CelebrationAfterDarkKobo (13 page)

Snorting with laughter, Joe said, “It’s not his fault that your eggs are so
welcoming
.”

She let out a low moan. “
Joe
. How can we be joking about this after what happened when P.J. was born?”

He took hold of her hand, linking their fingers and gazing into big blue eyes gone liquid with emotion and fear. “Because we’re not thinking about that day right now. We’re thinking about the possibility of another miracle like P.J., and we’ll stay focused on that until after the holidays, when we can go see specialists on the mainland who’ll tell us exactly what we’re going to do to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

Nodding, she said, “Yes, that’s what we’re going to do. And then you’re getting that
thing
snipped.”

Laughing, Joe gathered her into his embrace, vowing to do whatever it took to ensure that everything would be different this time. He would do anything in his power to keep her—and their baby—safe from harm.
 

“Is she down for the count?” Mac asked when Maddie came into their bedroom later that afternoon.

“Out like a light.”

“Thank God for naptime.”

She stretched out on the bed, where he’d been reading while she put Hailey down for a nap. Thomas had spent the previous night at Tiffany’s house, and they’d see him later at the party.
 

“Hailey was cranky today.”

“Teeth,” Maddie said. “The last time we saw David, he made a comment that if any of us remembered getting teeth, we’d be traumatized for life.”

“Poor baby.”

“I remember going through this stage with Thomas by myself and wondering if either of us would survive it.”

“It makes me sad to have missed that with him.”

She turned toward him and smiled. “You won’t miss much with him.”

Mac put his e-reader on the bedside table and turned on his side to face her. “Whatever shall we do with a couple of hours to ourselves on a snowy afternoon?”

“Nap,” she said, sighing as her eyes closed.

“That’s one thing we could do.”

He rested his hand on her belly, letting his fingers tease the strip of bare skin below the hem of her T-shirt.
 

One caramel-colored eye popped open to gauge his intentions.

“Hi there,” he said with his biggest, most charming smile.

Maddie cracked up laughing. “Subtle.”

“Never been my strong suit. You wanna get naked?” To his dismay, her smile faded, and her eyes went glassy with unshed tears. Propping himself up on one elbow, he asked, “Was it something I said?”

“No.” She looked away, her mouth set in an unhappy frown.

“Maddie, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“If I tell you, it’ll make you mad.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“I feel disgusting! All I do lately is puke, and I’m flabby and my boobs are huge—and how is that even
possible
when they’re
huge
to begin with? One of these days, you’re going to start to wonder how you ended up shackled for life to a breeding sow who stinks like sour breast milk half the time and is throwing up the other half. And if you laugh, I swear to God, Mac, I’ll punch you.”

“I’m not laughing.” He wanted to, though. Dear God, he wanted to. “Are you for real right now? A breeding sow? What the hell, Maddie? Why would you ever think such a thing?”

“Because! Look at me! I’m a mess. My boobs are everywhere, and my belly will never be flat again, and my ass is huge and…”

He simply couldn’t bear to listen to all things she thought were wrong, so he did the only thing he could think of to make it stop—he kissed her. And when she opened her mouth to protest, he took full advantage, using his tongue and teeth and every bit of love he felt for her to quiet and calm her protests.

He knew he had her when her body went limp and her arms encircled his neck to keep him close rather than push him away. Mac kissed her until he was certain he had her full attention. Then—and only then—did he break the kiss.
 

“I don’t ever want to hear you say such things again, Madeline,” he whispered against her ear. “You’re talking about the woman I love more than life itself. I worship her every minute of every day, no matter what she looks like or smells like or how amazingly awesome her boobs are or how flat or not flat her belly is. My baby is in there. My other babies were in there, too. If your belly is never flat again, what the hell do I care?”
 

He worked her T-shirt up and over her head and unhooked her bra, releasing those spectacular breasts that were the stuff of fantasy—to him, anyway. He knew she didn’t agree.
 

“You’re always going to be hot and sexy and desirable to me.” Taking hold of her hand, he laid it against his hard cock. “You feel that? That’s what you do to me just walking into the room and lying down next to me. That’s what happens when there’s even a
possibility
that I might get to touch you and kiss you and make love to you.”

Gathering her large breasts into his hands, he slid his tongue over one nipple and then the other, taking care to be gentle because she was so sensitive when she was pregnant. He loved that he knew that about her. He loved that in the second trimester, when she started to feel better, pregnancy made her super-horny.
 

“What’re you smiling about?” she asked.

“I’m thinking about what happens in the second trimester when you spend three months basically begging me to fuck you.”

“Mac! I’ve never said it that way.”

“But you could.” Looking up at her, he said, “You could say anything you wanted to me, no matter what, and I’d still love you as much as I do right now. You could gain a hundred pounds and the only thing I’d see is more of you to love.”

She shook her head. “No way.”

“Yes way. You don’t want to talk trash about my wife, Madeline. Not to me, anyway. I love her way too much to listen to that silliness.”

“It’s not silly. I look totally different than I did when you first met me.”

“Yes, you do. You look even better than you did then, and you looked pretty damned awesome. You know what’s better?”

Eyeing him skeptically, she shook her head.

“You were too thin then because you never took the time to enjoy a meal or a glass of wine or a decadent dessert the way you can now. You were worried about everything—money, taking care of Thomas, your job, your mom. Now you’re not worried about any of those things, and there’s a sparkle in your eyes that wasn’t there then. Three more pregnancies have made you even sexier than you were then, curvier, more lush.”

“I didn’t need to be curvier
or
more lush, as you put it.”

“I adore your curves, and I absolutely
love
your lushness. The curvier the better, as far as I’m concerned.”

“You must think I’m fishing for compliments, and I swear I’m not, even if you give really good compliments.”

“I never thought that for a second. I think you’re feeling a little down on yourself for some unknown reason, and you think because you’re down on you I must be, too. And now that you mention it, yes, I’d love to go down on you, thank you very much.”

Her sputter of laughter made him smile as he helped her out of her yoga pants and panties to make good on his statement. With her legs propped on his shoulders, he set out to show her how much he loved her. He wanted to drive her so crazy with desire that she had no time to think about all the ways he should find her lacking.
 

She was perfect to him in almost every way that mattered. Sure, they butted heads from time to time about silly things, such as how he drove and where he chose to leave his work clothes, but in all the most important ways they were on the same page.

Take now, for instance, when she writhed in reaction to him sucking on her clit as he drove his fingers into her.
 

Mac’s cock throbbed with the need to get in on this, but not until he’d made her come at least once. Maybe twice for good measure. He got his wish when her first orgasm rolled right into a second one, and he worried that her cries of pleasure would wake Hailey before he finished showing her how much he loved her.
 

He wiped his face on his T-shirt and then whipped it up and over his head. His basketball shorts ended up around his thighs in his haste to get inside her to ride the last waves of her release.
 

Ah, sweet Jesus, that feels incredible
. The contraction of her internal muscles nearly finished him off far too quickly.
 

“Look at me,” he said gruffly, waiting until her gorgeous caramel-colored eyes opened to meet his gaze. “Don’t ever think you’re anything other than beautiful to me. Do you hear me?”

She nodded.

“This, us… it’s everything.
You’re
everything to me. It kills me that you think I’d ever feel anything other than crazy love for you.”

Her hands coasted over his back to cup his ass, drawing him deeper into her. “Even after all this time together,” she said, “sometimes I’m still surprised that you picked me.”

“You crashed into me. What choice did I have but to pick you? And P.S., I’m still surprised
you
picked
me
.”

“You barreled your way into my life whether I liked it or not. And P.S,” she said, raising her hips to meet his thrust, “I like it. I like it a lot.”

Lost in her, he said, “Mmm, me too, baby. I love you so much. You’ll never know just how much.”

She sighed with pleasure this time. “I think I know.”

“Biggest and best thing in my life,” he whispered as he kissed her again, “is my love for you and our kids. Don’t ever doubt it.”

 
After that, no words were needed.
 

Chapter 9

“I have something for you, too,” Linda said to Mac as they lay in bed watching the snow fall outside. The day had grown dark early due to the thick cloud cover that had hung over the island all day.

“We said no gifts,” he muttered without opening his eyes.

“And yet I have a sparkly new ring and a trip to Europe to look forward to.”

“You didn’t have to get me anything.”

“Yes, I did, because I knew you’d go crazy the way you always do.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t. So you want your present?”

His eyes opened, and his lips curved into a smile. “Well,
yeah
.”

“We have to go to Luke’s.”

“What?”

“You heard me, so get your lazy butt out of bed and get dressed.”

“Let’s grab a shower first.”

“Just a shower. I can’t take any more ‘celebrating’ today.”

“Yes, you can.”

“No, I really can’t.”

“Yes, you really can.”

Their “argument” continued in the shower and as they bundled up to brave the elements. They took his truck because it had four-wheel drive—and because he would rarely be caught in her yellow Volkswagen Beetle that had been another thing he’d surprised her with a few years ago.

“So what’s this present you have for me at Luke’s?”

“I’m not telling you, so don’t try to get it out of me.” Linda couldn’t wait to give him the gift Luke Harris had helped her procure after months of searching for just the right one.