31 Days of Autumn (4 page)

‘Stop,’ I ordered gruffly. No way was I losing
my load over a bit of finger sucking. She complied immediately. It was the only
damn time she ever did as she was told, when we were being sexual. If only she
was so compliant at other times, my life would be so much easier. Then again, I
did love that she wasn’t afraid to challenge me. Arguing with her got all the
blood pumping in the right direction, though I’d never admit that to her. ‘Hop
down, turn around, and drop your shorts and knickers. I’m going to feast on
your aching clit until you come.’

‘Now that’s the real reason I married you,’ she
winked, quickly doing as she was told. I stifled a groan as I ran my hand over
the perfectly smooth, fleshy domes of her backside. It had been a while since I’d
used an implement on her. I avoided anything too rough while she was pregnant,
but I had a craving to paddle that porcelain flesh pink again soon. Not today
though, I was too impatient to bury my face in her and have her scream. I
dropped to my knees and quickly checked the path each way to make sure no one
was in sight. It was rare to see anyone up here, given it was off the beaten
track and marked as private land, but you could never be too careful. I prised her
peachy buttocks apart and slowly trailed my tongue over her clit, grinning to
feel the tremor that ran through her body as she let out a sigh of pure
satisfaction. ‘Yes,’ she moaned. ‘Harder.’

I obliged, eager for more of her. I varied my
pressure, then my speed, occasionally pumping two fingers inside her, which had
her stamp her feet as she cried out and tried to thrust back against them. I
teased her for as long as I could bear, drinking every drop of her obvious
desire for me as fast as she provided it. When I finally sucked her clit, it
was all over within seconds. My cock flexed in my boxers as she screamed my
name and gripped the tree trunk to stop herself from collapsing. I was right,
the air was suddenly filled with the confused chatter of the birds that left
the safety of the trees and soared high above us. I slowly licked her,
savouring her for a moment until the throbbing of my cock reached unbearable
levels.

‘Brace yourself,’ I ordered, as I rose up
behind her and shoved my jogging bottoms and boxers down under the cheeks of my
arse.

‘Like I need warning after so long together,’
she breathed, looking back at me over her shoulder, her eyes still glazed over
from her climax. Her palms clasped the tree trunk, readying herself for me. I
positioned myself, then grabbed her hips. A satisfied smile crept across my
face when I pulled her back onto my cock and she cried out again as I sank into
her.

‘Fuck. I’ll never get tired of being inside
you, Ellie Davenport. Never,’ I uttered sincerely. The way she moulded around
me was incredible. Such a feeling of snugness and warmth. I felt her muscles
rippling up and down my shaft, trying to get used to me stretching them. I
started to move, slowly, testing her capacity to handle me. She was always wet
for me, but some days she was more aroused than usual, which meant I could
really power into her.

‘More,’ she ordered, ramming her hips back.
‘Give me more, give me you.’

‘Done, baby,’ I confirmed, slamming my hips up
against her backside, forcing another scream of pleasure from her. I closed my
eyes as I powered in and out of her, focussing on not coming until she was
ready. I bent over her, placing one hand on the tree trunk above her head to
steady myself, the other reaching around to play with her clit.

‘O my God, O … my …
God.
Dan, I’m going
to come again,’ she moaned.

‘Just a bit longer,’ I coaxed, not wanting the
moment to end. Being inside her was the place I felt most at home. She
was
my home. She was my everything.

‘Dan, we’re being watched,’ she suddenly
whispered, stilling her gyrating hips. Fuck! I snapped my eyes open, stopping
my thrusts and my fingers gliding around her clit. I was amazed to see a pair
of large, round, brown eyes staring at us from the safety of another tree just
ahead. The young deer looked as surprised to see us as we were to see it. Both
of us held our breaths as it observed us. I’d never seen one in all of my years
living up here, it was beautiful. I shifted position, trying to stop myself
flexing inside Ellie. A twig under my foot snapped and the deer bolted, leaping
over some bushes and disappearing from view. ‘Wow,’ she whispered. ‘Wasn’t it
gorgeous?’

‘Hmmm,’ I confirmed, kissing the side of her
neck.

‘I think it’s a sign that I’ll be pregnant
again soon.’

‘Maybe, but it was seriously bad timing. I’ve
lost my erection now.’

‘You liar,’ she laughed, grinding her hips.
‘You’re as hard as ever. As if I wouldn’t be able to feel that inside me.’

‘I think you need to feel more.’ I rammed back
into her, taking her by surprise. Powerful thrusts soon had her rising up onto
her tiptoes as I fought the urge to come again. She completely wrecked me. At
this rate, I’d need stamina tips off Lucas.

‘Are you trying to kill me?’ she moaned,
bracing her elbows as I slammed into her over and over.

‘Death by orgasm can’t be a bad way to go,
surely?’

‘Not when you’re providing them. O shit,’ she
mewled. I grinned as I felt her muscles tightening around me, the sound of her
panting getting louder.

‘Come on, Ellie. I want to feel you come.
Nothing beats your tight muscles milking my cock.’

‘I don’t want it to end,’ she nodded, letting
out a long moan as I nibbled her neck. Jesus, she was killing me.

‘Who says we’re only doing this once? We have
all afternoon and I never need long to get hard again around you.’ I knew the
promise of more would do it. She started to tense up as our hips moved in
perfect synchronicity, like we’d been doing this forever.

‘Yes,
yes
,’ she cried. ‘Don’t stop,
don’t you dare … stop.’

‘As if,’ I uttered. I was too far gone myself,
well beyond the point of no return. We both came together, spiralling down into
an intense, euphoric, blissed-out daze. I hauled her upper body back, clutching
her tightly to me as I angled her head and kissed her. We broke apart and just
stayed coupled, panting, until we’d ridden out our high.

‘Happy we came for a run?’ she finally asked.

‘Ecstatic. I’d like to go for a run more often
if this is the way they turn out.’

‘I think I’ll need to walk the rest of the way.
My legs are like jelly.’

I laughed and kissed her again, then carefully
pulled out of her, using a tissue from my pocket to clean her up. We pulled our
clothes back up and grinned at each other. It had been a while since we’d been
spontaneous outdoors like that. I held her hand as we made our way up to the
waterfall, only to find a picnic blanket laid out with a large hamper and a
wine cooler.

‘What?’ she giggled when I looked at her
curiously. ‘You’re not the only one who can plan things and boss your staff
around.’

‘What did I do to deserve this?’ I asked,
squeezing her hand tightly.

‘With looking after Jonas, I didn’t get the
chance to do anything special for you for our anniversary, so I wanted to spend
some time with you, to show you how much I appreciate you.’

‘Not necessary, baby,’ I reminded her with a
chaste kiss.

‘I know,’ she confirmed, taking a seat on the
tartan blanket. ‘But I wanted to. You do so much to show me how much you love
me, and our two boys. Come and sit down, I have your favourite white wine
chilling and I made some Scotch pies, as I know how much you love them. We also
have some nice cheeses and pâté, and I baked you your favourite banana, date,
and walnut loaf.’

‘You spoil me,’ I advised, sitting next to her
and kissing her again as I clasped her face to hold her gaze.  ‘Thank you for
doing this for me.’

We spent the next forty minutes eating,
drinking, and laughing. When I saw her trying to stifle a yawn, I lay down on
my back and pulled her down on top of me, wrapping one arm around her waist to
keep her close.

‘Tomorrow you’re having a lie in, with
breakfast in bed. I’ll look after the boys. You look tired, you should let
Jenny do more during the week. That’s why we pay her.’

‘But they’re
my
babies, I want to do
everything for them,’ she protested, her eyes filling with tears of love. I
placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

‘When will you learn to accept help, Ellie? You’re
only human, it’s hardly any time since you gave birth, and you’ve worked flat-out
looking after him, writing, and getting yourself in shape again so fast. You’ve
overdone it and you’re exhausted. No one is going to think any less of you for
admitting you need help. I wish I didn’t have to spend so much time on this
project or I’d do more.’

‘You do plenty, you’re busy enough. You don’t
need any other pressures on you at the moment.’

‘Ellie Baxter,’ I scolded, making her grimace.
I always reverted to her maiden name when I got mad with her. I’d never been
able to erase this stubborn side of the woman I fell in love with that winter.
‘You’re going to start doing as you’re told. We’re a partnership, and just
because I have a demanding job doesn’t mean I’m going to neglect my duties as a
husband or father.’ I swept her fringe out of the way and traced the pale pink,
silvery scar that remained from the time I nearly lost her, when Oliver had
been ill. ‘This scar, that you hate so much, I love. It reminds me that I
married a strong, amazing woman, who puts everyone else first, but I don’t want
you getting any more scars by virtue of being with me. Let me do my part, let
me take care of you now and then. Come on, sleep a while for me. We’re not in a
rush to get back and it’s so peaceful up here.’

‘Ok,’ she sighed, giving in and nuzzling into
my chest. I kissed her hair and ran my fingers in circles on her lower back
until I felt her start to relax. It took a while, but eventually I smiled when
I heard her let out the little sigh she always made as she fell asleep. I liked
to make sure she fell asleep before I let myself. I kissed her again and closed
my eyes. This project I was working on was really taking it out of me, but the
implications for the military were huge. I was so close to having a prototype
ready for them, but my family came first and Ellie needed more support right
now. The prototype would have to wait a little longer.

I shot up, my heart racing as I heard Ellie
scream, and looked around in a blind panic. I only relaxed when I heard her
laughter and spotted her waist deep in the pool, shaking her hands with her
back to me.

‘Jesus, Ellie. You scared the living daylights
out of me,’ I uttered.

‘Sorry, it’s colder than it looks,’ she called
over her shoulder, ‘especially when I’m naked.’

‘Naked?’ I sat up a bit straighter and scanned
the ground. Sure enough, there were her clothes, including her knickers and
sports bra, lying in a heap on the grass.

‘Hmmm,’ she confirmed, turning around to wink
at me, showing off her full breasts and pert nipples. I growled and quickly
stood up, discarding my clothes as fast as I could. Her eyes went wide, as ever,
to see my immediate erection. I ran over and dove into the deep section that
she was avoiding. I knew better than to swim up to her and grab her legs to
pull her under. She’d made real headway with her fear of water since almost
drowning in the loch, but she still didn’t like going underwater, and never
ventured anywhere where she couldn’t feel the bottom under her feet, which was
understandable. I popped up by her side, sweeping my hair back and the water
out of my face as I stood up next to her.

‘I seem to recall something about sex under the
waterfall,’ I reminded her. ‘Eyes, Ellie, I’m up here,’ I laughed.

‘Sorry,’ she giggled, her cheeks turning pink
as she dragged her eyes off my stomach and hips. ‘You know what your body
glistening with water does to me.’

‘I hope my body does it for you all the time,
water or not, because yours sure as hell does it for me,’ I murmured, running a
fingertip over one of her wet, stiffened nipples.

‘You know it does. Come on, how romantic would
it be if you got me pregnant again here?’ She grabbed my hand and pulled me
towards the cascading water and the hidden alcove behind.

‘It’s not romantic getting you pregnant in a
bed?’ I asked. I just didn’t get women’s ideas of romance sometimes.

‘Men!’ she tutted with a roll of her eyes. She
disappeared through the wall of water with another scream and burst of laughter.

One year later
~ Monday 7
^th
October

Ellie

Dan held my hand, his other on my lower back to
support me, as he helped me out of the plane and down the steps to where James
was waiting for us on the tarmac.

‘Good morning, Sir. Good flight?’ James smiled.

‘Excellent, thanks James. I hope we didn’t keep
you waiting? Andy and I were ready on time. I thought packing up a woman and
her cases on a normal flight was bad enough, but add in Oliver and Jonas, and a
female bodyguard-come-nanny, it’s a bloody nightmare. How are you?’ Dan asked,
keeping one of his palms in the small of my back as he shook hands with James.

‘Just excellent myself, thank you, Sir. Glad to
be back on the clock, it’s been a while with Mr. Steel being out of the country
most of the time. Mr. Douglas has taken a trip to Australia for a few months,
so I was quite excited to get your call asking for my services.’

‘It has been a while, but needs must now that Ellie
is so heavily pregnant,’ Dan stated, looking around at me with a smile.

‘Mrs. Davenport, you look radiant,’ James
beamed, making me laugh.

‘I look the size of a small hippopotamus and about
ready to give birth at any moment, but thank you for being so sweet. It’s great
to see you, James.’ I let go of Dan’s hand and gave James a hug and a kiss on
the cheek. I was so fond of him, he’d been a great friend to Dan while we’d
been separated, and to Lucas too, helping both of the stubborn men find their
way back to their women.

‘James,’ came a squeal behind me. I laughed and
stepped aside to watch Oliver run across the tarmac towards him, Jenny in tow
holding Jonas’s hand as he wobbled unsteadily on his feet. Jonas had only
started walking about four months ago and was still falling over on a regular
basis.

‘Master Oliver,’ James grinned. He grabbed him
and lifted him up into the air and spun him around, much to his delight. ‘How
are you?’

‘Mummy says I’m a very good boy,’ he responded,
nodding his head seriously as James set him back down.

‘I bet you are. Are you going to ride up front
with me today?’

‘Daddy?’ Oliver looked up at Dan for
permission, pulling his best pleading face. Dan laughed and ruffled his dark
hair. ‘Of course you can, Ollie.’

‘Jonas too?’

‘O, darling, he’s too small to go in the front.
Only big boys get to ride in the front of the limo,’ I reminded him, making him
pout and let out a heavy sigh.

He was growing up so fast. He was going to be
three and a half in a few weeks, Jonas was already nineteen months old and Oliver
was so protective of him. He hated going anywhere without his little brother. I
put a hand over my heavily pregnant stomach and smiled as I looked down at it.
I hoped both of the boys would be equally attentive to their baby sister when
she arrived on Thursday, which was the reason we were back in London, for my
caesarean. Dan had tried hard this time, but his growing nerves were obvious to
me, so I didn’t make any objections when he’d insisted on me seeing the same
top consultant here again. He’d even insisted that we use London-based Dr.
Harris, the leading paediatrician in the UK, for both of the boys, rather than
one up in Scotland. I’d already decided this would be our last baby, before I
even found out that it was the girl I’d longed for. There was a limit to how
much I was prepared to see him suffer, worrying about me again. Thankfully,
luck had been on our side when I got pregnant in January. Oliver soon perked up
when James opened the driver’s door and helped him in, letting him hoot the
horn and pretend to steer while he went to help Dan load our many cases.

‘Come on, Ellie. You look tired, go and sit
down, I’ll get Jonas strapped in,’ Jenny smiled, rubbing my arm.

‘All I’ve done is rest for the last two weeks,’
I moaned under my breath, so Dan wouldn’t hear. He’d had someone shadowing me
every second I was awake and had restricted my working hours, as well as my
time spent cooking. I was getting seriously bored.

‘And you’ll be resting until long after that
baby’s made her debut,’ Andy advised, taking my hand and helping me into the
back of the limo. ‘Don’t think that just because Chris has the next two weeks
off, James is going to give you any slack when he picks up his duties.’

‘I’ll have plenty of people looking after me,’
I smiled. I was beyond excited to see Brooke, Molly, Luiza, and Magda, who’d
all devised a shift pattern to make sure I wasn’t alone while we stayed in
London and Dan was working. ‘It’s my man I’m worried about. Please keep an eye
on him for me?’ I asked quietly, beseeching Andy with my eyes.

‘I’ve got his back, Mrs. Davenport, and so has
Stuart, don’t you worry,’ he smiled, handing me the seat belt and shutting the
door. I let out a heavy sigh. I did worry. Dan was approaching the culmination
of months of work on this top secret project, which was almost at live testing
phase. My operation really couldn’t have come at a worse time for his stress
levels. I soon perked up when Jonas called for me and waved a chubby hand from
his car seat opposite. I blew him a kiss and felt some tears prickle my eyes.
He looked so like my dad. Blond-haired, with those deep green eyes. I still
missed my parents like crazy, especially around important events like this.

‘Ellie, are you ok? Would you prefer I put
Jonas next to you?’ Jenny asked, immediately reading my sadness.

‘I’m fine, Jenny, thank you. Just feeling more
emotional than normal. He’s happy where he is. He adores you, they both do.’

‘Well, I love them too. I know I keep saying
it, but I feel so lucky that you got me to shadow you after your accident. It’s
the best job I’ve ever had and I’ve gained an amazing friend out of it as
well.’

‘Don’t,’ I moaned, dabbing at the corner of my
eyes. ‘You know it doesn’t take anything to set me off at the moment. Besides, I’m
the lucky one to have you. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Jenny.’

I quickly wiped my eyes as Dan got in next to
me. Andy shut his door and went to go and join James and Oliver in the front.

‘Ellie, what’s wrong?’ Dan frowned as he twisted
to grab his seat belt and looked at my face.

‘I’m fine. I’m just so excited to meet our
little girl, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed and emotional.’

‘Me, too,’ he confirmed, placing his big palm
gently on my stomach. ‘I know I’m stressed about it, but I can’t wait either.
Come on, close your eyes for me. You know how crazy things are going to get
when everyone turns up. I want you to have plenty of rest so you can make the
most of seeing them all.’ He buckled up and put his arm around me. I did as I
was told, resting my head on his shoulder as he picked up one of my hands from
my lap and held it tightly.

I woke up from my afternoon nap to hear raised
voices outside of the bedroom door.

‘Don’t make me put you on your arse, Davenport.
I haven’t seen her in weeks.’

‘You’re not going in, Brooke, she needs her
rest. You can see her when she’s up.’

‘You’re not the boss of me, Mr. …. Mr. …
Bossy
Britches
. I’ve known her longer than you. She’d want to see me the moment I
got here, I just know it.’

‘Did you just poke me?’ Dan uttered, making me
giggle. I could just imagine Brooke, standing about level with his pecs, giving
him a load of sass.

‘See, you’re so damn bulky with all those
muscles, you’re not even sure if I did. Here, feel
this.
’

‘Owwww,’ he protested, making me giggle again.

‘O poor Dan. Can’t take a good poking by a
woman. If you can’t handle a finger, you’d be no fun if Ellie wanted some strap-on
action, would you?’

‘How the hell did we get from you not seeing
Ellie, to me getting a strap-on up the arse, Brooke Hanson?’

‘Don’t you
Brooke Hanson
me, trying to
intimidate me with your CEO domineering glare and your … Ben Affleck
Batman
-sized
chest.’

‘Why, what are you going to do about it?’ he
scoffed. I struggled to sit up as I enjoyed listening to their banter. ‘Owwww,
fuck! What the hell was
that
?’

‘The Hanson double-fingered, one-handed poke.
Don’t make me use the two-handed poke, as that’s a whole
four fingers
worth of pain that you’re just not equipped to endure. I like to call it
The
Quattro Handson
, it’s brought many a man to his knees. Let me past,
Davenport.’

‘No, Hanson. Poke all you like, with as many
fingers as you can, because I can so handle it. Ok, that came out sounding so
much more sexual than I meant it to. Ellie needs her sleep and you’re going
back down to the lounge until she’s ready.’

‘Like hell I am. What the hell are you … Put.
Me. Down. Davenport,’ she screeched.

‘You know, I usually smack Ellie’s arse when
she’s over my shoulder,’ he chuckled.

‘Just you try it and it will be the last move
you ever make. If you don’t let me down right now, I’m going to
bite
you. Hard. I might be little, but I have teeth like Dracula.’ I burst out
laughing at the thought of Brooke hanging over his shoulder, struggling to get
down. ‘ELLIE, it’s me, let me in,’ she screamed when she heard me.

‘Jesus Christ, you just deafened me,’ I called,
throwing the duvet off me.

‘How do you think I feel,’ called back Dan. ‘Christ,
Brooke. You’ll have woken up the boys as well and you know how grumpy Ollie
gets if he’s tired. Anyway, she’s only awake because of you and your loud
bloody mouth.’

‘My loud mouth? You can talk. I don’t scare the
boys when
I
sing.’

‘Hey Brooke,’ I called, as the bedroom door
opened and Dan strode in with her over his shoulder, her mane of red hair
hanging down and covering her face.

‘Ellie? I can’t see you, where are you? You’ll
tell your arse of a husband to put me down if he knows what’s good for him.’

‘I always quite enjoyed it when he carried me
like that, though it’s been a while.’

‘As soon as you’re ready, I’ll do it again,
baby,’ he grinned. ‘Did you get enough rest, or shall I carry her back downstairs
and leave you in peace for a while longer?’

‘Don’t you dare!’ hissed Brooke. ‘And hurry up,
my face is probably as red as my hair from hanging upside down like this, and
I’m so excited to see my preggers girl that I’m about to pee my pants.’

‘That’ll do it,’ I giggled, as Dan’s face
turned to one of horror and he quickly set her down.

‘I give up,’ he sighed. ‘She stays, but I see
one hint of a yawn later, Ellie, and it’s back to bed, no more visitors all
night,’ he warned me with a pointed finger. I blew him a kiss as Brooke tried
to get her hair out of her eyes and straighten her clothes. She broke into a
massive grin when she saw me and ran over, stopping herself just in time from
leaping onto the bed and instead scrambling on and grabbing me into a bear hug
from the side.

‘You missed me then?’ I teased.

‘So, so much. So much so that I need to borrow
a pair of your clean knickers. We have excitement leakage,’ she mumbled into my
neck.

‘I seriously give up,’ muttered Dan, rolling
his eyes as he shut the door and left us alone.

‘Well, I wouldn’t give you a pair of dirty
knickers, Brooke.’

‘Like you have dirty pairs, the rate caveman
there rips them off you. Saves on laundry, I guess.’

‘O, Brooke. I have missed you,’ I sighed,
rocking her as I hugged her back just as tightly.

‘Move back to London,
please
. Seeing you
every few weeks isn’t the same.’

‘Much as I’d love to see you and Molly more, I
love it up there, Brooke. I wouldn’t want to live in London all the time
anymore. Speaking of Molly, where is she?’ I asked, letting Brooke go.

‘Downstairs, in the lounge. She wasn’t going to
argue about trying to come up, Dan intimidates her,’ she huffed, sitting back
on her heels and letting me see her properly.

‘Not you, it seems,’ I observed.

‘Nor you,’ she grinned. ‘Does him good to have
some feisty women to ground him now and then. So, how are you? Really? You look
amazing.’

‘Other than impatient to meet her, I’m just
great.’

‘I still can’t believe you’re having a girl,’
she clapped. ‘I know how much you wanted one. How are my boys? I can’t wait to
see them, too.’

‘They’re perfect. Oliver is really talking now,
he’s a real mini Dan and sulks when he can’t have his own way. Jonas is coming
on in leaps and bounds. Jenny’s probably getting them up if you’ve woken them.
Why don’t you go and help her while I freshen up?’

‘I need to freshen up, I wasn’t joking about
leakage,’ she warned.

‘Give me a hand up then, getting out of bed is
a task and a half.’ I couldn’t stop laughing as she failed miserably to help
pull me up. ‘Come on, Jenny makes it look so easy.’

‘Jenny, Jenny, Jenny,’ she scowled, putting her
hands on her petite hips. ‘I swear she’s replaced me as your best friend, you
talk about her that much.’