Page 54 of A Baby Changes Everything

In that instant, something significant shifted between them. Something neither could name but felt all the same. "Positive."

Hope inched closer, and Drew's blood throbbed like fire through his veins. "Do you know what I want right now?"

"Ice cream and pickles?"

Slowly, she shook her head back and forth. Then moved even closer, like a cat on the prowl.

"To put the angel on top of the tree?" Drew somehow managed to ask.

This time when Hope shook her head, she sank her teeth into her bottom lip and lowered her eyes to his mouth. When she smiled, his entire body shot to attention. "I give up." Drew shifted his hips to relieve the tightening in his boxer briefs. "What do you want?" His voice was raw, hardly more than a rasp as desire raged through his system like wildfire.

“You.” She nipped at his lips. “More specifically, I want you to make love to me." Hope swung her legs to the floor, pushed herself off the sofa, and held out her hand.

Yes, something had definitely shifted.

His whole damn world.

Taking her hand, Drew stood and cupped her face between his hands. "No." He kissed the left corner of her mouth. "Not to you." He kissed the other side. "Only with you," he clarified before scooping her into his arms and carrying her toward the bedroom.

Heat sizzled between them, and his body pulsed with every beat of his galloping heart. Never had he felt more alive. More aroused. More everything.

He kicked the door shut, and Hope slid down the length of his body until her feet touched the floor. Unable to resist a moment longer, Drew kissed her, his tongue immediately seeking hers. Hope's arms encircled his neck, and her fingers dove through his hair. Drew’s pulse roared in his ears as their tongues met and mated, each darting in, out, and around the other's. The ritual was old. Basic and primal. A prelude of what their bodies would soon replicate.

Drew dug his fingers into her hips. He pulled her close, leaving no doubt to how much he wanted her. Jolts of electricity sizzled beneath his skin wherever Hope's hands, fingers, or lips grazed. Up and down the length of his back. Over his shoulders. Down his arms.

When their mouths parted, Hope whimpered in protest. "Baby, I want you so much it hurts," Drew growled, his voice raw and ragged.

Hope slid her hands down his chest, slipping them beneath the hem of his shirt and shoving it upward. "Take it off," she demanded, her tongue blazing a trail from one taught nipple to the other.

Happy to oblige, Drew yanked his tee over his head and tossed it aside, not caring where it landed. Before he could pull her back into his arms and kiss her senseless, Hope mirrored his actions by removing her own sweater.

"My God, you're beautiful." Drew deftly flicked open the front clasp of her bra, and her full, ripe breasts spilled into his eager hands. Reverently, he caressed the lush globes, pinching one nipple between his thumb and forefinger as he captured the other with his lips and tongue.

She tasted like heaven.

"Please," Hope begged and pulled his hips firmly into the cradle of her thighs.

It took every ounce of control Drew could muster not to lose it all right then and there.

Though Drew feared he might disintegrate if he broke contact with Hope, it was a risk he needed to take to rid them of the barrier of fabric prohibiting them from becoming one. In a flurry of mutual desire and lust, they tore off the rest of their clothes until they stood together naked and wanting.

Drew's body ached with a hunger so fierce and hot he feared he might burst into flames. But he didn't want to rush anything. He wanted to savor every moment. To drink in her profound beauty. Her flushed skin and luminous dark eyes. Her swollen pink lips. Her luscious breasts, now so full and ripe from not only her arousal but in preparation to nourish the child nestled inside her womb.

Their child.

Drew had never wanted a woman more. He doubted he ever would. For him, Hope was the one.

The only one.

Now and forever.

"Make love with me, Drew. Please. I need to feel you inside me."

Brushing his knuckles lightly along the curve of her cheek, Drew curled his fingers beneath Hope's chin, tipped her face up toward his, and pressed his lips softly against hers. "I don't want to hurt you." He covered the swell of her belly with his other hand. "Or the baby."

"You won't," she assured him. "We're fine."

Drew needed no further encouragement. He scooped Hope into his arms and gently laid her in the middle of the bed he'd turned down after showering. He stretched out alongside her. First, he only wanted to look at her. Second, he wanted to touch her. And then, he wanted to taste her.

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