Bridget stirred but didn’t wake, although somewhere deep in her subconscious she heard him.

The night seemed long and tortuous to Harry. He couldn’t sleep, but dared not move for fear of waking Bridget. His arm ached where she lay, and his heart ached even more.

He looked at her for an age, then he turned away for a moment, and when he glanced back, she was awake, her eyes gazing up at him. ‘Harry,’ she said. One word softly spoken, that was all, but it told him all he wanted to know.

Crying out like a man in pain, he caught her close to him. When she folded her arms about his neck, he groaned with the sheer pleasure of it. ‘Oh, Bridget! I do want you so.’ Suddenly the truth was out, and there was no hiding his love. ‘I’ve always wanted you.’

Fired by the passion of the moment, Bridget clung to him, her whispered words shocking, even to her own ears. ‘Take me,’ she said. ‘Please, Harry, love me. We may never get the chance again.’

The loving was beautiful.

Like two shy children they removed each other’s clothes. They fondled one another’s nakedness, teasing and caressing. ‘You’re everything I imagined,’ Harry said, his gaze roving over her young figure; lying there in the half light, her body glowed with a silk-like sheen, the round, taut breasts standing proud and erect, the nipples dark and rich against the milk-white fullness of her skin. Down below, between the pale thighs, dark, tightly curled hair shaped into a perfect pyramid. And here she was, his for the taking.

Unable to suppress his need for a moment longer, he raised himself above her and prepared to enter her.

Bridget watched his every move. Silhouetted against the moonlight, he made a wonderful sight, lean and strong, his skin warmed by the sun and his muscles honed by his work. When he lowered himself, he trembled with excitement, his large, shadowy member hardened by a desire that had lain too long asleep.

For a moment they gazed into each other’s eyes, and then she felt him penetrate, and her heart leapt. Gasping with delight, she gave herself to him.

She thought how Tom had made love to her many times, but never like this.

Tenderly, he pushed open her legs, wider now, so that he could feel every part of her. Wonderfully aroused, she began to move beneath him, her mouth on his, skin melting into skin. Sensations she had never known before flowed through her body.

Wave after wave of pleasure coursed through her. Faster now, until her heart raced like a wild thing.

Suddenly, all too soon, it was over.

Exhilarated, she lay beneath him, her eyes coveting his face, while he held her in his arms, murmuring gentle longings in her ear, keeping her safe all night long.

Dawn was just beginning to colour the skies when Harry donned his clothes and boots. ‘I’m shutting you in,’ he told her. ‘Get a few more hours’ sleep. Don’t set foot outside this barn and you’ll be safe enough.’ Safer than she had been with him, he thought bitterly. Bridget had placed her trust in him, and he felt ashamed. They had let their feelings run away with them, and now, in the daylight, he could see how wrong it had been.