Chapter 4 #2
"My patience is at an end." Naked now, I join her on the bed, my body covering hers, my weight supported on my forearms. "No more pretending, Seraphina. No more resisting what's between us. No more sleeping in separate rooms, maintaining artificial distance when we both know where you belong."
Her hands slide up my chest to my shoulders, nails digging in slightly as if to anchor herself against the intensity between us. "And where's that?"
"Here." I press my hips against hers, letting her feel the physical evidence of my desire.
"Beneath me. Around me. Taking everything I have to give you.
" I lower my mouth to her throat, teeth grazing the sensitive skin.
"Wearing my name against your skin. Carrying my child in your body.
Surrendering to what you've been fighting since the moment I brought you home. "
A small sound escapes her—half moan, half whimper—as her body arches instinctively into mine. The emerald lace of her bra rubs against my chest, a sensual reminder of my claim made physical.
"These are beautiful on you," I murmur, tracing the lace edge where it meets her skin. "But I need them off. Now."
With practiced ease, I unfasten the delicate clasp, removing the bra to reveal her breasts—fuller now with pregnancy, more sensitive if her sharp intake of breath as the cool air hits them is any indication.
I take my time exploring these changes, cupping their weight in my palms, brushing my thumbs across nipples that pebble instantly at my touch.
"Knox," she gasps, her head falling back against the pillows. "Please."
"Please what?" I demand, replacing one hand with my mouth, drawing her nipple between my lips. "Tell me what you need, angel."
"You," she admits, abandoning the last pretense of resistance. "Inside me. Now."
The panties join the bra on the floor, leaving her gloriously naked beneath me.
I take a moment to simply look at her, to appreciate the subtle changes in her body that signal the growth of our child.
The slight roundness to her lower abdomen.
The increased fullness of her breasts. The flush that spreads across her skin, making her glow with new life.
"Beautiful," I murmur, reverence in my voice as I run my hand over the barely perceptible curve of her stomach. "Even more beautiful knowing you're carrying my child. My heir. Physical proof of what's between us."
She shivers at my words, her legs parting in unmistakable invitation.
I position myself between them, the head of my cock nudging at her entrance, finding her already slick with desire despite the minimal foreplay.
Ready for me. Always ready for me, even when her mind fights what her body knows is right.
"Look at me," I command, needing to see her eyes as I reclaim her completely. "I want to watch you remember exactly who you belong to."
Those green-gold eyes lock on mine, vulnerable and wanting in equal measure.
With one powerful thrust, I bury myself to the hilt inside her, both of us groaning at the exquisite sensation of reconnection.
She's tight, hot, perfect—her body welcoming me home even as her nails dig crescents into my shoulders.
"Mine," I growl against her throat as I establish a rhythm designed to break down any remaining resistance. "Say it again, Seraphina. Tell me who you belong to."
"Yours," she gasps, her hips rising to meet each thrust, her body speaking truth even when words fail her. "Only yours, Knox. Always."
The admission drives me to a near frenzy of possession, my movements becoming more forceful, more demanding. I hook one arm beneath her knee, changing the angle to hit the spot that always makes her wild. Her cries grow louder, more desperate as I drive her relentlessly toward release.
"Who makes you feel like this?" I demand, my voice rough with exertion and emotion. "Who knows your body better than you know it yourself? Who owns every part of you, inside and out?"
"You," she sobs, her inner muscles beginning to flutter around me as her climax approaches. "Only you, Knox. Never anyone else."
"That's right." I slip a hand between our bodies, my thumb finding her clit with unerring accuracy. "And don't you ever forget it again. Don't you ever try to run from this. From us."
Her release hits with stunning intensity, her body arching beneath mine, my name a broken cry on her lips as pleasure overwhelms her.
The sight of her coming undone, completely surrendered to the connection between us, triggers my own climax.
I drive into her once more, emptying myself deep inside her, marking her in the most primal way possible.
In the aftermath, I gather her against me, unwilling to break the physical connection even as our breathing gradually returns to normal. Her head rests on my chest, her body pliant and soft in the way it only ever is after I've thoroughly claimed her.
"No more guest room," I murmur against her hair, the words both statement and question. "No more pretending we're not exactly where we're meant to be."
She's quiet for a long moment, and I wonder if she'll retreat again, if the walls will come back up now that physical need has been satisfied. Then she sighs, a sound of resignation mixed with acceptance.
"No more guest room," she agrees softly. "No more pretending."
Victory surges through me, sweeter even than the physical release still echoing through my body. Not just sex, not just physical surrender, but acknowledgment. Acceptance. The beginning of the full reconciliation I've been working toward since the moment I interrupted her wedding.
"Sleep now," I tell her, pulling the sheets over our cooling bodies, keeping her securely in my arms where she belongs. "Tomorrow we begin the rest of our life together. Properly this time."
She doesn't argue, doesn't qualify or condition her agreement.
Simply nestles closer, her breathing gradually evening out as sleep claims her.
In this moment of vulnerability, with all her defenses down, she's completely mine—body, soul, and soon, with continued patience and determination, mind as well.
Perfect. Exactly as it was always meant to be.