Page 73

I’m digging under the tree for a specific present when Kylie comes back into the living room. Once I find it, I straighten to give it to her.

“Gia asked me to give this to you tonight as an early gift.”

Her eyebrows furrow at the brown paper with her name printed on it in nice lettering. With the multicolored Christmas lights glowing on her skin, she looks almost ethereal. “It’s too pretty to open.”

I breathe out a laugh. “Gia would be pissed if you didn’t.”

“Yeah, she would.” With a grin, Kylie carefully rips open the gift. She freezes when she uncovers the framed artwork. “Oh…” Her trembling fingers trace the shape of the hot air balloons that look identical to the ones she painted in Peanut’s nursery in Seattle.

“Gia wanted to draw something for Peanut’s nursery, and after you’d settled on the theme, I thought this might be a nice homage to the first one. I sent her one of the pictures you took after you finished decorating the nursery in Seattle, and that’s what she came up with.” The 11.5x15 art print has the same sky-blue background as the nursery with multiple pastel balloons floating across the page.

“It’s perfect. We could hang it in the sky next to the barn so it looks like there are hot air balloons in the distance.” She turns her teary gaze up to me. “Thank you for giving me everything I never knew I needed. Somehow, you’ve always known me better than I know myself, and I have no idea where I would be without you, Gray.”

Palming her cheeks, I swipe at the tear that escaped. “You’re my best friend, Ladybug. The only woman I’ve ever wanted to spend my life with. It’s my mission to ensure you never want for anything. I won’t always be perfect. In fact, I have a feeling once little Peanut arrives, I’ll probably piss you off more often than not.”

Kylie gives me a flat look as if I’m being ridiculous. “I highly doubt that. You’re going to anticipate my needs before I even know what they are. You’re already doing it, so when the baby comes, nothing will change.”

I shrug. “Maybe, or maybe we’ll both be so sleep-deprived we forget how to communicate with each other and start bickering. Either way, I want you to remember how much I love you. You’re my whole world, Ladybug. Everything I dreamed of having is right here in this house, and I’ll be damned if I ever screw up enough to lose it.”

“I won’t let you. I might get angry at you, but you won’t ever lose me. Not now that I know what it means to be loved wholeheartedly.”

We sink into a long, lingering kiss, telling each other how we feel without words. I walk her backward, keeping our lips fused until the back of her knees hit the chair and she plops down on the cushion.

I kneel between her legs, curling my fingers into the waistband of her sweatpants to pull them down to her ankles. Leaning in, I kiss and lick up her inner thigh on one side, gripping the back of her legs to push them open for me.

“Look at the sight of you. All pretty and pink, just waiting for me to do dirty things to this pussy.”

“Gray,” she whispers, that heady flush rising to her cheeks as I talk dirty to her.

I drop my face to her center, licking a path all the way to her clit. It makes her hips lift and roll against my tongue with desperate need. I work her hard. Pushing her body over the peak with my mouth and fingers. I fucking love the way she sounds when she comes.

As she sinks back into the chair, I press kisses to her stomach, lifting her sweater over her belly. “Merry Christmas, Peanut. I can’t wait to meet you.”

Kylie gasps. “Did you feel that?”

I whip my head up to look at her. “Yeah, I did. Was that really them?”

“Say something else.”

I drop my head back down, pressing another kiss to Kylie’s belly. “I love you so much, Peanut.” A kick lands right next to my face, and I laugh. “Were you saying, shut up, I’m trying to sleep or I love you?”

Kylie laughs, her belly jiggling with the movement. She leans forward to cup my face. “I love you.”

I kiss her because I can’t help myself. “I love you, Ladybug.”

She shoves me backward, and I blink up at her in surprise. She grins as she yanks down my sweatpants to grip my hard length. “I am not about to let this go to waste. Are you crazy?”

A loud laugh flies out of me, and I slap my hand across my face to try to silence it. Then my eyes roll back in my head as Kylie straddles me and sinks down on my cock. “Oh, fuck.”

“Yes,” she moans, rolling her hips to grind against me. I grip her waist to help her keep her balance.

“Look at you, taking what you want. You’re so fucking beautiful.”

“I’m ginormous and horny as hell, so help me.”

I grin at her, sitting up swiftly and turning us so she’s on her hands and knees. I grip her hips and slam home. She drops her head into her elbow to muffle her moans. The sounds are music to my ears, pushing me higher and higher until I’m ready to explode.

“Touch yourself, Ladybug. I need you with me.”