AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Splashes of color in a display unlike any other. Short, blotchy strokes of my brush on the canvas. Bursts of bright pigment to offset the occasional shadows.
And when she and I see it, we will know. We will see what no one else sees. We will remember the nights and hours we spent in this studio. The way her breaths evened out as she fell asleep. The way I bit the end of my brush as I looked from her to the canvas, then smiled.
We will remember, and that is all that matters.
Her love. My love. Us.
I set my brush down and open my mouth to call it a night, but snap it shut when I see her closed eyes. Her slightly parted lips. Hear her soft snores as her chest rises and falls steadily.
On and off during the session, her eyes drifted closed, but her body never fully relaxed. Not like it is now.
Quietly, I clean up what I need to. Then I tiptoe over to where she sleeps, wrap her body in the blanket, and scoop her up into my arms. Halfway down the stairs, her eyes flutter open and she curls into my chest.
“Sorry I fell asleep,” she mumbles into my neck.
I press a kiss to her forehead and hug her closer. “Sleep, my Andromeda. Sleep.”
In the bedroom, I lay her on the bed, but she gets up and shuffles toward the bathroom. After a moment to herself, she tugs one of my shirts over her head and slips on a pair of boy shorts. We crawl under the covers and I press my front to her back, slipping one arm under her pillow and laying the other over her belly.
“Love you,” she whispers into the darkness as she scoots closer.
I kiss her hair. “Love you.”
She drifts back to sleep within seconds. For hour-long minutes, I lie awake and listen to her soft snores. Stroke my fingers over her belly, over our baby, and I send a thank you to the universe.
Thank you for bringing this brave, strong woman into my life. Thank you for gifting me with her heart. Thank you for giving me the chance to find love, real love, with her.
As long as there is breath in my lungs and blood in my veins, I will protect her, her heart and our baby. I will love them. Unconditionally and without fear. Always.
After one last kiss to her hair, I drift off to sleep. My entire world wrapped in my arms.
THIRTEEN
SHELLY
Something isn’t right.
I take a deep breath. Then another. And another.
My heart pounds viciously in my chest. The beat hard and heavy. An uncomfortable throb beneath my sternum.
I close my eyes and try to calm the worry flooding my thoughts. Breathe deeply and picture my heart settling.
Deep breaths. Slow and steady. In through the nose. Out through the mouth.
Minutes pass and the bang, bang, banging of my heart settles a fraction. I kick my feet out from beneath the blanket and welcome the cool air. After a few more deep breaths, my throbbing heart calms further.
Devlyn shifts behind me, his fingers tracing small lines over my belly.
“Morning,” he says with a rasp I’ve grown to love more each time I hear it.
“Morning.”
His lips trail kisses down the side of my neck and along the ridge of my shoulder. His hand glides over my belly and up my body until he palms my breast. I arch my back and fill his hand further.
Rolling onto my back, I bring my lips to his. Weave my fingers in his dark, wayward strands. My heart beats a brutal rhythm, but it’s nothing like the pounding from minutes ago. This rhythm is one I know, one I feel head to toe.
I peel my shirt off and strip out of my panties as Devlyn shoves his briefs down and tosses them to the floor. His lips dance over each collarbone, my sternum and breasts, down my midline until he lands beneath my navel. For a beat, he stares at my belly and caresses it with such delicacy. He kisses the slight swell, then lifts his gaze.
