“Of course.” She twisted her hands around his little body and carefully shifted him to my shoulder.
He felt tiny in my hands, and my heart thumped hard against my ribs as his warmth seeped into my chest. My fingers shook, I was so afraid I’d drop him or hurt him.
Lifting him higher so he could lay his head over my shoulder as he’d done with Natalie, I watched in utter amazement as his little mouth opened, and he yawned again as he settled against me. For just a split second, he opened his eyes and looked up at me, and I saw that his were a deep brilliant blue, just like his mother’s.
I’d only fallen in love once. And I’d fought it every step of the way because I hadn’t thought I’d deserved that love. It had taken me a long time to not only understand what I felt for Natalie, but to accept that I could be loved in return. But as I looked down at this tiny little angel she’d created—that we’d created—I didn’t question what I felt. I didn’t fight it.
And I finally understood what it meant to fall in love at first sight and to love unconditionally.
“Are you all right?” Natalie asked softly beside me, one hand gently rubbing my back and the other on our baby.
“Yeah.” I blinked back tears. Happy tears I didn’t even try to stop from sliding down my cheeks. “I’m better than all right. I’m home.”
13
Luc
Time had a way of playing tricks on the mind. Of taking forever when you wanted it to speed up. Of flying by when all you wanted it to do was crawl along.
As I stood behind Natalie an hour later and watched her place our sleepy baby in the bassinet in the sitting area of my—well, our—bedroom, I wished like hell time would just stop. That this night wouldn’t end. That tomorrow would never arrive.
She tugged the soft blanket up to Ian’s chest, then straightened and glanced over her shoulder at me, her expression shifting from content to concerned in a matter of heartbeats.
“Hey,” she whispered turning and placing her silky soft hand on my chest. “What is it?”
I blinked back the burn in my eyes, shook my head, and covered her hand against my chest, drawing her with me as I stepped back.
Part of me didn’t want to put Ian to bed. I just wanted to go on holding him in case I didn’t get the chance again. But another part of me was desperate to touch my wife. To reconnect with her. To show her just how much I’d missed her. How much everything she’d done for Ian, for me, for us meant to me.
“You,” I whispered, my voice raspy. “It’s you. It’s always you.” I slid one hand into her hair and pulled her with me around the corner so we wouldn’t wake Ian, then lowered my mouth to hers.
Her lips met mine, soft and silky and so damn perfect. She opened at the first touch, no hesitation, no regret, and I groaned as I slid my tongue into her mouth and tasted her as I’d been dying to taste her ever since I’d walked into the kitchen and seen her sitting at the table, sipping a cup of tea.
I meant for the kiss to be gentle, I really did, but as soon as her tongue flicked against mine and I tasted her, desire swamped me. My whole body grew hard and achy with the need to feel her everywhere.
“Natalie… Angioletto… Dio, I missed you.”
“Oh, Luc…” She kissed me harder. Her body trembled against mine, and her hands slipped under my t-shirt to send tingles all across my skin. “I missed you too. So much. I… I’ve been so lonely without you. I need you. God, I need you.”
I groaned again. Touched by her words. By the fervor in her kiss. I needed her too. More than I could say. Lifting both hands to her face, I kissed her deeper, frantic to get inside her, to show her how much I always needed her.
Her hands dropped to my hips, moved to the button at my waist. Electricity raced across my skin. Anticipation curled in my belly. I reached for the hem of her t-shirt, pulling away from her mouth only long enough to tug the soft cotton up and over her head.
The platinum key I’d given her that night in Italy shimmered in the low light against her tan skin, hanging from a chain around her neck. The only key on the planet that could unlock the bracelet around my wrist. My heart contracted at the sight, and all those nights alone when I’d dreamt about her wearing it filled my mind. After all this time, part of me hadn’t expected it to still be around her neck.
“Luc…” She lifted her lips back to mine, drawing my attention away from the key and right back to her mouth. “Kiss me.”
I was powerless to do anything but what she demanded. Was desperate to strip her and slide inside her so I could show her what she meant to me.
Letting go of the key, I lifted my hand to the back of her head and pulled her closer, then opened to her kiss, tasting her deeply, groaning at how perfectly she filled my mouth, my heart, my body and soul.
A whimper from the sitting area was the only thing that stopped me from pushing her to the bed. I glanced over her head into the darkness toward Ian’s crib, but all I could see was the corner of his blanket lying still against the mattress.
“He’ll go back to sleep,” she whispered, fumbling with the button on my jeans. Pushing to her toes, she pressed her mouth to mine again, distracting me from Ian’s sounds, not once slowing her hurried fingers on my waistband. “Trust me. He’s a heavy sleeper. Kiss me again, Luc. Don’t stop kissing me.”
I groaned and opened to her, unable to hold back. Her fingers moved faster, working the zipper on my jeans. My body was on fire, but there were still enough synapses firing in my brain to prevent me from being a total beast—especially when I knew there was no way I could stay quiet the first time I took her again after all these months.
Closing my arms around her, I slipped my hands down to her perfect ass and lifted her off the floor. “Wrap your legs around me.”
She answered with a moan that filled my mouth as I continued to kiss her. Her shapely legs slid around my waist, and her arms wrapped around my shoulders and held on as I turned her out of the bedroom and carried her into the bathroom, quietly closing the door at my back.
I didn’t bother with the light. I did manage to flip on the fan, though, and somehow I fumbled with the controls on the shower with one hand without dropping her as she kissed me harder and rubbed the heat between her legs against my already swollen cock.
I saw stars. Water sprayed into the open tile shower stall from several shower heads, drowning out the sounds of our passion. I was fueled by months of emptiness and the feel of her familiar body finally—finally—pressed against mine. Turning to my left, I set her on the counter as steam began to fill the room.
“Luc…” Her tongue tangled with mine. Her hands swept up into my hair and fisted, pulling until pain shot across my scalp—a pain that only made me hotter. “I want you naked. Inside me. Right now. It’s been so long.”
Her words were a spark to a match. My body erupted in flames. Knowing she was as desperate for me as I was for her made every cell in my body spontaneously combust.
I dropped my lips to her shoulder and sank my teeth into her tender skin as my hands found the latch on her bra and pulled it free. I quickly tugged the garment from her arms and palmed her silky breasts. She groaned and rocked her hips against mine, the heat of her pussy making me even harder.