Page 222 of The Grand Duel

I twist my head, needing him, and he meets my lips with a fierce kiss, our mouths tangling.

His hands sweep tenderly over my torso as his tongue licks and toys with mine, each kiss slow and drawn out. It’s as if he doesn’t want to stop.

My body grows lax in his arms, the orgasm unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my life.

I smile, and he pulls back.

“What?”

I shake my head, my lips pursed as I try to tame them. “Nothing.”

I’m wrapped in a fluffy towel and carried into the main bedroom. “Charles,” I plead, laughing—although I don’t really want him to put me down at all.

He sets me down by my bag and then reaches for the blanket he brought with him from home. “It’s freezing, Lis,” he tells me, quickly wrapping me in it and putting on his boxers. “I’m hoping the central heating will be up and running soon.”

He pulls on his T-shirt and then slips a hoodie over my head.

I shake my head as he bends and holds out the underwear I packed so that I can step into them. He follows with my leggings. “It’s not even that cold.”

“Your hair is wet.” He points out, standing.

I smile up at him, forgetting for a moment that I can kiss this beautiful man if I want to.

My boyfriend.

Charles Aldridge.

My stomach balls itself up in knots at the thought, my smile untamed and giddy.

“What?” he asks.

I shake my head, not wanting to give all my cards away at once. “Will you show me the rest of the work you’ve had done before we go home?”

He narrows his eyes on me, as if wanting to know what I was thinking, but then he nods and takes my hand, leading me from the room and down the landing. “I’ve had the room that was here originally split in two and made into a home office and bedroom.”

My jaw drops as I walk into the room he said would be an office. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“We’ve managed to create three bedrooms on this level and one in the loft. The stairs will be delivered sometime over the weekend hopefully.”

“Four bedrooms,” I muse. “That wouldn’t happen to be because of two small children who have you wrapped around their little fingers now, would it?”

His lip curls, and he pulls me to him by my jumper. “Maybe,” he says, stealing a kiss.

“I knew it.”

“But I wanted to be prepared, too. Just in case down the line…”

My brow gathers, my smile faltering. “What do you mean?”

He shrugs, still playful, which only confuses me. “Who knows what I might need these rooms for in a couple of years’ time.”

My heart stalls. “Children?” I swallow. “You mean children. Of your own?”

He licks at his bottom lip and looks down at me, as if gauging my reaction. As if he knew this conversation was bigger than he was letting on. “Maybe. Can you see?—”

I shake my head, barely hearing him, let alone my messy thoughts. “But I…I didn’t think you wanted kids.”

He laughs, his smile nervous. “Lis, I didn’t want anything until I met you.”