ETHAN

When I hear the elevator door slide open, I can’t help but smile. Now that Ava has a pass card for my condo, she can come up here anytime. All she has to do is touch the card to the reader in the elevator and she has access to everything. My condo, my private garage, and a bunch of other things she doesn’t even know about yet.

She could walk through my bottling plant in Malaysia, or a couple of very exclusive nightclubs in Seattle. There are three more houses along the Pacific coastline that the card unlocks, and two more office buildings. That card gets her free parking at half the garages in San Francisco. She doesn’t even know. I can’t wait to tell her.

It’s nice, having somebody with a sort of backdoor key for everything. Even if we never talk about it, I sort of like knowing it’s there. Of course, Perry and Ben have similar kinds of access cards. But it is not the same thing.

Only Ava. She’s the only woman who has ever gotten this close.

“Hi honey, I’m home!” she calls out playfully. I walk over to her, taking her hand and pulling her toward the patio. It’s an unseasonably warm night, and we can even see the stars. It’s perfect.

“Where are we going?” she asks, confused. “Ethan? Are you okay?”

My heart is racing, and my core is trembling. I want everything to be perfect, and I don’t want to ruin it by opening my mouth too soon.

We reach the center of the patio, and she looks around, startled by the candles, the soft music playing through hidden speakers, the soft scent of eucalyptus wafting up from Golden Gate Park. I guide her to the center of the patio and drop to one knee in front of her, taking her hand in mine.

“Ethan? What are you doing?”

Sliding the box from my pocket, I open it in front of her, grinning like some kind of idiot.

She scowls, clenching her jaw.

Not exactly what I was expecting.

“Ava,” I begin, my voice a little too loud, “we’ve known each other for such a long time. Now at this new point in our life, I want to—”

“Why are you doing this?” she whispers urgently.

I stop, awkwardly trying to remember where I was in my prepared speech.

“Now at this new point in our life…”

“Ethan!” she interrupts impatiently. She stuffs her hands under her armpits stubbornly. “Why are you doing this?”

I pause for a beat, temporarily knocked off-balance. “I’m doing the right thing, Ava. Let me do the right thing, will you?”

She backs away from me, whirling to drop hard onto the sofa and glaring at me from where she sits.

“No, I will not let you do the right thing,” she snarls.

I wonder if this is some kind of pregnancy hormone thing, but I’m legitimately terrified to put that thought into words. She’d chop my head off.

“Why not?” I ask simply.

“Because you’re not in love with me,” she practically shouts, spreading her hands out in front of her. “I don’t want you to do the right thing because you think you have to. Besides, we’re already doing the right thing. We’re having babies. We’re taking care of business! But I’m not going to marry you out of some idiotic, old-fashioned sense of obligation…”

I stand awkwardly, stuffing the ring back into my pocket. I feel stupid, exposed.

“But I do—”

“Just stop!” she cuts me off, holding up a hand before I finish what I was going to say. Her eyes narrow, a defiant dare in her expression.

“But I thought—”

“You’re not thinking, is the problem,” she huffs, shaking her head in frustration. “Just take a breath, Ethan. This is not right. You have to know this isn’t right.”

With my hand in my pocket, I move the ring around my fingertips, feeling its cool presence. I’m disappointed, more disappointed than I’ve ever been about anything, but I can’t let it show. I thought she’d be excited. I realize I hadn’t planned for this contingency at all.

She pats the cushion next to her gently. “Come sit by me,” she says quietly.

With a weak smile, I sit next to her, trying to look casual.

“Listen, I’m sorry if I was too harsh,” she sighs.

“Oh, no. Don’t even worry about it,” I say, trying to hide the pain in my voice.

She holds her hands out, palms up, then lets them fall against her knees. “It’s just that… everything is so complicated. Keeping this a secret… not being able to tell my parents about us… it’s too hard. How can I show up with an engagement ring? Even if you did really love me? Like really love me?”

I nod, not knowing what else to say.

“That’s what an engagement is for, Ethan. I don’t want a proposal out of duty.”

Duty. That’s a strong word, in my book. It’s a good reason to do most things. Her rejection stings, lancing through to the center of me. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this awful.

She leans back, tipping her face up to the sky. “It’s really beautiful up there. You can see the stars tonight, did you notice?”

“I did notice.”

Her hand reaches out and finds mine, and she curls her knuckles against my palm like she always does, nestling her fingers inside my hand like a bird inside a nest. After a few seconds I shift on the sofa, leaning back as well. The moon is full, illuminating streaky clouds from behind.

Quietly she crawls along the cushions until she’s half on my lap, her head against my chest, gazing up at the sky with me. She pulls my arms around her and holds my hands over her swelling belly.

“We’ll figure it all out,” I whisper into her hair, kissing the top of her head. I need to figure this out. I need a plan. It can’t just stay like this. She’s right.

She shifts, turning around to face me, sitting astride my hips with a mischievous smirk on her lips.

“I’m totally impressed that you put all this together, though,” she smirks. “Candles and starlight? That’s really pretty awesome.”

My hands automatically find her hips and I slide my thumbs under the hem of her shirt so I can feel the warmth of her skin.

“Anything for you, Ava. Did you see how I got you a full moon and everything?”

She nods, opening her eyes dramatically.

“You got full moon, just for me?” she coos, beginning to giggle.

“I am a billionaire, after all,” I shrug.

“That you are, Boss,” she sighs, leaning forward to kiss me. As she shifts her weight, I feel the outline of her bones and muscles rocking against my cock. I’m instantly hard, wanting her immediately. Even as she gets more pregnant, I find I only want her more, want to impress every part of me on her.

Her lips are gentle, sliding back and forth across mine as her hair curls over my shoulders, tickling my neck. She runs her tongue over my upper lip, teasing me by rolling her hips against me.

“Oh my God, you’re so hard,” she sighs, opening her mouth to bite gently at my lower lip. She moans softly and rocks, pulsing against me.

My thumbs find the sides of her panties and pull, tugging the elastic down over her ample thighs. She frees my cock from my trousers with one hand, stroking my shaft and purring with satisfaction. She balances herself over me, teasing me, making me wait. Her warmth and wetness drift over me, making me crazy.

“Do it, Ava,” I beg her, gripping her hips tightly.

She raises her eyebrows playfully. “Do what?” she asks innocently.

I groan with need. “Fuck me, baby,” I moan. “Get on my cock.”

With a smile, she lowers herself onto me. I could feel every ridge of her hot, deep pussy as it slides millimeter by millimeter over my quivering shaft. Slowly she retreats, then back down she comes, tight and slick. Her hips circle luxuriously, taking every inch of me up to the hilt. She buries me inside her beautiful, fertile body, making me a part of her.

We go more slowly than we ever have before, watching each other, letting the passion build and build. Letting the stars witness what we’ve made together. When we climax, it’s a mixture of passion and pain, with all the emotions flooding out like something has broken free.

I bury my face against her neck, not wanting her to see through me, to see how wounded I feel. She’s so close, yet still so far away.