The answer hit him suddenly and without warning; he was totally unprepared for it. His heart stopped and he found it difficult to breathe. Rebecca looked up in alarm as he simply froze in place. “Kane, is everything alright?”
Kane pushed her away enough to look into her face. He glanced down into the soft brown of her eyes. He saw so much love there it was nearly his undoing. And then he knew.
Kane crushed his mouth to hers. Rebecca was the air he needed to breathe, because his lungs simply weren’t working on their own. He lifted her in his arms, holding her chest to his so that her heart could coax his into beating again.
“Looks like he figured it out,” Taryn said with a smile, as the women exchanged high-fives all around.
“Figured out what?” asked Jake. The others looked just as confused. The women laughed.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kane fled the ballroom with Rebecca in his arms in search of privacy. It landed them in a linen supply closet. Kane sat Rebecca gently down on a folding table, then immediately began pacing. It was a small room; he could take only a step or two in each direction before the limited space demanded he turn and go the other way.
Rebecca eyed him warily. “Kane?”
The fear in her voice nearly undid him. He stopped and kissed her again, a thorough, demanding kiss that left her breathless. She moaned and snaked her hands behind his neck. Before he could stop himself he lifted her gown and released the fastenings of his pants, stepping between her legs and sliding into her. He needed her, needed in her, now.
Ah, the noises she made. A little gasp, a muted whimper, the soft moan of ecstasy. He buried himself deep inside her. Only now did it all make sense to him.
Rebecca was pregnant. Why hadn’t he thought of that? He came from a family of seven sons. His married brethren were continuing the fertile tradition. He and Rebecca hadn’t used protection once – the very idea was unthinkable – and they had certainly been spending a lot of intimate time together.
He thought back. Not a day had gone by since they’d taken their first vows more than three months prior that they hadn’t made love. If he’d been a smarter man he might have thought that strange, given the nature of women and the way things generally worked. He’d been so caught up in everything else that he’d never given it a second thought. Why had it not occurred to him before this?
He moved inside her, slowly and tenderly. She clung to him desperately with a need that greatly surpassed the physical, reaching down inside him, entwining into his heart and soul, her body trying to tell him what her lips could not.
Only when he felt her submit to her body’s demands and clench around him did he allow himself release as well, filling her, celebrating their love. He stayed joined with her, holding her close so that he could feel the beat of her heart against his chest slowing to normal levels.
“I couldn’t wait,” he said simply when she gazed at him with those half-lidded eyes, questioning.
“Mmmmm.” He knew she would not speak for at least a few minutes; she never did after they made love. The more intense her orgasm, the longer it would take for her to regain her voice. That was fine with him. He’d come to treasure her soft sighs and sated purrs.
Reluctantly he withdrew from her, grabbing a few of the expensive linen napkins to carefully clean her before righting her gown, then taking care of himself.
*
“Kane?” she said quietly as he lifted her from the table and set her back on her feet. Her sex still throbbed from his possession, his release hot and thick within her, though she already missed him. If they were somewhere private, they would simply drift off in each other’s arms, and Kane would be inside her, making her whole. It would be easier to tell him that way, but she could wait no longer.
“Yes, love?” His deep voice filled the small room as his body commanded it, commanded her. The very idea that he loved her sent shivers of delight up and down her spine. But how would he react to what she was about to tell him? And she had to tell him. The secret was burning her up from the inside out.
“I love you.” Chicken, she berated herself.
Knowing eyes settled on hers, a sexy tilt to his lips sent her heart racing again. How could he do this to her so easily? A look and a smile and she was melting before him.
“I love you, too.”
She dropped her eyes, unable to hold his gaze. The cummerbund around his slim waist was really quite fascinating. So silky, shiny. She let her hand trail along it, feeling the material beneath the pads of her fingers while he waited patiently for her to say what was really on her mind. Kane knew. He always knew.
“IthinkI’mpregnant.”
His smile grew to a full half-grin as he lifted her chin and forced him to look at him. “I know.”
Rebecca blinked, her eyes wide. “You do?”