The east estate of the Rantzen Family was easily a thirteen-digit property. As soon as the electronic gate admitted the limousine, Solene couldn’t help but gawk at the sight it offered. As expected, the mansion was enormous, the front garden was manicured to perfection and the view of the whole of Basque was spectacular and that was just inside the car.
Solene couldn’t help but be in awe of the place, but what really caught her attention the most and loved even further was the surrounding forestry. Everywhere she looked, there were greens and greens of different shapes and sizes. Some trees were in the process of changing into autumn colors and this added to the beautiful color palette of the area.
“I’m impressed,” Solene remarked as she sensed Henri leaning towards her. “This place of yours is the perfect representation of the saying ‘a mountain as its backyard.'”
“Hm, then let’s go outside and I’ll show you everything, Solene,” he offered, feeling happy with her initial reaction. He released her hand and disembarked the limousine first. The driver already opened the door for her, so what Henri did was to offer up his arm for her to hold onto.
“Thank you,” she stated whilst exiting the vehicle.
“I have this place built two years ago in preparation for this day,” he confessed as he led her to the nearest cobblestone platform with an arbor. This part provided a full view of the city and the seaside.
Solene would have continued gaping at the sight, but his words caught her notice. “What do you mean, Henri?”
The former stared at her with gravity and flashed a smile. “Fair Silver Estate is my gift to you, Solene. This place is yours, designed accordingly to your likes and wants, and fitted to have the best security system like the Rantzen Estate.”
“Oh no…” Solene hastened to say. “I couldn’t possibly accept this, Henri. This is way too much.”
“Nothing is too much when it’s you,” he answered. His gaze lingered on hers and in reaction, Solene blushed. “But to make you feel comfortable, your mother helped with the details inside the house.”
“My mother did?” Her brows arched. “But she never told me about this.”
“Then that means she fulfilled her promise of keeping this a secret from you,” Henri remarked.
“You two are sly,” she expressed, frowning a little.
Henri chuckled softly. “I accept your compliment, Solene,” he said and placed a hand in between them. “Do you want to tour the inside of the house or do you want to just stand here and stare?”
She had another idea in mind though but that could wait until the evening, so she instead took his preferred hand and answered, “Lead the way, please.”
It took them half an hour to finish touring the whole of the estate. It was composed of the main manor, front and back gardens, an infinity pool, a stable for the horses, and a tennis court. When they stopped at the manor’s main living space that boasted a twenty-foot ceiling, people waiting for them greeted and did a low bow.
“While we’re here, Mrs. Su has arranged a main staff of four to cater to our needs,” Henri announced and pointed to the employees. “Introduce yourselves.”
An old woman of fifty years stepped forward and dipped her head.
“Milord and Mistress, I am Ingrid, the head cleaner of the Fair Silver Estate. I will be overseeing everything and will make sure that all your needs are met.”
She gestured to a younger woman behind her and stated, “This is my assistant, Tessa. She’ll be Mistress Solene’s personal maid.”
The one mentioned executed another low bow and displayed a formal smile towards them.
“This is the resident cook, Chef Ressu,” Ingrid continued and the man of sixty years placed a hand over his chest and stepped forward.
“Master Henri, Milady Solene, I am pleased to meet you.”
“And lastly, this young man here is Christopher, he will be your driver and errand boy.”
The boy was about twenty plus years old, Solene reckoned; the same as her personal maid, Tessa, who seemed to look like Cassandra, the assistant head of Mrs. Su in the Rantzen Estate. They were good-looking people too, but that wasn’t what she minded. It was the friendly aura from all four that she was happy about.
“Good,” Henri muttered. “Solene? You want to speak?”
“Sure,” she stated and routed her gaze back at the staff. “Thank you for taking care of the Fair Silver Estate. Touring the entire property earlier, I saw just how much you love your work. Although we just met, I am confident I’ll be in good hands.”
The four cracked wide smiles after hearing her words.
Henri held her hand thereafter and stated, “Now that all introductions are done, let’s start our honeymoon.”
Solene blushed again and stiffened on the spot. Did he really have to declare that in front of the staff?
“Milord, Mistress, your lunch is prepared in the sitting area of your chamber,” Ingrid informed.
“Good, because I’m famished,” he stated whilst eyeing Solene.
Seeing this, she was certain he was referring not of food, but of something else.
With Henri still holding her hand, they both climbed up the grand stairs and strode the hallway of the second floor until they found their chamber. Once inside, Solene gaped again at the interior design before her: contemporary modern just like she dreamed in a house, floor-to-ceiling glass doors that opened up to a wide balcony outside, and a fireplace in the sitting area. Another great feature she noticed was the connection between the balcony and the stairs going down the infinity pool.
“My mother didn’t suggest this, did she?” Solene stated as she neared the balcony with Henri following behind her.
“No, but Charlie figured you’d like this set-up. She said it is convenient.”
“Convenient?” she parroted, cocking a brow towards him.
The intense way he looked at her made it very clear what his younger sister was implying and what he was thinking. This earned another heat from her cheeks.
“Huh, your sister sure is quite frank like you,” she expressed whilst avoiding his gaze.
“She learned it from me, Solene,” was his lighthearted answer. Stepping backward, he grabbed her hand and pulled her with him inside the inner room.
“Come, let’s eat.”
Solene nodded in approval as she was, after all, hungry herself, literally and figuratively.
***
Their lunch passed by quickly without a hitch. They talked about the construction of the estate and how her mother contributed to the interior design. Solene enjoyed hearing it from his perspective–a. k. a. almost in a business-like tone–and so, she made a mental note to fish out her mother’s side of the story.
At one point, Solene went to the bathroom to freshen up, hoping deep inside her that well, maybe, this was it… That he’d actually make a move and start whatever it was they didn’t finish last night, but to her surprise, Henri was already in the balcony waiting for her with his coat off and his shirt a little loose. He was holding his leather black gloves in his left hand and a gray pair in the other.
“Care for a ride?” he asked, grinning when Solene stood beside him.
“A ride?” she echoed, arching a brow.
“My horses. They are fit to be ridden,” he answered and handed her the gray gloves.
Solene accepted it, but she couldn’t keep her mind from snickering at the obvious double meaning in his words. Either he did it deliberately or not, it was still a good way to see a side of him that wasn’t all serious.
“Okay, I’d love to ride you… er I mean ride with you,” she quickly corrected.
If Henri noticed her mistake, he was skilled in masking it with a neutral face, but Solene sure picked up a ghost of a grin from him before he took her hand once more.
On foot, it took them more than five minutes to reach the stables. When they entered the building, Solene counted six horses all in all inside. She picked an Andalusian horse with the shade of white and beige while Henri pulled out a black stallion—an animal that matched his signature color and his brooding mood.
Henri led the way while Solene followed, secretly thanking the heavens she had past experiences riding the majestic animal in their annual town festival.
Looking at her husband handle the stallion with confidence, she couldn’t help but release a sigh. Only a few days ago, this man was a stranger to her. Now, he was her husband and a perfect one at that.
They rode around the property, passing by edges of forests and managed hilly paths until they arrived in a clearing.
Under a large tree near a riverbed, they stopped for a rest. The horses were secured enough to allow them to drink from the water while Solene took her time sightseeing every angle of the area. Henri just stood behind her, simply satisfied to see her enjoy the scenery, or at least that’s what it looked like with his calm and composed demeanor. Solene had no clue as to the crumbling control he had, but once again she hoped that he’d make a move under the shade of the tree.
And well, once again, he didn’t.
“We should return to the manor, Solene,” she picked up his voice partly muffled by the gusty wind. “It looks like it might rain later.”
On instinct, she looked up at the sky and frowned. “The sun is still high up. Would it actually rain?”
“It will,” he answered with confidence.
“Oh, okay,” she stated and neared the horses.
As she untied the ropes from a branch, Henri helped her, but he was so close behind her that she felt a sudden rush of heat on her back and nape. She paused to look at him, angling her head up and sideways.
Henri, seeing the silent plea in her eyes, clenched his jaw.
Fucking hell…
This waiting game sure was damning his restraint. Fed up with it, he clutched Solene’s hips, lowered his head, and smashed her mouth with his.
Solene wasn’t able to hold back a moan, liking the feel of his lips on hers. ‘Finally,’ her thoughts cried out.
Instinctively, she twisted her body to face him and touched his jawline. She reciprocated his kiss, hinting him that she was open to whatever he planned further to do.
Henri deepened their exchange because of this. With his tongue, he entered her, swiping the sweet walls of her mouth. His hands, despite the gloves, acted as a catalyst, electrifying the part of her skin where he touched, and he touched her basically everywhere: from the small of her back, her ass beneath the pair of jeans she wore, the underside of her breasts, her thighs, and her face.
Then, suddenly, he groaned and pulled back.
Solene whimpered. “Henri… please.”
He held her face and looked at her in the eyes. “Goddamn it, I want you, Solene, but not here. Let’s return to the manor first. I want us in bed with you naked and underneath me.”