She nodded and moved toward him. “That one didn’t work out. But I wrote another book. A romance book.”
He sat up, spreading his legs a bit to accommodate his ever-hardening cock. “That sounds nice. Turn around. I want to see that pretty ass of yours.”
She turned around, giving him a spectacular view of her ass. Heart shaped and perfect. She turned her head, looking at him over her shoulder. “It’s an erotic romance. And I got it published. And another one, too.”
He stood up, a genuine sense of joy going through him. She’d been busy while he’d been gone, and that made him proud. “Are you serious, baby?”
She smiled. “Yes. You’re okay with it? I did it under a pen name so no one knows it’s me. You’re a history professor. It might embarrass you.”
He moved to her and turned her around to face him. She needed to understand a few things. It was far more important than getting his hands on her. “I am proud of everything you do, and I can’t wait to read your book. I want a copy of it in my hands tomorrow. I want to read everything you write, and I’ll be proud to tell everyone I know about my wife, the novelist.”
She went up on her toes and pressed a kiss against his lips. “I love you so much and you have no idea how glad I am to hear that.” Her nose wrinkled. “But I should probably stick to the pen name since I might or might not have written a couple of the people around me as characters. In ménage romances.”
Oh, how she delighted him. “Max and Rye?”
She nodded. “After you left to go back to work, I closed myself up for a while and wrote some books. I thought about how I wanted everyone to find their happily ever afters, and I started with Max and Rye. I had them find a woman in trouble and they all fell in love. I did the same with Callie. I had two men from her past show up and they all worked it out. There’s a nice danger element in them. Callie’s men were on the run from the mob.”
Oh, he could tell her stories. “I want to read that one, too.”
Her eyes came up and there was a heat there that let him know she was comfortable now. She’d gotten her terrible confession out of the way. “I want to write one about a Dom. I didn’t before because the character was too close to you, and I thought it would hurt too much.”
He stared down at her. “I was stupid to leave, but I needed to tie up a few loose ends.” Like his untimely death. Like walking away from everything he’d ever known. Like becoming someone new for her. “I won’t ever leave you again, Nell. I’m here and I will be your family for as long as you allow it.”
“That will be forever, mister.”
Forever was exactly what he had in mind. His past was behind him, but the future suddenly looked bright. He kissed his wife and let his hands find her. It was time to show her everything he could give her.
He was a new man and he would never look back again.
Summer
Chapter One
Bliss, CO
Six years later
Henry Flanders was a happy man. Sometimes it was hard to believe he’d once been someone else. That was what it felt like. That time when he’d been known as John Bishop was so far from this place in the mountains, from the woman humming in the kitchen as she made bread. The sound of some opera played through the house. He wasn’t a huge opera fan, but Nell loved it, so he’d grown accustomed. He was fairly certain it was La Bohème she’d put on as the soundtrack for her kitchen time.
“We’re almost out of maple syrup.”
For her vegan bread. He knew her recipe by heart and though she enjoyed making it, he’d learned how to make it as well. That bread was comfort food for his wife. He wanted to ensure she wouldn’t have to go without it when she was heavily pregnant and didn’t need to stand on her feet for the time it took to knead the bread. He moved in behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders and bringing their bodies together. He breathed her in. She was his oxygen. “I’ll put it on our list. I’m going into town tomorrow. Teeny called. My shipment came in.”
He’d gotten into woodworking lately. It was soothing. He found he enjoyed the satisfaction that came with making something with his own hands.
He wanted to make their baby’s crib, wanted to lay their sleeping child in something he’d created out of wood and love. His Nell thought he was making a present for the upcoming wedding of their friend Wolf Meyer, and he was. The lazy Susan would be embellished with the Meyer name, proclaiming the family was established this year. It would be a lovely present, but the true reason he was spending money on the new table saw was the gift he wanted to give to her.
“That’s good. Though I think it’s a lot for a saw.” She turned her head slightly so he could see her nose wrinkle. “You don’t think it’s an indulgence?”
He kissed her cheek. “I think I will make many lovely things with reclaimed wood.” She would be horrified at the thought of chopping down a tree. And honestly, he’d come around to her way of thinking. They lived in a magnificent forest. There were plenty of opportunities to use wood that would otherwise rot. “One day I’ll be good enough to make our furniture if we need it. And we’ve got the money. The new book sold well.”
She
