They needed no protection, not when she was already pregnant with their child. And when he moved inside her, skin on skin, with nothing between them?
There was nothing like it in the world. Nothing so good. Nothing so sweet. Nothing so perfect.
Only this.
Only Cal.
Lyssa felt as if she were in another dimension. Cal’s movements were slow, almost agonizing, yet so perfect. She wanted it faster, wanted him to pound into her, and yet his measured thrusts seemed to touch everything inside her like nothing ever had before. The sensations turned her mindless, stole her breath, quickened her heartbeat.
When he held her face in his hands, she opened her eyes, and he nipped at her lip, shooting a jolt of hot pleasure through her.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered. If he stopped, she’d die.
“I’ll never stop.”
There was meaning in the word never that she wasn’t ready for, not yet. All she could focus on was the beauty of his features as he brought her such pleasure. His pupils were wide, his eyes almost taken over by the black. She felt herself falling into their depths, felt his heat surrounding her, his strength taking her over.
An ocean of sensation built, bigger, harder, higher, until she detonated from the inside out. Her body clenched around him, her cries wrenched from her, and then—finally—he took her hard and fast. She loved his weight and the power of his body as he slammed into her.
She gripped his face between her hands and demanded, “Come with me.”
His arms shuddered, his body quaked, and he throbbed inside her, his eyes on hers until the very last moment when he closed his lids, threw back his head, groaned from deep, deep down, and shook with the force of his pleasure, taking her over the edge with him.
Later, she didn’t quite remember how it had happened, but he’d pulled the comforter over them, their bodies flush together as their skin cooled and their breathing slowed.
A part of her wanted to tell him how good it had been. But another part—the bigger part—couldn’t.
It had been too good, too perfect. The power of what they created when they touched, when they kissed, when he filled her was too overwhelming. Was it the out-of-this-world connection between them that could make her fall for him all over again? And make him fall for her?
Or was it simply the synergy of their bodies? Was it the baby inside her, connecting them? Or something even bigger and far more intense?
Something that her heart was still afraid to acknowledge in the wake of the two times he’d deserted her.
She stretched against him. “Now I’m hungry for food.”
He chuckled softly, the sound vibrating lusciously through her. “I could make you change your mind,” he said in a low voice that made her want to start at the beginning and do it all again. “But you’re going to need food to keep up your strength, so we should definitely eat.”
Cal slid off the bed and padded to the small refrigerator. She enjoyed the view of his flexing hips, the play of muscle across his back as he squatted by the fridge. She wanted to drink him in, and watching him, she could get drunk on the sight of him alone.
He stood again, giving her the full magnificent picture, beautiful and amazing as he glided back across the floor, a real-life sculpture.
Stuffing a pillow behind herself, she leaned against the headboard, eyeing the sparkling glass he offered her. “But I can’t drink champagne.” She patted her stomach. “The baby.”
He smiled. “I brought sparkling apple cider for us instead.”
Then he went back to the tiny kitchen and brought out a plate of cheese and crackers, which he set between them. The man thought of everything. She remembered that he’d brought in a small cooler, but hadn’t paid attention when he was unloading it.
It was so sweet, so incredibly thoughtful that her heart swelled in her chest.
Setting his glass of sparkling cider on the side table, he climbed in beside her and pulled up the covers. She savored the cheese on a cracker, took a grape as a chaser, and sipped the apple cider. “This is perfect.”
He smiled. “And you will note these are all pregnancy-approved cheeses.”
Clearly, he’d been researching and discovered that Bries and blues were off the list for the next nine months. She wouldn’t be surprised to hear that he’d already read every pregnancy book there was. He’d done this for the baby. And for her. What other man would ever have thought to look? It wasn’t just part of making her fall in love with him. It was his innate caring.
“This is a smoked Gouda.” He pointed. “And the Jarlsberg will be delicious with a little apricot jam.”
“Mmmm,” she said around a mouthful of deliciousness. “Who would have guessed you’re a cheese connoisseur, on top of your other talents?” And he had so many talents, not just the way he touched her or the pleasure he gave her, but the way he made sure to notice and compliment her abilities, building her up.