I started drifting off again, very loose and soothingly peaceful with her softness against me, when she grew restless. Her breathing picked up and her body tensed. She touched her belly and found my hand already there.

“Ethan?”

The sound of her voice was agitated, almost frightened, in an oddly muffled pitch that told me she was sound asleep and dreaming.

“Shh… Right here beside you, baby.” I gently rubbed the swell in slow circles over her nightgown, and nuzzled at the back of her neck through her hair until she quieted from whatever dream had disturbed her.

I closed my eyes, finally ready for my own sleep, when she spoke out again, this time, as clear as a bell…

“Always here for you, Ethan.”

My eyes snapped open.

Her revelation floored me, not because of what she’d said, but the fact that even in sleep, even in her dreams where the consciousness is blurred, my girl was right there loving me—showing her care and concern for me all the time.

We were that deeply connected.

No matter what fate held in store for me, I could never let her go.

THIS house was really big. Too goddamn big for our needs, I decided. This was confirmed by the size of the modern garage I was parking the car in at that moment. It still retained its original façade, appearing on the outside as the carriage house it had originally been built as, over two hundred years before. As in big f**king coaches and carriages pulled by teams of horses and driven by a coachman. It was more than a little strange for me because I had always lived in the city. Born and bred. But still, we loved this house already, and in my gut I’d known it was right for us to make a home here. We couldn’t live here full time yet, but three- or four-day weekends were working out for now. And we couldn’t abandon London altogether because the business was there, and Brynne’s studies, which she was determined to return to once the baby was born.

The estate agent had shared some history of Stonewell Court with us. The foundation had been laid down in 1761, then several years to build it, before being occupied by a London gentleman who wanted a country cottage to wile away the lazy summer days at the seaside when the heat of the city got too oppressive. And the stink of the city probably.

London of centuries past was not as pleasant as it was now in the modern age, so it made sense as to how all the big country mansions were built in the first place. Funny to think that we were doing the same thing the owners of centuries ago had done. Living in London and visiting the country for a break. We were having fun playing house and that’s all that concerned me.

Still made me laugh to think that they’d referred to this monstrosity of stones as a “cottage.” I shook my head as I headed around to the back of the house to find her. I’d given Robbie strict instructions to keep her occupied while I was on a stealth errand to pick up her birthday present. Yeah, my girl was twenty-five years old today and had a celebration coming her way this afternoon.

I came out through the arch that led to the gardens and looked for her, and there she was. Playing in the flowers. She wouldn’t call it playing, but she looked like she was having a good time, garden gloves and trowel in hand, planting an ancient looking urn with some lacy green vines.

The gardens had appealed to Brynne from the first day we set foot on the property. I thought it was interesting even though she claimed to not know much about plants. She’d been talking about wanting to learn ever since she’d seen my mother’s garden at my dad’s London house. The place where I’d asked her to marry me.

Robbie James, the gardener we’d inherited when we bought Stonewell, was helping her with the different beds and plantings, getting everything refreshed from some years of neglect when the house had been empty. I was happy to see she had chosen a lot of purple flowers, which were her favorites. I knew that, of course. I’d sent her purple flowers the very first time…and she had given me a second chance. I glanced up at the clouds and gave a silent thank you to angels who believed in second chances.

So Brynne was really taking to this part of her new life, and that made me glad. If she wanted to play in the dirt then she should. But, she was strictly an observer on the labour aspect though. I made sure Robbie understood no lifting anything heavier than a garden hose for her. If she tried to do too much I’d better hear about it, so I could put a stop to it.

I waved to him from across the turf, letting him know I’d returned and that his Brynne duties were finished. I gave him the thumbs up and he saluted back. Birthday gift was sorted and everything ready to go. I grinned at what she would say when she saw what I’d done.

I snuck up behind her and covered her eyes with my hands. “Guess who.”

“You’re very late, you know. We’ll have absolutely no time for our lover’s tryst now. My husband will be back any minute and he’ll go crazy if he finds you here.”

Damn, she’s quick with the mouth. “I work fast. I’ll be in and out before he knows a thing.”

“Oh, my God.” She spun around and put her hands on my chest, laughing and shaking her head at me. “You did not just make that joke to me.”

“What joke?” I deadpanned. “If we want to get in a quick shag before your jealous husband comes back we need to hurry up.”

She laughed and stepped back from me, making a great show of taking off her garden gloves, enjoying the hell out of this game we were playing. Her hair was up again, just the way I liked it to be, so I could have the pleasure of taking it down when I got her in bed.

The coy and mischievous smile on her face was a sure sign telling me she was up to something though. I held on for her to make her move, both of us doing the stand-off, waiting, plotting, and grinning like fools.

She dropped the gloves at my feet.

My c**k woke up.

Her eyes lowered seductively…and then she spun on her heels and took off running for the house.

Yes! I gave her about a two-second lead before I went after her.

Catching her was going to be f**king heaven.

BRYNNE rode me with expertise, rotating her hips in a circle that made the walls of her cunt grip me so tightly I knew it wouldn’t take much longer before I was gone.

“Oh, Ethan…you’re so hard,” she said breathlessly, “you feel so good.”

“You make me hard, so I can f**k you like this.” I gripped her hips and angled her back slightly. I liked to see us f**king, our bodies colliding, connecting. It got me off.