Chapter Thirty-Seven

Quinn

Four years later...

"Thank you so much for entrusting your daughter to us." I shake Mrs. Willow's hand once more. "We look forward to seeing her when school starts."

"No, thank you, Mrs. Strauss." She smiles. "My daughter has never been more excited to start school."

She walks to the black car waiting for her and I give her a final wave before she drives off. Afterwards, I turn towards the building behind me and smile with pride.

I still can't believe that I've managed to put up my own school.

After Eli and I got married, we talked about putting up a new school in the area so the kids from the farm families wouldn't have to go to town to get an education. It seemed a particularly good idea at the time since Isaac Banks had been forced to give up his land and a few families had bought pieces of it.

It was just supposed to be a small and simple local school for kids from kindergarten to ninth grade. Instead, it ended up being a sophisticated boarding school open to anyone who wants to study and live on a peaceful farm at the same time. As it turns out, a lot of people want that.

I let out a deep breath. I can't wait until the new school year starts.

"We're really going to school, huh?" Clive asks as he stands beside me.

He's nearly as tall as me now and he looks almost as dashing as his father.

I pat his head. "I'm sorry it's taken so long."

Clive shakes his head. "It's okay. I learned a lot just from you."

I squeeze his shoulder. "Well, now you'll learn a lot from others and you'll have lots of friends."

"Yeah. I won't have to be surrounded by just girls anymore."

As if on cue, Marianne and Alice come running.

"Alice, wait!" Marianne calls.

But Alice doesn't listen.

I pick her up as she runs past me and put her on my hip.

"What did I say about running?"

She just laughs.

I sigh. "Even Clive wasn't this much trouble when he was three."

"I think I was," Marianne says.

Though now she's a fine young lady, behaved and kind and growing more beautiful each day.

I give her a pout. "And you're proud of that, are you?"

She giggles.

I touch her cheek. "Just like Clive, I'm sure you are going to make lots of friends your own age here at our school."

"I hope so."

I pinch her cheek lightly. "I know so."

She rubs it. "Ow!"

Alice laughs.

"I thought you and Daddy had a date," Clive says suddenly.

I glance at my watch. "We're not leaving for a few more hours. After all, your Dad is still doing stuff at the farm with your Uncle Steven and your Uncle Danny and your Uncle Chase."

"So many uncles," Marianne mutters.

"Uncle," Alice repeats.

I turn to her with a smile. "That's right, sweetheart. You have three uncles. That's why no one is ever going to make you cry. Then again, if anyone does, I'm sure your daddy will be the one to act first. He loves you so much after all."

I press Alice's button nose and she gives another giggle.

"Where's your date, Mommy?" Marianne asks.

"I don't know actually." I touch my chin. "Your daddy said it's a surprise."

~

"At the count of three, open your eyes," Eli tells me. "One. Two. Three!"

I open them and gasp as I see the tree house above me. Even from down here, I can tell it's larger than the old tree house at the Hardy farm - and far more sophisticated. It almost looks like a little castle in the trees.

"Well?"

I shake my head in disbelief. "I seriously don't know how you've been able to hide this from me all this time."

"Well, our property is quite large now that the Hardy and Strauss farms are annexed. And I did tell everyone not to tell you."

"And I thought all the trucks that came here were just bringing materials for the school."

Eli offers me his hand. "Would you like to go inside?"

"Yes, please."

Inside, the tree house looks even more amazing. I can't believe it has a bathroom, a breakfast nook and a reading nook, all beautifully decorated to look charming and cozy. But what I love most is the bed on the loft. As I lie down on it, I can see the stars through the glass ceiling. It almost feels like I'm floating.

"So do you like it?" Eli asks as he lies down beside me.

"I love it," I confess. "This tree house is just like a dream."

I turn my head and look into his eyes.

"Actually, everything has been just like a dream. Our wedding and our married life. Alice. The school. The farm. Now this."

"But it's not a dream." Eli takes my hand. His fingers entwine with mine. "Everything you said is all real."

I squeeze his hand. "That's why I'm the luckiest woman in the world."

I never thought when I made love to a guy dressed as a medieval executioner in a library on Halloween that things would end up like this. Yet they have.

Eli and I have come so far.

He climbs on top of me and plants a kiss between my breasts. "Not to mention the sexiest."

Before I can protest, he steals my breath with a fierce kiss. His hand cups my breast and his fingers rub my nipple through the layers of fabric.

I shiver beneath him.

I place my hand on his cheek and press my lips against his. My other hand strokes his back and follows his spine all the way to his ass. I squeeze a firm cheek.

Eli pulls away and narrows his eyes at me. "Someone's feeling naughty tonight."

"Well, we've been busy all week," I tell him. "I can't wait any longer."

He touches my nose. "Yes you can."

He kisses my neck as he rolls my blouse up over my breasts. He pushes my bra up as well and my nipples stiffen against the cool air.

He takes one pebbly nub between his lips and I gasp. He sucks on my breast and I tremble. My fingers grip his hair.

"To think that you wouldn't let me have these after Alice was born," he complains before moving to my other breast.

I lift my head. "Of course not. They belonged to her then."

"And now?" He licks my nipple.

"They belong to you, of course."

"I thought so."

He sucks on one breast while squeezing the other one. Then he travels down to my belly and kisses it reverently.

"There's no baby in there, if that's what you're wondering," I say.

I've been taking my pills regularly since Alice was born.

"I know," Eli says. "It's hard to believe she ever was here."

"And yet she was. Remember how she'd kick you?"

He chuckles. "I remember."

He licks my belly button. "And I remember how this popped out."

I frown. "Don't remind me."

He licks it again and I gasp. He dips his tongue inside and I giggle as I tug his hair.

"Stop doing that."

This time, Eli obeys. He moves lower, past the waistband of my jeans. He plants a kiss between my legs.

I help him take off my pants and my underwear. I accidentally toss my pants down the stairs.

"Oops." I place a hand over my mouth.

Eli laughs. "We'll get them later."

He settles between my legs and starts licking. I grip the edges of the pillow as I throw my head back against it. The stars blur above me as I moan.

I've lost count of how many times he's done this to me since the first, but each time, I grow weak. His tongue dips inside me and I melt. He teases the nub hidden in my curls over and over and I tremble.

I grab his shoulders. "Eli."

He lifts his head. "I know, I know. Get on with it." He climbs up and kisses my forehead. "Yes, ma'am."

Eli takes his hard cock out of his boxers and settles between my legs once more. He captures my lips as he grips my hips and slowly pushes in.

Even after all this time, he still feels so good inside me. His thick cock rubs against all the right spots, and the friction drives me mad as he moves.

I wrap my arms around him and cling to him as he pounds into my body. He breaks the kiss and my gasps and moans spill into the air.

My eyes fall shut. Even so, I can still see the stars. They begin to spin above me.

Eli moves even faster. I meet his thrusts as the fever of pleasure consumes me.

Then it breaks. My hips rise and my back arches against him as I'm swept away. He manages a few more thrusts before he spills himself deep inside me with a few grunts. Then he collapses on top of me and we both gasp for air in the silence.

I stroke his back as I gaze up at the stars. I feel like I can almost reach them.

I don't have to, though. I have everything I need right here.

I plant a kiss on Eli's shoulder before whispering in his ear, "I love you."

He lifts his head and looks into my eyes. The tenderness I see in his is an even more enchanting view.

"I love you."

Those three words are the strongest spell of all, and I just know that like this tree house, like these past fourteen years since that fateful Halloween night, everything will magically fall into place.

~The End~