“Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetheart,” I said softly as I smoothed back some of the silvery blonde hair that had escaped Tanya’s braid. She didn’t respond, but I didn’t expect her to, not after that insane orgasm she just survived.

Hell, she’d almost squeezed my dick off, her ass muscles had clenched so tight. Even after more than a year of having sex with her, things still felt fresh and exciting. The most vanilla sex was appealing. Even bad sex was an opportunity for a joke rather than embarrassment.

I loved knowing that I was the only person who knew what she looked like when she climaxed. I loved the way she fit right up against my side, like we’d been made two parts of a whole. The way her skin heated under my palms. The curve of her hips and the weight of her breasts. I even loved her flaws and imperfections because they were part of what made her the woman I loved. The woman I was going to marry on June seventeenth.

I thought about that as I pulled the covers up over us. We’d need to get up soon, but we still had a little time. Sometimes, I could barely believe this was my life. That I’d found someone I wanted to lay in bed with. Someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

It’d been less than two months since Tanya had agreed to be my wife, and we’d decided we didn’t want a long engagement. Neither one of us was overly close with our families, so it was only going to be us and our friends in a small ceremony. Absolutely perfect, in my opinion.

In fact, most of our life was perfect.

Our careers were on the rise. I was working on an outline for a new book, and both of the previous books I’d written under the pen name Erika Summers were still selling well. The movie of my first book, Heat of the Sun, was opening nationwide today. Tanya and I had been at the red-carpet premiere just last week, and it was projected to be the biggest date movie this Valentine’s Day weekend. I’d closed a deal two weeks ago for The Muse to be made into a film, and Tanya was working with a couple new authors who had a lot of promise.

We had money and great friends with wonderful charities we supported. My sisters and I were on good terms, and we’d visited them more than once since we’d been together. Their families were expanding too. Chelsea’s oldest had just gotten married last June, and Katie had become a grandmother for the first time around Christmas.

That, however, was where things veered off from being perfect.

My arms tightened around Tanya even though she wouldn’t know the direction my mind had gone. We didn’t talk about it. We talked about everything else. We always had. We could discuss politics, and sex, and anything that most people would call controversial, and even if we disagreed, it would still be a civil discussion. We’d talked about all sorts of BDSM stuff when we’d barely known each other.

But we didn’t talk about this.

About six months ago, she’d gone to see her doctor for a routine exam, and had asked about going off birth control when we decided to start a family. She’d always had some issues, and she’d wanted medical advice. Her doctor had done some bloodwork, and while it hadn’t been as bad as it could have been, it hadn’t been great news either.

Tanya might never be able to get pregnant. It wasn’t absolute, but when she went off the pill, the issues she’d had before could come back, and that would mean the chances of her getting pregnant would drop significantly.

We hadn’t officially started trying yet, and she hadn’t gotten a second opinion. I knew there would be options for us, but we hadn’t talked about them. After she told me about the initial results, we’d put it all away. Never spoke about it again.

But I could feel it. Under my skin. And I knew it was under hers too.

We would need to talk about it eventually.

She stirred next to me, and I pushed those thoughts aside again. We would talk about it, but not today. We had other things to do today.

“Wow,” she said as she rolled into me. Her hand slid across my bare stomach, and my cock gave an interested twitch.

I chuckled and kissed her forehead. “That sounds like an accurate description.”

“That was a hell of a way to wake up.” She pressed her lips against my side. “Can I return the favor?”

“Fuck.” I sighed. “I’d love nothing more than to have those gorgeous lips wrapped around my cock, but we can’t be late today. Jace will kill me.”

Tanya raised her head, then groaned. “You’re right. It’s getting late, and I’m supposed to meet Savannah at the salon soon.”

“Traffic’s going to be a bitch today,” I said. “Which means you better get in the shower now so you’re not late.”

She propped herself up on her elbow, the sheet slipping down to reveal her full, gorgeous breasts. My gaze dropped automatically but lingered intentionally.

“Hey, eyes up here.”

I grinned as I looked up at her. “You can’t have those out and expect me to not stare.”

She rolled her eyes and disentangled herself from the covers. “Okay, this is going to digress quickly if I don’t get up right now.”

I laughed and stretched back out, letting myself enjoy the sight of Tanya walking across our bedroom in her sleek silk nightie. A few seconds after the door closed, I heard the water turn on, and it took quite a bit of self-control not to go join her.

The first few notes of my cousin’s ringtone managed to pull part of my attention from the thought of my beautiful fiancée all alone in our massive shower.

“Alix, good morning.” I knew I sounded far too chipper, but I wasn’t about to pretend that morning sex wasn’t a hell of a lot better than coffee.

“Damn, Erik,” Alix laughed. “You couldn’t sound more smug about morning sex if you tried.”

“It’s not my fault your last few attempts at getting laid ended with Elise jumping onto your bed and landing on your nuts.”

“That’s not funny.”

I sat up and swung my legs over the side.

“Seriously, that’s messed up. You just wait until you and Tanya have a kid. You’ll love the rugrat to death, but they’ll be hell on your sex life.”

All of my humor faded as the thoughts of what might never be a reality came clambering back.

“Anyway,” Alix continued, “I was wondering if you could do me a favor. I’m supposed to sign for the limos, but we’re running a bit late. Elise…” There was a pause, and then his tone changed. “Elise, put that down! Don’t put that – Elise! Fuck!”

And then I heard a thump. Then nothing.

What the fuck?