Hearth, Holly, & Honor by Aliyah Burke

Author:Aliyah Burke
Language: eng
Format: epub

Chapter Four

Young love is a flame; very pretty, often very hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. The love of the older and disciplined heart is as coals, deep-burning, unquenchable.

~Henry Ward Beecher

Rance woke and rolled over to draw the woman in bed into his arms; he missed her warmth against him. There was no one there. He sat up with a frown and glanced about the room. The morning light pushed beyond the curtains, casting a soft glow about the place. He stayed there for a moment and took in her room. Clean and spotless like normal, but this, this was where she had numerous photos of Tavis along one wall, surrounding one of all three of them. Taken on his seventh birthday. The final birthday.

With a pained groan, he tore his gaze from the wall of images. She had very few knickknacks in her room. The pastel greens and blues of the walls gave everything a soft appeal. Turning his head to the chair beside the bed, he smiled at the image of his clothes there, neatly folded, and his shoes underneath the seat. His bags were beside the wingback.

He got out of bed and strode naked to the chair where he grabbed his bag, pulled out the clothes he wanted, and put the others in. Then, he left the bedroom and headed to take a shower. Finished with that, he began his search for Dana. The closer he got to the kitchen, the stronger the smells of cooking food became. His stomach growled with unabashed hunger.

Right before he turned the corner, he heard her talking. It wasn’t her voice but the masculine one answering that had him narrowing his eyes. He peeked down at his wrist and saw it was a little before eight. With a deep breath, he walked around the corner and into the cheery kitchen. He skimmed his eyes over Dana, soaking up her beauty before focusing on the other man in the room. Her back was to them both as she mixed something in a bowl.

Tall, dark hair and fit. And staring at Dana in a way which set Rance’s hackles to rising. The man sat in a chair at the table, cup dangling from his fingers.

“Morning, sweetheart,” Rance said slowly.

The man jumped, obviously not expecting to hear another voice in the house.

Dana didn’t miss a beat; she turned, bowl in hand, and gave him a smile. “Good morning, Rance.” He flicked his gaze between her and the still unknown man. She got the hint. “Jason, I’d like you to meet Rance MacLean, my husband. Rance, my neighbor Jason Rytter.”

The man—Jason—looked at him, brown eyes wide with surprise and…could it be disappointment? Rance lifted a brow and held his gaze.

“Nice to meet you,” he said, deliberately walking toward Dana, and when he reached her, he leaned close to kiss her.

He wrapped an arm around her waist and the bowl, squeezed between them, didn’t stop him from slanting his mouth over hers. Invading the warmth, he swept through her mouth like a maelstrom, taking everything from her.

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