“I know.” She dabbed at her eyes. “Crap. I need a tissue.”
“Okay.” I stood. “Where’s the bathroom?”
“Upstairs, to your right.”
I went up, grabbed the box of tissues out of the bathroom, and brought them to Daphne. “Here you go.”
She took several and blew her nose. “I must look atrocious.”
“You look beautiful.”
“You’re such a liar.”
“Baby, you’ll always be beautiful to me.”
“What about when I’m nine months pregnant and big as a house?”
“Especially then.”
That got a chuckle out of her—a tiny one, but a chuckle nonetheless.
“Why?”
“Because the baby we made is in there.” I touched her belly tenderly. “He’s in there now.”
“He?”
“Yeah, I think it’s a boy. What do you think?”
“I know it’s a boy. I’m not sure how, but I do.”
I smiled at her. She was so beautiful. So innocent. Yet her innocence had been stolen, though she didn’t know.
Now, more than ever, I renewed my vow to look after her always. She needed my protection, and I’d never waver.
Had I bitten off more than I could chew? Maybe, but it didn’t matter. I was all-in now. All-in for this sweet and wonderful young woman and the baby she carried. My baby. Mine and hers.
Daphne grabbed more tissues, dabbed at her eyes, and then blew her nose again. “Brad?”
“Hmm?”
“Daddy won’t be home tonight. He’s staying at the hospital.”
“I figured as much.”
“That means we’re alone. Here. In the house.”
The fact hadn’t escaped me, but I wasn’t going to—
“Make love to me, Brad.”
“Baby, this is your father’s house.”
“I don’t care. I need you.”
“You’re upset. You’re worried about your mother. That doesn’t mean you need sex.”
“It’s not the sex I need. It’s you. I need to feel something beautiful, and you and I together, that’s beautiful.”
I touched her cheek. It was red and puffy but still like silk beneath my calloused fingertips.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. Don’t treat me like a child, Brad.”
“But—”
She placed two fingers over my lips. “Please. We’re in love. I’m pregnant. There’s no going back now. I want to make love with you tonight. I need to.”
Trying to be a gentleman while this goddess begged me to make love to her was more difficult than I ever imagined.
“Please,” she said again.
Already my cock was responding. I wanted her. I always wanted her. But more than my desire to satiate myself in her body was my desire to take care of her, to do what was best for her. I wasn’t sure lovemaking fit into that category tonight.
“Daphne, I don’t think—”
“This is what I want. Show me what’s truly important.”
I’d made love to her before. But now… Now that I knew what she’d been through, how could I do this to her? She was so innocent. So damaged.
But so wonderful. And so fucking beautiful. And I loved her. I loved her so damned much.
Despite my name, I wasn’t made of steel. “All right, baby. Take me to your bedroom.”
Chapter Eight
Daphne
My bedroom wasn’t decorated in pink. Wasn’t overly girlie. The only problem was the twin bed, but we’d make do.
Puppy still sat where I’d left him earlier. I wasn’t embarrassed by my stuffed dog. I picked him up and moved him to a chair.
Brad looked around. My room was so small compared to his bedroom at the townhome, and especially compared to the room at his ranch house outside Snow Creek. He was so big and broad that this room seemed to swallow him up.
He acted hesitant, so I did something I’d never done. I took the lead. I walked to him, wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled his head downward until his lips met mine.
I kissed him softly at first, and then I opened my mouth and let my tongue wander out to meet his. He tasted of liquor and woods, of cinnamon and strength, of everything that was important in the world. Then I deepened the kiss, kissed him the way he’d taught me. I wanted to take from him while giving to him. I wanted a raw and feral kiss.
He responded slowly, gently easing into it.
I pulled away. “Don’t hold back,” I demanded. “Kiss me like you mean it.”
“I always mean it, baby.”
“Then show me.”
He eased away from me. “I… I’m not sure I can.”
“Why? Don’t you want me?”
“I always want you.”
“Then why—?”
He grabbed the back of my head and planted his mouth on mine. This time he dived in, taking my tongue with his, snaking it over my teeth and gums.
A kiss. A real kiss. Brad had taught me what a real kiss was. It could be soft and sweet, and those kisses were wonderful. But right now? I wanted a kiss of passion. A raw kiss of need.
Because I needed Brad. I needed him so badly.
Our mouths melded together. Heat swept over me, through me, around me, landing between my legs. If anything, I felt it more intensely now that I was pregnant. Was it my imagination? Maybe. Or maybe it was the pure emotion of knowing the product of our love was growing inside me.
My little dove.
Brad broke the kiss and inhaled sharply. “I want you. I want you so much, Daphne.”
“I want you too. Now.” I lifted my shirt over my head.
He sucked in a breath. “Every time I look at you, you’re even more beautiful than before.”
His words warmed me, settled over me like warm chocolate syrup. He took his own shirt off and discarded it. I touched him, trailed my fingertips over his broad shoulders, his muscular arms, his chiseled chest and abdomen. Traced his nipples that hardened under my touch.
“I love how you touch me,” he said. “How it makes me feel.” He removed his boots and unbuckled his belt. “Will you touch me, Daphne?”
“Yes,” I murmured.
“I mean…”
“I’ll touch you anywhere you want me to.”
He lowered his jeans and underwear, sliding them down his legs and kicking them off.
His cock was hard and ready. That was what he wanted. For me to touch him there.
I wanted to. It was part of him, and I loved every part of him. It had been inside me, helped me have such pleasure.
Guys loved to be touched there, loved to be sucked there. It was all new to me, but I wanted to please Brad more than anything in the world.
I tentatively reached forward—
“Wait.” He unclasped my bra and set it on the chair next to Puppy.
I had to close my eyes for a moment. Puppy wasn’t real. He couldn’t see what we were doing. But he was a symbol of my childhood, and I was no longer a child.
No longer a child.
In fact, before long, I’d have a child.
But that was my last thought of a child. No more while my body was responding to Brad’s eyes on me. I was hot. So hot. Burning in flames.