All afternoon, Mia walked aimlessly around the penthouse. She threw away the tests and hid the boxes in the other bathroom so Max wouldn’t find them when he came home on Monday. Surprisingly, she felt better, at least physically. Mentally, she was a wreck, shooting from happiness to worry to outright fear. She had been told several times the scar tissue was pretty bad, but none of the doctors had talked about what would happen if she did get pregnant. They all assumed she would never try. Though, to be fair, she hadn’t tried. It just… happened.

Late in the afternoon, she gave up trying to focus on anything and camped out on the couch, watching a marathon of Murder She Wrote for the hell of it, nibbling on saltines and drinking water even though it made her have to pee every ten minutes. She was about to doze off when a key turned in the door and she sat up, expecting to see Jeremy checking on her, but his was not the body that stepped through the doorway.

“Max!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing home?”

“So this is what you’re hiding from me,” he muttered as he dropped his suitcase and kicked the door closed behind him.

Mia gulped as he stalked closer. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Shit! Did Jeremy tell him? Please, God, don’t let him know yet!

“You have a fetish for old TV shows, is that it?”

She glanced back at the TV then to him and shrugged one shoulder. “You caught me.”

He held her gaze, making his way around the couch until he stood before her. Without a word, he drew her to his body and kissed her fiercely until she melted against him. His tongue delved into her mouth, and Mia forgot everything she was worried about. If she were pregnant, he would love her more for it, and if it was a false positive, then he would still love her. Love her? There it was. No more hiding from her emotions or what she sensed from his every touch and kiss.

“Why are you home?” she asked when she came up for air.

“I was worried, and you and Jeremy were not making me feel better.” He held her face and studied her eyes and body. “You look better. Were you sick today?”

“Nope,” she said too quickly. “Really, I think it’s sinuses or something—all snot.”

His lip twitched, but he didn’t let her go. Instead, he scooped her up into his arms and walked to the bedroom. “A bath would do you good.”

“A bath, huh? Whatever you say, Dr. Ward,” she teased.

When they reached the bathroom, he set her on her feet and turned the water on hot, poured some bubbles into it, and turned his hungry gaze to her. Mia shivered, his one look telling her exactly what he wanted to do to her before he even touched her. She glanced down at her baggy t-shirt, sweats, and fluffy socks, and regretted dressing for comfort today.

“You think I care about what you’re wearing?” he said as he tilted her face back towards his.

“You might not, but I do,” she said, tugging at the hem of her t-shirt.

“Don’t be. You’ve been sick and you’re comfy. I don’t care what you wear, Mia. You’re with me and we’re together. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”

He kissed her neck languidly and she tugged his dress shirt out of his slacks, craving the touch of his warm, hard body. His lips left her neck long enough to relieve her of her t-shirt, growling deep in his throat to see she wore nothing under it. He rubbed his cheek against her breasts while his hands tugged at the strings holding her sweats up, Mia’s breath coming in little bursts as he undressed her so carefully. Her pants slipped down and he helped her step out of them, socks and all, and guided her to the tub. She stepped in and sank below the bubbles, her eyes stuck on him as he unbuttoned his shirt.

“LA was so lonely without you,” he informed her as he shrugged his shirt over his massive shoulders and kicked out of his shoes.

“Same here. I think I started talking to the walls.”

“You do that already,” he said with an arched brow.

“Reciting lines of poetry to find the right words is not talking to the walls,” she corrected, speaking slowly. It was hard to focus when his hands undid his pants and he shoved them down his body, revealing every delicious bit of him she wanted to kiss and nibble. She licked her lips at his bobbing erection, wanting to taste him.

He climbed into the tub with her and dragged her back against his chest. “Next time I go out of town, you’re coming with me, sick or not. I can’t stand being away from you.”

Mia rested against his body, comfortable in the cradle of his hips as he shut off the water. “I’m not used to missing someone this much either,” she said, sighing when his hands slipped down her wet body to twirl in her curls. “You’re making me dizzy already.”

“Good, I want you dizzy,” he whispered against her ear. “I want you wet for me, begging for me as much as my body begs for yours.”

“My body always wants yours.” She lifted her hips and his hand glided easily against her cleft.

His erection swelled against her back, and she wanted him buried inside her. Three days was too long without his touch, but he didn’t let her turn around yet. He spread her lips, caressing them before his fingers thrust inside her. Mia groaned, digging her nails hard into his thighs as he worked to stretch her and find that one spot to make her scream his name. His thumb pressed against her clit as his free hand held her breast.

“I can’t live without this.” He licked her earlobe and sucked hard, teasing her nipple while his fingers ravaged her. Her hips bucked and she lost herself in the sensations pouring over her.

Every nerve was alight with passion. The water lapping over her skin was like a separate touch of his body, as if he was able to touch every inch of her while he brought her to the edge of climax then pulled back before starting over again. He teased her, and all she could do was hold on while he explored her body with such intricate care and detail, there wasn’t a single spot he left untouched. Mia shifted back against him and rubbed his cock, but there wasn’t a way to get a hold on him.

“Not yet,” he growled. “I want to hear you scream first.”

“Max,” she begged as he stroked her hard and fast beneath the water. “Oh, God! Max!”

“Come for me, Mia. Cry out your release for me.”

Her mouth fell open on a moan that built the harder he stroked. Her body twitched with the pleasure shooting through her limbs, his hand not ceasing as it tore every last bit of pleasure from deep within her depths. She shuddered one final time and collapsed against him.

“Not… fair,” she muttered and spun around slowly in the large tub.

“I don’t play fair, remember?”

“Neither do I.” She straddled his lap, and before he could attempt to pull away and torture her more, she gripped his length hard and worked her palms down his swollen erection, rubbing her thumb over the tip. “Now, I want you to come for me.”

His hands found her hips and he lifted her enough to thrust into her. Mia wrapped her arms around his neck as he captured her lips, kissing her hard and deep to match his thrusts. The idea of making love while she was pregnant with their child, set her on fire, and Mia had to be as close to him as possible, telling him without the words that refused to come how much she needed him in her life. He completed her; he was the missing piece she had sought her whole life. The water splashed out of the tub and onto the floor. Her laughter joined his as he made love to her the way a husband did to his wife.

“Max,” she tried to say, groaning with each drag out of her body, but she couldn’t find the rest of the words. He filled her to the brim with love and fire, stretching her beyond what she ever imagined, and she held on for the ride.

When the orgasm tore through their bodies, he plunged into her one final time, spilling his seed as his hips bucked wildly and she took him all in, quivering from the sharp bursts of pleasure shooting from her sheath to her chest. They would be fine. In that moment, she knew it. No matter what came next, no matter how he took the news of her being pregnant, they would be fine.

* * *

The second Max stepped through the door earlier, his gut told him something was wrong with Mia. He meant to corner her and make her tell him, but seeing her in her sweats and t-shirt, so comfortable in their home, shot all other plans out the window except to have her. Now, as they finished their steamy bath, he tucked her hair, curling gently from the water, behind her ears and kissed her as he pulled out.

“Damn,” he groaned, the aftershock of pleasure catching him off guard.

“Satisfied that there’s nothing wrong now?” she asked breathlessly, settling against the other end of the tub.

“For the moment,” he grunted. “You would tell me if something was wrong, right?”

She smiled and reached for his hand in the water, holding it to her cheek as she leaned into his palm. “I will always tell you everything. Sometimes, it just might take a little longer, that’s all.”

Did he tell her now as she held his gaze so steadily, no fear in sight, no flinching away from him? His jaw worked over the words, trying them out in his mind, but they remained stuck fast. “Since I did come home early, I have to swing by the office and check in with Jeremy and the two guys I left at the conference.”

“I told you not to come home,” she said, but the light in her eye said she was glad he did.

“Up for eating tonight?”

“I think I can handle it. Whatever you’re in the mood for is fine with me.” She closed her eyes and sank deeper into the water. Her hands slipped to her stomach and Max frowned, worried she was feeling sick again and maybe their exertions were too much, but she appeared peaceful.

He pushed through the water for one final kiss, lingering as long as he could before his cell went off and he hung his head against her shoulder. “I’ll be back soon.”

“I’ll be here,” she said and squeezed his hand.

Max dried quickly and dressed in fresh clothes. As he checked his casual dress one final time in the mirror, the hair on the back of his neck stood up and an icy hand dragged down his back. He spun around, but Mia was still soaking in the tub and he was alone. A voice whispered at him not to leave, but that was ridiculous. Mia appeared in good health and he would be back in a few hours. Everything was perfectly fine. He ignored the strange sensation, finished dressing, and squatted by the tub.

“I just have to stop by the office real quick, grab some food, and then I’ll be home. Murder She Wrote marathon?”

“If you’re up for it,” she agreed with a smirk. “I’m pretty sure I’ve memorized every ending.”

“No spoilers.” He kissed her forehead then the top of her head and her lips for good measure. “Right, I’m going then.”

“Hurry back.”

“For you, love, I always will.”