Page 59 of In Her Shadow

‘Then there's Mary, I’m sure she'll appreciate being let out of the kitchen. Once she’s done all the catering, of course. Oh… and who’s the girl who lived next to you at your old apartment…” She clicks her fingers while she tries to remember. “... She always said hi to you in the stairway.”

“Anika,” I guess.

“Anika! That’s the one, I’m sure she’d love to come. I’ll add her to the guest list.”

“Katelyn, I appreciate all this, but it’s really not what I want. Why don’t you and I just do something low-key, like get our nails done and go for lunch?” I suggest.

“I’m your best friend and the closest this little one is gonna have to a cool aunt.” She places her hand on my tummy and shakes it, causing Ren to sit up like he’s going to do something about it. I quickly shake my head to let him know I’m okay, and luckily, it eases him back down. “I’m taking that responsibility very seriously,” she adds to us both.

“The baby isn’t gonna know anything about a party. Why don’t you save all your ideas until she gets here and use them for her first birthday?”

Ren doesn’t look happy at the concept, but at least for now, it will get her off our backs.

I go to get up, and Ren immediately puts down his laptop so he can stand up to help me.

“Where are you going?” he asks, looking concerned at the prospect of being alone with her..

“Where do you think I’m going? Where am I always going these days?” I let him help me to my feet before I head in the direction of the bathroom.

“Oh my god, it’s happened!” Katelyn shrieks. “You’ve started to waddle.” I turn around and scowl at her, noting the lopsided smirk Ren tries to hide behind his hand.

“Ren?” I look at him for backup, he’s always saying that Katelyn speaks before she thinks, and now that I need his support on it, he’s got nothing for me.

“I think it’s sexy.” He shrugs before I huff away, keep on waddling to the bathroom, and leave them to it.

“Thanks for today, I know Katelyn grates on you, but?—”

“She’s your best friend.” He cuts me off before I can remind him again, continuing to focus hard on rubbing the stretchmark cream into my stomach. “Doesn’t make her any less annoying,” he points out, smiling when he feels another big kick against his palm. She’s getting really strong now, sometimes she kicks so hard I fear she’s going to break herself out.

“You love her because she loves me,” I remind him, watching his tattooed hand round my belly and enjoying how calm and relaxed it makes me.

“You know you shouldn’t let what’s happened stop you from having a baby shower, if you really want one,” he mentions, trying not to look mad.

“That note that came to my work isn’t the reason I don’t want a shower, you know I hate that kind of thing.”

I get how frustrated he is; when the results came back from the number plate check, it had flagged that the bike had been stolen from a second-hand dealership two days prior to the incident. Any leads Ren thought he had were gone, and I can tell he’s been living on his nerves ever since.

I even cut down my days at work to three, without him asking me to, because I can see how much it stresses him out when I’m there.

I understand his worries; I get that there’s a threat, but I’m not ready to give up work yet.

“And how about when we get married? Aren’t you gonna want the big white wedding that all girls dream of?”

“Couldn’t think of anything worse. All I want is us.” I lean over to kiss him, and when his hand starts to lower under my belly and into my panties, I smile against his lips.

“Like that, Kitten?” he whispers against my mouth as his fingers playfully tease my clit.

“You know I like that.” I grip hold of his bicep and feel myself tense when he starts to flick it harder.

“Since I’ve put this baby inside you, you're so easy to please. You're already close to coming, and I’ve barely touched you.”

Ashamedly it’s true, I thought being so horny was just a phase, but it doesn’t seem to have passed.

I growl in annoyance when he pulls his hand away, but he’s quickly forgiven when I see him start to lower further down thebed, and tug my panties off my hips. His hands rest on either side of my swollen belly as he licks me through the centre, rolling his tongue over my sensitive flesh and making my skin tingle all over. I can feel an orgasm building in the pit of my stomach, one that makes my toes curl and my fingers grip the sheets. Keeping one hand on the ridge of my stomach, he softly scratches the nails of his other hand over my skin as he lowers it between my legs and pushes two fingers inside me.

His tongue and fingers combined push me over the edge, making me cry out his name and ride his face without shame.

It’s disappointing that my tummy’s too big for me to watch him, there's something about the smirk Ren makes when he’s eating pussy that sets me on fire. But I feel every stroke of his finger and each flick of his tongue and when I reach around it to take hold of his hair, I feel him grip my clit between his teeth and it hits different.

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