Gabby’s eyes narrowed on Teague’s, wondering how he knew to make that explanation. She wasn’t jealous. Not at all! The woman was gorgeous, but….
“Relax, darlin’,” he teased as Pete moved into the cockpit. “You’re my woman. I have eyes only for you.”
She humphed, but he was just too handsome for her to ignore. “So tell me more about Seattle,” she urged. “I will need to find a job.”
He leaned back and started regaling her with all of the good aspects of the city where he lived. Gabby listened to his deep voice, her mind enjoying the relaxing flight. Maybe too much. Because the next thing she knew, Teague was gently shaking her awake.
“Honey, we’re home,” he said with that rough voice that never failed to make her smile.
Gabby’s eyes fluttered as Teague watched, his whole body and mind in love with this woman. He hadn’t thought it was possible, but he loved her even more since she’d come back with him.
She was the first woman he’d ever had to fight for and she would be the last. His life was going to be tied to this woman and it was going to be amazing.
“Home?” she asked, lifting her head and looking around. “We’re still on the plane.”
“Yeah, but my truck is outside waiting for us. We’re back in Seattle.”
Sitting up, she pushed the soft blanket off, feeling safe and secure. “Home,” she repeated, testing out the words as she looked out of the window of the plane. “Yes. Home.”
Teague took her hands and pulled her to a standing position. “Let’s get out of here before my brothers find out that we landed and start demanding information.”
She smiled up at him, feeling that craziness start to overwhelm her once again. Teague could always do this to her. She wanted to jump into his arms, wrap her legs around his waist and kiss him.
Instead, she smoothed her hair down and glanced at her clothes. They were a wrinkled mess. “I must look horrible,’ she mumbled.
Teague pulled her against him and kissed her until she melted once more. When he lifted his head, he winked down at her. “You look amazing,” he told her with a sincerity that made her heart melt even more.
“Come on,” he said and tugged her out of the plane. He shook hands with Pete, thanking him for another smooth flight. When they were on the tarmac again, he walked over to his truck, unaware that she had to almost run to keep up with his longer stride. He didn’t slow down though. When they were at his truck, he opened the door and lifted her into the seat.
“Are you going to do that all the time?” she teased.
“I might,” he slammed the door, walking around to the driver’s side.
Gabby waited until he’d maneuvered through the airport traffic and they were back on the highway. “I was thinking,” she started off, not wanting to offend him but needing a real home.
“What’s wrong, honey?” he asked, and reached over, taking her hand.
She stared at his strong, callused hand with amazement and relief. She could talk to him about anything, she told herself. He wouldn’t be hurt.
“I want a house,” she blurted out. “I know that your trailer is very nice and it suits your needs, but I would love to live in a house. I grew up in a trailer and I hated it. In college, I shared an apartment with four other people. We were all crammed together and I hated it. After college, my first priority was to get my own apartment, my own space. But now that we’re going to stay married, I would like to start looking at houses.” She held her breath after that lecture, waiting for his reaction.
All of her muscles relaxed when he only chuckled. “A house, huh?”
Not exactly the response that she was waiting for, but he didn’t seem to be hurt or offended by her desire to live in something that didn’t have wheels. “Yes. I can get a job and, once I’ve been working there for a year or two, I’m sure we could qualify for a mortgage. I don’t need anything big,” she explained. “Maybe two or three bedrooms with a small yard.”
“Two or three? I thought you wanted lots of kids,” he told her.
She shrugged. “How about if we start off with one after I’m settled into a job?” She watched him carefully, wondering what he might be thinking. His thumb was rubbing back and forth against her wrist, sending tremors of awareness up her arm. But she didn’t want to just jump into bed with him. She wanted to talk with him, plan a future…to have a real marriage.
Her shoulders relaxed when he nodded his head. “We can start with one kid,” he teased and winked at her as he turned off the highway. They weren’t heading into downtown Seattle as she’d expected. “But I think a house filled with four or five kids would be a whole lot better.”
She laughed, feeling free once again. “And a dog? I would take the dog on walks so that we wouldn’t really need a big yard. I’ve always wanted a dog. And a cat.”
He shook his head. “Nope. No cats,” he told her firmly.
“Are you allergic to cats?” she asked, relieved when he didn’t veto the dog idea.
“I’m not allergic, but you can’t have a dog and a cat. They’re natural enemies.”
Gabby laughed, delighted and more than ready to tackle the idea of a cat at a later date. “Okay, a dog then. And maybe two kids.”
“Four kids, two dogs, no cats,” he announced as if he’d just decided for the both of them.
Gabby smiled, her fingers tightening on his. “Two kids, two dogs, four cats,” she argued back, just teasing because there was no way she wanted six animals in her house.
Teague laughed, thrilled with her plan. “We’ll see.” He loved kids and two might not be enough for him.
When he turned down another street, this one filled with trees, she looked around, trying to figure out where they were heading. The street was narrow, only two lanes, and it seemed to lead to nowhere.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked, looking around and loving the privacy afforded by all of the pine trees.
“You’ll see,” he said and turned down yet another street. Well, this wasn’t really a street. It was more of a driveway, with room only for one vehicle.
Gabby wasn’t sure what was going on, but she trusted Teague. “Is this some land that you like?” she asked.
“I like the land, yes. But you’re going to have to be patient,” he told her.
A moment later, the truck pulled through the trees and Gabby gasped. “What is this?” she asked, staring at the enormous, beautiful house in front of her. It was a craftsman style house with several different sections, a four-car garage, and huge windows that looked out at the forest. There were evergreen bushes growing against the foundation, a stone walkway leading up to the huge, double door entryway and a large porch with more of those great wooden chairs that she’d enjoyed at his mountain cabin.
“I love this place!” she yelped and stepped out of his truck, staring up at the structure. “Who lives here?”
Teague slammed his door shut and came around to her side, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close. “I do,” he said simply, staring up at the house with pride.
Gabby heard his words, but she didn’t react for a long moment. She simply stared. Stunned and confused. “You live here?”
She looked up at him, needing to see his eyes, to see the truth. Was he teasing her? “You mean you want to buy this house?”
He shook his head. “No. This is my house. Logan did the plans for it, to my specifications, and I built it with one of the construction crews.”
She continued to stare at him but then turned to look back at the house. “This is where you live?”
He nodded. “When I’m not on a job that needs close attention. I have been living at the site in the trailer just for convenience. Normally, I’m only there during the week.”
She glared up at him, feeling like a fool. “So all this time, I’ve been worried that my children would grow up in a trailer park and you have this beautiful house nestled back in the woods?”
He shrugged, co
mpletely unrepentant. “Yeah, that about sums it up.”
Gabby pulled out of his arms, furious with him. “Teague! Do you have any idea how many times I’ve gone over numbers in my head, trying to figure out how we could afford a small house? Just something that would…” She couldn’t finish her rant because he simply walked over to her and lifted her into his arms, tossing her over his shoulder. “Teague!” she screamed, trying not to laugh. This was serious!
He smacked her bottom, although not very hard. “If you’d talked to me about your concerns, woman, I would have told you that you were being ridiculous.”
Gabby tried to look around, wanting to see more of his house, but her hair was falling in her eyes. She got the impression of wood and large windows with lots of light coming in, but the next thing she knew, she was being flipped onto her back on an enormous bed.
“Teague, I’m going to…” Again, he wouldn’t let her finish the sentence. He kissed her, his mouth moving over hers even while his hands started to pull her clothes away from her body.
“What were you saying?” he asked when his mouth moved from hers to her bared breast.
Gabby couldn’t reply except for the scream as her body arched into his, pressing her breast against his mouth. Her fingers dove into his hair and she moaned when his teeth nibbled.
“You’re going to drive me crazy!” she gasped, trying to catch her breath before he moved to the other breast.
“That’s the plan,” he told her and captured her other nipple a moment after he tore his own shirt off over his head.
A long time later, Gabby stared up at the skylights centered above the bed, her fingers tangling in the hair on his muscular chest as she tried hard to breathe normally again. As always, Teague was a whirlwind that left her breathless. And more satisfied that she’d ever thought possible.
“You okay?” he asked, his own hands tangling in her hair.
“No,” she replied. But earned another tug at that answer. Laughing, she turned her head so that she was looking up at him. “Yes. I’m more than okay.” She wiggled higher onto his chest. “You know what would make me more okay?”
Teague had some good ideas. “Give me a clue,” he said as he lifted her higher, pulling her leg over his waist so that she was straddling him.
Gabby leaned over so that her lips were less than an inch from his. Teasing him, not touching him but lowering her lashes with promise. She heard him groan and smiled ever so slightly.
“What?” he demanded, his hands cupping her bottom to press her closer.
She looked into his green eyes, thinking he was the most glorious man she’d ever met. “A cat.”
Teague didn’t move for a long moment. A cat?
Then he saw the teasing glint in her eyes and roared, tossing her over so that she was once again underneath him. “You’re going to pay for that, woman!” he said.
Gabby laughed, her body already trying to wiggle away from his strong hands. But it was pointless. When Teague wanted something, he didn’t stop until he got it. And she loved him all the more for his stubborn craziness.
Epilogue
“No! You’re not bringing the dog to the breakfast table, Matthew!” Gabby yelled over the barking of the two enormous chocolate labs as they chased two of the four cats through the house.
Teague walked into the kitchen at that moment and Gabby stopped, her breath still taken away whenever he entered a room. He was even more handsome as he cradled the ugly cat with only one and a half ears in his arms. “You lost something,” he remarked with a yawn.
Gabby smiled and dropped the spoon she’d been using to serve up the oatmeal. She reached for the feline, but Teague pulled his favorite out of her reach and Gabby laughed. “The kids are starving, woman! Go feed our children.”
Gabby looked over at the four boys, ranging in ages from three years old to ten and her heart melted. Leaning against him, she loved the way his arm automatically wrapped around her waist, pulling her close as he kissed the top of her head. “They’re driving me crazy this morning,” she said on a sigh. “Matthew keeps feeding his apples to Duchess,” she explained, referring to the female chocolate lab, “and Brandon thinks it is funny to steal Christopher’s bacon, even though he doesn’t like it.”
“Is it that tofu stuff you keep trying to pass off as the real deal?” Teague asked, letting the cat drop to the floor as it went in search of mischief to initiate.
“It’s good for them,” she defended and moved back over to the stove. “Sit down and I’ll get you breakfast.”
Teague groaned and rubbed his still-flat stomach. Even after thirteen years of marriage, he still looked amazing. “I need food. You wore me out last night.”
Gabby rolled her eyes since he’d been the one to wake her up in the middle of the night with more than sleep on his mind.
“Dad! Gross!” Matthew exclaimed.
Gabby smiled as she put a bowl of oatmeal in front each of her sons.
Teague wasn’t one to do half measures though. Just as Gabby was walking back to the stove, he grabbed her hand and pulled her onto his lap. “Our sons think that we’re gross, honey,” and he nibbled on her neck.
Gabby only laughed, delighted with the sounds of moaning and fake barfing coming from all of her four children. That caused the dogs to bark excitedly, which meant that the cats had to come and watch, overseeing all of the insanity that happened daily at their house.
“You’re horrible,” she said but gently kissed him.
“And you love me,” he replied smugly, reaching up to hold her in place.
Gabby smiled against his mouth. “I do.”
Excerpt from A Taste of Paradise
Book 4 in The Steele Brothers Series
The devil really shouldn’t be so beautiful.
Gaia stood in the doorway of the man’s office, staring at his broad shoulders that stretched the material of his tailored shirt. He hadn’t noticed her yet and she had the insane urge to back up slowly, to simply disappear back into the hallway.
Heart racing, body trembling, she stood in the doorway looking at the man standing behind the drawing board. The only thing wrong with him was that his shirt was too small. The sleeves were straining against the bulging biceps.
Was that bad?
It was probably bad.
Or maybe she was just grasping at straws here.
No. It was bad.
So…if it was bad, why was she practically drooling?
Bad. She was bad.
He was bad.
Good grief, she needed to leave. This was all bad. She’d been wrong to come here, wrong to try and humor her brother, Freddy, and wrong on so many other things. This meeting had been a complete waste of time.
At that precise moment, the handsome devil looked up!
Gaia’s breath caught in her throat as she stared back at the man. She’d thought the man was sexy with all of those muscles, but because of those muscles, she hadn’t bothered to look further. Talk about objectifying a person, Gaia was definitely guilty of that!
Unfortunately, now that he was looking at her, she couldn’t move. Her escape might not be blocked, but she was still trapped. Those green eyes were like emerald lasers, pointing right at her with a sharpness that left her feeling raw. Exposed.
The glasses didn’t help.
Dark rimmed glasses should look geeky, but on this man, they looked hot! Hot and sexy and Gaia was actually angry with him for this betrayal! Yes, she’d seen pictures of the Steele Brothers. The four men were in the news constantly. But no one had warned her of this man’s impact, the way those green eyes could look at her and make her feel like she was naked, exposed!
“You must be Gaia Fisher,” the man’s deep voice said. Then he stood up and Gaia’s heart stopped beating. She couldn’t breathe! He moved around that drawing board and she knew she was going to pass out. With every step, the thought pounded in her head. When he was halfway across the room, she hoped she would pass out. Then she wou
ld stop having these crazy fantasies about the man. About the enemy!
Goodness, Freddy would be furious if he ever found out what was going through her mind.
Her brother could never know. Absolutely! Secrets should be kept secrets. For instance, this man couldn’t ever find out how she’d already thought about him naked, that shirt discarded and on the floor so she could peruse all of those muscles without….
What in the world? Gaia blinked, forcing her mind to stop thinking about the man and his naked chest. His naked arms. All of those muscles exposed so she could…
Stop it!
She was here for a business meeting. She was here on her brother’s behalf. This had been Freddy’s idea and she was just helping him. Or trying to help him. And trying not to ogle the gorgeous man as he approached.
Goodness he was tall!
“It is a pleasure to meet you,” the man posing as Lucifer commented, extending his hand.
Logan watched the woman who was still standing in the doorway of his office and had to restrain himself from pulling the delicate looking blonde woman into his arms, to reassure her that everything was going to be okay. He wanted to tell her that she was safe here, that he wasn’t going to do anything to her. But he couldn’t utter those words. The reassurance would be pointless.
Because that would be a lie.
He wanted this woman. He’d looked up from the drawings on his desk and knew…everything inside of him had known that this woman was going to be in his bed.
Soon!
Her sandy blonde hair was pulled back into a twist, pinned to the back of her head somehow, but it still looked like spun gold against her creamy skin. Those golden eyes were a perfect match for her hair and underneath that severe, brown suit he suspected there was a spectacular figure.
He had an instinct for these things. That boring linen suit couldn’t hide the full breasts or the slender hips. The legs sticking out the bottom of the skirt looked to be miles long, although he didn’t think she was very tall. Maybe she’d come up to his chin in her smoking-hot pumps, but not much further.
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