Page 83 of Burden to Bear

“Morning,” I mumbled around my toothbrush.

Brock massaged the back of my head with the pads of his fingers and laughed before releasing me and picking up his own toothbrush.

For the next few moments, the two of us stood there, brushing our teeth, and exchanged knowing looks with one another. It was crazy to me how something so ordinary as this could build so much tension between us. My knees were weak just thinking about kissing him again.

When we finished, Brock didn’t hesitate to lean his hips against the counter and wrap his arms around my body. “Am I to assume you get up and brush your teeth like this every morning?”

My lips twitched. “Of course, I brush my teeth every morning.”

Amused, his eyes dancing, Brock returned, “I wasn’t suggesting you don’t. But you seemed to have finished in the bathroom, stepped out into the bedroom, and quickly turned back to come brush your teeth. Were you so distracted by something that you forgot you do that every morning immediately upon waking, or was there another reason you came back in here?”

I couldn’t miss the hopeful tone in Brock’s voice. It was obvious what he wanted my answer to be. In either scenario, no matter which way I responded, he would be the reason I reacted the way I had this morning.

Lifting my arms, I draped them over his shoulders and leaned my weight into him. I might have been mostly all belly with this pregnancy, but it was my belly that prevented me from being able to feel all the solid parts of his body pressed close to mine. Even still, nothing was going to prevent me from acting on how I felt.

Smiling, loving the way he was looking at me, I said, “I might have had other motives.”

Both of Brock’s hands drifted down my sides until they reached my hips and slid around to my ass. Brock squeezed me there. “Mmm. Like what?”

“Seems like you already know the answer to that question,” I teased, tilting my chin up and brushing my lips against his. “No matter which way I answer, you become the reason I did what I did this morning.”

He pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “Maybe. But I didn’t want to be presumptuous. I’ve never been here first thing in the morning.”

I hummed, still smiling, and felt the anticipation building. “So far, I like having you here in the morning.”

“So far?” he questioned me, his tone light and playful. “Should I be worried that I might do something to make that change?”

“I don’t think so. Not if you keep doing everything you’ve been doing.”

“Well, is there anything I can do to ensure your opinion doesn’t change?” he questioned me.

I brushed my lips back and forth against his, feeling a shiver run down my spine. “You could let me have some fun with you. I mean, it’s the day after the holiday, and neither one of us needs to leave to go to work. It might be nice to play for a bit this morning.”

I fully expected Brock to come back with some witty or mischievous verbal response.

He didn’t.

But what he gave me was arguably better. He just didn’t use his words to make it happen.

A growl crawled up his throat and escaped about half of a second before he captured my mouth with his and kissed me properly. It wasn’t just a soft, sweet kiss. It was a kiss that was possessive and claiming, a kiss that made me feel like Brock cared about nothing beyond communicating precisely how much he adored me.

So, I did my best to give the same right back to him, to make sure he knew how deep my feelings ran for him.

As we kissed, our hands roamed. Our legs carried us out of the bathroom, neither one of us willing to break the connection between our mouths to make sure we didn’t stumble on our way back to the bed.

Fortunately, I had more than enough faith in Brock to guide us there safely, and if we happened to lose our footing, I didn’t doubt he’d make sure I wasn’t hurt.

I was far more content to get lost in him and relish having him here with me. I only knew we’d made it to the bed when I felt it hit the backs of my legs. I stopped there, refusing to tear my mouth from his.

We stayed like that for a bit, and no matter how long we kissed, I couldn’t get enough of him.

Brock was the first to break our connection. He tore his mouth from mine, but he didn’t move away. If anything, he became more ravenous. His hands, which had been roaming over my body, came to the hem of my nightie and lifted it over my head.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he said, his voice a deep rumble that sent a flood of desire right between my legs.

Brock was only wearing a pair of boxer briefs, so there wasn’t much for me to strip him out of. And even if I had wanted to do that, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity.

Because Brock might have stopped kissing my mouth, but he hadn’t stopped kissing me completely. He was simply doing it in other places, and he was making it clear where he intended to wind up.

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