Page 83 of Amor Prohibido

Jace sensed the shift and chuckled into my hair. “Go to bed, sweetheart. I’ve got a few things to do tonight but will join you later.”

I yawned and agreed. He pressed another kiss to the top of my head, then sent me on my way to our bedroom. As soon as my tired body hit the mattress, I was out like a light.

TWENTY-SEVEN

JAX

I slept like the dead until four in the morning when our babies started to play leapfrog on my bladder. Stumbling back from the bathroom, I paused before climbing into bed and frowned. Jace hadn’t been wedged up against me like I’d become accustomed to. Even in the middle of summer, I still got his cold hands wedged between my thighs or his body plastered against my back. Despite the number of pillows I needed in the bed to get comfortable, he still slept disturbingly close.

While half of me was elated to finally have some sleeping room without Jace’s heat pushing mine to fever pitch, the rest of me was concerned that he hadn’t come to bed last night. Even after we fight, Jace wasn’t one to sleep on the couch. Maybe the drama with Nat had come between us more than I thought.

Walking quietly into the lounge, I expected to see him asleep on the couch. It was, however, unsettlingly empty. I stood for a moment, eyeballing the vacant space as if it would make him magically materialise.

Then I heard it.

A snore.

Or more specifically, Jace’s snore that drove me bat-shit crazy, and it came from the nursery.

The sight from the doorway almost brought me to my knees. The matching wooden cots that I had been hounding Jace for weeks to put up were assembled and perfectly lined up, side by side. The matching wooden change table was also constructed, complete with the white change pad resting on top. My already elevated heart rate thumped out of my chest when I saw the next piece of furniture; a feeding chair with matching foot stool sat proudly in one corner in all its tan leather glory; the very set I fell in love with while shopping with the girls, right before I saw the price tag.

But there it was. In this room. And it was so fucking beautiful it made tears spring to my eyes. Everything was perfect. Including the big caveman lying in the middle of the floor, spilling over the edges of the two small cot mattresses he’d joined together, snoring his head off.

I pressed my hand to my aching chest, wiped the moisture from my cheeks, and knelt beside Jace. I gently roused him enough to lead him back to our bed. He tucked in behind me and gently pulled me close. Enveloped in his arms was where I belonged, and while his large hand smoothed around my belly, he pressed a lingering kiss to the back of my neck.

The soft words, “My everything,” were whispered against my skin, sending my ever-deepening love for him to new levels.

After everything Jace had done for our babies while I slept, I well and truly put yesterday where it belonged—firmly in the past.

* * *

I woke to Jace’s warm palms cupping my stomach and his hushed, sleep-harshened whispers coming from under the blanket. I kept my eyes closed in the hopes of gripping onto the edge of sleep for as long as possible; however, a deep chuckle pulled me to the surface again. Jace’s lips brushing against my belly with every syllable, then deliberately when he pressed kisses to my belly.

As he talked to our babies, they responded. Unpredictable kicks and movements had me holding my breath to see which would come next. When Jace applied gentle pressure, it took a second to get the desired result; a sturdy little foot pushed back against his touch, then kicked violently at the sudden loss of a few centimetres of wiggle room. Being beaten from the inside out was worth it when Jace chuckled adoringly under his breath.

He continued to murmur endearments and coax their reaction until one landed directly on my bladder.“Oomph,ouch. ¡Bebe!” I hissed.

Jace’s face appeared when I flipped back the blankets. “They’re really beating you up this morning, aren’t they, sweetheart?”

“It’s because you’re talking to them.”

He chuckled. “They like it when I talk to them.”

“So do I, but not when I’m desperate for the toilet and struggling to get up.”

He took the hint and helped me to sit up without too much effort-induced grunting from either of us.

As I stood, he leaned up on one elbow. “Your belly looks different this morning.”

“It feels different too. Heavier or something.”

His concerned expression followed me from the room, and I heard him moving around the house while I used the bathroom. I found him standing in the middle of the nursery, curtains now opened and the small mattresses in their rightful locations inside each cot. He rested his hand on the change table and seemed deep in thought.

I pressed my chest to his back and wove my arms around his waist. His hand locked them in place and a content rumble sounded under my ear. Nuzzling my face into the muscular dip between his shoulder blades, I peppered his warm skin with kisses.

“Thank you. This is all so beautiful and perfect,” I whispered.

“Just like you,” he whispered back.

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