Nellie woke up slowly, getting her bearings, and stared around, panicked. She stared at the seated stranger in confusion. Then, noting the nurse’s scrubs, Nellie relaxed in the hospital bed, trying to process how she got here. “What happened? I can’t remember …”
The nurse immediately rushed to her side. “You’re fine. You’re in a hospital. That’s to be expected. You’ve been through quite an ordeal.”
“Corbin, where’s Corbin?” she asked suddenly.
The nurse smiled. “Corbin’s not here yet. Your father is though.” She gave a half laugh. “He’s not taking no for an answer on seeing you. He’s been waiting for hours.”
“That sounds like him.” Nellie gave the nurse a wry look. “You can let him in.”
“Are you sure that you’re up for it?”
“He’s my father. He can be an ass, but I know it’s because he cares.”
At that, the curtain pushed aside, and her father stepped in, glaring at her. “Well, I’m glad you finally seem to understand that much.”
She glared right back at him. “Hey, Dad, if you’re going to yell at me, you can leave right now because I feel like shit already.”
Immediately his face softened, and he stood by her side. “The doctor did say that you’ll be fine.”
“Sure.” Her hand automatically went to her belly. “I’ll be fine. Baby will be fine, but it was a hell of a rough few days.”
“I’m so sorry you endured that. I still don’t quite understand how all this came about.”
“I don’t know everything, so I’m not sure there’s any easy answer either,” she murmured. “I’m waiting for Corbin to get back. Corbin knows so much more.”
At that, the nurse stepped closer to check Nellie’s blood pressure.
Nellie asked her, “Do you have any update on Jewel?”
The woman looked at her with a frown. “I’m sorry. I don’t know who Jewel is.” And then she quickly dashed away, most likely to get away from her father. She looked at her father. “Do you have to scare everybody away?”
He snorted. “I don’t suffer fools easily. You know that.”
“That may be, but everybody here is just trying to do their job.”
“Then they should do a better job at it,” he snapped.
She glared at him. “See? This is how you chase everybody away.”
He stopped and stared at her. “What do you mean?” he asked hesitantly.
“You’re always so angry. Always so determined to be right and always expecting more out of everybody else around you. You make it very impossible to live with you.” He frowned and stared at her. “No, that’s not necessarily why I left.” She waved a hand. “But it’s definitely one of the reasons why I didn’t stay in touch very much.”
He stared down at her. “I figured it was about the baby.”
“Well, the baby is a big part of it. Why should I subject myself to your criticism and negativity when I’m already in a position that I’m so happy about? Especially when I knew you’d never accept my decision. You’ll never accept that.”
“I didn’t say I would never accept it,” he protested. “I would just like to see you married.”
“Well, that’s nice, but times have changed. I don’t have to be married to have this child.” He opened his mouth to protest and then snapped it shut. “Good.” She smiled. “That’s progress.” He glared at her. “Nothing is perfect in this life,” she murmured, feeling her head starting to ache. “Including you and me, and the sooner you allow all of us to be who we are, the easier it will be on you—and the people around you.”
He sat down in the visitor’s chair, almost stumped by her words. “So does that mean you won’t tell me who the father is?” he asked hesitantly.
“Why? So you can turn around and charge him for deserting me?” she asked in a wry tone. “Why the hell would I do that?”
At that, he looked momentarily ashamed. “Is it wrong for a father to want to know that his daughter is safe?”
“Well, considering what I’ve just been through, I don’t consider it wrong. It just seems like maybe that’s not very doable.” He stared at her in shock, she shrugged. “I mean, look at the last couple days.”
He nodded slowly. “And I get that, and I’m even more concerned now. I also feel guilty as hell for everything that’s happened to you.”
“At least my baby and I are okay now, and, with any luck, this will be the end of a very ugly chapter in my life.”
He nodded quietly. “You know that I just want you to be safe and happy, right?”
“You want me to be safe. I don’t think the happiness factor really enters into your consideration.” He stared in total confusion. She shrugged. “Come on. Look at the way you’ve been acting. If I was unhappy, I would have fixed it myself,” she muttered, “but you weren’t interested in me fixing anything or me being happy or unhappy. You just want me to do what you want me to do, so you would be happy. That is your fix for everything.”
“That’s not true,” he protested. She gave him a hard look, and he quickly subsided. “Look. It’s not that as much as I just want to make sure that you’re okay. Having a baby isn’t the easiest thing.”
“I know. You raised me mostly on your own for a very long time, so, of course, you have firsthand experience. But I may want something different for my child and me.” The problem with her father was, he was just a little too eager to express his experience at every turn as the only way to do things. She looked over at him. “Do you know anything about the man who rescued me?”
He shook his head. “No, I presumed he was with one of those secret service specialties, some special ops SWAT team guy.”
She snorted. “Well, that’s one way to look at it.” She shook her head at her father’s still impossible nature.
“Apparently I’ve said the wrong thing again.”
“It’s not that you’ve said the wrong thing”—she glowered—“it’s just so very you.”
“And you obviously didn’t like that either.”
She sighed. “Remember a long time ago, the fire?”
“How could I forget.”
She nodded. “And because of that, you’ve been super … incredibly overprotective of me all this time.”
“Of course. I almost lost you.”
“Did you ever stay in touch with the kid who saved me?”
“No.” Surprised, he shook his head. “Why would I? He was just a kid.”
“Sure, but he also grew up into a hell of a man.” He stared at her, shaking his head, not following. “It’s the same man who rescued me this time.”
He reared back. “What?”
She nodded. “Somehow Corbin ended up being the one who just rescued me all over again. I didn’t even recognize him, until this evening.” Sagging into the hospital bed, her eyes closing voluntarily, then she started to cough. Her father was at her side instantly. She held up her hand to stop him, and then, when she could finally breathe again, she added, “It’s just smoke.”
“Yeah, but a lot of smoke,” he said worriedly, his fear revealed that something was seriously wrong with her.
“We’re fine, or rather we will be. My baby and I just need some fresh air.”
“Do you want some oxygen? I can get them to bring you some oxygen.”
“No, I have to just clear this crap from my lungs to protect my baby. And we’ll be fine, or, at least, … we will be, when I get some good news from Corbin that Jewel is fine and that Jewel’s little girl will be okay.” She accepted the glass of water from her father and took a sip. When she was done, she sank back on the bed. “But, yes, it’s Corbin.”
He stared at her. “Did he tell you that?” he asked and frowned, as if not trusting the information.
“No, not until I finally recognized him. Something was nagging me about him from the very first time I saw his picture, and then, every time I looked at him, it nagged at me more.”
“What picture?”
She quickly explained what the kidnappers had done. He shook his head at that. “That would be foolish of them, wouldn’t it?”
“They weren’t exactly the brainiacs in the bunch. Although I don’t think any of them are alive at this point.”
“Well, that’s good,” he snapped. “Then I don’t have to waste my time prosecuting the hell out of them to ensure that they never see daylight again.”
“They won’t now. I think they were both shot by their supposed partners.”
“Well, that’s typical.”
“You know what? If you want to do something for me,” she murmured, “you could go find out about the condition of the other woman who was held prisoner with me.” He looked at her in surprise. “Her name is Jewel. It’s her daughter that Corbin is trying to track down right now.”
Her dad hesitated and then got to his feet. “If it will make you feel better.”
“It’ll make me feel a lot better to find out she survived her surgery. I know she was gut shot, just as I was hauled out of the room.”
Her father winced at that and disappeared around the curtain. She relaxed again in the bed. Getting information was something he was good at, so hopefully he could roust up some report on Jewel. And, in the meantime, Nellie wanted to hear from Corbin.
Jewel’s daughter was one thing; Corbin himself was another. The man couldn’t keep tempting fate like he was, as often as he did, without getting his ass kicked at one point in time. She closed her eyes for a bit. When she opened them, the nurse was taking her blood pressure again. “Did I fall asleep again?” Nellie murmured.
“You did,” she said cheerfully. “It’s the best thing for you.”
“Is my baby okay?”
“Your baby is doing just fine,” the woman reassured her.
“What about Corbin? Is he back?
The woman looked confused and then shrugged. “Your father is here. I moved him outside, so that I could take your stats.”
“May I see him again?”
The nurse nodded. “As soon as I’m done.” And, with that, she quickly finished her checkup, and then her father returned to the room.
He stepped up and looked down at her, worried.
“Hey, it’s normal at this stage to sleep lots, after what I’ve been through. Plus, I was sleeping a lot before the kidnapping, just because I’m pregnant. I’m perfectly fine.”
“I hope so.”
“Jewel? What did you find out?”
“She’s out of surgery and holding her own.”
“Well, that is good news,” she cried out in delight.
He nodded. “And it’s her child, I guess, the men are after now, but I haven’t any update on her yet.”
“There were five kidnapped children. Four were rescued, but … Jewel’s daughter had already been sold.”
He winced at that. “God, what a world we live in.”
“It sucks, but, at the same time, people like Corbin are out there, who keep saving the day.”
He looked over at her. “Sounds like you and he hit it off.”
“Honestly, I think I’ve always had a bit of a crush on him.” She laughed. “I mean, how do you not, when the man saved my life the first time and just came back in the nick of time to do it all over again.”
He frowned at that. “That doesn’t sound like a woman who’s having another man’s baby.”
“I am having another man’s baby.” Finally making a decision, she took a deep breath and said, “Sit back and relax. You won’t like this.”
“No, I probably won’t,” he bit off, “but, if it’s the truth, I’d be very happy to hear it.”
She smiled. “I went to a sperm bank.”
His butt hit the chair, as if his legs fell out from under him. “You what? Why?”
“Because I’d had some pretty lousy relationships, and I figured that one true love would never happen for me. I’m also thirty, and my biological clock was ticking, so I decided I wouldn’t wait anymore.” He just stared at her, as if the concept were so foreign. “I’m an adult, Dad, and I get to make my own decisions.”
He nodded slowly. “Well, you certainly made it in this case, didn’t you?”
“I did, and I don’t regret it one bit.”
“Maybe not.” He looked over at her. “But here you’re talking about Corbin.”
“Yeah, and I would absolutely love to spend some time with him.”
“How will he feel that you’re carrying another man’s baby?” he pointed out.
She stared at him. “You know something? I already asked him that.” Her dad stared at her in shock. She shrugged. “There’s nothing quite like having life flash before your eyes—not once but twice, now three times—to make you realize that life is too short. This is something I really wanted to know, and asking him simple questions like that just happened automatically.”
He let out a slow breath.
“Yeah, I’m an adult,” she stated in a dry tone. “And it’d be really nice if you’d start appreciating that fact.”
He nodded slowly. “When do I meet this Corbin guy?”
“How about now?” Corbin asked, as he pushed aside the curtain and stepped in. He then completely ignored her father and looked over at Nellie on the bed and grinned. “Now that’s what I like to see. For once, you’re safe and sound.”
She opened up her arms. He walked over and gave her the gentlest of hugs. “How are you and Baby doing?”
“Now that I know you’re safe, we’re fine.”
He smiled. “Remember? I’m the one who gets to do the rescue. I’m not the one who gets rescued.”
She gave him a gentle slap on the cheek. “You can’t keep tempting fate, or, at one point in time, fate will tempt back, and it’ll win, not you.”
“Something I have considered time and time again.”
“And yet?”
“And yet what?” he asked, with an innocent look in her direction.
Her father cleared his throat. She looked over at him and smiled. “Dad, this is Corbin, the man responsible for saving my life yet again.”
At that, her father looked at her, slowly standing to face Corbin. “Seriously, are you that eleven-year-old kid who rescued my daughter from the fire?”
Corbin smiled and shook the man’s hand. “Yes. That rescue led me to the navy.”
Her dad just looked at him in consternation. “The thought of having you on the spot to rescue her again …”
“I was called in for the op, so it was hardly a matter of being on the spot.”
“Ah.” Obviously her dad still was perplexed. He looked over at her.
“And that’s a good thing,” she reminded her dad, “because I can’t imagine what it would have been like if Corbin hadn’t rescued me from that place, saving my baby from those awful men.”
Her father immediately reached out a hand. “But you were,” he stated firmly, “so no more dwelling on it.”
She snorted. “Great, Dad. Just because you order me to stop dwelling on it doesn’t mean it’ll work instantly.”
“Nope,” he said. “It’s a process. Eventually it’ll become a distant memory.”
She smiled at Corbin. “That is probably the best I can hope for, isn’t it?”
“You know that it’s not a bad thing to hope for,” Corbin murmured. “Jewel will be fairly traumatized over this entire thing as well.”
Nellie winced at that. “I know.” She looked up at Corbin. “Her daughter?”
He smiled. “We got the little girl. She’s being checked over by the doctors right now. More so, social services will take her until Jewel is able to get back on her feet. We’re combing through the sellers lives to see if there any others involved. The purchasers have also been picked up. So that thread has been taken care of too.”
“That’s all good news.” Nellie stared at Corbin in delight. “Jewel might have family too who can help her and her daughter.”
“My team is on it, but you have a responsibility to look after you and Baby. Let other people do their jobs.”
“I suppose it’s good that she listens to you more than she listens to me,” her father snapped from beside her.
She glared at him. “Maybe because Corbin talks to me and doesn’t yell at me.” She turned, looking back at Corbin now. “Did you get checked out?”
“I’m fine.” He gave a dismissive wave. “I am now off duty, so I came to bust you loose.”
“Seriously?” she asked in delight, hardly daring to hope.
“Unless you want to stay in the hospital?”
She looked over at her father in shock, whose face was getting redder by the second, and then she threw back the blankets and cried out, “Hell, no. Get me outta here.”
“Wait,” her father protested. “You’re not in very good shape. Don’t you think you should stay overnight?”
“If my mental health has anything to do with my physical healing, then I absolutely will get better once I am out of here.” She smiled at Corbin, then stood. “Dad, I’ll let you know how I’m doing tomorrow morning.” She walked over and gave her father a hug. “I really do love you.”
His arms closed around her tightly. “We need to talk this through.”
“No. You just need to accept my decisions for my life.” She smiled again. “But we aren’t having that discussion right now. I’ll take what freedom I can get right now.”
He nodded reluctantly, and she turned to look at Corbin and said, “Let’s go, before anybody here changes his mind.”
Corbin laughed. “Nobody will change their mind. We’re free to leave, … but there is one caveat.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
Corbin nudged a wheelchair toward her.
She shrugged. “That’s fine. It could have been so much worse, and it’s still better to have you as a nursemaid than to be stuck in the hospital.”
“That’s what I figured,” he agreed. “Besides, I need some sleep.”
“Me too,” she muttered, “although I do nothing but nap lately.”
Her father walked out to the front door with them. “Where are you going?” he asked her.
She heard the worry in his voice. She looked back at Corbin. “Good question. Corbin, where are we going?”
“I thought your place, unless you want to go to a hotel.”
“No, my place is fine.”
Her dad stepped up, gave her a hug, and then a kiss on her cheek. “I’ll call tomorrow to see how you are.” Then he gave Corbin a curt nod and left.
She waved goodbye to her dad, then smiled, as if suddenly realizing that this horror was over, and she could live her life again. “My God, it’s hard to believe I can finally go home.”
“I hope it is a good thing, but it could be a little early to tell.”
“No, don’t say that.” Nellie twisted to look up at Corbin.
“Oh, I’ll say it,” he replied, as he led her to the vehicle.
“Why?” she asked. “What still needs sorting?”
“Not a whole lot, but you know, just in case, I think I need to stick around and keep an eye on you.”
Her smile started slowly and then finally burst out into joyous laughter. “You know what? I think that’s probably a good idea. My father would appreciate it too.”
“Screw that,” Corbin said succinctly. “I’m not looking after you for your father’s sake.”
“Do you have time off? Or are you leaving tomorrow?”
“Yes and no. I have time off until the next job, but I’ll be managing that one from behind the scenes. This job was my commitment to going down this pathway.”
“Interesting,” she murmured. “Then do you get to have a break?”
“That’s the plan. Potentially long-term too.” He helped her into the truck, then walked around to the driver’s side.
He drove them to her apartment. When she got out, she looked around. “I wasn’t even sure I’d get back here again.”
“Not even an issue now. Come on. Let’s get you upstairs.” And, with that, he held out a hand, and they walked up to her apartment.
When she looked at her front door, she turned to him. “I don’t have my keys on me. I don’t even know where my purse is or my laptop.”
“We’ll sort that out tomorrow. Right now it’s sleepy time.”
She looked over at him, worried to see how close he was to crashing. “You’re really exhausted.”
“It’s been pretty strenuous these past three days.”
She nodded, only to realize that he had picked the lock and was holding the door open for her. “Should I be concerned about this skill of yours?”
“Not likely. Unless you’re worried that I won’t be there to open doors for you the next time you forget your keys,” he said in a dry tone, startling a laugh out of her.
“Nope, definitely not my concern, especially after everything I’ve been through. There’s nothing like prioritizing the madness in your world.”
“Especially when you’re lucky enough to survive and to make those changes.”
On that note, she remembered her guard, the latest one, the off-duty cop. She stopped and asked Corbin, “The guard?”
“The one at the export warehouse will be fine. The guard you had earlier at the safe house, he didn’t make it though.”
She sucked in her breath. “God. So many deaths over what?”
“Money. It’s almost always about money.”
She didn’t even know what to say about that; it just sounded so wrong. As they got into her apartment, she looked around and cried out. “Oh, my God, it’s such a joy to be home.”
“What do you want to do first?”
“I need food. I need a shower, and I need sleep.”
“In that order?”
She frowned. “Well, I could do with the shower first, before I crash.”
“You’re safe here, so, if you’re okay with it, I’ll go to that couch and crash.”
But her couch was a loveseat and not even close to accommodating him comfortably, so she shook her head. “No, head to my bed. You need real sleep, not just crashing on the couch for a few hours.”
He frowned, and she waved her hand. “Go. I’ll have a shower, and then I’ll lay down beside you.”
“Fine, but make sure that you don’t go anywhere and that you don’t call anyone. Not even for a food delivery.”
“I can’t even call anyone?” she asked, staring at him. “Not that I have my cell phone …”
“Not yet. Not until my brain is working and I can sift my way through what we still have to do.”
“Are you just trying to keep me safe?” she murmured.
“Keeping you safe is one thing. … I think it’s all good, but I haven’t had confirmation from my team yet.”
“Don’t worry. I would only contact my father, and he knows where we’re at.”
“Exactly,” he muttered. He walked into the bedroom. “If you’re okay, I would love a shower first but …” He stripped off his outer layer, and he soon stood in his boxers, while he laid down on her bed and was out almost immediately.
She stared, wondering at a man who could completely relax to that extent. When a knock came on her front door, she jumped, then calmed herself down. She peeked through the peephole and saw Aiden. She opened the door and held up her finger. “He’s crashed. He’s on the bed, completely out.”
“Good,” he murmured. “I just brought his gear and some food for you guys. I’m heading to a hotel not far away here.”
“Do you want to sleep here?”
He looked at the couch, shook his head. “Hell no.”
She laughed. “Good call. I’ll have a shower and crash myself.”
“Okay, we’ll talk in the morning,” he said, with a gentle smile. “Take good care of him.” And he was gone before she had a chance to really realize what he’d meant. Not that she had any intention of doing anything other than that. Corbin had looked after her so well that the least she could do would be to return the favor.
Corbin opened his eyes, quickly sorted out where he was, his gaze landing on Nellie, as she’d curled up in some flimsy nightie on the bed beside him. Completely uncovered. He reached for a blanket to flip it over her shoulders, when she murmured, “I’m already hot. Don’t cover me up.”
He smiled and leaned over, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back gently. She grabbed his hand and gently stroked it down to her belly. “Not exactly what I expected.”
“No, me neither.”
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“Of course I’m okay. After all that death, this is a new life, a new beginning.”
“But …” she started.
“I’m not so shallow as that. I’m not so egotistical either. And I’m not so selfish to expect anything other than for you to be delighted with the child you’re carrying. Life happens. In this case, you made it happen. I won’t argue with that either.”
She smiled. “It could be a little bit rough to start off a relationship like this though.”
“I don’t know. Maybe … we’re just picking up where we left off from twenty years ago.”
She slowly rolled over. “You do remember, don’t you?”
He grinned at her. “You mean, the fact that you were all over me?”
“Yeah, but, as you well know, I was ten.”
“You were an adorable ten.” He grinned at her eye roll. “I think I was a whole lot older, … eleven, at the time.”
She shook her head. “As I remember, you told me that you’d come back for me.”
“Sure, I was trying to be that knight in shining armor.”
“I was too sad and too frightened and too devastated to fully realize what had happened.”
“And I knew that. What I didn’t know, believe me, got hounded into me by my parents back then …”
“Right, everybody was affected, weren’t they?”
“Of course they were. At the time, I told my parents that I wanted to see you again, but they weren’t having anything to do with that. I think in some ways they didn’t want our connection to be grounded around a deadly fire.”
“I was just trying to find something good to come out of something so tragic.” She looked at him, puzzled.
“I know, and they had to know that too. However, after that, I was determined to join the navy and becoming a navy SEAL,” he murmured against her throat. “Now I’m currently in an exit strategy.”
“Does that mean that you might be around a little more often?”
“It’s possible. It all depends on arrangements I make from here on in.”
“Because I certainly wouldn’t object to that,” she muttered.
“No, maybe not. But that part of my life is still in the realm of mystery. I, on the other hand, would love to see you regardless.” He looked at her steadily. “And, yes, I know you’re carrying a child. But it’s your child. It’s not another man’s child in that sense.” He wondered if she understood that, and she did immediately.
“You know what? That’s a distinction I can get behind too. Maybe it’s why I was so determined to go in this direction.”
“It doesn’t matter what made you go in this direction. It’s all good.”
She smiled, “Are you … always this reasonable?”
“Hell no.”
She burst out laughing. “Okay then.” She grinned. “Just checking.”
He sighed softly. “Sometimes fate intervenes, and we don’t exactly know why, but I’m willing to go with the flow and see where this takes us.”
“I absolutely am too, although a teensy part of me has possibly been looking for you all these years.”
“I doubt it.” He chuckled. “I was a gangly pimply-faced kid.”
“You were a hero.” She swooped her arms around his neck. “You were my hero.”
“I won’t argue with that.” And he leaned over and kissed her gently. “Now do you need more sleep or food? Or what do you need to do for that lovely child you’re carrying?”
“This child is totally fine right now, although I will need food down the road.”
“When you say, down the road, what does that mean?”
She frowned. “I’m not exactly sure, but I would say that I could potentially eat in another hour or two.” She looked at her bedside clock and winced. “Although it is already six p.m.”
“It is. Do you want to order in?”
“Is that okay? Have you cleared the decks in your mind, and we can use the phone again?”
He chuckled. “I’m glad you understood. If there had been any problems, I would know by now. And, yes, we can call in an order, now that I’m rested up.”
“Yeah, that would be good. I’ve got a craving for Chinese.”
“Do you have a favorite place?”
“Absolutely.” She got out of bed and brought the menu back to him. They quickly picked out what they wanted and placed an order.
He looked at her and grinned. “So …”
She raised an eyebrow. “So, what?”
“What do you want to do for an hour?”
She looked at him and giggled. “I always assumed that being pregnant would be a complete turnoff.”
He frowned and shook his head. “Why? This is Mother Nature at her best.”
She stared at him in shock. “Seriously?”
“Of course seriously. You’re a fertility goddess. You’re gorgeous, and you’re definitely hot.”
“If you even dare say fat,” she warned, placing her fingers against his lips.
He chuckled. “I would never say that.”
“Maybe, I feel …” She hesitated.
“Pregnant, stressed? Are you worried that you aren’t sexy? Because you’re wrong there. This isn’t just about bodies. This is about the whole package, our souls.”
She smiled and nodded. “I really like the way you think.”
“Good,” he stated. “I’ll repeat it then. To me, life is beyond the basics of physical form. You and I have the makings of something very special together. I’d like to start the right way.”
“And what is that way?” she asked hesitantly.
He looked over at her and smiled. “Well, I missed out on all the fun in getting you pregnant, but that doesn’t mean I have to lose out on the fun of exploring a very pregnant body.”
She stared at him. “This is really sexy to you, isn’t it?”
He took her hand, drew it down his body, and asked, “What do you think?”
She gasped at the massive erection waiting for her. “My God,” and she started to giggle once more.
And, with that, he whispered, “You’re beautiful. There’s nothing quite like a fertile woman blooming in the fullness of a pregnancy to make every man realize that what they always wanted was to have a wife and a child.”
She stared at him in shock. He reached down, kissed her gently on the cheek, and then on the lips. She shook her head. “My God, I never even thought that pregnancy would trigger sexual desires.”
He chuckled. “More than triggered.” He lowered his head and kissed her passionately.
She shuddered under the onslaught. As he stroked and caressed her body, until she was writhing in absolute passion, she whispered, “I still think I was waiting for you.”
“Good, I’m glad we finally reconnected then.”
And this time he lifted the gentle weight of her full breasts and whispered, “These are gorgeous.” She shook her head, and he placed his finger against her lips. “Yes, they are.”
He lowered his head and gently suckled. She almost felt like milk was coming down her breast, and she twisted in embarrassment. But he quickly moved his caring touch to her other breast, until she was completely mindless to what he was doing.
She moaned gently under his ministrations. “Dear God. I’d forgotten how wonderful this can be.”
“Good,” he murmured. “Then it’s up to me to remind you.” And, with that, he spread her thighs and gently slipped his fingers down to the plump lips below.
She twisted, trying to get closer to him, to meet the rising pressure on the inside. “Oh, my God, I need you so much right now.”
“Well, it’s a good thing because I wasn’t planning on going anywhere.”
She chuckled. “In that case you want to take care of this because I don’t think I can handle much more.”
And, with that, he slipped between her thighs, looked down at her, and asked, “Are you ready?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m ready.” And gently he started to penetrate her, but she wasn’t up for gentle. “I won’t break,” she said firmly. “And Baby will be fine.” He hesitated, but she shook her head. “My doctor said so. You have to trust me on this because otherwise you’re killing me.”
He chuckled and drove himself right to the heart of her. She twisted, as if impaled, and gasped in his arms. “Are you sure you and Baby are okay?” he asked, his voice gritty.
“We’re fine,” she murmured, “It’s just so …” And words failed her.
“I know. Me too.” And he started to move. He raised his hips, plunged deep, and then raised and lowered several more times, picking up the pace with each movement. She felt everything tightening within her, until finally an explosion reverberated inside.
He picked up his pace, groaning at his own release. He slowly collapsed beside her, careful to not hurt her. “You all right?”
She slid her hands up his chest to the back of his neck and whispered, “Never better. I can’t believe I waited so long for that.”
“Sorry, I guess you should have gotten yourself kidnapped a little earlier.”
She burst out laughing, looking up at him, a big smile on her face. “You do realize that it feels like I’ve been waiting for you since forever?”
“Yep,” he said. “I haven’t been able to think of anything else, since I heard what happened and realized who you were.”
“You were just waiting for another chance to rescue me.”
“Well, obviously the timing wasn’t right for us at the first fire,” he said, with a grin, as he shifted on the bed, pulling her into his arms.
“This is our time now, though.”
“Yep, and Baby’s.” And he gently placed a hand on her belly, hesitant at first, as if asking for permission.
She smiled and covered his hand with hers.
With that, he yawned again.
“I need food before we go back to sleep.” And then she remembered. “Aiden. He came when you were out too.”
“Oh, good. Did he bring my gear? I still need that shower. A change of clothes would help too.”
“He did. I didn’t even think about it, but he brought food.”
He leaned over and looked at her. “What did he bring?”
“I didn’t even open the bags. Wow, you have a really crazy effect on me.”
“That’s all right. It just means that we won’t have to go out for a few days.”
She laughed. “That completely suits me.”
He grinned. “Now … maybe we should go check out what food Aiden brought.”
“And then maybe we can come back to bed?” she asked hopefully. “At least once we eat.”
He waggled his eyebrows at her. “Absolutely. I don’t plan on going anywhere for the next couple days, do you?”
“To the kitchen, to the bathroom, to the bedroom. That’s the extent of my upcoming travels.”
“I can match that. We both need this downtime.”
“You’re right.” Now she yawned. “The only thing would be if Jewel wants us to visit.”
“She won’t be leaving the hospital anytime soon. She’s pretty injured, but we can call her tomorrow.”
“Right. So, in that case, we can just stay here and relax.”
He looped his arms around her neck, kissed her gently, and asked. “Forever?”
“Hey, if you can make that happen”—she laughed—“I’m totally on board.”
He chuckled. “I have a cabin about an hour away. I thought maybe we could spend another couple weeks hibernating there.”
“I’m all for that. Depends on your job though, doesn’t it?”
“Depends if I can get decent internet there too. … Otherwise we would be just fine. We can also push cabin time back until my obligations with the Mavericks are done too. As long as we’re close enough to a hospital, if Baby decides to come early, we should be good.”
She smiled. “And after that?”
“After that, you know me. I’m up for anything.”
“That sounds wonderful.”
And she reached up and kissed him gently.
Life is gonna be good.