“So suspicious.” The twinkle in his eyes was a stark contrast to the solemn tone of his voice. “Don’t you trust me?”
She didn’t hesitate. “Not as far as I can throw you.”
Rome glanced down at the arm she had propped against the door-frame, an unconscious barring of his entrance. Gwen knew what he saw. She was a far cry from delicate. Big-boned, her mother said. Her breasts were generous, her butt, while not huge, wasn’t hard to miss, and the slight curve of her belly something she’d never been able to shed.
So she liked to eat, what could she say? Thankfully she’d entered a profession that kept her weight from exploding as it had in her teens, with the added benefit of toning her muscles into a sleek definition of strength and agility.
Evidently Rome liked what he saw because there was enough heat and male appreciation in his eyes when they returned to hers to make her insides quiver in response.
“While I don’t doubt your ability to do just that, I simply wanted to show you something I thought you might like.”
Somewhere between the internal fight to tamp down her body’s reaction to the two-hundred plus pounds of seductive male standing before her and caution at the intentions of said pure masculine temptation, curiosity reared its head. “And where would this something be located?”
Another bone-melting grin. “Upstairs.”
Before she could even form a frown, Rome held his arms out at his sides in an innocent gesture. Well, as innocent a gesture as a sexy, virile and drool inducing male can get.
And could she please just stop noticing his hotness factor? It might be hard to miss, but she was making her feminist side sick.
“Not even close to my bedroom.” His voice dropped low and thick. “Which is a definite shame.”
Gwen felt her cheeks heat. Did he have to keep throwing their chemistry out in the open like that? “I’m not...”
“I promise to be the perfect gentleman.” His lips curled into a decidedly wolfish smile. “Mostly. You’re not afraid to be alone with me, are you?”
Far from dumb, Gwen knew the taunt for what it was, a way to get her to come with him. Unfortunately, it worked.
Straightening, she said, “Of course not. Give me a minute.”
And then she closed the door in his face.
With anticipation vibrating along every nerve, she padded to her bedroom and slipped a bra beneath the loose, thin material of her tank top. It wasn’t so much the idea of being decently clothed in case they ran into anyone as it was a sort of armor against Rome’s charm and her own desires. More clothing meant a longer time period to get naked, hopefully giving her a chance to gather her wits before she did something she might regret.
Or not regret, because in all honesty, she couldn’t fathom how having sex with Rome would be regretful, other than the whole banging the boss’s son thing. However, one thing was for sure, at least for tonight. There would be no accidental nipple showing.
She glanced down at her long, dark blue shorts, satisfied they covered enough skin, and slid her feet into a pair of white canvas shoes. The white plastic keycard to her suite she unhooked from the keychain sitting on her dresser. From there she moved to the bathroom and snatched up an elastic band, putting her hair in a low ponytail as she made her way back to the door. And Rome.
Who was leaning nonchalantly against the hall wall as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “Ready?”
Not even close. “Are you going to tell me what this is about?”
“It’s a surprise.” He eyed her hair with a frown.
So he liked it better loose? Tough. “You should know I’m not real fond of surprises.”
“That’s because you like to be in control.” Rome led her to the far end of the hallway to the emergency stairwell and elevator which had been added in the renovation. His smile held a hint of male smugness as pushed the door open. “But you’ll like this one. Have you ever been upstairs?”
Gwen shook her head, a little peeved at his comment about her wanting to be in control, because honestly, she didn’t see the problem.
In the stairwell he guided her up one flight and pressed his thumb against a small panel to the right of the door. “We generally use the back stairs in the kitchen as they go straight to the third floor.” She went through the door when he held it open and found herself in a dim hallway. The walls were painted a soft green and lush tan carpeting covered the floor. The faint scent of amber and honeysuckle tickled her nose and she breathed deep to take in more of the delicious combination. Before curiosity led her astray, Rome caught her hand and pulled her to yet another door.
“Tonight I’m taking you to the attic.” His voice was pitched low, and, opening the door, he flipped a light switch to reveal a set of wide wood steps that went straight up. To her left at the top was a wood railing. “But I’ll give you a tour of the house at a later date if you want. When my parents aren’t sleeping.”
Ah. Some of her tension eased. If Rome’s intent was to ravish her, he would have done his best to wrangle his way in her room and do the deed there. But why the attic?
“What’s up there,” she asked quietly as they ascended, the humidity growing with each step.
He only winked, a selfsatisfied expression on his face she wanted to slap off. Or kiss off. She was tempted to do both. “You’ll see.”
“That’s really getting old, Rome.” She informed him.
Irritation turned into confusion as she breathed in a new scent. Or more accurately, a mix of warm, citrus and earthy scents that had nothing to do with Rome at her side. This was....
“Oh,” she breathed out in delight when, with another flip of his wrist, the attic transformed into a garden. “My God. I never knew this was here.”
“That’s how it was designed.”
Gwen edged forward over a wood pathway that shifted slightly under her feet and she paused, moving slower until she found her footing. In the center of the attic sat four raised bedding plots, divided by the strange flooring and with an open square space right in the middle. A variety of roses in colorful bloom made up one bed while another contained lilacs, honeysuckles and jasmine. Another held geraniums, hibiscus and several other budding bushes and the fourth sprouted dwarf umbrellas, monsteras and other green, leafy plants. A flat wood bench, two dwarf lemon and two dwarf lime trees rested in that open space.
She touched vibrant flowers and large, healthy leaves as she made her way through the center of the beds to the other side. There, along the wall was another plot. This one made up of more herbs than she could count. Identifying the rosemary, peppermint and sage, she realized just where all the spices Annie used in her cooking came from.
Continuing on in amazement, not completely unaware that Rome trailed behind her, she bypassed small palm and rubber trees in large clay urns. On the south side of the attic yet another bed held several succulents, including aloe.
“It’s gorgeous.” She stopped next to some elephant grass and looked over her shoulder to see Rome grinning at her. “How?”
“It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure. But mom only had to wish out loud for it once before dad started the design.”
Gwen let out a wistful sigh. To have a husband so intune with your wants and needs, and then have the werewith-all to obtain those desires was every woman’s dream.
And in that moment she realized Rome was even more like his father than she’d thought. After one brief encounter on a swing, he’d realized how much she would enjoy this secret garden on a stormy night. He didn’t need to take the time to show her, bring her into his private home and share what she would otherwise never known about. It was a kind of gift.
And that thought, along with the mention of his mother, had a cool niggle of suspicion worm its way through the warmth in her chest. “Did your mom tell you to show me this place?”
Rome turned from where he was trailing a finger gently along one leafy plant. The thought of how that finger would feel against her bare skin made h
er eye twitch. “What? No.”
His brows furrowed. “I actually hadn’t really thought about this place until I saw her in the kitchen this morning with some cut roses and herbs.”
Gwen spread her arms wide. “How could you not think about this place?”
“Because flowers aren’t my thing and when I want to be around nature, I prefer the outdoors.”
Pondering that, she glanced up reflexively when lightening flashed through the numerous windows that made up at least half the ceiling. Thunder boomed only a moment later, but she was too mixed up inside to count.
“Gwen.” She turned her attention back to Rome at the soft command of her name. “Why did you ask if my mom wanted me to show you this place?”
Because I’m too damn suspicious. “No reason.” She quickly changed the subject. “How can the floor hold all this weight?”
For a moment she thought he might push the issue, but then, though he still seemed concerned, he let it go. “We had to reinforce it. The floor is actually two feet higher then the rest of the attic, the ceiling four feet so we could add in some side windows for a cross breeze.”
Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. “Cross breeze?” At his nod, she swiveled on her heel and made her way to the outside wall where several pairs of windows could, indeed, be slid open to let in fresh air. “Holy smokes.
The top ones don’t open, do they?”
“No, but they’re both thermal and solar.” he smiled at her look of look of bafflement. “They’re thick, made of bullet resistant glass and have a thin ceramic coating on the outside that traps the heat and pushes it to recharge the batteries we attached to them. It ended up being a smart idea because those batteries run a good portion of the house.”
“Wow.”
Rome shrugged, and Gwen found herself mesmerized by the way the white material of his shirt stretched over the muscles in his shoulder and the startling contrast it made to the darkness of his skin. Desire, briefly tamped down by the wonder of the solarium, flared back to life, exacerbated by the soft lighting, beautiful surroundings and earthy scents that bombarded her senses. Despite the storm raging outside she felt cocooned in an oasis, entrenched in a world where only she and Rome existed.
He must have sensed the change in her because he cocked his head slightly, his eyes narrowing in concentration, his nostrils flaring. Between those slitted eyelids, his gaze became heated and focused. On her.
Having all that masculine attention riveted on her was enough to send her nerves into a panicked jitter. She licked lips suddenly gone dry. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
He slowly closed the distance between them, as if any quicker movement might cause her to fly away. He needn’t worry. Her feet seemed glued to the floor. “It’s my pleasure.”
The drop in his tone, the husky sound that emerged from his throat caused another shiver to wash over her. “I should be getting back now.” Unfortunately her body wasn’t listening, and with each disappearing inch of space between them, she was finding it harder to make herself move.
“Okay.” His easy acceptance only increased her unease, and she knew why when he added, “How about a thank you kiss?”
Alarms shrieked in her head. No. Don’t do it. It’s a bad idea. Very bad idea, her brain yelled. She opened her mouth to deny him, but what popped out on a breathy whisper was, “Okay.”
His features seemed to draw tight at her acquiescence and a flare of triumph lit his eyes right before his head lowered.
The kiss wasn’t a soft brushing of his lips with hers.
Not a tantalizing stroke of mouth against mouth. It was a devouring, as if he’d waited his whole life for this one moment. She felt the same and her lips parted instantly, allowing his tongue to stab deep into her mouth. The taste of him, hot and spicy with a dash of sin, was a carnal seduction. His hands reached around to cup the curve of her ass and pull her hips into alignment with his, settling her aching core against the hard length of his erection. On a wordless murmur of relief, she rocked into him.
“Gwen.” At the raw hunger in his voice, her stomach seized. No one had ever said her name with such passion, such fierce need. As if she were essential to his very being.
Trailing kisses down her jaw, he pressed his mouth to her neck, teasing and stoking her desire with clever lips and the slick glide of his tongue. She felt the edge of his teeth, a rasping tease that only made her hotter. Wetter.
One leg rose to wrap around his waist, opening herself to the shallow thrusting of his hips. She clenched the material of his shirt with one hand while the other snaked around his neck to hold on tight as the world spun about her.
She jerked at the warm touch of his hand on the bare skin of her back, under her shirt, her body screaming yes, yes as he undid her bra with an expert flick of his wrist. Her brain had given up the fight and now seemed dazed, soaking up all the heady sensations. That clever hand on her back smoothed over her skin, around her ribcage and up to cup her breast. She sucked in a gasp when his thumb brushed her pebbled nipple, only to have his mouth back on hers, his tongue diving in to take her verbal pleasure into his mouth. Their tongues swirled and danced as their hips rubbed and rocked, masculine hardness against feminine softness.
She forget where she was, forget why she shouldn’t be doing this with this man. And she damn near forgot her name when he drew his lips away from hers, only to place them on her exposed breast.
“Ankh.” The strangled sound emerged from her lips in soft shock as fire flooded her veins. He suckled her breast in heavy draws, then flicked his tongue over the hard bud.
“You’re so fucking beautiful.” He ground out, the words almost too thick to understand.
With her head thrown back, eyes closed, she abandoned all reasoning and simply felt. She wiggled her hips to the left, angling the hard press of his fly to where she needed it the most. That yearning ache began to swell inside her, tension mounting with each draw of his greedy mouth. Another minute of this and she’d probably come.
His teeth closed over her sensitive nipple.
Correction. A few more seconds.
A loud metallic scrapping reached her ears, and, opening her eyes, more in dizzy reflection than anything else, she screamed when a large object thumped against one of the windows in the ceiling and tumbled over another one.
Jumping apart as if electrocuted, Rome and Gwen watched the unidentified object roll over another window before sliding off the edge of the roof.
“What the hell?” Rome raced over to look out a side window. Apparently unable to see a thing, he slid both the window and screen aside and peered out.
“Ohmigod!” Gwen yipped at the sight of him sticking his head out into the large gap, four stories up from the hard, unrelenting ground below. “What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to figure out what the hell fell.” He speared her with a confused glance when she wrapped her hands over the waist of his jeans, her fingers tangled in the belt loops. Then his lips edged up at the corners. She didn’t see what was so amusing about falling fifty feet.
“It’s okay, bella. There’s a widow’s walk out here. I’m not about to fall to my death. Not after that kiss. There’s too much to live for.”
At his wicked wink, and from the location his eyes rested, she glanced down to see her breasts peeking from under her pushed up bra and tank. With a sound of disgust, she let go of him, stepped back and hastily straightened her clothes.
Just in time too, as it turned out. Heavy footsteps pounded up the stairs and a male voice called, “Rome?
What the hell are you doing up here and what’s making that god-awful noise?”
With one sharp quizzical look at Gwen, Andreas marched over to his son. “What’s going on?”
Gwen could feel her cheeks heat, which spread as another set of footsteps, lighter, approached.
Just perfect.
Hoping that neither parent would realize what almost happened just over their heads, Gwen edge
d farther away from the window.
“Are you okay?” Melinda asked as she came into view, her face creased into lines of worry, which only made Gwen more miserable.
Gwen cleared her throat and pointed to the where the men didn’t have enough sense to get their heads out of the rain. “Something fell from the roof.”
“What?” Melinda moved next to her husband, who immediately held an arm out to bar her from getting too close to the open window. “What was it?”
“Looked like the satellite dish to me,” Rome said when he straightened. “But we’ll have to go down and see for sure.”After a moment of silence where they all contemplated that, Melinda turned to her husband, and in the most deadpanned of voices, said, “I told you to switch to cable.”
Gwen choked out a sound, part laugh and part sob, and even as Rome reached out a hand toward her, excused herself and fled to the safety of her quarters.
Chapter Ten
“How often are you out here?” With his eyes glued to the female form walking in front of him, and in particular that very fine ass he’d had his hands on not twelve house ago and itched to cup again, Rome’s question came out a little hoarse.
“Almost every day. It depends on the weather and guest requests.” Though her shoulders were stiff, her back a tense, straight line under the tan backpack, the rough undertones in her voice mirrored his own. Given that she’d treated him all morning with a cautious professionalism that had been infuriatingly polite, her breathy response was a balm to the hunger pumping through him. Not for one second did he believe the unsteadiness was a result from physical exertion. They were merely walking the reserve, checking that the short sign posts which designated the name and area of the reserve every quarter mile or so were intact. The rangers used the signs as reference points to report a sighting or problem so they knew exactly where to return when they had the proper equipment.
The delicate scent of her arousal was making him crazed and he hoped she was recalling last night, the way she rocked her hips into his, how it had felt when he’d taken her breast in his mouth, pulling gently on her budded nipple, stroking her with his tongue. The memory had him practically foaming at the mouth and he rubbed the back of one hand over his lips, the other pressed along the hard thickness of his erection. If that damn satellite dish hadn’t broken free, he might already have the pleasure of knowing how it felt to be buried deep inside her body.
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