No Complaints

It’s her confidence, how she’ll sometimes leap on me when I least expect it, wrapping her legs around me and knowing I’ll catch her.

“Guilty?” I asked, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair.

“I get to do what I want. I get to live my dream. How many people get that?”

“Not many,” I agreed. “But you deserve it. You’re the best person I’ve ever met. And you’re talented as hell. Pretty soon, you’ll be the breadwinner. Just you wait.”

She laughed and wriggled against me. “Wouldn’t that challenge your masculinity?”

I smirked. “Nah, I’d just bang you twice as hard.”

She giggled again, and then we were all over each other, hungry as though it was the first time.

“Ryland?”

The heavy bag whines as it rocks back and forth on the hinges.

I look up to find Rachel standing in the doorway. She’s wearing her nightgown, the purple one with a slit up the side that has my mind going to carnal places. Her thighs never stop making my mouth water. There’s so much juicy curviness to indulge in.

But her eyes are filled with something darker, not lust.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, walking over to her quickly.

She laughs through her frown, shaking her head.

“Nothing’s wrong. I just can’t believe it.”

“Can’t believe what?” I ask.

“I wanted to tell you last night, but you were asleep when I got in.”

I grin. “You were at the studio until midnight. An old man needs his rest.”

She laughs, slapping my arm. “You are not an old man.”

“Tell me, Rachel. Whatever it is, we’ll face it together.”

She swallows, shifting from foot to foot. I have to focus on her face, not let my gaze flit to the way her nightgown opens at the neck, giving me a tantalizing glimpse of her cleavage.

“I’m pregnant,” she says.

It takes a moment for her words to hit me.

“What?” I say.

She smiles shakily. “I did three tests. I’m pregnant, Ryland. We’re going to have a baby.”

I let out a cheer, louder and more heartfelt than the way I roared when I won the title. It’s a cheer of pure joy.

Rachel’s face lights up at my reaction.

Sweeping her into my arms, I spin her around and around, her songlike laughter driving me on.

“Say it again.” I beam as I place her down. “Tell me, Rachel.”

“I’m pregnant,” she says. “Pregnant, pregnant, pregnant…”

I cut her off with a kiss.

She moans and kisses me back, her hands rising up my body, her fingers clawing onto my shoulders like she never wants to let go.

Good.

She never has to.

ONE YEAR LATER

Rachel

“You came into our lives and made it so much brighter,” I sing softly, looking down at little Annabella.

It was my mother’s name, and Ryland ardently agreed when I offered it as a choice.

Our daughter sleeps peacefully, her chest rising and falling softly. She looks so adorable, her mouth slightly open as though she’s on the verge of laughing.

I could look at her forever, study every single detail and never get bored.

My heart warms as I sing the next line, making it up as I go along. I’m not sure if it’s any good, but I don’t care.

This is love. This is family. This is a life I’ll never stop being thankful for.

“Say goodbye…to strife, and now our hearts are lighter.”

I laugh softly, careful to keep the volume down.

“Okay, I’ll admit, that one was pretty stinky.”

“I don’t know,” Ryland says from behind me, his husky voice low. “I liked it.”

I turn to find my husband standing in the doorway.

It’s late, and he’s only wearing his boxer shorts, his body catching the moonlight at the perfect angle, making him look even more toned. Something about the way he stands reminds me of our wedding day, as he stood at the altar, ready to begin our future.

“Maybe I’ll add it to the album,” I joke, walking across the room.

“Hey.” He steps into my path. “Didn’t you get the memo, hot stuff? There’s a toll on this door now.”

I giggle, rolling my eyes. Sometimes I have to forcibly tell myself that Ryland is still attracted to me.

It would be easy for him to lose interest with all the baby weight, not to mention the stress and the sleeplessness. But if anything, it’s only made him want me more.

Ever since I recovered enough to be intimate, he’s become a wild animal again, a hungry glint in his eyes every time he looks at me.

“Is that so?” I say, smiling. “I guess I didn’t get the memo…”

I stand on my tiptoes, wrapping my arms around his broad shoulders. As we kiss, he makes a deep growling noise, his manhood turning solid almost right away, pushing through his boxers against my belly.

“Okay,” he laughs quietly, taking a step back. “Maybe I need to rethink having the toll on this specific door, eh? Don’t want to get too carried away in here.”