Epilogue
NORA
‘Theo.’ I try to sound annoyed, but the breathiness in my voice is a dead giveaway of how hopelessly turned on I am. ‘When you said you wanted to be the guy to give me security in life, this was not what I had in mind.’
I stare up at the gorgeously lean, villainous silhouette of my boyfriend against the summer sky and attempt unsuccessfully to free my wrists.
He grins and tuts, his teeth white against his dreamy late-summer tan. We’ve only been in our new place for a couple of weeks, and let’s say we’ve been maximising our pool time.
‘You know the more you fight it, baby, the worse it’s going to be for you.’
‘And can I just check that by worse, you mean better, right?’
I smile up at him and bite down on my lip. The next half an hour is looking up.
He raises his eyebrows approvingly. ‘Exactly.’ He pulls the strings on both sides of my bikini bottoms at the same time and yanks the fabric from between my legs.
I was lying here, sunbathing by the beautiful pool in my bikini and minding my own business, when Mr Mafia here appeared out of nowhere and pulled my string top off before using it to bind my wrists above my head to the top of my lounger.
So here I am, trussed up and squirming as he peels off his shorts to reveal a dick so erect and gorgeous that my mouth waters.
Theo has a bit of a complex, you see. He’s confided to me that although he’s intent on providing what I thought I needed Jonathan for—security, stability, love—he’s terrified that means we’ll lose our edge.
He’s worried Mr Danger will give way to Mr Safety, and he’ll end up ‘fucking like a carthorse’ (his words, not mine) a few years down the line.
So, he’s on a mission to be the textbook life partner I want while remaining a total animal when it comes to our sex life.
And let’s just say that these efforts are working out very well for me in all aspects of our lives together.
Very well indeed.
I watch the desire flash across his face as he contemplates what to do with me now he’s got me where he wants me, and it’s really fucking hot.
The anticipation.
The blissful helplessness I feel stretched out.
All his.
‘It’s all your fault, you know.’
He crawls onto the lounger and crouches over me.
His head dips and he catches a nipple in his mouth.
Jesus Christ. My nipple stiffens and strains at the firm tug of his lips.
The graze of his teeth. I shift a little and open my legs as much as I can with him straddling me, already desperate for relief.
‘What’s my fault?’ I pant out.
‘If you’d been sunbathing naked like I suggested, there wouldn’t be a bikini to tie you up with.’
I roll my eyes. ‘Impeccable Theo Montague logic.’
‘Less of your lip.’ His voice is soft. Tender, as he makes his way up the bed to kiss me. Our tongues tangle and I absorb the wonderful heat of his body as he gives me some of his weight. His dick is a long, hard pipe, and it’s already leaking against my bare stomach.
I fucking love this.
He pulls off me and edges my legs apart with a hand so he can kneel between them. My knees fall to the sides. He doesn’t say anything as his fingers dip to my wet centre and stroke. Test. Sink deep inside me.
I groan luxuriously and push my bum further down the bed, towards the source of this sensation he’s giving me.
My body is stretched out further now, my legs open as far as possible.
Theo hums his approval while he continues to touch me.
His movements are leisurely, but his jaw is tense, and the view of his teeth sinking into his bottom lip tells me he’s struggling to control himself.
‘So fucking sexy, all spread out for me,’ he murmurs, his other hand swiping over my breasts, rolling my nipples one by one. They ache so much under his touch that it’s practically unbearable. He takes his cock and drags it through my folds, and I buck as we both inhale sharply.
‘Theo.’
He drags his gaze away from where his flesh is stroking mine and meets my eyes. His dark eyes are practically all pupil.
‘I need you to fuck me.’ My teeth sink into my bottom lip on the F.
My words are kryptonite. He lowers himself down, so he’s framing me in with his elbows. His mouth is so close to mine. This is right where I want to be. Lying here in this man’s hands. His body blocking out everything else. Moments away from surrendering everything to him as he consumes me.
‘I’m not untying you,’ he warns.
‘No. I mean, yes. Don’t untie me.’
His smile is wolfish. Triumphant. ‘It’s going to be quick and hard. I need you so badly, baby.’
I nod. What he said.
And then he’s positioning himself at my entrance, and I tilt my hips up and rock him in as he rams home.
Hard, just like he promised. And holy craaaap, the force of it, and the physical overwhelm, and the very fact of being tied up and at his mercy, are all so hot that I’m gasping and moaning and whimpering almost as soon as he starts to move.
‘I’ve got you exactly where I want you. Fuck, Belle.’
He’s doing most of the work and I can’t touch him in this position, can’t indulge myself with decadent sweeps of his body.
His skin. But I can take his kisses, which are hard and hungry, and I can roll my hips, pushing back against him every time he drives in.
Giving as good as I get. Maximising the friction between us.
And when he puts his hand down and rubs me where I’m throbbing, the unravelling process kicks in for real and takes over my body. Breathing becomes harder.
‘Take it, baby,’ he orders, and I snap, drowning in sensation.
Falling headlong into the abyss. Crying out and bucking and shaking against him, my entire body shuddering with my release.
As I spiral, I can feel Theo stiffen against me, filling me up even more, no matter how impossible that seems, and exploding inside me.
Collapsing on top of me as I take his weight gratefully.
I’ll take it all. Everything he has to give me.
Once we’ve cleaned up (read: had a long, sensual shower together) and I’ve ascertained that I don’t have any telltale bondage marks on my wrists, we head over to the farm.
The paperwork for The Montague Group’s investment in Sorrel Farm is progressing slowly but surely.
Aside from a fantastic week together in New York while Theo hired someone to run the project on the ground, we’ve spent our time driving up and down from London.
Getting ready for our move and familiarising ourselves with the farm.
I have a couple of weddings left to fulfil with my Nora Wilder Weddings hat on, but I’m gradually switching over to in-house planner at Sorrel Farm. I knew by the time the wedding weekend finished that this was the right move to make.
Not only is it an idyllic place to base myself and start a new life with Theo, but working with the team there on the wedding of the year filled me with confidence that I’ll have the best of everything to offer my couples: the best site, food, cakes, photography.
It’s a seriously slick operation with so much potential.
Not to mention, Evelyn is just as anal as me and I know we’ll work brilliantly together.
Of course, the icing on the cake is that Theo will be involved with the resort side, too.
I know the Montagues and Evelyn and her management team all share a common excitement about the level of potential, not just to ramp up the accommodation and offering of the resort itself, but to replicate it elsewhere in the UK.
One thing Theo’s keen to understand better is the relationship between the farm and the resort, which is why we’re taking a stroll around the land today with Evelyn and her handsome and highly devoted husband, Angus, who’s the Estate Manager here.
He walks us around the kitchen garden, which is groaning with fresh produce, before we hop in his Landrover and tour the lavender fields, the crops, and the various pastures, where contented-looking sheep and rare-breed cows mooch and graze.
But where he’s most fascinating is on the subject of biodynamics, something he’s been overseeing at Sorrel Farm for years.
He talks us through the relentless work that such a big shift in farming has required, and sells us convincingly on the rewilding process, whereby his team is turning over large quantities of land on which nature can work its own magic. Unleash its own power.
I’m looking out of the window, transfixed, when Theo leans into me, draping an arm over the back seat of the car and whispering in my ear.
‘I’ve been working on a little rewilding project of my own, you know.’
I stiffen, but feign innocence.
‘Oh, really?’ I murmur under my breath.
‘Yeah.’ His breath on my neck sends goosebumps erupting over my skin. I strain to hear his words over the hum of the engine. ‘And I’m very happy with my progress. Our progress.’
I swallow. His voice does things to me that I can’t describe. ‘That’s… good.’
‘It’s very good.’ The fingers of his other hand trace the wrists he bound earlier. ‘I wasn’t sure how my project would turn out at first, but I knew she was wilder at heart than she let on.’
‘I have an excellent teacher,’ I tell him, as I turn and kiss him.
THE END