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“Good. Come on, I want to show you something.” He holds out an arm, so I link mine through it and let him guide me toward the back of the hall. “Close your eyes.”
“I’ve had plenty of surprises lately, Tarnley.”
“Then what’s one more? Please?”
When he smiles at me, I’m helpless to deny him, so I close my eyes and listen carefully as the door is pushed open and he pulls me inside.
“Don’t move.”
I stay exactly where I am, focusing on the sound of rustling fabric and a crackling fire. “Can I open now?”
“Not yet. Almost.” What sounds suspiciously like a champagne bottle pops open, and then he sighs. “Okay, open.”
As soon as I do, I’m greeted with the most romantic sight I’ve ever seen. Tarnley standing beside a small table with two plates of spaghetti, each sitting on either side of a bottle of champagne and two glasses.
Orange flames dance in the hearth, and the balcony doors are pushed open to reveal bright stars and a moon so large it looks just out of reach. Tears spring to my eyes for a reason completely different than a few minutes ago, and I’m struck damn near speechless.
In the midst of everything we have going on, Tarnley still took the time to make me feel special.
“I don’t deserve you.”
He shakes his head and rushes toward me. “You have that backward my love.”
“Seriously, Tarnley, I just—I don’t even know what to say.”
“Then don’t say anything.”
“How did you pull this off?”
“Winnie and Ivan brought it up here and helped me set up.”
“You just assumed I wouldn’t show up early?”
“Your curiosity about this house kept you away, didn’t it?”
I grin at him. “You act like you know me so well, Tarnley.”
“That’s because I do.” Leaning down, he presses his lips to mine. The gentle caress of lips against lips brings my blood to a steady simmer. Tarnley’s arms wrap around me and pull me against his hard body as he deepens the kiss. His tongue slips into my mouth, and I’m helpless against the soft moan that leaves me.
He disarms me completely, this man of mine.
And then he pulls away. “Not yet. I have a plan to seduce you.”
I snort as he pulls me toward the table. “I’d say I’m pretty well seduced already.” Tarnley pulls out a chair, and I slide into it. Then he walks around and takes his own seat.
“A woman like you deserves to be endlessly seduced.”
A shiver runs up my spine, thanks to his deep tone; the way he leans forward to capture my hand then turns it over to press a kiss to my palm steals my breath away. How the hell did I ever manage to deny what was between us for so long?
“We should eat before this gets cold,” he says, though his eyes never leave mine, and he makes no move toward the food.
“We probably should,” I agree. “Would be a shame to waste.”
“The time or the food?” His finger runs small circles over the pulse in my wrist, the hypnotizing caress driving me wild with need. When I meet his gaze again, I see the same hunger reflected right back at me.
In a flash of movement, he’s got me in his arms and pinned against the far wall. He growls low and deep, fangs brushing against my throat. Heat pools between legs currently wrapped around his waist.
“You smell amazing when you’re turned on. So fucking delectable. It used to take every bit of power within me to keep from throwing you over my shoulder.”
