I offer a reassuring smile in return. Liam takes my hand and pulls me into the living room. I stand beside him as he crouches down and lights a fire in the wood-burning stove. The wood is dry and crackles to life as soon as Liam drops the match. He shuts the door of the stove and stands up. He takes hold of me by my hips, and gives me a look that undoes me, making my whole body quiver in response; then he turns me gently around, so I’m facing away from him. I suppose he’s convinced himself that it really was an animal he saw, and I wish I could do the same; but I just can’t stop my mind from wandering, even as Liam slowly unzips my dress, pausing to kiss between my shoulder blades.

A shiver runs up my spine. He unclasps my bra and then slides the dress off, so it pools around my feet, then he turns me back around to face him. My hands fly self-consciously across my body, but I know how much he likes to see me, so I move them to my sides, and he smiles encouragement. He eases off the straps of my bra and I let it fall on top of my dress.

He stands back and his gaze sweeps every inch of me. Goosebumps chase trails across my skin and he draws me nearer, kissing the tender place below my collarbone and then my neck. I tip my head back and draw a tight breath, resting my hands on his shoulders as he kisses down my chest towards my stomach. My fingernails dig into his shoulders.

He pauses to take off his shirt and then he pulls me to my knees and lays me down on the rug. He works out a lot and he’s muscled and broad and when he rolls on top of me his weight presses down on me like a rock.

‘Do you like that?’ he asks.

‘Yes,’ I whisper in his ear.

‘Is that good?’ he asks now, kissing the inside of my thigh.

‘Mmm,’ I say, squeezing my eyes shut.

‘Jesus Christ!’ Liam yells, leaping to his feet.

I sit up in fright. ‘What?’

Liam’s on his feet now, staring at the window. ‘There was someone there. Looking in the window.’ His voice sounds strange, strained, and he looks terrified, as though he’s seen a ghost.

‘What?’ I say in alarm, sitting up and covering my body with my arms. I look at the window, but I can’t see anything but sheer blackness. We could be floating in space.

Liam crosses to the window and looks out. ‘There was someone there,’ he says. ‘I swear to god.’

I yank on my dress, disturbed at the idea someone was looking in and saw me naked, and then go and join him at the window.