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  What a tempting idea.

  She saw him when she turned around with the butter dish in her hand. She smiled. “Hi.”

  “Hi.” He set the containers on the table, then took her in his arms for a hug. The scent of flowers drifted up from her hair. “You smell good.”

  “I tried a new shampoo. Do you like it?”

  “Yeah.” He buried his face in her hair while his hands glided up and down her back. “I also like your outfit. Or what there is of it.”

  An impish grin touched her lips when she looked at him. “I was hot.”

  “You still are.” One firm nipple begged for the caress of his thumb. “Nice.”

  He liked the little hitch in her breath when he touched her nipple. “Keep that up and our supper will be cold before we eat it.”

  “I have a microwave.”

  She laughed and gave him a quick kiss. “I’m starving. Food first, then sex.”

  “God, you’re mean.”

  “I know.” Stepping out of his arms, she went back to the refrigerator. “Iced tea?” she asked over her shoulder. “Beer? Wine?”

  “Beer sounds good.”

  She carried two bottles of beer to the table. Rye opened one of the food containers to expose a large pile of barbecued ribs.

  “Oh wow,” Alaina said, her eyes wide. “Those look scrumptious.”

  Rye’s gaze dipped to her breasts. “They certainly do.”

  A smile tugged at her lips. “I was talking about the ribs.”

  “Me too.”

  She chose the top rib from the stack. “You were looking at my breasts.”

  “Which is exactly what you want and that’s why you’re wearing that skimpy little top and no bra.”

  She didn’t comment as she took a bite of barbecue, but her eyes shone with devilment. She slowly sucked the sauce off each finger of her left hand as she stared into his eyes.

  His cock jerked. A quickie would work. They could get all this tension out of the way and make love later, slowly and thoroughly. “You keep looking at me like that, you’re gonna get royally fucked.”

  “Not just fucked, but royally fucked? Oh my.” Laying her rib back on her plate, she licked the sauce off the fingers of her other hand. “I’m not wearing panties.”

  A man could take only so much teasing. Rye rounded the table, jerked Alaina to her feet and pulled her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold.

  Seconds later, he dropped her on his bed. A flick of his fingers and he unfastened her shorts. They landed on the floor.

  She most definitely wasn’t wearing panties.

  Rye grabbed her thighs and tugged her ass right to the edge of the bed. “You play with me, you suffer the consequences.”

  Fire lit her eyes, turning them to the color of melted milk chocolate. “What kind of punishment do you have in mind?”

  “This.” He dropped to his knees and darted his tongue into her pussy.

  She was already wet and swollen, her cream oozing from her channel. He inhaled deeply, taking her musky scent into his nostrils, his lungs. Her hair smelled good, but she smelled delicious here. Using his thumbs, he eased her labia open so he could see every bit of her sleek flesh. Her folds were dark pink, her clit nice and hard. He rubbed his thumb over it in little circles.

  “Mmm, yes.” She grasped her legs behind her knees and drew them farther apart. Rye liked that sign that she wanted more. He replaced his thumb with his tongue, flicking it over and around her clit, up and down her labia.

  “My God, you’re good at that!”

  He would’ve smiled except she tasted too good for him to take his mouth off her. Pushing her thighs higher, he swiped his tongue across her anus. Rye held up her legs with one arm to leave his other hand free to touch her. He continued to flash his tongue all over her pussy while he rubbed her clit with his thumb.

  “I’m going to come. Oh yes, I’m coming! Right…now!”

  She grabbed his head, pulling at his hair as her hips bucked. Rye watched the entrance to her vagina pulse with her orgasm’s contractions. He continued to caress her clit, but more gently now since he knew it would be tender.

  Rye unfastened his jeans and tugged his hard shaft from his briefs. His cock screamed at him to take her, to give her the royal fucking he’d promised her. He couldn’t do that, not yet. He wanted her so much, a few thrusts and it would be over.

  He waited until Alaina lay still before he licked her again. Moaning loudly, she soon moved her hips in time to the strokes of his tongue. She clasped his head again, holding it firmly while he worshipped her with his mouth. He ran his tongue up one side, down the other, across her clit, over her anus. He fucked her pussy with his tongue, her ass with his thumb.

  “Rye,” she whispered. “Rye,” she said, louder now. “God, Rye!”

  Her anus squeezed his thumb when her second orgasm flowed through her body. Unable to wait any longer, Rye stood and whipped off his T-shirt. His jeans, briefs and socks landed on the floor next to Alaina’s shorts. Leaning over, he rested his hands next to her hips and let his gaze travel over her. Alaina lay with her arms next to her head, her eyes closed. Her T-shirt had ridden up her body, exposing the bottom half of her breasts. Rye dropped a kiss on each one.

  She opened her eyes. “Is this…when I get…royally fucked?”

  “Yeah.” His voice came out rough, guttural. “This is it.”

  He flipped her to her stomach, jerked her to her knees and rammed his cock inside her.

  The sound that came from her throat was a combination of a gasp and a moan. Rye would stop if he thought that sound meant pain, but he knew it meant overwhelming pleasure. He bent over her body and pushed her T-shirt out of the way so he could cradle her breasts. Holding them tightly, he began to pump…hard, fast strokes that buried his cock all the way in her pussy every time.

  “You feel so good.” He pinched and tugged her nipples as he moved faster. “I can’t get enough of you.”

  The building sensations tightened his balls, hardened his cock even more. Rye let it build, let the feeling take over his body. Pleasure swept down his legs, up to his head and back to his rod. Squeezing Alaina’s breasts, he clenched his eyes shut as his climax gripped him.

  Rye didn’t know how much time passed before he opened his eyes again. He still gripped Alaina’s breasts, his softening cock remained inside her slick warmth. “You okay?” he asked.

  “Other than the top of my head getting blown off, I’m fine.”

  “You’re lucky you have only one head to get blown off. I have two.”

  He slowly withdrew from her body. A drop of his essence mixed with her cream and trickled down her folds. He swiped it up with his thumb, then licked it from his skin.

  Alaina straightened her legs and flopped down on the bed. “You’ll have to bring supper to me. I’m too weak to move.”

  He nipped each cheek, kissed the small of her back. “If I got barbecue sauce on this bedspread, my mother would strangle me.”

  “I’ll wash it.”

  Chuckling, Rye kissed his way up her spine to the soft spot behind her ear. “I’m gonna take a fast shower. I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

  “’kay.”

  Five minutes later, wearing only a pair of loose khaki shorts, Rye found Alaina warming the ribs in the microwave. She looked at home in his kitchen. He’d thought that ever since Saturday morning, when he’d awakened to find her preparing breakfast. He could easily imagine her here every morning and evening, sharing a meal while they planned their day or talked about what happened at work.

  His stomach tightened and he felt as if his chest wasn’t big enough to hold his heart. In that moment, he realized he was falling in love with her. He knew it was much too soon to think of happily-ever-after, but the idea of spending the rest of his life with a woman no longer scared him.

  Alaina would never hurt him the way Alesia had. He had no doubt about that.

  Chapter Thirteen

  April 25, 1937<
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  Laura avoided me for most of the weekend. We both had to work in the store Saturday, so stayed very busy. She spent the night with Mary Ann Saturday and attended church with Mary Ann’s family. She came home after church, yet still managed to avoid being alone in a room with me until it was time for bed. She couldn’t avoid me then.

  But despite my almost begging her to confide in me, she turned away from me in her bed and said she was tired and wanted to sleep.

  I’m so scared he’s done something to her. Or is about to.

  *

  Rye never expected to see Rufus Olinghouse walk through the front door of Stevens House.

  Rufus strolled toward Rye, wide smile exposing the perfect white teeth that no doubt cost Bella several thousand dollars. “How’s it going, Rye?”

  He offered a hand, which Rye accepted even though he wanted nothing to do with the man. “Good. How about you?”

  “Can’t complain.” Setting his hands on his hips, Rufus gazed around the demolished living room. “Hard to imagine this place will look good in a few months.”

  “It will. I promise that.”

  Bella’s grandson continued his visual inspection. Rye knew Rufus had made a shitload of money in real estate. He would probably inherit Bella’s estate when she passed away since he was the only one of her seven grandchildren to stay in contact with her on a regular basis. Rye had always believed Rufus stayed close to Bella to ensure he got all those millions to add to his personal fortune someday.

  Rye had heard through the grapevine that Rufus and his third wife had recently divorced. He wondered if Rufus was on the lookout for wife number four. “Are you in town on business or to visit your grandmother?”

  “Both. I’m checking out some property in Johnson County.” His gaze had continued to move about the room while he answered the question. Now he looked back at Rye. “So where’s the young lady who bought my grandmother’s place?”

  “Working on the top floor.”

  One dark eyebrow arched over Rufus’ eye. “Working? She owns the place and she’d doing physical labor?”

  “She enjoys it. She wants to be involved with every aspect of the remodeling.”

  “Sounds like an ambitious lady.” Rufus smiled. “I’d like to meet her.”

  Rufus’ smile reminded Rye of a wolf. If Rufus thought he could sink his capped teeth into Alaina, he would soon learn that wouldn’t happen. Rye would make sure of that.

  Since he didn’t know for sure that Rufus’ visit wasn’t simply out of curiosity, Rye knew he had to be civil. “Sure. This way.”

  Rye led the way to the attic. Alaina was almost finished sanding the window seat and had planned to complete that project this morning before she moved on to something else. She’d asked him if some of the shelves in the library could be salvaged, that she’d love to keep them if possible. He didn’t doubt she’d be in that room, sanding tool in hand, as soon as she finished the window seat.

  “Alaina.”

  She turned her head with a “come hither” smile on her lips. The smile slipped a bit when she saw he wasn’t alone. Her gaze snapped from Rye to Rufus. “Hi.”

  “Alaina, this is Rufus Olinghouse. He’s Bella’s grandson.”

  “Oh.” She stood and wiped her hand on her T-shirt before offering it to Rufus. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  He smiled that wolf’s smile again. Rye had to concentrate to keep from using his fists to knock out some of those pearly white teeth. “It’s nice to meet you too, Alaina.”

  “Hey, Rye,” Griff called out from downstairs. “You got a minute?”

  He’d rather stay here and make sure Rufus didn’t say or do anything to upset Alaina, but couldn’t ignore his brother if Griff needed him. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Take your time,” Rufus said. “We’ll be fine.”

  A tight, uncomfortable feeling drew up the skin on the back of Rye’s neck. He wasn’t sure why it bothered him so much to leave Rufus alone with Alaina, yet something deep in his gut told him this visit wasn’t simply on a whim.

  Rye found his brother in the dining room, taking a bottle of water out of the cooler. “Want one?” Griff asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Griff tossed him a bottle. He unscrewed the cap on his while sitting down. “What’s Rufus doing here?”

  Rye opened his bottle after joining Griff at the table. “He said he’s here to check out some property in Johnson County and to visit Bella.”

  “You don’t believe that?”

  “I have no reason to think he’s lying.”

  Griff motioned toward Rye’s abdomen with his bottle. “Except that feeling in your gut.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Where is he now?”

  “With Alaina. He wanted to meet her.”

  Griff stopped with the water bottle raised halfway to his mouth. “You left him alone with her?”

  “You called me down here.”

  “What I need can wait. You’d better get back up there and stop Rufus from sniffing around your woman.”

  Rye laughed at Griff’s choice of words. “My woman? Isn’t that a little caveman?”

  “I know she goes home with you every night. A woman hasn’t spent the night with you since…”

  His voice trailed off, so Rye filled in the rest of the sentence. “Since Alesia.”

  “Alaina is nothing like her sister. She wouldn’t trample on your balls the way Alesia did.”

  No, she wouldn’t. Rye believed that or he would never have gotten so close to Alaina. He trusted her, and that hadn’t happened with a woman in a very long time.

  Griff made a shooing gesture with his bottle. “Go. We’ll talk after Rufus leaves.”

  Rye bounded up the stairs to the second floor. He stopped halfway to the attic stairs when he heard footsteps coming down them. Rufus appeared, a smile on his lips.

  Rye didn’t like that smile at all.

  “She’s charming,” Rufus said. “And intelligent.”

  “Yes, she is.”

  Rufus glanced at the fancy gold watch on his wrist. “I have an appointment in Cleburne in an hour, so need to go.” He slapped Rye on the shoulder. “Good to see you again.”

  Walking to the window that overlooked the front yard, Rye watched Rufus climb into his luxury car and drive away. Once he determined that Rufus wouldn’t return, Rye headed toward the attic stairs.

  He found Alaina gathering up her tools and supplies. “All through?”

  “Finally.” She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. “Now I can tackle the library shelves.”

  “You’d better hold off on those until my cabinetmaker looks at them.”

  “Who’s that?”

  “George McGettis. He’s building new bookshelves at the mayor’s house now.”

  Frowning, Alaina plopped down on the window seat. “The mayor’s remodeling certainly messed up my plans.”

  “Sorry, but that was scheduled before you bought this house.”

  “I know. I just…” She sighed heavily. “I’m impatient. I want everything finished now.”

  “Yeah, I know you do.” Rye sat beside her. “What did Rufus want?”

  “I’m not sure. I’ll find out tonight at dinner.”

  Rye stared at her, sure she hadn’t mentioned Rufus and dinner in the same sentence. “What?”

  “He said he wanted to talk business with me and invited me to dinner. I agreed to meet him at the restaurant where Emma works.”

  “You agreed to have dinner with Rufus?”

  “Yeah. Is that a problem?”

  “What kind of business could he want to discuss with you?”

  She frowned and Rye knew he’d made a bad choice of words. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I meant he just met you. I don’t know what kind of business he could want to discuss with you.”

  “I don’t either, but I thought it would be polite to hear him out. I told you this morning that I’m going home tonig
ht, so this works out perfectly.”

  “I don’t know why you think you have to go back to Dallas.”

  “Rye, I have to do laundry.”

  “I have a washer and dryer.”

  “I know that, but I need more clothes and some other things from home. I need to check my mail. I’m sure there’s a stack of bills I have to pay. Plus I have to go to the bank and transfer funds into my checking account. I’ll be back tomorrow morning.”

  She’d told him over the weekend about the five million dollars she’d inherited from her grandfather when he died in December. She said Kelcey had convinced her to invest half of it for the future. She’d put the other half in savings and drew on it only when necessary. It wouldn’t take two-point-five million to fix up this house, but it would cost a chunk.

  Something still gnawed at Rye’s gut, a feeling that something bad would happen if Alaina left Lanville today. “I’d like to see where Emma works. How about if I go with you?”

  Both of her eyebrows shot up at his suggestion. Then she chuckled. “No. You aren’t tagging along on my dinner with Rufus.”

  Rye looked down at the floor between his feet. He wasn’t into guys, but he knew Rufus was a handsome man. All the money he would probably inherit from Bella had to be attractive to a woman who would spend a large portion of her inheritance on fixing up this house. What woman wouldn’t be attracted to a rich man?

  Blowing out his breath, Rye lifted his head and looked back at her. “I don’t want you to have dinner with Rufus.”

  Her eyebrows drew together. “Why not?”

  “I don’t trust him.”

  Smiling, she touched his hand. “You trust me though.”

  He had, until she told him she was having dinner with Rufus. He couldn’t understand why she would plan to see Bella’s grandson even though he objected to it.

  Her smile faded. “Rye? You do trust me, don’t you?”

  Not knowing what to say, Rye hesitated. His hesitation must have been enough for she drew her hand away from his. “Well, I guess that answers my question.”