Page 17 of Guarded

“Yes,” she blurted, and released his hand to grab his hip, try to drag him closer. She wanted him inside her.

“You want my cock, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

A low chuckle rumbled through him. “I’ll give it to you when I’m good and ready.”

Oh Jesus, he was trying to kill her.

She opened her mouth to demand he get on with it already but the words dissolved into a garbled moan as he reached around to the front and found just the right spot on her clit, rubbing until the first stirrings of release tingled at the base of her spine.

Desperate to come, ready to beg, she cried out when he shifted forward and finally pushed inside her. The slow, intimate stretch felt incredible combined with the way he stroked her clit. “Don’t ever stop,” she commanded him, unsure whether she was threatening or pleading at this point.

“That’s my greedy baby,” he whispered, his hips moving slow and steady, fingers gliding over her sweetest spot. “Mmm, love the way you clench around me.”

The praise, the perfect caresses, the feel of him inside and behind her, triggered her release. She moaned and writhed in his grip, mindless as the pleasure punched through her, prolonged by his lazy strokes. She was gasping for breath when he finally locked his hand around her hip and drove deeper, harder.

He pressed his face into her neck, his harsh breathing hot against her skin. His muffled groan of release sent another shiver through her.

After a few minutes he eased out of her and kissed her shoulder gently. “Stay here,” he whispered.

Since she was too tired to move at the moment, she didn’t argue. He got out of bed and came back with a damp washcloth for her to clean up with. “Hungry now?” he asked.

She answered with a negative grunt, too content to move. Matt curled around her back and pulled the covers over them both, a solid, hard presence to bolster her. It was dark and quiet, her body warm and relaxed. Within moments she was asleep.

Waking a while later, she sighed and pulled free of Matt’s embrace. Nature was calling. She did that a lot now. Sometimes a few times a night.

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Briar stood. Warmth gushed between her legs.

She gasped, horrified.Dammit…

“What?” Matt asked.

“I think my damn bladder just gave out,” she grumbled, and hit the lights to make sure she didn’t step in it on the way to the bathroom. God, this was so embarrassing—

A puddle of brilliant red gleamed on the floor.

She paled, a spike of terror shooting through her. “Matt,” she said, her voice tight.

He shifted behind her. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m bleeding.”Oh, shit. Oh, shit, shit, shit.There was a lot of it.

“What?” he said sharply, then inhaled when he looked over the side of the bed.

Briar gingerly waddled for the bathroom, heart thudding. “Call my obstetrician. Tell her I’m on the way to the hospital.”

Matt was already out of bed and met her before she reached the foot of it. Before she could even open her mouth he had scooped her up in his arms. “Does it hurt?” he asked as he strode for the door.

“No. I didn’t feel anything.” She put a hand to her belly and stayed still as he carried her. “Wait, I need clothes.”

He cursed and quickly reversed directions, heading for the closet.

She grabbed a new pair of panties and a stretchy dress, fighting the fear beating at her. The baby. Was she losing the baby?

Matt shifted her. “Are you still bleeding?”

“I think so.” She was afraid to look, but she could feel the wetness. When she did look, there was more between her legs and a thin trail of it on the hardwood floor marking their progress around the room. She swallowed. “I need a pad.”

---