“Does he need changing? Food?”
“Done, but we can try his bottle,” she said.
They headed down to the kitchen, and Ransom prepared the baby bottle as she gave him instructions. Still, Evan only took it for a few seconds before spitting it out and wailed like a banshee.
“I’m sorry for disturbing you,” she said. “I can … try to go outside if you need some sleep.”
“You and Evan could never disturb me,” he said. “But … is he just going to keep crying until he conks himself out?”
“Pretty much,” she sighed.
“Here, let me hold him, then.” He reached out to her, and she was just too tired to protest, so she let him take Evan. “It’s all right,” he soothed, rubbing a hand down his back. “Daddy’s got you.”
Her stomach flip-flopped at his words. Of course, she’d been the one to call him that first, but it had been an accident. Oh God. Now he was swaying side to side, doing a little dance to rock him to sleep, and her ovaries practically exploded. She knew her inner wolf, too, loved seeing them together like this. A warm feeling passed over her chest and the she-wolf let out a contented sigh. Her thoughts were bringing her into dangerous territory, but she was so exhausted right now, she didn’t have the strength to fight it.
After a few more minutes, Evan finally started to wind down, his howls turning to hiccups. “Let’s go take him back to his crib,” she suggested, and they swiftly, but silently headed back to the room. However, as Ransom was bending over to lay him down on the crib, Evan started wailing again, so Ransom picked him up until he settled. The moment he got close to the crib, though, Evan fussed and protested angrily with a wail.
“Here, I can rock him to sleep,” she suggested.
“You’re about ready to fall over,” Ransom said, keeping Evan close to his chest. “C’mon, I have an idea.” Turning on his heel, he walked out of the room.
She followed him into the hallway, and down to the last room—his bedroom, as she recalled. “Ransom, what are you doing?”
He strode over to the edge of his bed, lay down and placed Evan on his chest, rubbing his back. Evan struggled and fought sleep, but eventually, his eyes closed.
Biting her lip, she stood in the doorway, unsure what to do. On one hand, Evan was finally calmed and asleep so she didn’t want to move him. But on the other, she’d never let him sleep alone whenever they weren’t at her apartment.
“It’s a big bed.”
She started at his words. “W-what?”
“It’s a king-sized bed.” His eyes remained closed. “Just … lay down next to me. To make sure I don’t accidentally roll over and crush Evan.”
Well, when he put it that way, she couldn’t possibly say no. Padding over, she crept up on top of the bed and scooted closer to him. His scent was all over the sheets, and her core tightened at the thought of being surrounded by the fresh musk, leather, and rain smell.
Curling her arms under a pillow, she lay on her side, facing Ransom and Evan. He looked so relaxed and at ease, and so did Evan. It was as if he’d been doing this forever. The similarities between them were even more evident now; they even had the same resting expression as they slept.
She wanted to feel regret or guilt for letting things get too far and intimate with Ransom and not running away to protect herself and Evan, but she couldn’t muster up any such emotions. Except maybe that she was tired—tired of fighting this thing between them that was much bigger than either of them. It was like a wave—no, a tsunami—and all she wanted was to be swept away.
Exhaustion left her, though she didn’t move as she was content to watch father and son sleep peacefully, even as her own mind raced. Finally, she recognized the signs that Evan was deep in slumber. Carefully, she scooched over and slid her hand under Evan.
“Huh?” Ransom’s eyes fluttered open. “Isabelle?” he whispered.
“Shh don’t move … he won’t wake up for a while,” she assured him and lifted Evan off his chest and held him close.
“I should—”
“No, stay,” she said. “I’ll take care of him.” She padded out of his room and made the quick trip down the hall to the guest room. She lay him down in his crib, watching and waiting to see if he would wake up. When Evan’s breath remained deep and steady, she turned around and headed back to Ransom’s room.
“Isabelle?” His eyes went wide as she darted into the room and closed the door behind her, then crawled up onto the bed. “What’s the matter? Is he all right?”
“I—yes. He’ll sleep until morning, I think.” She moved closer to him, tucking her legs under her.
That line between his brows appeared. “What is it?”
“Did you … I mean, were you trying today? Like you said?”
His expression faltered. “I wasn’t. There was too much to do and … I really wanted to sweep you off your feet. Take you to dinner and—”
She silenced his words by pressing her lips to his. He froze initially, then relaxed under her mouth and curled an arm around her waist. Her heart fluttered madly, and heat swept across her body as she pressed her breasts against him, her nipples hardening instantly at the contact.
Ransom let out a groan and then rolled them over, his body flattening hers to the mattress. When he suddenly pulled away, she let out a whimper.
“What’s wrong?” she panted.
“What does this mean, Isabelle?”
“Don’t you want to—”
“Yes.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “But I want to know … is this just sex? Or something else?”
She pushed her hips up at him, brushing against his growing erection.
