“Besides,” he said, making me look back over at him, “how could I stay in the hospital when I could be here? Doing this?” He leaned down, bracing himself as he lowered his head to my breasts. His lips brushed one acutely sensitive nipple and I sucked in a breath, watching as his mouth closed over me. His tongue began doing things that made heat pool again between my thighs, his fingers tweaking and rolling my other nipple until I was gasping.

“You have,” he said, switching his mouth to the other breast, which seemed to tremble with want for the same lavish attention, “the most amazing breasts. Have I told you that? I should tell you that. Every. Day.” Then his mouth was again working its magic and my eyes slammed shut. I felt his hand move down between my legs, his fingers becoming slick with our fluids as he stroked me.

“Oh God oh God oh God,” I moaned, my hips lifting to meet his now thrusting fingers.

“You can call me Kade,” he whispered against my lips.

I buried my hands in the thick softness of his hair as he kissed me. His hand moved faster, his touch gentle but persistent. Kade’s mouth moved to trail down my neck, his teeth settling around my nipple with a soft tug. Stars exploded behind my eyes and I cried out, a wave of pleasure pulsing through me.

Kade was still nuzzling my breasts when at last I could again breathe normally and opened my eyes. My limbs felt languid and heavy.

“That was . . .” I began, but trailed off. Words couldn’t describe it.

“Amazing? Mind-blowing? The earth moved?” Kade asked, pressing light kisses to my neck and shoulder.

I laughed. “Modest, aren’t you?”

“I’ve never claimed that as one of my virtues. Actually, I’ve never claimed any virtues at all. They’re overrated.” He pulled me into him, tucking my head against his chest. “Go to sleep, princess,” he said. His lips brushed my forehead.

I was too exhausted and sated to even contemplate all the things I should be worrying about. Kade was here. I focused on that. I hadn’t realized until now how much it had bothered me that he’d been in the hospital and how relieved I’d be when he was out. But it was as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

And I slept.

* * *

When I woke, I was alone in bed and sunlight was filtering in through the windows. I stretched, feeling a familiar soreness between my legs. Getting up, I went to the bathroom, eyeing the grin on my face that I couldn’t seem to help. I took a quick shower and pulled on one of Kade’s clean T-shirts before venturing to find him.

He was in his office, seated in front of his computer. Four large flat-screen monitors sat on the desk, obstructing my view of him. I sidled around the desk and he glanced up at me. He wore only a pair of pajama bottoms, leaving his chest deliciously bare. I noticed his hair was damp. He must have showered as well.

“Good morning,” I said with a smile, sliding between his chair and the desk. Kade quickly reached out and hit a key on his keyboard. All four screens went dark.

I sat sideways on his lap and his hands settled on my hips. Leaning down, I gave him the best kiss I could before having my morning coffee. It must have been pretty good, because I could feel the surge of his response beneath me. When I pulled back, he was looking at me. His brows were drawn together, an emotion I couldn’t read on his face, and his hand came up to cradle my cheek.

My smile faded at his expression. “What is it? What’s wrong?” I asked in alarm. “Are you in pain?” I started to climb off his lap, but his grip tightened, holding me in place.

He shook his head. “I’m fine.”

I studied him, frowning, but couldn’t be sure he was telling me the truth. Suddenly, the blank monitors at my back reminded me.

“Hey,” I said, “we have a problem.” Kade’s body stilled. “You changed my grades,” I continued.

Kade relaxed slightly, his breath releasing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said blandly. His hands were creeping underneath my shirt and I grabbed his wrists.

“You need to change them back,” I insisted.

Kade cocked an eyebrow. “Make me.” A smirk teased his lips and I couldn’t be mad at him. I’d been so afraid I would never see that smirk again, hear him tease me again.

“C’mon,” he said, standing and setting me on my feet. “I’m starving.”

Enfolding my hand in his, Kade tugged me with him to the kitchen. I sat at the dining table while he peered into the refrigerator. A few minutes later, he was cracking eggs into a bowl while coffee brewed.

I got up and went over to watch him, hopping up to sit on the counter.

“I didn’t know you cooked,” I said as he scrambled the eggs and dumped them into a sauté pan.

“One of my many talents,” Kade said, shooting me a smile. “Though if you want to strip down and make some muffins, I won’t stop you.”

I laughed, remembering when I’d last tried to cook for Kade and had forgotten a key ingredient. He’d walked in on me bare-ass naked as I tried to save the muffins.

“I’ll spare you having to stomach my cooking,” I retorted with a grin.

A few minutes later, he’d slid two omelets onto plates and poured two cups of coffee. I sat beside him at the table as he dug in, smiling to myself. His appetite was back, that was good.

Forking a bite of omelet, I popped it into my mouth, then froze. I loved eggs, but something about the omelet was . . . off. The texture suddenly seemed very, very wrong.

My stomach heaved, and I shot up from my chair and ran for the bathroom. I made it just in time.

I threw up, bent over the toilet, until there was nothing but dry heaves, noticing only then that Kade stood behind me, holding my hair back from my face. My eyes were watering and a wet washcloth suddenly appeared in my line of vision.

“Here,” Kade said gently.

I took the cloth and wiped my face, sitting back against the wall in exhaustion. Kade flushed the toilet and shut the lid, then crouched down beside me.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” he asked.

His blue eyes stared intently into mine and I abruptly realized the truth.

“You already know, don’t you,” I managed to say. It wasn’t a question.

Kade’s gaze was steady. “That doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear you say it.”

This was it. The moment I’d been anticipating and dreading. So much depended on his reaction to this news, though I supposed if he already knew and wasn’t running for the door, that was something.

“I’m having a baby,” I blurted. “Your baby.” Then I held my breath.

Kade smiled, a real one that lit up his eyes, and he said the most perfect thing I could imagine.

“You mean we are having a baby.”

Tears filled my eyes and I threw my arms around his neck just as he gathered me close. It was exactly the embrace I’d hoped to experience when I’d dreamed of having children and imagined telling the father the news that I was pregnant. The fact that Kade was that man staggered me, especially as I considered how he and I had begun compared to where we were now.

“Feeling better?” he asked, loosening his hold on me. I sat back and nodded. “Good. Let’s get you some crackers or something—how does that sound?”

“Okay,” I agreed. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

Kade helped me to my feet and left the bathroom. I quickly brushed my teeth, glad the nausea had abated, though I didn’t think I’d be eating eggs anytime soon.

By the time I came out, Kade had finished off both omelets and was putting the plates into the dishwasher. I noticed he’d thoughtfully put some soda crackers and dry toast at my place setting. I sat in the chair I’d abandoned, pulling my knees to my chest, and nibbled on a cracker.

“How did you know?” I asked.

Kade turned around to look at me, leaning back against the counter while he sipped his coffee. My gaze drifted down to the way the muscles in his chest and arm moved. The pajamas he wore rode low on his hips. A line of dark hair that began just below his navel and disappeared behind the waistband drew my eye.

“If you expect to have an actual conversation, you’ll have to keep your eyes above my waist.”

I jerked my gaze up to his, the mischief in his eyes and knowing tilt to his lips made my breath catch. I was still overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of Kade.

“Sorry,” I mumbled around the cracker I’d stuffed in my mouth. My hormones seemed to be working overtime, even after our middle-of-the-night lovemaking, and the last thing I wanted to put in my mouth was another dry cracker. I chewed and swallowed before asking again, “So how did you know?”

“Hacked your medical records,” he replied with a careless shrug before taking another sip.

My hand froze halfway to my mouth, the cracker I held, forgotten. I suddenly remembered the computer screens that he’d caused to go dark the moment I’d stepped into his office. He must have been looking at my records right then.

“You hacked—”

“Now don’t get all pissed off,” Kade interrupted, setting his coffee down and walking over to me. “Stop and think. Does it really surprise you that I’d do that?”

Well . . . no. It didn’t. But I felt like I should be mad—it was an invasion of privacy, after all. Then again, we were having a baby together. Was the privacy of my medical records from my baby’s father really a top concern right then?

Nope.

“If you weren’t still wearing bandages, then I’d be mad at you,” I said loftily.

“Then I’ll have to make sure to wear them at all times,” he shot back, pulling me to my feet. His hands drifted under the hem of my shirt, cupping my bottom through the thin pair of boxer shorts I’d found to wear.

“Oooh, boy’s underwear,” Kade breathed against my lips. “Sexy.”

My giggle was muffled by his mouth as he kissed me, then his fingers slipped inside the shorts and I stopped laughing.

* * *

Afterward, we lay in companionable silence on Kade’s bed, me on my back and Kade between my legs, his cheek resting on my stomach. My pulse was slowly returning to normal as my fingers threaded leisurely through Kade’s hair, the strands soft as corn silk.

He turned his head and placed a gentle kiss low on my abdomen, right under my navel, and my heart turned over in my chest.

“I was so afraid you’d be angry,” I said softly.

Kade looked up at me, laying an arm across my stomach and resting his chin on it.

“Why would I be angry?” he asked, frowning.

I shrugged. “Bad timing, I guess. And I just . . . didn’t know how you’d feel about it.”

Kade looked at me for a moment, his blue eyes seeing too much, then he crawled up my body until he hovered over me.

“I love you,” he said. “How could I possibly be mad about the best thing that’s ever happened to me?”

I reached up and curled my arms around his neck, pulling him down to me. My vision was blurred with tears.

“Don’t cry,” he whispered in my ear, his lips brushing away the wet tracks down the side of my face.

“I’m not crying because I’m sad,” I whispered back. “I’m crying because I’m happy.” I smiled through my tears.

“Oh. Well, I guess that’s all right then,” he said, his cocky grin returning. He flopped onto the bed beside me, swiping the wet trails from my face. “So, I have a business thing I have to do in Boston. Want to come with?”

My heart leapt. He was taking me with him. “Absolutely,” I said, my smile so wide it almost hurt, then I remembered something and my smile faded.

“What?” Kade asked, frowning.

I hesitated. “Are you—” I began, then cut myself off. I wasn’t sure how to ask what was inside my head.

“Am I what?” Kade repeated.

“Are you going to keep doing the same job?” I blurted, my face heating. I didn’t want that, didn’t want Kade to continue taking contracts as an assassin. I’d always felt that a little of his soul died every time he killed someone. He was better than that, deserved better than that. And I didn’t want to think about how dangerous his job was or how many close calls he’d no doubt had over the years.

“I told you in Vegas that I was starting something new,” he said, reaching out to play with a strand of my hair. He idly twisted the long curl around his finger.

“I know,” I said, “but after what happened, I wasn’t sure if—”

“Shhh.” He placed a finger against my lips. “I’ll make it work. I’ll keep you and the baby safe. I won’t let anything happen to you. I’m through doing what I used to do. I promise.”