She licked her lips and her eyes went to his.
His eyes were warm, they were tender, they were amused and…
She stared at him, her heart leaping.
She hadn’t seen it in weeks but she saw it then, right in his eyes.
He looked happy.
Her tears instantly stopped and, out of the blue, she asked, “Jack, are you happy?”
The warmth in his eyes intensified mere moments before he burst out laughing and his arms wrapped around her so tight she was forced to collapse against him and tuck her face into his neck again.
“What’s funny now?” she demanded over his laughter.
His voice was still vibrating with amusement when he answered, “You’re here, I’m here, you’re in my arms and I’m still inside you. I just watched you come so hard I thought for a second you were going to pass out and, I have to admit, love, my orgasm was nearly as f**king good as yours and you’re asking me if I’m happy?”
There was a lot there but Belle’s mind immediately honed in on the part she thought she needed to get straight.
“I didn’t, um,” she hesitated then skipped over the embarrassing bit, deciding he’d figure it out, “so hard that I nearly passed out.”
“Poppet, your eyes rolled back in your head and I could swear for a moment you were in a trance,” he replied.
She pulled against his arms so she could glare down at him.
Seriously!
How smug could he be?
“Hardly,” she snapped.
He grinned.
It was then she realised he was teasing.
“Stop teasing me, Jack,” she demanded.
“Stop being so easy to tease, Belle,” he returned, still grinning.
She slapped his arm and demanded, “Stop it!”
Jack rolled her to her back, their bodies disconnected but he tangled his legs with hers and let a goodly amount of his warm weight rest on her which was almost as nice as feeling him inside so she didn’t protest.
He was still smiling when he looked down at her. “All right Belle. No more teasing.” He touched his lips to hers and when he pulled away, his eyes were still tender and amused but his words were serious. She knew this because they were low and rumbly. “To answer your question, yes, Belle, for the first time in what feels like a long time, I’m happy.”
She felt her belly melt and so did her body.
Because she believed him.
And she knew it was her that was making him happy.
Not the thought of her having his baby. Not temporary insanity. Not the heretofore unknown prospect that they were living in an alternate universe.
All of these (and then some) were possibilities her mind came up with in the last three and a half weeks as to why he didn’t, without delay, leave her when he found out she’d lost their baby.
No, she made him happy in the real, the here, the now.
She, Meek and Mild Belle Abbot was making him, criminally handsome James Bennett, happy.