He could see her smile flash in the darkness. “I adore you, too, Thane Tavin Stuart Adair.”
“Stop being mushy,” Lewis yawned, “and go back to sleep.”
Thane choked back a laugh as Regan snorted.
Yeah, they were going to be okay.
Epilogue
REGAN
My back ached from sitting at the computer for the past two hours. But my essay was finished. Thank God.
Switching off the screen, I scooted out of the office chair that had now become mine as much as Thane’s. Studying for a business degree while taking care of the kids wasn’t easy, but I was determined to do it. Once I had my degree, I planned to apply for a business loan to open my own preschool. There was only one in Ardnoch, and after much investigation, I discovered it was a depressing little place where kids were monitored and kept safe but they weren’t engaged or stimulated.
Preschool should be about fun. I was good with fun.
The Adairs owned a small plot of land in Caelmore that they were happy for me to build my preschool on—designed by Thane, of course. I was incredibly moved by Thane and his siblings’ support, but I didn’t want to launch myself into the venture through nepotism. I wanted to understand fully how to run a business. Hence the business degree.
Switching off the lights, I turned on the security and tiptoed upstairs to my family. Thane had gone to sleep not long after we put Eilidh and Lewis to bed, bemoaning my ability to function on five or six hours’ sleep a night. I grinned, remembering his kiss on my neck and his warm, growly voice telling me not to work too hard.
Stopping at Eilidh’s bedroom, I peeked inside to find her sprawled across her bed like usual. What a difference a couple years could make. With some counseling, the loving support of family, and the joy of me and their father being together, the trauma Austin left them with had mended. I worried it would come back to haunt them in later years, but all we could do was keep talking things through if we noticed them brooding. They hadn’t brooded in a long time, though.
Smiling, I walked to Lewis’s room and opened the door just a smidge. He laid with the covers kicked off, although it was winter. I moved to leave when I heard him whisper sleepily, “Mum?”
My heart wrenched in my chest as it always did when one of them called me that. Not even a few months after Thane and I became official, Eilidh started calling me mum. It was easier for her because she had no memories of Fran, only stories.
I’d thought I would always be Ree-Ree to Lewis, but he’d asked me on the day of my wedding to Thane if he could start calling me mum too.
It had filled me with so much joy, but later also a lot of guilt. I hadn’t wanted Fran to feel like I was replacing her. Thane assured me I wasn’t. We visited her grave together. The photos of her remained on the wall. Although not long after I’d moved in, Thane had replaced their wedding photo with one of me at Dunrobin Castle with the kids. When I saw that, I switched the photos back. Thane asked me why when he discovered what I’d done.
“Because Fran was a huge part of your life. You wouldn’t be who you are today without her. The kids wouldn’t be here. Your wedding photo deserves to stay on the wall, and it diminishes nothing between you and me.”
Thane had never looked at me so tenderly. Well, until our wedding day.
Now our wedding photo hung on the wall too. The gallery had grown in the last few years.
“Sorry, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to wake you,” I whispered back.
Lewis grumbled something in his sleep and flipped onto his back, his light snores immediately filling his room. I doubt he’d even been awake when he’d called out to me.
Leaving them to sleep, I slipped into mine and Thane’s bedroom, catching sight of him asleep on his side of the bed. Tiptoeing into the bathroom to change into my nightdress, I tried to be as quiet as possible.
Once in bed, I switched on my e-reader, the screen illuminating my face but not bright enough to wake my husband. I had to read before bed, especially after working. I needed business jargon and analysis out of my mind so I could relax enough to fall asleep.
Snuggling into my pillows, I delved into the latest historical romance from my favorite author. It wasn’t long, however, before I hit a passionate scene that sparked the familiar, hot tingles between my legs. My breasts swelled against my nightdress and I squirmed a little, shooting Thane a look.
I’d been so busy these past few weeks, we hadn’t had time for sex. I shouldn’t wake him.
Then again … I doubt he’d complain.
Switching off my e-reader, I placed it on the nightstand and then slid across to push the duvet off my husband. He shifted, feeling the sudden breeze in his sleep. Smirking, my belly fluttering with anticipation, I climbed over him, straddling him. My lips found his in the darkness, his beard tickling my chin as I kissed him in his sleep.
He groaned but still didn’t wake, so I lowered my weight onto his lap and undulated against him as I trailed kisses down his throat and stroked his stomach beneath his T-shirt.
Seconds later, I felt him harden and rise beneath me.
“Wha …” His eyes flew open in the dark, and I kissed him again. Harder. With a groan of realization, Thane’s arm came around my back, and he returned my kiss.
Suddenly, I was flipped onto my back as he thrust between my thighs and kissed me like a starving man. When he finally let me up for air, he reached beneath my nightdress and pushed his fingers into my slick heat.
“Fuck,” he muttered, his eyes flashing in the dark. “Hot book?” he guessed.
I grinned up at him. “Extremely.”
“Thank Christ for romance novels. Remind me to buy you nothing but that for your birthday.”
His kiss swallowed my laughter, his hands caressing and sculpting my body through the nightdress. When his mouth left mine to trail over my breasts, I stifled my moan. His lips closed around my nipple through the silk and he sucked, hard.
Fingers tightening in his hair, I rocked against him, needing him everywhere, over me, inside me, mouth, hands … Pushing his pajama pants down, I freed him, taking him tightly in my fist.
“Fuck.” He pressed his forehead into my chest and thrust into my hand.
“Inside me,” I whispered. “Inside, inside.”
Thane chuckled as he tugged my underwear down. “Someone’s impatient tonight. No foreplay, mo leannan?”
I shook my head as I ripped at his T-shirt.
His laughter was muffled behind his shirt as it got caught halfway off. With a tug and delicious flex of his biceps, it came off over his head and he threw it away. “What’s gotten into you?”
“We haven’t had sex in two weeks.”
His lips twitched. “And that’s a long time, is it?”
I frowned at him. “Yes.”
“You might have a problem,” he teased, and then made his rumbly, gruff sound of pleasure as he pushed inside me.
Stifling my cry of delight, I arched into him, loving his overwhelming thickness inside me. Clasping onto his face as he gently moved in me, I whispered back, “I do have a problem. I’m addicted to you. Shouldn’t I be bored already?” I complained in jest. “Instead of wanting you more every day?”