“Oh, my God. The house looks amazing. What did you do?” Ellie asked, her tone slightly awed.
Ellie had gotten a lot of things organized before she’d left this house, but it hadn’t been this clean and not nearly as inviting. Zane had a feeling Ellie hadn’t wanted to intrude, or put anything of herself into either of his homes, so he’d done it himself.
As requested, there were various fresh flower arrangements around the home, something that Zane had specifically requested for Ellie’s homecoming. Her work supplies for her aromatherapy had been duplicated, the new stuff stowed neatly in the pantry. There wasn’t a speck of lint or dust on the floor, and the decorator he’d hired had changed the downstairs space to something lighter and brighter. It was a contemporary look that would suit Ellie, so much different than the previous traditional, heavy décor.
Honestly, Zane preferred the change himself. When he’d built the house, he hadn’t really given any input into what kind of feel he wanted inside the house. He was more interested in the design and getting all of the rooms and amenities he wanted. He’d told the initial decorator to make things functional, and she’d done exactly that. The woman had used expensive, heavy furniture and ornate designs that she probably assumed a wealthy man would want.
“Oh, my God. What did you do?” Ellie repeated in amazement as she twirled around, as though she was trying to take in her new surroundings.
Zane watched as she peeked into the family room, her eyes growing wide. “My pictures are in here,” she said with confusion. “And some of my old throw pillows.”
Zane already knew that. He’d asked the decorator to incorporate any of Ellie’s items from her old place that she could before the rest were stored. Obviously, she’d found some things that worked.
Since Ellie hadn’t budged from the doorway of the family room, Zane went and took her hand, leading her past the kitchen and into the living room. “What do you think?”
She opened her mouth, and then closed it again as her eyes lit on a collection of photos over the couch. “That’s us,” she said in a hushed tone, walking over to the pictures and staring.
Zane let her tug him along with her, and he nodded at the wall, happy to see how well the wall collection had come out. Every image was framed beautifully, arranged in a pattern that looked natural.
“I know,” he finally answered. “I collected all of the pictures I took wherever we went and asked them to be finished out on the wall.”
She finally turned to him, her expression perplexed. “Why?”
He shrugged. “Because you were always so worried that you didn’t have a real home. I wanted my houses to be your homes, too. Our homes. I wanted to see our things mingled together, to know that it wasn’t just me living here. We live here together.” He took a deep breath before asking a question he dreaded. “You don’t like it?”
“I love it,” she replied in a tremulous voice. “It just makes us really…entwined here.”
That was exactly what Zane wanted. He wanted the two of them to mesh so tightly that Ellie would never want to leave. “I know. I like it that way. I told you this wasn’t a quick fling for me, Ellie. I want you to stay in our homes. I want to smell your scent lingering everywhere. I want to see your things next to mine. Fucking hell, I want to tie you to our bed so you can never leave.”
She turned to look at him, her bright blue eyes sparkling, wet with tears. “I want that, too. I just can’t believe you did all of this for me.”
“It was partly for me, too,” he admitted. “I’m a selfish, greedy bastard who wants to make sure you have every reason to consider this as much your home as mine. I want you to stay.”
With an emotional sob, Ellie threw herself at him, and Zane happily caught her.
“I can’t believe you’re concerned for a single minute that I’d go anywhere,” she told him, sounding astonished. “Tie me to your bed. I’d happily stay there.”
“I wasn’t kidding,” Zane told her huskily. “But I’d never literally restrain you, Ellie. Not after what you’ve been through.”
Christ! He actually had dirty fantasies of having Ellie exactly where he wanted her, but it was one fantasy he’d never act out. His damn primitive caveman instincts to conquer and keep her would have to go screw themselves.
Sexually, Ellie was open to trying just about everything. In fact, she had an earthy lust for him that drove him insane. And the woman was an adventuress when it came to trying out new ways to drive each other crazy in the bedroom. But bondage was one thing he refused to do.