Chapter 36 Take Our Time Practicing
TAKE OUR TIME PRACTICING
PAIGE
His blue eyes were glimmering with so much adoration that I couldn’t help but kiss him again.
And soon our kisses turned ravenous. I gasped when he pushed me onto the bed and sealed his lips over mine once more. I didn’t think I would ever get tired of kissing him.
I could feel it in our kiss, what we were trying to convey.
I love you. I’ve always loved you.
His tongue stroked mine in a slow, teasing way. My fingers curled into his shirt, pulling him closer until he was settled between my thighs.
His hands slid under my blouse, palms gliding over my ribs and he kept kissing me until I was squirming underneath him, wanting more, needing more.
Derek must have read my mind as he peeled it off inch by inch and trailed soft kisses along my collarbone as he unhooked my bra.
“Paige,” he exhaled my name like a prayer and lowered his mouth to my breasts, tongue swirling gently around each nipple until I was arching into him.
The fast and rough sex we had before felt rushed while this felt… slow and gentle. As if he wanted to take his time, staring at me and my body like he wanted to remember it forever.
He eased me back onto the pillows and kissed every exposed skin as he stripped me. When he reached my stomach, he paused, pressing the softest kiss just below my navel.
“How far along do you think you are?” he murmured, his voice low and rough.
I bit my lip. “Maybe a few weeks?”
He frowned. “That’s not a lot.”
“Of course it’s not,” I giggled. “Babies take time… oh—”
His mouth had drifted lower, pressing feather-light kisses over the waistband of my leggings before he tugged them down along with my panties. He settled between my legs as he spread my thighs open.
Then he kissed my soaked sex. It was a soft, open-mouthed kiss that made me tremble. His tongue licked me slowly, humming as he savored the taste, before he looked up with a wicked little smirk.
“Then we should take our time practicing, right?”
I couldn’t answer and only a broken moan escaped when he licked me again. Long and languid strokes like he had all the time in the world.
I whimpered, clutching onto his hair when I came apart in his hot mouth, his soft murmurs of praise bringing me back to earth. Before I could recover, he was sliding one finger inside, then two, curling just right until pleasure coiled tight and sweet in my belly.
I came again with his name on my lips, my thighs shaking around his shoulders and his mouth never stopping until I was limp and gasping.
He always made me orgasm a lot, and even though I loved it, I wanted—no, needed something else.
“Derek,” I whispered. “Please, I need you.”
Licking his glistening lips, he straightened up to remove his clothes until he was as naked as me. In the moonlight that came from the window, he looked beautiful and handsome. The shadows danced over the ridges of his muscles, making my mouth water.
Derek crawled over me, settling between my thighs again, and kissed me deep and slow until I could taste myself on his tongue.
I wrapped my legs around him, feeling the hot length of him nudge my entrance.
“Look at me,” he whispered.
Our eyes locked as he slid in with a slow and steady thrust. I gasped at the stretch and the perfect fullness while my nails dug into his shoulders. He didn’t stop until he filled me completely, then pressed his forehead against mine.
This didn’t feel like the frantic, desperate sex we had before. It felt gentle because we weren’t fucking, we were making love.
“I love you,” he breathed, starting to move with long and deep strokes that burned me in the most pleasurable way possible. “Love you so fucking much, Paige.”
I couldn’t speak, only clung to him as he kissed my lips, my neck, my breasts. It was perfect, and I never wanted to get out of bed. His hand slipped between us, his thumb circling my clit in slow strokes, building the familiar coil of pleasure.
“Come with me,” he groaned. “Let me feel you—”
I came first, crying out as pleasure crashed over me in soft, endless waves. He followed seconds later, burying himself deep and spilling inside me with a ragged moan of my name.
“Oh God,” I gasped when he slid out of me and I felt the warm spurts of seed leaking out.
“Mhmm,” he hummed, collapsing beside me and pulling me into his arms.
I nuzzled into his chest and breathed in his comforting male scent. “I love you.”
“I love you more,” he whispered against my hair.
“It’s not a competition,” I teased.
He mock-glared at me. “Of course it is.”
I laughed softly, pressing a kiss over his chest, right over his heart. He tightened his arms around me, and we drifted off tangled together, his hand resting protectively over my stomach.
I was curled up with my best friend, my hot boss, my fake fiancé who loved me for real. I had never known that everything I had ever wanted was right beside me.
I sat perched on the kitchen stool, watching Derek pace back and forth like a caged animal, muttering under his breath about iron content and omega-three.
“And you need at least twenty-five grams of protein per meal, which means…” He paused mid-stride, turning to point at me with a spatula. “Are you even listening?”
“Mhmm,” I hummed, trying not to smile. “Iron, omega, and protein. Got it.”
It had been like this for weeks now ever since we confessed our feelings and he found out about the pregnancy. Our life was mostly the same, just with more ‘I love you’s peppered throughout the day and Derek transforming into the world’s most overprotective father-to-be.
He researched prenatal nutrition with the same intensity he brought to court cases, and now every meal came with a lecture about what my body needed to grow a healthy baby.
It should have been annoying. Instead, I found it endearing. Adorable, even, watching this powerful attorney stress over whether I was getting enough leafy greens.
His phone rang, and I saw Charlotte’s name flash across the screen. Derek’s eyes went wide with something like panic before he answered.
“Hi, Mom—”
Even from where I sat, I could hear Charlotte’s voice rising in pitch, and I knew she was scolding him.
Derek’s face went through several expressions, and he looked so comical that I had to press my hand over my mouth, trying desperately not to laugh.
He caught my eye and gave me the most sheepish smile I had ever seen on his face. Then he mouthed ‘sorry’ and retreated toward his study, Charlotte’s voice still carrying through the phone.
“And I cannot believe you didn’t tell me immediately, Derek Jane Peterson—”
The study door closed, muffling the call.
I sat there alone in the kitchen with the abandoned cooking utensils on the counter, and grinned. Whatever Charlotte was saying had clearly rattled him, and I had a pretty good guess about what or who the conversation was about.
Five minutes later, Derek emerged from his study. His cheeks were flushed pink, his hair slightly disheveled like he was running his hands through it. He looked anywhere but at me as he returned to the kitchen.
“What happened?” I asked, unable to keep the amusement from my voice.
He didn’t answer and kept walking until he was standing directly in front of my stool and kneeled down.
I reached out automatically, cupping his face with both hands. His skin was warm beneath my palms, and he leaned into my touch like he was waiting for it. His eyes closed briefly, and I saw his throat bob as he swallowed.
“Derek?” I whispered.
He mumbled something so quietly I couldn’t make out the words with his eyes still closed and his face still pressed into my hands.
“What?” I asked. “I can’t hear you.”
He opened his eyes and the vulnerability in them made my chest tight. His hands came up to cover mine, holding them against his face.
“We should get married.”
Married?
The words hung in the air between us.
“Oh,” I said.
Just that. Because my brain had short-circuited, because my heart was doing something complicated in my chest, because the man I loved was kneeling in front of me in our kitchen asking me to marry him, and I couldn’t seem to form any words beyond that single syllable.
“Oh,” I said again, softer this time.