Free Words of Lust by Lise Horton

Companionable. Another first for her.
    “How about we enjoy the mystery? Find out about each other one layer at a time? Sort of like stripping ourselves bare...so to speak.” He whispered against her lips before dipping in for another chaste kiss that nevertheless made her lower anatomy tingle.
    Then he kissed her again and it was anything but chaste and she hoped the doorman hadn’t been watching when Nick cupped her ass with one hand and squeezed. He released her and she swayed, off balance, before she stepped inside and watched as he jumped into his truck and then drove off with a salute.
    She made her way slowly up to her apartment and once inside could only drop onto the chaise and lie there in a state of stupefied wonderment. She’d left the apartment that morning filled with trepidation and returned home with every emotion topsy-turvy. He had kissed her senseless, left her body vibrating with need and given her an incredible orgasm. He’d made her laugh. Most startling of all, she’d engaged in an erotic flirtation with a man and he’d invited her home to meet his parents for their second date. She’d divulged her IQ and bizarre formative years, yet he hadn’t run screaming into the night.
    Would wonders never cease?

Chapter Four
    Nick grinned throughout the day on Saturday. He’d woken with a killer hard-on from dreams of Serafina and fired up with anticipation for their date the next day, he’d decided to put that energy to good use by heading to his north Jersey property to put in a full day of work on his cabin. He couldn’t wait to tell her all about the place. It had been his pet project for the last five years and the place was livable now, but there were still lots of embellishments and improvements in his plans.
    He’d found the property while driving to a work site one weekend and it had been love at first sight. The half acre wasn’t a large piece but it was lakefront property in a quiet area, on a small lake with only a few homes scattered around the perimeter and it was close enough to the city he could run up for just a day if he wanted. The price had been sweet because there were no buildings on the property. A few trees had been cleared by the prior owner in the hope of development, but for whatever reason they’d abandoned both the project and the property, which served his purposes perfectly. He had no desire to raze the land so he’d designed the house to fit in the allotted space and kept all the remaining trees. He loved the privacy. Maybe, like Gia, he needed a break from the chaos that was the Stellato family. All seven of them had lived in the Forest Hills house and it had been mighty cramped when they were screaming kids. Privacy had been nonexistent and now he relished those times when he could relax in his own space that allowed escape from the wonderful insanity that was Manhattan.
    He was working on the front steps of the cabin, a broad set leading down from the full porch that ran the entire circumference of the house. He’d already built the base of the staircase and now laid the steps. That job kept him busy until lunch and he drove into the small nearby town and grabbed a ready-made sandwich. It wasn’t tasty, but it was filling, and in the afternoon he drank a couple of beers while he worked on the path leading down toward the water. He’d purchased wide slates and was setting them in randomly, not wanting a fastidious look, but a natural effect, while still creating a serviceable walk. By hustling beneath the warm sun, he was finished, aching, tired and sweating, by six. He took a quick dip in the lake before pulling on clean jeans and shirt, and set out on the hour long trip home, satisfied with the amount of work he’d gotten done. Most of the rest of the chores were finishing touches. He was still working on interior fine tuning as well, but within a few months, unless he got booked up on a job, he’d be completely done.
    As he drove, an image of Serafina