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Eve tapped Judah on the shoulder. Turning his head to face her, he asked, “What?”
“Tell Cousin Claude I said that I’d see him very soon because he’s coming here to the sanctuary.”
Judah stared at his daughter.
“Why does she think—” Claude began.
“Eve Raintree, come here right this minute!” Mercy stood in the doorway, hands on hips, a parental scowl on her face.
Eve popped off the bed and raced over to her mother. “I got to talk to Cousin Claude. He’s coming to the sanctuary very soon, and we’ll get to meet him.”
Mercy’s gaze met Judah’s, the concern and puzzlement in her eyes matching his.
“We’ll talk later,” Judah told Claude. “Keep me posted on that matter we discussed.”
He didn’t wait for a reply before ending the conversation and tossing his cell phone onto the nightstand. “Eve, why don’t you go with your mother while I grab a shower and get dressed?”
Mercy’s glance skimmed over Judah’s naked chest and shoulders, appreciating his lean body, although she wasn’t consciously aware of what she was doing. He returned the admiring glance. Mercy was certainly easy on the eye. The first moment he’d seen her seven years ago, he’d been struck by how beautiful she was. Even before he looked into her striking green eyes and realized she was Raintree, he had wanted her.
Clearing her throat, Mercy clasped Eve’s hand. “It isn’t polite to barge into someone’s room without being invited.” She looked at Judah. “I’m sorry she bothered you. It won’t happen again.” When she pulled on Eve’s hand, Eve balked.
Judah grinned.
Eve yanked on Mercy’s hand and motioned for her to bend down, which Mercy did. Eve whispered loudly, “I’ll go to my room and play for a while. You and Daddy need to talk about me some more.”
Mercy didn’t have a chance to respond before Eve scurried out of the room, lightning fast, and closed the door behind her.
“She’s quite a little bossy-butt, isn’t she?” Judah said.
“She’s a Raintree princess. Giving orders comes naturally to her, as it should. Unfortunately, she hasn’t learned the art of diplomacy yet.”
“Diplomacy is an overrated art. I prefer action to talk, and I expect my daughter is the same.”
“Eve does like to have her own way. But she’s young, and she’ll learn that she can’t always have everything she wants.”
Judah whipped back the sheet that covered his naked body and rose from the bed. Mercy gasped. He grinned.
“If you see anything you like, you can have it. Right now.”
Mercy stared at him, drinking him in, her gaze lingering over his erection. Then she looked him square in the eyes. “Sometimes what we want is very bad for us, and we learn from experience to avoid danger.”
Judah moved toward her, one slow, provocative step at a time. She stood her ground, not backing away, keeping her eyes glued to his face.
When he reached out and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand, she closed her eyes. “You still want me.”
She said nothing.
From that one brief touch, he sensed her desire. “I want you, too.” He slipped his hand around her neck and lowered his head. She sighed. His breath mingled with hers. She opened her eyes, and for just an instant, unaware of her vulnerability, she let the barrier protecting her thoughts weaken.
My God!
He yanked her to him, pressing his sex intimately against her. If she were as naked as he was…“There hasn’t been anyone else, has there? You’re as much mine now as you were that night.”
When he kissed her hungrily, she stood there rigid and unresponsive. But when he gentled the kiss, she whimpered. As he ravaged her mou
th with tender passion, she pressed both hands against his chest and tried to shove him away.
Judah grabbed her and pulled her with him as he backed up against the bed. Taking her now would be almost like taking her for the first time. She was untouched by any other man, untutored, practically a virgin.
