by Ginny Lynn
“I’m going to kick your ass when we get out of here.” I pointed an unbandaged finger at him.
“I’m looking forward to it.” He saluted me and I smiled.
Maybe this would be fine. Who knew?
The next day the doctor discharged me from the hospital which happened to be an hour away from the estate. On the way home, we’d talked about a few loose ends that had to be handled around the house. The greenhouse barely had anything left to it except the metal frame but it was intact enough to get the glass replaced if we wanted to set it back up again. The willow tree had been split in half by Aster’s rain of lightning so we weren’t sure if it would survive another year. If it died, then I’d plant a magnolia tree in its place. Mr. White had already sent a construction worker to replace the window in my room and had tidied up the mess we made around the house in our mad dashes for safety. Not once was he given an answer for what had actually happened to cause so much damage. Sadly, with us being in the hospital, he probably thought we had beaten each other up in a lover’s quarrel. I would have to be okay with letting him believe that. I just wanted to be safe in my own home for a while. It was the most important thing to me right now. Well, the sexy man who happened to be helping me out of the car stood a very close second.
“I hope you aren’t mad at me for turning in the papers Aster signed,” Kenrick said as he set my crutches against the passenger side of the car my grandfather had left at the back of the property. “It was still your hand that signed them and she invariably did what you wanted, so I didn’t feel he needed to know the scenario of how your signature had gotten on the paperwork.”
Pulling me gently from the passenger seat, I let him linger with his arms around me. “I had already decided to stay and even though it bugs me how it happened, it was what was meant to be either way.”
“Good. It’s one less thing for you to hold against me.” He ticked off a point in the air between us and grinned at me.
Gently smacking his shoulder, I let him laugh at my expense.
A squeal popped out of me when he swung me up into his arms and nudged the door shut with a booted foot. The keys to the house were in one of the hands that held me soundly against his warm chest. With a flick of his deft fingers, the keys skimmed down my breasts and pooled in my lap as he walked a few more steps to the front door.
“Would you please do the honors, my dear damsel in distress?”
Shaking my head at him, I smiled and held the keys so I could insert them once he had me in arm’s length of the front door. A dirty joke or two was mentioned as I fumbled my way to having the lock handled but it was all in good humor. Once inside, he set me on the closest seat of the couch in the foyer, leaning me against the tapestry pillows.
“As your room is on the second floor and the kitchen and laundry are down here, where would you like to sleep for the next few hours?”
“It’s not bedtime yet,” I reminded him.
“Right now it’s about to chime four o’clock and you are tired from escaping an awful room of antiseptic and overprotective nurses.”
“Yes, but I’d like to sleep this evening. If I have insomnia after the recent events, you’ll have to put up with a worse female than Aster,” I joked as it was the only way to make the horrid events easier to get through.
“You’re that kind of cranky after lack of sleep? Goodness, then you really are a lady after my own heart as I adore a woman who knows how to appreciate a glorious amount of sleep.”
The sly look slid back into his eyes and my heart thrilled at the possibilities.
“This is padded enough that I can rest here,” I decided. Even if it was a sexily romantic idea, I was not about to have him carrying me up and down a flight of stairs because I was selfish enough to want the comfort of the bed my body had just gotten used to up there. He headed back out for my bag and crutches when I closed my eyes and thought over how comfortable I felt at this moment. It wasn’t just the furnishings my grandmother had lovingly picked out but a presence that encompassed the whole house. Not only had I fallen in love with a handsome caretaker but the house we were to live in. Together. I’d only had a few roommates and they were all girls in the dorm rooms, so this had evolved itself into a whole new world for me as I took over the reins on what needed to be done to make this place prosper.
Kenrick and I were still debating what to do with the greenhouse. We’d have to talk to Mr. White about what we could and could not put in its place because of the will and the zoning laws at a later date. The more I thought it over, the more I wanted it built back to its former design. Having an itch to try my hand at farming, I thought of turning it toward herbs, exotic plants, and spices that could be used or sold. Kenrick thought it was leaving negativity on the property and wanted us to put a storage shed or a pit barbeque there but they were just too manly for my liking. If he wanted those, then he could build them in the back between our yard and the neighbor who had the small vineyard in his backyard.
Shoving the door shut, he placed the bag and the crutches at the other end of the sofa for me. I could still reach them but it wasn’t in my way if I leaned back and relaxed for a little bit.
“It’s time for you to take your meds,” he pointed out as he tossed me a bag he’d been hiding in his windbreaker pocket. “I got them filled when I went down to get the car. I hope you’re okay with that.”
“You seem to keep taking liberties, Mr. Giles,” came my straight-faced comment.
“But they’re allowed if they are helpful to you, correct? This kept us from having to make another stop as a storm will be rolling in in about an hour. And as it would have had the dose you took earlier wearing off, then you needed to have it before the pain sets in.”
“You’re smart and have good timing but you still need to ask me before you take over my life.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He bowed to me and went to get a glass of water to wash down his pigheaded ways and my prescriptions.
After swallowing down the bitter tasting pills, I sank into the cushions and let them take effect over my aches while I picked up rumbling in the distance. Storms were like romance, they could be gentle and renewing, disastrous when the image cleared, or steam as hot as molten glass. My love for this intriguing incubus had tromped through all of them in a matter of days but he remained mine. As the thunder raged closer, Kenrick set my things back to order and had himself settled under my healing leg before it was upon the estate. Just as the atmosphere became electrified, he leaned his long torso down to take my relaxed mouth in a butterfly-inducing kiss. I ran my uninjured hand through his hair and claimed those teasing lips.
When we broke apart, we were breathing heavily as we stared into the power gleaming in both of our amber lit eyes. I saw through the twin reflections of the window glass what magic was still woven into the two of us. Somehow we had become part of the same gleaming stone of power as we lay entwined on the couch and knew that this nap would be much more appealing as our dreams would take us where our exhausted bodies could not. In the land of oblivion, we would reign as a Queen Succubus and King Incubus. Together.
A word from the author…
I’m Georgia-born from Alabama natives, so in essence, I’m related to myself.
I have mercurial witticism and bountiful one-liners that put a smile on most faces.
I love genres from contemporary romance to dark urban fantasy.
I’m also a member of Georgia Romance Writers, plus Romance Writers of America.
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