The Marakaios Baby (The Marakaios Brides 2)

‘And it’s safe...?’

‘The doctor said it was.’ She gave a small smile. ‘And we don’t need to worry about birth control.’

He laughed softly and kissed her again, this time holding nothing back, his tongue and lips causing a symphony of sensation inside her as beautiful and wondrous as any kalanda they’d sung that night.

‘We could go upstairs,’ Leo whispered, and he moved from her lips to her shoulder, kissing the curve of her neck as his hand found the warm swell of her breast, one thumb running over its already taut and aching peak.

Letting out a shudder of longing, Margo glanced at the crackling fire, the Christmas tree sparkling with lights. The house stretched all around them, quiet and dark.

‘No, let’s stay here,’ she whispered, and began to unbutton Leo’s shirt.

It felt like a wedding night, with the lights and the fire and the quiet sacredness of what they were doing.

Leo stilled under her touch as she finished unbuttoning his shirt and then slid the crisp cotton from his shoulders, revelling in the feel of his skin, so hot and satiny, under her fingers. She pressed a kiss to his collarbone, needing to feel that hot, smooth skin under her lips. Leo let out a groan as she touched her tongue to his skin, tasted salt.

‘You will undo me before we’ve even begun...’

She looked up, mischief in her eyes. ‘Would that be a bad thing?’

‘A very bad thing—because I want to savour every moment.’

Smiling, he undid the tie on her jersey wrap dress and it fell open. Margo felt only a little self-conscious in her bra and pants, with the swell of her bump visible and making her shape so different from the last time they’d been together like this.

Yet they’d never, she realised, been together like this. So intimate. So tender. So honest.

Leo slid the dress off her shoulders and then rested one hand on her bump, his skin warm on hers. ‘You are so very beautiful.’

‘Even pregnant?’

‘Especially pregnant. Knowing you are carrying my child makes you impossible to resist.’

He bent down and pressed a kiss to her bump, and then gently he laid her back on the rug, its soft bristles tickling her bare back as he stretched out beside her.

Margo gazed up at him, everything about her open and trusting as Leo pressed a kiss to her mouth and then worked his way lower, kissing her breasts and her bump, and then all the way down to her thighs. Margo gasped as he kissed her there, spreading her legs wide so he could have greater access, making her feel even more vulnerable...

And yet she didn’t mind. She felt treasured rather than exposed, and she wanted Leo to feel the same way.

‘My turn now,’ she said with a little grin, and Leo arched an eyebrow as she pushed him onto his back.

‘If you insist,’ he said—and then let out a groan as Margo began to kiss him, taking her time, savouring the salty tang of his skin.

She kissed her way down his chest and Leo’s hands tangled in her hair as she moved lower, his breath coming out in a hiss as she freed his arousal from his boxer shorts, sliding one hand up its smooth, hot length before taking it into her mouth.

‘Margo...’ His breath ended on a cry as his hips arched upwards.

Margo watched him with hot eyes, his own desire making hers ratchet higher.

Then Leo reached for her, pulling her up towards him so she was straddling his hips. She sank onto his shaft with a sigh of relief that turned into a moan of pleasure as he began to move, his hands tightly gripping her hips so she moved with him in an exquisite rhythm.

The firelight cast shadows over their bodies as they moved together, climbing higher and higher towards that barely attainable peak. Logs shifted and cracked, sparks scattered, and Margo cried out as she finally reached the apex, drawing Leo even more tightly into her body as she threw her head back and her climax shuddered through her.

Afterwards they lay tangled together on the rug, warm and sated, their breathing only just starting to slow.

‘Thank goodness Maria didn’t come down for a glass of warm milk...’ Leo said.

Margo stiffened. ‘She wouldn’t—?’

‘She is known to on occasion. It helps her sleep.’ He kissed the top of her head. ‘But don’t worry. No one came. Except you, that is.’

She laughed softly and snuggled up against him. ‘And you.’

‘Most certainly. And that, I have to say, was a long time to wait.’

‘There wasn’t...?’ She hesitated, not wanting to spoil the mood but needing to know. ‘There wasn’t anyone else? Since...?’

‘No one,’ Leo told her firmly. ‘No one but you for over two years now, Margo.’