Everything You Are (32 page)

“It's quite obvious that your parents love you very much and that you mean a lot to Amelia. And you're still the same.” She leaned into his touch. “You're still the same overbearing, hot hunk of man, for whom I started to work a few months ago and who's constantly irritating me lately.”

“A hot hunk, huh?” He chuckled. “I'm not the same man as I was when I met you. I’ve changed. Because of you and the love I feel for you. For the better, I hope.”

“I didn't know what you were like before, but you're quite okay now.”

“Just okay?” He smiled and slid off the bed.

“Since I'm very displeased with your actions today, it's just okay.”

“You really are amazing, and I love you so much.” His mouth touched her temple.

“So what now?” She wrapped her arm around his waist, careful not to touch the injured spot.

“Well, the plan is to get on your good side and to soothe your ruffled feathers by being your slave.”

Her gaze went to the door. “What about your parents?”

His eyebrows descended low over his eyes and a crease dug into the spot above his nose. “I guess I'll just have to get over that they withheld such important information from me. And I’ll have to reconcile with the fact that my aunt wanted to kill me.” He scrunched his nose. “I'll probably need some therapy for that. I wonder what Ann would say to this turn of events? She'll probably disown me.”

“She knows.”

“What?”

“She organized the whole thing, at least that's how I understood her words. Linda stayed at her place when she was pregnant, and she was the one who made all the arrangements for Amelia to adopt you.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Ian shook his head. “Nothing gets by that old woman. It would actually be more surprising if she hadn’t been aware of it.”

With what she hoped looked like a sympathetic turn of her mouth, she caressed his back. “But you're fine, as fine you can be in this situation, right?”

He hooked his arm around her shoulders. “Yes. Today was an exhausting day. I learned the family secret and got shot. But I'm a tough man and I have you, your love and a baby on the way. I think that despite everything that has happened, I'm going to be more than just fine.”

She leaned on him and glanced up at him, smiling, while her love for this amazing man washed over her. “I'm glad, because I planned to make you miserable for at least a week or so, something that I wouldn't be able to do if you weren't okay.”

His eyes pleadingly looked down at her. “Could you at least wait until tomorrow before you start making me miserable?”

She tilted her head, studying him while she tapped her finger against her mouth. “I don't know, I'll have to think about it. What do I get in return?”

“Me.” He pressed another kiss on her temple.

“But I already have you.”

“That's true.”

“Can we go home now?”

“Yes.” He walked to the door, pulling her with him. “Let's go home.”

Ian shut the front door and glanced first at the Y-shaped staircase then to the left, at the hallway that led to the south part of the large house. There was a small lounge with a view of the well-groomed garden and gazebo that Jane liked to use. Two months had passed since Martha tried to shoot him. She was already in prison, his wounds were almost healed, and he and Jane were still living at Ann’s. They had a whole wing now, not just two rooms. Since his apartment wasn't suitable for a family with a child, and since Jane liked Ann's house and its gardens -- and she, surprisingly, got along with his grandmother quite well -- they decided to accept Ann's invitation to become her permanent housemates, at least until they found their perfect house. There was only one downside to this arrangement: His family was too fond of Jane and they visited constantly. His parents now spent more time at Ann's than they did at the Thornton estate, and his sister Izzy and her husband visited every weekend. They were regularly intruding into his time with Jane and no matter how many threats he issued they refused to stay away.

He reached the lounge that Jane liked to frequent and opened the door.

It was empty.

He didn't bother with the intercom, but went two doors back. He heard voices coming from the large common room, the one that they used as a living room. He opened it.

Ann, Andrew, his father and his mother occupied the armchairs around the poker table, playing cards.

“Hey,” he greeted them. “Where's Jane?”

“Upstairs,” Ann said. “She didn't feel too well and went to take a nap. Izzy is keeping her company.”

His mother put the cards down and turned to him. “How did it go?”

“Fine,” Ian said. He had been visiting Martha in prison the first Saturday of the month. He spent forty-five minutes there, something that he would continue doing for two years. That was one of Martha's conditions in the deal she had made with his parents and Ann. He had agreed to it, but only if Martha would devote that time to talking about his biological mother, Linda. His parents told him everything they knew about her, but since he wanted to learn more about his biological mother and how her childhood was, the only one he could turn to was Martha, who accepted his term. After the shooting incident, Martha had become very accommodating. She had even revealed her accomplice, the son of her husband's co-worker, who had helped her with planting the bugs, but who hadn’t known what Martha was really up to. That was why they hadn’t bothered with prosecuting him. “She told me the story of Linda's first day at school and how sad she was that she had to wear Martha's old shoes.”

“That's sounds interesting.” His mother gave him a smile.

“Yes, it was. I would share it with you, but right now, I want to see how Jane's doing,” he said before he left them and went to their bedroom on the first floor of the west wing. He found Jane lying on the bed, on her side, hugging a long J-shaped pillow. Izzy was on the bed beside her, stroking Jane's back.

“Hey.” He walked to the bed and pressed a kiss on Jane's cheek. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay.” Jane gave him a small smile.

Over Jane, he looked at his sister. “Thank you for keeping her company.”

“Is this your way of dismissing me?” Izzy sat.

“Yes.”

Izzy's fingers smoothed over Jane's shoulder and glided down her arm. “Is it all right to leave you with this insensitive ogre?”

“Hey!”

Jane smiled. “I think I'll survive.”

“Call me if he turns out to be of no use.” Izzy climbed off the bed and left the room with a wave of her hand.

“What is it? Your back?” Ian strode around the bed and climbed on the mattresses, setting himself behind Jane.

“No. I'm just tired.”

He fluffed the pillows and piled them against the headboard before he reclined on them. He moved aside the edges of the body pillow that wove around Jane like a worm. He had bought her the body pillow when he read about it on one of the pregnancy advice forums he liked to frequent. It helped Jane, but whenever she used it, it prevented him from spooning and snuggling with her.

“Mark called. He's coming for a visit in the afternoon, bringing his Noel with him.”

“Are they official now?” His hand slid over her belly and under her breast and he gently drew her into his lap. With her side against his chest, he positioned her so that she was half-sitting and half-lying on him, with her legs over his lap and her cheek leaned on his shoulder.

“Yes. I'm looking forward to meeting him.”

He started to rub her back. “Will you feel well enough to go downstairs?”

“I don't see why not,” she said. “But I don't know about tomorrow. Just the thought of driving makes me ill.”

They had scheduled a visit to her parents' house the next day. “Your mother is really looking forward to seeing you. We could ask Ann if she could lend us Tom and he could go pick them up and drive them here.”

“I would like that.” She grabbed the edge of her body pillow and pulled it against her chest and threw her leg over it. “I'm sorry for being so useless lately. I wish I was more like those happy pregnant women that they show in commercials or the ones you see strolling down the street. They look so happy, as if they’re enjoying their pregnancy. They are not only going to work every day, but also take care of their children, if they have them, and take care of their homes, while I have spent more time in bed than out of it this past week.”

“You have nothing to be sorry about.” His fingers reached the small of her back and he scratched it. “I should be the one who's sorry, I was the one who got you into this predicament.”

She looked up at him. “Are you sorry?”

“No, of course not.” He bent over, kissed her nose then slid his mouth down to press a chaste kiss on her lips. “I'm sorry that you are uncomfortable, and that your back is giving you trouble, and that your joints are swollen and aching, but I'm not sorry that you're a carrying our child. Actually, I'm overjoyed that you're pregnant with my child, because it means that even if you get sick of me someday and dump me, we'll still have our child, a part of me and you.”

“As if I could ever get sick of you.”

“In my attempts to keep you safe, I hurt you badly, and you weren’t exactly thrilled about me trying to draw Martha out. For a while, I was afraid that you were getting quite close to getting sick of me and that I'd lose you.”

“I'm here.”

“Yes, you are.” He grazed his mouth against hers in another chaste kiss. Then he leaned his chin on the top of her head.

For long, comfortable minutes they enjoyed the silence before Jane broke it. “I was thinking...”

“Yes?”

“If Mark and I hadn't ended up in the kitchen that time, at the picnic, and if he hadn't started with his silly questions, Martha would have never learned about Linda. Italy and Norway would never have happened, and we would never have ended up together. Hey, how did she even know that the Linda that Beth mentioned was her step-sister?”

“Probably because Beth also mentioned my father's engagement. It's easy to get the information about the time of my parents' engagement, and she knew when Linda worked at Thornton from Linda's letters.” His hand went over the curve of her hip and he wiggled it between her and the body pillow to rest it on her belly. “I believe that even without that conversation, sooner or later Martha would have found out who the father of Linda's baby was, and she would have done the same thing: first try to sabotage the company and then go after me. The trips to Italy and Norway might not have happened, but that doesn't mean that we would never have found each other. I fell in love with you in Italy, but you awoke my interest before that trip.”

“I did?”

“Yes, you did. I think I would have fallen for you regardless. Just half a year ago, I couldn't imagine spending my life with one woman, while now I can't imagine spending my life with anybody but you.” With his free hand he caressed her cheek. “I love you so much.”

She shoved the body pillow away. Her hands framed his cheeks and she shifted upwards. “I love you too,” she said before she pressed her lips against his and her tongue grazed the seam of his mouth.

His lips opened and his tongue slid against hers in a dance of passion. One of his hands cupped her neck while the other caressed her body. She was so soft, so warm in his hands, and the want for her pulsed inside him, urging him to slide his fingers under her clothes and to touch her skin. But he held himself back, keeping the slides of his tongue light and playful, while his hand almost lazily glided over curve of her belly and kneaded her heavy breasts. He didn't know how long they kissed, when her hand wrapped around his and she guided it down between their body and under her tunic and inside her leggings and underwear.

He ended the kiss, his breath grazing her swollen lips. He touched her. She was damp and ready.

Her eyes found his. He lost herself in her gaze, swimming in the pool of glittering grey, while his body burned with need for her touch.

Her eyelids half-mast, she widened her legs and shifted his hand lower.

His finger slid inside her.

She gasped and melted against him, her mouth against the side of his neck where his pulse was.

He started to move his fingers in and out of her, while his thumb massaged her, all the while he stared at her, enchanted by the expression on her face.

She writhed against him, riding him, her mouth slightly ajar, her breath hot against his skin. “More.”

His mouth covered hers and his tongue seduced its way between her lips, while the speed of his fingers increased as he drove them into her, deep and hard, while he massaged the tight knot of her flesh.

She moaned into his mouth and jerked against him. She clenched around his fingers before she sagged against him, holding onto him, panting.

He kissed her forehead and pulled her fingers out of her, while his free hand slid down her back. “So precious.”

She hummed and shifted against him, making herself more comfortable against his chest, yawing. “That was wonderful.”

“I'm glad to be of service.” He pressed another kiss on her forehead before he drew a wet trail down her nose.

She yawned again. Her arm reached behind her, patting around until her fingers grabbed the pillow, which she dragged forward and against her chest. She pushed it between her legs, then leaned her cheek against his shoulder again. Her eyes closed.

“Jane?”

“Hmm?” She snuggled against him.

He sighed and his eyes lowered to his groin where his erection painfully strained against the fabric of his pants before they went back to Jane's relaxed face. She was tired, she had said. “Oh, never mind.”

“I love you,” she murmured and her hand grabbed the folds of his shirt as she nuzzled against his neck, her breathing levelling out.

“I love you too.” He gazed down at Jane's brown hair, at the long eyelashes that brushed against her cheeks, admiring her beauty. It was his brother's remark that had piqued his interest in Jane, but he knew that even if Chris hadn't said anything, he would have noticed how special Jane was on his own. He would have needed more time though, and she wouldn't be expecting his child right now, but he was sure that he would have held her in his arms, just like he did now, with the intention of never letting her go. Because he would never let her go. He couldn't. She was in his heart, forever.

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OTHER BOOKS BY EVELYN LYES:

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