She drew additional strength from him as he led the way to her door, with her hand enclosed in his. When he opened the front door, his parents stood on the other side beaming.
“Mom. Dad.” Chase called out, before stepping forward to embrace his mother then his father. When the greeting was over, he pulled Willow forward.
“Willow, I’d like for you to meet my parents, Meredith and Lee Ackers. Mom, Dad, this is Willow.”
She only had a moment to breathe before she was wrapped up in the warmest hug from his mother.
“It is such a pleasure to finally meet you,” Meredith stated. “I’ve been looking forward to this moment for months.” She pulled back to look at Willow’s stomach. “You look beautiful! May I?”
Willow nodded and Meredith touched her stomach with both hands. Then she was startled as Meredith burst into tears. She looked at Chase helplessly.
“Come on, Mom. You’re upsetting Willow.”
The older woman looked abashed as she tried to compose herself. “I’m sorry. It’s just that you don’t know how long I’ve looked forward to this moment.”
Willow found herself wrapped up in another warm hug, before she was handed off to Chase’s dad. She smiled at him. “Hi, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ackers.”
“Oh, none of that now. You can call me Lee. It’s nice to meet you as well, but you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t start bawling like my wife over here.”
That statement earned him an elbow in the side from said wife, but Lee responded with a chuckle. Chase ushered everyone into the apartment before shutting the door. Willow automatically went into hostess mode.
“Can I get either of you anything to drink?”
“No you can’t,” Meredith responded. “What you can do for me is have a seat. Get off your feet for a little while. I’m positive my son is more than capable of playing host.”
Chase didn’t make the situation any better by leaning down to place a kiss on Willow’s forehead. “Thanks, Mom. That’s what I’ve been telling her all morning.”
Before she could respond, Chase headed toward the kitchen, leaving her alone with his parents.
“How are you feeling,” Meredith asked.
“Pregnant,” Willow replied, unable to think of another word.
Fortunately Meredith chuckled. “I recall that sensation. Trust me, it gets worse before it gets better, but when you hold your child for the first time, it will all be worth it.”
Chase returned with a tray of drinks before anything else could be said. As soon as he sat them down, there was another knock on the door, indicating that her parents had arrived. She allowed Chase to help her to her feet. Fortunately her nerves were more calm this time around.
She opened the door this time and came face-to-face with her parents. Before she could get a word her, her mother started to cry.
“Oh, look at my baby,” she stated, before drawing Willow to her.
Willow couldn’t even pretend that she wasn’t emotional. A few tears gathered and rolled down her cheek but she didn’t break down completely. Her mother pulled back after a few moments and smiled.
“You look so radiant.”
“Thank you, Mom.” She turned her attention to her father. “Hi, Dad.”
“Hey baby,” he replied as he took his turn to hug her. “Your mom is right. You look wonderful.”
“Thank you, Daddy.” She held her hand out to Chase, who’d stood back quietly. “Now, I have someone I want you to meet. Chase, this is my Mom and Dad, Esther and Otis Barton. Mom, Dad, this is Chase.”
Chase received a warm hug from her mother, followed by a hearty handshake from her father.
“It’s nice to meet the two of you. Willow always speaks fondly of you.”
Her mother smiled. “It’s good to meet the man my daughter always raves about, as well.”
Willow intervened before her mother could say something more embarrassing. “Come on in. Chase’s parents are already here.”
She allowed Chase to make the introductions to his parents while she leaned into his side for support. A short time later, they all sat around the table, with her mother and Meredith making sure everyone had all that they needed. Willow had been made to sit once they’d discovered the feast she’d made. She decided she wasn’t going to complain or protest. Somehow, her mother and Meredith had already joined forces and she didn’t want to go up against them.
After grace was said, her father was the first one to speak. “So, Willow tells us that you’re in the Army.”
“Yes, sir,” Chase replied. “I just returned from a stint in Afghanistan.”
“Well, I’m glad you made it back home safely,” her mother stated.
“So am I,” Chase retorted. “I’m happy to be back here with Willow to help her through the rest of the pregnancy and to continue to build upon our relationship. While we didn’t expect things between us to move so rapidly, I don’t regret a moment.”
Willow smiled over at Chase then she placed a hand against her stomach as their son began to move. When it didn’t stop immediately, she reached for Chase’s hand. He looked at her strangely until he realized what she was doing. As soon as she placed his hand on the spot where their son was most active, the baby moved again.
“Wow,” Chase replied, shifting in chair to get closer to her.
For the past week she’d been playing a game of cat and mouse with getting their son to move at a time when Chase could feel it.
“Is the baby moving?” her mother asked.
“Yes, he’s becoming more active now. I’ve been trying to let Chase experience it the past week, but the timing has never been right.”
As if realizing he were the topic being discussed, the baby moved again and Chase chuckled.
“I’m glad I’m finally getting a chance to experience this.”
“So am I,” Willow whispered.
A moment later the baby settled and Chase removed his hand.
“Thank you,” he whispered before leaning over to brush his lips against hers.
What she really wanted to do was thank him. He had no idea how much of a difference it made to have him by her side supporting her fully. It gave her hope that the two of them could have a wonderful future together. Because deep down, that was exactly what she wanted.
Chapter Fifteen
Willow exhaled heavily as she pushed her plate toward Chase. He’d taken her to an Italian restaurant for their date night. The pasta had been wonderful, but she’d forced herself to stop after only eating half of it. Otherwise she’d be miserable all night long and she didn’t want anything to ruin her good mood.
She already had unpleasant thoughts about how much their schedules were getting ready to change in the back of her mind. A little over twenty-four hours from now, Chase would be returning back to base for duty. While he wouldn’t be shipping out on another mission, he’d be back at work and not able to spend as much time with her as he had the past two weeks.
He’d been in her bed almost every night she’d he’d returned home. Having his strong arms embrace her securely while she slept had made for easy resting. But it’d also done something else. Her sexual desires had been awakened and she had no idea how to broach the subject without sounding like some wild wanton woman.
Her sex life had been pretty tame before Chase had come along and rocked her world that one night that had resulted in the creation of their son. But over the past two weeks her imagination had run wild. On occasion she became wrapped up in daydreams that ranged from subtly sensual to more blatantly erotic.
“Are you finished?” Chase asked, pulling her from her thoughts.
“Yes. If you want it you can have it.”
The corners of his mouth curved upward. “How about we get it to go? That way if you wake up in the middle of the night with one of your cravings, you have something to eat.”
She laughed. “You know me too well.”
As he captured the attention of their waiter
, she used the opportunity to study him. He was such a gorgeous man. She didn’t know how she’d kept her hands to herself for the past two weeks, excluding the occasional passionate kiss or two. Even now she could imagine them in various sexual positions—from the standard missionary, to him taking her from behind, to her sitting on top of him. But the most vivid image that kept playing over and over again in her mind was one where she pleased him orally.
She kept picturing herself on her knees in front of Chase, taking him into her mouth while he twined his fingers through her long hair. His head thrown back in the throes of ecstasy, his muscled body taut and straining, his face reflecting a passion so strong Willow felt it to the very core of her being.
Squirming in her chair, she tried to ease the tension building in her body. She was going to have to do something about this before she exploded.
“Are you ready to go?”
She jumped as the object of her fantasies spoke. While she’d zoned out, he’d managed to box up her leftovers and pay for the meal. Giving a brief nod, she scooted her chair back and waited for him to come around to assist her to her feet. He took her hand into his and led her out of the restaurant.
The ride back to her apartment was quiet because she couldn’t stop thinking about all of the wicked things she wanted to do to him. As soon as they stepped inside, she excused herself and made a beeline for the bedroom. She needed to get control of herself.
Stopping by the dresser, she took out a nightgown and continued on into the bathroom. Once she was safely behind the closed door, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had to relax so she could think rationally. She was so close to the edge she didn’t know what to do.
Willow walked over to the toilet, put the seat down, and then sat. A short time later Chase knocked on the door.
“Are you okay in there?”
“I’m fine,” she called out softly. “I’ll be right out.”
Chase stood right on the other side as she exited the bathroom after completing her nightly routine. A look of concern was on his face as he studied her.
“Is something wrong?”
She hesitated a moment, unsure how far she should go. But what did she have to lose? Making love to Chase again seemed like the next step in the natural progression of their relationship.
“Yes, my hormones. They are all over the place. I can’t stop fantasizing about being intimate with you again.”
It was as if it took a moment for her words to penetrate his brain. But once they did pure unadulterated lust appeared in his eyes. He stepped closer to her.
“And what exactly have you been imagining us doing?”
His question caught her off guard. She wasn’t sure how specific he wanted her to be. “I…um…well—”
“How about I tell you what I’ve been thinking about from the moment you were in my arms again?”
“Uh…okay.”
Her brain seemed to have short-circuited and she couldn’t string a sentence together to save her life.
He took another step closer, before walking around her, until he was at her back. “I want to undress you, discover every inch of your skin again while I taste and stroke you. My goal would be to drive you so close to the edge that your body arches toward my touch. Then and only then would I slid between your spread legs and pleasure you with my tongue while you caress your own breasts—”
She couldn’t hold back her whimper of need. The tingling sensations that his words created within her made her tremble. He came up behind her, rested his hands on her shoulders, and skimmed his lips close to her ear.
“That's exactly what I want to do to you. Do you want that, Willow?”
His soft, seductive voice curled through her belly and sent shivers skittering across her skin. There was no denying the dampness gathering between her thighs at the thought of him pleasuring her so intimately, so erotically. Her sex felt heavy and swollen, her entire body strung tight with an urgent, demanding need she could no longer suppress.
She turned around and searched his handsome, masculine features, taking in the desire that was for her alone.
The fire she saw in his eyes made her weak in the knees and eager to experience anything and everything he was willing to offer tonight—even the illicit act he’d just described.
“Yes,” she murmured.
Curling her hand around his neck, she brought his mouth down to hers for a kiss that was deep and hot and wild.
With a low growl that reverberated in his chest, he pressed her up against the nearest wall and aligned his body to hers. He pressed as close to her as her protruding stomach would allow him to. His hands slipped down her sides, past her bottom and thighs, his touch urgent and wondrously aggressive, spurring her to a greater level of anticipation.
Grasping the hem of her nightgown, he shoved it up to her waist, exposing her lower body to the cool air in the room. She barely had time to catch her breath before he hooked his fingers behind one knee and lifted her leg up to his hip so that he could press his groin to hers. She felt every single hard inch of him.
She whimpered against his lips and shamelessly rubbed the hottest, neediest part of her against his thick shaft. Just as she'd shed all of her inhibitions, she wanted the flimsy barrier of her panties gone, too.
Chase seemed to know exactly what she needed, what she desperately craved. He sank to the carpeted floor in front of her and rasped, “Hold your gown up for me.”
Caught up in the moment, she did as he asked. She gripped the silky fabric in tight fists, her thighs quivering as he dragged her underwear down and off, tossed them over his shoulder, then smoothed his palms upward on her body. A little part of her melted as he pressed a tender kiss to her belly. Even in the heated storm raging between them he was still conscious of their unborn child.
He eased her legs further apart so he could touch her slick flesh with his long, warm fingers and could look his fill of her. Willow's heart slammed in her chest, and she couldn't move, couldn't seem to breathe as she waited for the decadent pleasure he'd promised her.
“God, you're so, so stunning,” he said in an ardent whisper that touched her heart in unexpected ways, despite the sexual intensity of the moment.
She loved his tenderly spoken words, loved the way he made her feel beautiful and sexy when she was with him. He stroked along her cleft in a slow, maddening rhythm, and her hips moved helplessly against the glide of his fingers, his touch teasing instead of fulfilling the way she needed them to. “Chase … please.”
He rubbed his cheek against her thigh, his lips warm and damp on her skin. “Shhh … I'll give you what you need, sweetheart.”
His thumbs skimmed her swollen lips, opening her to him so that he could kiss her, deeply and intimately.
The anticipation swirling within her, his hot breath, the suctioning swirl of his tongue, all combined to make her come in a blinding, gut-wrenching rush of sensation completely beyond anything she'd ever experienced before. A low, sobbing cry escaped her throat, and her trembling legs threatened to give out on her.
He stood up, pinning her against the wall with the strength of his hard, aroused body. His lips claimed hers in a slow, lazy kiss that gave her time to come down from the exquisite high of her climax.
He drew back minutes later, when she could finally think and breath normally again, and gently touched her face. “You're amazing, you know that?”
She smiled drowsily, physically sated for the moment.
“I think you get all the credit for what just happened here, but I'd like to think that I can do amazing things to you, too.” She smoothed her hand down his chest and cupped his erection in her palm.
He groaned like a dying man and grasped her wrist to stop her purposeful strokes. “Give me a moment,” he said huskily. “I’m hanging on by a thread here.”
Closing his eyes, he rested his forehead against hers and took a few deep breaths. A few heartbeats later he looked at her and a wicked smile tugged at the corne
rs of his mouth.
“Okay. I’m ready. Do your worst.”
Chapter Sixteen
As soon as the issued challenge left his mouth, she was all over Chase, in an aggressive, demanding way that initially caught him off guard. With a move he didn’t think she was capable of, she managed to turn him and press him up against the wall, her mouth wild and greedy on his as she nearly ripped open the buttons on his shirt in her haste to get it off him. She flattened her palms on his chest, over his rigid nipples, then dragged her warm fingers all the way down to the waistband of his jeans. She slanted her mouth beneath his, taking the kiss to a deeper, more erotic level as her shaking hands worked to loosen his belt, then fumbled to unbutton his pants.
Her movements were anxious and eager, with a frantic edge that went beyond passion and touched on a desperation that made him wonder at its source. She was attacking him as if she feared he'd change his mind about them. As if this was the last time they'd ever make love.
Neither worries were even a distinct possibility and he sought to ease her reckless, frenzied actions because he intended for this night to last longer than the time it took for a quick release. And that's exactly where things were heading if they didn't take tonight at a more leisurely pace.
He gently captured her face in his hands and pulled her head back a few inches, so he could look into her eyes. There was no mistaking the barely concealed glimmer of emotion in her gaze. “Slow down, Willow, sweetheart. I'm not going anywhere.”
She gave her head a quick shake in what seemed too much like a denial. “I need you inside me.”
“That's exactly where I want to be, too,” he said, and slid his thumbs along her jawline in a tender, calming caress. “We'll get there, I promise.”
Their first sexual encounter had been frenzied and quick, with their clothes barely shoved out of the way. The second and third had gone a little better, but tonight was too important to him and to their relationship to rush. This time he wanted them both naked, wanted to feel her skin against his, wanted to see and watch the way her ripe body responded to the touch of his hands, the stroke of his mouth.
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