“We’re going to be okay, Ryland,” I tell her softly. “Everything is going to be okay now,” I smile into her curls.
I feel Ryder slip in behind me a few minutes later. I sigh in my sleep as he pulls me close to his chest and buries his face in my hair. Our daughter is sleeping peacefully next to me as we lay there watching her small chest rise and fall. I eventually get pulled back under as sleep takes hold of me once again.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
RYDER
Six months later…
I leanagainst the doorway and just watch her for a moment. She’s up to her chin in bubbles, and her eyes are closed as she rests the back of her head against the tub. She’s the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen. Her round belly peeks above the water as she rests her hands on our unborn baby.
The past few months have been the best I can remember. We’ve been living in our home since September, and with her due date next month, I’ve been trying to soak up every moment with my girls before it all changes.
True to her word, we haven’t heard a peep from her mom since we walked out of the motel room. I still have my guy keep an eye on her whereabouts, and it’s always a relief when I hear she’s still halfway around the world. I still don’t know if I made the right decision not pressing charges for the little stunt she pulled, but Eve seems to think it would have made the whole situation worse for us in the end.
I think there will always be a small part of her that still craves that love from her mom, but she’s accepted the fact that she will never change. She chose money over love in the end. It’s all she’s ever known, and the fear of being broken again keeps those chains tight around her heart.
She opens her eyes, and blue eyes find mine. I will never tire of the way she looks at me. It’s as if my whole existence was put on this Earth for the sole purpose of loving her.
“How long have you been standing there?” Her pink lips turn up into a smile.
“A while.” I push myself off the doorframe and walk towards her. “Here, let me.” I take the shampoo from her hands and sit on the wooden stool beside the tub. Squeezing some in my palm, the scent of strawberries fills my senses, and I smile, remembering that first day I met her and how it quickly became my favorite smell.
I lather it in her hair and massage her scalp. Groaning, she leans back into my touch.
“Feel good?” I smile when she softly moans again.
“You have magic hands, Ryder Montgomery.”
“Only for you,” I murmur. Taking the nozzle, I gently rinse her hair before applying the conditioner and doing the same. I reach for the sponge and squirt some body wash on it. Moving her hair to the side, I start to wash her back. Her soft skin is flushed from the warm water. When she leans back against the tub again, I get a delicious view of her breasts. Pregnancy looks so damn sexy on her, and I’ve made sure we enjoy every minute of it.
I rub the sponge over her full breasts and watch her pink nipples tighten at the touch. She sighs and arches more into my touch. Moving down her arms, I bring the sponge back up before dropping it in the tub and replacing it with my hands. I rub her shoulders, and she closes her eyes with a moan. That singlesound is enough to undo me. My dick immediately responds, wanting to come out and play as it strains against my grey sweats.
I run my hand up her neck before clasping it in the front. Her head leans back on the tub, and her lips part as I hold her there, feeling her pulse beat rapidly under my fingers. Her chest rises faster, and I watch her full breasts move with the water.
“Ryder…” My name sounds more like a plea as I meet her hooded blues.
“Hmmm?” I still have my hand around her slender throat. I feel her swallow beneath my palm as her long lashes slowly close before opening and searing me with a look that has easily become my favorite.
“Take me to bed,” she breathes before arching her head back further and pressing more into my hand. I give her neck a gentle squeeze before sliding down her chest and filling my palm with one of her breasts. Her nipple rubs against my palm, and I know I’m slowly torturing her at this point. I want to hear something first. Something I always crave to hear coming from those lips.
“Please,” she begs, and that one word has me throbbing in places that only she can ignite.
“God, yes,” I growl, standing up and lifting her out of the tub.
“Ryder! I’m too heavy now!” Her wet body clings to me, soaking my bare chest.
“You are not too heavy,” I laugh. “You’ve been in the gym with me almost every morning ogling me as I lift weights way heavier than you.”
“I don’t ogle you,” she giggles when I arch my brow at her and smirk. “Okay, I do. You are very nice to look at, Mr. Montgomery.”
I set her down and towel-dry her hair before running it over her body. Kneeling down, I dry her legs. “So are you, Mrs. Montgomery.” I swipe my tongue through her folds and moanwhen I realize how ready she is for me. “You taste fucking amazing, too,” I breathe against her skin.
I sweep her up in my arms again and carry her to the bedroom. As I walk by, I pass Travis’s artwork on our walls. We went through the storage together, and it’s been comforting to see pieces of our first apartment mixed with new items from our lives now.
I lay her down on the bed and admire the view for a minute as I stand up and gaze at her. I never knew how much of a turn-on it is to know she’s carrying my child. I didn’t think it was possible to love her more than I already did, but each month that goes by, I see her body changing and creating a life inside her. A piece of me is always with her, and knowing that brings a deep satisfaction that it was me who poured into her creating this life.
Her eyes follow my movements as I lower my grey sweats to the floor. I’m hard as a rock as I stroke myself. The hunger in her eyes as she watches me makes my dick swell even more in my hand.
