One-Amazing-Night Baby!: A Wild Night & A Marriage Ultimatum / Pregnant by the Playboy Tycoon / Pleasure, Pregnancy and a Proposition

She swallowed hard and gathered her thoughts. ‘I need to ask you something. And I’m sure you’ll say yes, because that’s the answer any man would give, and that’s what a woman would expect. But be warned. I’ll see in your eyes whether or not you’re telling the truth.’

He froze, before finally falling onto his side. ‘This sounds more complicated than trigonometry.’ He eased up onto an elbow and, cheek in hand, nodded. ‘Go ahead.’

‘It’s really very simple,’ she said, assembling her thoughts and tamping down, as best she could, the sizzling physical overload. ‘Do you believe in monogamous relationships?’

One of Cooper’s brows took on a curious slant. ‘Sophie, have you developed your own list?’

She thought about it, and had to admit it. ‘I guess I have.’

His lined expression eased considerably. ‘In that case …’ He twirled a fingertip around her closest nipple and she stifled a groan of pure pleasure. ‘Yes, Sophie, I believe in one partner only.’

Predictable answer. Still, she took heart seeing the easy conviction shining from his eyes.

He grinned. ‘Did I pass?’

She shook her head. ‘Not yet.’ Not needing any distraction, she pulled her robe closed.

‘But I didn’t fail.’ He reopened the robe. ‘So don’t mete out the punishment just yet.’

Feeling exposed, but secretly revelling in his attention, she tried to ignore the allure of his devilish smile. ‘I would never cheat on an exam, and I would only steal if a loved one’s well-being was at stake and I had no other choice.’

He tipped his head, impressed. ‘I not only like it, I agree.’

He angled across and oh-so-gently traced the tip of his tongue around that beaded, screaming peak.

Fighting down the urge to draw up her knees and haul him close, she pushed his head back. ‘One more.’ Her blood was on fire; she needed to hurry. ‘If someone was drowning, and there was a danger I might drown too, I’d have to jump in regardless.’

‘The courage versus stupidity conundrum?’ He truly looked at her this time. ‘We’re on the same page there too. I’d do the same.’ His eyes stayed with hers and he brought his arm over and kissed one corner of her mouth. ‘Am I free to go, miss?’

Smiling, she framed his firm, square jaw in her hands. ‘You are most certainly not free to go. You need to stay here and clean the boards …’ he kissed the other corner of her mouth ‘… and put up the chairs …’ he nipped her lower lip. She sighed. ‘Then, and only then, can you make love to me till dawn.’

Grinning, he pushed away to stand at the foot of the bed, where the bathroom light set a hazy aura around his sublime Adonis shape. Sophie watched, entranced and shaking a little inside, as the jeans slid down the long firm trunks of his legs.

Cooper filled his lungs with softly scented air, kicked aside his jeans, and again joined the woman he was dying to enjoy.

All-consuming desire pumped through his veins as he threaded an arm around her waist and tipped her so they lay front to front. Every nerve-ending leading to his groin ignited as she curled into him, offering herself up to a pleasure they both knew would only increase as the hours fled by.

Funny. From the second she’d accepted their live-in arrangement he’d harboured plans to seduce her, whether openly or covertly. But there was nothing contrived about the way his heart boomed now, or this sense of belonging drifting through his bloodstream.

She’d accepted his decision about the stairs. Tonight she’d admitted that surrendering to their passion was inevitable. Soon she would understand that his resolve to marry her was also non-negotiable.

He respected Sophie and her desire to stand tall and be herself. He’d come to care deeply for her too, in ways that had sometimes left him aching and wondering where to funnel all that emotion. But tonight they’d found the answer: in each other’s arms.

They hadn’t had a disagreement in a month, and were alike in the matters that truly counted. Their morals, their sexual attraction towards each other. Their baby. Should anything else matter?

Her hand fluttered over his stomach and latched on to his most eager appendage.

‘You haven’t forgotten about my raging hormones, have you?’ she purred. ‘I might just run you ragged.’

Bone-melting comets shot from his crotch down to his toes and back up again. Don’t worry about turning his dials. Already she was close to blowing him off the map.

He cupped her rump and shoved her roughly against him. ‘Stamina, thy name is Smith.’

He hadn’t finished the sentence before a bolt of shame tore through his centre and he realised what he’d done—manhandled her backside as if she were a piece of un-pregnant meat.

Had he caused damage? Should he shoot himself now?

As gently as his growing dread allowed, he moved back and examined her face, her belly. ‘Are you all right?’

She looked at him as if his brain had been invaded by alien beings. ‘I’m fine. Wonderful, in fact.’

‘I didn’t hurt you? Maybe hurt the baby?’

Her warm smile went a long way to soothing his charred conscience. ‘The baby is protected, Cooper. Don’t worry.’

He probed her eyes. ‘There’s nothing I can do that will harm him?’

‘At this stage? Not a lot.’ She coiled her leg provocatively over his hip. ‘But if you need to find your sea legs, front to front is very safe.’ Her teeth grazed his chin. ‘Or so I’ve read.’

Happy hormones of the XY variety surged to wash away any remaining doubt. He held her raised thigh and eased her close against the length of his body. ‘Your research?’

He dropped a kiss on her temple, her cheek, her soft, welcoming mouth.

‘Mmm … Cooper …?’

His blood was liquid lava now. ‘Yes, sweetheart?’

‘Let’s not talk anymore.’

He chuckled. ‘I like the way you think.’

He loved the way she felt. Her skin smooth as satin, her hair bouncy and soft. Best of all he loved the way she gripped him when he finally entered her, bit by bit, holding back long enough to know she was ready, as she’d never been before.

They held each other, pressed in tight, his body damp with perspiration, hers slick with desire. Their synchronised rhythm continued to increase until the urgent push of anticipated reward couldn’t be denied one moment more.

He felt her muscles tense at the same time as his mind closed down, the dam broke loose, and he shuddered with the visceral joy of pulsating release.

He groaned and held her so close that some part of him was convinced they had morphed into one. He’d never felt more complete than at that moment. She was his again, and would be from this night forward. They belonged together, for so many reasons, and he would make certain nothing and no one ever tore them apart. What he had now, what he treasured most, he would never let go.

When the waves finally died, and the physical intensity ebbed away, he inhaled deeply and, running his palm up and down her smooth back, reflected on the thrill of making love again at last. And didn’t it just beat all? In no time he was craving to know her again—with his arms, his mouth, with everything that made him a man.

He heard and felt the crinkle as she nuzzled her cheek against his chest, then sighed long and loud. ‘Mmm, that was good.’

Smiling at the heat already stirring in his loins, he breathed in the sweet fragrance of her hair. ‘If that was good, I can’t wait for fantastic.’

Her tummy gave a quiet growl, and he frowned.

He didn’t want to bust up the party, but he guessed they really ought to break for sustenance; she hadn’t eaten since lunch, and that couldn’t be good for the baby. Thirty minutes and they could regroup for a variation on tonight’s ‘safe sex’ theme. He could barely wait.