“Why’d you kiss me, why are you even still here,” she asked him swivelling around to face him as he closed the door. Even though she knew that Ethan kissed her like she was the most special person ever, it was sinful, decadent, yet...gentle. Caring?
“Seriously, Belle you have to be kidding me.”
She wrinkled her brow before turning away from his gaze and unbuttoned her coat, hanging it up with her scarf and hat before making her way into the kitchen. Belle lifted the nut roast from the refrigerator to prepare it for tomorrow, setting it on the counter top trying to ignore Ethan leaning against the doorframe.
“You know a guy could get an inferiority complex when a girl prefers to be with a nut roast rather than him.”
Belle couldn’t help the smile tugging at her lips when she swung around to face him. He’d taken off his hat and gloves, and his hair was tousled as if he’d run his fingers through it a few times. Her stomach flopped over; how one year could make such a difference in one’s life was scary. Last Christmas she’d been standing in this very same spot chatting with her gran helping prepare food for Christmas Day for them both and a couple of visiting friends..
Here she was pregnant, alone with a man in her kitchen whom she’d only known a few days, and yet he was the father of her child…it was like something out of a novel. Damn, when did life become so difficult?
Belle crossed her arms. “Very amusing but at least the roast does as I tell it to.”
“What is it that you would like me to do, Belle…please tell me because I don’t know.” He came further into the room, settling his hands on the back of the chair.
Her body tensed. He was right; he had tried to be what he thought she needed, it was impossible to fault him for doing that? Ethan was trying to make the best out of a situation they’d both created. So what was the big deal, he was good looking…gorgeous in fact. Had a body that was breathtaking. So what was the problem? He…he didn’t love her and that was more important than all of those physical attributes.
He was kind.
He was caring.
“You know, I really need to go and make sure the fire hasn’t gone out.” She bolted out of the room into the living room. The fire didn’t really need fuel, that didn’t stop her from bending down to retrieve a log. Setting the guard aside while she threw a fresh log onto the burning embers.
The heat from the orange flames was welcoming and familiar. It was about the only thing at the moment that was. Her whole life was turning upside down and Belle didn’t know how to stop it. The tingling of her skin told her that he’d entered the room.
“You have to stop running at some point, Belle. The problem is not going to go away.”
For a second she stood squeezing her eyes shut and breathing in before slowly turning around. He’d come into the room and was standing by the sofa his hands shoved into his jeans pockets.
“I know, I’m sorry you see it as a problem…but I’ve told you I will work it out you can go home. I will let you know nearer the time when you can return to see your baby.”
****
Ethan couldn’t believe the words coming from her mouth. What did he have to do to prove to her that he wasn’t leaving here without her and their baby? He took the two steps that would place him right in front of her and took hold of her upper arms.
“Are you kidding me? Really? Damn it, Belle I’ve fallen for you I thought you’d realised that?” He watched the shocked expression cross her face. He didn’t care if she didn’t reciprocate his love; it wasn’t an issue just as long as she knew he cared. That’s all that counted, and perhaps who knew? She might learn to love him as much as he loved her.
“You love me?”
He nodded. “Yes.” His voice was hoarse but he couldn’t help it he’d never felt such strong emotion in his life.
“But we hardly know each other.”
“Honey, I fell in love with you the moment I saw you in that blue bikini, with those little freckles on your nose, and the way those beautiful pink lips parted when you said my name.”
“But—” She frowned. “You asked me to marry you because of the baby?”
“No, I asked you to marry me because I loved you. I was always going to come looking for you but when I found out you were expecting our child it was the cherry on top of the cake.”
Belle tilted her head to one side. Her almost black eyelashes fanned halfway covering her green eyes, but not before he saw them dance mischievously. “Take me to bed.”
Ethan shook his head as the words registered, and he remembered the last time he’d seen those eyes do that when she’d been naked in his arms.
“Did you just say—”
She leaned in using her mouth to stop him mid-sentence and kissing him hard. No lingering, no smoothness just a knock-your-socks-off kiss. Heat rushed through him scorching his skin until it was burning hot.
Her scent enveloped him as her hands rubbed up and down his back. She tugged him closer until every inch of her was against him. He could feel the friction from his head to his growing erection, and to the soles of his feet.
He wanted her here right now, right this very second. They needed to clear up a few things but Ethan just didn’t have the will power to stop. He turned her around carefully and he walked her back until her legs hit the edge of the sofa and she sat down. He went down on his knees and the reality of the baby came crashing around his ears.
Damn what was he doing?
Her hands were beneath his sweater and he let her pull it off when he lifted his arms. She leaned forward drawing his T-shirt up and the minute her lips touched his skin, he let out a groan that sounded loud in the room. Her head lifted up to look at him.
Somehow he found the strength say those words. “Is this okay?”
She frowned.
“The baby.”
Belle smiled, “Oh yes…you have no idea how horny I feel. It’s quite natural at this point in the pregnancy.”
“Well, isn’t that lucky for me,” he said mischievously.
“Lucky for us both.” She smiled back at him her hand curled around the back of his neck drawing his head down and burying her lips in his neck.
Every cell in his body jumped as their hands swept over each other. He had his hands beneath her sweater, slipping it over her head leaving behind a T-shirt. For a moment he stopped and looked at the bump that was a lot more visible through the thinness of her top.
Her fingers took hold of the hem lifting it over her head. He traced his finger down from her shoulder to the over spilling of her breast from her bra.
“The pregnancy has made me bigger there.” She spoke in a whisper.
“It has and I think I’m going to like you being pregnant. Gorgeous.” He breathed out the word as he lowered his head letting his lips drift across the soft skin before peeling back the materiel and licking her nipple, making it instantly harder. He needed to see all of her; it wasn’t enough he wanted it all.
“I’ll like it better when we’re both naked and you’re inside me.”
His head shot up, her expression was so sexy that the words tumbled out of him as he tried to keep himself together. “Jesus, Belle I—”
He stood, pulling her into his arms and lifted her at the waist. She automatically wrapped her legs around him, her arms surrounding his neck as his mouth crushed hers in a kiss that made his heart thump in his chest so loudly it deafened him and he buried his face in her neck.
She’d entered his life and from the minute he’d seen her, he’d been lost in the wonder of her smile, the greenness of her mesmerising eyes and the connection between them. No other woman held the slightest bit of interest to him…only Belle. Never in all the time he’d been looking for her had he thought he was just doing his duty. It was about finding her for him, about getting her back where she belonged…in his arms…in his bed.
At first he’d thought it was pathetic and stupid wanting a woman he’d only seen once. Now he knew differently…he loved
her…
He.
Loved.
Her.
The hands that had wrapped around his neck now ran up and down his bare arms making the hairs stand on end from the friction of her skin on his. He could feel the muscles rippling as her fingers swept over them.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Not a damn thing…everything is just perfect.”
He strode out of the room and up the stairs, pushing her door open. He sat on the bed with Belle straddling his lap. She cupped his face, her fingers caressing, he could feel the day’s growth rasp against her soft skin. He immediately parted his lips when her mouth covered his in a kiss full of desire. Her lips moved against his, the persistent slide of her tongue teasing as it as it flicked and tempted.
Ethan stood, turning around to draw the covers back. He gently laid her on the bed before pulling her trousers off along with her socks letting them drop to the floor. He sucked in a deep breath as he looked down at her, so beautiful.
“I’m afraid being pregnant isn’t very sexy.” She laughed her fingers spread across the large panties that covered her small bump which was even more prominent without the covering of her clothes.
“You’re the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” he whispered.
“If that’s the case, why don’t you come and join me instead of standing there looking?” She let her hand fall on the space next to her.
Ethan didn’t need telling twice. He shucked off his clothes lying down beside her and his hand instinctively went to her stomach. He let his fingers push aside the materiel so that he could feel the tautness of her skin as it stretched to accommodate their baby.
“I can’t believe that our loving of one night is wrapped up in your body, so snug, so precious, so unbelievably ours.”
Belle laid her fingers over his and he turned his palm so that he could thread his through hers.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked.
He looked up into those eyes that had mesmerised him from the beginning. “I’ve never been more completely sure about anything else in my whole life.”
Belle brought their clasped hands to her mouth kissing the intertwined fingers. Ethan gasped, lifting them above her head so that she was stretched out in front of him as he pushed up onto his elbow hovering over her. He kissed her shoulder letting his lips trace the outline as they swept down.
Enjoying her scent.
Enjoying her taste.
Enjoying the feel of her satin smooth skin.
“I’ve dreamed of this moment more than you’ll ever know.” He laid his head on the pillow tugging Belle onto her side so that they were facing each other. He let his fingers trail down her neck to her breasts, and when he smoothed over the hardened nipple, she gasped.
“You do know that pregnant ladies are horny and if they’re not getting some loving at least once a day they become really grumpy.” She paused. “I’ve gone six months without, so don’t feel you have to be gentle.”
“Horny, huh.” He grinned at her terminology and hell if that didn’t make him even harder than he already was.
She nodded with a mischievous smile on her face.
“I just want to enjoy the moment because this is so much better than I could have ever imagined in my wildest dreams about you…and there have been a few,” he said as he gently shoved her on to her back. He was going to savour, to make every single second last, but he didn’t know if his body would last.
****
Belle felt so happy. He loved her. She loved him. They were having a baby. Everything else could be sorted out; she could deal with anything now that she knew he wanted them both.
She couldn’t stop touching him, with her hand on his hip she smoothed the skin down his thigh, letting her fingers find what she was looking for and she curled them around his erection. She stroked him in long hard movements and his hips pushed against her hand. His hand covered hers. “Hey, stop or this is going to be over way quicker than I want it to be.” Control he thought he always had except with her was dissipating. When she pressed a kiss against his neck and her teeth nipped at the skin he almost lost it.
“Bella,” he growled out.
“Now, Ethan, I need you now.”
“Tell me what you want,” he said as he bent down drawing her hardened nipple into his mouth. She sucked in a deep breath as tingles shot straight to her core.
“I want to be inside you now.” Her short fingernails scratched over his shoulder and up the back of his neck as he suckled at her breasts, it was so erotic to watch that she already felt as though she couldn’t last another second.
“Ethan…” Her voice had risen an octave or two as his lips pressed against her tummy and for a moment he stopped as he lay his head on her skin. She could feel his bristled jaw rub against her sensitive skin, and tears pushed behind her eyelids.
“Precious, just so fucking precious.”
His cursing didn’t shock her; it was the same way she felt every time she laid her hands on him.
He looked up at her before slipping his fingers beneath the elastic of her panties pulling them down her legs and letting the balled up material fall to the floor. His eyes gradually moved up her body and she couldn’t mistake the look of desire that glazed his eyes.
Slowly he moved her legs apart, she held her breath, it made her feel a little self-conscious and for a moment she resisted him.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he said as he smoothed his hands up and down her calves.
She smiled, it was silly they’d made a baby together but it had been a while and she knew her body was changing. She wasn’t sure that he would understand that.
“I don’t care how you look, fat or slim, to me you’re beautiful.”
And if that didn’t just make her heart constrict it certainly made her stomach jump in anticipation. Belle moved her legs apart. His lips traced her inner thigh, pressing onto her skin in featherlike kisses.
Her shoulders pushed back into the pillows as his warm breath caressed her. She wanted his mouth and his hands against her like the last time, this man made her wanton, made her need him like no other ever had. It was blissful being with him, she’d only ever dreamed that it would be this way and now it seemed to be reality.
She was helpless to stop the groan of pleasure vibrate over her skin as he let his lips indulge, learning what she liked and didn’t. She was powerless to disagree with anything he did, and his groan turned into a growl of desire as his fingers spread over her mound. His hard palm moved against her it was so erotic, so unbelievably sensuous. Then his long fingers spread her wetness and she couldn’t hold back the incoherent sound that came from her lips.
Belle bucked her hips up a reaction she was immediately aware of as he rubbed those sensitive nerves that made her see flashing lights. His hand was incredibly skilled as he let his fingers smooth incessantly. He watched her. She watched him right back.
“Easy,” he whispered. “You’re so wet. Damn it’s so hot to watch you.”
Belle felt like she was falling and she couldn’t stop so she hung onto the bedclothes with both hands gripping the material tightly. When she felt his tongue on her swollen clitoris the sensation almost hurt.
“Sweetheart, does that feel good,” he asked the vibration of his voice licked at her skin and she was fighting a battle she knew she wouldn’t win, one she didn’t want to. Her muscles ached as they tightened like a coiled spring.
“Ethan…I’m coming…I...can’t...stop...it.”
“I don’t want you to stop,” he said looking up just as she closed her eyes.
Over and over he worked her with his tongue. Her ragged moans got louder and louder as she neared her climax. Her hips pushed up hard, she screamed out her release and her hands gripping the bedclothes so tightly. Belle couldn’t stop it, the pulsing and thrumming in her ears was so loud she thought it would deafen her.
Ethan had moved up and over her, kissing her lips as she pa
nted out her breath.
“That was so sexy, you have no idea how beautiful you were then.”
“Am I too heavy for you, I don’t want to hurt the baby?”
She opened her eyes and only saw a tenderness that made her swallow. “You are fine, I love how you feel.” Her hands wandered up and down his damp back, the muscles twitching at every touch of her fingertips. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Coming to look for me.”
“Sweetheart I was always going to come and find you, I’m never letting you go, the baby was just the icing on the cake.”
He kissed her, gently to begin with but then she pushed her hips into him wrapping her legs around him. They fit together, her thighs cradling his as she lifted against him. He pressed partially into her and she caught her breath as she looked up into his face. His hair had fallen over his forehead as he leaned down placing his open mouth on her neck and she arched allowing his access.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“It’s been a while, but you won’t.” She urged him by lifting her hips.
He groaned, thrusting into her as she squeezed him with her internal muscles as he withdrew and thrust in again.
“Jesus, Belle, that feels so good.”
She nodded as she tightened around him. “Fantastic.”
“Belle, look at me.”
She opened her eyes.
“I love you. God I love you so much, I never believed in love at first sight.” He bent down taking her lips in a passionate kiss. “Not until I saw you.” His breath was ragged and the passion in his eyes made her heart constrict.
Belle could never have imagined her life like this. How was it all going to end? Berating herself was pointless, but the feelings that were inside her made her light headed at the thought of being in love with this man.
Belle could feel every beat of his heart against her chest matching how out of control hers was. The intensity of those eyes, so blue and beautiful, but more than that they were bursting with emotion.
His large hands settled on the soft flesh of her butt as she wrapped her legs around his hips tightly wanting to get as close as she could. His loud groan echoed around the room.
A baby for Christmas (Season of Romance Book 1) Page 6