AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Even better was the sight of his wife’s ungloved hands gently probing around his ankle. When her fingers slid past the hem of his trousers, up his calf slightly, he didn’t protest, though he was increasingly suspicious.She’s touching me more than strictly necessary!
“Does that pain you?”
“Hmm. No.”
“What about here?”
“No.”
She had already fingered and rotated his ankle, finding the bones intact but the area sore. The rest of her explorations seemed…recreational.
Meanwhile, he tried to keep his eyes away from the delights of her breasts and her swelling belly. He wasn’t successful. With a sudden twist, he rolled onto his side and pulled a bolster pillow onto his lap. One ankle was larger than the other by a fair amount, as her examination revealed, but the greatest swelling in his body was occurring in his lap.
She pulled her hands away after he moved. “I’m sorry I missed your arrival, William.”
“Think nothing of it. You’ve had long days, I know, readying the household for travel. Are you certain you don’t need another day to rest, perhaps, after all the packing?”
Smiling, she shook her head. “All is ready for our departure, as am I. I’m so looking forward to seeing the seat of the marquessate. The place where you grew up.”
“As I look forward to showing it to you.” He gripped the firm pillow. “It’s not too late. To greet each other, I mean.”
“Oh!”
His lips twitched. “Oh.” He held out a hand, inviting her closer.
She resettled near him on the settee, sitting primly, but her cheeks more flushed than ever. His lips had no sooner pressed softly onto her forehead, however, than she gasped. One of her hands flattened over the mound of her belly.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head, her smile shy. “Nothing. He’s—she’s?—moving.”
“You can feel that?” he asked, his voice full of awe.
“Yes.” She closed her eyes. “It’s difficult to explain how it feels. A fluttering, perhaps? Oh! Strong one! Perhaps a future fencer, we have in here.”
“Does it pain you?”
“Oh, no! It’s—it’s lovely.”
Watching her expand with his child these months had filled him with a certain pride, however mysterious the entire thing was. He hadn’t realized she wouldfeeltheir child within, and the thought nearly brought him to tears.
His hand tentatively extended toward her, then pulled back, but she reached for him.
“Would you like to—“
Touch you? Feel you?
“Yes. May I?”
Her trembling hand flattened his against her belly, which was surprisingly firm. She pressed it harder against her, harder than he ever would have touched her there, and—
The air rushed from his lungs. He felt it, too! “Our child,” he breathed.
He caressed her, and she caressed his hand.
When the movement stopped, he reluctantly withdrew. “Thank you.”
Staring into her eyes, feeling the current ripple between them, he couldn’t resist.Just a little more.He cleared his throat. “We were interrupted, I believe. Our greeting—we never completed it.”
