Page 60 of Forbidden Cowboy
“I love hearing that,” I responded.
“I told Beau,” she said, and I pulled back with a look of concern. “When he was unconscious, so I doubt he remembers, but I told him everything. It was cathartic.”
“I really hope coma patients don’t remember what they’re told in comas,” I said. “Your brother trying to kill me once was enough, thanks.”
“Yeah,” she said, and we pulled apart properly to speak, “what did he even do?”
“He tried to punch me,” I shrugged. “I don’t actually blame him for that.”
“Oh my God,” she gasped, covering her mouth. “Did he hurt you?”
“Sierra, the man is recovering from a months’ long coma. I don’t think he could have hurt me if he tried, and I’m pretty sure he tried.”
“I didn’t think about that,” she replied, “he just showed up at my apartment, and he put all the pieces together pretty quickly. For his first time seeing my new place, he didn’t exactly stay long—maybe a minute or two?”
“I can just imagine him leaving and you following. You two must have been a strange sight—the injured man and the pregnant woman chasing each other down the street.”
She laughed and shoved me, and I chuckled as well. We kissed again, this time deeper. I felt Sierra stiffen under the hand I cupped to her neck. I pulled away, and she was looking down and to the side, a blush dusting her cheeks.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, and she only blushed more.
“It’s nothing,” she replied. “Just stupid pregnancy hormones.”
I didn’t know much about pregnancy, having not been around for Eliana’s, and having not paid any attention in our health classes that covered it. There was one rumor I’d heard about before, though.
“Are you…?”
Sierra rolled her eyes, but blushed even more furiously.
I laughed, and she shoved me again, harder this time.
“Whatever!” She cried, throwing up exasperated hands. “It’s just a thing, I can handle it.”
“But why should you have to when I’m right here?”
“Ew, don’t sound so slimy,” she said. “And besides… I… I don’t look the same.”
“Well, obviously,” I said. “You’re literally carrying three humans inside of you, anyone would look a little different for that.”
I didn’t mention how I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that those three humans were mine. Mine and hers. Three people we had made, entirely by accident.
“I’m not… attractive like I was before,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t like how I look right now.”
“Well,” I countered, “I think you look stunning.”
I pulled her arms away from her chest, and pulled her to her feet. I moved slowly, deliberately, giving her every opportunity to move away if she wanted to. I looked her up and down, taking in the sight.
“You’re glowing,” I pointed out, trailing my hand from her cheek down to her clavicle. “Pregnancy suits you, and look at how you react to my touch.”
It wasn’t a lie, I noted, she truly reacted to the lightest of touches, shivering slightly under my hand.
“Your breasts are fuller than before; they were perfect then, and perfect now—just more for me to enjoy.”
I let my hand trail down, searching her eyes for any sign of rejection. The minute she wanted me gone, my hands were going to be off her body. I saw only lust, smoldering like a warm fire in her expression.
“You have the same strong arms that have worked farms and trained members of the WNBA,” I said. “The same hands that cook amazing meals and help you accentuate your speech. Legs that carry you wherever you need to go.”
She was blushing furiously, and I dipped in for a kiss, tugging lightly on her bottom lip. She chased my mouth when I pulled away. The little huff of frustrated breath she let out was adorable, and made me want to indulge her, but not quite yet. I toyed with the hem of her t-shirt. After a couple moments of this, I saw her eyes ease into permission. She let me pull it up and over her head, discarding it somewhere in the room. Her body had changed, that much was certainly true, but it didn’t make her any less beautiful. In fact, the knowledge of why she had changed almost increased her attractiveness. She was carryingmychildren, something I never thought I’d get to see happen. A fantasy for my life that I had played out time and time again, and never thought I’d see come to fruition.