Page 6 of Paradise Ties

They sat in comfortable silence, each lost in their own worlds for a while until she snagged his fingers and sighed. He turned to look at Lucy, but her eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses. He wondered at the sigh but knew she would tell him what was on her mind.

“Do you think we’d make good parents?”

The question caught him off guard, and he paused and watched her dip her head, hiding her expression. He pulled her onto his lap and removed her glasses to see her eyes. “Yes, I think we’d be awesome parents. What prompted that question?”

Lucy shrugged. “I don’t know, being around all these babies has made my body clock go into meltdown.”

Jace tried to stop his lips from twitching as she tried to downplay what was obviously important to her. “You want to make a baby with me, Luce?”

Her head shot up, her eyes meeting his. “Yes,” she said cautiously, and he grinned.

“My girl wants to have my babies.”

“Do you want that?” She seemed to be cautiously banking her excitement.

“Do I want the woman I love to carry our child in her body and make me a father? Fuck, yes, I want that. I was just waiting for you to be ready.” He kissed her softly letting the sweetness overtake him before she pulled away.

“When shall we start?”

“Is now too soon?” he asked, not sure how long it took for the pill to stop working.

Lucy settled into his body as his hands explored the skin on her back. “Well, I can come off the pill as soon as we get home. That way we can enjoy the wedding and I can enjoy the cocktails, and then we can get to the serious stuff when we get back to the UK.”

“I say that’s a plan.”

Her arms looped around his as she pushed her breasts against him. “Wanna practice?” she invited.

“Woman, we just finished fucking and you want my dick again?”

She chuckled. “It’s the heat and the sun…it makes me horny. Plus, you’re half-naked.”

“I think we need to buy us a shack on the beach like K and Roz,” he replied as he rose in one smooth motion with her in his arms and raced inside.

And practice they did, for hours, just to make sure they got it right.

Chapter 4

Lucy’s stomach pitched as she rolled to her side, the hangover slamming into her head and making her press her temples to stop it from exploding. Holding her head seemed to stop the tiny little drummers who’d taken up residence, but the nauseous feeling continued.

Last night had been chaotic, messy, and full of fun and laughter. The Fortis family, as Lucy now thought of them, had taken over the entire restaurant. It had been a loud, enjoyable affair with lots of alcohol flowing, great food, and even better friends.

Around ten o’clock her dad Colin, Nate’s parents Mimi and David, Ava’s parents Frank and Helen, and Skye’s uncle Reg, who had been some of the ones taking a later flight, took the kids and babies to bed allowing the rest of them to carry on the fun.

Her Zenobi friends Astrid, Bebe, and Mustique had also arrived, as had Jack, Eidolon’s leader—who also happened to be Jace’s cousin and Will’s brother—along with his explosives expert Liam, and Smithy, one of Jace’s friends from his SAS days. They had staggered into bed sometime around two in the morning, she more than a little drunk but happier than she could ever remember being in her life.

Now the happy euphoria was gone. She moved to sit up, glancing at the clock and seeing it was already nine. She had a vague memory in her foggy brain of Jace kissing her cheek, and she knew he’d be coming in soon from his morning run.

Right on cue, the bedroom door opened and there he was in shorts and nothing else. She watched a droplet of sweat move down the glistening, sexy eight-pack towards his happy trail. He walked towards her with a large takeaway coffee cup in his hand.

“Morning, beautiful.” The sound of his voice, typically a balm to her ears, was too loud, and she winced and grabbed her head, resting her elbows on her knees.

He crouched down in front of her, and she chanced a glance at him. “Thank you,” she said, taking the coffee in a shaky hand.

“Feeling rough, huh?”

Lucy nodded slowly as he walked towards the bathroom, stripping his shorts as he did. She felt a tightening of interest in her womb but was too hungover to even consider anything that involved fast movement. “Why’d you let me drink so much?” she whined and heard the chuckle from the bathroom over the running water.

Jace poked his head out of the bathroom, a sexy grin on his face, his eyebrow quirked. “Like I can stop you doing anything you want to do. Anyway, you should be thanking me.”