Page 109 of Protected from Torment

I never would have thought it, driving on the road that day—that I’d meet the woman who brought my heart back to life again.

As Mel gazes back at me, her expression softens. “I love you, Tyler. So much.”

My chest squeezes. “I love you, too, baby. With all my heart.”

Her lips curve up. “I have an idea.”

“Oh?” I ask. “What’s that?”

“I want you inside me,” she replies. “Everything you’re doing is amazing. But I just… I want to feel everything. All of you. And I want to feel you come along with me.”

“That wasn’t the plan,” I persist, even though my body wants to agree. “Since you weren’t feeling that well yesterday, we were going to take it easy today.”

Mel smiles at me. “I’m feeling much better. Definitely better enough for this.” She pauses before bargaining, “We could still take it easy. I’ll just lie here and let you do everything. What do you think of that?”

My dick jumps eagerly.

Yes! it shouts silently. Absolutely, yes! That’s a marvelous idea. Why haven’t you said yes already?

Taking her legs from my shoulders, I set them back on the mattress. Then I move between them and notch myself at her opening. “You’re sure? Because I’m more than happy just doing what we were before.”

Her hands release the sheets and come to my ass, pulling me closer to her. “I’m sure.” Desire burns in her gaze. “Absolutely sure.”

“In that case,” I tell her as I nudge my way inside her welcoming heat. “I want to feel all of you, too.”

And I do.

We do.

Like we agreed, it’s a slow build, like the sun coming over the horizon—the sky shifting from a warm, golden glow to a burst of brilliant light.

And like it is every time I make love to Mel—it’s not just sex, but so much more than that—everything is perfect.

No. That’s not quite right. It’s perfectly imperfect.

Mel giggles when my beard tickles her. Our perspiration-dampened bodies make funny sounds as they collide. Just as Mel is close to coming, she has a sneezing fit, which makes her inner walls clamp hard around me, and I only just stave off finishing early.

But we laugh all through it. And being able to laugh during such an intimate act makes it even more special.

Then there’s the moment when Mel finally comes, granting silent permission for me to finish along with her. The moment when we’re joined as completely as two people can be. A moment I wish I could hang onto forever.

As the aftershocks ripple through us, I turn so we’re lying on our sides, facing each other. Dragging the rumpled blanket back over us, I cuddle Mel in my arms and press my lips to the top of her head. She tucks her face into my neck, so her warm breath feathers across my skin. Her hand comes between us to cover my heart.

For several minutes, we just lay there, looking into each other’s eyes. Words aren’t necessary right now. Everything we’re feeling is right there, on full display. Only when I’m in danger of slipping out of her and making a mess do I reluctantly decide to get up.

“Stay there,” I tell her. “I’ll get a washcloth to clean up.”

“Yes, sir,” Mel replies with a little smirk.

Though it shouldn’t be able to this quickly, my dick jumps to attention. Apparently, it likes being called sir. Who knew? But I tuck it away to investigate later.

It takes a few minutes to deal with putting my prosthetic on, rinsing my mouth with mouthwash in the bathroom, and then coming back into the bedroom to clean Mel up. But once everything’s taken care of, I crawl back into bed and take her into my arms.

As I’ve found myself doing more and more often, my hand comes to her lower belly, where the baby is only just starting to show. I wish I could feel him move, but it’s still too soon for that. “Eighteen weeks,” the doctor told us during our last visit. “Occasionally as early as sixteen, but it could take up to twenty-four. So don’t worry if it doesn’t happen right away.”

“I don’t want to wait,” Mel bemoaned on the car ride home. “I want to feel him right now. I want to know he’s really okay.”

“He is,” I reassured her. “The scans all looked great. And the portable ultrasound should be delivered tomorrow, so we can check on the little guy whenever we want.”