Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 49385 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49385 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Lucas only gazes at me, his mouth hanging slightly open as he sucks in a breath. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” His hand roams over my body, across my belly, between the middle of my thighs.
My breath hitches. “Are you sure?” I ask him, because like I said… I do not feel sexy right now.
But then… I look into Lucas’s eyes. I see the want swimming behind his irises. The way his breath hitches, matching mine. Is he as turned on as I am?
“I’ve never been more sure in my whole fucking life, Mel.” And then he kisses me.
Again.
And it’s so naughty that it pushes every thought about babies, pregnancy, hormones completely out of my mind. The only thing left is pure lust.
He slides my yoga pants down my legs, and I help him by kicking out of them. He tosses them onto the floor, and then smiles up at me. “You’re feisty.” His smile grows. “I love it.”
“It’s been a long time,” I say, and then my thoughts crash. Has he been with anyone since me?
He must be able to read my mind because he stalls, his eyes growing serious. “It’s been the same amount of time for me too.”
My sigh of relief is so loud we both start laughing a little. “I haven’t wanted anyone else,” I tell him.
He cradles my face with his hands. “I haven’t wanted anyone but you since the first moment I saw you stranded on the side of the road. There’s no way I could have drove on by without stopping.”
My face heats. “I want you, Lucas,” I whisper, and I don’t mean sexually. Well, I do, but it’s so much more than that. I want this man by my side forever. I want him raising my baby with me. Our baby.
His eyes search mine, and then he leans in slowly and kisses me. This kiss is so different. There’s everything we both want to say to one another without all the words.
He removes the rest of my clothing as reverently as he can. Like he’s worshipping me. Like he’s never seen anything so sacred.
He kisses all over my skin, causing goosebumps to rise in their wake. He undresses himself like he’s trying to beat the high score in Pac-Man.
He positions himself between my legs, fisting his dick with one hand. “I’ve been dreaming about this for so long. I haven’t stopped thinking about you, Mel.”
“You have me,” I tell him, meaning it deep down into my soul.
He slides into me, and our eyes connect. “You feel better than I remember.” He keeps pushing as he rests his forehead against mine. Our breaths intermingle, and I lean in to kiss him once more.
I can’t get enough of his lips. I could kiss him forever. But that may not be in the cards for me, so I'm going to take advantage while I can.
He keeps moving inside me, making me forget my own name. I squeeze my eyes shut as we continue to breathe each other’s air. Stars line my vision as I move in rhythm with him. My heartbeat kicks up as my orgasm slowly crests over the horizon.
“I’m so close,” I tell him, my body heating up all over the closer and closer I get to my release.
“Me too, Melanie.” He picks up speed, bucking his body against mine.
I hold onto him, never wanting to let him go. “Oh, Lucas," I whisper as my orgasm crashes down all around me.
He chases my orgasm with his own. “You own me so good,” he says as he empties himself into me.
We hold each other close, our bodies trying desperately to catch up. As soon as we’ve calmed, he moves like a man on a stealth mission, cleaning me up and making sure I get my sleep clothes back on.
We lie together, my head resting on his chest as I draw lazy circles along his hardened abs.
“You okay?” he asks me.
“Yeah. Better than okay.”
Eventually, he shifts, and tucks me closer. “Sleep,” he murmurs. “I’m on watch.”
“Always?” I ask, not because I want to catch him—because I want to remember how this feels.
“Always,” he says, and it lands not like a promise he can’t keep but like a thing he intends to build.
Between fear and future, I pick now. I tuck into the space under his chin, let the baby drum once more against his hand, and sleep in the safest place I’ve ever known.
17
Lucas
I used to like puzzles. Process of elimination. Edges first, corners sorted. Mercer isn’t a puzzle; he’s sand in the gears. Every time we clean a route, he appears three moves later with the same patient posture, like he’s waiting us out. I can feel my tolerance ratcheting tighter by the hour.
In the meantime, my life has turned into the version I didn’t know I wanted. Two coffee mugs by the sink. Her lemon-scent shampoo in my shower. The tree on a timer that clicks alive right when the afternoon light goes thin. I make breakfast with the radio low, and she shuffles in wearing my sweatshirt, hair a riot, eyes soft. She steals my last triangle of toast and I pretend to be mad. It’s domestic and ridiculous and it slots into my bones like they were built for it.