SHORE LANE WAS DARK AND FILLED WITH mystery, and yet it was Shore Lane that called to Zoë. She was thinking clearly again, and she knew what she wanted. Grayson was at her side and he held her attention now. The sky above still glittered with incandescent stars, but she was barely aware of all that anymore. Desire ran back and forth between them as they walked, and she was ready for more.
They’d passed the post office and the streetlights grew dimmer, as if out here where the houses were destined to slip away into the sea, mystery prevailed. When they were almost at Her Haven, she paused. He turned, walked back to her and looked at her with a curious smile, as if he wasn’t surprised by her actions.
Lifting her chin, she studied him, her pulse kicking up a notch as she did so. There was something contained about him, something invincible. It was incredibly attractive. She looked him in the eye. “What was all that about, back there?”
“Power.” He said the one word simply.
His answer made her chuckle. “I thought as much.” There it was, that mischievous echo inside her. Earlier it had made her feel dizzy and strangely out of control. But not so much, now. Not here in the dark on Shore Lane.
I can have him. I’m a woman and I can have this man.
Accepting that knowledge brought an unexpected jolt for Zoë, and yet the knowledge took root and became sure and solid inside her, driving her on to take action. She was aroused. She needed fulfillment. He was an attractive man, and she wanted him. Gone was the resistance she might have felt about getting it on with a man she’d only met that day. Something else had taken its place—something that had wrapped itself around her and melted into her very core, making her vital and alive.
“I appreciate you walking me back. Please, come inside.” She opened her purse and found the key. When the door clicked open she sensed he was close at her back and she knew he’d follow. Stepping inside, she touched her hand along the wall, looking for the light switch.
A moment later, she heard him closing the door, and then came the slow, solid sound of the bolt sliding home. With it, a ragged sensation ran up her spine, as if something had shifted between them, some balance of power. Tension emanated from the place where he stood.
Her hand found the switch. The light flickered on but was nigh on useless, casting only a small pool of amber light in the gloom. Beyond it, moonlight funneled onto the stairs from a window on the landing above.
Grayson stayed in the darkness by the doorway, but she knew he was watching her as she walked toward the stairs and turned to face him. It struck her then that he always had a purposeful stance about him, and ever since she arrived in the village—hell, even before she had arrived—he’d been there. He’d sparred with the postmistre
ss, and then he’d turned up and competed with Cain Davot over her. While that had its own appeal, she couldn’t help wondering why.
Maybe he just wants to fuck, like I do.
It was a blunt, wry realization, something she knew for a fact she’d never consciously thought before, and it embarrassed her, but she couldn’t deny it. It made her curious, though, and she had to ask. “You always seem to be around when I might need help.”
He stepped out of the darkness by the doorway and closed the space between them inside a heartbeat, making her breath catch in her throat. Lifting her chin with one finger, he looked deep into her eyes. “Is there something specific you need my help with, Zoë?”
His eyes flashed in the gloom.
She swallowed. His touch had started a riot amongst her nerve endings, and her sex clenched, needy and urgent. A moment before, she’d felt reasoned, back when she’d been focused on getting him inside the house. Now, his very proximity was washing that away.
“Your company,” she mustered. “I’ve been hearing some strange stories about this house.”
It was partly the truth.
Mostly she wanted to have sex.
“It has quite the history, that’s for sure.” He was watching her closely, unsurprised, fascinated even. “And something about the place leaves an imprint on visitors.”
“Is that part of your study?” Even as she said the words, the urge to chuckle rose up inside her.
Of course it is. He can’t wait to get inside and check the place out. The thought came out of nowhere, and she wondered how she knew that.
“I’d appreciate a chance to inspect the house…and its current occupant.” One corner of his mouth lifted, humor and desire lighting his expression. His hand moved, sliding briefly down her throat and around one shoulder.
“The house, and me?”
“Mostly you.” His breath was warm on her face, and her head dropped back to take his kiss. His mouth was firm and persuasive, and when she melted and moved against him, it became more provocative. Exploring her, he kissed her mouth until her body arched against his, and then he demanded more by thrusting his tongue between her parting lips, slowly moving in and out. The action was rhythmic and slow and filled with erotic promise. And then his hand was under her skirt. He broke the kiss and looked down at her while he closed his hand over her pussy through the thin lace of her knickers, and squeezed.
A soft moan escaped her. She couldn’t help it.
He gave a dark chuckle, glancing down at her nipples where they were hard under the sheer fabric of her dress. “The heat coming off of you is fascinating.” His expression grew serious. “Because it’s not just in here…”
Again he squeezed her pussy, making her whimper and shuffle her feet in response, darts of sensation assailing her groin.
“It’s all around you. It’s so big it’s filling this house, and I want to know why.”