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“Such a shame,” Michio’s husky voice whispered from the bed behind me.
I turned to face him. “What?”
“It’s a sin to cover those perfect curves.” His sleepy gaze wandered over me. Along my bare legs. The huge hillock of my belly. My bared, swollen breasts. My parted lips. For a long, unhurried moment, he just stared. “Turn around.”
The chill in the air tightened my nipples as I gave him my back. Or maybe it was the heat of his eyes roaming my body.
“Damn, Evie. I love the round O-shape of your ass, and the way it sits high when I look at you from the side. Must be all the jogging, because the firmness of your cheeks and your tiny, little waist…you don’t even look pregnant from behind. It’s all—”
“Right here?” I pivoted back, palming my stomach. I’d carried each of my pregnancies this way, front and center, all in the belly.
His pupils dilated. “Come here.”
A blanket covered his lower half, but his nude torso was enough to visually feast on. All those deep cuts and sharp ridges made my fingers tingle. He’d gained his weight back over the past six months, and his olive skin positively glowed with health. He claimed my blood had brought him back to life, which he took in sips several times a week. I often wondered what would happen to his cravings when he no longer had me to quench them.
I strode toward the bed, stopping in front of him, a quick glance confirming Jesse and Roark hadn't woken.
Michio propped up on an elbow and cupped a hand around my stomach. “You’ve never looked more beautiful.”
His compliment sifted through me like a caress, stirring up my overloaded energy.
“I’ve never felt so hyperactive.” I stared down into his brown eyes. “I can really feel her this morning, the way I sense you, but it’s crazy rambunctious.”
“I hope I’ll be able to sense her like that someday,” he said thoughtfully. Leaning closer, he trailed the tip of his nose around my belly button. “She’s going to keep us busy.”
“And test your patience.”
“And make us proud.”
A feeling of fullness expanded my ribs. There was so much energy and emotion and life inside me, I didn’t think I could contain it all. “I love you.”
He kissed my naval. “Love you.” Another kiss, and his eyes lifted, the warmth there emulating his words. “Do you want me to jog with you?”
“I have Darwin. Go back to sleep.”
He watched me as I pulled on a t-shirt and headed to the door, but a deeply accented voice stopped me.
“Ye forgot something.”
I grinned and returned to the bed, where Roark grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me toward him. He kissed the spot beneath my ear, the juncture of my shoulder and neck, a light peck on my lips, and released me to kiss my belly button.
Then he dropped on his back and closed his eyes. “Carry on.”
With a shake of my head, I slid around the bed to Jesse. He lay face up, his head near the edge of the mattress, eyes closed. I angled over his lips, staring at him upside down, inches away.
His mouth twitched into a smile a second before he cracked his eyelids. “Morning, darlin’.”
Oh, I would never grow tired of that deep, groggy rasp. “Morning.”
I kissed him upside down, the scruff on his chin tickling my nose. His lips were full and warm, his tongue a delicious invasion as he rubbed it lazily against mine. It was an unassuming kiss, his lips gliding along mine for no reason other than to show me affection. It made me feel loved, cherished, wanted.
When I leaned back, he trailed his knuckles across my cheek and jaw. “We’ll take you to the surface after lunch. We have some things to do this morning.”
I straightened and ruffled his sexy hair. “What kind of things?”
“Man things.” Roark rolled away, fluffing a pillow beneath his head. “Now be off with ye. I’m sleeping.”
Darwin and I left them to it, our feet echoing through the tunnels as we worked off our energy. After several sweaty miles, I ate tomatoes, spinach, and grits with Eddie and Shea in the kitchen. Leaving Darwin to finish his chow of meat, I showered, jotted down a list of supplies on a notepad, then wandered the corridors in search of Hunter.
I caught him at the elevator that led to the surface. “Here’s the rest of my list.”
He accepted the paper, his eyes moving over my scrawl, his hand repeatedly pushing his long hair from his face.
“If you ever want a haircut, I know a couple guys.”
Jesse and Roark still cut each other’s hair, and now Michio’s as well.
The corner of Hunter’s mouth tipped up. “Roark offered last week. Said I don’t need to keep my ears warm in this heat.” He looked up from the paper. “There’s a girl…”
