Chapter Twelve

 

 

 

“The recipe calls for half an onion, but I like to use a whole one. Not a big one. Medium-sized. Like this.” Natalie picked one from a basket on her countertop.

“Give it to me. I’ll cut it up,” Eli said.

“I got it.”

“No. I got it.” Eli walked up to her, backing her to the countertop. “Got you, too,” he said, dipping his head to pair up their lips, feeling hers part just slightly for him.

“Eli,” she said softly.

“Huh?” he mumbled, still kissing her. When he left her mouth and started on her neck, she said between gasps, “What time…are your parents…supposed to…be here?”

“They’ll be here in a couple hours.”

“Well, we don’t have the main course done yet.”

“Sucks for them. Good for me,” Eli said. “You’re my main course and everything that follows.”

“Eli,” she whispered.

He looked at her, folded his bottom lip underneath his teeth.

“Goodness, don’t do that,” she said, certain she was having palpitations.

“Don’t do what, baby?” he asked, taking a small kiss from her lips. “Make you feel things?” Another kiss followed. “I want you to feel things for me.” He lifted her from the floor, placed her on the counter. Four years taught him to be patient with her. Taught him self-control, but self-control with a woman who roused him with a simple smile and the slightest touch challenged his fortitude and reminded him of his need to love her. Not want, need – the natural desire to make love to her – to express how much he loved her through intimacy, something they had yet to do. He was patient. Would always be patient. But still...

“Kiss me.” He licked his lips. “Kiss me like you love me.”

She touched his face, she loved to touch his face, and her lower lip quivered until they collided with his. Until he took them inside of his mouth, then freed them, only so she could do the same thing to him.

“Mmm,” she moaned, gripping his head tighter in between her palms.

The moment she did, the instant he could feel her need for more, he pulled away. Seduction was best served in subtle ways. Like when he’d play with her hair, hold her hand when they took walks, sucked pumpkin pie filling from her finger and wrapped his arms around her while helping her stir up a mixture of cornbread – Jiffy, milk and one egg in a glass bowl. Subtle. She’d need more soon enough.

“Now, I’ll cut this onion. Onions can bring a person to tears, and I doubt if my heart can handle seeing another tear fall from these beautiful eyes,” he said, leaving the warmth of his lips across her eyelids.

She sat there, on the counter, watching him take a knife from the utensil drawer and began slicing up the onion. When her breaths evened out, she eased off the counter to stir the beef in the pot.

And then Eli was right behind her, dropping onions in the pot while she stirred. He brushed his lips across her neck, felt her body quiver. “Anything else you need me to do baby?”

“Um…” she closed her eyes when he nibbled at her ear lobe. “Um…n-no. I think we have everything covered. The pie and the cornbread are both in the oven. Veggies cooking. Rice soaking. “We’re doing good.”

“Good.”

 

* * *

 

“Natalie, sweetheart. Oh, it’s so good to see you,” Persinna said. Already she had tears in her eyes.

Natalie wrapped her arms around her and squeezed. “Good to see you too, Persinna. Always good to see you.”

Then she hugged Oliver, and Eli greeted his parents, showing them to the table.

When they were all sitting around the small, four-chair dinette with full plates, Natalie said, “Persinna, Oliver…I know the last time you saw me, I was a mess. My mother’s passing was hard on me, still is. Some days I can’t get out of bed, other days I find the strength thanks to my wonderful, loving, ever-patient husband. Eli has been my rock through all of this and for that…” She fought back tears. “For that, I’ll always be thankful.”

She looked up, caught Eli’s stare, then smiled.

“So,” Natalie said pulling in a deep breath. “I’m okay.”

“Glad to hear it,” Oliver said.

“And I want you to know that if you ever need to talk about anything, Natalie, you can always come to me,” Persinna said.

Natalie nodded, appreciating her mother-in-law’s gesture. “Thank you.”

“Always,” Persinna said. “Now, who made this beef? It’s marvelous.”

“We cooked everything together,” Eli told her. “We were really burning up the kitchen, right, Allie?” He winked at her.

Natalie smiled. “Right.” She took a sip of wine, then turned to Persinna. “I have a question.”

“For me?” Persinna asked. “Sure.”

“Was Eli a patient child?” she asked, looking up at Eli, watching a smile grow on his face.

Persinna looked at Oliver, and the two burst out in laughter.

“Is it that funny?” Eli asked with a smirk on his face.

“Sorry, son. It is that funny.” Persinna laughed more. “Eli wasn’t a patient child by any means. He was always on the go, like a little robot. He never liked waiting for a thing, especially food. When I would be preparing meals, he’d come into the kitchen and I’d send him out and he’d come right back, asking me if the food was done yet. He must’ve been around three at the time. To this day, I credit his determination to stay inside the kitchen for his cooking skills.”

“I see,” Natalie said, smiling big.

“Why do you ask?” Oliver inquired.

Natalie looked across the table at Eli, watching him bite into a piece of cornbread. “Because he’s so patient with me.”

“I’m also deeply in love with you, yene konjo.”

A smile grew bigger on her face, made her glow. “I’m in love with you, too, my Ethiopian king.”

Persinna looked at Oliver and smiled. Something about seeing their son in love satisfied them.

After they finished dinner, Natalie served pumpkin pie with vanilla bean ice cream. And while they enjoyed dessert, she glanced up at Eli remembering the way he licked her finger earlier. The way he kissed her. Seemed like they were the only ones at the table.

Persinna and Oliver watched this interaction and quickly finished their dessert. Seemed the newlyweds needed some alone time.

They got that time as soon as Eli was back from walking his parents to their car. Natalie was in the kitchen.

“That went well,” she said, looking at Eli quietly walking her way with predatory eyes.

He took dishes from her hand, set the pile back on the table. Wrapping his arms around her, he said, “Kiss me like you love me.”

So she did, and this time she was more needful than before. Went after his lips harder than she did before. With more desperation. This time, she slid her hands underneath his shirt, up his back, prompting him to pull his shirt over his head. This time, she reached for the clasp of his jeans.

He moved her hand, lifted her and took her to the couch. He lowered himself on top of her and said, “We don’t have to make love to make love.”

She smiled.

“No need to rush anything with us, Natalie. You know why?”

She smiled. “Why?”

“Making love is like eating…you eat too fast, you fill up quickly without enjoying the food, whereas if you eat slow, you not only enjoy the food, but can also eat more of it. That’s what I plan on doing to you, baby. Enjoying you. Savoring every moment we have together.”

“That’s why I love you so much, Eli.”

He swooped down on her lips again before saying, “This is going to sound a little left field, but the entire time we were eating dessert, I was wondering what it would be like to eat pumpkin pie off of your stomach.”

“You were not,” Natalie said. She laughed.

“I was.”

She laughed more. “Do you know how crazy that sounds?”

“I do,” he said.

“You’re crazy, Eli.”

“I am. Love will do that to a person.” He kissed her nose. “Thank you for having my parents over.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I love you.”

She smiled softly. “I love you.”

“Shall we go to bed now?”

“But—”

“The dishes can wait,” he told her. “You’re tired. We’ve had a pretty, long day, and now, all I want is to feel you asleep in my arms. Okay?”

“Okay,” she said, as if under his spell.

After she washed makeup from her face and changed into a sleepshirt, she slid beneath the covers and scooted her body close to Eli.

He did the rest, taking her into his embrace, leaving kisses at her temple. “Goodnight, angel.”

“Goodnight, Eli.”