Chapter Three
Ethan woke her early with breakfast. To her surprise, he set the tray on the bed across her lap and issued instructions for her to be ready to join him when he came back to pick her up in forty-five minutes. Without further clarification of just what he had in mind, she didn’t know how to dress, but she ate her breakfast quickly, not surprised to find it included her favorite items. She assumed that was also Mr. Gibbons’s doing.
After eating, Ambra left the bed and took a quick shower in the luxurious bathroom before dressing in jeans and a sweater. Her wardrobe choices reflected the fact he’d worn something similar when delivering her tray. When he tapped on her door and entered without waiting for her to issue an invitation to enter, she was ready, with two minutes to spare.
He gave her a look of appreciation. “You make sweaters and jeans look darn good, Ambra.”
His faded jeans molded his legs and emphasized his taut bum, so she could say with complete sincerity, “So do you, Ethan.”
He led her from the room, her hand grasping his, and the skin-to-skin contact sent tingles up her arm. The physical reaction to his proximity hadn’t changed, and she wasn’t sure if it ever would.
They left the large house, but instead of taking her to a vehicle, he tugged her in the opposite direction toward the stables and the back of the estate. Hand-in-hand, they wandered the grounds and talked about his plans for the place. Stopping at one point near a large cleared space, he said, “This was a garden and will be again. What kind of flowers should we plant here, Ambra?”
It was a silly question, and she had no say in the matter, but she played along. “I’ve always considered flowers a waste of space. I’d rather grow a garden, preferably organic, and donate anything we don’t use to people in need.”
She watched in amazement as he took out his smartphone, swiped the screen, and spoke into it a moment later about converting the main garden to an organic vegetable garden instead of planting flowers and ornamentals. She frowned at him, waiting until he finished talking before she asked, “Why did you change your plans? I have nothing to do with it.”
He gave her a smile that was a little tense. “If I have my way about it, you’ll have everything to say about what we do here. When I said I brought you to my home, and I’m keeping you, I meant it. I’m not talking about a quick fling before I send you back to Philip. I want everything…now, tomorrow, and forever.”
She shook her head, unable to believe what she’d heard. It just didn’t make sense. “If you felt that way, how could you wait three years? Why didn’t you come for me, and why wait until I was about to get married?”
“You know why. I wanted you to be grown up and ready for me.”
There was an ominous trace in his tone that made her frown. “What’s there to be ready for?”
His expression changed to one of dark intensity, and he pulled her closer to wrap his arms around her. His face was almost touching hers, though he didn’t kiss her. His brown eyes didn’t waver from her blue ones when he spoke. “You will belong to me, and only me, Ambra. I’m going to possess every inch of you. You had to be ready to accept my total ownership.”
She blinked, heart rate accelerating from a combination of fear and a touch of excitement at the dark notion. “I’m not anyone’s property, Ethan.”
He gave her a half smile. “You are, babe, but you don’t know it yet. Well, you know it, but you haven’t accepted it. You will though.”
She shook her head. “This is a side of you I never expected to see, Ethan. To be honest, it’s disturbing.”
He nodded. “It’s a little disturbing for me too. I don’t like needing you so badly, but it is what it is. You’re mine, I’m yours, and you just need to realize that.”
“So the ownership thing goes both ways?”
His brow furrowed. “Of course. What do you think I meant? Did you think I was going to be screwing around on you or something, while I expected you to stay home and play the little woman?”
She half-shrugged, not really having an answer for him, though relief swept through her at his clarification. It was still a little frightening to know how much he wanted her, but she was reassured to know he felt the same about her having him.
They would belong to each other, if she accepted his weekend of seduction and gave in to what he was offering. Clearing her throat, she pulled her hand slightly from his hold, just enough to lessen his grasp without forcing him or herself to let go. “What’s next on the tour, Ethan?”
***
They spent a pleasant two hours wandering the grounds, stopping at the stables to see the horses and discuss his intentions to expand into thoroughbred racing. He showed her improvements and those just in the planning stages, always getting her input.
Back at the house, Ethan spent a long time showing her around each of the rooms, once again giving her the history of the items and the house, and getting her opinion on changes he wished to make. She learned he had only recently acquired the property, and he had a lot of plans, but had held off making major changes until she was with him so her views could be integrated into the revisions.
She was feeling slightly overwhelmed by the whole situation, but also strangely certain he was telling her the truth as they went up to the third floor, back toward the wing containing their bedrooms. He’d listened to her intently and had duly noted all her thoughts, leading her to believe he truly planned to incorporate her opinion into his designs. That wasn’t the sort of thing one did for a casual fling, and she was having less and less reason to doubt he really wanted her and had just been waiting for her to be older.
Instead of taking her to either one of their rooms as she had half-expected, thinking the seduction had escalated, they entered another room instead. This one also joined the master suite, off his room instead of hers, but it was a completely bare room. She stared at the white walls and white-blonde flooring before giving him a look of confusion. “What are you going to do with this room?”
He came to stand behind her, his hands on her shoulders for a moment before he pulled her back against him and wrapped his arms around her, his hands on her stomach. “This will be the nursery.”
For some reason, his words made the breath catch in her throat, perhaps because it bespoke intent. He was talking about babies. That must mean he wanted the whole package—marriage, children, pets, and happily ever after.
Her heart raced with excitement at the idea, and Ambra adm
itted to herself she had never gotten over him. She had spent the last three years fooling herself into thinking she had outgrown her infatuation, but it had never been just a crush.
“So tell me, Ambra, what color are the walls? Pink or blue?”
She allowed herself to relax against him, resting her head on his shoulder. “Neither.”
“Neither?” He sounded disappointed when he repeated her answer. Clearly, he believed she wasn’t going to participate in this fantasy.
With a small smile he couldn’t see, she added, “It will be either pale mint or light-yellow, because we want to be surprised. We won’t know the gender until he or she is born. Over there, above the crib, we’ll have a big wall mural full of giraffes, zebras, and lions.”
He uttered a sound of contentment. “And a large tree with monkeys and macaws.”
She laughed slightly. “Do parrots live in Africa? I thought they were indigenous to South America?”
When he shrugged, it jostled her entire body because they were so close. “I don’t know, but what does it matter? If we want parrots in our safari-themed nursery, we can certainly do that, can’t we?”
His hand moved from her stomach to explore lower, his fingers brushing against the top of her mound. “After all, we’re rebels, Ambra. You’re my stepsister, but I’m madly in love with you, and I want to fuck you a thousand different ways. Then I want to slow down, make love to you, and then fuck you all over again.”
His hand moved lower to cup her pussy, which was suddenly wet from his words. “I can never get enough of you, and I guess the only question is do you want me too?”
Without a hint of hesitation, she turned in his arms and wrapped hers around his neck. She wound her fingers in his thick hair and urged his head nearer her own as she stretched on tiptoe to ensure their lips met. Just before she kissed him, she whispered against his lips, “I want you more than anything.”