Nobody's Baby (18 page)

“You wouldn’t have to give up your dream. I promise. It’s not like I’m asking you to take on A.J.”

“I disagree. You and A.J. are a package deal now, the same as if he was your son. Any woman you invite into your life should measure up as a mother figure, and if you’re not thinking that way, you should. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t go after my vision of my dream.”

“And if your dream doesn’t prove to be what you expect or need it to be?” His gaze searched her face, his brows knotted with concern.

Well, now. She’d never considered that possibility. The look on Rio’s face made her think she should’ve. “I don’t know. I guess I’ll deal with that if or when I need to.”

He looked down at their hands, his thumb sliding back and forth from her knuckles to her wrist. After a long pause, he halted the movement and raised his gaze to her face. “Promise me something. If you get to that point and you’re trying to figure out what to do, remember this. Remember us.”

Looking at the sadness etched on his face, Kate had to stifle the impulse to throw her arms around him and kiss it away. And because she craved him more now than ever, she slipped off the barstool and withdrew her hand from his. All she could manage before fleeing the room was, “I promise.”

Putting distance between them didn’t keep her mind from returning to their conversation, replaying the touches, their kiss, the quiet words that dropped like tears in her heart.

*
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*
*
*

R
io was surprised to hear a tentative knock at his bedroom door later that evening. He reached for the sweater he’d just taken off, changed his mind and opened the door to find Kate on the other side. Being in such close proximity to her brought a fist of carnal hunger slamming into his lower body again. Damn it. He didn’t need this. Wanting her. Every. Single. Time. And her staying just out of reach.

Except now. Now she was within his reach.

She boldly perused his bare arms, chest and shoulders before raising her gaze to his face. Her eyes transmitted raw desire.

He’d never gotten so hard so fast. Never felt an all-consuming passion for a woman like he did with Kate. Acting on instinct, Rio moved toward her.

Her hand shot out, the flat of her palm against his chest halting forward progress. Her dark eyes held uncertainty now, a look that was both apologetic and pleading. “I don’t have anything with me.”

As his brows rose in silent question, she flushed. “Protection.”

“I have condoms,” he admitted, then rushed to add, “in case my luck changed.”

He took her hand off his chest and pressed a kiss against the back of her fingers, almost afraid to breathe for fear she’d change her mind. “And it appears that it has.”

Though he didn’t voice it, the question hung between them.

“Just to be clear, this isn’t ...” She frowned.

His stomach dropped.

“I mean, this doesn’t change anything. I’m still leaving, but we have tonight.”

He released his breath and nodded. So he had one shot to convince her to stay, to show her what they could have. Or all night, if he were supremely fortunate. He tugged on her hand. She stepped across the threshold, wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him.

Her approach was honest and straightforward and so Kate it made Rio’s chest ache. He couldn’t think about how little time they had together or this night would take on an air of desperation. That scenario didn’t sit well. Maybe he was crazy, but he needed her to feel so completely loved that it became impossible for her to even think of leaving. Tall order, but he was willing to give it his all.

She withdrew, her gaze searching his face for a moment.

When he threaded his fingers into her hair and stroked her cheek with his thumb, her eyelids drifted closed. She turned her face into his hand and trembled as she caught the tip of his thumb in her mouth and gave it a gentle suck. He nearly lost it right then and there. “Damn, Kate.”

“Shh. Let’s not talk or think about whether it’s wise or how this will effect tomorrow. Please. Can’t we just enjoy this and
feel
it and be together?”

At least she acknowledged this could change things. “I don’t have to dissect anything, but I think it’s important we communicate our needs and what works for us.”

She nodded, understanding in the gaze that lowered to his lips. “I want to kiss you until one of us can’t stand any more. I want you to kiss me” — her gaze lifted to his again. — “wherever you wish.”

“Do it,” he commanded.

So she did. The woman nearly took the top of his head off with an explosion of kisses. Slow drags of her lips that left him holding back a whimper for more, playful nibbles followed by long, blood-drugging kisses that left him weak in the knees. And just when he began to grow impatient for more, Kate rewarded him with hard, frantic clashes of tongue and teeth and heavy breathing. He was drowning in her and loving it.

Except, whoa. Wait. His plan was to be the seducer, and doing it so well she couldn’t think about leaving. He had to slow things down, take his time with her. “Kate.”

“I know. Too many clothes.” The words came in breathy pants as her mouth blazed a trail down his neck.

Oh, hell yeah, there was. He dragged her up against him and heard the breath rush into her lungs when the painful, hard length of him pressed into her soft belly.

She ran cool hands over his ribs, released the fastener on his jeans, tugged at his zipper. The rasp was a sound he heard every day, but this time it was oddly erotic.

Rio stepped back and whisked Kate’s sweater off, revealing a thin camisole of white silk underneath. Her dark nipples appeared as shadows against the fabric. Crazy with desire, Rio lifted her and captured the tip of one in his mouth, sucking on it through the thin barrier.

Kate gasped and cried out.

He pushed the fabric up, exposing first one perfect round breast, then the other, giving each one individual attention. Kate’s wriggling made him raise his head to investigate. He liked what he saw. She’d whisked the soft cami onto the floor, leaving nothing but bare skin.

Perfect.

Except this wasn’t controlled. He had to slow things down. At this rate, he’d take Kate against the damn door and hurt her. This was her first time after giving birth. She deserved gentle and easy. He just wasn’t sure he could slow
her
down, but he had to try. “Kate. This is insane. I could hurt you.”

“You won’t, Rio. Please don’t stop. I’ve wanted you for so long.”

Hearing her admission, he knew he’d give her whatever she desired for however long he had with her. He’d do his damnedest to inject some measure of control when it was necessary, no matter how much it cost him. “I’m not stopping, Kate.”

Her hands roamed his body and his roamed hers. He explored soft curves, lean muscles and even softer skin, each new discovery a fantasy come true. Every touch of her hand and lips enflamed him more. Delicate fingers brushed over his nipple, making his erection jerk.

He reached for the fastener on her jeans, the skinny ones she’d begun wearing just last week that drove him crazy. Her well-toned legs, nipped-in waist and firm, bottom had fueled his fantasies day and night, making for many sleepless hours.

Though he discovered they had some stretch in them, peeling was required to take her jeans off. That action brought him to his knees, his face even with her abdomen as she stepped out of the bunched denim. A scrap of red lace covered a neatly trimmed triangle of hair, connected around her hips by a thin string. It was the first time he’d seen her stomach since A.J.’s birth. Then it had been a large, distended mound. Now it was taut again, with just a hint of roundness. Amazing.

Kate covered the area with both hands. “I’m working on it, but it’ll take some time for the stretch marks to fade.”

“You’re beautiful, Kate. Every inch of you. Even here.” Rio lifted her hands away and kissed the tiny purplish lines that concerned her, thinking of how hard she’d worked to bring his nephew into the world. The reminder was good. It gave him another chance to attempt a more leisurely pace and to remember how close they’d been that day. He had to savor each moment he had left with Kate.

Her fingers speared into his hair. After pressing another kiss just above the red lace, he got to his feet and scooped her into his arms.

A surprised gasp accompanied a firm hold on his shoulders, then she pushed a thumb under his chin, tilting it up. Her dark eyes smoldered, one of the sexiest things he’d ever witnessed in his life. “You keep looking at me like that, I won’t be able to maintain any sort of control.”

“What makes you think I want controlled?” she asked. “Control didn’t bring me to your door.”

“One of us has to —”

“Let go, Rio. Just love me.” She searched his face, waiting, as if there was some question that needed answering.

His ears roared. His pulse jumped. His mouth went dry from the shock of realization. Just love her? Somewhere between “I’m having your baby” and “we have tonight,” he’d lost his heart to Kate. He loved her. How the hell had that happened without him knowing it? Everything made more sense now, his desire to keep her around, his need to convince her to stay.

“Rio?”

The uncertainty in her voice and eyes had him shoving his discovery behind a giant wall of need. He’d deal with that later. Tonight he had the chance to demonstrate his feelings. It would have to be enough, for he’d already accepted her terms. His resolve renewed, Rio widened his stance and summoned a grin. “You sure you can handle all of me, unrestrained?”

A smile played about her lips. “Bring it on, big guy. I’m tougher than I look.”

Yeah, well, he already knew that. Rio took two steps and tossed her across his bed. Her surprised squeak wasn’t the least bit fearful and his grin widened with genuine pleasure. He shucked jeans and briefs, made quick work of protection from his night stand, then followed her down. He kissed his way down those deliciously shaped legs to that dainty triangle of red lace. Her fingers pushed into his hair again as he placed a kiss there. He could feel the heat of her, and the need to touch, to make her his grew stronger than he’d ever experienced.

With infinite care, he pulled the bit of panty to the side and ran one finger through her slick opening. His erection saluted her body’s readiness. Despite his taunt to Kate, he took his time, lapping and nipping and finally pushing one finger inside her, then two. Her sighs became pants, her fingers clutching at his head and shoulders, trying to pull him closer.

He fully understood her need to join their bodies. That intensity lived in him too. But he wouldn’t be rushed. Using his hands and mouth, he brought her closer to the edge. Kate was bucking against him when he placed his thumb over the tiny nub of nerves and pushed.

She cried out, her eyes going wide then squeezing shut, her body convulsing around his fingers. He watched, pride and desire elevating his need to a painful pitch. Before the spasms had completely abated, he pulled the dampened panties off, pushed her knees wide and positioned himself at her opening. “Kate, look at me.”

She obeyed with a pleasure-drugged droop to her eyelids. He couldn’t stand to wait any longer and pressed forward, sliding inside her with an unhurried pace that nearly killed him.

Her mouth formed an O, and she sucked in little gasps of air.

Setting his jaw, he stilled. “You okay? Am I —”

“Oh! Yes. Don’t stop. I’m serious.”

The tremors still shooting through her body were driving him insane. He closed the gap between them and began to move. Kate’s eyes glazed over just before she pulled him down for the hottest kiss he’d ever known. Her hands were everywhere, cocooning him in pleasure, bringing him to the edge of his release with alarming swiftness.

Rio dug deep for some last shred of control, but she broke away from the kiss and framed his face with her hands. Her gaze was locked on him. “Don’t you dare hold back now. Stay with me. I’m so close. Again.”

Thrilled at the surprise in her voice, he did as she asked, throwing staying power out the window in favor of the intensity they craved. Pleasure swept over them, caught them up in a powerful wave so strong, riding it out left them winded and slick with sweat. When he’d regained some basic brain function, Rio rolled to the side to take his weight off her. He caught a glimmer of moisture in Kate’s eyes and tilted her chin up. “Damn. I knew it. I should’ve been more careful with you.”

Kate shook her head, a tear spilling over. She laughed, but it came out more like a sob. “It was perfect. I don’t know why I’m teary. Residual hormones I guess. I know it’s clichéd, but would you just hold me?”

“Glad to,” he murmured, folding her into his embrace. Though it would take super-human effort, he would be happy to do so all night long, if that’s what she asked of him. Thankfully, she didn’t. After some time, Kate squirmed in his arms. Rio rolled her beneath him and initiated soft, slow kisses. Her languid sighs encouraged him, though neither of them seemed inclined to rush now. He demonstrated the finesse he hadn’t exhibited the first time, and she showed him some of her own. When Kate crested, Rio joined her and once again their bodies sang with pleasure.