Chapter thirty-three #3
I cup her cheeks, pressing my lips desperately to hers as she sobs softly.
“Then we’ll deal with it. We’ll get through it just as we are now.
Dr. Carlson said there was medication that could help with hypotension.
We wanted to avoid it during the pregnancy, but if you’re still experiencing it after the birth, then we can try that,” I say, resting my forehead against hers.
When I pull away, she keeps her eyes closed, still refusing to look at me as tears continue to fall past her closed lids. “Look at me. Sweetheart, please look at me,” I beg, and finally she does.
“Nothing, and I mean nothing, can ever stop me from loving you. Nothing will change between us if that does turn out to be the case. It will just be another one of our obstacles to overcome.” I lean in, caressing my lips against hers. “And I’ll hold your hand the whole way through it.”
“Thank you… I needed to hear that.” She exhales like my words have done their job and soothed her worries. She looks up at me and smiles, but then her eyes travel to my bare shoulder, seconds before she lifts her hand and smacks it hard.
“Ow!” I jerk away and furrow my brows.
“I’m sorry!” She giggles, her mood finally lifted. “You had a mosquito.”
When I look at my shoulder, I spot the tiny red dot with a squashed bug beside it. I shake my head and chuckle. “I’m pretty certain those things have been eating at me since we took off our clothes.”
“I think one bit my butt while we were having sex.” She laughs harder.
“Well, now I’m just jealous. When are you going to let me near there?” I wrap my arms around her, biting at her neck and shoulder until she laughs uncontrollably. I love this playful side to Aubrey.
“Never,” she squeals, her face turning a deep red.
“Never? Really? What will I have to do to convince you?” I nibble her earlobe next as she tries to push me away.
“Get you five more dogs? Buy you your own bakery? How about an island and changing its name to yours? We can do that if you want,” I suggest jokingly, although I definitely could do that.
The truth is, I really don’t care if she never wants to try anal. It’s really not a necessity to me and I’m satisfied with whatever she’s willing to give me. But I know talking about anal sex makes her uncomfortable and I love seeing her blush wildly.
“You’re being ridiculous.” She smacks my chest playfully before wrapping her arms around my neck as mine go to her waist.
“How about a boat? Private jet? What if I got Julian to kidnap your favorite pastry chef and we hold him captive in our home? Force him to make you everything your heart desires,” I offer next as she bursts with laughter.
“Okay, that would definitely get you in. But I’d also have a lot of questions. Mainly, who did I marry? And why would Julian do the kidnapping and not you?” she asks, getting invested in my ridiculous ideas.
I shrug with a smirk. “It’s his thing.”
Her eyes momentarily widen like she’s unsure if I’m serious or not. “What do you mean his thing? Has Julian ever done that?” she whispers the last question into my ear like he might hear us.
I laugh harder. “No, Angel. Jules might be strange at times, but he’s not a kidnapper or criminal.” I shake my head with amusement when she sighs with relief. “But that’s beside the point. We’re getting off track.”
“I know.” She grins. Ah, the little tease played me well. “How about this? Maybe. I’m not ready for any back door activities. But I might be open to try it one day.”
My brows rise. “Really?”
She bites her lip. “Mhm, the girls all said that if it was done correctly, it was really fun. I mean, maybe they’re lying, but I guess I won’t know until I try.”
“Wait, the girls? What kind of things do you talk about when we’re not around? I knew you women had weirder conversations than we did.” I chuckle.
“Uh, no, we don’t. We have perfectly normal conversations compared to you boys.”
“So do we,” I retort.
She gives me a ‘cut the bullshit’ expression. “Shane, I’ve seen your group chat with the guys. Having a competition over who has the cutest pet, and recording random strangers saying our dogs are cute to prove ours are better, isn’t what I would call normal.” Shit, she knows about that?
“It was one time,” I answer quickly.
“It was three,” she deadpans, raising a brow and daring me to tell her she’s wrong. Even though she is… It was four.
“All right, all right. Enough about this. It doesn’t matter who says the most normal things, all that matters is that you said maybe and I’m remembering that. Now, let’s get you into that bath so you can relax and then bed.”
I pick her up into my arms bridal style, and manage to climb off the bed, heading for the patio doors.
Aubrey tightens her hold around my neck as I try to lean most of her weight away from my injured shoulder.
I then whistle twice, signaling to the pups it’s time to head in, and they all come running within seconds.
“What about the food?” she asks, giggling in my arms.
“You’re more important. I’ll clean up after.” I smile, making my way to our room.
“Can you bring a box of pizza to bed?” She blushes but her eyes grow hungry for that pizza.
I chuckle and kiss her forehead. “I’ll bring the pizza and the snacks.”