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She accepted the gifts. I had seen the way her face paled when I compared what I spent to something she could relate to, but I had to make her understand. I meant what I said: I would buy her things, and I didn’t want it to be a constant battle. I knew she lived very modestly, and although I didn’t want to overwhelm her, I did plan to make her life a little easier wherever I could.I uncorked and poured some red wine. In the fridge was a plate with some snacks Andrew had prepared at my request. I put it all on a tray and went back to the living area. Emmy was wandering around, investigating the room. She stood by the sideboard, studying the array of decanters.“The antiques belonged to my parents. They brought them over from England. I asked the designer to incorporate them into the room.”“They’re lovely.”I bit back my smile. I noticed she didn’t say the room was lovely. I had to admit that I found it too much at times. I rarely used it.“I thought we’d go to the theater room. It’s
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I felt like a damn caveman, but I didn’t care.I stood, gripping her ass as she wrapped her legs around me. I strode down the stairs, hissing when I felt her tongue and teeth on my neck. In my room, I laid her on the bed and stepped back. The moonlight flooded the room, showcasing the way her creamy skin stood out against the navy blue of the duvet. Her golden hair spread out around her head like a halo. My clothes disappeared, discarded carelessly on the floor. Emmy sat up, shrugging off her shawls, and pushed them aside. I saw the delicate shiver that raced through her body.“Are you cold?”“No,” she assured me, voice trembling with need.Our eyes locked as she removed the wisps of lace that covered her, and she lay back, opening her arms. “I need your warmth, Bentley.”I covered her body, the sensation of her bare skin on mine superb. Our bodies molded together, her softness conforming to my hard angles perfectly. I felt the coolness of her skin warming under my touch. I caressed a
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It was my turn to inhale deeply. I loved hearing him talk dirty to me. It was such a contrast to the formal front he showed to the world. “Something to look forward to then.”He lunged, pressing me into the mattress, and kissing me until I was breathless. His own breathing was heavy when he pushed himself away, eyes hooded. “Yes.”He straightened his tie again and smoothed down his suit jacket. I noticed his hair wasn’t as perfect as usual. I had sort of messed it up. It suited him, so I didn’t say anything.“You look hot,” I teased.He shook his head. “Such a troublemaker. Now go back to sleep and Frank will be here to pick you up. He’ll text you when he is downstairs. The door will lock behind you. Deal?”I smiled at him. “Deal.”“Stop it.”“What? I’m just smiling and agreeing.”“You are fucking me with your eyes.”“The term is eye-fucking, Rigid, and at least my eyes are having fun.”He turned and strode out of the room without another word. I heard his footsteps echoing as he desc
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Class was canceled so Frank doesn’t need to drive me. I’ll grab the bus in a while. Just enjoying your sun for a bit longer.She attached a picture she had taken, curled up in my favorite chair. I squinted at the screen. She was wearing one of my shirts, and unless I was mistaken, she was holding the mug I used this morning.I stood, already dialing as I strode into my office, almost slamming the door in my haste. I cut off the loud guffaws that followed me.Emmy’s voice was slow and lazy when she answered. “Hey.”“Hey yourself.”“This room is amazing.”“Stay.”“What?”“Don’t go home. Stay and be there when I’m done for the day.”“Bentley, I have to do some school work. I need to go home and get my laptop, so I’m not going all the way there and coming back. And before you can say it, I’m not having Frank take me either.”I grinned for two reasons. Her stubbornness, and the way she might have helped me find the excuse for her to start using the laptop I had purchased.“Do you have your
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BentleyWe barely made it out of the elevator. By accident, my groping fingers hit the top floor, and I went with it, carrying her to the sunroom and laying her on the deep sofa. I had pulled the clip from her hair at some point, and the waves cascaded over the cushion, almost reaching the floor. The sun glinted in the strands casting a burnished gold around her head.I crouched over her, my erection pressing into the zipper of my dress pants, painful and needy. “As much as I like my shirt on you, it needs to come off.”She shimmied, the shirt and shawls disappearing. Her skin was pale, the only color showing was the small peek of the butterfly wing over her shoulder, and the tiny set of teardrops tattooed over her heart. Four splatters of red, each symbolizing a person she lost, she had explained when I asked her. They spoke, without words, of the sorrow she carried. She etched her heartache onto her skin, embedding the pain there forever. She kept all her tattoos private. Even her m
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A short while later, I grinned at her, replete and satisfied.“That was the best Beef Bourguignon I have ever tasted. I can’t believe you made bread.”She popped a grape into her mouth, chewing slowly. The small bunch of flowers I brought her sat beside her in a small vase. I had remembered her musing of loving grapes, and the small corner store where I got the flowers had them on display. I might have bought too many, judging from the large bowl of them between us.“Stew. It was just stew. Not Beef Bourguignon.”“Still amazing. Like the bread.”“It’s a fast bread. It’s so dense, it’s great with the stew.” She glanced around the room with an almost forlorn expression. “Your kitchen is so well-stocked.”“You can use it anytime you want.”“Do you cook?”“I can do the basics. And by that, I mean toast, canned goods, and frozen pizza.”“And coddled eggs.”I winked. “Only on special occasions.”“What did you do when you all lived together?”I chuckled, thinking about those days. “I was in
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She moved a little closer, so her knees pressed to mine.“You think you became like them.”“I did become like them. I am reserved. Formal. Cold.”“Formal, yes. I don’t find you cold. You’re incredibly kind, generous, and sweet.”“You seem to bring that out in me, Emmy. No one else does. Not for a very long time.”“I think Aiden and Maddox see a different side of you.”“They do, to a point. It took me a while to relax with them, to allow myself to relax. The truth is, I will never be as easy with the world as other people are.”“You don’t have to be.”I leaned close, earnest. “I want to be for you. You have such a light, and when I’m with you, I feel it. I feel different. You make me laugh. You make me want to be silly just to see you smile.”“You do make me smile.” She cupped my face. “I like your old-fashioned ways, Bentley. I like how you are when we’re alone. You’re funny and passionate, and you make me feel as if I matter to you.”I laid my hand on top of hers. “You do matter. Tha
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“I like my work. I’ve put forth a great deal of effort to get where I am today. I haven’t made time for relationships, nor particularly wanted one. The last woman I had what you would call a relationship with walked away. She said I was too self-absorbed and boring, and she hated the fact I worked so much.”“I wouldn’t call you boring. I don’t think she knew you very well.”“I think perhaps she wasn’t the right one for me. I preferred working to her company, so I guess that should have been my biggest clue. I have met other women, dated a few, and ah . . . enjoyed their company . . .” My voice trailed off, and I cleared my throat.Emmy lifted her eyebrow slowly with a grin. “Enjoyed their company? So proper. Hardly news, Rigid. It’s pretty obvious from your moves, you’re not a monk.”“My ‘moves’?”She met my gaze directly. “You’re an amazing lover. Giving. Passionate.” She huffed out a breath, the air lifting her bangs. “Hot as fuck, actually. I didn’t think you got that way through o
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