Page 235 of Falling for the Wife

The Beginning

TEN YEARS AGO

Reiss

I had seen pictures of her. Stories after stories about how stunning she was, how captivating and how her smile could blind a man. My mother would speak so highly of her one would think this girl who was seventeen years old was made of beauty. Not just ordinary beauty you see on a daily basis, either, but the kind that was timeless.

The kind where a mere glance would change a man.

A sight that would forever be remembered by any man.

The kind that could be engraved on his soul.

The kind men would go through Heaven and Hell to acquire.

I had thought my mother was full of rubbish until I finally saw her for the first time.

It was the beginning of summer, and the whole manor was in a rambunctious uproar due to what Mrs. Watson had planned for the season. Parties—tea, garden, white balls for charity, all the sort the wealthy upper class liked to grace themselves with. Technically, anything that had to deal with air kisses was on the summer roster.

My mother worked part-time as a housemaid, my father was the estate gardener, and I was their only child. My parents had given up on trying to have one when they couldn’t conceive during her prime child bearing years. Therefore, I came as a bit of a surprise when my mother became pregnant a year short of forty.

Though I had come a bit late for their prime years, my parents never lacked in showering me with love and attention. My father taught me everything he could, which was his love for gardening. I wasn’t impassioned by the technicality of how to make the quality cut of a rose or how to make sure the newly planted seeds needed this amount of water or how much sunshine it ought to get. However, I appreciated his effort, and that one particular summer, I decided to come and help him with work in lieu of a summer job.

I was in dire need to save up to go with my friends in August to embark on our holiday trip to Ibiza where we could party all night long. At the age of seventeen, all I could think of were women, an endless supply of lager, and partying. The same went for my friends Felix, Tom and Benjamin.

My plan was solid, and I knew nothing would come in between it until that night—the night where I found her in the garden, strolling about and looking like a vision.

It was a balmy, summer night, and I had just gotten back from the pub after drowning myself in pints and in between Holly’s thighs in the back of the pub. The estate garden was massive, and half past midnight, I decided to walk across it as I headed towards the cottage my family was staying in a mile south from the gardens.

My mother had specifically ordered me not to head this way after six in the evening, because there was a fancy party arranged. Since it was already late, I was quite certain the party had ended. It usually did around midnight or so, and the cleaning crew would take over right after.

In the middle of the estate there rested a decent-sized lake with swans. Just like any typical English garden, it was surrounded with blooming flowers, bushes and trees with fresh fruits, especially berries. The air around this part was headily intoxicated with their aromas. The sweet air usually cleared my head, yet tonight, I somehow felt restless.

I first spotted her from afar, donning a silky white gown that hugged her body. She had her stilettos in her one hand while the other held on to the length of her gown. She tiptoed as she headed towards the lake, her long, inky dark hair flowing with a small diamante barrette on the side of her head.

The first thought that occurred to me wasAngel. She looked like she had been brought down from the Heavens above. It felt like a dream, and I was witnessing something exceptionally beautiful. I had heard my friends chatting about how beautiful a woman was, that their hearts would stop and flutter, and I had thought then that they were full of rubbish. Then I had felt it for the first time that night.

Struck by her beguiling beauty, I was caught unaware, slowly striding towards her without realizing it until she looked up and gazed at me, smiling.

“Reiss,” she uttered my name as if she and I knew each other. Although, apart from tonight, I hadn’t seen her. “It’s me, Ava.”

Nervously, I nodded my head. “How’d you know my name?” I asked dumbly as my eyes soaked further into her, hopelessly mesmerized.

Her eyes sparkled before she directed me a knowing grin that fired up my spent cock. “I’ve seen you around. Though, most of the time, you tend to be busy with a bed of roses or trimming bushes.”

“I like to concentrate while I’m working.” How idiotic did I sound? Here I was, basked in the moonlight, standing with the most breathtakingly gorgeous woman I had set my eyes upon, and I, Reiss Chambers, couldn’t possibly sound duller than if I were a flock of sea gulls.

“I know.” She shrugged. “I’ve been watching you a lot.”

No bloody way. I attempted to contain my excitement as I slowly gained my usual confidence with women. I didn’t try much when it came to women since they tended to make it easy for me by approaching me first. I hadn’t realized how much I missed the hunt and chasing after a worthy woman.

“And what have you seen thus far?” My blood hummed as I inched closer to where she was standing.

“You tend to take off your shirt mid-day.” She blushed without looking away from me. “You like to sweat, and I wish I could savor the saltiness of it on my tongue.”

I was most definitely tongue-tied. As much as I wanted to ask her what she was waiting for, acting upon my urges would get me in trouble. Not only that, it would almost certainly put my parents’ livelihoods at risk, as well. I knew it was safer to back away and continue my walk home.

“It’s getting really late, princess. I should head home. Goodnight, Miss Ava.”