I laugh, rolling over and trapping Ava beneath me.
She huffs and puffs for effect for a few moments, making a pathetic effort to try to bat me away. The kids are muttering their disgust, our parents are tutting, and Kate and Sam are laughing with Georgia and John. But it’s the woman I’m spread all over that has my attention. ‘You lose,’ I whisper, planting a light peck on her nose.
Her grin is instant, and so is the swelling of my heart. ‘No, I win.’ She grabs my hair and hauls me down to her lips, and I roll her off the mat onto the grass.
‘We’re having sleepy sex tonight,’ I tell her.
‘Oh God!’ Maddie squawks. ‘Mum! Dad! Please!’
We both laugh past each other’s lips, but we don’t ease up. Not now. Not ever.
Chapter 4
It’s late. The kids are in bed, our guests have left, and I can hear Ava faffing in the kitchen. I wander through, stopping at the door to admire her for a few moments. She’s getting the coffee machine loaded ready to flick on in the morning, something she does before bed most nights, as well as setting the kids’ favourite breakfast cereals on the island. I wait until she’s done and is rubbing cream into her hands before I quietly creep up behind her. I’m virtually silent, but she doesn’t need to hear me to know I’m close. Her spine straightens, her hands pausing in their movements.
I push my front to her back and drop my mouth to her ear. ‘Get in the bedroom now,’ I order, quiet but stern.
She turns slowly, rubbing against me, the friction sending my body temperature through the roof. I scoop her up and cradle her in my arms, taking her mouth as I walk us to our room. She hums against my lips. I hum against hers. Fucking heaven.
Our lips don’t part the entire way to the bedroom, and it’s a challenge to give up our kiss when I make it to the bed. Dropping her down, I pull my T-shirt up over my head and throw it aside. Ava’s teeth sink into her bottom lip, her gaze hungry.
‘Like what you see?’ I ask, confident of the answer. Call me an egomaniac. I couldn’t give a fuck. I push my jeans down my thighs with my boxers, waiting for an answer. She’s daydreaming. ‘Hey.’ I click my fingers, snapping her out of it. ‘Well?’
The tiniest of frowns mars her brow. ‘What did you say?’
I smile. Her question is a good enough answer for me. ‘I like your dress.’ I reach forward and tug at the silky black fabric, smiling when I hear her pull in a breath. ‘But it’s a bit restrictive.’
‘Take it off,’ she demands, full of impatience. Her hunger for me only intensifies my hunger for her. But I still toy with her desperation. ‘What do you say?’
I see the need to fight me in her eyes, but my wife learned fast that giving me what I want gets her what she wants much quicker. ‘Please.’ Her plea is more than a plea. It’s a fucking turn-on like no other. Her dress is gone in the space of a few short breaths. Her underwear even faster. Resting a fist on the mattress, I crawl up the length of her body, licking my way up her inside thigh, growling under my breath when I pass her sweet, soft, dripping pussy. Her groan stretches out for ever, her spine arching, pushing her breasts upward. I circle her left nipple with a firm, slow lick. Fuck, she tastes good.
She sighs, her hands going to my head and wrestling with my hair. ‘You’re a fucking god, Ward.’
I bite down on her nipple in warning, but otherwise let her potty mouth pass, as I walk my fingers across her stomach and plunge them deep inside her core. ‘Oh, you’re so fucking ready,’ I say as she cries out. I withdraw and settle myself atop of her, grabbing my aching cock and levelling it up. ‘Hard or soft, baby?’
‘Soft,’ she sighs, all breathily and happily, her palms resting on my hips and pulling me down.
I sink in slowly, struggling to catch my breath as the pleasure ripples through me. ‘Like that?’ I ask, hitting her deep.
‘Just like that.’
I withdraw, the feel of her walls stroking me forcing me to my forearms. ‘We are so fucking good together, lady.’
‘I know,’ she agrees, sinking her nails into my arse.
Her gaze finds mine, and I know that’s exactly where it’ll stay until I bring her to climax and she’s forced to close her eyes. It’s one of my favourite views. The passion and need on her face, her light pants heating my skin. It’s debilitating.
This woman has me captivated every day of our lives together. Not just when I have her in my arms, or when I’m buried deep inside her. But with everything she does. Every time she looks at me, speaks to me, touches me. I’m the luckiest man alive, and I thank the Fates every minute of every day. I love her with a fierceness that gets stronger by the second.
‘I love you, too,’ she whispers, reading my mind. ‘And I’m lucky, too.’ Her hands move from my arse and come up to my face, her thighs wrapping around my waist. She holds my cheeks firmly as I maintain a careful, slow pace of my hips, rocking into her gently. ‘You are my life, Jesse Ward. You keep my heart beating.’
I smile a small smile, nodding my understanding, keeping our eyes locked as I catch her lips. Our kiss mirrors the delicacy of our lovemaking until I slow it to nothing and our lips are simply touching. ‘And my heart will only ever beat for you,’ I whisper, balancing on the edge of explosion. ‘Are you there?’
‘I’m there.’ Her face glowing up at me confirms it, and I thrust a fraction harder a few more times, carrying us over the edge together.
My body soaks up her trembles, the tremors going straight to my heart. It fills with feelings so strong I once again find myself trying to wrap my mind around the reality of our beautiful existence. I don’t think I ever will.
We gasp into each other’s faces, a million silent words of wonder bouncing back and forth between us. Neither of us needs to speak those words. We both know. I take her left hand from my cheek and kiss her wedding ring and then weave our fingers together, squeezing tightly and resting my face in her damp neck.
‘Was it good for you?’ I ask.
‘Ish . . .’ she sighs, and I smile against her throat, kissing lazily, small pecks here and there. ‘Tub-time?’ she asks softly.
I hold still for a moment, thinking. Tub-time?
‘I can hear those cogs kicking in.’ She laughs a little. She’s right. Tub-time equals tub—talk. What does she want to talk about?
I pull my face from her throat and lift a questioning eyebrow. ‘Is there something you want to tell me?’ My wife knows I’m at my weakest when she’s naked, wet, and spread all over me.
‘No, I just thought it would be nice to have a soak together.’
Ava’s wet nakedness slipping all over mine? I slip free from her tight warmth on a small hiss, my cock still twitching from the aftermath of my climax. ‘Bubbles?’
‘Lots.’
‘Whatever my lady wants.’ I shoot up off the bed and head to the bathroom, flipping on the taps and pouring in a huge dose of bubble bath before swishing the water around. It seems to take fucking ages for the water to reach halfway up the side, and when I’m happy with the depth, I jump in, wafting the bubbles upward. ‘Ready!’ I call.
Within a few seconds, I hear Ava laughing. ‘Where are you?’
I flap my hands, clearing some of the bubbles in front of my face, and grin when I find her standing by the door. ‘Your god awaits.’ I offer my hand, and she wanders over, still laughing, making a point of blowing some more bubbles from my nose as she lowers in front of me. I sigh a very fucking contented sigh as she settles between my thighs, my arms and lower legs wrapping her up tightly, my eyes closing in pure peace. The sensation of her palms stroking over the hairs on my legs is hypnotic. Utter fucking bliss.
It’s silent for a few moments, gloriously silent and peaceful. Until Ava breaks it. ‘Jesse?’
‘Hmmmm.’