I can’t find fault in making her marry me, though. Never in that.
“Good.” A yawn breaks through her soft smile, and she sways backward into the pillow. A pillow that supports her back but not her neck. That will never do.
Not at all. I settle against the headboard and pat between my legs. “C’mere.”
Mara laughs lightly, a sound I’ll never take for granted. “Why would I do that when there’s a perfectly good pillow behind me?”
“But wouldn’t you rather a pillow that can warm you and hold you at the same time?” I cock an eyebrow. “One that goes by the name of Warren?”
“You didn’t tell me I’d be marrying a pillow.” Indecision plays over her tired features as another yawn escapes her, but then she inches over. “All right. You make a good point.”
A runaway locomotive couldn’t stop my grin as I get exactly what I want—my wife relaxing in my embrace as she feeds our child. I rub Emmaline’s little fist, happiness damn near exploding inside when tiny fingers grip one of mine.
Mara’s hair tickles my chest when she almost timidly eases a look at me. “Sing for us?”
“Of course.” I could never deny the sparkle of hope in her eyes, so I kiss her temple and ease into the low notes of an old lullaby. What a lucky man I am to be able to hold everything most precious to me in my arms.
My wife, who’s blossoming and opening up to me in every way.
My child, who’s as cute as a button and already has me wrapped around her finger.
My perfect little family.
CHAPTER 17
WARREN
“Two blankets should be enough, right?”I ask Mara. “One for your lap and one to go around your shoulders. Or maybe I should get a third to cover both you and Emmaline. We need to be getting on the road.” It’s cold out and snowing some, but luckily there’s been no more storms of white.
“Are you sure we have to go?” She paces in front of the fireplace, the wrinkle between her eyebrows a stark contrast to the lack of any in the pretty lavender dress that’s beginning to fill out most marvelously in all the right places now that she’s been eating the proper amount of food for the last two months. She still needs more weight on her, but this is a good start. “It won’t be rude of us to show up to your parents’ house for dinner without helping to prepare it?”
All her frenzied pacing is enough to make my head spin like a top, so I rest one hand on the mantel and wait for her next pass.
Three steps to the right.
Turn.
Four steps to the left…
Then she’s trapped as my other arm locks in place around her.
Just where she should be.
“Not this year,” I say with a wink. “You and I get a pass, you know.”
“Why?”
My words are a bit muffled as I drag my lips over her jawline and up to her ear. “Because we’re newlyweds and busy in the marriage bed. A husband doesn’t have time to worry about paltry things such as helping with food and the like when he’s making love to his wife and drinking up all the sweetness between her legs.”
“Warren Shay!” She shoves against my chest, but I don’t budge.
“You can sound scandalized all you want, but it’s the truth.” I stop her protest with my mouth, and by the time it’s over, her cheeks are flushed and my pants are a bit tighter than before. “It’ll be okay, Mara. It’ll just be my parents, Jed, and Dove. Maybe my friend Dalton. We’ll eat, and then we’ll all decorate the Christmas tree. The sun won’t even begin to reach the horizon before we’re back at home.”
“You’ve talked about Dalton before. Is he a good man?”
I cross my heart. “One of the best. I’d never let him around you or Emmaline otherwise.”
“And you just have the one brother?”
