Juliet

Mason gave me no time to change my mind. Not that I wanted to. His lips landed on mine and he kissed me with a fierceness that left me breathless and panting for more.

He shifted me on his lap so instead of cradling me against him, I now sat astride him, my knees around his hips. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and tunneled my hands into his hair, holding on as I leaned in to kiss him.

His mouth met mine, his tongue plunging inside to tease and taste me. The feeling of his tongue sliding against mine made my hips buck and I could feel his hardness rise up between us.

Mason's hands slid down my back. He left one arm in place, bracing me and keeping me safe in his arms. The other hand moved to the hem of my camisole and underneath. He skimmed his hand up the bare skin of my back and I moaned into his mouth. The hand bracing my back moved up to cup my shoulder. He used the pressure to push me harder into his lap, and I could feel his erection pressing through his cargo pants and against the thin material of my pajama shorts.

I rocked my hips, searching for and finding the friction I needed. I dragged my sex over his hardness as I continued to feed on his mouth.

His hand under my top slid around, moving up my ribcage and up farther to cup my breast. He gave it a light squeeze and my nipple rose up hard against his palm. He rewarded it by taking it between two fingers and rolling it in the same rhythm as the rocking motion of my hips.

I tore my mouth from his and sensation assailed me from every direction.

"Mason." His name escaped me on a long moan and my head fell back. He leaned forward and trailed his way down the line of my neck with his tongue. When he got to my collarbone, he scraped his teeth against the sensitive skin, once and then again, driving me to push harder against his cock as I slid my covered center over it.

"So beautiful, baby," Mason breathed against my skin. He slid both hands to the hem of top. I sat up straight in his lap and helped him to strip it off of me. He dropped it to the floor and then I was sitting topless in his lap, the points of my breasts almost directly in front of his face.

Mason didn't hesitate. With his hands on my hips, he coaxed me to pick up the speed of my rocking motions. At the same time, he leaned forward and took a nipple into his mouth and sucked deep.

My already responsive breasts had become even more sensitive with my pregnancy. When his teeth scraped over my nipple, I arched against him with a loud cry. He continued to suck and lick the over-sensitized nub until I was all but incoherent, and then he moved to my other breast.

"Mason, Mason, oh, God." His name became a chant as I got lost in my pleasure. His hands slid to the waistband of my shorts and he started sliding them down. It took some maneuvering but I managed to wiggle them down, and then standing over his lap, I urged him to strip them off me completely.

He tugged me back down, but before I landed in his lap, I grabbed the hem of his black T-shirt. I yanked it up and in one quick motion pulled it off him and tossed it on the floor away from the fire and the candles.

Then I was sliding naked into his lap. The sweet friction of the sprinkling of hair on his chest against my skin felt so incredible my teeth started to chatter and I trembled a little as I landed fully on top of him.

Mason took advantage of having me naked in his lap. His hands skimmed over every inch of my skin, leaving my nerve-endings lapping at my skin like licks of flames in his wake.

I took advantage, too. I couldn't stop sliding my hands over the bare skin and hard muscles of his chest and abdomen. When my hands dipped lower, reaching for his waistband, he groaned and clutched me to him.

The brush of my nipples against his chest was almost enough to shoot me straight up off his lap. Each sensation came more intense than the last. I worked my fingers furiously, now desperate to free the long length of his cock.

His hands came up and he assisted me, moving my hands away and making quick work of his belt, snap and zipper. He lifted his ass so he could slide his pants down completely, the movement forcing me down against his cock.

I think we moth groaned at the contact.

In seconds, he was free, his pants pushed down far enough so that I could find out something new about the man I’d been living with the last month.

“You go commando,” I whispered in his ear. “It’s a good thing I didn’t know that before. I might have attacked you long before now.”

“And that would have been terrible,” he teased as his mouth claimed mine again.

“Horrible,” I agreed against his lips.

And now there was nothing between us. When I bucked my hips against his, the tip of his cock teased my entrance.

“I know this is probably a silly question, but do we need a condom? You were the last guy I was with, and I’ve had a full check up since then.” I whispered the question against his ear as I slid my wet center up and down the length of his hard dick.

He groaned. “Baby, you’re killing me.” He gripped my hips. “I’m clean. I got regular exams before I was discharged. And one more recently for the insurance for the business.” He pulled back and stared intently in my eyes. “But if you want a condom, I’ll get one.”

I held his eyes. Despite our position, I took a moment to weigh his words. The failure of our birth control method of choice notwithstanding, I’d never been with anyone without protection. To me it involved a level of trust I just didn’t have in me to give.

But as I stared down into Mason’s dark eyes, the glow of amber beginning to show around the edges, letting me see a hint of the wildness inside him, I made up my mind.

I shifted my hips up and forward until I could feel his tip at my entrance. I wrapped my arms around his neck, closed my eyes, and slowly slid my sex down over the hard length of his cock, taking him inside me at the same time I gave him something I’d never given another man—my trust.

When he was sheathed inside me to the hilt, I opened my eyes and met the fierce gaze of the predator staring back at me. He had his arms wrapped around me, holding me close to my body, and he never let go of my eyes as he used his hold to help ease me up until just his tip remained inside me. Then he slowly pulled me back down onto him until he filled me again.

He repeated the movement and I helped him. I used my arms braced on his shoulders and my knees dug in beside him to lift myself up and then ease back down. We kept the rhythm slow and easy, his eyes never leaving mine. I could feel his stare like a touch as clearly as I felt the glide of him deep inside my body.

After several minutes of slow and easy, the pressure started to build inside me. I picked up the pace, stroking up and down over him, my hips rocking faster.

Mason finally let his eyes drop from mine so he could lean forward and take a nipple between his lips. He sucked in the same tempo as the thrusts.

My head fell back and my eyes drifted close. On the next stroke, he hit me in just the right spot and a long low moan was ripped from somewhere deep inside me.

He pulled his mouth from my breast and his voice came to me on a low, husky growl. “That’s it, beautiful. Take my cock.”

His words pushed me closer to the edge and I lost the rhythm as my hips bucked against him, frantically racing toward something just out of reach.

Mason was done letting me have control. With a groan, he flipped us, him filling me the whole time. He turned me onto my back with my head on one of the pillows, a soft throw beneath me.

Mason’s hand landed beside my head as he came down over me. He used the other hand to hook my leg over his hip. I took the hint, wrapping both legs around him as he began to surge into me over and over again.

“Oh, God, Mason, so good. It feels so good.”

His hand shifted to entwine with mine on the pillow beside my head. He drove deeper, harder, each thrust sending jolt after jolt of mind-blowing sensation through my body.

My back arched off the floor and I lifted my hips to meet him. “I’m going to…”

“Come for me, beautiful,” Mason growled.

And I did. My body exploded and I cried out his name again and again as I rode out my pleasure.

The haze of the orgasm stayed with me as little aftershocks sent tingles over my skin. I continued to rock my body against Mason’s until his thrusts came more erratically. His mouth found mine and our tongues tangled in a wild, hot kiss. He yanked his mouth from mine only to nip and lick his way down to the sensitive skin where my neck and shoulder met. He plunged into me once and then again as his teeth scraped over that spot and then he stiffened as he found his own release, continuing to pump in and out of me.

He collapsed on top of me and I happily took his weight, turning my face into his neck and inhaling, pulling his scent deep into my body. After a few minutes, he rolled us so I sprawled on top of him. I landed with my cheek pressed to his shoulder, my face tipped up to him.

He leaned down and captured my mouth in a sweet, lingering kiss.

“You okay, beautiful?” He whispered the question against my lips.

I couldn’t fight the grin. “Oh, yeah.”

He chuckled and I loved being able to feel the rumble of it through my entire body. His arms hugged me closer to his body, and I realized in that moment that there was nowhere I rather be than lying here in Mason’s arms, our baby cradled between us.

This. This feels like home. Warmth suffused my chest followed by a fast jolt of fear. Having something this incredible meant I could lose something this incredible. How on earth would I survive that kind of loss?

Before I allowed my thoughts to go any farther down that dark path, my stomach let out an ungodly rumble.

Mason laughed and sifted his fingers through my curls. “I guess I didn’t do such a great job of taking care of you, gorgeous girl. I only let you have a few bites of dinner before I attacked you.”

“Did you attack me or did I attack you? The details are a little fuzzy.” I fought to keep my voice light. I was determined to hold onto this warmth and sense of belonging for as long as I possibly could.

Mason shifted beneath me, sitting up and taking me with him. “Hang on.”

He let me go so he could maneuver his pants back up. I blushed a little at the realization that we never took the time to pull them all the way off him.

He leaned forward and nabbed his T-shirt from the spot where it landed on the floor. He bunched it up and then pulled it over my head, helping me to put my arms in and tugging it down over me.

“I hate to cover all that up.” He pressed a small kiss to the spot below my ear. “But I think you and Bruiser need to be fed. And if you’re sitting here naked, I can’t promise I’ll be able to let you get through your meal.”

“And that would be such a shame,” I teased.

He flashed me a bright grin. “You need fuel for what I have in mind for you for the rest of the night.”

“Oh, really?” I arched an eyebrow.

He kissed me again, this time on the lips. “Beautiful, I’ve been fantasizing about you pretty much since you rolled out of my bed in New Orleans. Having you so close but not able to touch you the last month has been driving me slowly insane.” He nipped my earlobe. “If you think now that I’ve finally gotten you where I want you, I’m going to just call it a night after just one go, you’re crazy.”

I giggled and tipped my head to the side as he ran his nose along my cheek. He gave me one more, quick kiss and then he hopped up in one swift, graceful movement.

I watched as he grabbed our plates and the platter of food. He walked into the kitchen with them. I shifted to stand, but he caught me before I got any farther than up on my knees.

“Don’t move. As you know, my culinary skills extend to being able to heat things up in the microwave. You stay right there.”

I laughed and dropped back down, crossing my legs as I watched him move around the kitchen. The fear and the doubts tried to crowd their way back in, but I refused to give them room in my head.

For once in my life, I was going to give into my feelings. I wanted to stay in my happy little bubble where Mason and I were a normal couple preparing for the arrival of the little peanut who would make our family complete.

Our family. Happiness warred with the fear at the thought that I could really be part of a family of my own.

And just this once, I fought alongside happiness and refused to let fear reign. And in that moment, a tiny seed of hope crept in.