“My wife is perfect for me.” The hand that had been teasing the skin of her hip flattened and slipped down the curve of her ass, gripping and pulling her tight against his side. “She’s randy in bed, which I like a lot. She fits against me as if she were made for me. She’s intelligent with a healthy dose of common sense, so we are able to have active dialogues about things that interest us. She praises my culinary skills, even if we both know my cooking is mediocre. She’s invested in her career, but not to the detriment of my own. She loves my mother. And she does so much good in the world that people will never know. Frankly, that’s because she doesn’t look for fame or praise. She merely does what’s right.” He brushed his nose against hers, and Alace opened her eyes to see him staring at her. “She’s a little bit like a superhero, but without the cape. So in my mind, while she may not be normal by some of society’s standards, she’s perfect for me. She’s also pregnant with our child, which means she gets a pass on some self-doubt things she normally wouldn’t be dealing with.” After pressing a soft kiss to her lips, he pulled back and grinned. “I rest my case.”
“I love you.” As happened every time she uttered those words in his presence, the effect on Eric was immediate. His arm tightened around her, his hand gripped more firmly, the skin and muscles of his face softened, and the desire for her burned in his eyes once again. “So, so much. I can’t even say.”
“Beloved,” he said, as if that single word—that fucking, fucking word—meant everything. It does.
Her phone chimed, the three-note ascending tone designed to get her attention. Eric didn’t say anything as he pulled her closer, his arm extending across to retrieve the phone from the nightstand. Without looking at the screen, he handed the device to her then reached the other direction, picking up the TV remote and pointing it at the screen mounted on the wall. Something she’d given in to when she’d wanted another monitor for her computer, acknowledging to Eric it did provide the best of both worlds. Since her office was in their bedroom for the duration of the pregnancy, they’d spent an inordinate amount of time in this room. He kept the volume low, and she pressed her lips to his chest in silent thanks.
One glance at her phone’s screen had her struggling to sit, a feat only successfully accomplished with Eric’s assistance. Then she was stuck leaning backwards on both arms, unable to sit fully upright as she normally would, all efforts foiled by the bulge of the baby.
Legs splayed wide in front of her for balance, Alace groaned when she fruitlessly tried to shift one. “I gotta…” She panted, shortness of breath caused by the—I guessed it—huge beachball bulge of the baby. “Feet…floor…chair.” Eric sat up, and she hated him in that instant. Not the man, but his ability to move around as he desired without issue. He moved to stand in front of her. “You’re a weird-breathing asshole who put this baby in me.”
“I love you, too,” he shot back as he helped her maneuver to the edge of the bed. Then he lifted, and she marveled at how—by dint of his strength—her ass rose smoothly from the mattress until she was finally upright. At which point, Eric had to take a step backwards and bend from the waist, because her—there’s a theme here, really—belly was in the way. “You steady, baby?”
“Fuck you. Yes. I’m good.” Then she stumbled over something on the floor, and he gripped her upper arms a moment longer, ensuring she remained on her feet. “Dammit. I can’t see the floor. Was that my shoe? Move it, whatever it was.”
He smiled. “I’m confident you’ll find all of this humorous in about a month.” Then he crouched, and she silently fumed because he could still conduct that maneuver at all, much less without being out of breath. “Floor is clear.” He stood and leaned in to brush a kiss against her lips. “I love you.”
She bit her lip, holding the return sentiment inside until she couldn’t anymore, and burst out laughing as she reassured him, “I luv you moar.”
“Still love drunk.” He kissed her temple as he turned her, walking next to her on the way to the chair in front of the desk. “Will you be long, beloved?”
“Not sure.” All joking set aside, real and pretend, she remembered the message she’d seen on the phone. “Owen texted.”
“He’s on hiatus, I thought.” Eric pushed her chair towards the desk, keeping her from the exertion.
“Was. Not sure what this means, but he invoked a high alert phrase.” Which was what had me scrambling at the speed of pregnant lady. She unlocked the drawer to the left of where she sat and waited for Eric to retrieve the laptop and battery from inside. As he reassembled the computer, she smiled. “You’re a super sweet guy, Eric Ward. You’re gonna be a great daddy.”
“I hope so.” He finished and set the device on the desktop. “Want the monitors connected?”
“Not yet. I’ll see what’s shakin’ first.” Face angled up, she scarcely had to wait before Eric complied and swooped in for a firm, closed-mouth kiss. “Thank you.”
“Always my pleasure, baby.” He pressed his lips to hers again. “I’ll be right here if you need anything.”
True to his word, he put a knee to the mattress and crawled back up the bed, shoving a pillow behind his shoulders as he settled himself against the headboard. He flashed her a smile, then focused his attention on the TV screen. Alace watched him a moment longer, then turned to the computer in front of her.
Powered up, it took her three screens of credentials to insert herself into the closed network she shared with Owen. Over the past four months, they’d worked several gigs together, each more rigorous than the last. After the final one had been put to its bloody bed, he’d told Alace he was going off-grid for a couple of weeks. That was two weeks ago, so she’d expected to hear from him soon. What she hadn’t expected was an out-of-the-blue SOS signal.
The icon representing him was active, limned in green, showing he was online now.
Before Alace could type in a greeting, a request for a video connection appeared on the screen. She grabbed her headset as she accepted, plugging it into the computer before slipping the earpieces into place.
The image resolved into a bedraggled Owen staring at her, piney woods the backdrop to his exhausted-looking, unshaven face. Where he’d chosen to go hiking and camping was a notorious stretch of East Coast geography, often rumored to be the setting for literally dozens of body dumps.
Wonder if he stumbled onto something unexpected.
His first words tore that thought away.
Chapter Two
Owen
When Alace appeared on the tablet, he jumped straight to business without even a greeting. “Two weeks before we shut down the pedos selling sibs, they had a successful event. You said you were able to dump everything from their systems. If it included the previous auctions, I need to know the names of the buyers.”
Alace stared at him briefly through the camera, then dipped her chin. Over her shoulder, she added to what apparently was an ongoing discussion, “Eric, I need the extra monitors plugged in.” Then, with her gaze turned back to Owen, she promised him, “We’ve got it all. Everything we need.”