She gets into the tub, and I get in right behind her. She leans against me. She smells of all my favorite things. I think about my future with Liv, and nothing feels more right. She is carrying my baby, bringing another little human into this world that we created. This baby growing inside her, which is equal parts of us, reminds me of how perfect my life is.
“Hey, Liv?”
I pull her face around to look at me. She twists her body, and I place my hands on either side of her face.
“Let's go away for the holidays. We can spend Thanksgiving with my parents since your mom is on call this year. After that, we spend Christmas and New Year’s somewhere. What do you say? It might get your mind off things, and let’s take some time to ourselves before the baby gets here.”
I instinctively move my hand and place it on her mostly flat abdomen. There is a small bump that no one else would notice unless they saw her like this. I’d likely have to rip their eyes out if that happened. Hey, no one ever said I wasn’t an alpha hole.
She bites on her lower lip, and I go to kiss her. She pulls away and looks into my eyes with a smile. “Yeah, let’s do it. Let’s get away for the holidays.”
I smile and kiss her again. “Okay, I’ll book a getaway trip for us this week.”
“Okay.”
She settles back into me, and we stay like that until the water turns cold. I get up and grab our towels. I help her out of the tub and wrap her in a towel. I grab her gown from the hook by the closet and help her dress. I take her hand and lead her right to our bed.
“Let’s go to sleep.”
She doesn’t argue with me, and I get into the bed commando pulling the covers over us. She rests her head on my shoulder, and I gently stroke her arm as her breathing evens out, and I can tell she is asleep. I kiss the top of her head and follow suit, letting sleep engulf me.
ChapterThirty-Six
Liv
We hearthe seat belt light ding above us. The flight attendant comes over the speaker announcing we will be making our final descent, letting us know that we will be landing shortly, arriving at our Caribbean destination. Yep, Dax convinced me to take a plane for the holidays, so we are spending Christmas here. Spending a winter holiday in places like Aspen for Christmas and New Year might be more fitting. However, Dax immediately dismissed that idea, and here we are on a populated beach surrounded by crystal blue water and white sand beaches galore. What can I say? The guy likes the beach and surfing, which is fine by me.
I am finally starting to show during this hush-hush pregnancy. I plan on lying on the beach with my pregnancy bump on full display. I got the perfect white bikini which Dax about ripped off me when I showed him by modeling it the night before we went away. The guy has a ferocious sexual appetite. Since this pregnancy, I can match him in the bedroom, kitchen, or any surface he decides to take me. I have sex on the brain, and he has to take this girl from behind and make her scream most days. Speaking of which, I think we should start looking for a house with more privacy than the apartment he currently resides in. I walked to my car and made eye contact with another tenant in the complex. She immediately blushed and put her face down, briskly walking to her door. Yep, she definitely heard our vocal lovemaking. I’ll have to talk to Dax about that soon.
We get our luggage from the back of the taxi and are on our way to the resort. He wanted to stay in a more central location with access to restaurants and attractions. I don’t care where we are as long as we are together. We have been in a whirlwind of a relationship. It hasn’t even been a year yet, and I feel I have known this incredible man all my life. That thought instantly puts me on edge, considering that the man I have known for most of my life has decided to ghost me. Even though I am happy with Dax and preoccupied with my new life, I still haven’t talked to Brodie. He remains at the back of my mind with uncertainty. We left our friendship on bad terms. The last time we left on bad terms, he ended up in a hospital for months recovering from an almost fatal accident. An accident that changed his life forever. Thanksgiving came and went. I barely spoke to my mom since she was working that night. She had to satisfy her turkey craving with a hospital-sponsored dinner for all the unfortunate employees that had to work saving and maintaining lives at the hospital. That is our typical mother-daughter relationship. We are both always working. At least now I have been able to focus solely on school. A luxury that Dax affords me.
I didn’t try to contact Brodie because I respected his wishes to be left alone so he could work on some issues. Though, he is never far from my mind. This is the longest I have gone from seeing or talking to him. It is nothing but radio silence on his end. My text messages to attempt to check in have also gone unanswered. I tried to text Melissa, his nurse, but she respects his wishes and champions patient confidentiality. I have two weeks off before my school schedule resumes, and Dax has to return to work.
Dax takes my hand in assisting me to our room, and I am immediately blown away at the opulence of this suite. It appears that Dax spared no expense. I make a beeline to the bathroom. This little pea has suddenly turned this body into a peeing machine. I intended to make a beeline to the toilet when I noticed a present or two lying on the bed. I halt with my hand still on the doorframe as I slowly turn around and go to the bed. I touch the boxes and turn around as I sense Dax is now in the room. He is standing in the doorway, watching me.
“Umm, what is this, Dax?”
His eyes smolder, and he walks my way. He stops midway, engulfing me in his alpha presence. I feel my core clench in anticipation of him coming over to me. Instead, he stood there without advancing further.
“Open it, Liv,” he says in a commanding voice.
I turn around from him with a look that must be confusing as he nods his head in encouragement. I pick up the first box, the larger of the two, and slowly open the present. I gasp in surprise. I reach out to pull the most elegant white dress from the garment box. I almost can’t believe my eyes except that I am holding the dress as my fingers float over the satin fabric and gorgeous embellishments along the collar.
I go to turn around and see Dax looking intently at me.
“Liv, since that day in the emergency room, I knew that you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I vowed to make you mine then and vow to keep you as mine forever. You already said you would marry me, but will you marry me now?”
Without hesitation, I reply, “Yes, I’ll marry you now,” as the tears fall freely from my eyes.
I go to Dax, who takes me into his arms and kisses me so passionately that I forget about having to pee. We decide to christen the new bedroom and lie in bed holding each other. I must have dozed off because I woke up to see Dax scrolling through his phone. He looked down at me and kissed my forehead.
“Hey, sleepyhead. I thought you’d never wake up. You must have been exhausted.”
I stretch out and kick the blanket off. “I think it was a sex-induced coma.” I look over at Dax, slowly admiring his still-naked form. I just can’t get enough of this man as I bit my lower lip. I think of his muscular arm, which I once admired for the first time in the ED where he was a patient. If he only knew of all my evil thoughts.
He smirks, watching me, and shakes his head. “Liv, what am I going to do with you.” He laughs. “I can think of a couple of things that make the top of my list right about now.”
I nuzzle into his neck and lick up the side until I get to his ear, where I whisper as I suck on his earlobe.
