Chapter 26
CHAPTER 26
B eatrix
I’ve been staring down for the past ten minutes, trying to see my feet. Yes, my feet.
Ren comes into my bathroom and finds me wrapped in a gray flannel bathrobe with a disposable razor in my hand.
The frown on his face matches my own. “Honey, what’s wrong? You look like Truman does when he can’t find his stuffed hedgehog.”
“It’s worse. I can’t find my feet.”
I’m four months along, and somewhere in the past week, my feet disappeared from view. “With the holidays around the corner, guess it’s the perfect time to ask Santa for some jumbo pajamas, and I’ll just wear them until May.” I think back on the leather pants I almost bought. That day feels a world—and a big baby bump—away.
Ren looks down to where, sure enough, my feet are probably right there at the ends of my legs, but that’s not the point. Seemingly overnight, I have “popped” and gone from looking like I ate a large lunch to the unmistakable pregnant vibe of carrying a watermelon under my shirt. There’s no mistaking that I’m quite pregnant, practically unrecognizable to my former self, the one who wanted to buy leather pants. Mallory’s point, well-taken.
I was waiting for this day, envisioning taking a slew of cute baby bump photos that would make me look whimsically fertile and cute, but now that it’s here, I feel overwhelmed by reality. This is a real person here inside me, and I’m in love with him. I wasn’t prepared for either one, but the latter scares me a lot more.
Because it’s Ren.
Stop-my-heart-in-its-tracks Ren, who reminds me of just why I fell for him years ago and makes me equally afraid of history repeating itself.
“You are exceedingly adorable, and I’m sorry you’ve lost your feet,” Ren says, kissing me on top of the head. “They’re right here, I promise.”
“Great,” I huff, not reassured by the fact that he can see something I can’t. I sit down on the toilet and try to bend forward, but that’s a no-go as well. My belly blocks the way to my lower legs, which was the point before I discovered the missing feet. I’m still holding the disposable razor, so Ren clues in.
“Is it the wrong time to tell you you’re gorgeous? Sad and disappointed, but still unmistakably gorgeous.” The way he looks adoringly at me nearly erases the injustice of not being able to balance on one foot. And there aren’t too many occasions where I need to do that anyway, so it’s a net-positive.
“Not the wrong time. Never the wrong time.” I tip my chin up and meet Ren’s lips gratefully. I’ve tried to tamp down the feeling that he and I might have a real future, but more and more, it seems possible. Soon, I’ll need to give up the fight and lean into the idea that it’s different now than it was ten years ago. I want to trust that Ren’s here for good .
“Why do you look so discouraged? What’s up?” he asks, stroking my hair and tangling his fingers in the strands. I hear Truman padding around in my bedroom before the cover-ruffling sound that indicates he’s on the bed. I like that he warms it up for us.
I hold the razor up and wince at my thwarted effort. “I need to shave my legs, but I can’t reach them.” I demonstrate by trying to bend over and only getting partway there.
“Ah.”
“Ah?”
“I see the problem. I’ve got you,” he says.
“You’ve got me?”
I half expect him to pick me up and take me somewhere, so I don’t need to worry about unshaven legs. Instead, he extends his hand, palm upward. “Let me do it.”
My insides twist with a combination of nervousness about letting someone else shave my legs and a secret thrill at having Ren take on this personal task. “Really?”
He laughs. “Yes, really. Do you not trust me?” He points to his face, which is currently clean-shaven. He has a point.
“Of course I trust you. It’s just…are you sure?”
“I’m more than sure.”
He wiggles his fingers, and I hand over the razor, which he places on the counter.
Ren’s gaze traces over me from head to toe, and his eyes flash hungrily. I feel a sudden rush of heat to my core and an intense desire to have him touch me. Anywhere.
“Hang on,” Ren says, hopping up and opening the medicine cabinet, where he’s stashed his toiletries. He pulls out a can of shaving cream and puts that on the counter next to the razor. Then he pulls a pink towel from the stack I keep on a shelf and lays it out on the floor in front of the glass shower door.
I don’t expect his strong arms to wrap around my body and lift me into the air, so I grab his shoulders with both hands. “I’ve got you,” he reassures, bringing me down gently to the floor on top of the folded towel. He puts another towel behind me so I can lean comfortably against the shower door. Then he straightens each of my legs so they’re extended comfortably in front of me. I exhale a breath and take in this man. I want so much more of this. Of him.
He grabs the supplies from the counter and drops down to sit cross-legged next to me. His biceps flex under the worn fabric of his tee as he squirts a dab of shaving cream into his palm. I inhale his scent, that manly forest smell when he’s just shaved. I let out a long breath as he smooths a layer of the cream over my right calf. “Sorry if it’s cold.”
“It’s not. It’s perfect,” I say, leaning back against the shower door and marveling at how erotic it feels to have him lather my leg. And if I thought that was a turn-on, it’s nothing compared to the sight of him leaning down and carefully swiping the razor along one side of my leg. I have to shift my weight on the towel to relieve the sudden rush of need at my core. And he notices.
“You like this?”
“Mm-hmm,” I purr, not embarrassed in the slightest that he’s reduced me to a sighing puddle with one touch. “Thank you.”
“Oh, honey…” he murmurs, leaning closer to make sure he doesn’t miss a spot. “You have no idea, do you? I’m the one getting the good end of the deal here.”
He pops up and swishes the razor under the running water in the sink, and I’m expecting him to repeat everything on my other leg. So damn hot I can barely stand it.
When Ren drops back down to the floor, he leaves the razor behind. His eyes trace over me again hungrily, and he licks his lower lip. My heart rate ticks up a notch because I know he’s planning something. Typical Ren to go off-script and take me somewhere I can’t even contemplate at the moment. I’m so fixated on the fact that he just expertly shaved my leg and turned it into sensual art that I don’t dare imagine what he’ll do next .
With one strong hand, he traces the contour of my newly-smooth calf and continues his journey higher up my leg. Nudging my knee to the side, he opens my legs enough to give his hand room to feather the skin of my inner thigh with his fingertips. My head falls back against the shower door, and I gasp at how good his touch feels. All my senses feel heightened as I breathe in the heady scent of the shaving cream. I close my eyes to focus on the sweet burn of his hands on my skin.
My robe falls open as Ren parts my legs a little more. I open my eyes and see a look of feral hunger on Ren’s face. His eyes meet mine for an instant, dark and heavy with need, before he dips his head down and takes a long, slow swipe along my inner thigh with his tongue.
“Hockey Star, you have no idea what you do to me…”
Those are the last words I’m able to string into coherence.
“Ah, hon, this is all for you, but…” He breathes me in, and I feel the air catch in his throat. His hands quiver as they trail over my thighs, and each guttural word he exhales feels like he’s at war. “The way I want you feels impossible. Hurts so fucking much I can’t see straight.”
His words are a growl against my flesh, sending ribbons of electricity burning through me. “You. Wreck. Me…”
I gasp and close my eyes against the intense rush of pleasure as his tongue licks straight through my center. His lips ravish me, and his tongue circles my clit until I cry out at the intensity. I’ve never felt this turned on, never felt this close to losing control after under a minute.
But it’s Ren… He’s always had this power over my body, and I want to lose myself in him. I need it.
And now it feels like something more. Adding in a baby and a second chance at love overwhelms my senses.
His light exhale against my most intimate parts curls my toes. I fist the towel I’m sitting on and shudder against the sensation of Ren’s tongue circling, delving deeper, wrecking me right back. And taking a decisive swipe at my heart.
I grab at his shoulders, rolling my hands over the muscled contours and settling around his rounded biceps. His strength, coupled with the intimate, soft movements of his mouth against me, is an intoxicating combination. “Ren, God …”
My self-control is shaking, then crumbling into dust as he slides a finger inside me. Just as erotic as that day on the tractor, only less playful, more intense. He’s working me with intentional pressure, taking me to the crest until I can’t hold anything back, and I scream out. “Ren…”
“Come for me, hon,” he breathes against my clit, circling once more. Twice…and then I’m gone. My vision goes spotty, taken over by pulses of light and so much pure sensation that all I can do is moan my agreement with everything he’s doing.
As though he hasn’t just decimated me, Ren resumes the task of dabbing shaving cream on my other leg. “Need to be thorough,” he explains.
“Oh my God, yes.”
I close my eyes again because I’m starting to see Ren differently when I look at him. Instead of the standup guy, I see a man driven by love. And I see us as a couple…with a future. Dangerous thoughts, but I can’t stop them any more than I can stop my baby bump from becoming a baby mountain right before my eyes.