“I was really excited to take Mattie home and my mom just made me feel like I would be endangering her by taking her out of the hospital. As if I couldn’t take care of her well enough on my own.” So much for not spewing emotions. Tears made their way from my eyes and I found my voice shrill and shaky. I felt his hand come to the back of my neck, gripping me just slightly, pulling my head into his chest. His other hand found its way to the small of my back, his hand splayed over me, bringing me even closer in to him.
“Your mom is most likely just worried about Mattie.” He took his hand from my neck and I immediately missed the warmth. He began to trail his fingers through my hair and I knew he was trying to calm me down. “You can’t fault her for wanting the best for her grandbaby.”
“I’m what’s best for Mattie,” I said with more conviction than I intended, but it was how I truly felt. I could take care of her. I knew I could.
“I agree,” he said, his lips pressed against the top of my head. I exhaled against him, letting him take all the tension away. He was kind of magical that way. I wrapped my arms around his waist and moved my head back to look him in the eye.
“So you think we should take her home?” His opinion was vitally important to me and I knew that whatever he had to say would impact our decision on what to do from here. I wanted to know how he felt.
“I think that if the doctor thinks she would be fine with us in our home, then yes, I think we should do it. Will there be obstacles? Probably. But there has to be some setbacks to keeping a newborn in the hospital unnecessarily. Think of all the germs that she could be exposed to being in the hospital with other sick children.”
I hadn’t even thought about that part. He was right and I loved him even more for believing that together we could handle whatever was thrown our way.
“So, we take her home then?”
“I think so,” he said, leaning down and pressing a small kiss to my lips. “Your mom has her opinion, but in the end we’re Mattie’s parents and we make the call. That’s the beauty of having your own children, I suppose. It’s our chance to mess up.”
I laughed, realizing that he’d managed to make everything better just by holding and listening to me. The fact that he’d agreed with me was just icing on our proverbial cake. Also, there was the fact that not once since Mattie was born had he called me hormonal. I knew I was, any woman who had a baby and then stood by while they were taken by ambulance to the hospital was bound to be. But not once did he ever indicate that I wasn’t entitled to any and every feeling I had. My hands wound their way up to link behind his neck and I pulled him down to me for a real kiss.
His lips pressed against mine and I sighed as his hands gripped my waist, pulling me against him again. His tongue skimmed the seam of my lips and I opened for him, eager to taste him, to feel connected to him in that way. Our tongues met and shivers ran through me as his slowly caressed mine. Fast and frenzied was incredible, but no one did slow and sensual like Porter. His hands slid up my sides, gliding over me, leaving a trail of goose bumps. When they finally made their way to my face, each hand cradled one side, his thumbs rubbing gently under my eyes. Suddenly, he tilted my face, angling my mouth just so. I heard him growl, felt the sound reverberate through his chest, as he took my mouth. My heart leapt, overpowered by the sudden need I felt coming from him. Slow and sensual turned into heated and heady.
My fingers threaded themselves through his silky hair, gently tugging him closer to me, only to be rewarded with another moan from him. I was on fire. The flames were building causing heat to pool between my legs. The kissing continued, never losing steam, never lacking intensity.
Eventually, when he finally pulled away, breathing heavy and very hard against my belly. He sighed and pressed small kisses along my neck.
“Two more weeks,” he said against the sensitive skin below my ear.
“Until?” I asked, too caught up in the feeling of his lips against me to fully comprehend his words.
“Until I can bury myself in you again.” His teeth nipped at my earlobe and I moaned, quite involuntarily.
“Mmm. You’re a tease,” I sighed. I frowned when I felt him pull away, but was turned on all over again when I saw how dark and full of lust his eyes were.
“Trust me, Ella. If we weren’t in a hospital room right now, I’d be finding all kinds of alternative ways to use my mouth.”
“Oh God. Please, don’t say things like that,” I said, pressing my forehead against his chest. I breathed his scent in, trying to come down from the high he’d given me. “How do you always smell so good? And always smell the same?”
“How’s that?”
“Like wood, soap, and sexy as hell.”
He laughed, his chest rumbling beneath me. I loved the sound of his laughter, especially when I was the one who caused it. His laughter died down and we stood there in each other’s arms for a few minutes, both of us just watching Mattie sleep.
“So,” I heard him say hesitantly. I leaned back and looked up at him.
“So, what?”
“I got a call from our lawyer this morning.”
“And?”
His hand came up and he ran the back of his fingers over my cheek, obviously trying to lessen the blow of whatever he was going to tell me.
“They moved the trial up.”