“You know, I was worried about you,” Jack said.

Anna smiled and turned to her brother. “What? Why?”

“I know you cared about us, and you wanted to do right by Mom. I also knew that Mom would be pissed if you quit college. You’re still doing college, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I’m still doing it.” Their mother had quit college when she got pregnant with them. It had been one of her biggest regrets that, when their father moved on with another woman, she didn’t have any further education.

All of her life her mother had told her that no matter what, the only person she could rely on was herself. To not let a man control my life or take charge. Glancing outside to the garden, she saw Landon on the phone. Since the storm, he’d been taking a lot more phone calls. She didn’t mind. It was moments like this that she was able to sit back and watch him.

“Good.”

“So why were you worried?”

“The mail order bride thing, Anna. It was reckless and dangerous.”

“It’s turned out to be a pretty good idea.”

“But what if it wasn’t?” Jack asked, forcing her to look at him.

“I’m not going to waste time thinking about how badly this could have been, Jack. I did what I felt I had to do and I’m happy that I did. You and Mom, you’re both in a good place right now.”

“Mom would have been fine. I’m pleased that Landon’s not some kind of criminal, but can you see the risks here?”

She walked up to her brother and hugged him. “I know, okay? I get it. I did a great deal of research before I did this. I didn’t act out of desperation. Okay, fine, partly desperation but I did check it all out. Landon’s amazing. Honestly. I can’t believe I got so lucky.”

Jack glanced out the door toward her husband. “You both seem happy.”

“I am. I’m very happy.”

Her brother looked at her for a few moments.

“What?” she asked, chuckling.

“Are you in love?”

“Stop that right now.”

Jack’s cell phone started to ring and she left him to go and answer.

Leaving the kitchen, she made her way outside just as Landon hung up his cell phone. “You okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. A lot of my clients are happy to wait the extra couple of weeks. They have no interest in going elsewhere.”

“That is really good because you are the best at what you do,” she said.

“You know that?”

“I do.”

“And how do you know that?”

She walked down the couple of steps, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Because I checked you out on the internet. I also checked out your competition and there is a huge difference between your work and that of your competitors.”

“And what is that?” he asked.

“You care. You love what you do and each piece isn’t about making money. Even though you make a lot of it.” She pushed some hair out of her face. Landon took over, curling it behind her ear. “You love what you do.”

“You got that right. I do love what I do.” He gripped her ass, pulling her against him.

They’d been married for some time now and they still hadn’t had sex. They shared a bed, but between exhaustion, and adjusting to her new life, they’d not been able to find that time.

With her visiting her mother, they weren’t doing it there either.

“You know, wife of mine, I can see what you’re thinking about right now.”

“No, you cannot.”

“I totally can.” He squeezed her ass even tighter. “You want me to take you, to fuck you. To drive my dick so deep inside your pussy that you can’t think straight.”

Heat flooded her pussy, and she licked her lips.

“You think I don’t feel this as well? I’m starting to panic and think we should just go at it because the fates will intervene.”

She threw her head back, laughing. “You think we’re being forced apart?”

“No. I think the special powers above like to see me with blue balls.”

She couldn’t stop laughing. Resting her head against his chest, she breathed in his earthy scent.

“When we do, it’ll be perfect.”

“I know it will. You’re always thinking about it.”

“I am not.”

“You’re thinking about it right now.”

“So are you,” she said.

“You’ve got that right. I want you naked, beneath me, begging for my cock.” He rubbed his cock against her stomach, and she moaned. “You feel that. You feel what you do to me. This is all you, baby. You drive me crazy with need.”

She gripped the back of his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. The moment his lips were on hers, she lost all thought of where they were and only cared about the man in her arms.

Landon was everything she had ever hoped to have in a husband. He made her smile and laugh. He treated her with so much care, and he was super talented. When she’d put her name forward for the mail order bride service, she knew she could have ended up in a miserable situation.

She counted herself lucky at Landon seeing her picture and wanting her.

Pulling away from the kiss, she heard him moan. “We’ve got to stop, otherwise I won’t be able to get myself under control.”

She whimpered. “I wish we were home right now. I’d not stop. No matter what.”

“Be careful what you say,” he said.

Staring up into his eyes, she smiled, knowing that she’d do anything for this man. Running her hands down his chest, she sighed. “Thank you for coming with me to see my mom and my brother.”

“They’re good people, Anna. You’ve been hit with a hard deal. I’m so sorry that she’s been going through this.”

She nibbled her lip and took a deep breath. “I know … I know she’s not going to be with us for much longer, but thank you for everything that you’ve done for me, for her.”

He stroked her cheek. “I’ll keep on doing it for you, Anna.”