A Little Bit More of…
Love on a Spring Morning

This is a bonus story for Ryan and Holly, who first appear in Love on a Spring Morning and who have a second bonus story in “Delivery Day”. Enjoy!

~

Maya sprinted down the beach towards Ryan, waving her arms in greeting. Not for her father, but for her baby brother, Noah, who had just woken up from his afternoon nap.

The older three kids had headed down to the beach ahead of them, because Noah’s nap had stretched on longer than usual. Maya had been under strict instructions not to go in the ocean, and to listen to her brothers, now overprotective and bossy teenagers.

Both Gavin and Jack were sprouting now, not quite as tall as their dad, but getting there. When they got back to Canada, Gavin would be ready to learn how to drive.

Ryan wasn’t ready. He’d never be ready, but it didn’t matter, because his babies were growing up right in front of his eyes.

That was one of the many reasons they worked with the school to arrange for a term of distance learning, so the family wouldn’t have to be separated. And now Christmas was around the corner, the final weeks of their time in Australia suddenly flying by.

This was unlike any Christmas Ryan had ever experienced before. Even in the five years they'd had Holly in their life, the holidays had always been spent in Pine Harbour.

Not this year. This year they were just about as far away from Bruce County as one could get. Holly was filming a movie in northern New South Wales, and they had all gone with her. Not just for Christmas, but the entire three month duration of the filming. It was the first movie Holly was making after having Noah a year ago, and accepting the contract hinged on the entire family being on board.

Maya, Gavin and Jack all agreed that three months away from school was a good idea. They were mildly disappointed to realize their private beach house also came with a tutor who would keep them up to date, but as their friends told them about it getting cold back home—just as the beach in Byron Bay was getting hotter by the day—they agreed the schoolwork was a minor price to pay for being able to swim after each lesson pack.

As for Ryan, he declined the production company's offer of a nanny for little Noah. He hadn't done the full-time dad thing with the older three kids until their mom died, and that had been a desperate, grief-filled period of survival. Holly had saved them all from that, falling in love with him and his children at the same time. 

Now he set Noah down on the sand. Gavin and Jack were still on the craggier black rocks further down the beach, but Maya was nearly upon them.

As she crouched, making herself smaller, more Noah-sized, Ryan blinked and suddenly she was a preschooler again. 

She’s such a good big sister, he thought to himself. To Lynn, his late wife, too. There was something about the ocean that had him thinking about her, sending thoughts to her, more often now than in recent years.

He glanced at his watch. Holly wouldn’t be home until late, these last two days of filming were pushing them into the evening, so maybe he’d order pizza in for dinner.

As if his beautiful bride had been thinking of him, his phone vibrated with a text from her.

Holly: Noah still asleep?

Ryan: Just woke up. Maya’s helping him walk on the beach.

Holly: I’ll have a dinner break in an hour, do you want to come to the set?

He grinned. Craft services food wasn’t necessarily better than takeout pizza, but he’d never pass up an opportunity for a family dinner. Even if it was on a movie set.

* * *

Holly loved everything about making movies—except the hurry up and wait, and the time crunch at the end of filming that justified working everyone to the bone. When I produce and direct a movie…

It wasn’t the first time she’d had that thought. Earlier in her career, she’d cut herself off, tell herself she was naive and just didn’t understand filmmaking. Now she knew better, and was quietly putting a plan into place so these extra long days would be a thing of the past.

Even with her family close by, she shouldn’t have to eek out a spare hour to eat dinner with them in her trailer. Or, as she had done when Maya was younger, and again when Noah was a baby, just opt out of making movies completely.

A quiet rap on the door was immediately followed by excited voices.

“Come in,” she called out, turning on the spot, full of relief to have some hugs for the first time in twelve hours.

It didn’t sound like a long time, but the Howard clan was non-stop affection, and she missed them.

Gavin was first through the door, carrying Noah, and as soon as her baby saw her, he started babbling excitedly. Her stepson set the youngest down, so he could wobble his way over to her, still a bit unsteady on his feet, but oh so proud.

“How’s Mama’s boy?” she murmured as she swept him into her arms, breathing in the sweet scent of his skin. “Did you go swimming with Maya? Daddy sent me pictures of you on the beach.”

“Just dipped his toes in,” Gavin said, affectionately ruffling Noah’s hair. “Little scaredy cat.”

The oldest three had taken to the ocean like they were born on surfboards, but Noah wasn’t a fan of the crashing waves. He preferred the pool at the rental house.

Maya crowded in next, wanting a hug as well, and then Jack slowly joined them. His face was buried in his phone, as it often was these days.

Holly nudged him with her elbow, and he gave her a slow grin. “What?”

“Who are you talking to?”

“Nobody.” Another grin. 

Oh, her heart. “Where’s your dad?”

“Grabbing food.”

It didn’t take long for Ryan to join them, but those few short minutes were full of ripe anticipation. As soon as he climbed the steps into the trailer, she was looking at him, gobbling him up as a sight for sore eyes.

He held her attention, too, even as the kids tucked in to dinner.

“How’s it going today?” He came around to the far side of where she was sitting on the sofa nursing Noah, away from the table, and stretched out next to her.

She leaned into him as he wrapped his big arm around her shoulders. “We got three scenes done. Two more tonight. And then four scenes tomorrow, and our part is done.”

He shook his head. “Incredible.”

“Exhausting.”

He kissed her temple. “I’ll take good care of you when you get home.”

“I have some new lines to run.”

“That’s an excuse to get me to wear my reading glasses, isn’t it?” He squeezed the back of her neck.

“Maybe.” She stroked Noah’s back as he finished nursing and twisted around, looking for his big brothers and sister.

Ryan eased her head down onto his shoulder. “Take a micro nap. I’m watching him.”

She closed her eyes and drifted, thinking about her family and the scenes she needed to film that night, and how wonderful her husband was.

* * *

When Holly got home hours later, she found Ryan at the bottom of a pile on Noah’s bed, in the room adjacent to theirs. The pile consisted of Noah, Noah's stuffed animals, and Maya, too. 

She remembered when she first met the Howards and the boys piled in there, too. Now they were growing up, young men right around the corner from learning to drive and thinking about college.

This might be the last time they would come with her on location, so she'd splurged to make it memorable. But deep down, she couldn't wait to go home to Pine Harbour…after Christmas. After a few more swims in the ocean, all together.

Her husband stirred, then started, as he realized she was in the doorway.

“Did I fall asleep?” He gave her a sheepish smile. “They got me, I guess.”

“I just got home. I was going to take a shower…” She undid a couple of buttons on her blouse. “Want to join me?”

He was off the bed and looming over her at the doorway in a split second. She backed into the hall, quiet as a church mouse now, and he prowled after her, his gaze full of lusty intent.

After a lifetime in an industry that had convinced her she was a limited-time commodity, being unreservedly adored and wanted by her husband was a gift she would never take for granted. Ryan’s attraction to her knew no limits. Tired and cranky, sweaty after a run, bloated and hormonal, and this new post-baby body with stretch marks and jiggly belly skin…it was good in his eyes. She felt seen and wanted, even more now than when they first met.

And they had developed some very efficient strategies to stay connected around parenting. Like showering together, and being ever so quiet, kissing each other to swallow sounds.

But this stunning rental home they had rented had very cleverly put the bathroom in the primary suite on the far side, on the outside wall, as far from the children as possible. And Gavin and Jack were actually in a whole separate wing.

Tonight, they didn’t need to be quiet.

As she did her face routine, stripping off the layers of makeup from the day, and taking a few seconds to let each step of her skin care regimen sink into her face before applying the next potion, Ryan got the shower started behind her. She watched in the mirror as he pulled off his t-shirt, his heavy upper body flexing.

Her husband was built like an oak tree, stable and strong. She loved pictures of him from when he was younger, a leaner version of himself, and she saw that athletic build in their sons. But in the months after he lost Lynn, he’d thickened up, and it was that man she met and fell in love with. She loved the size of him, a gentle giant who would shield her from everything, who could carry two of their children at once with ease.

She turned and leaned against the counter and watched with blatant desire as he stripped out of his shorts, revealing his thickening cock. It flexed under her appraisal, and Ryan looked pointedly at her clothes.

“Are you joining me?”

“I got lost in my thoughts about how handsome you are.”

“I am an old, broken ex-soldier.”

“I think we just said the same thing?” She giggled as he flicked water at her, and quickly got rid of her clothes so she could join him. It was a walk-in shower with a wide bench. It was there that Ryan sprawled out, stroking himself slowly as he watched her wash her hair, getting rid of the day.

By the time she knelt in front him, his tree-trunk thighs were spread wide, the muscles tense, and when she grazed his balls with her fingertips, he shuddered.

“I was thinking,” she murmured before kissing the slick crown. She dragged the tip of her tongue against the pearly pre-come he stroked out for her.

He wiped a damp tendril of hair off her cheek. “Yeah?”

She smiled and took him in her mouth.

“Holly,” he groaned, her name a guttural plea.

The taste of him make her belly quiver, her thighs ache, and between her legs, a new warmth bloomed. She swallowed him down, brushing the tip of her nose against his belly, then slid off and rested her face on his thigh.

He stroked her face as she gazed up at him. “What were you thinking?”

She climbed up and perched on his lap. His cock was rigid between them, and she rubbed her clit against the underside of it. “How good you look carrying two babies around. And Maya’s getting big now…”

He shuddered again, his hands clasping tighter on her hips. She loved when he held her like that, his fingers curving around her ass, covering a lot of her flesh. He lifted her up and fit them together with ease. “You want another baby?”

“I want all of your babies,” she whispered back, her voice catching as he pushed into her, making her stretch around him.

Before they’d made Noah, she’d thought she might be content with just three. But watching the relationship between the older kids and their youngest—and having the joy of carrying Noah inside her, too—she found her heart ready to grow again. Make room for another baby, and who knew, maybe another again down the road.

When it came to family, her heart knew no limits. 

Ryan seated her fully on him, her legs straddling him, his thighs wide, too, giving her a stable base to rest on. He dragged one hand up her body, covering her belly, then her breasts, and finally cupping her cheek. He brought their mouths together and kissed her in his slow, perfect way. His tongue stroked against hers in a teasing seduction, always not quite enough, always making her want more. And the way he breathed through them, like she was almost too hot for him to handle, like he desperately needed to rein himself in or it would all be over before he knew it—she loved that the most.

He never tried to impress her. Never tried to be too cool. He was a horny teenage boy who couldn’t believe she was letting him touch her between her legs, and all she wanted was to see him go off.

But there was nothing nervous or unsure about the way he moved their bodies together. It was effortless and easy, making love to Ryan, because they had a connection that went deeper than anything she’d even even imagined before meeting him. And after five years, he knew some very effective shortcuts to wind her up and send her flying.

His hand on her belly was one. His thumb on her clit another, rolling upwards as she ground down on him. But what triggered her climax tonight was his mouth on her breast, sucking in a matching rhythm to the deep thrust inside, his cock nailing exactly the right spot to make her lose her mind.

Two bodies in perfect unison, two people without any limits or barriers when it came to finding that physical connection. Their secret love, efficient and oh so satisfying.

She shattered around him, her thighs giving out as he locked them together, his hand a hot brand on her hip. She could feel him pulsing, flooding the entrance to her womb with his seed, and that made her clench around him again in a weak, horny aftershock.

His mouth found hers again, a kiss that said a lot. That was fast. I needed that. Fuck, I hope that was good for you. She could read his mind, and she hoped he could read hers. Four kids and a fifteen-hour day ahead of her tomorrow? Fast was a gift.

She pressed her face into his neck, loving the way his pulse felt against her lips. “I want to stay like this forever.”

“Might run out of hot water.”

“Mmm, good point.” She smiled faintly. “Plus I have lines.”

“I haven’t forgotten. Let’s go make some herbal tea and run those together before we go to bed.”

“Okay.” But she didn’t move.

He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. “One more day.”

She nodded. 

“You can do it.”

“I know.”

“And then we’ll have a few days of nothing but family time. And every night, you can tell me how you want a baby, and I’ll lose my mind.”

She giggled. “I can’t wait.”

He eased her up, carefully, then turned her into the spray and gently cleaned her up before rinsing himself off, too.

She felt boneless and drowsy as he wrapped her in a towel and gently dried her hair. 

“Hey,” he whispered, tipping her chin up. “If you’re tired, we can wake up early to run the lines before you go in.” She shook her head, and laughed lightly at the resigned look on his face. “I know. You prefer to read them at night so you can sleep on it.”

“Exactly.”

“Your work ethic…”

She poked his belly. “Hey!”

“I love it.” He grunted as she poked him again. “I really, really love it.”

“But you’re almost done with the whole filming experience, too.” She stretched up on her toes and kissed him. “I know.”

He picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. “Tea. Lines. Sleep. And then I get my wife back. I am a motivated man. Let’s do this.”

She shrieked, and laughed, and then sighed so happily she wondered if her heart might actually turn into a cartoon caricature in her chest. Catching his hand, she tugged him down onto the bed with her.

“What about your lines?” he murmured as she sipped at his lips.

One more taste.

“I just love you so much.”

He peeled off her towel and stretched her hands over her head, pressing them to the mattress. “Say saucy things like that to me, and you never know what might happen.”

She curled her legs up and apart. “Oh, I have some idea.”

He covered her with her body. “Lines in the morning?”

“No…” She covered her face and laughed. “Yes. No.”

He climbed off her and held out his hand. “Let’s go. If you’re quick about it, we can have the lines done by the time the kettle whistles, and then we’ll be back up here before we know it.”

On the way downstairs, she peeked in on Noah and Maya, still fast asleep together.

And when they came back up a half hour later, Ryan set his alarm to go off at the same time as hers, then pressed her back against the mattress in exactly the same position as before, and brought her to another shattering peak with the efficiency of a husband who knew just how long her day was going to be tomorrow—and a man who enjoyed nothing more than showing his wife how fucking wild she made him, every single minute of every single day.

* * *

There was six feet of snow on either side of the driveway when they returned to Pine Harbour three weeks later.

Everyone was exhausted after twenty-seven hours of travel, except Noah, who had slept like a boss man on every flight in the journey and the drive home from Toronto. 

So while Holly and the older kids crawled into their beds for a much needed nap, Ryan put Noah back in the truck and they went into town. They stopped at the library first, then went to the new bakery on Main Street that had opened up while they were down under, Bake Sale!

And then just as they were about to drive home, Holly sent him a text message.

Holly: Are you still in town?

Ryan: Yep.

Holly: Can you go to the pharmacy and get a pregnancy test?

All the blood drained from his head, and he gave his phone a stupid grin.

Ryan: Are you serious? 

He added a happy emoji.

Holly: I’m a week late. I thought we had a test here, but apparently not.

He glanced in the rearview mirror at Noah. “Sorry, buddy, we have one more stop to make.”

Noah made a face, and Ryan chuckled.

At the drug store, he grabbed a couple of different tests, just in case one didn’t work, or if this wasn’t their month, then they’d need them again next month or whatever.

And then he grabbed some bags of candy, too, because they didn’t sell flowers and fuck, he was excited.

He didn’t even care that the clerk did a double-take at the stack of pregnancy tests. It had taken him years to adjust to the fact that everyone in Pine Harbour had thoughts about his life, and who he was married to—and now, maybe, how many kids he had, or would have. 

Once upon a time, he’d have minded the look. Would have wanted to curl inside himself to avoid the curiosity. Now? He hoisted Noah higher on his hip and gave the clerk an easy grin.

Yeah, his wife might be pregnant again.

And he was over the fucking moon about it.

* * *

If you are curious about Bake Sale!, click here to read Fierce at Heart, a standalone romance in the next Pine Harbour series, The Kincaids of Pine Harbour.