A year later…

“Jason!” I screamed my mate’s name at the top of my lungs and stood, with my hands on my hips, waiting for him to show up. Yeah, it’d taken me an embarrassingly long time to realize that Pratt was his last name. I wasn’t going to call my mate by his last name like we were football buddies.

He flew into the kitchen like a wild man, his eyes dark, ready to wage war against whatever had upset me. “What’s wrong?”

I yanked open the fridge door and pointed inside. “Where are all of my berries? I just picked them yesterday. I need them for a cobbler.”

Instantly, he looked sheepish. “I’m sorry, babe. You know how much I like the fresh berries. I didn’t know you needed them.”

I held my hands up at him. “Look at me. I’m fat, stained black and blue, and now I can’t even make a cobbler for the party.”

As I started to cry, he rushed over to me and picked me up. Cradling me in his arms, he kissed my forehead and carried me towards our bedroom. “You’re not fat, you’re pregnant. There’s a difference. The stains match the ones on my hands from eating the berries, so we’ll look cute that way. Besides, your friends don’t need cobbler. Carter’s been baking for a week.”

I let him put me down on our bed and then popped right back up. The movement turned my stomach and I had to shove him out of the way to get to the bathroom before throwing up everything I’d eaten that day.

I looked at him from where I was sitting against the toilet and growled.

“Come here, baby. Let me get you cleaned up.” He flushed the toilet and helped me up before grabbing a towel and wetting it so he could wipe my face. Never mind that I’d done my makeup for the party.

“Can we just cancel? I don’t even want to be seen like this. I’m tired, I’m hot, and I keep getting sick. I just want to curl up in bed.” I’d been stressed and feeling like death for days. I knew why, too.

I had a secret I was keeping from Jason for another few hours. Charlie’s mother, Mama Jean, had a nose for finding out the sex of babies. She’d told me, but, she’d also told me another surprise. I was pregnant with twin girls. I wanted to surprise Jason with it. I knew he was going to be through the roof happy.

“I’ll call Charlie. She’ll get the word out that the party is cancelled.” He pulled me back to bed and sat so he could pull me between his legs and hold me.

“No. We can’t actually cancel.”

“You just said…”

I smiled down at him and ran my fingers through his hair. I just needed to stop for a minute and enjoy him. The party prep could wait. “I love you.”

He smiled wide and bright. His hands trailed down to my ass and his fingers flexed. “Fuck, I love you, Luna. I’m sorry I ate your berries.”

I shrugged. “It’s okay. I didn’t want to make the stupid cobbler anyway. I just wanted to make the party really great. I want people to see how amazing the house is and how hard you worked.”

Jason dropped his hands and then trailed them up my thighs, under my dress. He caught the seam of my panties and tugged them down. “Let me take your mind off of the party.”

I held onto his shoulders and blew out a shaky breath. “Jason…”

He leaned forward and kissed the swell of my breast. “You’re beautiful. Seeing you like this, knowing you’re carrying my kid, it’s sexy as hell, baby. You’re just as stunning as the first night I saw you.”

I gasped as my panties hit the floor and his fingers found my core. “I’m a basketball.”

“Bullshit. You’re fucking sexy. Look what you do to me.” He took my hand and moved it onto his erection. “That is because you’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen. Today, yesterday, every day for the rest of my life. You are everything, Luna. Now, do we have time for something fun? I saw you got some new stuff in the mail to try out.”

My business had taken a new turn now that I had Jason to help. I was now able to review couples’ toys. And, Jason was all for it. I thought of the swing that had come in for our bedroom. “Short and sweet.”

He shoved his pants down and then pulled me onto his lap. My knees rested on the side of the bed and he was there, instantly, pushing into me. “Short and sweet, it is. Hold on, baby.”

Short and sweet turned into long and steamy before I knew it. He tricked me into relaxing by giving me multiple orgasms and fogging my brain with intense pleasure. I was still panting on the bed, my dress ripped and falling off, when I heard a knock at the front door.

I sat straight up and slapped Jason’s chest. “You did that on purpose! Jason! I’m not ready for guests!”

He gave me a cocky grin and reached for me again. “They’ll get the hint and leave if they hear you moaning my name. Just do it loudly.”

I slapped his chest again and rushed out of bed. “Go answer the door. I have to get dressed.”

“Okay, but as soon as they leave, I’m cuffing you to this bed and you’re not leaving until I’ve had my way with you in every way I know how.” He snuck up on me and slapped my ass. “Every way, Luna.”

I shivered and pushed him away. “Put some clothes on and open the door, Jason. Hurry!”

“You’re going to be walking funny tomorrow for being so bossy with me, babe.” He grabbed my ass and pulled me in for a quick and hot kiss. “Or maybe I’ll take you out on a hike and fuck you against a tree a few feet from the trail. I know how much you like having to be quiet to keep people from hearing. Maybe tonight when the party’s in full swing, I’ll pull you into the bathroom and—”

My body was on fire for him, even after all of the orgasms he’d given me. I had to get ready, though. I pushed him away and hurried into our closet. “Get out of here, Jason.”

He laughed. “Fine. Later, though.”

I grinned as I pulled on a backup dress and fresh panties. Finger combing my hair, I checked my vanity mirror to make sure my makeup was semi-okay. It wasn’t. I looked like I’d been fucked hard and left as a pile of mush. I did my best to fix it as fast as I could and then hurried out to make sure everything in the kitchen was as it was supposed to be before greeting the guests.

I was going to kill Jason if the party didn’t look as good as it should’ve. Not that I could complain all that much. I wouldn’t trade time with him for anything. Even a great party.

That man was everything.