Page 154 of Possess Me! (I Want You To)

“Our house?” he squeaked, his voice breathy and shocked. “Holy shit, you did not.”

Was that a good or bad reaction?

“Prudence.” Luca latched on to my shoulders and gave me a shake. “You bought us a fucking mansion on the beach!” His words tumbled together in his excitement. “Holy shit.”

My cheeks were hot as I shrugged, suddenly not sure what to do with his excitement even though this was exactly what I’d been going for. So I just didn’t respond. I headed toward the front, and Luca dropped my shoulders to follow, a shocked look firmly plastered on his face.

I skipped over the main areas of the house, because ultimately they didn’t matter.

No.

His real surprise was waiting.

Luca kept wanting to stop to look around at all the furniture but I latched on to his wrist and dragged him away, enjoying his angry half-squawks. We crossed the glass walkway that connected the main house to the second building and I took a fortifying breath before I pushed the first adjoining door open.

“What is…” Luca stopped, tugging on my hand to slow me down as I gestured around the open room. One wall was made entirely of glass, just like the main house had been. Another wall had a line of short easels and floor-to-ceiling cabinets full of art supplies. There were desks stacked in a corner, and four sinks lining the back of the room. A second doorway was placed smack dab in the center of the glass wall, with a neat little pathway leading away from it to what looked like a small parking lot on the edge of the tree line. The walls were painted white, and they glowed in the setting sun as I waited to see what he thought.

“This is where we’ll host classes.” I wasn’t sure how he’d respond. It was something we’d talked about a few times—picking up where Amanda had left off in my childhood. The idea of a non-profit art school for children had seemed a little ridiculous, but Luca had always assured me it was genius. But now…now with the very real evidence of what could be our future, I was suddenly left unsure.

What if he didn’t like it?

What if he—

“Prudence.” Luca cupped my cheeks, smoothing away my panic as he dipped his head down to press a gentle kiss against my lips. “It’s fucking perfect.” He kissed me again, and I melted. I tangled my fingers in his hair, pulling him closer, tasting his happiness with reckless enthusiasm.

Our tongues tapped, and I groaned, forcing myself to pull back.

“I’m not done,” I said, my voice deep and full of gravel. “There’s one more room.”

“Alrighty.” Luca laughed, though his voice was soft and reverent. “Lead the way Mr. Extra AF.”

So I did.

“No fucking way.” I could not believe my eyes. “No fucking way, Pru!” I repeated out loud as I stared at the last room with my jaw dropped, and my eyes bulging. “You made me a fucking art studio.”

I had never, in all my life, seen something more beautiful.

Well.

At least, until I looked over at Prudence, and saw the flickering, proud smile that tugged at his lips. His smile said I did good. And I couldn’t help but cross the distance between us to smash my mouth against his again. I’d floundered around the room enthusiastically for probably too long, considering the fact it was his fucking birthday—and yet I was the one being spoiled.

Knowing Prudence, he probably didn’t even remember what today was.

Which only made it more devastating that we were currently missing the surprise party I’d planned for him at the mall up in Ridgefield. Violet had been working with me all week to put it together. This though…there was no way I could ignore what he’d done. I had a feeling this moment was far more important than anything I had planned.

“I love it.”

Prudence’s smile flickered against my lips as he held me to him, one hand in my hair, and one on my hip. I groaned, sucking on his tongue as he crowded me up against one of the white walls and shoved a thigh between my legs.

I was hard already, it was difficult not to be when he was around.

“Shit,” I gasped, pulling away to catch my breath. As Pru’s kisses traveled eager and greedy down the side of my neck I admired the studio again. The white walls were pristine, cupboards just like the previous room lining the south wall, no doubt already full of paint supplies.

Everything had been cleared away and pushed to the side of the room, however, and in the center of the floor lay seven buckets of paint. I didn’t understand why they were there, but knowing Prudence, there had to be a reason.

His teeth scraped the tendon in my neck and I hiccuped a little groan, my head thunking against the wall as I circled my hips against his firm thigh. “Pru—” I gasped out a laugh. “What’s with the paint?”

He growled, clearly annoyed that I’d interrupted him. When he pulled away, I immediately regretted opening my big mouth. He turned toward the buckets, glaring them down like they’d personally offended him.

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