“Why is your shirt off in the first place?” she interrupted, her gaze pinned to his chest. Unthinking, he flexed, allowing the muscle beneath his taut skin to ripple. Her eyes drooped, growing hooded.
“I think you prefer me shirtless,” he purred, taking a step toward her. Her eyes widened, her nostrils flaring.
“W-well, of course I like you shirtless. What’s not to like? I just think it would be easier to have a conversation with you if you weren’t half naked.”
He chuckled, flexing once more before grinning at the blush that enveloped her face. Ah, yes, his goddess wasn’t immune to his charms yet.
I still have a chance.
“Well, I lost my shirt in the Cheese Powder Battle,” he grumbled gravely.
Her lips quirked. “Do tell.”
“Those damn cheese packets are harder to open than a zero-balance bank account. Once I struggled the damn thing open, I dumped nearly half the packet of cheese on my shirt. Thinking I could wipe it off with a damp towel, I merely stained my shirt orange.”
She was laughing at him again, but he welcomed her joy. He wanted to be the one to give her joy for always.
“How about you go put a shirt on and I order the food,” she volunteered, her green eyes twinkling merrily. Lord…she was gorgeous when she was happy.
Keep her that way.
He nodded. “Sounds good. Order me a turkey sandwich,” he said, grinning, before rushing off to his room to throw on the first t-shirt his hand encountered in his drawer. Pulling it on over his head, he realized what the shirt was… It was the shirt his mother sent him after he told her about the babies.
It was white with a large black arrow pointing down at his crotch with the words, “Super Baby Maker” over top of it. When he first got it, he’d been appalled, but then…he realized how true that statement was. Not that his cock was super, but that his babies were. They were miracles. Super babies. And he couldn’t be prouder to be their father.
Smiling offhandedly at the shirt, he returned to the living area where Diana was on her mobile, ordering their lunch. She turned to him, her eyes bulging from their sockets, her mouth dropping open.
He couldn’t hide the snort of laughter at the look on her face. In the mood to tease, he raised his arms and did a slow, purposeful spin, hoping she’d be so distracted by the fineness of his ass that she’d want to forego lunch and let him devour her instead.
“That’s it,” she blurted into the phone, her cheeks aflame. She gave the person on the other line the address for his building then she ended the call before turning and planting her hands on her hips. “I’m assuming there is some joke there I am missing.” At least she didn’t sound angry, more like obstinately curious.
“My mum has a bloody terrible sense of humor,” he replied, smoothing invisible wrinkles from the shirt.
“Your mother bought you that shirt?” she asked, her brows high in incredulity.
“Yes. She squealed herself right out of her wicker lawn chair when I told her that I wasn’t just having one child, but two.” He could hear the pride in his voice, and he didn’t bother hiding it.
Diana’s expression warmed. “Mine did almost the same thing, falling out of her recliner rather than her lawn chair. She cried, then I cried, then my sister came in the room and looked at both of us like we were lunatics. Then I told her, and she started to cry. We went through three pints of chocolate ice cream that night.”
David chuckled, loving how open she was being with him. Certainly, over the last month, when he’d go to visit with her in the evenings, they discussed things like their days, their families, and their childhoods. Diana knew more about him that even Rick did. But, during those conversations, there was always something missing. Now he knew what it was.
A lightness of heart. All those nights, he’d carried the weight of his wariness and fear on his shoulders, bringing it with him into his time with Diana. Now, though…he only felt the depth of his care for her and their children.
Chapter 26
Years from now, looking back, he still wouldn’t be able to explain why, in that moment, he reached out for her, cupped her face in his hands, and stared down at her, his heart in his expression.
She gasped, her eyes wide but suffused with heat. He flicked his gaze down to her mouth, now softly parted in an O. He needed to kiss her.
“Diana,” he murmured, swallowing the urge to just take what he wanted. “I need to kiss you. May I kiss you?”
She blinked, her gaze growing hazy. “What?”
“I need to kiss you, Diana. Please…” He could hear the pleading in his own voice, and it was just a fraction of the urgency banging against his ribs.
For a strangling moment, he thought she would deny him—which she had every right to do—but when she nodded slightly, her own gaze dropping to his mouth, he knew he’d been gifted something he would never forget.
Dropping one hand to the small of her back, he pulled her into him until the roundness of her pregnancy belly pressed into his waist. Just knowing his children were nestled there did strange things to his body.
Slowly, agonizingly, he bent his head, their breaths co-mingling. Then…he took her mouth with his. Gently tasting, inviting her to taste him in return. She moaned, opening her mouth to offer access to the heat of her. Thanking God in heaven, he slid his tongue inside, brushing it over hers. He moaned, his blood catching fire. This woman…she was it. She was everything.
Dropping his other hand, he pulled her closer to him, as close as they could possibly get, but even then, it wasn’t close enough. Never close enough. He deepened the kiss and she leaned her head back, opening herself for his ravenousness.
Just when he
