Split(118)
“Mmm . . .” He moves his attention from my neck to my jawline. “Our baby’s doing beautiful things to your body. I think it’s you who loves teasing me.” He flexes his hips into my lower back and I gasp at how hard he is.
“I think, I wonder, if we could take a break? Ya know, just um . . .” I lick my lips, unable to concentrate past what his mouth is doing against my skin to string together a complete thought.
“Nash is in his office; probably not smart to do dirty things to his daughter with him in the next room.”
“Well . . .” I’m panting now as his teeth run the length of my neck. “As your wife, I will take control of our Netflix membership and torture you with historical biographies every night for the next year if you don’t put out this fire you’ve created between my legs.”
Another chuckle, this one deeper, darker, dangerous.
“Gage . . .” His name falls from my lips on a moan. “Take me home.”
“Like you have to ask.” He swoops me up in his arms and crashes his lips to mine in a kiss that robs me of breath. Our tongues glide together and he sucks at my mouth as if it’s the last drop of water in the desert.
I slide my hands around his nape, fisting the hair that sticks out beneath his ball cap, and moan when he sinks his teeth into my bottom lip. “Home.”
“Fuck, yeah.” He carries me from my office and through the lobby, past my brother carrying a box, and some of the Jennings crew doing some lastminute finishing work.
“Be back in an hour, Dad!” I holler over Gage’s shoulder.
“Hey! Careful going down the stairs with her!” my dad yells from his new executive office. “She’s in a delicate cond—”
“She’s safe on my watch, Nash,” Gage calls back.
“You guys, I’m fine!”
“I thought the honeymoon was over.” I can hear my dad’s grumbled laughter as I’m carried over the threshold and across the snow-covered earth.
“Not even close!” Gage nips at my lips.
I claw his shoulders, pulling myself in tighter to protect myself against the icy cold. My breasts, now bigger and a lot more sensitive, brush against the firm plain of his pectorals and we both groan in anticipation.
He manages to open the passenger side of his new truck, this one complete with seat warmers and four doors to accommodate our growing family. He slides me inside, reaches over me to fasten my seat belt, and pulls back, his dark gaze boring into mine. “We’re gonna share this one.”
To anyone else, those five simple words probably seem meaningless, but they warm and cramp my heart all at the same time. Ever since I became pregnant, neither one of them have managed to stay away for long. Gage is more protective than ever; the tiniest thing, like me carrying in groceries or pulling out a stepladder, triggers the change. They flip back and forth daily, whereas before the baby I’d only see Gage about once a week. As hard as I know this is on Lucas, having Gage take over when Lucas would rather stay close, I love spending time with both of them. Each one has managed to offer a kind of beauty I never knew existed. Lucas’s tender, artistic, gentle side is what I crave. He’s the one I want to curl up to watch movies with and fall into the safety of every night. When we’re together, he loves with a passion that has brought me to tears, with a dependence that aches so deep it’s almost painful. Gage is our guardian. He’s fierce, loyal, brave, and demanding. When we make love, it’s without boundaries, without shame or record of the past. It’s free and rough and so intense it shakes the very foundation of my soul.
I cup his jaw and drop a gentle kiss to his lips. “Whatever you need.”
He blinks, and his eyes dart to the side before he focuses back on me. “He’s worried this is too much for you.”
“Never. But honestly, Gage, if you don’t get me home and in our bed—hell, at this point I’d settle for this truck, anyplace warm will do—I’m going to explode.”
His eyes flare and the corner of his mouth lifts. “Done.”
GAGE
My wife.
My f*cking wife!
Will it ever sink in?
Staring at her now, her black hair fanned out around her face, those lips that’ve brought me more pleasure than should be legal for any man to enjoy, relaxed and slightly tipped up on the ends. Her naked body sprawled out before me, swollen in the middle with the baby our love brought to life growing strong inside her. There’s not a single inch of her that I don’t love, that I wouldn’t worship. That I wouldn’t die to protect.
And she’s mine.
“Stop staring and come hold me.”
Her words call me to action. I crawl my naked body over hers until my chest is seated between her thighs, my arms braced on either side of her belly.
I run my lips from one hip bone to the other, taking the time to nip around her belly button and leave a trail of wet kisses in my wake. “You feelin’ okay?”
“Mmm . . .” Her hips roll against my chest and I bite my lip against an animalistic growl. “Feels really good.”
I grin against her skin. “Not what I asked, baby.”
“I’m fine, I feel fine, we’re all fine, I promise. If anything were wrong, you’d be the first to know.”