She settled against the pillows, inhaled the enticing scent of Aiden lingering on the sheets, and let herself fully relax. And for the first time since yesterday, her panic and anxiety subsided while she scrolled through a list of shows in search of something light and funny. After a few minutes, she decided on a channel showing reruns of The Office.
A short while later, Aiden returned and slid onto the bed beside her. They watched an episode of the documentary-style series, both of them occasionally laughing at the dry humor of the show, though she could tell that Aiden seemed immersed in his own thoughts at times, too. When the first episode ended, Aiden rolled onto his side facing her and propped himself up with his arm.
His dark eyes were warm and inquisitive. “So, I’ve been thinking and I have a few questions. You’re almost three months along . . . didn’t you have morning sickness or any of those obvious signs of pregnancy?”
“No, but from what I’ve read on the internet, not all women have morning sickness and I guess I just got lucky,” she said with a shrug. “The few times I can remember having an upset stomach or feeling light-headed, I chalked it up to being tired or not eating. And I did have occasional heartburn, which apparently is a thing during pregnancy. Good news, though, as I was leaving the doctor’s office yesterday, the nurse said that the fatigue should taper off, and that the first trimester is usually the toughest.”
“That’s good to hear. You had me really worried at work with how exhausted you constantly looked.” He thought quietly for a few more seconds before asking another question. “Didn’t you notice a skipped period? I mean, it’s been almost three months and you should have had a period a few weeks after we were together in San Francisco, right?”
She absently rubbed a hand over her stomach, and now that she knew there was a baby growing inside, she also knew that the bloating she thought she was experiencing was actually the beginnings of a baby bump. His gaze dropped to her belly, watching as her palm now rested there, the expression on his face undeniably curious.
“Actually, I did have what I thought was a light period,” she told him. “But my doctor explained that it was vaginal bleeding, which can happen in some pregnancies,” she said, surprisingly comfortable talking about this with Aiden. Probably because he didn’t make any of it feel awkward, but rather perfectly normal. And for her, it was nice to be able to share it all with him.
He lifted his gaze back up to her face, an adorable smile tugging the corner of his mouth. “I know that this probably makes me a total dork, but now that I know you’re carrying my baby, I’m totally fascinated by all the changes in your body.”
Her breath caught at his sweet, possessive words—his baby—and she tried not to be too envious of the life growing inside of her, that he or she already seemed to have Aiden’s unconditional affection. “That doesn’t make you a dork at all. I’m glad that you’re interested.” She hadn’t expected that to be the case. And certainly not so quickly.
“Are you having any other symptoms?” he asked enthusiastically. “Any sort of weird cravings?”
She laughed at that as she heard another episode of The Office start in the background. “I didn’t realize that it was a pregnancy craving until now, but I feel like I’m always thinking about and wanting peanut butter cups, to the point that I’ve stopped at the market more than a few times on the way home from work to buy them to eat,” she admitted impishly, then thought about the other things she’d become aware of and now knew were a reaction to her pregnancy. “My breasts are really tender. I figured they hurt because I was going to start my period, but clearly that isn’t the case. And when I put on my bra today, I realized that my breasts were overflowing the cups way more than they ever had. Oh, and there’s a slight baby bump that’s making my skirt and pants feel tighter than normal.”
“Can I see?” he asked, his gaze completely serious.
She didn’t answer right away as uncertainties warred with deeper, hotter desires she hadn’t felt since that night with Aiden.
“I don’t want you naked,” he said as if to reassure her, then grinned shamelessly, his gaze taking on a more suggestive gleam. “Okay, that’s a fucking lie, because quite honestly, I’ve spent nearly every night for the past three months thinking about how beautiful you looked stripped completely bare and how I’d give just about anything to see you that way again.”
His confession made her shiver, and her breasts tightened and ached even more against the lace cups of her bra. It didn’t help that she’d entertained the same kind of fantasies about him.
He leaned closer, watching as he skimmed a finger down the collar of her shirt until he reached the first button secured just above her cleavage, then raised his brown gaze back to hers. “I’m curious to see the changes in your body,” he murmured huskily. “Can I just open your shirt and look?”
His voice was so hypnotizing, his eyes seductive, making her realize that this new exploration of her body might not be as clinical as she’d initially thought it would be. And what did it say about her that she no longer cared? It wasn’t as though they were strangers, and he’d already seen every bare inch of her body.
“Do I need to break out the dimple, Ms. Parker?” he teased.
Oh, God, she was already so close to dissolving into a hot mess, and that wicked bit of attitude would guarantee it. “No to the dimple, and yes, you can open my shirt and look,” she said on a rush of breath.
He chuckled, because he knew how that sexy little indent in his cheek affected her. “Thank you for your permission,” he said as he began opening her shirt, one slow, agonizing button at a time. “I promise to behave . . . as long as you want me to.”
The front of her tunic gradually parted the lower he went, until the last button came undone and the sides of her top fell away, giving him his first glimpse of her fuller, tighter breasts that were nearly spilling from the sheer lace cups. A low, rumbling, appreciative groan escaped his lips, and he reached back up and gently cradled one of those mounds in his palm.
She moaned softly when his fingers squeezed the plump flesh and his thumb rubbed across the rigid nipple pressing against the thin lace, wishing the material of her bra was gone. Despite how sensitive her breasts were, it had been too long and his touch felt so good, and she couldn’t stop the slow, heated rush of desire as it spiraled straight down between her legs.
“Jesus, Daisy, you had perfect tits before, but now . . . they’re fucking gorgeous,” he said, his voice a sexy rasp of sound as he released her breast and splayed his big hand across her rib cage.
Her breathing increased and she tried not to moan and brazenly arch into his caress as he slowly slid his palm lower, until he reached the high waistband of her leggings.
His dark whiskey gaze lifted back to hers. “Push your pants a little lower on your hips so I can see your belly,” he murmured huskily.
It wasn’t a harsh demand, but a gentle, seductive order that had her hooking her thumbs into the elastic and easing the material, along with her panties, down to just where her pubic bone began so he had full access to her midsection. Without thinking, she grabbed his hand and guided it to that slightly swollen part of her belly that she now knew was a protective barrier for their baby.
“Can you feel that?” she asked, trying not to think about just how intimately he was touching her, but after three months without any physical contact with this man, her body’s reaction was like pure, liquid lust flooding through her.
His long fingers cradled her abdomen, probing and exploring that unyielding area. “Yeah,
it feels . . . firm,” he said, and pressed his ear to her belly, his face pointing away from hers.
His breath was warm and damp on her skin as he seemed to listen to her stomach as if he might hear a heartbeat—and she was completely aware of how close his mouth was to her suddenly pulsing, aching sex. Then there was the silky feel of his hair on her belly and the light scrape of his beard that added to the chaotic sensations suddenly running rampant through her. She swallowed hard, unable to tamper the sensual cravings that were increasing in intensity, and she instinctively clenched her thighs restlessly together.