Seraphine: Can we talk?
Worry slides in, crowding my earlier happiness against the wall.
Me: Always. What’s up?
Seraphine: In person?
Me: You never need to ask. Where are you?
Seraphine: On your porch.
I shove my phone back into my pocket and fly to the door. Sure enough, there on the other side of it, is Seraphine looking a little worse for wear.
“Come inside.” I haul her into the house and into my arms, holding her close. I’m not sure what’s up, but she’s clearly upset. Her downturned lips, watery eyes, and curved shoulders have me going into knight-mode, ready to slay her dragons. “Are you okay?”
She steps out of my embrace and wraps her arms around her middle. “Can we sit?”
“Of course.”
In the living room, she heads for the couch, but I pull her onto my lap in my chair. For a minute, she sits there, her back ramrod straight before finally melting into me.
“Talk to me, mariposita.”
She inhales a wobbly breath. “You said we’d be okay, no matter what, right?”
Instantly, I’m on high alert. “Yeah.” I rub my hands over her back, trying to loosen the tightly bunched muscles.
“And you meant it?” She looks up at me with tired eyes.
“Wholeheartedly,” I assure her.
She thinks for a moment before nodding to herself. “I’m pregnant.”
My hands still. Time stills. The entire fucking earth comes to a screeching halt on its axis—or at least my world did. “Pregnant?” I rasp.
Seraphine nods, tears dripping from her chin.
“Un don de Dios.” I cup her jaw and tilt her face to mine, swiping away her tears with my thumbs. “We’re going to have a baby?”
“Are you upset?” The look of sheer agony on her face as she waits for my response has my heart beating a staccato rhythm in my chest.
I shake my head. “This baby—our baby—is a gift from God.”
She sniffles. “You mean it?”
Words fail me, so I answer her the only way that feels right—with a kiss. The taste of her tears mingles with something inherently Seraphine as I lick into her mouth. Our tongues slide together, my hands settling reverently on her belly.
“I love you,” I whisper, my lips still moving against hers. “I love you and our baby.”
Seraphine whimpers, but I swallow the sound, deepening our kiss. She pulls away and braces herself with her hands on my shoulders, looking me solidly in the eyes. “I love you, too, Mateo. I…I want this, with you. I need you to know that.”
Grinning like a fool, I slide my hands around from her belly to her ass and stand.
“Wha-where are we going?”
“To celebrate,” I growl as I carry her back to the bedroom, placing her on her feet near the foot of the bed. Even though Desi isn’t home, I shut and lock the door.
Seraphine watches me, an unreadable look on her face, as I prowl the length of floor in front of her like a wild animal.
“This is a weird celebration,” she murmurs, humor lacing her tone.
I whip around to face her and fall to my knees. Sliding my hands beneath the material of her shirt, I press a kiss to her stomach, right below her navel.
“I need to calm myself before touching you,” I confess. I pepper her entire belly with kisses, each one a little hotter than the last. “You’re going to have my child—knowledge like that does something to a man, mariposita.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
I can’t decide if she’s being coy or oblivious. Either way, I rise to my full height and grab her hand, pressing it against my erection.
“Oh,” comes her breathy reply. “Really?”
“Really.”
She squeezes my dick through my sweats and I shamelessly rock into her hand.
“I need you,” I groan.
“I’m here, always.” She releases me and steps away, her words at odds with her actions, until she begins peeling away her clothing until she’s standing completely and totally naked before me. “Have me, Mateo.”
My eyes eat her up, blazing a path that my hands eagerly follow. I trace my fingers over her collarbones, down to her perfect breasts.
She moans at the slightest of contact and before I can think better of it, I lean in and draw her achingly sensitive nipple into my mouth. I lick and suck as she digs her nails into my shoulders and wiggles her hips.
“Feels so good, Mateo, but I need more.”
I drop back down to my knees, kissing my way down her belly before spreading her pussy lips with my thumbs. She’s already wet and ready for me when I dart my tongue out to lick her slit.
“Fuck,” she grinds out. Her legs wobble as I make contact with her clit, swirling my tongue against the sensitized flesh. “Yes!” She tugs on my hair—hard. “Wait, no!”
I pull back and look up at her. “What’s wrong?” I ask, wiping the back of my hand over my lips.