Page 169 of As The Shifter World Turns

But it occurred to me Ryder had been spending long days at the office in preparation for the birth, when he’d be taking time off. Though being the boss, he’d be in constant contact because even though Trey was efficient, he couldn’t manage everything by himself, especially as the company, small as it was, had expanded. My mate was not only getting ahead of things he had to do, but making sure the omega was ready to handle the extra responsibility.

I got into bed and covered Ryder up as best I could and called the chef, asking if the cocktails and mocktails could be served on our balcony and whether we could have dinner in the room.

The chef and his mate arrived with everything on two tray tables. Drinking a Shirley Temple and eating a chocolate eclair before having my main course was so decadent. As I was licking cream from around my lips, Ryder’s eyes snapped open. “You’re back?”

“Huh?”

“You went to pee. And now I’m going to suck your dick and make you come.”

I shoved an eclair into his mouth instead. His eyes narrowed. “Not what Iwas expecting between my lips.” He took a bite, swallowed and said, “I’m sorry, love. I fell asleep.”

After taking another sip of my mocktail, I gave him a peck on the cheek. “We have all weekend and the rest of our lives.”

“If you say so. And that eclair was sensational. More please?” I hesitated and he stuck out his bottom lip. Is that how our daughter will react when I refuse to give her something? It was kinda cute and I joked, “Open wide,” and he did. I fed him another bite.

My mate groaned and fluttered his eye lashes. “Yum.” His come-hither eyes didn’t fool me. He might be enamored with the food but his mind was on sex. And when he licked around his mouth, my cock responded.

“What do you think of cream on cock? Cock with cream? Cock au cream?” he asked, his voice husky.

I gulped a mouthful of my Shirley Temple as Ryder threw off the bed covers revealing his arousal.

“Let’s see what we have under here?” Ryder stuck his head under the covers and swirled his tongue over the tip of my length and then licked down one side of the shaft and back up the other side.

“Gods, no,” I shouted.

He popped his head out. “You didn’t… did you?”

“I need to pee.” Damn that mocktail. “Hold that thought and don’t move.”

70

SOMETIMES THE FINISH LINE ISN’T THE ONE YOU WERE RACING TOWARDS

Ryder

“I don’t know if I’m prepared for this.” I let out a long sigh as I stared at myself in the mirror. “But… I’m going to do it. I’m going to finish without walking. I’m going to get through this without being one of the last to arrive when most people think it’s over. I’m going to finish this like a boss.”

I wasn’t sure how true that was. I’d been having a lot of ‘rest days’ lately, far more than I should this close to a half marathon. I didn’t regret a single one of them, enjoying each and every one of those extra moments I got to spend with Ivor instead of training.

But, I had a feeling today I would think back and wish I’d trained harder and not because I came in last, but because my legs would be jelly in the morning—painful jelly.

“Did you call me?” Ivor asked through the bathroom door.

“No.” I opened the door. “I was giving myself a pep talk.”

He stood there, a smile on his face, his hands on his very rounded belly. If I didn’t need 500% of my strength to make it through the race today, I’d have had my hands all over his bump—and the rest of him. I never thought it possible for him to be sexier than he was that first time he smiled at me, you know that smile that says you’remine, but damn… each day as he grew, his body accommodating our child, I found him hotter and hotter.

“You need to stop looking at me.” He stuck out his tongue and shook his head in amusement. “We need to meet everyone and if you keep looking at me like that we’ll both be naked when they send someone to make sure we aren’t dead.” He wasn’t wrong.

“If you don’t want me to ogle you, maybe quit being so hot,” I countered.

He just rolled his eyes. “Daire called to see if we wanted to drive together and I said yes, so move along.” He leaned in, kissed my cheek, his belly bumping mine. Gods, I loved that.

“How’s our little one? Still practicing her gymnastics?”

It was both cool and freaky watching my mate’s belly move when our baby decided to get active and stretch her limbs. Now? Now I watched for it. There was comfort in being able to see she was doing well. Ivor got to sense it, felt even the subtle moves, but for me the visual was everything.

“Naw. She’s pretty chill today. Probably tired out from last night.” Ivor had a glass of orange juice and the baby was active after that. “Daire is…” He took out his phone and looked at the time. “Crap, he’s already at the car. What can I do to help?”

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