Page 42 of Cherished Lands

Hesitantly, I reached for the handle and opened the front door.

I'd been right to be cautious. It didn't even look like my house anymore. There were suitcases strewn about, clothes on every surface, and a pile of shoes under the coffee table.

In the center of the chaos, stood Tessa.

Jesus fucking Christ.How did she get more beautiful every time I saw her?

In a few short hours, she'd not only taken over my house, she'd transformed from a goddess in a white wedding dress to sex-on-legs in a skimpy black nightgown with lace at the hem.

Once again, her hair was piled on top of her head, but thistime, it was a complete mess—almost how I'd imagined she'd look after I'd fucked her senseless.

My cock swelled in my pants at the sight of her.

"The fuck are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" She planted her hands on those full hips. My hands twitched at my sides, imagining how it would feel to dig my fingers into them. I wanted to mark her, hold her tight, and bruise that soft skin. "Moving in."

"But... why?"

"We're married. Did you forget?"

"No-o. But no one has to know you're staying in the main house."

"You don't think your siblings will notice?"

Goddamn it.She had a point there. But I wasn't in the mood to admit it. It had been a long fucking day, and I wanted to take a hot shower and jerk away the perpetual hard on that had become the bane of my existence.

I couldn't think with her standing there looking likethat—inmyhouse, nearmybed. She was breaking my brain. All I could think about was how, not a week ago, I'd had her pinned beneath me.I should have fucked her then and got her outta my system.

"There's only one 'T' in my name," I blurted.

"Huh?"

"You can't spell 'toilet' because there is only one 't.'"

"Ahh, I see." A cat-like grin slid over her face. "And what, exactly, had you thinking about that?"

"I-I don't know."

"Did it happen to be the fact that I was straddling you when I said that?"

Yes."No." The denial came out quick. Too quick. Tessa Belmonte—Everton—was a lot of things—annoying, bossy, intrusive, sexy as sin—but she was no dummy.

"Sure thing, Paul Bunyan. How 'bout you help me with all this?" She dropped her hands from her hips and gestured at her scattered belongings. "You're seriously lacking in storage space."

"I need a shower."

"Fine. I'll put some headphones in so I don't have to hear you moaning my name while you're taking care of that boner in there."

I shook my head and took off for the bathroom, cursing as I dodged the piles of bras and tiny silk panties.

Chapter Sixteen

TESSA

Things weregoing.

They weren't bad; they weren't good. They justwere.