowed just slightly, and usually only for the turns. Ava held onto the door and the middle console as he took the curves at breakneck speed. They passed one or two other, smaller seaside towns without a second glance. For several minutes after the last remnants of the previous town disappeared from view, her eyes scanned every bend in the road for somewhere they could pull over and go at it, but Eli seemed determined to find somewhere in particular, and he was breaking every speed limit known to man to get there.
A couple of times the treeline to their left thinned and she could see glimpses of the ocean. Her legs were still squeezed together, and she looked to him for any indication that he was preparing to stop, but he kept his eyes on the road and his hands gripping the wheel with white knuckles.
The thought occurred to her that now would be the time to pleasure herself in front of him, to draw out the torture and hasten his efforts to find somewhere to park. She had no sooner let her fingers drift to the waist of her leggings than he took a sharp right down a remote stretch of paved road that led off from the main highway, startling her into dropping her hand back into her lap.
Not far up ahead was a large, wrought iron gate blocking the road.
Eli pulled the car up to a stone pillar with a keypad and punched in a code. Engraved on a plaque in the brick wall the gate was attached to read, LOCKWOOD MANOR. PRIVATE PROPERTY.
They were here, and now Ava felt disappointed. Surely, Eli was not going to ravish her out here or anywhere else his boss might find out about.
When the car cleared the gate and Eli saw it close behind them in his rearview mirror he looked over at her, his eyes dark and still full of purpose. Her lips were parted, and her heart rate began to pick up at the way he stared at her.
Slowly, he steered the car around a bend in the driveway, then pulled onto a dirt shoulder surrounded by trees. All around her the branches shook with the wind brought in from the ocean, and the sun shone through leafy boughs to cast dancing patterns of light across the hood of the car. She held her breath, waiting to see what Eli would do.
He opened his door and got out, coming around to her side of the car and opening hers. Nervous, Ava looked at him and swallowed the lump in her throat. There was no going back after this. She was willingly choosing to let him fuck her, and he was watching her with an intensity that said he intended to make good on his promise to make up for lost time and fuck her repeatedly after such a hiatus. It was still possible to say no, to close the door in his face and make him yearn for her a little longer, but she saw the way his pants tented in her direction, and thought of the torture she was inflicting on herself just to spite him.
Up she got from her seat and stood in front of him, almost a foot shorter, waiting to see what he would do out here in the relative privacy of the forest, but the likely well-patrolled property of a billionaire.
His hands cupped her face and stroked her cheeks, pulling her closer to his lips.
"Are you sure?" he asked, his voice strained, "I won't give you another chance after this."
Ava answered by wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a fervent kiss, lifting one leg to wrap around his hip as a gesture to give her relief from this agony.
He groaned into her mouth and practically shoved her against the car, breaking the kiss to fasten his lips to her neck as she gasped and tried to wrap her other leg around him before he pried them both off.
"Does the Manor have cameras out here?" she breathed, but he already had her leggings halfway down her thighs, peeling her underwear with them down to her ankles and unbuckling his belt, his cock straining through the fabric.
"No," he grumbled, struggling with the button of his pants.
This was wrong. She shouldn't be shaking at the prospect of wanting him to fuck her out here, in spite of everything, but all she was aware of was how keenly her sex ached for him to touch her. When he dipped a finger to part her folds he moaned at her wetness.
"God, you've needed this, haven't you?"
Ava whimpered and kicked off her bottoms tangled at her feet as he freed his cock before lifting her legs again to wrap around his waist. They moaned in unison when he seated himself inside her at last, Ava gasping as she held onto his shoulders and braced herself for his shallow thrusts.
Eli's hands were busy holding her up, pinning her bare ass cheeks against the cool window of the car. His mouth sought hers and she let him kiss her, warring her tongue with his as she gasped just before she began to crumble.
It had been so long that when she finally came, Ava thought her heart might explode. Eli's mouth was still fastened to hers, muffling her screams, gently biting her lip, and tangling a hand into her hair to move her head where he wanted as he pounded her lower half between him and the car.
When Eli came he actually let out a noise, a rarity for him. It was a cross between a cry and a moan, but he slumped against her as she felt him empty inside her, pressing uncomfortably on her belly from his previous efforts.
He breathed raggedly in her ear, lips mumbling incoherently against her neck as Ava loosened her legs around his waist to try and support herself while he came back down to Earth.
With her feet firmly on the ground again, Eli pulled away only to brace himself on the car, his limp cock twitching as it slid out of her and dangled between them.
"God, you're… you're so…" he gave up trying to find the right words and kissed her hard, pinning her to the car again as he ravished her mouth, his flaccid member unable to even harden minutely, it was so utterly spent.
Eli groaned and pulled up his pants while Ava bent down for her discarded panties and leggings strewn on the gravel next to their feet. Both fully dressed again, Eli opened the door for her and waited until she was in before he leaned down to buckle her and shut the door softly.
Once he was back in the driver's seat, he gripped the steering wheel without starting the engine for a moment. He just closed his eyes and breathed deeply, leaning back against the headrest and looking over at her with a tired smile.
His hand clasped hers and brought it to his mouth. She watched his lips graze her knuckles, then squeeze her hand affectionately and set it down as he put the car in drive. The wheels began to turn slowly on the gravel, veering back onto the smooth pavement as they crept slowly up the winding driveway in the direction of Lockwood Manor, and the new, unfamiliar people therein.