Page 79 of Vodka and Violets (The Hamiltons)

He smiled. “Not me.”

“Oh wow, Xander! Look at the price!”

He did his best not to laugh; he already knew the asking price.

“I know Mom said that property is way cheaper here, but I can’t believe…” Her words trailed off and she looked up at him. “Oh you!” She slapped his arm.

“What?” he asked, feigning innocence.

Her smile faded. “Oh. I thought. I mean …”

He put his hands on her shoulders and looked down into her eyes. “You thought right, sprite. This is what I wanted you to see.”

Her eyes widened. “Seriously? You think…?”

He nodded. “We can’t stay at Cameron and Piper’s place forever. If we are opening a business here, we need a home here, too, don’t you think?”

She nodded eagerly, looking at the photo in the window, then back at him. “But that place? Can you really see yourself…”

“How about we ask if we can go and see it? I know we looked around once, but that was out of curiosity. If we’re really going to consider buying it, we need to see it again.”

Tori bounced up and down on her toes. “Yes! Let’s go and see it.”

As he held the door open for her to go in ahead of him, she looked up at him. “But seriously, Xander. If you don’t like it, if you wouldn’t feel comfortable there, you have to say so, okay?”

“I promise I will. You know I want to see you happy, but I need to be comfortable in our home.”

The way she smiled made him think that he’d be comfortable anywhere she wanted to be.

“Our home,” she breathed. “I love the sound of that. It’s my turn to say that I’ll be happy as long as you’re happy – and I mean that.”

~ ~ ~

The next morning, Tori smiled when she opened her eyes. They might not have started out as snuggly sleepers, but that seemed to have changed. For the last few mornings, she’d woken up lying on her side, with Xander’s arm around her waist. She loved it! She loved the feel of his bare chest against her back, and the feel of his… Oh! He was awake – or at least, one part of him was.

She pressed her ass back against him and smiled when his arm tightened around her. Shivers chased each other down her spine when he spoke, and his warm breath fanned the back of her neck.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

She turned over and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Good morning, handsome.”

He really was the most handsome guy she’d ever known. Even half awake, with messy hair and sleepy eyes, he was sexy-as-sin.

He drew her closer until she was pressed up against his chest, and his hard length twitched against her stomach. She brought her hand up to tangle her fingers in his hair, loving the way he shivered – she loved knowing that she affected him just as much as he affected her.

One hand came down to close around her ass. “We can make it a great morning if you want.”

“I want.” She put a hand to his shoulder, and he rolled onto his back. “I want you, Xander,” she told him as she crawled up over him.

His hands gripped her hips as she straddled him. “You’ve got me. What are you going to do with me?”

She sat up and reached down between them, curling her fingers around him. “You really don’t know?”

He closed his eyes and a smile spread across his face as she stroked herself with him. “I could guess, but I think you should show me.”

“Be happy to.”

She continued to tease them both, dipping him inside just a little way before lifting herself off him again. She knew that he was about to take over when his fingers dug into her hips. “Take me, Tori.”

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