over...not all the way at the beginning but from the point we can both admit we have strong feelings for one another and want to move forward...to build...something."
Even at that moment, I couldn't believe I could hold him for very long.
His head dipped, his lips brushing the corner of my mouth as his cock sank into me.
"I want to build a life together, baby," he admitted, pausing for the sweetest kiss I had ever experienced. "One that lasts as long as either of us still draws a breath."
Dylan
I slid the key into the last lock on the entry door of a Park Lane home located near the center of Dallas. The house and surrounding five acres of green space were modeled on the style of European country estates. Slate walkways, a pool, a tennis court, two putting greens, a creek with a curving stone bridge, separate lodgings for guests -- the list of what was charming and fabulous about the home was a mile long and I knew Marjolein had fallen in love with it the first time the realtor had given us the tour four weeks prior.
I stepped inside, an involuntary sigh escaping my lips as I punched in the security code.
"They took all the furniture out," Joey remarked, her feet still planted on the wrong side of the home's threshold.
As captivated as her gaze had told me she was with the home and grounds, her voiced opinion had been ambiguous, even after we were out of the realtor's presence. It wasn't the house Joey was afraid of committing to -- it was me. Two months had passed since Geneva and every single time she saw me reach into my pocket or open my briefcase or a desk drawer, she winced.
I wandered past the entry hall hoping her reluctant feet would eventually follow after me.
"Why did they take out the furniture?" she asked, stepping inside and closing the door but moving no further.
I could tell her the truth -- that I had finished purchasing the property a little over two weeks ago -- but I wasn't sure she wouldn't bolt when she found out.
"The..." I paused before I could say "owners" because that would have been an outright lie. "There were several offers, the sellers felt confident they could empty the place out."
There had, in fact, been a small bidding skirmish that took the purchase price a few million above the offer price of fifteen million. That battle had taken place in the already empty house with the sellers and realtor present, my final opponent a Russian oil baron who couldn't count on whether his rubles would have any value when he woke the next morning to another drop in gas prices.
Joey nodded, satisfied for one short moment. "The realtor just gave you the key and code? She was so insistent on being here last time."
"No furniture or electronics or million dollar paintings to safeguard," I answered with a wave of my hand around the empty space. She had finally made her way into the primary living area with its cathedral ceilings and wood beams.
"I like this room," she said softly, but her sparkling blue gaze told me she loved it.
"It's sunny, like you," I answered, my words short and quick to mask the raw feeling her distance created inside me. She had threatened me in Geneva with the purchase of a baseball bat to hit me upside the head with if I retreated -- yet here she was, holding back.
Because she thinks I'm holding back.
I cut the thought off and ambled deeper into the house, my feet carrying me in the direction of the master suite with its separate bathrooms, walk in closets and large interior den that could only be entered through the suite, affording an extra layer of privacy from any guests or children.
My stomach twisted at the idea of kids. For so long I had thought that my holdings in the company would pass to the children of my siblings or to a charity. I was overbearing as a big brother, or so Riona and Jake told me. How much worse would I be with my own child. The women who captured even a fraction of my time weren't suitable as mothers, and I had never expected to meet a woman
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