Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 108382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
"Is she all right? Perhaps I should check on her," James said anxiously.
"She's fine. No need to worry."
Prudence buried her face in her hands. She was shameless. Even though her father stood right outside the door, her desire for Zac had not diminished in the least. She wanted him, now more than ever. She was a wicked hussy, absolutely wicked.
"Well, if you say so, but you never know. She could be upset or not be feeling well or—What's that, Lenore?" James said, interrupting his own rambling. "What? What's that you're saying? I can't hear you. Huh? Oh! Oh! Yes, a cup of tea would be nice. Sorry to disturb you, Zac."
Prudence buried her face in her hands and shook her head. Her father knew. He knew she was in here and he knew what they were up to.
"Fathers can be a troublesome lot at times," Zac teased.
"He knows," Prudence cried out, removing her hands from her face.
"Knows what?" Zac asked with all the feigned innocence of a young boy.
"What we're doing," she said, reverting to a whisper.
"What are we doing?" he whispered back.
Prudence clamped her mouth shut and crossed her arms over her chest. "Nothing. We're doing absolutely nothing."
"Wrong, Prudence Agatha," he said firmly and lifted her bottom, providing easier excess as he entered her.
She cried out from the pleasure and shock of his entrance.
He didn't come down over her as she had expected. He stayed positioned upright between her legs, giving him the power of deep penetration.
Prudence closed her eyes against all else and surrendered to him.
Zac watched her eyes flutter and close as his controlled thrusts cast her into a web of relaxed sensuality. He was in no hurry. He savored the feel of her, so snug, wet, and hot. She fit him perfectly.
He reached out and touched her, adding to her pleasure and his. He brought a moan to her lips and a cry from deep inside her. Her rapture fueled his and his movements took on a new dimension, taking them one step beyond.
His name slipped pleadingly from Prudence's lips and she reached out to him. He gripped her hands, their fingers locking firmly as he drove them farther and farther beyond reality.
She pulled at him, urging him to come to her, but he refused. He meant to use his strength to bring them to an earth-shattering climax. And he did, forcing Prudence to cry out his name repeatedly.
He covered her with himself and then captured her face in his hands and kissed her sweetly. "I love you, Pru," he whispered through his kisses. "I love you."
Prudence closed her eyes and was glad when Zac bit playfully at her lower lip, preventing it from trembling. Her love was locked deep within her heart and she still feared releasing it. Why?
Why couldn't she declare her love for him as easily as he did for her?
CHAPTER 27
Summer was right around the corner. The weather was surprisingly warm and the trees were alive with bright green leaves. Flowers bloomed as though the season had already arrived, their vibrant yellow, pink, and red colors adding a sparkle of contrast to the surrounding area.
"It looks picture perfect," Zac said, sitting in relaxed comfort on the front porch with Prudence, James, and Lenore.
"But it isn't always so," Lenore added, standing to refill the empty glasses on the round table that separated her and James from Zac and Prudence. She lifted the large pitcher and poured a generous amount of cider into each glass, handed one to James, and returned to her rocking chair beside him.
"Sil —Lenore," Zac corrected, knowing how important it was to her reestablish her identity as James's wife and Prudence's mother. "Lenore is right. The winters can get pretty brutal around here."
"There's much snow?" Prudence asked eagerly, reaching for Zac's and her glasses. She handed his to him.
He took it and, with his free hand, patted her thigh. "Like the snow, do you?"
"She loves it," Lenore answered, her smile wide. Then realizing she had trodden on the past, she dropped her nervous gaze to her lap.
Zac looked to Prudence and she understood his message. It was distinct. It informed her that Lenore needed a daughter as much as Prudence needed a mother.
"Mother's right," she said. "She should know, since I drove her crazy when I was little. Every time I saw a snowflake fall, I would beg to go outside to play."
James cast his daughter a grateful look, though it wasn't necessary. Prudence was glad that she could finally look back on her past with some fondness.
Lenore leaned forward in the rocker and smiled broadly, her whole face lighting with pleasure. "I would bundle her up until she looked like a round ball. Then we would go out and play in the yard. I taught her how to make pictures in the snow."