31 Days of Autumn

by Fallowfield, C. J.

  ‘Bottle of white?’ Jenny called.

  ‘Please, the Chardonnay,’ I replied as I went to kiss Mr. McAdams. ‘Did you have a good holiday?’

  ‘We had a great time until we heard about you. How are you?’

  ‘I’m fine now, thank you. I’m told it was a close call, but Dan and James got me to the hospital super-fast.’

  ‘We were so worried, Ellie,’ Mrs. McAdams nodded, passing Oliver over to her husband and coming to hug me tightly. I squeezed her in return. I’d missed the old couple. Mrs. McAdams in particular reminded me of Magda. Neither women were afraid to put Dan in his place, they both loved him dearly. ‘So, where’s the new wee bairn?’

  ‘Fast asleep at the moment. Lunch is ready, so why don’t we eat and catch up, then I can get her up to meet you both.’

  ‘I can’t wait,’ she replied, then turned and beamed as Dan appeared carrying Jonas.

  ‘May May,’ he squealed, not yet able to pronounce Mary.

  ‘Well, haven’t you grown into a big boy in just three weeks,’ she observed, reaching for him.

  ‘Thanks, I think I’ve filled out nicely with all my gym work,’ Dan nodded with a wink, handing him over.

  ‘Not you, you giant muckle, you keep growing and you’ll need more head room in this house.’

  ‘Don’t give him a bigger head than he already has, for goodness sake. As if being so handsome and buff wasn’t bad enough, his skills at work have his head so large it almost stops him passing through doors,’ I laughed. Dan scooted over to my side and put an arm around my waist, leaning in to kiss my cheek.

  ‘You forgot my skills in bed,’ he murmured.

  ‘Trust me, I haven’t forgotten, but I’d love a reminder anyway.’

  ‘Thirty-four days to go,’ he replied, kissing me again. ‘Not that I’m counting them down or anything.’

  ‘Seriously,’ I moaned. ‘That’s more days than that first winter and that was torture.’

  ‘Tell me about it. Maybe I’ll treat you to a small orgasm tonight. How does my tongue sound?’

  ‘Very loud from where I’m standing,’ chuckled Mrs. McAdams, making me blush and giggle and Dan turn bright red. ‘Young love, I do miss it.’

  ‘I begged you after the fourth baby to go and find a younger model, but did you listen,’ Mr. McAdams teased, kissing her cheek.

  ‘You’re lucky I stuck with you after the first, it was a nightmare training you. I bet Daniel can feed and change Miss Eva without any help.’

  ‘I can,’ he nodded proudly. I smiled as he pulled his phone out and swept his finger over the screen until he found the album he had, full of pictures of her. ‘Here’s a peek at her until we get her up.’

  ‘She’s beautiful, thank God she inherited all of her mother’s genes,’ Mrs. McAdams teased. I giggled again and turned to start dishing up.

  ‘She has my hair,’ Dan protested.

  ‘Wine, Ellie?’ asked Jenny as she uncorked it and started pouring into the glasses laid out around the table.

  ‘No thanks, I’ll just stick to water, but the minute I stop breastfeeding, watch out. I’ll be drinking you under the table.’

  ‘Over my dead body,’ scoffed Dan, leading everyone to their seats and settling Jonas into his high chair.

  Jenny helped me to carry the plates over and got the garlic bread out of the oven for me. I looked around as everyone tucked in, so happy to be home and to have my extended family here. I couldn’t wait until Christmas, to have everyone over. I needed to make sure Dan had remembered to book enough suites for them all at the hotel.

  Dan insisted that we move to the lounge, saying I looked tired. I felt it, not that I’d admit it, but even the simple task of cooking lunch had wiped me out. He put his arm around me and pulled me against him as he updated Mr. McAdams on the share prices of Davenport Technologies. He had such a good heart. Not only did he keep the couple on and pay them a salary, he’d given them shares in his company to make sure they could afford to treat all of their grandchildren and take regular holidays. Even when I was mad at him, which had been often lately, I loved him with everything I had. Mrs. McAdams made me laugh when she started teasing Jenny about Dean, too. She went to pass a sleeping Jonas over to Jenny so she could get up when she heard Eva cry down the baby monitor, but I stopped her.

  ‘Don’t, let me,’ I said as I eased myself up from the sofa.

  ‘Ellie,’ warned Dan. ‘You know that you still shouldn’t be lifting her.’

  ‘I’ll go and get her,’ Mrs. McAdams said firmly, giving me a stern look. I sighed and sat back down again. I hated that I couldn’t even pick up my own little girl, but the doctors had warned of the high risk of another rupture if I didn’t let myself heal properly. ‘Where is she?’

  ‘Our bedroom for now,’ I confirmed. ‘At some stage we’ll move her into Oliver’s old nursery and have a door put through from our room. We thought the boys would want to stay together, so we’ll do up Oliver’s room for him now he’s older so it doesn’t look like a nursery anymore.’

  ‘Big boy’s bedroom,’ Oliver nodded, as he sat between Dan’s legs playing games on his mini iPad. I’d told Dan that at three and a half he was too young for one, but Dan insisted it was good for his development and he did seem to love it.

  ‘It sure will be,’ nodded Dan, patting his head.

  ‘I’ll be down in a minute,’ Mrs. McAdams called as she disappeared. I heard her speaking to Eva over the baby monitor and kept biting my lip and checking the opening through to the playroom, waiting for her to return. The thought of her carrying Eva down those stairs had my stomach twist in knots. I breathed a sigh of relief when she appeared in the doorway cradling her.

  ‘Thank God she’s too old for another, I recognise that look,’ Mr. McAdams chuckled.

  ‘Ellie, she’s so bonnie. She looks just like you. She’s going to break so many men’s hearts.’

  ‘She’s never going to date if I have anything to do with it,’ Dan stated. ‘Any guy will have to pass a rigorous assessment by me first and if he doesn’t meet my standards, he’ll be warned off her.’

  ‘No one will ever meet your standards for her, Dan,’ I laughed. ‘Besides, you’ve never mentioned standards for the boys.’

  ‘He probably has that old-fashioned attitude of boys have a reputation to maintain, while girls should never have one,’ Jenny advised, as she kissed the top of Jonas’s blond hair as he slept on her lap.

  ‘Nothing wrong with that attitude,’ Dan replied, looking to Mr. McAdams for support.

  ‘You’re a braver man than me, Dan. The wife would make my life a misery for the rest of the week for saying something like that.’

  ‘Who’s to say I won’t make Dan’s? I think he needs to remember that he wouldn’t be married with three beautiful children if I hadn’t made the first move. Nothing wrong with women being forthright about what they want and going for it. Is there Jenny?’ I added with a poignant look at her.

  ‘Alright, alright. I’ll ask Dean on a date, satisfied?’ she laughed with a roll of her eyes as everyone cheered.

  Day Thirteen

  One year later ~ Saturday 5th September

  Ellie

  I kept an eye on Eva in the lounge as I prepared dinner for us all. At eleven months old, she’d started cruising, far earlier than the boys had. I was sure it wouldn’t be long before she started walking. I smiled as I heard the powerful roar of the speedboat approaching. Dan had taken the boys out food shopping. Wherever he went, Oliver wanted to follow, although Jonas had taken more convincing. Much to Dan’s chagrin, he was still all about me, whereas Eva was a real Daddy’s girl. I tossed the broad beans into the grill pan, full of the chopped-up bacon and bacon fat, and stirred to make sure everything was coated. It was a quick, simple meal that everyone loved. I’d done some garlic bread to go with it, and we had a forest fruit crumble and ice cream for dessert. I’d laid the table outside to enjoy the last of the unusually good weather for September.

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nbsp; We’d had an incredible summer. Dan seemed so much more relaxed. He’d taken on an Operations Director to oversee some of the day-to-day running of the offices, who worked in conjunction with Stuart, given his vast knowledge of Davenport Technologies after being Dan’s right hand man for so long. It had meant Dan could step back a little and spend more time with the children, which of course they loved. It also gave us more quality time together. I smiled as I looked across and out of our glass-fronted wall to see Dan striding up with a couple of bags of food, even with Jonas sitting on his shoulders. Andy had most of the bags and Oliver was huffing and puffing as he carried one, too. He always wanted to do whatever his dad was doing.

  ‘Dada,’ Eva cried, a huge smile plastered across her face. She started making her way towards the door, clinging to the sofa. When she ran out of furniture to hold, she dropped to her hands and knees and crawled at an alarmingly fast pace towards the front door.

  ‘You do love your daddy, don’t you, darling,’ I stated with a shake of my head. I couldn’t blame her, he was still as irresistible now as the day I met him. I cocked my head as I watched him approaching, dressed in his black jeans and a new version of that blue and white checked shirt he’d loved so much that first winter. The one I’d been wearing the morning Pete had turned up with the electrical company guys. However good he looked in it, my mind was already undoing the buttons, visualising his hard chest and the ridges of his toned abs. I felt my skin hum with need, not to mention how my heart melted when he saw us watching him and smiled. It was the smile of an excited teenager on a first date, not of a man approaching his fortieth birthday, who’d been in a relationship for six years. I grinned as I recalled our many debates about how long we’d been together. I insisted our relationship only started when we were reunited after Oliver was born, but Dan refused to accept that. He said, categorically, that I was his the moment he slept with me, regardless of the time we’d spent apart. And I never wanted time apart like that again. I missed him, and the boys, even when they just went out to do some shopping.

  ‘Eva,’ he called as he stepped onto the decking.

  ‘Dada,’ she cried, putting her tiny hands up onto the glass window pane separating them. He lifted Jonas off his shoulders and set him down, then opened the door. Jonas ran to me, flinging his arms around my legs and squeezing tightly.

  ‘Hello, darling,’ I laughed. ‘Did you miss me?’

  ‘Yes,’ he nodded. I picked him up and gave him a kiss, watching Dan dump the shopping bags to do the same with Eva.

  ‘Here you are, Mrs. Davenport,’ Andy nodded as he set all of the bags he was carrying on the floor next to me.

  ‘Thank you, Andy, it’s really good of you to help out.’

  ‘No problem at all. See you later,’ he nodded, then headed towards the utility to go back to the security wing behind us.

  ‘Thanks, Andy,’ Dan called. He gently pushed the front door shut with his foot and shook his head as Oliver starting dragging the carrier bag he was in charge of across the floor.

  ‘What do you have there, Oliver?’ I asked, when he finally deposited it at my feet with a triumphant grin.

  ‘I was in charge of the toilet rolls,’ he beamed.

  ‘Wow, a very important responsibility,’ I smiled. ‘Well done, I think you deserve an extra portion of dinner for that, don’t you?’

  ‘I do,’ he nodded seriously, ‘and a kiss.’ He pouted his lips for one, so I set Jonas down and picked Oliver up instead to do as he asked.

  ‘I carried far more bags, do I deserve a kiss?’ Dan asked, with a twinkle in his eye as he strode over.

  ‘I think I can manage a kiss now and a little bit more later,’ I smiled.

  ‘Excellent,’ he grinned, leaning in to press his lips against mine. I sagged a little against his chest, letting out a soft sigh of contentment.

  ‘Is it pathetic that I missed you,’ I whispered, resting my forehead on his.

  ‘Only if that makes me pathetic, too,’ he replied. ‘Come on, let’s get this shopping unpacked and eat. I’m starving, and the sooner I can wear this lot out, the sooner we have a night to ourselves.

  I kissed Oliver goodnight and winked at Dan as he sat on the bed to start his bedtime story. His lips curved up into a sexy smile as he watched me leave. I headed upstairs and quickly went to our dressing room and stripped, changing back into a green corset, a pair of green lace French knickers, and a set of stockings and suspenders. I brushed my hair, fluffing it up, and applied some Vaseline on my lips. We hadn’t had sex for a couple of days. Not for lack of interest, on either part, but I’d had my period and while Dan didn’t have a problem having sex while I was on, I wasn’t that keen. I was beyond my limit of endurance now though. The thought of his hands and lips touching me had fired me up all day. I couldn’t wait. I skipped through to our oversized bed and settled myself in the middle, propping myself up on my elbows and shaking my hair back over my shoulders as I waited for him impatiently. It seemed ages before he finally appeared, stalling in his tracks just inside of the bedroom door as he cast an appreciative eye over my body.

  ‘Hello, big boy,’ I purred. His grin nearly reached his green eyes that were full of fire.

  ‘If I’d have known this was what was on offer, I’d have refused that extra chapter.’ He didn’t hesitate in pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it onto the floor. I bit my lip as I took in his magnificent torso and watched his fingers move to undo the buttons on his jeans. I felt heat building in my core as I saw he was hard already.

  ‘I’ve been imagining this all day.’

  ‘I’ve been imagining it for days,’ he replied, whipping down his jeans and boxers in one smooth, fluid, and well-practiced move. I groaned as his turgid cock bounced, feeling myself swell and dampen in anticipation. I slowly parted my legs, knowing he’d want to settle between them immediately. He smirked as he stepped out of his clothes and started crawling his way up the bed towards me. My breathing and heart rate kicked up a notch, the fine hairs on my arms and neck standing to attention. I threw my head back with a moan as he kissed my inner ankle. Even with my stockings between my skin and his lips, I felt the sexual charge flow between us. ‘You. Look. So. God. Damn. Sexy,’ he whispered between each kiss as he moved closer and closer.

  ‘You still want me, even after all of this time?’ I asked, my voice having taken on a breathless tone as his lips met the bare skin at the top of my stockings.

  ‘I’ll never stop wanting you, Ellie,’ he murmured, kissing up to the apex of my thighs, making my fingers claw at the duvet below me. He held my gaze as he ran the tip of his tongue over my lace-clad mound, making me shudder with need. ‘God, just the sight of you gets me hard, without even hearing your voice or catching the scent of your arousal. After you texted me, telling me that you wanted me tonight, I had to walk around the supermarket sporting a sizeable erection, which of course our son took great delight in asking about, in his usual loud voice.’

  ‘Sorry,’ I laughed, ‘he’s at that age. He’s a nightmare, isn’t he?’

  ‘Yes, but much as I love him, let’s not talk about him right now, I want to focus on you.’ He moved closer, his powerful body hovering over mine as he kissed his way up the hooks on my corset, taking his time on the fleshy mounds of my breasts heaving over the top. I moaned as the warmth of his lips and the tip of his tongue started meandering across my throat and up the side of my neck. ‘Tell me you’re wet, tell me I can drown in you before I fuck you?’

  ‘Soaked,’ I confirmed, tilting my head to kiss his neck. ‘I need you to fuck me hard, it’s been too long. I don’t want soft and tender tonight.’

  ‘Excellent,’ he replied as his lips crashed down on mine, demanding and bruising with the intensity of his kiss. I dropped back onto the bed, wrapping my arms around his neck, hooking my ankles over his as I dragged him down on top of me. I didn’t want a millimetre between us. Being smothered by his warm, hard, muscular body was the most comforting feeling I’d
ever experienced. He rolled onto his side, taking me with him. One of his hands clasped the back of my head and tangled in my hair, while the other kneaded at my backside. I could feel his erection laying heavy against my stomach, his thrusting tongue mimicking what I hoped his cock would be doing to me shortly. My head was tingling, I was drowning in a sea of ecstasy as he plundered my mouth. He rolled again, onto his back, and quickly pushed me to straddle his pelvis, leaving me feeling bereft. ‘Take it off,’ he ordered gruffly, his eyes hooded as his chest heaved. ‘Slowly.’

  ‘Yes,’ I breathed. I did as I was told and lifted my fingers towards the tight corset, releasing the first hook and showing more of my cleavage. His eyes remained fixed as I popped the second hook, but his cock flexed down between my thighs, making me shift my hips to press myself down on it. I needed some friction on my clit desperately. He nodded appreciatively as the third and fourth hook were released and my breasts spilled out through the gap, my nipples painfully hard.

  ‘Fuck, Ellie,’ he groaned, reaching up to pinch and pull them with his fingertips, making me cry out as a combination of pain and pleasure shot through my system. I continued to unveil my body as he groped, kneaded, and squeezed my breasts, licking his full lower lip as he eyed them up. When the final hook was released, he grabbed the corset and flung it over his head to the floor, then ran his hands over my stomach and up to my waist. I cringed slightly as I saw his eyes flit to my second caesarean scar, which had yet to fade. ‘Don’t do that,’ he growled, anger flaring in his eyes. ‘There’s not an inch of you that I don’t love, these in particular,’ he confirmed, running the tips of his fingers over the scars on my stomach. ‘They remind me of your strength and the love you had to carry our children, no matter what it might cost you. You’re perfection, Ellie Davenport. My perfection. Never forget that.’

  ‘And you’re mine,’ I replied, tears forming in my eyes as I gazed down at him. I ran my hands over his chest, flicking my thumbs over his nipples, making him hiss. ‘I don’t want foreplay tonight, I need you inside me, right now.’