His to Protect: Book 1 in the Bound to Him Series by Sandra Antoni (the reading list TXT) 📗

“I’ve never had anyone here to share it with me before,” hhe said softly, his eyes never leaving mine. “Would you like to help me decorate?” he asked. A smile spread across my face at his words, and I nodded up at him.

“I think that would be fun. I love Christmas, and it might be a good distraction. A distraction would be nice,” I said quietly.

Zeke walked around behind me and turned my barstool so that I was facing the bar once more. Then his hands went to my shoulders. He began to massage my tense muscles. My eyes closed instantly, and I felt my body relax for the first time in hours. I felt his lips on my cheek and his kiss was warm, sending heat running through me and pooling in my core.

I could definitely get used to this, and I had a feeling that Zeke wanted me to. My head rolled forward, and his fingers worked the muscles in my neck and then his hands moved down to my back. This felt so good.

When he stopped rubbing my back, his hands circled my waist. I could feel the heat from his body behind me, and I raised my head and opened my eyes. A smile spread across my face, and I looked at the others in the room who were all still watching me.

“Girl, if his hands are that good, you know I’m way more than jealous,” Jessica said with an amused grin.

I actually laughed out loud and it felt really good. I ended up laughing so hard that I was doubled over before it finally stopped. When I looked up again, everyone was staring at me like I had lost my mind. No one said a word, and the silence was deafening. It almost threw me into another fit of laughter.

“That felt really good,” I said when my eyes met Zeke’s. “The massage and the laughter. It was just what I needed,” I said softly, completely aware of the radiant smile on my face.

He turned me again, but this time to face him and his lips crashed down on mine. My hands went to his chest and his muscles bulged beneath my fingers. His hand went around the back of my neck, holding me in place as his tongue plunged inside my mouth.

We shared the same air, one of us breathing in and then the other. His scent filled my senses, and it calmed me. I could not get enough of him. When he finally leaned back, his forehead landed on mine. I drew in a shaky breath, and my heart was racing in my chest. No one had ever made me feel the way Zeke did.

“I love you, Chelsea,” he whispered, and I leaned back and looked up at him.

“I love you too, Zeke,” I told him. It was the truth, and now seemed like the perfect time to admit it. I was tired of secrets and I didn’t want any secrets between us.

When I turned and looked at the others in the room, I realized that Zeke and I were alone. I looked back up at him in surprise. He smiled down at me, then reached down and lifted me in his arms once again. I squealed in surprise, but he carried me through the kitchen and down the hallway to his bedroom.

When he set me down on the floor in the bedroom, he reached for my t-shirt and pulled it over my head. Then he worked the button and zipper on my jeans and slid them down my legs. Next, he reached around me and unhooked my bra. I let it fall down my arms to the floor. When my panties were on top of the pile of clothes on the floor, he stood and began removing his own clothes.

Once we were both standing in the middle of the room completely naked, I looked up at him. I mean, I had a feeling that I knew where this was going, but this had been an unusual start and I wondered what he had in mind. He had not said a word since he carried me in here. He reached for my hand, and then he turned and pulled me towards the bathroom.

When we stepped inside, he opened the glass door to the shower and pulled me in behind him. My jaw dropped open as I looked around. It was an actual room. The walls were all tile that matched the floor, and in the center of the room on the ceiling was a large, rounded shower head. It was easily a foot and a half in diameter.

Another shower head was on the wall to the right. Under that shower head was a large panel that looked like it held over fifty different sprayers that ran from the shower head all the way to the floor. Another panel just inside the door controlled everything inside the shower.

There were two long, moveable benches along opposite walls, and a set of built-in shelves in the corner held a multitude of shampoos and body washes. I looked up at Zeke in surprise.

“I’ve never seen a shower like this before. It’s amazing,” I said in awe. He grinned at me and walked towards the panel on the wall by the door. It seemed that water began spraying from everywhere. Then he stepped back in front of me.

“Chelsea, I need you to know something. Obviously, I have had relationships in the past, but since I bought this house, I’ve never had a woman in my bedroom. Not until you. I’ve never had a woman in this shower until you. No woman had ever been in that bed until you. I knew from the moment I carried you here from the mountain that you were the woman for me,” he said tenderly, reaching up and caressing my cheek.

Tears instantly filled my eyes, and his thumb brushed them away. His face was filled with so much tenderness and