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Prin rinsed the sink one final time after brushing her teeth. She braced her hands to the gray marble surrounding the sink and took a few deep breaths to wait out the passing effects from her latest round of morning sickness.
“You done hogging the toilet or should I find another?”
Gasping, Prin looked up to find her husband’s stunning face reflected behind her in the mirror. “Sorry,” quickly she tried to make a hasty retreat from the bathroom.
“Hey, hey,” Slayte caught her, cupping her elbows in his palms while angling down to study her face. “What’s going on? You okay?”
“Yeah-yeah, good, good.”
“What’s wrong, Darlin’?”
“Nothing,” her soft laughter underscored the word.
Slayte looked nowhere near convinced. “Are you gonna make me get ugly with you this early in the mornin’?” He kissed her mouth when she smiled. “Come on, spill,” he urged.
“It’s really nothing. Nerves topped off by hormones, I guess,” shrugging, she grimaced. “Sexy, huh? You may want to reconsider not running for the hills. I can’t promise it’ll get better over the next six months.”
“Apologies princess,” Slayte pressed his wife back into the counter and then leaned down to observe her. “I’m afraid your scoundrel’s in this for the duration.” Gently, he covered her growing tummy with his hands. “I want to be there every time this person moves or kicks-every time it puts you in a bad mood.”
“Even if that bad mood is directed at you?”
Devilish humor laced his smile then. “Especially if it’s directed at me. You know I’m always happy for you to take your frustrations out on me.”
“Pervert!” she laughed.
“You know the nice thing about perverts, don’t you?” his nose outlined the curve of her ear. “They’re very inventive in bed.”
“Is that right?” Prin feigned serious interest and surprise. “I mean, you know this for a fact, do you?”
“Well that’s what I hear. I can only speculate, you know? No real proof,” a sleek brow lifted as his violet gaze grew more devilish. “Would you like to help me get some?”
She laughed.
“That a yes?” Slayte asked.
“Could be-” a gasp and more laughter interrupted the rest of her statement when he took her off her feet.
***
“Merry Christmas Eve, Eve, Mrs. Apostolou.”
Bear smiled, snuggling her head deeper into her pillow. She returned the sentiment to her husband and lost herself in a sensual fog as his mouth traveled her shoulders and spine. The seductive torment, instilled by the gesture, promised to send her right over the edge.
It wasn’t until she clutched his hand and tugged it between her thighs, that the promise was fulfilled. Pope brought her to a swift climax that left her sated, but wanting more. When she tried to take more, he resisted.
“Why?” she didn’t care that her voice sounded close to a whine.
Pope left bed and Bear looked as if he were stealing her favorite treat when he slipped on the PJ bottoms hanging over the walnut footboard. He went to the big chair next to the bed and settled into it.
“We need to talk,” he said.
Slowly, Bear pushed up amid the covers and covered her chest beneath the corner of a sheet.
“It’s about Merc and Tee,” he said.
“What?” Panicked, she scooted to her knees. “What’d you hear? Is Mercuri unhappy? Their marriage-”
“Easy Cub,” Pope grinned. “Relax, it’s nothing like that-not exactly.”
Annoyance quickly took shape on Bear’s face. “Then what, exactly?” She asked through gritted teeth. “What the hell are you trying to say?”
“Forgive me, Cub,” looking annoyed as well, Pope raised his hands defensively. “I’m doing this badly,” he said.
“Doing what, dammit?” Bear slammed her fists to the bed.
“Bear do you know what’s goin’ on with Mercuri and Tee?”
A great deal of her temper quelled and she looked toward the bed’s lovely, yet rumpled comforter.
“I heard you guys talking yesterday. You and Tee,” he had the good manners to look embarrassed following the admission of eavesdropping.
“I was on my way downstairs, the door was open, I...didn’t want to walk by or um...walk the other way to give you privacy, either. Sorry,” he added with a wince.
Bear nodded. “If you overheard, then you know all there is-we haven’t talked about it since,” she sighed and pushed back until she was resting on the jumble of king-sized pillows lining the headboard. “She thinks Mercuri doesn’t want to have a baby with her.”
Pope frowned. “That’s insane-the guy’s nuts about her.”
“I agree, but even though we know that, we’re still on the outside looking in.”
“True, but I know him, Cub. Merc’s crazy for her- I think he’s more in love with her now than he was the first time he met her.” Pope drew a hand through his shoulder-length blue black locks. “There’s gotta be more to it.”
“You’re right about that,” Bear offered a resigned smile when Pope looked her way. “I think she’s pregnant. It’s just a feeling. I don’t think she wants to tell him because he’s given her reason to believe he doesn’t want to be a father-not yet, anyway.”
Pope’s expression changed, adopting some of the same resignation his wife displayed. He sat with his elbows resting on his knees and looked like a man deep in thought.
“What about you?” He asked after several moments of silence. “Do you want to be a mother?”
A gush of breath exploded from Bear’s lungs. Obviously, she hadn’t expected such a turn in the discussion.
“Cub?” Pope urged.
“Well, I um,” she swallowed with no small effort. “I guess I never really thought about it.”
Pope raised slightly from the chair and reached for Bear. Effortlessly, he plucked her from the bed, top sheet and all, and returned to the chair with her astride his lap.
“You do know there’s almost nothing you could say that would hurt my feelings?”
A smile fought for breakthrough. “Almost?” she queried.
“Well yeah,” he shrugged. “You telling me I’m terrible in bed or that you don’t love me anymore, might do it.”
With a laugh, she kissed his nose. “You’ll never have to worry about me saying either of those things.”
“Okay then, talk to me.”
His request sent the shadows returning to her face. For a while, she fixed on the path she drew across Pope’s bare chest using the back of her hand.
“It’s not something I want. I don’t think I’ll ever want it,” she said. Uncertainty flooded her warm gaze when she peered at her husband through her lashes. Unable to read his expression, she lowered her eyes again.
“Lu had the best mom. Miss Inez, she was the greatest. It was obvious she loved Lu to the moon and back, but it made sense-Lu being her daughter. But Miss Inez she...she cared about me too, made me feel a lot of that love. She cared boatloads for pretty much anyone who crossed her path and needed help. Lu being a mom doesn’t surprise me-she had a great example. Same goes for Prin, Miss Sama is amazing. Even Tee-she had her mom long enough to know how it felt when it was done right.”
She looked at him now. “You know what I went through with my own mother, Pope. I don’t want to test skills built on those memories, on an innocent baby, I-maybe one day, but...not for a while yet,” she appeared to brace herself. “Does that...upset you?”
Pope put a hard kiss to the back of her hand and held it to his mouth for a time. “I thought you might want to be pregnant now-join the ranks of motherhood with your friends. Girlpower and all that.”
Bear had to laugh. She bit down on her lip when he drew her closer to nuzzle her nose with his.
“I’ll give you anything you want, Bear. Whenever you want it, but you should know the thought of having a kid terrifies me. You know my story too. My father was nothing to emulate.” His vivid aquamarines drifted downward, focusing on her clavicle as he spoke.
“I don’t know if I want to test whether I’m capable of surpassing what all that unfit parenting did to me either. I do know that I’d dive in happily and with no regrets as long as you’re diving in with me.”
Once more, his words affected her. That time, they had tears pooling her eyes and spilling onto her cheeks. Cupping his face, she kissed him.
“We’re a pair, huh?” she said.
“Are you kidding?” Pope looked as though her observation was old news. “We’re the best pair.”
Bear laughed, but rapidly sobered. “Promise to tell me if you ever change your mind? Tell me if you ever want to take that dive. I’d jump in happy and with no regret as long as I’m doing it with you, too.”
Pope took her mouth with another deep swift kiss that left them both breathless. “Whatever happens, we face it together, yeah?”
She nodded eagerly. “Yeah.”
They kissed sweetly and then lustily and then Pope stood with Bear in his arms.
“If we’re gonna get this mushy,” he said, “we should do it in bed.”
***
Nica did her best to ignore the pressure of apprehension weighing on her lungs as Gib’s truck approached the Holland home.
Her best proved good enough. While she couldn’t dismiss her apprehension completely, it eased off well enough for her not to appear totally nerve wracked about returning home from spending the night with a man she hardly knew.
Still, nerves were indeed having a party inside her tummy when Gib shut down the GMCs engine and looked her way. She found it absolutely unfair for anyone to look as magnificent as he did first thing in the morning.
“Okay?” he asked, his chasm-deep voice holding an encouraging edge.
“Very.” Nica heard her voice and realized her response was genuine despite the flutter of nerves still at work inside her stomach.
Gib leaned toward the windshield and observed the sky through it. “We’ll probably have more snow by midday.”
Nica peered out the passenger window. “Must be nice growing up in a place where it snows during Christmas.”
“Does that mean you grew up in the tropics?”
She gave a rueful smile. “No...it was no paradise.”
Deliberately, Gib weighed his keys on his palm. “You know, it’s common not to be a fan of where you grew up.”
“Yeah,” was all she said.
Gib reached over to smooth his thumb down her cheek. He was marveling at the flawless texture, when a voice in his head told him to let her go now. He’d have more time with her later.
“Let’s get you inside,” he reached for her garment case on the backseat.
“Gib,” she lay a hand over his arm. “Maybe I should handle it.”
“Why?”
“It’s just, I mean, there’s no reason for you to get out too.”
“Do you have a key?”
“Oh,” she blinked, feeling her face heat. “No I, I don’t.”
He proceeded with opening the driver’s side door.
“Gib?” she called before he could step out. “Maybe I should go in on my own after you unlock the door?”
Subtle amusement took hold of his face then. “Why?” he persisted.
“I,” her face was aflame by then. “It just...it wouldn’t look good to go in together after...”
The rich, deep rumble of his laughter filled the spacious cab. “Nica,” he pulled the door shut. “Do you think my cousin and her husband and all their friends didn’t have sex before marriage?”
She smiled, knowingly. “I’m sure they did, but this isn’t their house.”
“You’re worried about my aunt and uncle, then?” He gave another abrupt laugh. “You know you’re setting me up for a huge lecture from my uncle if I let you walk in there on your own-wouldn’t be the gentlemanly thing to do in his eyes.”
“Please Gib.”
Several moments passed before he began to nod reluctantly. “I’ll expect you to plead my case when he’s raking me over the coals for this, alright?”
“Deal.”
“We may be in luck anyway. Chances are, they stayed in Richmond after the party last night.”
“The party we missed,” she saw fit to remind him.
“Yeah, that one,” Gib remained unaffected. “And even if they didn’t, they always sleep in on Christmas Eve, Eve.”
It was Nica’s turn to burst into laughter. “How do you know that?”
“Because it’s the night of my grandparent’s holiday party. The older crowd always sleeps in, the day of, so they’re well rested for the night to come.”
Less edgy now, Nica rested back on the dark suede seat. “Sounds like it’s quite the bash.”
“Trust me, it is. They stay up well past breakfast on Christmas Eve talking, dancing, eating, you name it. More sleeping won’t happen ‘til after lunch tomorrow.”
Nica smiled serenely over all that was to come. “You and Prin have an incredible family.”
“Yeah, we do.” He tilted his head slightly and sighed. “Wasn’t always smooth sailing, though. But then, nothing worth having is rarely gotten by taking the easy road. Anyway,” he waved off the serious chord. “You’ll see when we get there later.”
Snapping to, Nica’s lashes batted, while her mouth parted in surprise. “We?”
“Prin invited you, didn’t she?”
“Yes, yeah she did, but have you thought about how that will look? Us going to your grandparents' party together?”
“Exactly how many more times will you ask me something like that?”
“Sorry,” weary, she dropped her gaze to her lap.
“Hey?” he waited for her gaze to meet his. “It’s okay, you know?”
“I do know that. I just don’t want to make things difficult for you.”
“I promise you’re not. My family just wants me to be happy.”
“And I want the same.” She shifted to face him on the seat. “You’re so good, Gib. I don’t want to do anything to shame you before your family.”
Her words had him watching her in disbelief. “You could never do that,” he saw the disagreement in her lovely eyes before she averted them again. “Look at me, Nica. I wouldn’t tell you this if I didn’t mean it-if it weren’t true. Do you understand?”
She nodded.
“Good girl.”
Once again, her lashes fluttered. “Stop,” she whispered.
“Why?” he knew the phrase had taken her back to their night together and all the times he’d said it as they pleasured each other.
They were kissing a heartbeat later and everything else vanished from Nica’s mind. The moment was heated from the onset, but they emerged with cooler heads soon enough.
“You may be right about me not coming in,” Gib said. The way he felt, he might follow her to her room and keep her there for the rest of the day. “I’ll unlock the door and be back to get you around five thirty, alright?”
“I’ll be ready,” she turned to open the door but Gib held on and Nica couldn’t resist a few more seconds of being close to a man she never wanted to forget.
Gib pulled her near for what she expected to be a chaste kiss. Chaste however, had no place in the kiss he gave. His fingers massaged her close crop of curls while he cradled the back of her head in a broad palm.
He bathed her tongue using long, patient strokes that drew trembling moans from her throat. The longer he took her mouth, the longer she wanted to give it to him.
“Come back with me after the party,” he asked during the kiss.
“I’ll go wherever you want,” she sighed, wrapped up in the moment.
Gib ended the kiss and rested his head on Nica’s shoulder. “You really need to watch what you say to me.”