by Ophelia Bell
His mouth went completely dry, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from watching her eat for several seconds. Finally, she licked her lips and exclaimed, “My god, this is amazing. Everything about it. Where did you learn to cook like this?”
Shaking himself back to awareness, Gaius held his plate solidly over his hard-on and shrugged. “Always believed it’s best to specialize. Focus on that one thing you want to perfect. In the arena, I was the best grappling fighter there was. With building, kitchens are my specialty, though I’m damn good at everything else when it comes to wood. And I’ve cooked for myself for a long time . . . long enough to perfect at least one meal. And this is it.”
“Mmm, good philosophy,” she said. “Where’d you pick up this recipe? It’s not that common on Nova Aurora. You spend much time on Earth?”
“Only about a month every summer. Spent a little longer there after I retired. Had to get away to gather my thoughts. Make a plan. You know.” He nodded at Nessa as if she’d have any idea what he meant. She was barely out of the cradle, and while his career as a Champion had been cut short due to his injuries, he’d still been part of that scene for two decades.
“How many summers, exactly?” she asked, idly glancing at him as she sopped up the last juices from her second burger with the remainder of her bun. He sensed she was digging for his age and decided to settle that debate.
“I’m a lot older than you, Ness. Maybe not as old as your dad, but old enough.”
“Old enough to be a cranky old bear? Old enough to hide from the world in a half-finished cabin? Old enough . . .”
“Old enough to value my peace and quiet,” he grumbled, cutting her off.
Nessa snorted and stood up, retrieved his plate, and carried their dishes to the sink, where she washed them both and set them in the rack to dry. She really had made herself at home, and he abstractly wondered if she’d be at home in any kitchen. Then he thought probably not as at home as she’d seemed in the old kitchen at Ig’s. Something about that particular kitchen fit her in a way he couldn’t put his finger on.
“Sounds like a recipe for loneliness,” she quipped. “Was that part of the plan you made when you retired? Because you seem intent on hiding from the world up here.” She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms, then tilted her chin at the house. “And as nice as your place is, it sure seems like an empty life you’re living.”
His shoulders fell and he scrubbed his hands through his hair, then tugged on his beard. “No, that wasn’t the plan. I met with the matchmaker when I visited Earth right after I retired. It’s been two years since. But it wasn’t like I didn’t try. Figure she must know something I don’t.”
“That you’re a pain in the ass? Gerri Wilder’s no doubt got your number on that count,” she said, grinning at him. “But that’d make two of us. My mom met with her when I was a baby . . . a fucking baby . . . hoping that if she got ahead of things, she could land me a clan leader’s son for a mate. If the woman can’t find me a guy in all that time, either she’s not as sharp as we think, or you and I really are both lost causes.”
“Thought you said you didn’t want to be a clan leader’s mate,” Gaius said.
“I don’t! But that doesn’t mean I don’t like the idea of knowing there’s a match out there for me. That someone—even if it’s a little old lady who’s maybe too manipulative for her own good—believes I’m good enough to be matched with someone like that.”
“Ever think maybe you’re too good?” Gaius asked, then mentally kicked himself. She already had a big enough ego.
Nessa laughed, the sound ringing clear and bright over the rush of the waterfall. The suns were lower in the sky, their light streaming through beneath the outdoor kitchen’s overhang and glinting off Nessa’s silky black hair. It had dried in soft waves that looked every bit as decadent to touch as the rest of her.
“All right. That earns you a few points of forgiveness for all the grouchy things you usually spit at me. Why don’t you give me a tour of your house? I want to hear about this plan of yours.”
She started for the door without waiting and Gaius got up to follow, somehow drawn to her demand despite having little to nothing to actually say. She wandered through the rear of the house first, then paused in one corner of the empty space, looking at him expectantly. “Well?”
“My plan was to use my Arena winnings to buy this land and build a house. That’s kind of the whole story.”
“So . . . how long has it been since you started this? That garden out there’s got perennials that are at least a year old.”
“Two years ago, the summer before I retired. I laid the foundation and built the fireplace that summer. Planted the garden and built the deck, too. Put up the frame and . . . well, most of what you see now I did last year.”
She put her hands on her hips and gave him a hard look. “A year. You’ve been living in this empty shell for a year.”
Gaius pressed his lips together and glanced out at the deck where the flames flickered in the fire pit.
Nessa rolled her eyes when he returned his gaze to her. “Yeah, okay, you live on your porch, but why haven’t you finished this place? You must have had a plan for it when you started.”
He swallowed and gave her a helpless look. “I didn’t expect to have to finish it alone,” he muttered, unwilling to share more of his original pipe dream. He’d hoped the matchmaker would come through and that he and his future mate would merge their dreams into the house. The longer he waited, the harder it became to envision anything but the bare necessities—which he already had outside.
Nessa dropped her hands and stepped toward him. She gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder. “Well, you aren’t alone now. Let’s see what we can do to inspire you to finish.”
She trotted off to another corner of the empty space, near what was supposed to be the front door. He hadn’t even gotten around to framing out interior walls yet. So far he’d only built a frame for the front door and a few windows—the ones that he thought had the best views. Neither of those were about the interior of the house so much as the place where it was built. The windows were situated to capture the spectacular sunrises and sunsets over the Nova Aurora mountains. At the moment, the interior was as empty of inspiration as his cold, dead heart.
He heard Nessa let out a soft exclamation somewhere beyond the massive stone fireplace he’d built in the very center of the house. He followed with a few cautious steps, tightening his towel around his hips and kicking himself for not putting on actual pants.
He found her at the western corner, staring out at the sunset. “This is the living room,” she said, with utter certainty. “You’re keeping an open floor plan, right? So you don’t really need any walls, just to finish it. But this is definitely the living room. It gets the best afternoon light, and you’ve already got a dual fireplace, so one side’s got to be the living room anyway. This is it.”
She went on to describe in more detail why it was perfect, and by the time she was finished, Gaius could easily envision the space that way, with a huge, comfortable sofa facing the fireplace on one side and the windows on the other.
“Dining room here,” she said, returning the way she’d come. She gazed up at the high, vaulted ceiling. He’d built the second floor in a loft style, intending to leave half the upper story open, with high windows across the front of the house facing the mountain view where Nova Aurora’s twin suns rose in the mornings.
She navigated around the piles of lumber he’d stacked against the dormant fireplace, along with his tools and other sundries, then went for the stairwell in the corner.
“I’ve got to see that view from upstairs,” she said.
Gaius started up behind her and stopped with his foot on the first step as he caught a perfect view of her bare backside peeking out from under the hem of his shirt. He stood mesmerized for a moment before shaking himself and raking a hand through his hair. She was far too much of a temptation for an old bear li
ke him.
But as he ascended the first few steps without a single twinge of pain in his knees, he started to wonder if maybe he’d been wrong about her. Bossy, she may be . . . but she sure knew her shit when it came to herbs. Not even his own concoction of salves had given him this much relief, despite following the recipe his Arena League doctor had given him. Unless it really was just the sight of her naked backside that obliterated all his senses.
He chuckled to himself. There could be worse ways to feel no pain.
The sight of Nessa’s pretty face bathed in the warm glow of the brilliant Nova Aurora sunset was another way to forget the pain. She stood at the far edge of the second floor, leaning on the railing of the deck and staring out at the view, completely enraptured. When he ascended the last few steps, her focus shifted to him, yet somehow that look of awestruck amazement remained, making him feel for all the world like it was him she was amazed by.
“You really are a master,” she said. “This place is perfect. Every single inch.”
For the briefest moment, her gaze skittered down his big frame and back up before she let out a little sigh and redirected her focus to the view outside.
He came up beside her and leaned on the rail, propping both his forearms across it. His shoulder brushed hers, and she seemed to lean into him the slightest bit. She smelled like woodsmoke from the fire, but underneath was the softest hint of nutmeg.
“How could you not be inspired by this view? I mean, look at that!” She waved her arm at the expanse of gilded sky, her face practically glowing with awe.
Gaius shot a cursory glance at the vista he’d chosen this land for, then looked back at her. “Maybe I just needed someone to share it with,” he said, giving her a bump with his shoulder.
“Well, it would be a shame for you to hoard it all to yourself. Anytime you want to share, you let me know.” She turned around, surveying the open space behind them. It was almost too dim to see much, but there wasn’t much to see anyway.
“This one’s a no-brainer. Bedroom. But you’ve got to leave it open to the view from the east, too. Morning sun, and all. Do you plan on having kids if the matchmaker ever hooks you up?”
She shot him a quick glance as she passed by toward the stairs again. Surprised by her question, he followed without answering at first. Nessa stopped at the top step and looked back at him. “Not part of your plan?”
“No . . . I mean, yeah. That was always the hope. There’s more than enough room on the first floor for a couple more bedrooms.”
“Good,” she said, trotting back down with an eager, skipping, stride. She stopped at the very center of the first floor in front of the cathedral-style window he’d framed out. This one faced east. She grinned as he strolled in.
“So, what’s your vision here? Den? Torture chamber?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Not even close. This is the heart of the house. Don’t tell me you don’t already know what belongs here. With that view to the east, there’s only one thing . . .”
“Kitchen,” he said, then laughed. “You are one amazing woman, Nessa. One-track mind, too.”
“Aw, I wouldn’t say that.” Her eyes darted to his hips and she gave him a coy smile before launching into the most intricate description of the perfect kitchen. By the end of it, he had yet another image in his head that even outdid the living room in its elaborate detail. But what he saw in his mind’s eye was almost a perfect recreation of the old kitchen in Ig’s house, minus the cave-like quality.
“Instead of a wall, you’d build a bar counter between the kitchen and the dining room so the morning light reaches all the way through. Or better yet, just keep the dining room in that corner and add sliding doors that open completely for an outdoor dining room in the summer. Then this view won’t go to waste no matter what time of day you’re in here.”
She continued walking in a circle to trace out the boundaries of the room. For a split-second, Gaius had the most vivid image of not only the kitchen she’d just described to him, but her cooking in it. Along with that image came the memory of all the scents he’d endured over the past week, wafting up the dumbwaiter shaft he’d neglected to cover up after that first day.
He’d halfway hoped she’d make him another peace offering, but she hadn’t, which had lent to his grouchiness, though nowhere near as much as the increasing ache in his damaged knees.
An unbearable ache of a different sort took up residence in his chest, a craving to make that vision real. But that was as ridiculous an idea as Nessa’s mom’s insistence on getting her hitched to a clan leader, sight unseen.
Still, as she grew quiet and thoughtful, the ache persisted. She wandered over to the framed out window and leaned against the open windowsill. It had grown dark while they made their tour, but the space was well-illuminated from the rising moon peeking over the tops of the trees to the east.
Nessa stared out at it with another wistful sigh that made Gaius’ chest tighten with the need to ease whatever sadness had overtaken her. He moved up behind her and rested a hand on her shoulder.
“There’s nothin’ to be sad about with a view like that,” he said, giving her a little squeeze. To his surprise, she rested her hand atop his and squeezed back, then leaned back against him. She let out a soft hum as though drawing strength from his sturdy presence. He reflexively dropped his hands to her hips and rested his chin on top of her head.
“No. That view is probably the second-best thing about this place.”
He nodded, though she couldn’t see. “You’re right, the falls are what caught my eye first.” He squeezed her a little tighter, enjoying the way her small, soft body fit against him and hoping to offer whatever comfort she seemed to be asking for with that lean into him.
Nessa shook her head. “The falls are just part of the view.” She twisted her head around against his shoulder and peered up at him. “The best part is you.”
Gaius’ heart stopped beating.
Ten
The big, gruff bear froze, his blue gaze fixed on Nessa’s upturned face. Her heart pounded so hard she worried she might faint if he didn’t respond. She’d taken a leap, but it was no lie. Gaius’ half-built house had vision, but somewhere along the way, he’d lost it. There was no mistaking his original intention with the way he’d focused the basic design on the surroundings. It just proved how aware he was of his environment, yet he’d forgotten about the most important part of his plan.
His heart. His heart had clearly been in the game when he’d chosen this site and started building, but for whatever reason, that part of him had lost interest. There was only so far she could go with her ideas to jump-start his interest in finishing. The rest had to come from him. And despite her conviction that she wasn’t the future mate he’d envisioned, she wanted to be there to see this place completed, to see him happy in it.
Maybe it was selfish of her to want this. The more she’d seen, the more she wished this place could be part of her dream as much as it had been his at the start. Everything about it called to some deep part of her as much as Ig’s offer of a position on his staff had screamed, “This is your future!”
Gaius didn’t really want her for the long-term; he’d made that clear. But she’d be happy to see him through even the short-term, if it meant being able to see this place’s potential fully realized.
But when he closed the distance between them and his mouth found hers, her desire found its true target. It wasn’t the house at all that she wanted. It was the man who’d built it.
And oh, god, did she want him.
He tightened his arm around her waist and lifted his other hand to cup her face, tilting his mouth across hers to deepen the kiss. She moaned into him when his tongue swept deep, sliding hot and wet against her own, as though he craved a taste of her every bit as much as she’d wanted a taste of him.
He slipped his hand lower, grazing his fingertips across her collarbone and down the center of her chest. With his index finger, he hooked t
he fastened button between her breasts and slipped it open, then slid his hand inside and cupped her heavy breast. His thumb grazed her nipple and she gasped from the pleasure, breaking the kiss and turning back to the view as she arched into his touch.
He slipped his hand back out of her shirt and slowly unfastened the remaining buttons, dipping his head to graze his lips and teeth along the side of her neck.
Nessa’s entire body quivered with a need she’d never felt in her life—the need to be devoured by one man, claimed and fully possessed to the point the rest of the world ceased to exist.
Gaius unfastened the last button and grazed his hands up her belly to gently cup both her breasts. He growled low and deep as they filled his palms, and he thumbed her nipples in slow, tortuous circles.
She started to shrug out of the shirt, but he caught it and tugged it back up.
“I want you in this,” he said, his voice low and rumbling so deep it vibrated down to her core. “Just this when you’re here in my house.”
He turned her in his arms and pulled the collar of the shirt up to her neck, fingering the threadbare fabric. The light contact against her neck sent little jolts of pleasure through her that grew more intense as he slipped his hands down the open sides and spread them around her bared breasts.
“Gaius . . .” His name emerged as a plea on her lips, though for what, she didn’t know. He silenced her with his mouth, stooping to lift her and set her on the open windowsill.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and hooked her ankles behind his thighs to hold on. When he broke from the kiss, breathless, he reached back and unfastened her hands from his neck, then leaned away from her with his fingers twined in hers.
Gaius raked his gaze over her exposed body, her chest heaving from the need to catch her breath after the desperate hunger in their kiss. Moonlight from behind her caught the silver glinting in his beard and the hints of age-old longing in his eyes.