Page 4 of Between Our Hearts

“Are we going Fruit Loops or Apple Jacks?” He held his smile and breath as he took a step into the room decorated in warm tones.

His wife’s pale green eyes darted up mid-pour, and then she did the most incredible thing: her lips broke into a relaxed, wide grin. “Cocoa Puffs and Kix mixed.”

Clark’s breath left his body as he tried to steady himself against the stumbling of his rapidly beating heart. It didn’t matter if she was in scrubs, a T-shirt and shorts, or the ethereal lavender blouse she was wearing now. Sadie stunned him. Every time.

Every. Single. Time.

He loved her mid-length auburn hair all knotted and wild first thing in the morning. Or when she’d forgotten to take off her scrub cap and a deep line impressed the smooth skin of her forehead. Or when she was covered in dirt in the backyard, Lottie in her lap, the two of them making mud pies on plastic plates after a summer rainstorm.

He loved her so much that most of the time it hurt.

Keeping the casual lift of his lips, Clark crossed the hardwood to her. To be safe, he stopped kitty-corner, and firmly planted his hands on the center island. He wanted to gather her to his chest and kiss her until that subtle flush pinked her skin. He wanted to hear her squeal as he tossed her over his shoulder and carried her to their bedroom.

Internally, he shook himself.

Right now, she was happy. She usually was when she came home from time with Parker. His only goal was to keep her in this mood for as long as he could.

“I’d better make sure that’s not poison.” He swiped her spoon and had the bite of freshly milked cereal in his mouth before she could protest.

“Hey.” A playfully annoyed look scrunched her brow, and he worried his chest would explode. “That’s my snack.”

“Oh, you want it back?” He asked over his huge mouthful.

Her face pinched as she squinted her eyes shut. “You’re gross.”

“I can’t believe the woman who rearranges broken bones all day can’t handle someone talking with their mouth full.”

One hand covered her eyes as the fingers of her other groped around in the air to snatch back her spoon. “Give me back my spoon.”

Her fingers finally found the silver object, but they also gripped his in her blind attempt at retrieval. His pulse hammered in his throat at her accidental touch, and he didn’t miss that her lips parted from beneath her held hand as a near silent sigh left them.

Quickly, he rearranged his fingers so his pinky gripped and held her wrist in place.

Her hand fell from her eyes. “Clark, I’m hungry.”

“So am I.” The second the husky words left his lips, he internally scolded himself. She’d make thatI’m pissed at youface and sulk away now.

Instead, she took a rapid succession of shallow breaths, her eyes growing slightly wider.

Tread lightly.Taking their joined hands, he placed a featherlight kiss over the inside of her wrist.

When her thick eyelashes fluttered closed at the touch, gratification roared through him. He heard the clattering of the metal spoon on the granite island before he realized he’d dropped it in favor of framing her face with his hands. Her lips came willing to his as a soft moan vibrated against his mouth.

Expletives tore through his mind as he backed her against the refrigerator, pressing his full weight against her. The contact of her soft, warm skin against his made every single cell in his body screamfinally. He angled her face, exploring her mouth with deep strokes of his tongue, and rejoiced when her tongue raced to do the same.

Over the last few months, she’d stopped kissing him. If he did initiate a kiss when she got home, she’d only reluctantly peck him back. On the rare day that his wife was home all day, they’d often wake up and go to sleep without their lips touching once. It was in stark opposition to the passionate kisses they’d shared early in their relationship or even for the first year and a half of Lottie’s life.

When Sadie’s hands framed his sides and ran up his ribs until her short fingernails dug into the muscles over his back, the low resonant growl that escaped his throat was reflexive. He let his fingers fall to her hips to reposition her, to align their bodies in that way that always seemed like the closest he’d ever get to perfection. As he did, a taped-up scribbling of Lottie’s fluttered to the ground.

He could feel her hesitation, as if the movement of the paper hitting the floor was bringing her back to reality, but he fought against it like a man walking upstream in a raging river. Relinquishing his grip on one hip, he brought his palm behind her bottom and pulled her even harder into him. Her moan bouncing around in his mouth made him lace his other hand through her hair.

“God, Sadie.” His tongue wove around hers again. “I’ve missed this.”

The switch was instant. Her body sagged against the fridge as her fingers fell from his shoulders.

Shit. No. No. No.

They’d had sex two weeks ago, but it hadn’t been like this. It’d been perfunctory, as she’d been ovulating. After sex, she’d balled into a position to help her conceive, instead of letting him hold her against him, and then taken a shower.

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