a shiver through my body. My eyelids fluttered open, the autumn sun streaming into the room on this last Friday in September. The weeks had passed quicker than I expected as I settled into my new normal. Tyler and I saw each other practically every spare moment we had. He worked long days as he investigated what was going on with my father and everything else, in addition to running his club once more. I had asked why he was back there when it was just supposed to be a front. He told me it took his mind off everything and gave him a bit of clarity. I could certainly understand that.
With Tyler back on the island and in my life, I fell into a new routine with surprising ease. He spent every night at my condo…except for Fridays. That was reserved for girls’ night, and I appreciated his understanding that I still needed time with my two best friends, even though he was practically living with me.
Tyler had taken on the role of soon-to-be dad with an excitement I wasn’t expecting. He accompanied me to all my doctor’s appointments, which had become slightly more frequent now that I was in my third trimester. The look of awe on his face the first time he saw our little boy on the ultrasound, hearing his fast little heartbeat, made me fall in love with him a little bit more.
As September came to an end, the humidity that had become almost unbearable finally began to subside. The summer vacationers started to leave the island, and things were beginning to slow down, finally giving me time to prepare for the arrival of Baby Boy Burnham…or Triple B, as we had been calling him…in less than three months.
A hand splayed on my stomach, caressing me, loving me, supporting me as a low moan escaped Tyler’s mouth. I sighed, losing myself in his warmth. He pulled me closer, his lips feathering kisses across my shoulder blades.
“Morning, Mr. Burnham,” I whispered, not wanting to break our moment. Each day I woke in his arms, I fell for my duplicitous mystery man even more. I fell in love with every inch of him all over again. With his eyes. With his mouth. With his arms. With his heart. It was all mine to possess, and he gave me his love freely with no restraints. Our love was pure, perfect, and finally honest.
“Morning, Miss Delano.” He nuzzled his nose into my hair and inhaled. “Mmmm,” he groaned and I felt him grow rigid against me. “I will never tire of waking up next to you.”
“And I will never tire of feeling your hands on my skin.”
“Is that right?” he asked.
“That’s right.”
He leaned in, his lips roaming my heated flesh. I couldn’t seem to get my fill of him. I wanted him every hour of every day. When we were apart, I ached for him in such a way I didn’t think I would ever survive without his touch.
“Tell me, Mackenzie,” he murmured, his voice husky. “Where do you want my hands?” He clenched his teeth on my neck, sucking lightly. My eyes rolled back into my head, lost in the combination of pain and pleasure. A rush of electricity ran through me, my skin even more sensitive than I imagined. I was in tune to what his simple presence did to me, an ache between my legs growing more and more pronounced with each passing second.
“All over,” I breathed, squirming as I continued to lay on my side. “I need your touch everywhere.”
His fingers grazed across my collarbone, his touch light and perfect. “Tell me where,” he growled and my breath caught at his tone. It was demanding, forceful, harsh, at complete odds with the reverent way he ran his hands over my body, his thumb barely grazing my nipples. I inhaled at the almost contact, my skin on alert. My body was an instrument and he had mastered it. He knew exactly where to touch me to make me hum, vibrate, or sing.
“There,” I whimpered, still feeling the heat of his fingers just shy of where I needed to feel him. This was torture, pure and simple. Waterboarding had nothing on what I was enduring at the moment.
“Where?” He pulled me against him, my back to his front, his motion forceful.
“My nipple,” I answered, exhaling when I finally felt his fingers linger on my breast, gently taking my erect nipple between them.