Page 47 of The Duke’s Second Bride (Regency Second Chances #4)

“He’ll have it in no time,” Ava said teasingly. “I’ve never known a man who was better at flying a kite.”

“But Vincent—” Christian pointed out, but she silenced him with a kiss.

“Ah, young love,” the dowager duchess sighed. “Let her shower praises on you, Christian. Certainly, you are the finest man I have ever known Ava to associate with. Much better than that odious former brother-in-law of hers.”

They both looked at her, surprised.

“Lord Dunfair?” Christian asked. His voice hardened slightly at the name. “What brings him to the top of your mind?”

Ava felt surprisingly neutral about hearing Brandon’s name. While she still never wished to see him again, she felt safe and content in Christian’s ability to protect her. And she certainly felt safe with him being out of the country.

“I was discussing how one of my stepsons ran into him, on his travels,” Edith volunteered. “He seems to be doing poorly. Wasting all of his money abroad, it seems. I would be surprised if he leaves himself enough capital to return to England.”

“Oh,” the dowager duchess said. “I doubt he ever will.”

Ava felt Christian relax against her. She looked up at him, smiling.

“Good,” she said. “There is nothing for him here.”

“Indeed,” Christian replied. Then he sighed, looking back at the children and their kites. “I suppose I should try again, hm?”

Ava looked at him, surprised. “Again? So soon?” she asked. “I had thought you said you were too beaten and bruised to continue.”

Christian shrugged, a soft smile spreading across his face, lighting it up. He bent down to kiss her.

“As Luke told us,” he said, “sometimes a thing may take a few tries to get right. And I think we can both agree,” he continued, “That the rewards of taking a chance on life, of taking a chance on joy, far outweigh any risks.”

Ava smiled and tilted her head up so that they could kiss again. Then she watched him jog across the field back toward his son.

Toward their son.

“Things look to be quite well between the two of you,” the dowager duchess said. “I have never known Christian to be so happy, child. You have truly created a new man out of him. Who knew he had the capacity for such joy?”

Ava looked at them. Luke greeted his father with new delight and began showing him again how to hold and maneuver the kite properly.

“He always had the capacity,” she said softly. “He just needed to let go of his fears in order to embrace it.”

After a spirited dinner, after which their guests left and Luke’s maid took him to get ready for sleep, Ava and Christian lay in bed together, kissing languidly.

“You know,” Christian remarked, “I have been thinking…”

“Is that so?” Ava cut him off casually. “How surprising.”

With a grin, he crushed his mouth against hers, kissing her hungrily. “So cruel to me,” he said, faux mournfully. “You tease me ceaselessly, wife.”

“Only because you are so easy to tease, husband,” she said back, kissing his mouth again, then his jaw. “But I shall behave now. Tell me, what were you thinking about?”

“Today,” he said, “I was perfectly happy. I could think of nothing that would be better than to spend every day like that, with you.”

She smiled at him. “I could not agree more,” she said. “Is that all?”

“Well,” he said. “Then I realized there was something that would make me happier.” He reached to caress her face. “You have been most patient with me, Ava,” he said. “And I am so happy and content in our lives with just you and me and Luke. But if you still had room for more love in our life …”

He trailed off, but Ava understood immediately what he was referring to. “You truly mean it?’ she asked, happy tears rising to her eyes. “Really?”

“Really,” he promised, kissing her deeply. “You have seen how Luke is with Sophia and Vincent’s children. I think he would be most pleased to have a younger sibling of his own.”

“A younger brother, perhaps,” she suggested. “With dark hair and a stubborn disposition.”

He smiled, kissing her more fiercely still. “Perhaps,” he agreed. “Or a younger sister, with hair like spun gold and eyes like the sky… and a stubborn disposition, of course.”

She laughed against his lips. “I suppose we have always been alike, in that way,” she said. “Perhaps that is why we were drawn to each other.”

He pulled back, looking at her intensely. “I was drawn to you for hundreds upon hundreds of reasons,” he said, before kissing her again.

As they kissed, his hand traced a path up along her leg, pushing up underneath her nightgown. She hooked a leg over his hips, allowing him access to touch her where he wanted to.

She sighed in bliss into their kiss as he touched her, readying her to take him deep inside her.

“Will you still love me when I am round with child,” she teased, running her hands along his arms and shoulders. “Or will you grow tired of me, and seek your pleasure elsewhere?”

“Never,” he promised. “I could never tire of you, Ava. I am going to love you this much until the day we die, and forever after that.”

He slipped a finger into her, then two. She rocked her hips against his hand, her pleasure growing in harmony with the moans and sighs that fell from her lips.

As she bucked against him, his length pressed against her hip, and the friction began to make him harden.

He brought her just close to the edge and then pulled back, teasing her mercilessly. She let out a light growl of her own, her hips moving, seeking pleasure.

“Now who is being cruel?” she murmured, reaching forward to kiss him, then pouting in displeasure when he pulled his lips just out of reach.

The sight of her like this, flushed and ready and wanting, was too much for him to resist. He leaned in and kissed her, giving her what she wanted.

“I cannot,” he admitted. “I am powerless against you, my love. I could never go so long without giving you everything you want and more.”

With that, he rolled her onto her back, climbing atop her. Her legs parted for him eagerly, allowing him to settle between them.

He entered her slowly, so slowly that both of them were nearly shaking with desire.

“I love you,” she whispered, once he was fully buried to the hilt inside her.

That was enough to nearly bring him over the edge. He thrust into her with wild abandon, whispering the same words back to her.

“I love you, Ava,” he murmured against her lips, against her neck, into her hair. He intertwined his hands with hers, pressing her hands above her head into the mattress. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

“I love you too, Christian,” she moaned, clearly nearing the edge at the same time he felt his own climax approaching. “Forever.”

“Forever,” he agreed. “Forever.”

He poured into her with one final cry, burying himself deep inside her as she climaxed around him. They clung to each other, trembling from the intensity of their lovemaking.

“Tell me,” he said after a moment. “Do you have any names picked out?”

She smoothed her cheek against his chest, draping her arms and legs across his body.

“If it’s a girl,” she said carefully, “I thought Isabel might be nice. As a middle name, even. But only if you’d like.”

He kissed the top of her head. “That would be beautiful,” he agreed. “And if it is a boy?”

She shrugged. “I had not given that much thought,” she admitted. “Have you?”

He looked away, his brow creasing slightly as he considered his answer, then chuckled.

“What?” she demanded to know, propping herself up on one elbow so that she could look at him. The mischievous look on his face made her heart sing. “Tell me!”

He stopped his laughing long enough to say, “Anything but Brandon.”

Immediately, Ava burst out laughing as well, collapsing back onto his chest.

“Anything but Brandon,” she agreed.

They lay tangled together, laughter spilling between them until they were breathless and sated. At last, when the quiet settled and only the soft rhythm of their breathing remained, Ava lifted her face to his and brushed her lips against his in a tender goodnight.

But the kiss lingered, deepened, and before either could resist, their night began all over again.

The End?