She pouts, but he wants to take care of her like she’s taken care of his son. Show her she’s more than a mother; she’s a woman, his woman, and he’s damn sure going to give her everything she needs.
Tears pool in her dark brown eyes. “Then make love to me, Solomon.” She bites her puffy lower lip and palms the front of his chest. “Please. I need you.”
Her words send a lick of fire down his spine. Snapping him—and his dick—into action.
A hoarse growl rips out of him, has him grabbing her high around the waist to pull her down on the bed. Anchoring her to him. Tessie writhes, mewling, a little wildcat in his arms.
He pulls her against his body, her tiny torso against his heaving chest, her supple ass flat against his abdomen. She gasps as he slips into her from behind. Reaching back, her slender arm encircles his neck, her fingers diving through his dark hair.
They undulate together, Solomon taking her body on his, and she practically levitates in his arms, the gorgeous bump on her stomach rising like a pale moon in the night.
“Ruin me,” Tessie gasps, spreading her legs. With a little squirm, she wiggles, burying him deeper inside her.
Christ. He groans, slams his eyes shut. She’s killing him. Absolutely a goner. Her long blond hair waves around them like a halo, like a goddamn angel.
It’s unbelievable. How goddamn lucky he is for the second time on this earth.
He buries his face in her hair, inhaling her sea-salt scent, crushing her against him. Shaking. From the weight of what this means to him. “Fuck, but what I wouldn’t do for you, Tessie.”
“Tell me.” She moans hoarsely. “Tell me what you’d do for me.”
“Anything,” he growls. The truest words he’s ever uttered. Knowing he may not survive them. “Anything for you and that baby. Kill for you, burn the earth, fuck you senseless, name it. Anything.”
His words have her crying out, have her pumping her hips in time with his hard rhythmic thrusts.
He slips his hand over her breast, the heavy weight of it filling his palm. A ragged groan escapes him.
“Don’t stop, Solomon,” Tessie pants. “Don’t stop.” Her voice breaks on a sob. “Please.”
“Never.”
He slams into her. Hard. A silent scream parts her lips. Her juices spill down the inside of her thighs. Wet. Coating his thighs too. She’s so goddamn wet for him, bathing his cock in heat and fire. It only makes him harder. Has him driving his hips forward.
Anything she wants, she gets.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he groans, cupping her lithe form to him. He punctuates his statement with a kiss to the back of her head, her shoulder, her neck. “So damn beautiful, Tessie.”
Mewling, she throws her head back against his shoulder and bucks. The needy writhe of her body sends a shockwave ripping through him. Solomon roars his release, shuddering violently as Tessie cries out, her small hands fisting his hair, as they come together.
Each pulse of her body has him holding her tighter, until finally, she goes limp against him. A content smile spills over on her face as she rolls over, collapses back, laughing into the pillow, her hand covering her pouty lips.
After pressing a kiss to her cheek, Solomon disappears into the bathroom, then returns with a warm, damp towel. Tenderly, he cleans off her thighs and then settles beside her in bed once more.
With a sigh, Tessie rolls over into his arms to meet his kiss. Satisfaction etched across her beautiful face—hooded eyes, pink cheeks, delirious smile.
For a second, Solomon can’t breathe. Tessie curled up on his chest. Small, soft, his. Christ. He closes his eyes, letting the moment settle. Never in a million years did he think he’d have this again.
Opening his eyes, he takes in her delicate profile.
I love you.
He should say it.
But the words are frozen on his lips. He’s ready—but what if she’s not? He’s asked so much already. A selfish bastard who asked her to go back to Chinook. If that’s not a way to add to the pressure, he doesn’t know what is.
With a happy sigh, she smooths a hand down his beard, then her focus drifts up to his face. “Perfect ending to a perfect vacation.”
“It was. And it’s not over.” Palming the side of her face, he murmurs, “You and that baby. My whole heart. My stars. You fucking have me, Tess. Never doubt that.”
She curls her fingers in his dark chest hair. “I won’t.”
She watches him, heavy lidded. Her long lashes flutter with the slow wave of a beckoning sleep. With one hand, he strokes her golden hair. Cups the swell of her belly with the other. A rush of emotion has him. In less than three months, they’ll be holding their son in their arms.
“Will you tell me?” he asks, and Tessie’s eyes tick to his. “Bear’s name.”
A long silence. Then a quiet smile appears on her lips. “Why don’t we come up with one? Together.”
“Tess.” A deep rumble of disagreement. He doesn’t want her to change it.
“I want to, Solomon.” Leaning up on her elbow, she cups the side of his bristly beard. Her even gaze honest, vulnerable as she looks into his dark depths. “It should be our name.”
An inferno ignites in his chest. Goddamn.
If he didn’t love her now. . .
“Thank you,” he says.
Her surprised gaze meets his, blond hair falling over her shoulder as she tilts her head. “For what?”
His throat works. “For making me a father.”
Tears rush to Tessie’s eyes, and a watery smile tips her lips. “You’re going to be the best father, Solomon,” she whispers, placing his hand over her bump. “Bear will be so lucky to have you.”
Trying to get his heart under control, because it feels like there’s an atom bomb in his ribs, Solomon pulls Tessie to his chest. Her tiny body tucks perfectly into his side. It’s not long, with his hand on her belly and her breath against his shoulder, before she’s asleep.
Bear kicks in her stomach, small pulses that have him smiling, and Solomon cradles Tessie closer. He’s never felt this content. Tessie knows about Serena, his past, his darkness, and his guilt. And come tomorrow morning, he’s taking his stars back home.
Tessie bounces beside Solomon in his pickup truck as they take the long, winding road through dark green woods from the Anchorage airport to Chinook. Hand clasped in Solomon’s, her Crosley record player safe in the back seat, her seat belt tucked low and secure around her belly.
Attention trained on the sights outside the window, she can’t take everything in fast enough. It’s a whole new world. A beautiful, icy, foreign universe.
She’s traded sun for snow. Beach for mountains. Sanity for surprise. Because what she’s doing is completely out of her wheelhouse. Even Ash had sounded astonished at her change in plan.
If there’s one thing Tessie is not, it’s confused. Nervous, sure. Exhilarated, yes. Hungry, always. But not confused.
Solomon claimed her. Their last night in Mexico, those urgent whispered words, you’re mine. No one’s ever done that before. Wanted her, fought for her, made promises with such conviction it broke her heart in the best kind of way.
She’s giving up total control to go with the flow. To fly to fucking-off-the-grid-Alaska with this man, who’s becoming like her left arm. She can’t be without him. She won’t.
Excitement swirls in her belly. The kind of wild freedom that comes with staying up all night. The thrill of extending a sleepover. Coming to Chinook feels right. Seeing Solomon’s world. Meeting his family.
Bear’s family
She keeps telling herself this is just an extension of the babymoon. To see whether she and Solomon click in the real world. She owes it to herself, and most importantly, she owes it to Bear to try. If they can come out of this together. . .happy, it would be better than she ever dreamed. The stuff of fairytales. The third act of a romance novel. Those happy, colorful, cheerful cartoon covers where a kiss is never just a kiss—it’s a forever, a happily ever after.
Still, she can’t let her heart go all in. Not yet.