Fairytale Come Alive (Ghosts and Reincarnation #4)(128)

After he finished, Elle breathed, “Oh my God.”

He had, in his way, been pining for her too.

Prentice carried on, “Mum’s asked me twice in the last twenty years when she was clearing the loft, if she could get rid of them but I wouldn’t allow it.”

“Oh my God,” Elle repeated, comprehending how huge this admission was but not quite able to process it.

“She thought I was daft.” The throatiness had gone from his voice and a touch of humor was there. “When we get back, we’ll move that box home.”

She felt her breath escalate at his words as his chin moved her hair from her neck and he kissed her there before going on, “I’m not upset you got rid of that ring, baby. I never liked it. I always thought you deserved something more and, even the day I gave it to you, I intended to replace it with something better.”

Oh…

Wow.

“Pren –”

“I am upset about the reason why.”

“Pren –”

“And I’m sorry for that reason. More sorry than I can say that I said those things to you.”

Her voice was aching when she tried again to get through, “Pren –”

He continued to resist her efforts and asked, “Did you wear it when you were with Evangelista?”

She swallowed, worried about what her answer would say about her and then, considering Prentice was being so, very honest, she felt she had no choice but to nod.

Prentice’s voice sounded with disbelief when he asked, “Did he know what it was?”

Elle nodded again.

Then she felt Prentice’s body start shaking with gentle laughter.

His voice sounded highly satisfied when he remarked, “I bet he loved that.”

“We argued about it,” Elle whispered and Prentice’s gentle laughter became not so gentle. “A lot,” she added and Prentice’s not so gentle laughter became vocal.

Elle let his hand go, rolled in the circle of his arm and she looked up at his shadowed face.

“Laurent used to tell me Dad should have let you have me, considering the fact I wasn’t much of a wife.”

Prentice’s voice was still tinged with amusement but it was also firm when he replied, “I think the better way to put that, baby, is he wasn’t much of a husband.”

Elle remembered how hurtful Laurent’s words had been back then, believing that he was right. She couldn’t have children, she couldn’t respond to Laurent in bed, she hated to travel with him even though she tried to enjoy it as much as he did.

Now, that hurt slid away.

Because, Laurent was wrong and Prentice was right.

She might not have been the greatest wife but then again, she’d never loved him.

But Laurent had, in the beginning, declared his undying love and devotion to her and he could have at least tried to make her feel the same back.

And if he did, indeed, care for her so deeply, he wouldn’t have treated her so cruelly when he found out she couldn’t conceive, he would have taken more care of her when she didn’t respond in bed and he wouldn’t have forced her into the globe-trotting life she found so tedious.

And he wouldn’t have cheated on her repeatedly nor would he have been so hideously obvious about it.

Elle found herself getting angry, thus she declared, “He was a toad.”

Prentice’s body shook with laughter at the same time that laughter rose huskily from his throat. “No, baby, he was a fool.” She felt his hand glide down her back to cup her bottom and he continued, “He gave up this?” He gave her behind a squeeze and murmured, “Mad.”

Without her mind commanding her body to do so, she nuzzled closer and she found her mouth saying teasingly, “I’m getting the impression, Prentice Cameron, that you like my behind.”

“Aye,” he growled and his fingers flexed again, “though I wouldn’t put it that way.”

“And what way would you put it?”

His hand not at her bottom drifted into her hair and he used it to pull her head back so his mouth could descend to hers.

“I don’t like it, I love it,” he muttered against her mouth. “You have the sweetest ass I’ve ever seen.”

His words poured over her and they felt like warm, clean, fragrant water.

“Pren –”

“Especially when you’re on your knees, your ass is in the air and my c**k is inside you.”

She felt her body heat and her legs started shifting restlessly as she repeated, “Pren –”

“And when it’s snug in my crotch,” he growled, “baby, the… f*cking… best.”

She snuggled closer and brushed her lips against his, her hands moving, somewhat urgently, along his skin as her leg lifted and hooked around his hip.

His hand slid between her legs, he touched her wetness and her h*ps jerked before they swayed into his palm.

“There it is,” he muttered, his voice filled with masculine satisfaction, something else that sent heat through her system. “Proof you like it when I talk dirty.”

“You’re impossible,” she retorted, hearing her voice filled with feminine satisfaction mingled with laughter.

“No,” he whispered, his finger slid inside, she stopped laughing and gasped with pleasure against his mouth, “I’m greedy.”