She put her hand in his without hesitation. He closed his fingers around hers. Her hand was so much smaller and felt delicate. He had to remember at all times what she was capable of. Czar had been right; he might have hesitated had she attacked him. The more he was with her, the more he could feel the connection to her growing stronger.
The ride to the house was smooth. She was a good passenger, moving with him and the Harley as if born to do so. He slowed as they approached the drive, wanting her to see the way the slow-curving road opened up to the beautiful sprawling explosion of plants. The former owners had been master gardeners and they’d spent a great deal of years putting together so many amazing areas, each with colorful flowers or bushes that were indigenous to the coast. Pathways of blue and gray stone rambled through various gardens, matching the fence surrounding the property and the house itself. The house was a single story, with high, vaulted ceilings, gables and rambling verandahs. It was shaped like a U with a courtyard of stunning gardens to enjoy.
He parked the bike close to the front stairs and sat for a minute, taking his time, watching her as she wandered around near the back porch looking toward the ocean. The views were spectacular. He’d paid for those views. He loved the house, but he’d paid for the way his home sat on the bluff perfectly overlooking the ocean on three sides. He could sit anywhere on his verandah from those three sides and see the waves crashing. When he was on the front of the house, he was surrounded by the garden.
“This is incredible. You own this? I love it and I haven’t even seen inside.”
He slid off the Harley and walked up the stairs to her. She had her head tilted back and the sun hit the red in her hair so that it blazed with fire. “Take your hair down, baby.” He leaned down and brushed a kiss along her cheek. “I love when it tumbles down your back like a waterfall. It’s so fuckin’ sexy I can barely breathe.”
She followed him to the front door, her hands in her hair as he inserted the key and stepped back to allow her to walk in first. The floors were hardwood. He hadn’t yet gotten the throw rugs he wanted to make it warmer. Anya told him he needed a few, especially in front of his fireplaces. He had two. One in the living room and one in the master bedroom.
“I like that you were honest when you said you preferred a man to take the lead in the bedroom, Scarlet,” Absinthe ventured.
The door opened immediately into the enormous expanse that was the living room. The vaulted ceilings added to the feeling of space. The room was turned so the windows on one side showed the garden and the other the views of the ocean. The third side was open to flow into the next room, so there was little to designate between the living room and den, where the pool table and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves made up two walls. Lana had chosen the chairs and short table between the chairs for comfortable reading in the evenings.
That room flowed into a dining room with a long table for guests. There was a chandelier he planned on replacing. Lissa, a famous glassblower, the wife of one of the brothers, was making him a custom one. The dining room flowed into the kitchen. All the rooms had a view of the ocean or gardens. The sprawling house looped around to form a long U shape with a protected courtyard in the center. The house protected the center from the winds coming off the ocean. The garden was stunning, surrounding the courtyard, protecting those inside from anyone coming up on them from seeing in.
The master bedroom, guest bedrooms, offices and bathrooms were all built along the U shape’s arms. Absinthe walked slowly through the house, letting her see it while he talked to her.
“I wasn’t completely honest,” Scarlet denied.
He glanced over his shoulder at her. She had her gaze fixed on the bed. He was a big man. The bed had a large gray-blue frame and the quilt matched. One side of the wall was made of sheer glass, an enormous framed sliding door that went out onto the verandah or into the courtyard. It