Protecting His Pregnant Lover - Leslie North Page 0,27

to physically bar himself from admitting the truth: that Olive’s mighty intellect had intimidated the hell out of him. That it still did. It wasn’t what she needed to hear, and it was his own hang-up to deal with in private.

It wasn’t Olive’s fault he had a soft spot for smart girls.

“This may be the dumbest thing I ever say, and I’m about to say it out loud...” Olive trailed off, laughed awkwardly, then revealed what was weighing on her in a rush: “I don’t feel amazing. Not then, and not now. I feel lonely. I feel like... like any man I may want to attract, or impress, will look the other way as soon as I open my mouth.” Her eyes seemed to be begging him for something, anything, but Levon couldn’t assess what it was she needed in that moment.

Maybe he needed to stop thinking for the both of them.

“Maybe...” He drew her chair around the table to bring the two of them closer, and Olive leaned in attentively. “... when you open that mouth of yours, and a man goes quiet, what he’s really thinking is...”

Levon caught her chin between his fingers and pulled her in. He stifled Olive’s gasp of surprise with the firm press of his lips: a firmness that soon gathered strength and became a demand. He gripped her waist and pulled her in against him, forcing her to occupy the space between their chairs; she was half in his lap by the time he decided their situation was untenable and gathered her into his arms. “Levon!” His name was a protest on her lips as he lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom. Levon shoved her duffle bag off the bed, spilling its contents on the floor. He ignored the bag and deposited her in its place instead. They wouldn’t be needing any clothes at all for what he had in mind.

He stretched out beside her, partially covering her body with his, but still mindful of her baby bump. Their encounters that first night had been hurried and desperate, each of them knowing it would be over all too soon. Now, he wanted to take his time with her, savor every second and every inch of her from the top of her curly head to the tips of her cute little toes.

To that end, Levon kissed her, gently at first, then gradually deepening his kisses until they were both breathless and gasping for more. Then he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers as he slowly worked the hem of her black dress up her legs with his hand, stopping frequently to stroke her soft skin and silky thighs. Her eyes slipped closed as he ghosted his palm over the front of her panties and her neck tipped back as she moaned and arched beneath his touch.

Levon chuckled, low and deep, nuzzling that sensitive spot just beneath her ear as he slid his hand higher, over her quivering abdomen, taking her dress up and up and up until her bra was exposed. Then he leaned in to kiss her breasts, inhaling her sweet scent as he licked and nipped the skin atop the white cups, one hand settling over one of the soft mounds, stroking her taut nipple through the fabric.

“Levon, please…” she said, her voice pleading and he felt that sound straight to his groin.

“What, sweetheart?” he asked, moving from one breast to the other, teasing her, tempting her. She plunged her fingers into his hair, and for the first time he was glad it was longer now. That way she could pull and tug on it as he brought her pleasure. He growled, and reached behind her to unhook the bra and move his hands beneath it, greedy for her flesh against his palms.

“Oh God,” she whispered. “What are you doing to me?”

“Whatever you want,” he said against her nipple before taking it into his mouth. She groaned and held him closer, as if afraid he’d leave her, but Levon wasn’t going anywhere. “Tell me what you want, Olive.”

At first she didn’t answer, too busy panting and moaning, but then her pulls on his hair grew more insistent and she shifted beneath him, bringing his face closer to the heat between her legs. “I want you,” she said at last, her tone needy now.

“Yeah?” He lifted his head away from her belly, where he’d been kissing her baby bump. “How do you want me?”

She blinked at him down