Chapter 28
Freedom. Bill walked down the steps of Nassau Hospital with a sense of profound relief.
After three weeks, he was finally well enough to go home.
He still felt a bit weak and still had a bit of a lingering cough, but he was worlds better.
They gave him a bottle of the hospital’s cough serum to take home.
It tasted like its main ingredient was whiskey, but whatever the doctor ordered…
Truth be told, the bath and clean clothes this morning were all the medicine he needed, aside from his wife’s captivating green eyes, which he could not wait to see.
He asked the nurse not to tell Ann and his mother he was being released so that he could surprise them.
As he walked the few blocks back home, he hummed, enjoying the bite of autumnal coolness in the morning air.
Fall was upon them and not a moment too soon.
The summer heat was relenting at last, leaving Bill refreshed and awake.
His heart pounded in his chest at the unaccustomed exertion of the walk to the apartment, but anticipation thrummed through his whole body. As he climbed the stairs to the apartment, his grin grew wider and wider, until he turned the doorknob and opened it to see Ann’s face.
Because of the early hour, she was still in her nightgown and was in the midst of brushing her glorious hair while Junior napped in his crib.
She froze when she saw him, dropping her brush and staring wide-eyed.
She was backlit by the morning sun through the window, and he could see every curve of her silhouette outlined beneath the thin fabric.
A swell of equal parts love and desire ran through him at the sight.
He dropped his bag on the floor and ran to her, folding her into a tight, desperate embrace. “I love you, Ann,” he whispered as he clutched her even closer.
“I love you too, Bill.”
Though she’d written the words, it was something else entirely to hear them from her lips. Her declaration made him as giddy as his first airplane flight.
She kissed his cheek again and again. “I’m so glad you’re home. I had no idea you were coming home today.” She cupped his face in her hands and looked at him.
Bill wanted to bask in her adoring gaze forever. “I asked Nurse Carter to keep it secret so I could surprise you. Also, I didn’t want to get your hopes up in case they changed their minds.”
Rising to her tiptoes, she angled her face toward his, lips parted, eyes half closed, every feature an invitation, and she kissed him.
In the past when he had kissed her, he had always been the one to initiate and take the lead, but this was her kiss.
Her lips drew him in. Her tongue peeked forth and found his own.
It was a kiss to drown in, so filled with passion and softness.
No one had ever kissed him like this before.
He kissed her back with everything that was in him, letting himself get carried away on the tide of love that passed between them.
Her lips tugged him in, then tantalized him until he completely lost his bearings.
He didn’t know up from down, and he didn’t care.
All he wanted in that moment was to drift with her current, to let go and flow with the force of her passion.
One of her soft hands guided his to her breast, and he moaned as he caressed the taut nipple and felt the weight and swell of her in his hand. He teased the swollen pebble beneath her nightgown, as the kiss grew deeper and she leaned into him, inviting more.
Her other hand grazed the growing swell between his legs as she continued to kiss him into oblivion. Lightning bolts of desire crackled all through him. As she kissed her way down his neck, she murmured, “I want to be with you, Bill. I want to show you how much I love you, how much I missed you.”
The backs of his knees bumped against the bed before he realized they had been moving.
Her hands feathered down his chest, unbuttoning his shirt.
He thought his heart might explode with love for this amazing, passionate woman he’d married.
Her love enveloped him, ensorcelled him.
He was hers to command, as his shirt dropped to the floor.
He kicked off his shoes as she unbuttoned his union suit and pants and stripped them from him, along with his socks.
He was naked and exposed, trembling with need.
She took her nightgown in hand and slowly drew it up, revealing herself bit by bit—her long tapered legs, the lovely swell of her bottom, then up over her belly to reveal her breasts before she took it off entirely.
Her loving hands pressed him gently but firmly back into the bed as she straddled him.
Leaning over him again, she kissed him deeply then began kissing a trail down his neck. Yes, Ann. Taste me. Consume me. Take all of me. I’m yours. Her kisses traveled down to his chest where she tasted and nipped, the soft warm feel of her full perfect lips driving him wild.
Never in the history of the world had there been a more perfect woman.
She was everything to him. His Ann who crocheted doilies and played the piano and couldn’t swim.
And for some reason, she loved him, craved his touch.
His fingers traced lightly along her back as her lips traveled lower and lower until…
“Oh, Christ,” he swore, taking deep, gulping breaths as she licked up the length of him and took him in her mouth. Sweet and proper Ann was feasting on him as if he were a strawberry ice cream cone.
The sensation was so intense, his eyes rolled back in his head. He was reduced to deep, animal instinct, unable to stop himself from thrusting into her mouth. He lay helpless beneath her ministrations, blinding desire holding him completely in thrall.
“Ann,” he cried out. “I want to be inside you. Please.”
Taking one last lick and suck, she sat up and straddled him with a sultry smile. “I want that too. I want to feel all of you.” She rubbed his tip along her folds, coating it in her juices, and then notched it against her entrance. “I want you to feel how much I love you.”
With that, she slid down onto him, taking him to the hilt in a single motion.
He cried out in wordless ecstasy. Her eyes rolled back, and her mouth froze in a perfect O.
They were connected, united, one. He could feel her pleasure as well as his own.
It flowed through them both, pulsing and crackling as it drove them to move in an ancient dance.
And in that moment, he knew that Ann was completely his. She moved above him, around him, dancing with him in a slow and steady rhythm.
All he wanted in the world was to give her joy. After all she had been through, she deserved nothing less, and he was humbled that he could give it to her, that he had the power to transport her, at least temporarily, from the darkness that weighed her down.
She moved on top of him as if she was taking something precious and transcendent from their motion. The way she looked would be imprinted forever in his memory, he was certain.
The memory of dancing with Ann the night of Hank’s wedding came to mind.
She slipped against him in sensuous silk.
She fit so perfectly in his arms as they swayed to the music.
Anyone watching, he was sure, would have read the love in his eyes like a book.
She let go then, just as she let go now, allowing herself the freedom to be who she was, unencumbered by what she lost. And she was glorious.
This was the real Ann, the woman he saw flickers of as he fed her cake and ice cream the night they met. He was determined to make it his mission to coax her forth, to help her free herself of what weighed her down, and fly.
And in the moment, she made him soar as she took him to ever greater heights of passion.
The pressure of his impending release built and built.
Soon he wouldn’t be able to hold on anymore.
She trembled above him and cried out, bucking against him, and he let go, emptying into her in a powerful stream.
One final upward thrust, and he was done.
She collapsed beside him and rested her head on his chest. “Oh, Ann,” was all he could say as he lay there recovering. There was so much more in his heart, but he didn’t have the words just at that moment. He, Bill O’Donnell, was speechless for once.
“I missed you terribly, Bill. I was so worried about you.” She tightened her embrace. “I thought I might never hold you in my arms again.”
“Oh, sweetheart. I’m here. I’m safe. I’m yours.” Had she fully forgiven him for the lipstick incident?
“I’m so sorry I doubted you. I should have trusted my heart instead of giving free rein to my fears. You’ve done so much for me. And I have so little to offer in return. It terrifies me to be so dependent. But I know I’ve married a good man.”
He imagined himself in her shoes. All alone. No family. No home. Very little money, and a tiny baby. Of course she was scared. “I promise I will never give you cause to doubt me again, and I will never stop regretting that I made you worry this once. I love you from head to toe, Ann O’Donnell.”
“I love you too, Bill O’Donnell.”
He grinned. “I will never get tired of hearing that.”
They lay there for several moments in silence, Bill still panting from the exertion. He stifled a cough.
“Are you all right?” Ann propped herself up to look at him.
“Fine. Just still recovering. I still have a bit of a tickle in my chest from time to time. I’m so relieved you and Junior didn’t get this.
I’ve never been so sick in my life.” Or so heartsore for that matter.
He’d seen too much death in the last few weeks, and he knew that their current safety wouldn’t necessarily last.
“What was it like in the hospital?”
He closed his eyes. What did he want to tell Ann?
The last thing he wanted to do was spoil this glorious moment.
But he owed her an answer. Opening his eyes again, he said, “Everyone was terribly nice—the doctors, the nurses, the other patients. I slept a lot, and when I was awake, I chatted, read, played cards. Talking was harder than usual with all the coughing. You can imagine how hard that was on me.” He fell silent for a moment, not ready to say more.
“I pray you and Junior stay safe through this and that no one we’re close to gets it. ”
“We’ll be careful.” She hugged him close and kissed his neck. “Speaking of which, we should buy a house so that we aren’t stuck in here if we have to quarantine again.”
“We can go see the realtor today.” He caressed her flowing hair, picturing a bright future in a darling house with her and Junior.
“Did you run across anything that strikes your fancy while I was in the hospital?” He still had his heart set on the Millington house, but he couldn’t deny Ann anything.
“I’ve changed my mind about the Millington house. I think it would make a wonderful home.”
It was too much. All his dreams were coming true in a single morning. How was this possible? “Then let’s put in an offer today.” He hugged her tight. “I promise I’ll have the work done quickly so that we can move out of here.”
“I’ll almost miss it here.” She nuzzled against him. “It holds some very good memories.”
“Yes. Yes, it does.”
Reluctantly, he sat up and got out of bed. “But there’s no time like the present. Let’s go buy a house.” Their future awaited them, and he wasn’t going to waste another minute.