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‘What have you learnt?’ she questioned softly as his voice tailed off.

He shrugged. ‘That it’s better to face up to the truth rather than to block it out. And that feelings don’t kill you—even the very toughest ones. Everything that’s worth knowing, you have taught me and I love you for that, Ellie Sarantos—and for a million reasons more besides.’ He gave a mock glower of a frown. ‘Even though you have stubbornly refused to let me announce that particular piece of information to the world.’

He traced a thoughtful finger over the angled line of her collarbone. He had wanted to go through a second marriage ceremony—a big glitzy occasion at the Greek Cathedral in London, intended as a mark of his love for her because he felt she’d been short-changed last time. For a while Ellie had been agreeable—even consulting a wedding planner and hearing about the rival merits of a string quartet versus an old-fashioned bouzouki band for the reception. Until one morning at breakfast, she’d told him she didn’t need declarations or lavish gestures. That it was enough to know he cared, and in the private moments of their precious relationship his heartfelt words of love meant more than a truckload of confetti.

And wasn’t that another aspect of her personality which made him love her so much? That the things she cared about weren’t the things which so many people strived for. She didn’t need to put on a show or make some kind of statement. She didn’t need to prove anything. Diamonds she could take or leave, and, although she wore silky tea dresses because she knew he liked them, she was happiest in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. She was still Ellie—the same straightforward, uncomplicated woman he’d first fallen for—and he wouldn’t want her any other way.

He reached for her breasts and cupped them and she made a purring little sound in the back of her throat, because she liked it. Theos, but he liked it, too. But then he liked everything about his soft and beautiful wife.

‘Shall I make love to you now?’ he questioned.

She touched her fingertips to the dark shadow of his jaw and followed it up with the slow drift of her lips. ‘Oh, yes, please,’ she whispered.

They were in the place of his birth, but they could have been anywhere. A place which had once symbolised darkness and heartbreak, but not any more. Because Ellie made everywhere feel like the home he’d never really had. Ellie breathed life into his life. He bent his head and kissed her as the night herons gathered around the lapping bay outside their window.

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Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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