He licked his bottom lip, and I wasn’t sure he was aware he did it. Then he went back for another scan, devouring my legs, my hips, back to my breasts, clinging there, heating me up with the intensity of his expression.
“Well?” I stalked toward him, checking the room for Roark and finding it empty.
Shea’s footsteps moved toward the bed where the ultrasound waited.
Jesse dragged his eyes from my chest and stepped forward, meeting me halfway. His hand lifted toward my face and hovered as if he was unsure whether or not he’d smudge the makeup.
I caught his wrist and pressed his palm against my cheek. “Is it too much?”
“No,” he said, breathless, his eyes roaming again, up, down, up. “Beauty has always defined you. I’ve just never seen you so…”
“Feminine?”
He swallowed. “Exquisite.”
My damned cheeks flushed, the warmth spreading down my neck and kick-starting my pulse. “Thank you. You don’t look too bad yourself.”
He glanced down at his black button-up shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and exposing the strength in his forearms. He still had his stubble, and the hair on his head pointed in all directions, untamed and stubborn. Combine that with the deceptively quiet way he observed me, and I was sucked in, captivated, and insanely turned on.
Roark strode out of the attached bathroom, glanced up, and slammed to a stop. The look on his face was priceless. He gripped the back of his neck and gave me the same thorough perusal Jesse had, with his jaw hanging open. When he lowered his arm and closed his mouth, his smile was huge and mischievous.
I braced for it, could practically hear his brain searching for something ridiculous to say, and grinned in anticipation.
“Den’ panic, love, but one of me balls has gone right up inside me.” He wriggled a leg, looking down at his zipper then at my skirt. “Are ye wearing knickers under there? Feck it. I just need a screed of enthusiastic hand action. I'm in quite a lot of pain.”
Jesse lowered his head, chuckling.
Roark strode toward us, pointing at him. “Wha’ are ye laughing at? You’re looking a’ her like a cat eying a cream-flavored arsehole.”
I smacked his chest. “You did not just call me an asshole.”
He wrapped his big hands around my neck and pressed his forehead against mine. “Cream-flavored, love. A delectable, tight, creamy arsehole.” His exhale brushed over my lips. “And I’ve worked up an appetite.”
“Okay,” Shea said from behind us. “It’s ready.”
I gave him a squeeze on his wrists and a nervous smile and pulled away to join Shea on the bed.
With my top tucked beneath my breasts and the waistband of the skirt rolled down, I lay on my back as she squeezed a dollop of cold gel on my lower belly and rubbed the wand through it.
All eyes moved to the machine beside my feet as the screen came to life.
Jesse sat beside my hip and leaned toward the black and white viewer. “What are we looking at?”
Shea pointed at a small white blob on the image. “That’s an acoustic shadow, a void behind something with substance. We see this often with solid structures like bone or kidney stones. Or in this case, the shaft of the IUD.”
My lungs heaved with an influx of air.
Jesse glanced at me and returned to the screen. “When I talked to the nurse in Arkendale, she said IUDs can move around, get dislodged, and become ineffective. Which could be harmful to Evie.”
Jesse’s attention to my wellbeing wasn’t a surprise, but seeing the concern on his face tightened my throat.
“True.” She jiggled the wand. “But see that? The string is tucked just inside her cervix. It’s there. Everything’s positioned correctly, even if you can’t feel it vaginally.”
He placed a hand on my knee, fingers trembling, his eyes a harsh and fiery landscape. A muscle bounced in his jaw as he slid his palm beneath the skirt, up my inner thigh, and stroked the edge of my panties.
A quiver shimmied down my legs and a rush of heat gathered between them. “Jesse, what are you doing?”
“I just want to see…” He stared at the screen, fingering the crotch of the thong as he inched it to the side.
“You can use the gel.” Shea held out the bottle.
“She doesn’t need it.” He flashed me a wicked smile, his finger swirling around my wet opening.
Holy fuck. He intended to finger me right here in front of Shea and— Oh God, he just did. The invasion ignited a ripple of pleasure through my body. I couldn’t stop my gasping breaths or the shameless rock of my hips.
His breathing staggered and his arm flexed as he bent over me, his finger reaching deeper, searching for…what? My cervix?
Roark sat beside Shea on my other side, his eyes staring intensely at the screen. “Stop squirming, Evie.”