My words died when we rounded a cropping of trees to find a secluded little fountain flickering under the moonlight. Nixon guided us to one of three hand-carved wooden benches lining the fountain, settling me next to him.
“I just wanted to get you to myself for a minute,” he said.
I shifted my legs toward him. “So, I’m not in trouble?”
He rolled his eyes, stroking his fingers along the back of my hand. I squeezed our intertwined fingers. “You keep asking that,” he said. “Do you want to be in trouble?”
Something about the way he posed that question made heat pool in my core.
“No,” I said, slightly breathless. “But I didn’t mean to…overstep—"
“By telling off someone who clearly needed to be put in her place?”
“By claiming you,” I said, biting my lip. “When you’re not mine to claim.”
“Ah,” he said, tilting his head to look at the clear night sky above us. The silence stretched between us like a taut string.
“Just because you’re the baby’s doesn’t mean you're mine,” I tried to clarify when I couldn’t take the quiet anymore. “I should’ve thought of that before I ran my mouth—”
“Your mouth,” he cut me off, taking my chin gently between his fingers. “Is one of my favorite things about you.” He slowly brought his lips down on mine, the kiss hungry, fast, and enough to make my head spin. He drew back only enough to meet my gaze. “The way you held your own against her,” he said. “That brilliant mind of yours, the way you see things no one else bothers to look for…” he sighed. “You’re incredible, Liberty.” He kissed me again, and I fisted his suit jacket to tug him closer.
“I’m not the incredible one, Nix,” I said between kisses. “You are. The humble way you navigate this lifestyle, the gracious way you handle your fans, the love you have for your team, and the way you can be gentle as hell with me and ferocious on the field…it’s all so amazing. You’re more than I could’ve ever dreamed, Nixon Noble, and I know we aren’t the best at communicating. I know we’re on a fast track to get to know each other because of this…” I smoothed my hand over the swell of my belly. “But you deserve to know just how phenomenal you are. From someone who doesn’t have a stake in your life that is tied to money or touchdowns.” I swallowed hard, my chest uncoiling a bit at the admission I’d held back the last week.
Nixon’s hands slid to my hips, urging me, guiding me until I easily straddled him. Chest to chest, I could barely catch my breath between the searing heat of his kiss.
“I’m not just the baby’s,” he said, his breath ragged. “I’m yours,” he said, his eyes open and raw and utterly serious as he looked up at me. “If you’ll have me.”
I swallowed hard, emotion clogging my throat. “You mean that?” I whispered.
He nodded, and I swore he might’ve been holding his breath for how still he went under me.
“You want to be…exclusive. Official. With me?” I hated the doubt in my voice.
Nixon slid his hands up my back, drawing me against him as he held my gaze. “Only you,” he said. “I know I have my demons,” he said. “I know I come with a hard lifestyle. And I’ll understand if you don’t want to tie yourself to a life like that—”
I crushed my lips on his, silencing his doubts. I tangled my fingers in his hair, deepening the kiss as I rocked against him. “I want you,” I said against his mouth.
“Here?” he teased.
“Yes,” I admitted and rolled my hips over his. “But I also want this. With you. All of it. I’m yours, too, you know.”
His grip on me tightened, sending tremors of heat rippling over my skin. “Say it again,” he demanded, claiming my mouth with his.
“I’m yours,” I breathed, my heart racing as the declaration soared through the very center of me. “Nixon,” I gasped when I felt just how hard he was beneath me. And then he slid his hands up and under the hem of my dress, his calloused hands rough over the smooth skin of my thighs. His kissed turned carnal as his fingers slipped beneath the lace covering my center, and his fingers were instantly soaked with me. He growled, and I whimpered as he teased my clit, winding me up like a tight string ready to snap.
“Nixon,” I said again, breaking our kiss to catch my breath. He rolled his fingers over me, sliding them between my heat, and I rocked against him.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, his tone rough. “So goddamn perfect.” He slid one finger inside me, then two, pumping them in time with my swaying hips as the need for him consumed me.