Page 40 of The Other Princess

“You painted it the way I said I would?” I asked, my voice breaking a bit on the end of the question.

He nodded his head at me. “I did, because after I heard your words it was the only way I could picture this place.”

“Your brother told me how stupid I was that day,” I reminded him. “He told me that no man would ever buy me this house, because it wasn’t worth fixing up, and should just be torn down to make way for something better.”

“I heard him,” Deck answered me. I knew he was an idiot then too. I have to tell you, I hate that he dashed your dreams that way, but I’m glad he was too much of a tool to see that your dreams were as beautiful as you are, and worth cherishing and making come true instead of stomping on them.”

Shit. I was going to cry, again. This man had a way of bringing all my emotions to the forefront. Before I could choke out any more questions, Deck was moving on with his explanations.

“I’m not done the renovations, but I thought maybe from this point forward you could help me with all the things on the inside. I have all the basics done in there. The wiring and plumbing are all updated, but most of the fixtures, painting, and flooring all need to be chosen and installed.”

“You want me to help you with the house?” My voice had a wistful quality to it that I couldn’t hide even if I’d wanted to.

“I do,” he answered simply as he rocked me gently back and forth where we stood in each other’s arms on the sidewalk in front of the house I’d always dreamed would be mine one day. “It’s more than that though, Ever.”

“What do you mean?”

“I told you that you were mine, and I was yours. I don’t just want you to help me renovate the house. I want you to help me make it a home.”

“You want…” I started, and then choked on the rest of the words that got lodged in my throat. “What?”

Deck smiled softly at me, and then leaned in to plant a gentle kiss upon my lips. He spoke without moving back so that each word was a puff of breath caressing my lips. “I want this to be our home, Ever. Yours, mine, and eventually all of our children and two dogs, if you still want them. If you’ll have me?”

The last was a question, and one I had no problem answering. “Of course I want you,” I told him before I slid my own lips against his and nipped at first the bottom, then the top. “Are you sure about this though? There’s…”

“I’m sure.” His words were firm and unyielding. “I’ve never been more certain of anything, Ev. I want you here with me. It doesn’t have to be right away. Maybe after I get the toilets reinstalled, eh?”

I laughed at that, which was what he intended. “Yeah, I bet that’ll be a big help so the bushes don’t end up over fertilized.” My face immediately flushed, because I’d forgotten I wasn’t just talking trash with one of the guys for a minute. Jesus, I was talking to the man who had just taken me to my dream home, and asked me to be a part in making it just that – with him. And here I am talking about shitting in the bushes. Ugh!

“That was really gross,” he teased, and then grabbed my hand and pulled me along with him straight up the walk and to the front door of my very own childhood dream.

“Where are we going?”

“Inside so I can show you were the working toilet is in order to save my poor bushes from your baser needs.”

I groaned while he chuckled. I should have known. He was a biker after all. No one had a worse, or better depending on your perspective, sense of humor than a man in a kutte. They were, after all, the type of men responsible for shaping my sense of humor over time. I was beginning to think that hanging out with my brother and Jay so much when we were younger probably didn’t do a lot to make a girl that normal men would be attracted to later on in life.

Luckily for me, it seemed I had a not-so-normal man completely smitten with me. Finally thinking it to myself made me smile. “I would kill to know what just put that smile on your face.”

I grinned bigger, but I didn’t tell him. “I wouldn’t be a woman without my mysteries,” I explained as he shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“Damn, I’d hoped you missed the bus on all that bullshit. I guess I’ll just have to find a reward system for when you give me each of your secrets.” He waggled his eyebrows and shot me a goofy crooked smile, but even his playful side did things, in combination with his words, that I didn’t completely understand about myself yet. Namely, the tingles that seemed to travel straight down my spine and settle in my lower belly with a fire I hadn’t really ever felt before except when Deck was kissing me.

I don’t know what triggered him, maybe it was the look on my face or the pheromones I was giving off, but Deck’s eyes suddenly glazed over and he pulled me into him, searing my lips with his in a kiss so heated I was surprised our clothes didn’t just melt off. “I was planning on dinner,” he mumbled against my lips.

“Not that hungry,” I informed him before devouring his mouth once more. I let out a startled gasp as Deck lifted me, causing me to brace myself by throwing my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist as he stomped through the house with me along for the ride. I have to admit, as eager as I had been to see the inside of the house, none of it registered. The only thing I was aware of was Deck’s hard body beneath my softer one, and the fact that his hands were holding me up by the firm grip he had on my ass.

Once we made it up the stairs and into the room at the end of the hall with the open door, I finally took note that there was actually furniture in here. Of course, I only noticed after Deck tossed me onto the unmade bed. He stripped off his kutte and laid it across a large, overstuffed cream chair that had a blue chenille blanket draped over it. That snapped me back to reality a bit, and I turned to glance around the room I was in. It had to be the master, and it was everything I’d ever dreamed my bedroom would look like as a grownup. The entire color scheme from the outside of the house had been transferred to this room seamlessly. It was done in smooth creams and brilliant blues, the aesthetic of it all taking my breath away.

“Deck,” I whispered in awe. He glanced around too, possibly seeing his room through my eyes as he did so. “This is gorgeous.”

“I’m glad you like it, because I plan on keeping you here forever now that I’ve got you here.”

I turned to him and lifted my hand, crooking my finger at him. He responded immediately by stalking towards me slowly. With each step he had removed his shirt, then kicked off his boots, and by the time he was by my side, standing in front of the bed, he had unbuckled his belt and his pants were barely hanging on once the button was popped and the zip tugged on a bit. Deck’s muscular abs were on show for me, and they did that thing where they seemed to point down into his pants. No doubt, it was nature’s way of saying ‘the best is yet to come,’ because it seemed like I was about to unwrap a prize I never fully understood that I wanted until now.

So slowly, I almost hadn’t noticed – since I was hypnotized by his body – my boots were removed from my feet. They clopped down onto the floor with a thud that finally drew my attention to the fact that Deck was undressing me now. His fingertips ghosted up over my jeans, and higher still until he bundled the bottom of t-shirt into his fists and tugged. I knew he was asking permission to remove the shirt, and I nodded my head ever so slightly while maintaining eye contact, giving him all the permission he needed before he tugged the shirt up and over my head. I was left in my white lace bra, jeans, and socks now. Deck didn’t linger on my upper body, though his appreciation was noted when his eyes soaked in every detail as he licked his luscious, full bottom lip.

Instead of lingering there his hands trailed back down my body, tightening and needing along my thighs and then my calves until he got to my feet, where he gingerly removed my socks. He smiled when he saw my toenails were painted a pretty lilac color. It was probably the girliest thing about me in that moment, aside from the blush that was heating up my chest, neck, and face as he took my clothes off while watching me so intently. “I like this color on you,” Deck mentioned as he pulled my other sock off too.

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