support. Gentle hands, sweet hands. He loved her hands. Eventually, those hands slipped around his waist and she held on tight.
The kiss took on a rhythm, a sensual, unrestrained cadence in time with their heartbeats.
Eve's mouth worked gently against his, yielding and demanding. Her fingers clutched at his back.
He dropped his hands from her face and let his thumbs brush against her fine, soft neck. He reveled in the feel of her skin, marveled at the sensation of her velvety flesh against his rough hands. Eve was like silk, her mouth and her flesh, and he wanted her. He hadn't realized it was possible to want a woman quite this much.
The catch low in her throat was proof enough that Eve was not unaffected, as she had insisted she would be. The experiment was done; he had proven that she did still feel something for him. But he didn't want this kiss to end, not yet. Not ever. His arms circled around her and he pulled her close. The kiss deepened, reaching down to his very soul.
He couldn't help his physical reaction to such a kiss. With their bodies pressed close, Eve no doubt felt his response, but she didn't shy away from the evidence that he wanted her. Lucien knew he should end the kiss and step away, but he couldn't. Eve was the one to draw back, to gently break the union of their lips and to slowly shift her body away from his.
Lucien smiled as he took her face in his hands once again. "I knew it would be wonderful," he whispered.
Eve's face blushed pink, and her lips were lusciously swollen. If his fingers brushed against her neck, he would surely feel how her heartbeat had increased. Her breasts rose and fell as she took a deep breath.
"You enjoyed your little experiment?" she asked calmly. "Well, that makes one of us. Purely professional from here on out, right?"
"Evie..."
"I suggest you obtain a room at the boarding house this afternoon, before it gets dark. You can leave your contraptions here, if you'd like, while you see to checking into your room." Her coloring returned to near normal. "I won't touch them, I promise."
"Surely you felt..."
"Nothing," Eve said softly. "I felt absolutely nothing."
She turned her back on him and opened the door to her bedroom. As the door slammed behind her, a confused Lucien muttered, "Right."
What a muddle this was. He could handle a much-too-friendly ghost, a murdering spirit, and sleeping on the hard floor. He wasn't sure he could handle making what had happened with Evie right again.
She wanted very badly to belong.
And he knew deep inside that she already did belong. With him.
Chapter 5
Plummerville was like a thousand other small southern towns. It was self-sufficient, thanks to the stores along main street and the farms just beyond the city limits. Many of the residents had been born here and would die here, most without even the desire to see what lay beyond the familiarity and comfort of home. All along the main street neighbors visited, or smiled and nodded to those who passed. Shops flourished. Women chatted with one another, in that mystifying way that always managed to astonish Lucien, where they all talked at once and seemed, still, to comprehend every word. They discussed everything, from the smallest details of their lives to the latest news they'd read in today's paper.
Since the rented room he called home, at the moment, was located in Wilmington, North Carolina, and many jobs in the past had taken him into this region of the country, he was accustomed to the southern accents that surrounded him. Here in Plummerville the accents were deeper, in some cases, as melodious as Eve's in others. As he walked down the street he listened, catching bits and pieces of conversations. A few of the people he passed wondered aloud about the stranger in town.
Whether they mentioned his presence aloud or not, the people along the way very carefully watched the outsider who walked down their street. The unfamiliar was always of interest in a
The kiss took on a rhythm, a sensual, unrestrained cadence in time with their heartbeats.
Eve's mouth worked gently against his, yielding and demanding. Her fingers clutched at his back.
He dropped his hands from her face and let his thumbs brush against her fine, soft neck. He reveled in the feel of her skin, marveled at the sensation of her velvety flesh against his rough hands. Eve was like silk, her mouth and her flesh, and he wanted her. He hadn't realized it was possible to want a woman quite this much.
The catch low in her throat was proof enough that Eve was not unaffected, as she had insisted she would be. The experiment was done; he had proven that she did still feel something for him. But he didn't want this kiss to end, not yet. Not ever. His arms circled around her and he pulled her close. The kiss deepened, reaching down to his very soul.
He couldn't help his physical reaction to such a kiss. With their bodies pressed close, Eve no doubt felt his response, but she didn't shy away from the evidence that he wanted her. Lucien knew he should end the kiss and step away, but he couldn't. Eve was the one to draw back, to gently break the union of their lips and to slowly shift her body away from his.
Lucien smiled as he took her face in his hands once again. "I knew it would be wonderful," he whispered.
Eve's face blushed pink, and her lips were lusciously swollen. If his fingers brushed against her neck, he would surely feel how her heartbeat had increased. Her breasts rose and fell as she took a deep breath.
"You enjoyed your little experiment?" she asked calmly. "Well, that makes one of us. Purely professional from here on out, right?"
"Evie..."
"I suggest you obtain a room at the boarding house this afternoon, before it gets dark. You can leave your contraptions here, if you'd like, while you see to checking into your room." Her coloring returned to near normal. "I won't touch them, I promise."
"Surely you felt..."
"Nothing," Eve said softly. "I felt absolutely nothing."
She turned her back on him and opened the door to her bedroom. As the door slammed behind her, a confused Lucien muttered, "Right."
What a muddle this was. He could handle a much-too-friendly ghost, a murdering spirit, and sleeping on the hard floor. He wasn't sure he could handle making what had happened with Evie right again.
She wanted very badly to belong.
And he knew deep inside that she already did belong. With him.
Chapter 5
Plummerville was like a thousand other small southern towns. It was self-sufficient, thanks to the stores along main street and the farms just beyond the city limits. Many of the residents had been born here and would die here, most without even the desire to see what lay beyond the familiarity and comfort of home. All along the main street neighbors visited, or smiled and nodded to those who passed. Shops flourished. Women chatted with one another, in that mystifying way that always managed to astonish Lucien, where they all talked at once and seemed, still, to comprehend every word. They discussed everything, from the smallest details of their lives to the latest news they'd read in today's paper.
Since the rented room he called home, at the moment, was located in Wilmington, North Carolina, and many jobs in the past had taken him into this region of the country, he was accustomed to the southern accents that surrounded him. Here in Plummerville the accents were deeper, in some cases, as melodious as Eve's in others. As he walked down the street he listened, catching bits and pieces of conversations. A few of the people he passed wondered aloud about the stranger in town.
Whether they mentioned his presence aloud or not, the people along the way very carefully watched the outsider who walked down their street. The unfamiliar was always of interest in a
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