Page 110 of Violet

But I’m nervous.

I eye the suitcase sitting there, handle up, ready to be rolled. It’s mine. I recognize it, and the thought of someone going through my stuff and packing is…

Intrusive.

I’m not sure why. My sisters and I pack for each other all the time. When we’re going to spend long periods in the country estate, or back to the townhouse. The odd occasion we head over to the other side of Sabine, past the countryside, for the beach, where it’s mostly large vacation homes.

Maybe it’s because I’m feeling suddenly adrift, not belonging to the family anymore. At least notlike I was.

I’m mated. Owned. His.

“Mine. I live on the top two floors when I’m in town, which usually isn’t often, but…I own the whole beach house. Your brother helped me set it up properly. Not all the rooms, but some. He and I also spent some time in the country, just us, hanging out. But this was a project I wanted to do.”

“You don’t have to explain where you were.” And I know Heath wouldn’t let him do anything out of line. But I keep that to myself.

“I’m not. I figured…” He shrugs as he smiles. “This would be ours. Yours and mine.”

A large empty house made for a family.But I put on a bright smile. “I’d love a tour.”

“How about I show you the basics? A lot of the second floor is untouched, and the bottom floor we did up so you—sowecould welcome guests. You have free rein to do whatever you want with the rest of it.”

For some reason his words hit me wrong.

I get to do whatever I want? Where will he be?

But he’s a movie star. With a career. He’s not giving it up and…

And he hasn’t asked me to come with him.

I could, I guess, do everything to please him, go with the flow, be the good girl, the right girl, the easy to deal with girl. And I am. God, he must think I’m boring. “I think I’m a little overwhelmed.”

I want to go home. I want?—

“Hey.” Stephan pulls me to him and kisses me. “This is new for me, too. Right now, I’d really just love to strip you naked.”

My eyes widen. He’s so forthright with his sexy talk. Like at the mating ceremony while we danced.

“I thought about taking you to some exotic destination, but I figured you’d like this better. Something more low key, private, and away from everyone else.”

“Like a love nest?”

“Don’t say nest, but…” He takes my hand and leads me upstairs, to where the bedrooms are. He pushes open another door and leads me up more stairs.

It’s the attic, but where a servant room was once upon a time is now a nesting room. Painted in cool, comforting greens and rich golds and browns. There are fairy lights and candles ready to go. And I can smell him in the air, or more specifically, our mingled scents from the blankets.

“I told you how you reminded me of a secret place in the forest, or something similar, and…” I turn, vision blurring. “Stephan, you did this? For me?”

“You need it. You can spend time here, rearrange it, do whatever you like to make it yours. I just wanted this here now, so you’d know.”

A small sob of a laugh escapes me. “It’s…everything.”

He pulls me to him, his mouth trailing over mine like he’s savoring me. They’re slow, nibbling kisses, as if he’s got all the time in the world, and they’re so soft my eyes flutter shut and I float on the heat he sends rolling through me. It’s a heat that doesn’t burn. It just sets off sparks of delight that whisper inside.

Exploratory kisses, meandering, and I’m lost in them, sinking but not drowning. I sigh, and he laughs against my lips.

“I could do this forever. Your mouth is sofucking soft, so sweet, and then when you let me in…” He kisses a trail up to my ear. “It’s like tasting heaven.”

He kisses me deep, and my head spins, and that heat between my thighs flares. I’m wet. I want him to put his mouth there again. I want his fingers. I want to fly in his touch. And most of all, I want to experience sex. All of it. Rutting, knotting, every single thing I know he can give me.

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