“Mmm.”
She knew she was being evasive and that it was unfair not to tell him that there was no need to protect them from what had already happened. But she wanted this one last time with him, wanted to store up the memory for the empty nights that lay ahead of her.
With no hesitation, he parted her legs with his knee, then levered himself over her. Reaching down, she guided him to her and Lily closed her eyes as she savored the exquisite feelings of becoming one with the man she loved.
“Open your eyes, sweetheart,” he commanded when their bodies were fused completely. “I want to watch your pleasure build until you can’t wait any longer. Then I want to watch you the moment I take you over the edge.”
Gazing into his eyes as he slowly began to move within her, she felt as if she might drown in the dark blue depths. Heat spiraled throughout her being and ribbons of excitement threaded their way to the ever-tightening coil deep within her as her body responded to his rhythmic thrusts. Holding on to his broad shoulders to keep from being lost, Lily felt her feminine muscles begin to contract around him as Daniel fulfilled his promise of creating a passion in her so strong that she lost sight of where he ended and she began.
Time seemed to stand still as the tension inside her built to a crescendo, then suddenly broke free to send waves of pleasure coursing all the way to her soul. Moments later, Daniel groaned and she felt him stiffen inside her as he found his own shuddering release. When he buried his head in her shoulder and collapsed on top of her, Lily held him close as they both slowly drifted back to reality.
Loving the feel of him still inside her and the weight of his large body covering hers, when his breathing eased and Daniel moved to her side, she felt a deep sense of loss.
“Are you all right?” he asked, pulling her close.
She wanted to tell him that she loved him—would always love him—but it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. Instead, she nodded. “That was perfect.”
“Oh, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve that will make it even better the next time,” he said, kissing the top of her head.
“You’re not wearing a shirt,” she teased. “How could you possibly have anything up sleeves that don’t exist?”
“Hush, woman,” he said, laughing. “Rest assured, I have more ammunition in my sensual arsenal that I’m going to take great pleasure in showing you.”
She knew that once he learned about the baby, that would change. But snuggling against him, she decided to face that in the light of day, along with all the other recent harsh realities of her life.
The first light of day had just started to peek through a part in the bedroom drapes when Daniel lay his arm over Lily’s stomach to draw her close. He smiled at the feel of her soft curves nestled at his side. Last night had been mind-blowing and he still couldn’t get over how much he had missed Lily’s uninhibited response to his lovemaking. She was so receptive to his touch, and the fact that she wasn’t the least bit shy about touching him in return never failed to arouse him in ways a man could only dream of.
He propped himself up on his elbow to stare down at her sleeping so peacefully beside him. He had even missed waking up in the mornings with her warm bare skin against his hair-roughened flesh. Not that they had spent the entire night together all that often, but he had forgotten how pleasant it was to wake up with her the few times that they had.
Watching her sleep, he frowned. He wasn’t entirely sure he was comfortable with how easily he had gotten used to the little things like waking up next to Lily or how cute he found her propensity to crowd him on his side of the bed. It certainly wasn’t something he missed about his ex-wife. Of course, Charisma would have had to sleep with him more than a few times a month for him to have become accustomed to having her next to him in bed.
Daniel lay back and pillowed his head on his folded arms. His ex-wife had used sex as a bargaining tool—a way to coerce him into buying her a new pair of diamond earrings or the little red Ferrari she just had to have for her trips to the mall. Otherwise, she slept in the master bedroom, while he was perfectly content to sleep in a room down the hall.
But that was one thing he never had to worry about again, he thought contentedly. He was single and intended to stay that way.
He glanced over at the sleeping woman beside him. Whatever he and Lily had going on between them was special and, without outside interference from his mother, they would be together for as long as it lasted. Then, when the time came for them to stop seeing each other, he would go his way and she would go hers. No hard feelings and no emotional pain for either of them.
As he lay there patting himself on the back for keeping his life simple, Lily moaned and stirred next to him. He wondered if she was having another nightmare until she sat straight up in bed, threw back the covers and bolted for the bathroom.
“What the hell?” He grabbed his underwear from the pile of clothing on the floor and pulled them on, then knocked on the closed bathroom door. “Are you all right, sweetheart?”
When she failed to answer, he tried the knob. The door was locked.
“Lily, what’s going on?” he demanded.
“P-please go … away,” she said a moment before he heard the sounds of her being sick.
“As soon as you’re able, open the door,” he said, wondering what could have caused the upset.
Retrieving her pink fluffy robe from the closet, every possible reason that might have caused her to be sick ran through his mind as he waited outside the closed door. It couldn’t be a case of food poisoning because they had both had the same thing for lunch and skipped dinner and he was fine. Of course, she might be sick because she hadn’t eaten. Or maybe it was a delayed reaction to learning that her father had been murdered. That coupled with the media circus outside her mother’s place and the fact that the police intended to question the family was enough to cause anyone’s nerves to get the better of them.
When he finally heard the click of the lock being released, he was waiting for her when she opened the bathroom door and after helping her into her robe, walked her over to sit on the end of the bed. “I’ll be right back,” he said, going into the bathroom to wet a washcloth. Returning to the bedroom, he knelt in front of her and patted the cool, damp terry cloth over her cheeks and forehead. “Feeling better now?”
She nodded. “Daniel …” She paused to take a deep breath. “We have to talk.”
“Why don’t you lie down and rest a little more?” he suggested. “We can discuss whatever you like after you’re feeling better.”
“I have to tell you now,” she said shaking her head. “Otherwise, I might lose my nerve.”
Something in her tone caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand straight up. “What?”
He watched her close her eyes, then she took another deep breath and looked him square in the eyes as she announced, “I’m pregnant.”
“Pregnant.”
A mixture of shock and disbelief coursed through him and it suddenly felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. Slowly rising to his feet, he walked over to sit in the chair across the room. Propping his forearms on his knees, he
