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Groaning against him, she pressed her body closer, fitting every inch of herself to every inch of him that she could. His hands roamed down her back and cupped her ass, grinding her against him. Heat pooled in her belly, flowed languidly out to all her limbs, weakening her while strengthening her need. She slid one leg up, hooking it around his hip, and his hand followed the long, lean muscle of her thigh. Her bare skin tingled under the warmth of his touch. Other places tingled in the anticipation of it.

“I missed you,” he murmured. She couldn’t even explain how much she’d missed him. Like a part of her was gone. Or rather, the piece of himself that he’d left with her was crying out for him.

“I don’t even want to remember how much I missed you,” she said. “Just be with me now. Make it all go away.”

Heat flared in his gaze. His kiss blazed through her senses again, and all at once his hands were everywhere. Squeezing her ass, then stroking her breasts, and everywhere in between. Finally in her hair, pulling it down, sending pins flying, and she almost laughed against his mouth as the silky strands tumbled around her shoulders.

Finally. Finally, she had a guy who would demolish her updo. As ridiculous as it seemed, that moment somehow confirmed everything she already knew. This was right. This was perfection.

They somehow made it to her bedroom, flinging clothes in every direction until she landed on the mattress, his hard half-naked body between her legs. Besides his jeans, only her panties remained between them, and she wrestled with the button on his jeans, trying to eliminate one of those barriers. When he slipped from her hands to slide down her body, she whimpered in frustration.

But his kisses slid down with him, teasing along her breasts, then lower. His hand spread over her stomach, the pressure of it warm and gentle. It was too early to feel any movement within, but she liked to think the life inside her surged with happiness at his nearness. “You’re starting to show,” he said, his voice tinged with wonder.

“I think so,” she whispered. He moved his hand to sprinkle more warm kisses around her belly button, which tickled as much as they enticed. She giggled, wriggling under him, stroking her fingers through his hair. It had grown. She liked that. Something to grab on to—and the thought of that first inexorable thrust had her licking her lips. “Ian, please…don’t make me wait.”

He did, though, taking his time pulling down her panties, lightly kissing and licking places that were craving a much more substantial touch. She loved the sight of his big hand dragging the scrap of lace down her thighs, his mouth smearing erotically over the places he revealed.

“God!” she cried in frustration, nearly wrenched in two by her need. Her pussy clenched, heat and pressure building to unbearable proportions. His head dipped lower and his tongue flicked lightly over her clit. Her hips came off the bed, seeking that wet touch again, but he evaded her. The sound that burst from her throat was nearly a growl.

He only grinned, getting up on his knees and pulling her legs straight up in the air to slip her panties all the way off and cast them aside. Seeing him like that…shirtless, inked, pierced, jeans undone and hanging low on the V of his hips…fuck. She was going to attack him if he didn’t get inside her soon. But he only took that opportunity to run his mouth down her calf, the side of her knee, then parted her legs and licked a trail up her inner thigh. Sighing, she let her legs drop on either side of him. He settled between them and put his mouth, that mouth, that wonderful, wet, hot mouth, right on her clit. She slid her fingers through his hair, sighing her absolute bliss.

He sucked her, licked her, devoured her. Whispering how he loved the way she smelled, the way she tasted, how he’d never get enough of her. She prayed it was true—she’d damn sure never get enough of him.

When he’d gotten her so hot and wet and wild for him that climax was imminent, he moved up her undulating body, trailing more kisses, stopping to suck each of her nipples in turn deep into his mouth. She clawed at his back, begging, wrapping both legs around his waist, overjoyed when she felt him push his jeans down enough to free his hard cock.

“Did you ever get tested?” she asked in a breathless rush.

“I did. I’m clean.”

“Me too.” She wanted nothing more than to feel him sink inside her with nothing between them, flesh to burning flesh. Reaching down to take him in her hand, she guided him to her entrance. “Give it to me,” she pleaded, rubbing the blunt, thick tip along her crease, and he lifted his mouth to hers.

“Yeah? You want it?” He kissed her furiously.

“Oh God, yes. Now, now, now…”

She expected him to draw it out, torture her some more. But he was as tired of waiting as she was. With one long thrust, he took her, their mutual groans lingering in the air between their lips as he stared into her eyes. Nothing in the world had ever felt better. So thick, filling her so perfectly, and he barely gave her time to adjust before he began to move with gentle thrusts.

 She couldn’t look away from him. Never again did she want to hide from him behind her walls—she wanted him to break them down every time. Gasping as he slid even deeper, she grasped his face in her hands and brought his forehead to hers. “Ian…”

“I love you,” he rasped, and it was even sweeter than the first time he’d said it.

“I love you.”

“Marry me.”

Shock snapped her eyes wide, and he kissed her wildly, further tumbling her under the waves threatening to wash her away. The physical maelstrom of pleasure, the emotional joy of his words—it was all too much. She had only one reply to all of it, and she tore her mouth away from his to cry it out. “Yes!”

And she barely got the word out before climax rendered her mute with all-consuming ecstasy. As she floated back down to earth, panting, shivering, Ian nestled his face into her neck and locked into her, groaning her name as she felt him pulse deep inside.

For a moment, in the warm afterglow, neither of them spoke. Then he slid off her and pulled her into his arms, snuggling her close.

“Yes?” he whispered with a smile as he rained kisses along her jawline.

In the blistering heat of the moment, it had been easy to shout out her answer. It was no more difficult now. “I will. Of course I will.”

“You don’t know how much that means to me,” he murmured, caressing her cheek with his thumb.

Knowing what she’d been through before, he meant. God, she could even question her own sanity. Still, on some deep level, far below her hang-ups and her walls and all that other crap in her soul she didn’t like to deal with, she knew this was right. It was a certainty she’d never known before, even with Mark.

Poor Mark. He wasn’t a bad guy, really, and she had some explaining to do. But she’d deal with that later. She and Ian had the whole night ahead. A lifetime of nights.

Dreams really did come true.

Chapter Twenty-Two

March

At precisely 3:02 a.m., Gabriella Rhodes’s eyes flew open. She knew because she was staring straight at the glowing red digital numbers of her alarm clock.

Sighing, she turned her face deeper into her pillow and mourned for the long-lost nights when she could sleep all the way through until sunrise. According to Kelsey, they were gone for good. Or at least for several more months.

At the moment, however, there were any number of aches and pains or kicks or Braxton Hicks contractions or bathroom runs to disturb her rest, and turning over in bed was such a chore that it required her to be alert to pull it off.

Would this ever freaking end?