Page 42 of Storm's Embrace

“Damn it.” What had he been thinking? The answer was, he hadn’t been. “Miriam. I’m sorry.”

Miriam pulled out of his arms enough to push up and look down at him. “Eli.” She gave him a quick kiss. “Believe me. You have nothing to be sorry for. That was…” Her eyes took on a faraway look. “You were—“

“I didn’t use protection.”

She stared down at him, wide-eyed, and then nodded with a slight grin. “Well,” she said, flopping back down onto him and burrowing into his side. “I guess Zoë might get a little sister after all.”

And just like that, the rest of Eli’s world fell into place.

He rubbed his cheek over her soft hair, unable to keep the smile breaking out over his face in check as her fingers ran over his chest, even while a few unexpected tears burned his eyes. “Maybe we…” He cleared his throat. “Maybe we should make certain.”

Her fingers stilled before she tilted her head up to meet his gaze, her own eyes pooling. “I think that might be a good idea.” She slid up his body and took his mouth, but he didn’t let her control the kiss for long before he rolled her beneath him and let the sensation of all that was Miriam wash over him.

“I love you,” he said, holding her gaze as he once again became one with her body. “Forever.”

11

He loves me.

Forever.

Many words had been shared between them over the last few hours, but those four from Eli spoken with such conviction were the most important, and the first thing that had come to Miriam’s mind as she’d awoken a few moments before. The urge to laugh with the joy filling her to bursting was hard to contain, so she made do with smiling like an idiot into her darkened bedroom.

She tentatively touched her bare stomach. What if she already had a life growing inside her?

With the amount of unprotected sex they’d had, the possibility she could be pregnant hadn’t been lost on her. When she’d gotten pregnant with Zoë, it had been unexpected and definitely unplanned. It had been a rough time for her making the decision to marry a man she didn’t truly love when his family had insisted he “do right” by her. And, of course, she’d wanted to do what was best for her baby.

So, at the time, marrying Donnie had seemed like the right answer. In the end, it hadn’t been right for any of them. And even though she’d lived through an enormous amount of heartache with her ex before, during, and after the birth of Zoë, having her daughter had been worth it all. So for her to make the conscious effort to create another life, well, the implications were huge.

And not just for her.

Eli wasn’t the sort to make decisions lightly. Good grief, it had taken the man months of studies and patient questionnaires, not to mention hour upon hour of discussing the pros and cons with her, for him to make the decision to expand his practice—something he still hadn’t acted on. So for Eli to want and then make a conscious effort to make a family with her, well, it told her a lot about his level of commitment.

She pressed into Eli’s body, lightly touched his heavy arm draped around her waist, and then let out a quiet sigh of contentment. If it weren’t for his comforting presence at her back—their bodies cocooned together under the comforter—she might almost think it had all been a dream. She smiled again.

It had taken them a while to actually make it under the covers. But after he’d noticed her shivering at one point following their second round of lovemaking he’d made sure she was nice and warmed up.

Then he’d promptly brought her body to life again.

She squirmed, but tried not to disturb Eli while doing it, because after so many years of abstinence, she was slightly sore—but in a good way. She was also a lot sticky. Something that Eli had seemed to take great pleasure in when she’d complained about needing to get cleaned up. He’d looked down at her with a self-satisfied grin and then anchored her to his side, telling her, “I like you sticky. It means you’re mine.”

She’d just rolled her eyes at that, but couldn’t help the little thrill running through her all the same. But now she needed to do more than to just wash. She had to pee in the worst way.

Eli’s slow, steady breathing told her he was still asleep, so she slid out from under his arm and carefully peeled back the covers and moved off the bed.

“Hmm…” she murmured as she tiptoed into the bathroom and quietly shut the door before turning on the light. “Messy.”

She turned on the shower before relieving herself, and then stepped inside the stall once she’d finished. A shower had never felt so good, and she closed her eyes and leaned her head back while streams of hot water flowed over her.

This was just what she’d needed.

The sudden slide of the glass door startled her eyes open and she jumped, her heart racing as she held a hand to her chest and caught Eli’s heated gaze roaming over her body. “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” he said, stepping in and sliding the door closed behind him. “But did you think I wouldn’t notice you’d left?”

“Well,” she said as his presence surrounded her. “I had to use the bathroom.”

Clothed, Eli was a big man. But a naked Eli just seemed to take up even more space, especially in the small enclosure of her shower. Not to mention seeing him up close and personal, so to speak, let her know all over again how much muscled flesh he had been hiding.

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