“That’s it?” Helen raises an eyebrow. “Did she finish college?”
“Of course.” I hate the defensive tone in my voice. “She was a library sciences and literature major.”
“Did she ever do anything with that?”
I shove my chair back. The legs scrape against the tile. Tension knots my shoulders.
“What’s this about, Helen?” I snap. “Are you so jealous of what I have with Liv that you need to demean her?”
“I’m not jealous, Dean…”
“Then what? No, Liv doesn’t have a PhD. No, she’s not a Harvard professor. You think I give a shit?”
I put my hands flat on the table. Lean in to look her in the eye. “So she was a student when we met. She was also schlepping coffee. Best damn coffee I’ve ever had. One look at her and I was a goner. Done. Since that day, I’ve never had it so good. So don’t try and put her down because you can’t. She’s everything you never were. Everything you’ll never be.”
A gasp sounds from the kitchen doorway. Paige and my mother are standing there, both looking shocked.
Well, shit.
I straighten and drag a hand down my face. Helen is staring at me. My chest is a snarled mess of nerves. I can’t take back what I said. Can’t think of any way to soften it either.
I push past my mother and sister and go upstairs to Liv.
She’s asleep on the bed, half-curled around a pillow. Her hair is spread around her shoulders, across another pillow. Just the way I like it.
I kick off my shoes and lie down beside her, pulling her back against me. She shifts, sighs, nestles her ass against my crotch.
Just the way I like it.
My tension eases. I shove aside thoughts about Frances’s message, Helen, my parents, my brother. Instead I focus on Liv’s body against mine. Her hair brushes my face, and her peaches scent fills my nose. My pretty wife.
Mine.
Liv sleeps for another half hour. She shifts again and turns toward me.
“Hey.” She gives me a sleepy smile. “When did you get here?”
“Few minutes ago.” I run a hand over the curve of her hip. “You feel okay?”
“Mmm.” She yawns. “Tired lately, though.”
She tucks her face against my shoulder and closes her eyes again. I stroke her hip, which seems curvier than usual, then move my hand around to her belly. Her pants are unbuttoned and the zipper is down. I ease a finger beneath her underwear.
“What’s this about?” I ask.
“Hmm? Oh… my pants are getting tight. Sort of uncomfortable.”
“Yeah?” I spread my hand across her belly, which does seem rounder. A flash of… something fills my chest. Expectation? Hope?
Whatever it is, it feels good.
“I think your pants are getting tight too.” Liv nestles her face against my neck as her fingers brush the bulge in my jeans.
“No wonder, considering you were rubbing your ass against me.”
I feel her grin against my neck. She fondles my crotch.
“Is it uncomfortable?” she asks.
“Very.”
“Hmm.” She slides her other hand between us and starts working the buttons on my fly. When she moves her fingers beneath my boxers to grasp my cock, my whole body tenses. She strokes me slow and easy as her breath gets hotter against my skin. Then she wriggles back to pull my jeans down.
I watch her, wondering what other parts of her body are getting bigger that I haven’t yet noticed. I tug at the hem of her shirt.
“Take this off.”
She flashes me a smile—Christ, I love that smile—and unbuttons her shirt.
How the hell had I missed that? Her breasts are starting to swell over the top of her bra.
She follows my gaze down. “They’re getting bigger, huh?”
“Oh, yeah.” I reach for the front clasp of her bra and flick it open.
Ah, fuck. Full, creamy, perfect. Nipples like berries.
“Come here.” I’m already so hard it hurts. “Now.”
She eases out of her pants and crawls back across the bed to me. Her lips part on a sigh as she looks at my stiff cock and straddles my thighs. With her poised above me, I can see it all now—the greater width of her hips, her rounder belly, those incredible breasts.
I grasp her hips and position her above my prick, then guide her down. Like a glove, she sinks onto my shaft.
“Oh!” She leans forward, bracing her hands on my shoulders. Her hair falls in a curtain on either side of my face.
I grab a swath of her hair to pull her closer for a deep kiss. She sinks farther onto me until I’m throbbing inside her. She shifts, gasping. I dig my fingers into her hips.
“Ride me,” I whisper. “Hard.”
“Jesus, Dean.” Liv sucks in a breath and writhes again. Her body strains. “I feel like I’m going to come already.”
I thrust upward, fast enough to jolt her. “Do it.”
She stares down at me, her breath fast and a flush painting her skin pink. “But I want it to last.”
“I’ll make you come again.”