Sexual Healing

Chapter 1

Leah Mason studied the huge two-story brick house that was set in a bevy of tall oak trees, providing shade for all the rooms. Behind this majestic-looking structure was a massive lake. Even from where she stood, she could see the crystal blue waters. It was hard to believe this house had been built by Reese Singleton for her as a surprise wedding gift. A wedding that hadn’t happened.

Her sister Jocelyn had bought the house a year ago to keep Reese from burning it down. Leah knew that back then, Reese had hated her enough to do it. After all, he’d believed that she had left town five years ago, just to avoid marrying him. That had not been the case, and she was glad she had finally told him the reason she had left.

“Leah?”

She turned to the man walking toward her. She’d always thought he was the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen. Even now, dressed in a pair of slacks and a button-up shirt, he looked irresistible. It might be the way his shirt hugged his broad shoulders or the way his slacks had been tailored to fit his hips and thighs, but she couldn’t take her eyes off him. She had loved Reese Singleton ever since their paths had first crossed that summer day at the county fair six years ago. At the time, she was seventeen and about to become a senior in high school. He’d been nineteen and attending the local university at night. “Yes?”

“What are you thinking about, sweetheart?” he asked, coming to stand beside her.

Leah looked back at the house, deciding not to tell him what had been on her mind. Instead, she said, “I was wondering how you did it. How did you build this house all by yourself? I was practically glued to your hip during your free time, or at least, I tried to be. So, when did you find the time?”

Reese chuckled. “It took a year, but I had a system and a strict timeline. I worked for your dad’s construction company during the day and went to my university classes at night. And I spent a lot of time with you in between. But what you didn’t know and never suspected was that some of those nights you thought I was in class, I was here, sometimes working until midnight.”

She looked up at him. “Then you would be up the next day on the construction site at seven the next morning?”

“Yes. Jim knew I wanted to marry his baby girl, so of course I had to impress him. And let me set the record straight so you won’t think I’m some Superman. Occasionally, I had some help building this house since I was on a timeline. I had asked you to marry me, and you were to give me your answer before the end of the summer.”

She smiled. “Yet you built this house, not knowing if I would say yes?”

He looked at the massive structure and then back at her. “I guess you can say I was pretty damn confident that you wouldn’t turn me down.”

Not wanting to remember what had happened that evening, when she had gone looking for him to give him her answer, she asked, “You said you occasionally had help. Who helped you?”

He smiled and whenever he did, she felt a stirring in the pit of her stomach. He had such a turn-you-on smile. That was the first thing she’d noticed about him the day they’d met. “Your dad helped more often than you will ever know. I guess he liked me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Dad loved you. You were the son he never had.”

Reese nodded. “And he filled the place of the dad I’d lost at sixteen.”

Neither said anything for a minute, and then he added, “Danny helped, too, and so did Silas.” Daniel was his younger brother, and Silas Milner was Daniel’s best friend. “And I might have gotten Jocelyn out here once or twice.”

“She never said anything.”

He chuckled. “She wasn’t supposed to. It was my surprise wedding gift to you. I only let people I could trust in on my secret.”

“And, of course, it was built on Singleton land.”

He grinned. “Of course.”

She knew Jamison and Bertha Singleton had willed the Singleton ranch and the five thousand acres it sat on to their only living grand-nephew, Reese’s father. When Reese’s father had been killed in a car accident when Reese was sixteen, his mother, Rachel Singleton had made the decision to move her family from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Newton Grove. Once there, she’d divided the property, giving her sons twenty-four hundred acres each. She’d renovated the ranch house and was satisfied with her two hundred acres.

Reese had built the house for Leah on his land. Daniel’s acres were on the opposite side of the huge lake, where he had built a house for himself and Rita after their marriage. Before then, both sons had lived with their mother in the sprawling Singleton ranch house.

Reese took her hand. “Are you ready to go? I told Ma we would make it to dinner on time.”

She nodded. “I’m ready.”

Together, they walked to his truck.

···

“Did you enjoy yourself tonight?” he asked.

They had reached the front door of his home, and she stopped and turned to him. “I did. Thank you.” That was not entirely true. Dinner with his family had been strained as usual. Because no one knew the reason she had mysteriously left Newton Grove five years ago, breaking Reese’s heart in the process. She was well aware his family resented that he was seeing her again. She had seen frowns from his mother and brother even if he hadn’t. And in a way, she understood. They loved him, and they’d been the ones who’d been there for him, helping him get through the pain she’d caused when she left. She fully understood they were worried that one day she would leave again and break his heart a second time.

“When we get inside, I want you to talk to me, baby,” he said, opening the door for her. He took her hand when they walked into the foyer and led her into the living room. When they sat down on the sofa, he turned to her, tightened his hold on her hand, and said in a low tone, “Now tell me what’s wrong, Leah. And don’t deny something is bothering you because I can feel it.”

Leah sighed deeply. Not for the first time, she wondered how she’d been lucky enough to have such a wonderful man in her life. She was so blessed. He had always been attuned to her every thought, want, and hurt. And he had tried so hard to take that hurt away.

It had been six months since she had returned to town to attend her father’s funeral. Six months since she’d finally had the chance to tell Reese the truth—to reveal what had happened to her that fateful night that had driven her to flee from her family, the town she’d grown up in, and the man she loved. Since her revelation, she and Reese agreed to take things slow and rebuild their relationship one day at a time, giving her time to put what Neil Grunthall had done behind her.

Reese had been patient, understanding, and more supportive than any man she’d ever known. But still, after all this time, even after years of therapy, she couldn’t move beyond the fact that she’d been raped.

Reese scooted closer to her on the sofa. They sat so close, their thighs were touching, and she began feeling butterflies in her stomach, the first sign of anxiety she usually felt when a man got too close. She fought against the feeling, glancing down at their joined hands for strength. Being with him made her want to believe she could get through anything.

To her, he wasn’t an ordinary man. He was Reese, the man she had fallen in love with at seventeen, the man she had given her virginity to months before her eighteenth birthday, and the man she had planned to marry. He would be the father to all their babies. And he was the man who had secretly built this house for her as a wedding gift.

She hadn’t known about the house when she’d fled town. At the time, it would not have mattered. All she’d been able to think of that night was her humiliation and shame. And her very real fear that Neil might hurt those she loved. Neil had raped Leah as a way to hurt Reese, as well as to get back at Leah’s father for firing him.

But there was no way she could have gone to either her father or Reese with the truth. There was no doubt in her mind that they would have killed Neil, and she couldn’t risk that. Nor could she take Neil’s threat lightly that he would kill them if they came after him. He had been that mad and hell-bent on revenge. So, she had left town without telling anyone what had happened. She hadn’t even confided in her sister Jocelyn.

She smiled when she thought of the older sister that she was finally getting closer to. Jocelyn was twenty-seven to her twenty- three. But even with the mere four-year difference in their ages, they had never been close. Jocelyn had always been “Daddy’s” girl, while Leah had been “Mommy’s” girl. Their mother, Heather Mason, had died when Leah had turned thirteen. That had been the worst period of her life. She had felt so alone. No one seemed to know how badly she was hurting, and a part of her was convinced that no one cared. The only thing she had looked forward to was finishing school and leaving Newton Grove…at least that had been her plan until Reese and his family had moved to town. Once she had become Reese’s girl, he’d become her entire universe.

Neil had destroyed all of that in one night.

“Leah?”

She glanced up and met the intensity in Reese’s dark eyes. She actually felt it. And she felt something else. Desire. She could feel his passion like a heated caress to certain parts of her body, and although she wanted to respond in kind, a part of her mind would not let her. She had a mental block that refused to let Reese tap into what was behind her fears. If only she were strong enough to let go, but she wasn’t.

“I’m fine, Reese,” she said at last. “But it hurts to know how your family feels about me when there was once a time we were close. They had been my family, too. At least, they’d always made me feel they were. And what hurts even more is that I feel their animosity toward me is justified. I did hurt you. The only person that I never feel strong hostility from is Daniel’s wife Rita.”

“But they don’t know everything, Leah. They don’t know what happened to make you run away that night,” he said softly, gently squeezing her hand.

“I know and I can’t get upset with them for how they feel about me. I’m sure they’re wondering why you’re even seeing me again, spending so much time with me.”

“What I do is my business, Leah, and my family knows that.”

“Yes, but I still can’t help but feel bad for them. Because they don’t know the entire story, they’re worried that I will hurt you again.”

“But you won’t. You promised to stay in Newton Grove so that we could work things out. And we will.”

She felt the tears coming and blinked a few times to keep them at bay. “Will we, Reese? It’s been six months, and although I’m comfortable with us kissing, I can’t seem to get beyond that. It’s not fair to you. I know you, Reese, just as you know me. You want me. You want to make love to me the way any man would want to with the woman he loves. But I just can’t get beyond certain things.”

“But you will one day. I truly believe that. We will continue to take things one day at a time, Leah, and no matter what anyone thinks or how long it takes, you and I are in this for the long haul. We’re going to work through this. I truly believe that. Trust me.”

His words gave her some of the strength she needed. Because he believed, she wanted to believe. He was good at feeding her hope, and she clung to him. His belief in their future kept her in Newton Grove when Jocelyn had moved to Charlotte a few months ago after marrying Sebastian Steele. There was no one here for Leah now. Just Reese. He was the reason she had remained in Newton Grove instead of returning to California, where she had tried to start a new life five years ago. And he was the reason she had fulfilled her dream of opening a café in town. It was right next door to his warehouse, where he built his furniture.

“And because you believe, Reese, I will, too,” Leah said softly.

···

Her words inspired Reese, and more than anything, he wanted to pull Leah into his arms and hold her, kiss her, and comfort her. But he couldn’t even do that. It was a good thing Neil was already dead, or he would have tracked him down and killed him with his bare hands. From what Reese had figured out, the bastard had died the same night he’d raped Leah. Fearful that she would tell her father or Reese what he’d done, a drunk Neil had quickly left Newton Grove and driven to a tavern on the outskirts of town. While there, he’d gotten even drunker. When he was spotted recklessly driving by the police, there was a high-speed chase, which resulted in Neil losing control of his truck and hitting a tree. He was killed instantly.

Leah’s father, Jim Mason, had been a good man, someone who believed in second chances. Everyone figured that was why he’d hired Neil Grunthall, a drifter, to work at his construction company. Still, it hadn’t been long before he’d fired the man for not doing his job.

“So why did you bring me here tonight, Reese?” Leah asked, breaking into his thoughts. He watched as she glanced around the house. Though it was to have been his wedding gift to her, he’d stopped building it when she’d fled. He’d even left town himself and joined the army for two years. There was no way he could stay in Newton Grove without her.

Still, time in the military had been good for him. He had learned how to accept situations that couldn’t be changed and move on. And after two years, he was ready to do just that, and he returned home and began working for Leah’s father’s construction company again.

He decided to complete the house and then sold it to Jocelyn. She had sold it back to him when she’d married Sebastian Steele and moved away. Reese was happy to have the house back because he too, believed in second chances. He was hoping that now that Leah was back, and she’d told him the truth of why she’d left town in the first place, that one day they would live here together and raise the family they’d always talked about having. While waiting for that day to happen, he’d begun renovating the house. Specifically, converting it to the family home he’d always intended it to be.

“I wanted you to see the changes I’ve made to the place, especially the basement. I’d like your opinion about a few things I’m doing to the doors,” he said.

She nodded, smiled, and stood. “Okay, let me see what you’ve done.”

···

Leah had always known Reese had a gift with his hands when it came to wood. She could even go so far as to say that he had a gift with his hands when it came to her, too. She just wished the thought of that could override her memories of having Neil’s violent hands on her, but it couldn’t. At least, not yet.

It looked like he’d been busy. Not only had he renovated the basement by adding three additional rooms and another bathroom – this one even larger than the one he already had there – but also a games room that led out on a lower deck. He’d made the doors he’d wanted her to see himself, and they matched the baseboards. She thought they were a perfect combination. He had replaced the only window with a larger one that offered a better view of the lake.

“Everything looks good, Reese,” she said, truly meaning it. After Jocelyn had decided to marry and move away, she and her sister sold what had been their father’s construction company. That gave Reese, who had worked as her father’s foreman for years, the chance to use the money he’d been left in Jim Mason’s will to open his own business.

The things Reese could do with a block of wood were legendary, and her father had always thought he was wasting his time building houses instead of making furniture. She had always agreed with him. And by using the money her father had left him in this way to start his business, it seemed as if Reese agreed.

When the construction company was sold, Leah had made a hefty sum from the sale. She and Reese had purchased a piece of real estate that was perfect for both of their needs. The land offered her the space she needed to open her restaurant, yet it was comforting to know Reese would be working in the building right next door. They were officially a couple again and did practically everything together—except live in the same place. He lived in this house, and she was staying at what had been her parents’ home.

Reese usually arrived at the warehouse an hour or so earlier before she opened her restaurant each morning. She looked forward to him being her first customer every day before she officially opened the doors.

“I have something else to show you,” he said, leading her from one room to another.

“What?”

Instead of saying anything, he led her into what had been an empty room. Tonight, however, it was filled with beautiful bedroom furniture that she knew he had built. And it was too massive and beautiful to be stuck in a bedroom in his basement. “It’s beautiful, Reese,” she said of the bedroom furniture–a king-size bed, dresser, and nightstand. It had been made of the finest oak wood, and the intricate carvings nearly took her breath away. It was so gorgeous.

She turned to him. “You built this furniture for someone?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

He met her gaze. “Us. I believe in my heart that we will share this bed one day, Leah.”

Tears she couldn’t hold back flowed down her cheeks. “I really want to believe that as well, Reese.”