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It was a spectacular example of Victorian architecture, and Phae had always admired it, though she’d only been inside the fence a few times in her life. Tonight, there were lights on inside the house and spotlights along the exterior edges showing off the lovely, but faded and decaying woodwork.
“What do you think of it?” Kent asked.
“I’ve always liked this house. But why are we here? No one’s home, I can promise you. It’s been empty forever.”
“It’s my house now. I bought it,” Kent said, watching her closely.
“You bought the Belleterre Mansion? What for?”
“To live in.”
“But, you’ve got that job in Phoenix.”
He shook his head. “Nah. I turned them down. Told them I got a better offer. You, by the way, are the better offer.”
Phae didn’t know what to say. “You’re moving here? Permanently?”
“If you don’t mind.”
“Of course I don’t mind. I’m just … what about your company?”
“I sold it. Goodbye Phoenix. I am now, officially, a citizen of Zeke’s Bend.”
Phae’s heart beat a jerky rhythm and her brain struggled to figure out what all this meant for them as a couple. Should she make assumptions? They said they loved each other, and now there was a house, too? Damn.
“Come on inside,” he said. “I can’t wait to show it off.”
He took her hand and pulled her to the front door. She followed him in a daze, hardly listening to him talk about the renovation work he had planned and how he was going to semi-modernize the interior while keeping the exterior true to its age all the way down to the gingerbread trim.
The mansion was huge, though most of the rooms were small, as was the style of the times when it was built, with tall, narrow windows and high ceilings. Wallpaper was peeling from most of the walls and the wooden floors were scarred and in need of refinishing.
The kitchen hadn’t had its fixtures or appliances updated in the last fifty years, and the bathrooms were stained with age and the brass fittings tarnished and/or broken.
She couldn’t imagine the amount of work it would take to rebuild the place; it was staggering. But to hear Kent talk about what he was going to do with it, it seemed it would be the work of a moment. His enthusiasm was catching.
On the second floor, after a quick look into the rooms there, he led her to one with a pair of exquisitely carved wooden doors.
“The master suite,” he said, reaching for the knobs. He pushed the doors open.
Phae gasped. This was no rundown suite. Obviously, Kent had put some people to work recently. How had he kept this quiet? She was shocked she hadn’t heard about the house being bought and worked on.
The suite was a large room, and she wondered how many walls were taken out to get it that size. The creamy, textured walls were romantically lit by dimmed sconces and a large light fixture in the center of the room.
A fireplace drew the eye right away with its elegantly lined polished mantle. There were several antique bureaus and an exquisite wardrobe, too. The wood was rich and almost velvety looking. Several overstuffed chairs near the fireplace looked invitingly cozy.
The room was eclectic in style, and warm in all ways, from paint to paper to fabric to flooring. The massive four-poster bed sat like an emperor in the room, the bedding in shades of pale greens, plush and begging to be touched.
The air was redolent with a spicy, light floral blend. An air conditioner purred in one of the windows, keeping the room comfortable and relieving the humidity.
“I was able to get a little work done already, but central air will take some time,” Kent said. “The window unit works for now. What do you think of it?”
“It’s beautiful. So lovely.”
“Not half as lovely as you,” he said, moving in beside her and taking her hand. “Everything here was inspired by you.”
“It’s perfect.” She didn’t want to say how moved she was and how much at home she felt from the moment she entered the house. It would be awkward.
Their gazes fell on the four-poster bed at the same time. Phae’s face warmed up and she looked down when Kent turned back to her.
“You know what I want, Phae,” he said. “If you’re not ready for this, tell me now. I don’t want to pressure you.”
She ran her fingertips over his cropped black hair and down his manly jaw. “I’ve never done this before.”
He raised a brow. “I’ve been dreaming about you and me on that couch of yours for what seems like forever, so I have to ask, are you confused about never having done this before?”
She smiled. “No. I mean, I’ve never had sex with a man I’m in love with. You’ll be my first.”
“Really?”
“Really. I’ve never been in love, and I’ve never said ‘I love you’ either.”
“I’m honored,” he said. “I’ve never said it either.”
“Come on. ‘I love you’ is the first line guys learn as horny teenagers.”
“I learned it. I just never used it.”
They smiled.
Phae reached behind her head and unclipped her hair. She spread it over her shoulders and let it fall in ringlets, free and wild around her face.
Kent watched her every movement with a gleam in his eyes. She reached to stroke his face.
With a deep groan, Kent swept her into his arms. She held on tightly and kissed him fiercely as he carried her to the bed, letting go reluctantly when he lowered her onto the soft mattress.
Holding her breath, she lay still, every nerve in her body tingling while Kent pulled his shirt over his head. She wanted to touch the tanned smoothness of his skin glowing in the soft light, but he nudged her hand away.
He sat on the edge of the bed, hungrily studying the length of her body. He reached down and, one a time, removed her shoes and socks with aching tenderness, caressing her feet and running his hands up her ankles.
She sucked in a deep breath when he pulled her shirt over her head, gently lifting her in the process to pull it free.
One more time, she reached for him.
“Please, Phae, don’t touch me,” he said, pushing her back down onto the mattress. “I won’t be able to hold back if you do, and I don’t want to rush. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to see you like this. I’m taking my sweet time.”
With a delicate touch that belied his great strength, he smoothed his hands over her neck, shoulders and arms. He skimmed fingertips over the tops of her lacy bra cups, a feathery touch across the upper curve of her breasts that made her shiver.
“Your skin glows in the light,” he said, almost in wonder. “So smooth. Like silk.”
Phae gave herself over to his gaze and his touch. She dug her fingers into the soft bedding to keep from touching him.
He tugged gently on her pants, unbuttoning and unzipping, then slowly pulled them down over her hips and off her legs. He dropped them aside, his gaze centered on the tiny strip of fabric covering her mound.
“Damn,” he muttered, and traced a tingling line around the edges of her panties.
Like before, she’d never been so certain of the depths of a man’s passion as she was of Kent’s.
Tears pooled in her eyes as she witnessed his desire. He made her feel perfect, new, untouched and undamaged. He stroked the length of her inner thighs, making her moan.
She had to touch him. She couldn’t hold back.
When he dipped a finger under the elastic at the top of her panties, she reached down and clasped her hands over his.
“I want you so bad,” she said. And she pushed his hand the rest of the way under her panties, pressing her hips upward, leading his fingers down to her dripping folds. “Feel that. It’s for you.”
Kent’s expression went from tender to animal in a split second. He groaned and his eyes flashed.
“Hell,” he said in that wonderfully deep voice that made her stomach flutter. “I should have known I wouldn?
?t be able to wait.”
Chapter 26
PHAE SAT UP AND CLUNG to his shoulders, kissing him across his neck and jawline. He smelled and tasted so good, salty and spicy, like a man should. Like her man should.
He unclasped her bra and the lacy lingerie went sailing away. He fell on her breasts with lips and tongue, teeth and fingertips, squeezing, pulling and nipping.
Phae threw her head back and pulled him closer, ever closer. She savored the growls she got as a reward for raking her nails across his strong back.
Her skin was on fire, and her insides purred, demanding she let him in. She reached for the hard bulge straining against his jeans.
Kent grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. “No.”
