“Why did you do this?”
“I thought we could—”
“Bring Casey out here and teach him about the stars?”
“Yeah.”
A tear falls. I catch it with my thumb.
“I dreamed of this,” she says. “Of watching the stars with him. It’s like you read my mind.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. “You like it then?”
She throws her arms around me. “I love it. All of it. How did I get so lucky?”
“I’m the lucky one, Dev.” I motion to the seat. “Want to hang out up here for a while?”
She giggles. “Hang out, huh?”
“Or something.”
“Nice touch with the lounger. No more sore knees and scraped backs.” She lies on it.
I lie next to her and tuck a wisp of hair behind her ear. “I can see us up here, just like this, with Casey between us.”
She smiles. “And when he falls asleep, we can put him inside.”
“Now you’re talking. Let’s practice that part now, the part after we put him inside.”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
“I’ll always ask, Dev.” I remove her flats and lift her dress up and over her head. She’s wearing the matching bra and panties Andie picked for her. I’ll thank her later. I never thought a pregnant woman could look so sexy. “You’re beautiful.”
She runs her hand across her tummy. “I’m getting so big.”
“That will just make you more beautiful.”
I kiss her. The taste of her is intoxicating. I didn’t know I couldn’t live without her just a few months ago, and I hope I never have to. She’s this superhuman force that draws me in, and I doubt I’ll ever be able to get enough of her.
I trace the edge of her jaw with my lips, then move to her neck, her collarbone, and the soft skin between her breasts. I push the cups of her bra down and lick her sensitive nipples. She arches against me and weaves her hands into my hair.
“I haven’t been afraid of many things in my life,” I say, “but I’m terrified of losing you.”
It’s dark, but I can almost see light radiating from her eyes. She touches my face. “That won’t ever happen. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me. Us.”
I bury my head between her breasts, her words reverberating through my head. She was a gift from God or maybe my guardian angel, and I vow to make every day, every moment, every touch worth living for.
I reach into her panties and between her legs to find her drenched. She moans as I slide my fingers in and out of her, working her wetness up and around her hard little clit. The noises she makes get me rock hard. “I have to taste you.”
She swiftly removes her underwear and lets her legs fall open. I gaze down at her, naked, breasts pushed up by her lowered bra cups, her pussy glistening in the moonlight, and I’m sure I’ve died and gone to fucking heaven.
I hastily strip off my clothes, then she pushes me down and climbs on top of me in the sixty-nine position. Yup—heaven.
She takes me in her mouth as I feast on her. It takes everything I have not to come. Because when I do, I want to be looking into her eyes. I concentrate on her—I lick, suck, hum, and nibble. My hands grip the soft globes of her ass. She’s close, I can tell, so I slip a hand between us and pinch one of her nipples. It takes her over the edge. She releases me from her mouth and shouts, riding my face like she’s astride a wild bronc. I’ve never felt more powerful.
When she stops pulsating, I move her off me and climb on top of her. “I was the first man inside you, and I want to be the last.”
She guides me inside her with a single word. “Yes.”
She’s so damn gorgeous, with her satiated eyes. It’s like I’m an adolescent in heat. I pump once, twice, three times, then I come. She wraps me in her arms when I collapse on top of her. As I recover, I realize I could be squishing the baby and roll off.
“I’m not sure if Casey liked that or not, but he’s really moving around.”
I rise on an elbow. “Where?” She takes my hand and places it below and a little right of her belly button. I feel a faint flutter. “Holy shit, that’s him?”
She nods.
I keep my hand there and close my eyes. More flutters and then something that feels like a kick.
“Did you feel it? That was a good one.”
“I did. It’s… it’s fucking incredible. If sex makes him move around like this, we need to have it all the time.”
She laughs.
This might be the best moment of my life, but there’s one thing that might make it better.
I pull a small black velvet box out of the pocket of my pants. “Your outfit needs one more accessory.” I show her the box.
Her eyes sparkle. “Is that what I think it is?”
“That depends. If you say yes, then it’s what you think it is. If you say no, it’s just a box I’ll stick back into my pocket while trying not to feel totally emasculated because I look like a complete idiot.”
She opens the box. The ring is in the shape of a star. I had it made right after I found out about the baby. She wasn’t ready back then. I hope she is now.
“So?” I wait. Not moving. Not breathing.
She bites her bottom lip and raises her brows. “I wouldn’t want you to look like an idiot.”
“Jesus, Dev. Is that a yes?”
“That’s a yes.”
I stand and pick her up and twirl her around.
“Uh… Aaron?”
“Yeah?”
“We’re naked. If someone walks by—”
“They’ll see the silhouettes of two deliriously happy people.” I put her down. “You are deliriously happy, aren’t you?”
“For the first time in my life, I am.”
I take the ring out of the box and slip it onto her finger. “This means you’re mine forever. You and Casey. It’s a binding agreement. No takebacks, okay?”
“No takebacks. But, Aaron, I want to wait until after he’s born. If this is going to be my one-and-only wedding, I don’t want to have to wear a maternity dress.”
“Whatever you want. Because you can bet your ass this will be the one and only for us.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not pushing me to get married before he comes. For wanting to marry me in the first place. For pulling a gun on me the day we met so I couldn’t leave. For giving me a place to sleep and work. For being my best friend. For… everything.”
“I can’t wait to tell everyone. My parents will be so happy. Oh, that reminds me, I have something else to show you.”
“Another surprise?”
“Not a surprise so much. I thought I’d introduce you to my guardian angel.”
“Erin?”
I pick up her dress and help her into it, then put my clothes on. “Let’s go inside.” I get the letter out of a drawer in the changing table and hand it over.
She examines it. “It’s sealed.”
“I thought we could read it together.”
She reads the writing on the envelope: For Aaron when he finds out he’s going to be a father.