Page 64 of Quadruplets For The Broody Billionaire

“You knocked me up in a hotel in Denver,” she reminded him, smiling. Heat was beginning to pool in her, and she itched to reach up and pull him down to her, to move this along. But she didn’t want to rush. She wanted to take things slow, enjoy every moment. In all their time together, they had never been able to take as long as they wanted with each other. Tonight would be a first.

And it seemed that Adriano was in complete agreement with her. He moved so gradually that Amy could tell he was trying to make things last. He eased out of his own clothes—his body was a sight to behold these days, now that he had resumed the fitness regime he had been keeping before they had met—and lay down beside her. They held each other and kissed for a long time, skin to skin, and it was almost relaxed. Even as Amy’s body cried out for more, she allowed him to control the pace, trusting him to give her what she needed in due time.

He rolled on top of her, teasing her with his fingers until she could take it no longer. She wrapped her legs around his waist and, taking the hint, at last he entered her. Amy’s eyes rolled back in her head with pleasure, and for a long time, she thought of nothing except the heat of his body and the rhythm of his movements.

Later, she would remember it as the most blissful night of her life. She felt as if the two of them had been working their way toward one another for a very long time, and though things had been settled between them for months, this was the night that made it all feel real. It felt, at last, like something she couldn’t lose, like something that would be hers for the rest of her life. For the rest oftheirlives. And she knew when she thought it that their lives would be a very long and happy time.

When the lovemaking was over, she lay in the crook of his arm, her eyes closed and her breathing slowing, reveling in the feel and the scent of him. “We’re going to do it again, right?”

He chuckled. “Give a guy a minute.”

“I might need us to extend our stay here.”

“I thought you’d be rushing home to the babies as soon as you could.”

“They’re all right,” she said. “Mike has them.”

“I’m glad you feel that way,” Adriano said. “Because I have no intention of letting you go home anytime soon.”

“So wearegoing to do it again.”

“Oh, repeatedly,” he assured her. “This is going to be a weekend to remember.”

“A weekend? I thought this was a night.”

“That was just to get you out the door. Mike knows I’m keeping you for the weekend.”

“You’re terrible.”

“No, you love me.”

“Definitely both.”

He sat up, drawing her with him, keeping her propped against his shoulder. “I wanted to talk to you about something,” he said.

“Is everything all right?”

“Very all right. Because of you, my life is better than should have been possible,” he said. “Two years ago, I was diagnosed with a fatal disease. I thought I had lost everything. I thought my life was literally over. And then you came into it and changed everything.”

He toyed with a bit of her hair as he spoke, and she relaxed into his touch. No one in her life had ever made her feel so safe and cared for.

“I’m here because of you,” he said. “I have the future I have because of you. Because you’re a brilliant doctor, and because you agreed to take my case on when you were under no obligation to do so. A lot of people wouldn’t have done what you did, particularly after the way I handled it when we first met.”

“I don’t regret any of it,” Amy said. “You know that. I couldn’t possibly regret anything that led me here—to this family, to you. Every bit of it was worth it.”

“You carried my babies,” he said. “You gave me a family, Amy. My family and my life—I have both of them because of you. Every time I look at you, I’m so full of gratitude, I don’t know how express it to you. I love you so much. And the thing is…none of those things are actually the reason I love you. I don’t love you because you saved my life. I love you because you’re so thoughtful and kind and still willing to tell me the things I need to hear. I love you because you’re the smartest woman I’ve ever known. I love you because of the way you love our children, and the way you make me feel like I’m worth fighting for.”

Amy’s eyes were filled with tears. “Adriano…”

“I want you to marry me,” he said. “I want us to make this official. You know I’ll be yours forever, no matter what you say. But I want you to be my wife.”

She was nodding before he had finished the sentence. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, of course I will.”

He reached over to the bedside table, opened the drawer and produced a little box.

“You have a ring?”

“I think that’s traditional, yes,” Adriano said with a smile.

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