He could tell by her choppy breaths and the way she moved beneath him. He reached between their connected bodies, finding the nub of her sex and circling it. He applied slow, steady pressure as he fucked her.
Nell came on a scream, her body bowing from the bed as her eyes fluttered closed. She sucked him deep, clenching on his cock. He could not hold back any longer. Two more thrusts, and his ballocks tightened. The rush of his release was as sudden as it was powerful. He spilled deep inside his wife as she milked every last drop from his cock.
He collapsed atop her, heart pounding, intending to move but hating to withdraw from her just yet. Hating to sever their joining.
Jack lowered his head to hers and kissed her slowly, softly.
“I love you,” he managed to say through his ragged breaths.
She was panting too, every bit as spent as he was.
Her body felt so good against his, around him.
Like heaven.
“I love you too, Jack.” She cupped his cheek, gazing into his eyes. “Thank you for coming back for me, for fighting for us. Thank you for always believing in our love.”
“Always,” he vowed, kissing her again. “Time and distance can tear us apart, but we belong together. I am yours, Nellie. My heart, my body, my soul. All of me is yours, now and forever.”
“Now and always,” she agreed, caressing his cheek.
He rolled to his side, taking her with him, and they held each other tight, their breaths mingling, their hearts thudding. He kissed her crown, so damn grateful for this woman, for her love, so desperately happy to be back where he belonged.
At last.
Epilogue
Nell was in a celebratory mood.
Which was why she held her daughter Emma in her arms whilst singing the Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin, twirling about the reappointed nursery at Needham Hall. The song was a favorite of hers, after all. She adored opera, even if she was abysmal at singing it herself.
But this was not any ordinary evening, and nor was it an ordinary emotion pulsing within her: this brilliant, wondrous sense of hope and peace and rightness. This was an occasion of celebration. She had endured three years of waiting. Three years of misery, heartsickness, loneliness, agony without Jack…
Until he had returned. Until their love had prevailed in spite of both their imperfections, flaws, and foolishness. In the end, love had won, just as it always should, and she felt fortunate. So blessed. So happy. Happier than she had ever imagined she could be.
At long last, she had what she had always wanted.
A family.
Specifically: her family with Jack. And their family was about to grow in number. No one knew that yet. She had only suspected it for several weeks, but she had not dared suggest it to him, biding her time until she could be sure. The absence of her monthly courses, the swelling in her belly, and the morning biliousness which had begun visiting her were too strong to ignore.
She screwed her face into a series of silly expressions for Emma’s benefit, twirled them about again, warbled a bit more. Jack would be here soon. He was finishing up the chapter in his latest travel memoir. They had recently returned from taking little Emma on a month-long trip to America, and Jack was busy penning his reminiscences of New York City and Philadelphia.
Emma beamed at her, two tiny teeth protruding from her upper gums. Emma would turn one year old tomorrow. Her pudgy little fist was closed round Nell’s thumb.
Nell gave them another quick whirl and then buried her face in Emma’s soft little neck, smacking it with kisses.
“Mama!” Emma cried with glee, dissolving into giggles.
Her daughter’s laughter was one of the best sounds Nell had ever heard. She finished singing and took one more whirl before pausing, breathless, when she noticed Jack standing on the threshold. There was so much love in his eyes that she had to swallow against a rush of her own emotion.
A brilliant burst of love erupted in her heart.
Love for this man, for their baby girl, for the new life they had begun together. Contentedness, too, for their fresh start.
Her lips twitched with the effort to contain her smile. “How long have you been standing there watching us, Papa?”
He grinned as he sauntered into the nursery, closing the distance between them. “Long enough to know you are dreadful at singing Tristan und Isolde.”
She laughed. “Rotten man. You know very well that was Lohengrin.”
“Was it?” He