Total pages in book: 167
Estimated words: 157175 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157175 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Ava tries to suppress a yawn, and makes a terrible job of it.
‘Time for bed.’ I get to my feet and help her up. ‘You must be exhausted.’
She lets me lead her by her shoulders upstairs. I smile privately, but feel a little guilt creep up on me. She’s overdoing things, and it’s my fault.
The usual flurry of nerves descends the closer we get to our bedroom. Today has been a huge step forward. Would it be too much to ask . . .?
‘Goodnight.’ She turns at the door and takes the handle, biting her lip as she moves back.
I die. Over and over inside, I die. ‘Goodnight.’ I turn quickly and make my way to the spare room before she can see the devastation on my face. Clearly it is too much to ask.
Closing the door softly behind me, I strip down to nothing and crawl into the unfamiliar bed. It’s cold and lonely.
I toss and turn for hours, sleep nowhere to be found, not that it’s much of a surprise. I’m about to give up and go and put myself on the couch, when I hear a stirring on the landing. Worried, I make to get up and go to check on Ava, but the sound of the door handle stills me. Light creeps into the room through the small gap, and the silhouette of a body I’d recognise anywhere appears. I slowly ease down to my back. It’s fucking ridiculous that my heart starts hammering. It’s fucking ridiculous that I dare not move. It’s fucking ridiculous that I’m nervous.
She pads on light feet across the room and gently pulls back the covers a little before crawling in beside me. I’m like a fucking statue, letting her lift my arm so she can burrow into my side. She settles, palm on my pec, cheek on my chest. It’s one of the most beautiful moments of my life. So simple. But so significant. She can’t sleep without me. I don’t care that there’s a barrier of lace between us. I don’t care that she’s technically in the wrong position. And then she sighs and she’s on the move again, crawling onto my chest and spreading her body all over me, face in my neck. I smile, discreetly inhaling her into me, bringing my arm around her back and holding her to me.
Within minutes, I hear her soft breathing, and only minutes after that, my own eyes become heavy. The fact that the bed isn’t ours and is lumpy is inconsequential. I could be lying on a bed of nails and be content. Because she’s here. With her man.
Chapter 23
My sleepy brain is telling me not to move, though I’m not sure why. I’m aware that I’m curled around Ava’s body, my front to her back, snug and tight. And I’m aware that I slept the best I have in over a week. I’m also aware of something growing between my groin and her arse. That’s why I shouldn’t move. But Ava doesn’t get the warning. Her body starts to stretch, and she groans. Oh, shit. My muscles lock, my body freezes, and I hold my breath as she grinds her arse into me, causing all kinds of chaos in my cock and my head. Good God, what kind of torture is this?
Then she suddenly stills, my erection wedged between her thighs, my teeth grinding as I fight my way through the torturous sensitivity. ‘Oh . . .’ she breathes, shimmying a little, as if I’m not in enough fucking pain.
‘Don’t move, Ava,’ I warn. I’m so fucking hard, it could break off. ‘Please.’
‘Sorry.’
‘So you should be.’ I need to get out of this bed before the radar on my cock wins and finds its target. Half of me wants it to. Actually, the best part of me wants it to. I could fuck her memory back. I mentally slap myself for my unreasonable thought. But, then again, my lack of reason is one of the things Ava loves about me . . . right? Jesus, Jesse, sort your shit out.
Quiet falls, and she waits patiently while I focus on talking down my wayward dick. Five minutes later, I’m still iron. ‘It’s no good,’ I finally admit. My cock has and always will have a mind of its own where my wife is concerned. ‘It won’t go down.’ I relax and squeeze Ava closer, hoping that restricting the rampant little fucker might help.
‘It’s okay,’ Ava says, surprising me a little.
It is? What, my dick hard, or my dick where it is? Just a little nudge to the left and I’ll be inside her. Would that be okay? Shit, change the subject quickly. ‘Couldn’t you sleep?’
‘No. Something wasn’t . . .’ She fades off, stilling. ‘Right.’
‘This. You didn’t have this.’ I squeeze her tight, and she nods, sighing and settling again.