Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
I lifted my head, meeting his concerned gaze. “I don’t,” I assured him.
He smiled, brushing my hair from my face. “You are so gorgeous right now. I thought last night you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, but right now, you are stunning.”
“Right now?” I repeated, shocked at his words. I had never been called beautiful before.
“With your lips swollen, your hair mussed, and my teeth marks on your skin? Fecking hell. I have never seen anything so sexy.”
I felt myself blush. That was how he saw me?
He snickered, pulling my mouth back to his and kissing me again. “I need coffee. Then you again.”
I sat up, his eyes widening as I did, taking in my breasts and following my torso down to where we were joined.
“Forget the coffee,” he grunted, pulling me back down. “Another round, then we’ll have caffeine.”
He kissed me, long, hard, and deep.
“Maybe two rounds,” he murmured with a wicked grin. “We have no place to go.”
I was surprisingly good with that.
I made coffee, standing in the kitchen with a blanket wrapped around me, my fuzzy socks on, plus the warmest clothing I had with me. Sully had assured me this was odd weather—he certainly hadn’t expected it or he wouldn’t have come out this weekend. Then he grinned and pulled me in for a fast kiss before he went outside to check on the heat pump.
“I’m glad I did, though,” he said with a wink. “Best decision of my life.”
I leaned against the counter, thinking of this morning. I had never experienced passion the way I had with him. I had never slept with a man I had only just met. In fact, I had only slept with two men my entire life, and I had been far more cautious with them.
Sully, it seemed, was the exception to many rules.
Turning to the coffee, I gently pressed the plunger, inhaling the scent that filled the kitchen. Outside, I could hear noises that sounded like a shovel being used. It was still snowing, although not as fiercely, but when we listened to the radio again, it said the trains were not running yet. Sully had sighed and informed me they might not start up again until later that weekend.
“Maybe Sunday or even Monday,” he mused. Then he had lifted an eyebrow, teasing, “What a shame.”
The door opened, the icy wind whipping through the slightly warmer air. Sully pulled off his coat and boots, placing a box on the floor and heading straight for me. I thought he was going to kiss me, and I lifted my head for his mouth. Except he took the mug from my hand and drank it.
“Hey,” I protested. “That was mine.”
He bent and kissed me, tasting of coffee and cold. “I saw what you wanted, Autumn.”
“Really,” I drawled.
He grinned, taking another sip of coffee. “Those beautiful eyes of yours are very expressive.”
Then he kissed me again, pulling me close and making me shiver.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re forgiven.”
He chuckled as I poured us each a fresh cup of coffee.
“I needed that.”
“How’s it look out there?”
“The pump was completely encased in ice and snow. No wonder it shut down. I got as much as I could off, and I found the heater that I used to use. I’ll let it warm up, and we’ll see if it works. I hope now that I’ve cleaned off the heat pump, it will start again.”
“I’m surprised we haven’t lost power.”
He shook his head as he took a sip of coffee. “Nope. I have a generator. If the power goes out, it will kick in right away. I checked it and it was fine.” He frowned. “I’ll be having a word with the people who installed the heat pump. Bad location. Maybe we can put some sort of protective roof over it or something.” He met my eyes. “I’m glad you weren’t alone when this happened. Cell service is iffy at best, and there is no Wi-Fi out here.”
“I noticed. Once the storm started, I got nothing.”
“I go into the village if I need to call someone and can’t find a signal.” He threw another log onto the fire. “It was always the point to come here and get away. I couldn’t be reached.”
“What if you got sick or something?”
“I have a signal booster that usually works. Or head to the village. I guess the storm knocked it out.”
We returned to the living room, and he sat down beside me, reaching over and pulling me to his side. Without thinking, I nestled against him. It felt oddly right.
For a moment, there was silence, with only the sound of the roaring fire and the storm outside. Then he spoke.
“So, you live in Toronto?”
“Yes.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Three weeks. I have three more, unless the project runs longer.”