What would that be like? He could almost picture a baby rocking in a cradle near their bed. He could picture a little boy running around Adele’s feet while she laughed at his antics. He could picture her holding their child if he scraped his knees or had a bad dream.
Yes. He wanted that. He wanted all of it. He wouldn’t be distant the way his own father had been. He would love his wife, worship her forever, and love their children. It was almost like he could see his whole life before him then, and it was perfect. How had he gotten so fortunate?
He placed a hand on her belly and imagined how her body might change, what she might look like when she was swelling with their child.
He kissed her.
“That is all right,” he said softly. “I want that.”
She smiled. “Good.” She parted her legs.
She was still pliant, still a little boneless from her orgasm, but she put her arms around him and hugged him close. He kissed her, feeling overwhelmed with love all over again. He took her into his arms as the press of her skin against his brought back his arousal. He touched her breasts, her waist, her hips, and kissed her body wherever he could reach her.
“I want you inside me,” she whispered in his ear.
He didn’t need any more invitation than that. He rested his hips between her legs and kissed her again. Then he guided himself forward and slid inside her slowly. She gasped then clung onto him as if willing him to push forward harder.
She was hot and slick and tight and perfect, and he moved in her as he tried to show her how much he loved her, because his body was too overwhelmed to speak. She gasped and moaned beneath him and kissed his chin, his cheeks, his lips. As a lover, she was still a little unsure and tentative, but she would be a quick study and they’d have the rest of their lives to do this again and learn new things from each other.
It didn’t take long for the cliff to rush toward him. He pressed his thumb against the little button between her legs and rubbed in a way he’d already learned would make her fly apart, and she rewarded him by arching her back as her eyes rolled back into her head in ecstasy.
He was not far behind her. He held her close and thrust forward one last time before spilling inside her.
They kissed long and languorously afterward, lazily tasting each other. Adele looked like she might drift off to sleep, but then her stomach grumbled.
“Oh, all that food you brought up must be cold now.”
He laughed. “I’m sure it’s still good. Shall we eat?”
“Yes, please.”
They fed each other bits of the feast on the tray, including a roast goose, some sliced beef, a deliciously tart cheese, boiled potatoes, and a variety of other food that was suddenly the second most delicious thing he’d ever tasted—after Adele. She made a face any time he fed her anything, as if she agreed.
When they’d finished and then done an admirable job of licking any wayward food from each other, Adele lay back on the pillows, still completely naked under the bright light of his bedside lamp, and smiled at him.
“I know you don’t love attention,” Hugh said, “but I hope today was not too much of an ordeal for you.”
“It was worth it.”
“Was it?”
“Yes. If all of our nights are like this one, then I think we shall have a very happy life together.”
He couldn’t help but smile back. “I agree, although I suspect not everything will be smooth sailing.” He stood and carried the tray over near the door. Then he lifted the covers on the bed and motioned for Adele to get under them. He slid into the bed beside her. “You seem to be winning my mother over, at least.”
“She was very kind to me at the wedding breakfast.”
“That’s good. I just mean, well, there are financial and legal matters and things that I’m sure will distract me in the coming weeks and I—”
Adele pressed a finger to his lips. “We do not need to discuss them now, do we?”
“No. Although also, one thing in the back of my mind, we still do not know who hit me over the head.”
That snagged her attention. Her eyes snapped open. “Do you think he will try again?”
“I have no earthly idea, but it’s something I’ve worried about since coming home. The guard is that fellow in the brown coat usually skulking about in the side yard.”
“Oh. Indeed? That is a relief, I must say.”
