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CHAPTER FORTY

John - Three Months Later

I see Becca standing in the tunnel after our game against the Portland Glaciers. She’s waiting for me in our spot but when I get up close she has tears in her eyes, so I ask, “What’s wrong?” I’ve learned not to say anything about hormones at this stage.

My very pregnant fiancé grabs my elbow, leading me out of the tunnel like her shoes are on fire. “We’ve got to go.” Her words are clipped and sharp.

I stop and spin her around, pulling my best crooked grin but she doesn’t smile. Instead, her eyes flit around, appearing to be guilty of something or a fugitive on the run, looking over her shoulder.

“Are you having contractions? They’re probably those Braxton Hicks we’ve read about. Or wait… do you have to pee.”

“No, please let’s just go.” Becca’s pinched tone edges on what I would normally think of as fear, but why would she be afraid, here in a hockey arena?

I’ve learned from my college teammates that pregnancy hormones can switch their mood in an instant so like any good boyfriend, I slide my hands around her belly and hook them at the small of her back. “I know what to do to make you smile.”

She flattens her lips and narrows those baby blues until they’re only slits. “The only thing putting a smile on my face is peeling out of the parking lot and ordering a bacon ranch pizza from Mariano’s to go.”

Yesterday the ranch dressing on her salad soured in her stomach and she vowed she would never, I mean never eat ranch again.

I don’t dare bring it up because a man can’t fight pregnancy hormones and she’s incubating our baby in her belly.

So I can deal with a little indecisiveness and her acting differently once in a while.

“Mariano’s will hit the spot. But then I’m taking care of my soon-to-be-wife.”

The players parking lot is full as most of my teammates are lingering around the press, taking questions.

We all love the post-game press interviews when we win.

And since we only have to win one more game to win the division playoffs, I asked Coach to let me out of it tonight.

Becca’s due date is looming and we’re only four weeks away from having our own family.

“I’m driving,” she insists as I click the remote to unlock the doors.

She walks toward the truck, belly leading the way, eyeing the running board with complete resolve.

She’s always had trouble climbing in, but pregnancy makes it nearly impossible.

I slide up behind her and lean down, whispering, “Let me play hero for once,” before gently lifting her by the waist and helping her inside.

“Thank you.” She scoots the seat up but can’t get it close enough with the steering wheel digging into her. She lets out a frustrated sigh and starts crying. “I need to get out of here and I can’t reach the pedals.”

She opens the door and slides out, so I help her into the passenger side.

“Hey, I’m going to get a cheeseburger pizza.

I don’t want bacon tonight.” I don’t really care what type of pizza, but I need to make sure she eats and she loves cheeseburger pizza.

Her Mamaw bought the pizza dough in the can and then made homemade pizza when Becca was younger.

So this may not be her Mamaw’s, but it’s as close as I can get tonight and it’s just the cheering up she needs.

When we pick up the pizzas she seems more relaxed, but she’s scared about something. Hell, I’m scared. In a month, we’ll be responsible for a baby.

Yawning, she leans her head against my arm and I place my hand on her knee. “Almost there. Are you going to stay awake to eat?”

She lifts her shoulder, tucking her head into the space between my arm and chest. By the time we pull into the driveway, she’s fast asleep, so I scoop her up and carry her inside, settling her gently onto the big sectional.

I grab a slice of pie and sit down at her feet, shove one piece in my mouth then take off her tennis shoes and her leggings. It’s not easy without waking her, but she either is out cold or too tired to move.

Beautiful isn’t a strong enough word to represent how she looks right now–pregnant in my jersey curled up our couch. Moving behind her, I’m careful not to jostle her awake. As I wrap my arm around her, and nestle my nose into her, I take in the familiar scent.

My fingers graze over her hips, thinking about all the stars I wished upon.

All the prayers. All the mumbling to myself that if I ever got the chance with Becca, I would do anything for her, and treat her like the princess her family believes her to be.

They don’t know about her devilish side that only I get to see and feel.

Becca pushes her butt into my groin and I realize my erection is pressing against her. The hum in her throat makes me smile. I gently pull her hair off her neck and peck under her ear.

She stirs and wiggles her ass and I’m not sure I can control the animalistic feeling traveling from my toes. I whisper, “My girl. In my jersey. Utter perfection.”

Turning her head, with her eyes still closed she purrs in appreciation.

One simple kiss turns into two, then to three until she says, “I love the way you love me.” Her lids flutter open showing off her brilliant blue eyes that are so easy to get lost in.

They’re filled with caring, understanding and right now desire is swirling.

“Does my girl want some lovin’?”

“Do you?” she asks with a seductive breathiness.

“Sunshine, always. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t want to be buried balls deep inside you.”

A smile slides across her face and an urgent need has me popping off the couch and shedding my clothes.

Once I’m naked, she pushes herself to a sitting position, crooking her finger to come closer.

My erection is heavy and magnetized to her mouth.

She folds those sinful lips over me, licking and sucking.

If there is anything more captivating than Becca, pregnant and enjoying her mouth stuffed full, I don’t know what it would be.

“Damn, Becca. This feels so good.”

She pops off for a second, smiling up at me with a string of saliva still connecting us. “I love making you come undone,” she whispers.

“I want to come undone inside of you.”

“John, can you get behind me? I have zero energy.”

Becca’s barely finished her thoughts before I stand her up and slide her underwear down her legs. Then I jump around her and she lays on her side in front of me.

“Sunshine, you never have to ask me.” My hands wander over her stretched skin and under my jersey caressing her baby bump before my fingers find her center. It’s hot and wet and begging me to give her some relief.

“How do you know the perfect way to touch me?”

“Because I’ve been listening. I’ve been memorizing your reactions to my touch. And when I’m out of town, I think about how I can give you the utmost pleasure when I’m back in bed with you.”

“We haven’t had sex in the bed much lately. I’m so big.”

“You’re perfect.” I move my hips gliding through her folds as my fingers press firmly against her clit. “I mean it, Becca. Even if your body stays round, you’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”

“I guess the lizard was lucky for me too.”

I suck on the skin where her shoulder meets the column of her neck. It’s smooth and delicate. She squeezes against my fingers. “The luckiest. I wasn’t scared though.”

“Yeah right.”

“I was just trying to get us into the same bed.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night. I bought you a lizard for your birthday and you never take him out and play with him.”

“You don’t play with lizards. You play with dogs or cats.”

My velvety head nestles against her opening as I scoot down the couch for the right angle.

As I push the head in, she rasps, “Please.”

Becca hooks her arm around my neck, scraping her short nails through my hair, purring and mewling at the contact.

We move together in complete synchrony. We both enjoy this position. It’s sensual and loving but after several minutes go by she says, “I need more.”

I rub her bundle of nerves harder and faster until words of praise fall from her lips.

“Get on all fours, I need to be deeper inside you. I want to fill you up.”

She swings her legs off the couch and stands, adjusting herself. She sinks her knees into the cushions while gripping the back of the couch. I move behind her, push my jersey onto her back.

I catch my breath, staring at Becca as she looks over her shoulder with a mischievous grin.

I didn’t think I had a breeding kink, but damn, I want to have ten kids with this beautiful woman.

The thought hits me like an oncoming train, raw and unfiltered, as I imagine a house bursting with chaos—little feet pattering, her smile mirrored in their faces.

Her curves, her warmth, the way she hums old songs while cooking, it all pulls me in, making my chest ache with a need I never knew I had.

Now I know why her parents had ten kids; it’s not just love, it’s this primal, unstoppable urge to build a legacy with someone who feels like home.

I grin, half-embarrassed, wondering if she can see the future I’m dreaming up in my eyes.

“What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking about doing this for seventy more years.”

She giggles, “I’ll have a wrinkly butt.”

“And I’ll love it because you’re mine.”

I grip my erection and swirl it over her center, wetting it with her juices. I push the head inside her painstakingly slow; her legs tremble.

Number twenty-two is like a neon sign on her back and the thought of her being mine forever strikes. I increase my speed, unable to control all of the emotions flowing through me.

She strings a bunch of incoherent words together as she climaxes so hard it’s dripping as I look down at where we’re connected. The sight makes me detonate and my hot arousal shoots inside her, filling her insides. Not wanting to separate, I hold her close and cautiously lay us on our sides.

“I love you big guy.”