Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 115619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Pressing my nose to hers, I breathe deeply, “I love you too, and I’ll do anything in my power to make sure you see it and feel it every day. I need you by my side, with me through it all. There is no me without you, Bianca. I hope you see that.”
“Always.” She whispers and then presses her lips against mine, making everything else around us dissolve into the air.
BIANCA
At first, I don't know what’s happening when I feel light pressure against my temple. Once, twice. Ugh, something keeps touching me. I try to shrug it off, since all I want to do is sleep. My body is limp with exhaustion, and I'm so comfortable. It feels like the bed has molded itself around me. I burrow deeper against it, hoping for sleep to grip back onto me and pull me under.
It's the soft, deep chuckle in my ear that brings me back to the present. My lips turn up at the sides as Callum pulls me close, making me the little spoon to his bigger one. His strong arms wrap tightly around me, and I bask in the warmth of his body heat. Now I really don't want to get up, ever. Never. I could happily spend the rest of my life wrapped up in him and these amazingly soft sheets.
Too bad my anxious brain has other thoughts. “How are you feeling?” I whisper, just in case his head’s about to split open after all the drinking he did. I’m surprised he even has the energy to kiss me, which is what woke me up in the first place. His soft, tender strokes against my temple and ear.
“Surprisingly well,” he murmurs between kisses. “You are the ultimate hangover cure.”
“I don’t know about that.” I can't believe he feels okay, although I do believe he would try his best to make it seem that way for my sake.
“Do you have to go to work today?” he asks. When he strokes my arms, his fingers trailing over my breasts, I instantly wish the answer was no. I wish I could stay here forever. Connecting the two of us. It's the most natural, crucial thing. I haven’t felt this good, this right, ever.
It's unfortunate what being an adult has turned me into. “I'm afraid I've already missed enough workdays.”
“If I had it my way, you wouldn't have to worry about going to work.”
“I know, but your alpha tendencies get slightly out of hand. I sort of like having a say in my own life sometimes.” Even if it sucks having no choice in getting up and facing the world when it's the last thing I want to do. Especially now, with the first rays of dawn's light streaming through the window. Everything is hazy and golden outside, and everything in this bed is peaceful and sweet. One of those perfect moments you want to capture to hold and try to freeze, so it never changes.
Sadly it never works. All we can do is try to be where we are when we're there. Allowing myself another minute, I close my eyes and melt into his arms, smiling at the kisses he keeps raining on me. “You're going to rub your lips raw,” I finally point out with a soft laugh.
“I would rather rub your lips raw.”
Immediately, heat flares in my core. The only thing stopping me from inviting him to do that is knowing I have to go back home to get dressed for work. I should have known better than to think I wouldn't stay the night once I got here. I wasn't thinking clearly.
The reminder of how real life exists outside this bedroom makes my heart sink. Not because of the baby itself but because of everything that accompanies pregnancy. It would be the simplest thing if I told him right now—it would seem almost poetic in a way, considering the baby might have been created in this very bed. And with Callum in such a soft, gentle, romantic mood, he has a better chance of taking it well. Of being happy.
Just do it, then. He deserves to know.
I open my mouth, ready to blurt it out. Only, I can't find the words. You'd think it would be easy. I'm pregnant. I'm going to have your baby. I don't know how it happened, but it's true.
And then there are all the unspoken feelings that go along with that. Please, love me anyway. Please, love our baby. Let's do this together.
I'm a coward. I can't bring myself to say it. I guess it doesn't have to happen right away, this very minute, but I have to tell him soon. Eventually, he'll be able to realize it without me breaking the news—even now, at this very moment, he's running his hand over my stomach, teasing me, acting like he's going to dip lower. His touches have the power to make me late for work, make me wish for this to never end. My stomach's not going to be flat forever.