“Well, what I feel for you now is nothing like hate. I’d die for you, and I mean that. Sometimes just the way you look at me makes me feel like you're saving me from something, and I’m probably not explaining this right but?—“

“You're doing good so far,” she tells me with eyes full of tears.

“I’m working on getting back what my family lost. I’m going to prove to Dario that I can run a district of my own and set us up for life.” I take the ring from the box and hold it between us while my other hand frames her stomach.

“Just say ye,.” I beg because she makes me happy, happier than I ever thought was possible, and suddenly my whole life seems to be relying on one simple answer.

“Okay.” Tears run down her cheeks, and her smile bursts with energy as she flings her arms around my neck and kisses me.

“Here.” I quickly pull back and slide the ring over her finger before she can change her mind then, picking her up off her feet, I carry her into the ocean.

“Nic, what are you doing?” She looks around us and squeals.

“What I’ve wanted to do to you from about three-thirty this afternoon.” I lift her dress up over her head and toss it at the shore. Undoing my shorts and letting my cock free before I lift her back up.

“You look so pretty,” I tell her before devouring her mouth and hooking her panties over to one side. “I love seeing this babybump I gave you, growing so big.” My hand slides over the top of it as I fill her with my cock. “The way you keep touching it, tells me you like it, too,” I whisper in her ear as I slowly fuck her to the rhythm of the tide.

“Do you want me to give you another when we’re married, pretty girl?”

“Yes.” Her answer is immediate and it makes me smile against her skin.

“Fuck, you look hot enough being pregnant, this time, I can’t imagine how hot you're going to look when you're pregnantandmy wife.” The thought of her belonging to me completely, bearing my name and my children almost makes me come. “This is just the start of what I’m going to give you, baby. You’ve made me want things I never imagined wanting. A family, a wife–”

“Me,” she finishes my sentence for me and the moonlight’s reflection on the water allows me to see the cheeky smile she has on her lips.

“Yes, you.” I slide my hand up through her hair as I thrust deep and slow inside her warm, pregnant pussy that always takes me so fucking perfectly. Everything’s clear, now. We both know where we stand. No more pretending, no more hiding our feelings. From now on, Lorna James has me completely. I just hope she never regrets it.

LORNA

Igiggle with happiness as he carries me back inside the house and heads straight for the shower in our en-suite. As he presses my back against the tiles I stare at the man who will soon be my husband and wonder how so much could have changed, so fast.

“Tell me what you're thinking.” He smiles as he slowly edges his cock back inside me, making me forget how to form words so I moan, instead.

“Come on, tell me what's going on in that head, Lorna.”

“I’m thinking that the line between love and hate is really thin,” I admit. “That, maybe, all those thoughts and feelings I had for you before weren’t hate at all, just frustration.”

I never could understand why it was him I thought about when I lay in bed. Even all those years ago, Nic Conte would usually be my final thought of the day.

“You're right.” He slides his hand over my head as the water cascades around us. “Well, I hope you are,” he laughs, gripping my thigh and fucking me deeper. My moans get louder and I suddenly feel his hand slam over my mouth.

“We’ve got company,” he whispers, gesturing his eyes toward the door. And sure enough, when I listen carefully, I can hear Cass chatting to the boys.

She sounds drunk but that’s hardly surprising, she was tipsy before she left here.

“Don’t stop.” I wiggle my hips against him, clinging my arms tighter around his neck as he thrusts long, hard strokes that loosen all the knots in my stomach and make me scream against his hand.

“Fuck, I’m going to come.” He squeezes my thigh and growls in my ear.

“You want me to come in this pussy, baby?” His breathing gets heavier, the same way it always does when he’s close.

“Yes,” I whisper, feeling our baby’s tiny movements flutter inside me.

“I wish you could feel this.” I take his hand and place it over my lower stomach. I love it when he touches me there.

“Fuck!” His mouth drops open, and he looks down at his hand as he spills himself inside me. “You feel good…. Sofuckinggood. I’m going to love being your husband.” He looks back up at me and grazes my bottom lip through his teeth.

“Nic.” I know it’s late but I shake him awake anyway.