Page 25 of The Nicolaides Baby

They bounced a couple of times as she stared down at him, her mouth working but nothing coming out right away. “I… I tripped.”

“I see that,” he said, holding her closer and rubbing her chilled bare back as water from her hair dripped onto his face. “Are you okay?”

“Mmm-hmm,” she said, her eyes concerned. “Did I hurt you?”

“No.” His gaze held her widening one as his body reacted to holding her against him—something she wouldn’t be able to mistake as anything other than his arousal. “I’m fine,” he said, staring at her until he let out a short laugh as the absurdity of the situation suddenly hit him.

“It’s not funny.” She frowned down at him. “I lost my towel.”

He held his lips together tightly, but the more she frowned, the funnier he found it. Another drop of water hit him in the eye, opening the floodgate of his laughter.

“Leo…” She popped his chest.

“I’m sorry,” he said, trying to catch his breath. “But the whole thing is just so…so…” He couldn’t finish.

“But I’m naked and…” Rowan pursed her lips, but the stern set of her mouth was ruined when her lips began twitching. “It really isn’t funny. It’s…” She held her breath and then let it out on a full belly laugh after several drops of water splashed his cheeks. He hugged her to him as her body shook and she hid her face in his neck. The fullness of her laughter sounded in his ear as he laughed until he could hardly breathe and her mop of wet hair soaked the side of his head.

It had been the strangest day. He pressed his head back into the mattress while light chuckles and deep breaths filled the air as they both slowly sobered. Rowan raised up and searched his face with mirth-filled eyes as more water dripped on him.

Had there ever been a lovelier woman?

“Thank you,” he said, leaning up and giving her a swift kiss. “I haven’t laughed like that in a long time.” He realized what he’d unthinkingly done when she continued to stare down at him, her emerald green eyes taking on a deep intensity. He hadn’t meant to kiss her, but now…

He followed Rowan’s gaze as it went from his eyes to his mouth while she brushed away drops of water running over his face. Then she leaned closer, her movements hesitant. If he wasn’t mistaken, he caught a fleeting look of surrender before she closed her eyes and pressed her mouth to his. The barely there kiss lasted only long enough to whet his appetite before she lifted her head and licked her lips.

God, he loved it when she did that. And now he couldn’t breathe again, but for a whole different reason.

She bit her lip while pressing into his hardening cock, her face flushing deeper when he filled his hands with her bare ass and squeezed the soft globes. He wanted her to feel more of him, so he rolled his hips—pushing against her core—as her eyes fluttered closed and she moaned.

Leo held back his own groan. Four years was a long time and his head had forgotten how good she felt in his arms.

How right.

But his body remembered—remembered the heat and passion while his heart beat faster at how no other woman had made him feel as complete as she had. He wanted to feel all of that again. To know he hadn’t built up the memory of that one night in his mind to more than it was.

And God help Rowan if she gave herself to him in the next few moments. Because if she did, he wasn’t letting her go. He’d made that mistake once. He wasn’t making it again.

“Rowan,” he growled low, as he held her anchored to him with one hand while his other moved up the pebbling skin of her back to her head. Satisfaction filled him as she fully settled herself over the hard ridge in his pants. She let out a sigh and opened her expressive eyes, their depths full of knowing and longing.

“I’ve missed you.” He tangled his fingers in the wet tendrils of her hair and pulled her unresisting head down, taking her mouth like he’d been dreaming of since that morning she’d walked away. She tasted just as sweet as he’d remembered, her natural flavor blending in with the tart wine she’d drunk earlier.

It was a heady combination.

His hands roamed wherever he could reach, testing the new curves and valleys of her body. He wished he could take his time to explore more of the changes only hinted at when she was clothed, but he knew it would have to wait until he’d made her his once more.

Rowan’s hands were busy too, pulling at the hem of his pullover shirt at his sides. He grinned at her frustrated grunt when she tried to maneuver her hands between them. He swelled even more when he rolled them over and she lay beneath him.

He nestled himself between her splayed thighs as she pulled her mouth away. “Leo,” she said, breathless against his cheek, her hips moving restlessly against him. “Please.”

He lifted himself up from her after another quick kiss.

“Uh!” She sprawled herself on the bed.

“Don’t move.” He eyed her up and down, his face heating. “In fact, stay exactly like you are.” He hurriedly went back to the bathroom and flipped on the light before checking the various drawers and cabinets. He sighed in relief when he found a box of condoms.

He grabbed several and went back into the main room to find Rowan waiting for him in the same position he’d left her—her skin flushed. He let his gaze roam over her. And there it was, the freckle below the nipple on her left breast he’d left off at counting that night.

Two hundred and twenty-seven.

---