Page 13 of Calamity Rayne Knocked Up

Releasing my hair, he caught my hips and guided my rhythm. I gripped his broad shoulders and leaned back, trusting him not to drop me.

“Who’s pussy is this?” The fingers of his free hand teased my clit.

“Yours.”

“That’s right.” He flexed his hips. “Mine.”

He flipped me to my back, once again the aggressor. Pushing my thighs wide, he fucked me hard, ramming his cock deep to emphasize his possessive claim. My body was his.

He cupped my breast, demanding my full attention as his hand dragged higher, closing gently around my throat, and something shifted in the air. My heartbeat rolled into a thunderous roar, pounding wildly from my pulse beneath his thumb, just below my jaw, all the way to my swollen clit.

“Ah,” I gasped as my sex contracted like a fist. Then I was coming.

Hale cursed, and pumpedhis hips harder, forcing his release deep inside of me. It was unexpectedly fast but perfect just like it used to be, before the schedules, before the basal thermometers and fertility tests, before the disappointment of negative pregnancy tests, and before the inevitable sense of failure that haunted me.

My stomach had never felt so achingly hollow until this past year. Logically, I knew none of this was our fault, but it was sometimes impossible not to feel like a failure, even when we were both trying our hardest to succeed.

“Hey.” His hand brushes my cheek. “Where’d you go?”

“I’m here,” I lied. It was obvious my mind had gone somewhere else.

He kissed my forehead. “Whatever you’re thinking about, put it away for now, Rayne. All the worry. All the stress. We can deal with it tomorrow. Let’s just give ourselves this moment.”

My mouth curved into a gentle smile. How did he do that? How did he know exactly what to say to calm me down the way no one else could?

When he pulled out, the ache that came in his absence nearly brought me to tears. Icould go three days without him, but any more and I was always overly emotional when he returned.

“I think I reached my limit,” I confessed, remembering the days when we only had a long-distance relationship and spent weeks apart. I could never go back to that.

I need Hale like a drug—not just for the intimacy but for my sanity. He was my anchor in the storm, my harbor light in a dark sea.

He nestled close and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Talk to me, Rayne. What’s going on?”

Maybe I was being dramatic. Maybe I wasn’t. “I just missed you. Sometimes all these business trips get to be too much.”

“I’m sorry, baby. Believe me, I’d much rather be home with you and Elara. You could come with me next time.”

I’d tried that. Traveling with a toddler was a lot to manage, especially when I had to bring my work and Hale was tied up in meetings most of the trip. Time passed faster when we stayed home, but I still missed him like crazy.

“I’m just being needy.”

“That’s okay. I like feelingneeded.”

My body shivered, and goosebumps rose on my skin. Hale dragged the covers over my chest. I should have been lying upside down, letting gravity do its work, but it felt too nice to simply lie in his arms.

We lost a bit of the aftercare when our objectives changed. “I miss this.”

A satisfied chuckle rumbled from his chest as he pulled me closer, cradling me like a baby. “It’s been a while since you’ve let me hold you like this.” His fingers traced slowly up and down my arm.

Why did I deny us these tender moments when they felt so damn good? “I’m sorry I get so crazy about all this baby stuff, Hale.”

“You’re fine, Rayne. I get it.”

Did he? Did he feel the sense of failure the way I did? Did he know how hard it was to take an inventory of my body and feel nothing but emptiness? Basic indigestion could create false hope, and damn, that hope hurt when it turned out to be nothing more than a flutter of gas. Maybe I wasn’t ready to have a baby if this was how my mind worked.

“Rayne.”

I met his stare. “Yeah.”

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