A look of surprise crossed Derek's face. "Yeah, he kind of is, I guess. And I'm sure you'll get to meet him. I know he'll love you."
I always assumed that the coven would be the only family I ever knew, but it occurred to me in that moment that if the fates smiled down on us, I could have another family, too. That awareness opened up my world in more ways than I could have imagined.
Derek put my luggage down and held out his arm. "Want a tour?"
I took his arm. "Sure."
A dozen bedrooms, a master suite that left me breathless, custom bathrooms with multiple shower heads that left me flushed with naughty thoughts, and a game room later, and I needed to sit down and catch my breath.
"Your family's not just rich, is it? You're like upper echelon wealthy. You're like Donald Trump wealthy."
I hoped it didn't sound like an accusation, but when his face fell, I feared it did.
I pulled him down to sit next to me on the couch. "There's nothing wrong with that. I just hope you don't mind that I'm not. At all."
"Rose, the money doesn't mean anything to me. I've been living on my own, with whatever I earned myself, since I turned eighteen."
His admission humbled me. "Why?"
His thumb stroked the inside of my palm as he answered, sending shivers of pleasure through my body. "I didn't want to be a trust-fund kid. I wanted to prove to myself that I could make it on my own merits."
"What does your family do?" I looked around the house for clues about his life, but it was pretty generic. Maybe they rented it out and kept personal effects out of reach.
"They own a few businesses. It went global years ago through a combination of hard work and luck. Don't get me wrong, my parents are devoted to their work and to their family, but it's not the life I want."
"I can relate to not wanting to follow in your parents footsteps."
"What do your parents do?"
I rubbed Sandy's belly, who'd taken up residence next to Derek on the couch. "They breed Huskies. It was Sandy's babies that were killed the other night. She's not taking it well."
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know. We'll make sure to take her on walks and help her recover."
Warmth spread in my chest. "Really?"
"Of course." He patted his lap, and she eagerly moved to lay her head on him, eyes closed as he rubbed his hands over her.
Lucky dog.
"Animals are sacred beings and deserve our respect, love and care. I admire the fact that your family works with dogs. They are often mirrors that reflect the areas we humans still need to work on. So many pet owners think that when they have an out of control dog, it's the dog's fault, when really the dog is reflecting back to the owner something about them that is out of alignment."
I'd never heard someone give voice to what I had always believed. "No wonder Sandy adores you." No wonder I adore you.
Derek moved Sandy off of his lap and walked to the stone fireplace. With precision, he laid each log piece down and then lit the fire, fanning it until it filled the center with an orange and red flame.
"Did you chop that wood yourself?" Images of his hard body, shirtless, muscles flexing as he swung the ax flooded my brain.
"Actually, I did. Are you impressed?"
"Very."
"Good." He joined me back on the couch and put his arm around me, pulling our bodies closer together. "I like impressing you."
I rested my head on his shoulder and enjoyed the smell of freshly-cut wood burning, and the warmth of the fire as it filled the room with silhouettes of flames dancing on the walls.
Derek leaned in and cupped my face with his hand, then kissed me deeply.
My body responded immediately, tensing and aching, but I cut the kiss short and pulled away. "Before we do this, we need to talk about the rules."
"There are rules?"
"Yes."
"Okay, let's here them."
"First, no sex."
His face froze. "None at all?"
"None at all. Not during this trip."
He nodded. "I can live with that, though it will be very hard."
I bet it would. Man, I hated having rules.
"Second rule, if things get too hot and I pull back, that's it. We stop."
"Always. You don't even have to say it, Rose. I'd never push you past your comfort zone. Even if we were naked, wrapped around each other, and I'd already pushed my cock into you, if you said to stop, we'd be done."
Oh, the brat. His words had their desired effect, and my panties bore witness to that effect.
My voice cracked when I spoke again. "Rule three, no long term promises. We use this time to get to know each other, but we don't commit to anything beyond this until we each have time alone to reflect on what we really want."