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Ellie swallowed, his closeness doing fluttery things to her insides.
“It gets in the way,” she whispered.
“There’s nothing for it to get in the way of right now,” Syrus murmured. “Can I take it out?”
Ellie just nodded, mesmerized by the look in his eyes andthemovement of his fingers over her hair. What would those fingers feel like on her skin?
Syrus made quick work of the hair tie that held her braid and part of her wishes were filled in the next few seconds as he loosened her plait and released the heavy length of her hair, running his fingers through the heavy tresses all the way from her scalp to where he arranged it across her shoulders.
When he’d finished, he leaned back and just looked ather for what felt like forever. Ellie sucked in her bottom lip under the weight of his gaze, but he pressed on her chin to release it. The reaction took her aback and confused her mind. So alike was it to his brother’s actions.
Then he buried his hands into her hair and leaned in towards her. Ellie parted her lips in an instinctive invitation and then his mouth was on hers and she discovered that those full lips of his were every bit as soft and pliant as she thought they might be and his kiss every bit as sensuous.
He sipped on her lips and sucked the bottom one into his mouth briefly, before settling in and deepening their connection. He lazily stroked his tongue against her own, everything about him unhurried and sensual, as if he wanted to explore every facet and savor every moment. He took her breath away.
Syrus pulled her flush with his hard, delicious body. That wasn’t the only thing that was hard! She could feel the evidence of his desire pressing insistently against her leg, and a thrill ran through her that she could do that to him with just a kiss.
I mean, sure, she was attracted to him, but the flip side of the coin that had brought them together, was that she was just some girl who had turned up in his life. For all she knew, he might have been sweet on Sheri before the three sisters’ combined actions got them their marching orders. Excepttherehad been that time in the stable…
Syrus moved his hands to the waistband of her jeans and found the bare flesh under her shirt and every other thought went flying from her mind so that him, his woodsy scent and the feel of his fingers casually exploring the skin of her midriff were the only things left; along with her own yearning for him to maybe just move those hands a little higher or a little lower. She really didn’t mind which, but Syrus, it seemed, was the consummate gentleman and although he went out of his way to make sure she felt good, he never once pushed too hard.
He eased the kiss and trailed his lips across her cheek, nibbling at that oh-so-sensitive spot behind her ear in a way that had her nipples pebbling and pressing against the confines of her bra. She wished he would offer them the same treatment, but insteadhenipped and kissed his way down her neck, all the way to her collarbone.
She realized, deep in the back of her mind, that he had undone the buttons of her shirt at some point and now he eased the two sides open, exposing her to the sun and his continued ministrations. His mouth cruised over the tops of her breasts, where they peaked out from her bra, and the taut skin of her abdomen and Ellie couldn’t stop the little moans that escaped from her throat or the wayherbody seemed to undulate against himwitha mind of its own; arching into him and begging him, without words, to take it further.
Heat sizzled across her body and had her mindless. He could have done pretty much anything he wanted to right now, but he didn’t.
And that alone made her want him all the more.
Chapter Fourteen
Two days later, she had barely had time to catch her breath when Ezra announced at breakfast that he was taking her out for the day and boy, did he seem to have an entire itinerary planned. Maybe he thought he was having to play catchup because she’d already spent time with both of his brothers, and perhaps, if she was honest with herself, he was right.
There was a definite bond between her and both Cody and Syrus, which hadn’t been there before. She was still vacillating between the twoofthem, but until now, at least Ezrahadn’tfigured in her dilemma.
In all honesty, she wasn’t sure that could ever be a thing now, but she was determined to give him the time that she’d given the others. That was only fair.
And for their own part, Cody and Syrus assured her they could certainly take care of themselves for one day, when she pointed out that she hadn’t planned dinner, so it seemed as if they felt the same way. And she guessed that made sense; he was their brother, after all.
Just like the playful, exuberant character that he was, Ezra seemed to have crammed everything he could into the time they had.
It started with a trip into town where he took her to a games arcade. He was duly horrified when she told him she’d never set foot in such a place before.
“What do you mean, you’ve never been to an arcade before? Have you never lived?” he asked, completely aghast.
“There was never the opportunity after Gran became ill,” she told him honestly.
“Then you’re in for a treat and I’m going to make in my mission in life to introduce you to all the fun things you have missed out on.”
He was true to his word. The next few hours were a helter-skelter of fun, laughter, and completely ridiculous competition.
They had a completely mad air hockey tournament during which he completely thrashed her. He smashed the puck around at a breakneck speed that Ellie simply couldn’t keep up with, but which made her laugh. The problem was the more she laughed, the worse she played, and Ezra showed no mercy. She actually liked that about him.
They took a turn on the slot machines and he insisted on feeding the machine until she finally hit the jackpot, at which point he punched the sky with his fist and whooped out loud, which caused her to forget herself until she found herself jumping up and down and clapping her hands and subsided into embarrassment at the number of people watching them. Not that Ezra cared at all, and his breezy, easy-going attitude was contagious.
Next he taught her how to play skee ball, horrified that she’d never even heard of it. Of course, his idea of teaching was to get up close and personal; plastering himself to her back, holding her with one arm around her waist while he guided her other hand with his own.
Of course, there was no way she could concentrate on getting the ball in any of the holes with his warmth heating her back and his hand naughtily dipping just inside the waistband of her jeans. Not to mention his hot breath on her neck whenever he tried to give her instructions.
