Chapter 31
Hannah
“W hat in the hell are you doing, woman?” Tanner growled a week later as he came through the door from work.
In the last week, he’d gotten me moved entirely into his home.
When I’d gotten home from work today, I’d decided to hang some of his paintings, my favorites that he’d saved and never given away.
He’d given them to me, along with everything he’d saved that I’d left when we’d broken up, including every gift he’d ever given me, and my old engagement ring.
I’d put most of that stuff away in a safe place because it was part of our history, and Tanner had insisted that I was not wearing my old engagement ring that had bad memories attached to it.
I’d agreed with him completely.
However, there was plenty of space in this home for more artwork, and I loved looking at Tanner’s paintings.
“Hanging a picture,” I informed him as I shot him a welcoming smile.
“Get the hell off that ladder right now!” he said dangerously.
I checked to make sure the painting was straight and stepped down. “It’s not a ladder, Tanner. It’s a step stool that has two tiny little steps.”
I was getting used to the way Tanner treated me like I was made of fragile glass just because I was pregnant.
Part of me loved it because he was so protective of me and our child.
But it also drove me insane sometimes.
I couldn’t stub my toe without him flipping out about it.
“You should be resting. You had a long day at work,” he rumbled right before he wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed me.
“You think I had a long day sitting in my office on my computer?” I teased, trying to get him to lighten up.
I was pregnant.
I wasn’t deathly ill.
“Hannah,” he said in a warning voice.
“Relax,” I insisted as I stroked my palm over his stubbled jaw. “I’m going to have a child. I’m perfectly healthy.”
I’d seen the doctor in Billings.
The pregnancy looked perfectly normal.
I was still a little nauseated sometimes in the morning, but even that was getting better.
A few hours and a few crackers in the morning resolved the nausea.
I actually felt great most of the time.
When I felt fatigued, a short nap when I got home helped a lot.
“I’m going to make damn sure you stay healthy,” Tanner informed me, holding me close to him like he was afraid to let me go. “We’re getting married in two months. I’m finally getting exactly what I want. And I want you to be healthy enough to enjoy it.”
“And then you’re taking me to Australia,” I said with a happy sigh.
“I’m still not sure that’s a wise idea,” he said grudgingly.
“You’re not getting out of that honeymoon,” I warned him. “Don’t start second-guessing everything, Tanner. I’ll be going into my second trimester. I won’t be hugely pregnant, my morning sickness will be gone, the possibility of a miscarriage will be minimal, and the doctor said it should be perfectly safe. You have a private jet for God’s sake. You can have me home quickly, but that’s not going to be necessary. It’s not like I’m asking you to take me to an underdeveloped country. They do have good healthcare in Australia.”
Tanner had offered the honeymoon without thinking about my pregnancy.
I’d jumped at the opportunity.
Not long after I’d enthusiastically agreed, Tanner had started to think about anything and everything that could go wrong with my pregnancy while we were out of the country.
Even though the doctor had assured him that travel, especially travel in a very posh private jet, would be perfectly fine at the beginning of my second trimester, Tanner had been worried about the trip.
“I don’t care,” he said stubbornly. “I think it would be better to have you at home. You’re still nauseated in the morning, and you’re still fatigued.”
“I won’t be,” I assured him. “Just wait and see. Things are better during the second trimester, and we’ll be too busy with a child to make that trip later. Maybe it’s selfish, but I want you to myself for a few weeks in Australia.”
“Fuck!” he cursed as his arms tightened around me. “I want that, too, Hannah. I want to give you everything you want, but the thought of anything bad happening is killing me.”
He’d had those fears since the second day we’d learned that I was pregnant.
He’d been researching, and he’d been reading about everything bad that could happen to me during pregnancy, no matter how miniscule the chances were of any of those things actually happening.
“Nothing bad will happen,” I said gently. “It’ll be fabulous. I’ll be your wife on our honeymoon. Nothing will make me happier than that.”
It would probably take a while for Tanner to realize that my pregnancy was perfectly normal, and that nothing was going to happen to me.
Hopefully, things would be different in two months.
I wasn’t going to convince myself that he wouldn’t be protective, but he’d get used to the fact that being pregnant didn’t mean I was fragile.
“I’ll be overjoyed when you’re officially mine,” he rumbled possessively.
“I’m already yours,” I teased. “But I’m really excited about the wedding, and I’m not doing much planning this time.”
Tanner had gotten the ball rolling himself. We’d picked a tranquil, beautiful, and very exclusive location because Tanner had insisted on it. The wedding venue was outside of central Las Vegas, but the reception was happening in the city.
I’d asked him to limit the attendance to just close friends and family to keep it intimate and personal.
Everyone who mattered would be there, and that was all I really wanted.
Guests from here would be flown by private jet to and from Vegas.
His cousin, Shelby, and her husband, Wyatt, would be flying in from San Diego, so the guest list was complete in my mind.
What we were planning was actually my dream wedding now.
I hadn’t picked a dress yet, but I was looking.
I was hoping I wouldn’t be showing at three months, but I was trying to pick something that would work if I did have a little baby bump.
“I have something that will make me a little happier until we do get married,” Tanner said as he released me and reached into the pocket of his suit.
My breath caught as he pulled out something that looked like a ring box from his suit pocket. “Tanner,” I said breathlessly. “It’s not possible that my ring is ready yet.”
We’d just met with a jeweler less than a week ago, and it was a ring that was being custom made.
He shot me that devilish, cocky grin that I’d come to adore. “Sweetheart, when are you going to learn that your man can make almost anything happen?”
I let out a long, happy sigh.
When Tanner Remington wanted something, he got exactly what he wanted.
Although I’d come a long way in accepting his outrageous wealth, I was still getting used to that.
He lifted the lid of the box, and I stared at the beautiful ring with pure awe and amazement.
It was exactly what we’d asked for, and it was the most gorgeous ring I’d ever seen.
“It’s beautiful,” I said as my eyes welled up with tears.
Tanner and I had needed to compromise on the ring.
He’d wanted something big and prominent with a ton of carats.
I’d wanted something more delicate and subtle.
In the end, he’d let me have exactly what I wanted as long as the diamonds were excellent quality.
Nobody was going to be permanently blinded by the flashiness of my ring, but it was still extravagantly expensive.
There was a large center stone surrounded by small stones that looked like the petals of a flower, and those stones were entirely set in platinum.
Tanner took the ring from the box, and tossed the box aside. “I’m doing this right this time, with your ring. Marry me, Hannah?”
I looked into his eyes, and my heart skittered from the romantic gesture and the sincerity in his eyes.
I didn’t say that I’d already said yes.
I didn’t mention that we were already planning that wedding and the honeymoon.
I also didn’t bother to remind him that we were already living together.
I fell into his heartfelt, beautiful gaze and whispered, “Yes. You’re the only man I’ve ever wanted, Tanner.”
After he put the ring on my finger, I threw myself into his arms, my damn emotions all over the place. “Thank you,” I said before I kissed him.
The embrace was slow and thorough, a silent promise to spend the rest of our lives loving each other.
“Don’t thank me,” he insisted huskily after he’d released my lips. “I just got exactly what I wanted. My ring on your finger.”
I nuzzled his neck as I answered, “Take me to bed, Tanner, and I’ll get exactly what I want, too.”
It had been a week since we’d had that hot sex in his office.
Tanner had been incredibly supportive about my pregnancy and uber protective, but he hadn’t touched me sexually since he’d gotten the news that I was pregnant.
For some reason, he was afraid he’d hurt me if we had sex, even though the doctor had assured him that wasn’t the case.
“You’re sick and fatigued right now, Hannah,” he said gruffly.
I nipped his ear. “I’m only a little nauseated in the morning, and I’m not that fatigued. My hormones are raging, and I want you, Tanner.”
I reached down and stroked his rampant erection.
It wasn’t the fact that Tanner didn’t want me because I was pregnant.
He was afraid he’d somehow hurt me if he fucked me while I was pregnant, even though his rational mind knew better.
“Fuck!” he cursed as he gripped my ass. “Do you think I don’t want you, too, Hannah? But I fucked you like a caveman in my office, and you were pregnant.”
“And it was incredibly orgasmic,” I told him softly. “I’d like a repeat performance please. I’m not going to break, Tanner. I’m exactly the same woman in the same condition I was a week ago, and I’m fine.”
“I have zero control when it comes to you,” he said hoarsely.
“And I love it when you lose control,” I said seductively as I lowered the zipper of his pants.
I loved this man more than I could ever put into words, and I really needed him to take me to bed so I could show him just how much I loved him.
“Hannah,” he said with a groan this time. “Are you going to make me crazy like this for the rest of our lives?”
“That’s the plan,” I said with a smile.
He scooped me up into his arms. “Just remember that you asked for it,” he said as he carried me toward the stairs. “I’ll try to keep things under control.”
I let out a delighted laugh as he carried me up the stairs and to our bedroom.
His attempt to keep his control failed miserably.
And I loved every single moment of it.