It's Only You
Page 20
“Donovan. I love you, baby.”
“You are my everything,” he murmured.
“And you are mine.”
He gasped as her feminine muscles clutched him tighter. Donovan rocked into her over and over, varying the length of his strokes, but keeping the same languid tempo. Taking his time. She arched upward and wrapped her legs around him, digging her heels into his back.
“I missed being inside of you like this. I could stay here forever.”
She palmed his face and locked her gaze on his. “Then stay. Forever.”
Her words broke him. He lifted her hips, threw back his head and began a hard, pounding rhythm that shook the foundation of the bed. Their ragged breathing magnified in the space, and she arched higher and met each of his driving thrusts. Their moans and cries intensified until they convulsed together. Their bodies shook and shuddered violently for an eternity as they gasped for air. He gently lowered her legs to the bed and braced himself on trembling arms. Donovan closed his eyes as the sensations continued to course through his body. He stared down at Simona’s rapturous expression. “Marry me.”
Her eyes popped open. “What did you say?”
“Marry me. I love you, and I want to be there for you always. I want to raise Yasmine and be there for her first day of school, when she graduates from high school and college, and to walk her down the aisle when she gets married.” He placed a hand on Simona’s belly. “I want to have more babies with you. To be there to wipe your forehead when you’re sick, to hold your hand when we hear our baby’s heartbeat for the first time and catch our son or daughter in my arms. But my greatest desire is to grow old with you. From now on, it’s only you, only me.”
“Oh, my God! Yes, yes, yes!” Simona threw her arms around him and cried.
He laughed as they rocked back and forth across the bed. “Okay, if you’ll stop crying for a moment, I have something for you.” He separated them, then reached for the box he had placed in the nightstand drawer and opened it.
Simona scooted into a sitting position and brought her hands to her mouth. “I can’t believe it. It’s absolutely breathtaking.”
“I hope you don’t mind that I found something a little different. I wanted something that exemplified your uniqueness. I’ve never met anyone who gives of herself the way you do.” He’d had a jeweler design a two-carat princess-cut solitaire with alternating diamond and sapphire baguettes surrounding it, along with a matching band.
“No, no, no. I love it.” She stuck out her hand, and he slid it into place. “Oh, my. It fits perfectly. I love you, Donovan.”
“I love you, too. Only you.” He drew her back down to the bed and, with a passion reserved only for her, demonstrated just how much.
Epilogue
Two years later
Donovan gazed down tenderly at his wife as he fed her ice chips and mopped her forehead with a cool towel. His life had been nothing short of amazing since marrying Simona. And they had a nice settlement from the lawsuit against Travis to top things off. While their lives had gotten back to normal, the same couldn’t be said about Lorna and Travis. He hoped Travis liked his front-page notoriety as much as he did when he was spewing those lies. And if the rumors were true, the man’s acting career was all but over. Good riddance.
Simona moaned. “I’m tired.”
“I know, sweetheart.”
“Did you check on Yasmine?”
He shook his head and smiled. She was still in caretaker mode. “Not yet. I know she’s fine. Between my mom and Nana, she’s probably had enough sweets to fill a Halloween bucket.”
Simona started to laugh, then moaned in pain.
He held her hand, did the breathing with her and rubbed her back until the contraction passed. She had been in labor for five hours and was only four centimeters dilated. He mentally coaxed the baby to come on because he couldn’t stand to see her in pain.
“Go make sure she’s not on a sugar high.”
It took him a moment to remember she had picked up on their previous conversation. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“I’ll be here when you get back. Just promise to hurry.”
“I promise.” Donovan placed a kiss on her parched lips and turned toward the nurse.
She smiled. “It’s okay. I’ll take good care of Simona. She’s one of our best nurses. I’ll come get you if you’re not back before the fun starts.”
Donovan cast another worried glance Simona’s way before heading to the room where his parents, Nana and her new husband, Deacon Mitchell, and Terrence waited.
“Daddy!” Yasmine jumped off her chair, ran across the room and launched herself at him.
He lifted her high and kissed her cheek. “How’s Daddy’s big girl?” Her greetings never failed to fill his heart with love and pride. At three years old, she already loved to read and could count to five. She would start preschool next month, and he would be there to walk her through the doors on her first day.
“Where’s my baby?” she asked.
“It’s not here yet.”
“Why?”
“Well, sometimes it takes babies a while to get here.”
“Do you have to go get it?”
“Ah, no,” he answered slowly. “So, what kind of treats did Grandma and Nana bring?” he asked in an attempt to distract her. Donovan’s father chuckled, and Donovan rolled his eyes.
“How’s Simona, Donovan?” his mother asked.
He lowered Yasmine to the floor. “She’s tired, but she insisted I come and check on this one here.” He tickled Yasmine’s belly, and she dissolved in a fit of laughter. “I need to check on Mommy. I’ll be back in a while.”
“I’ll walk out with you,” Terrence said. In the hallway, he placed a hand on Donovan’s shoulder.
“How’re you holding up?”
“About as well as you were,” Donovan answered with a wry chuckle.
“That bad, huh? I survived, and so will you. As a matter of fact, I’ll be back in that room in about six months.”
His eyes widened. “You and Janae are having another baby? Congrats, man!”
“Yep,” Terrence said proudly. “Oh, and rumor has it Karen and Damian are expecting, too.”
“Hot damn! We’re going to be a prolific bunch.”
“No doubt. Now get in there and deliver my godson or goddaughter.”
The two shared a brotherly hug, and Donovan hurried down the hall to his wife’s room. “Hey, baby,” he said, kissing her lips and stroking her forehead.
“Hey,” she whispered. “They’re not feeding Yasmine too much candy, are they?”
He chuckled. “Probably. She had about a million questions. Wanted to know why the baby’s not here yet.”
“Sure would’ve loved to hear how you answered that one,” she said tiredly.
“With finesse, baby, because I got it like that.”
Simona rolled her eyes and groaned.
It was another two hours before the baby’s head started to emerge. “Push, sweetheart,” Donovan coached.
“I am pushing. I’m too tired. I can’t do this.”
“Yes, you can. Come on. Hold my hand.” She took hold of his hand with the next contraction, and he clenched his teeth to keep from yelling. Where in the hell did she get this superhuman strength? “Come on, baby,” he croaked.
“All right, Dad. Now’s the time,” the doctor said.
Donovan moved to the other end of the bed and, following the doctor’s instructions, helped deliver their baby.
“You did it, baby! We have a little boy. We have a boy,” he said with all the wonder of the moment. Tears misted his eyes as he stared down at the wailing baby that would carry his name. “Hello, Donovan Elijah Wright, Jr. Welcome to the world. Let’s
go meet your mother.” He placed the baby on Simona’s belly.
“He has your eyes. He’s beautiful,” she cried.
“Just like his mother. I love you so much. You are my everything.”
As he’d written, she was the only one who set his soul on fire. His one desire and the one he would love until the end of time.
* * * * *
We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Kimani Romance.
You dream in vibrant hues! Harlequin Kimani Romance stories feature sophisticated, soulful and sensual African-American and multicultural heroes and heroines who develop fulfilling relationships as they lead lives full of drama, glamour and passion.
Enjoy four new stories from Harlequin Kimani Romance every month!
Connect with us on Harlequin.com for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Other ways to keep in touch:
Harlequin.com/newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com
http://www.harlequin.com/harlequinexperience
ISBN-13: 9781460385210
It’s Only You
Copyright © 2015 by Sheryl Lister
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com