Patricia cinched her legs around his hips and her arms around his shoulders, her expression growing serious. “I want this to work.”

“So do I.”

“I mean, I don’t want to hurt you again. I know we don’t really know each other, and everything is moving so fast now, but I’ve never felt like this about anyone before.”

Jon silenced her with a kiss. “You’re right, things are moving fast, but sometimes I think that’s what it takes to open your eyes to what’s standing right in front of you.”

“Aren’t you afraid?” she asked, her eyes wide.

“Not in the least, and do you know why,” Jon asked, reaching between them to guide himself inside of her, “because I love you, and I know that you love me.” He pushed deep inside of her, dragging a moan out of both of them. “We have all the time in the world to figure out the rest.”

They made slow, passionate love, and when they were both spent, Jon eased them under the covers, holding Patricia and their baby as close to his heart as physically possible. He knew that she was scared of the unknown, of how fast things were progressing between them, but Jon knew what it was like to be without her, and he never wanted to experience that again. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he would do anything and everything to ensure that they never spent another day apart. She was his life and his future now, and he would protect and nurture her until he breathed his last breath.

Those were Jon’s last thoughts before he slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Patti awoke to the shrill sound of a telephone ringing.

Jon let out a small groan as she slipped out of his arms. Scooping his oversized T-shirt off the floor, she slipped it over her head and tiptoed into the living room to dig her phone out of her purse.

It took a moment for her to recognize the number, and when she did, she swiped her finger across the screen, her heart beating a mile a minute. “Tate,” she answered, holding the phone to her ear in a death grip.

“Patti,” he said, his voice strained. “Sorry to wake you, but we’ve just checked in at the hospital.”

Patti’s smile spread so wide she thought her face might crack. “Okay. I just need to get dressed and freshen up and I’ll be on my way.” She skidded to a stop just outside the bedroom door. “Tate, I’m so happy for you guys.”

“Yeah, yeah, none of the sappy stuff. It’s just a baby. People do this every day, right?” he said flippantly, but Patti knew by the slight tremor she detected in his voice that he was just trying to remain calm.

“Of course they do,” she assured him. “Just let Piper know that I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“I will, and Patti,” Tate said just as Patti was about to hang up. “Were you able to work things out with Jon?”

Peeking through the bedroom door, Patti looked at Jon, who was just tossing his feet over the side of the bed. He was gloriously naked, his muscles flexing as he pushed his fists into the side of the mattress and stood. Even with bleary eyes and dark hair sticking up at odd angles, the devilish look he sent her made her breath catch and moisture flood between her legs.

Would she ever get enough of this man?

“Yeah, we worked everything out,” she responded, completely distracted as Jon opened his arms, and she walked into them.

“Good, I’m glad to hear it. Tell him not to forget the cigars.”

“I heard that,” Jon said, taking her hand with the phone in it and bringing it to his ear. Patti rested her head against his chest, listening to the hollow depth of his voice as he laughed about something she couldn’t hear, too busy enjoying the warmth and comfort of being in his arms.

“I guess we’re headed out,” Jon said a moment later, handing Patti back her phone. She lifted her chin to look at him, and Jon took the opportunity to pinch it between his thumb and forefinger and drop a kiss to her lips. “As much as I’d love to keep you in bed all day, we should get moving.”

Patti stuck out her bottom lip. “I thought you said that we weren’t leaving the house ever again?”

Jon’s hand swung at her, smacking her butt with a resounding crack, and Patti shrieked, jumping away from him. “There’s another one where that came from. Now get dressed, wench.”

“Is this what I signed on for?” Patti asked, feigning shock and dismay.

“If by that you mean keeping you barefoot and pregnant, a slave to my every whim, then, yes. Yes, you did.”

Patti watched longingly as Jon slipped into the same pair of jeans he’d been wearing only hours before. “Don’t forget the occasional spanking,” she rebutted.

“There’s that, too.”

Patti sat on the edge of the bed and slid her legs into her pants. After buttoning and zipping them, she fingered the hem of Jon’s shirt, reluctant to take it off.

“Keep it on,” Jon said, rounding the side of the bed and snaking his arms around her waist. His mouth captured the side of her neck, licking and sucking just over her pulse point. “There’s nothing sexier than seeing you wearing my things.”

He pushed her back on the bed, inching his hands under the shirt to cup her breasts in his palms. “Jon, we’re never going to leave if we don’t stop now,” Patti moaned, tilting her head back to give him better access to her throat. She felt the button on her jeans pop free, and then Jon’s hand was burrowing underneath the material. He found her wet and wanting in a matter of seconds.

“Oh, baby, you are so ready for me.”

“I’m always ready for you.” She sucked in a breath, barely containing a scream as Jon pushed two of his thick fingers inside of her.

Dropping his forehead to rest in the curve between her neck and shoulder, Jon groaned as though in agony. His hips surged forward, grinding his thick, hard cock against her inner thigh. “Fuck, I don’t want to stop. Tell me to stop,” he begged.

Patti held his head to her, spreading her legs wider as she focused on the feel of his fingers pumping inside of her. She couldn’t find her voice even if she wanted to…And she didn’t. The last thing she wanted to do was to tell him to stop.

Lifting his head, Jon watched her from above as he worked his fingers deeper, curving them so that they hit just where she needed them to be. Patti’s back arched and her eyes slid closed. “No, baby,” Jon said, his voice almost guttural. “Look at me. I want to look into your eyes when you come. I want to see how good I make you feel.”

His words sent Patti soaring higher toward her climax. She felt the tightening in the base of her spine, a tingling working its way through her body, one cell at a time.

“That’s it, baby,” Jon said, twisting his fingers, making room for a third. Patti could feel her muscles stretching at the same time they began to constrict. She was on the edge, barely able to keep her eyes open. “Come for me, Patricia. Show me how you come for me.”

Patti’s eyes dropped low, watching the muscles and tendons in his thick wrists working hard between her legs. Then her eyes widened, hunger taking her over as she watched Jon unzip his pants and release his cock. He took it into his palm, swirling his thumb through the clear fluid seeping from the swollen head, using it as lubricant as he took his shaft in a firm grip and began pumping it up and down in long strokes. “Look at what you do to me,” he growled.

The veins bulging out all down his arms as he sought his own release fascinated her. She was so close, her own muscles bunching in preparation, when reached out to wrap her hand around the base of his shaft.

Jon looked down at her, his eyes blazing. “I want it in my mouth,” she told him, urging him on to the bed with a gentle tug. Placing one knee on the mattress, Jon climbed up and knelt beside her head, his fingers still buried in her swollen folds. Lifting her head, Patti opened her mouth and wrapped her lips around him.

“Fuck, Patricia, that feels amazing,” Jon gasped, cupping the back of her head in his hand to drive himself deeper down her throat.

Patti focused on the feel of his fingers inside of her as she bobbed her head, swirling her tongue around his head and swallowing him down again, careful not to scrape him with her teeth. It didn’t take long before she tasted the salty, bitter fluid on her tongue telling her that he would come soon. She imagined the hot spurts hitting her tongue, coating her throat, and felt the answering clench between her legs.

“Oh, baby, that’s it. I can feel your pussy squeezing me,” Jon told her, driving his fingers deeper and harder. He dragged his fingers from her hot sheath and Patti moaned in protest, but she didn’t stop sucking. “Look at me,” Jon told her, and when she peeled her eyes open, she watched, rapt, as Jon stuck his fingers in his mouth and licked them clean. “You taste so fucking good.”

She felt as if she should be embarrassed, but Patti’s excitement only rose higher. When Jon touched her again, he focused all of his attention on her hardened clit, rubbing feverishly against the swollen nub. Patti’s hips bucked as she brought her knees closer together, locking him between them, and creating a delicious friction guaranteed to finish her off.

Jon’s grip on the back of her head tightened and his hips thrust forward. Patti used both hands, one to grip his shaft and pump it in time with her retreating mouth, and the other to massage his balls.

The wet sound of sex fueled her. The rumble of pleasure in Jon’s chest made her go faster. As she came, her inner muscles spasming, her legs scissoring and her hips rising off the bed, she felt Jon swell between her lips, and then she tasted his hot seed bursting in her mouth, spilling down her throat.

“Ah, God!” Jon shouted, dropping her head and bracing himself above her on one arm. His teeth gnashed together as his hips pumped, battering her mouth as he drained the last of his come into her.

He collapsed beside her with his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. “Holy mother of…” He trailed off, wiping sweat from his brow.

Patti took a moment to recover, and then, feeling like she was on top of the world, she rolled to her side, slapped a wet kiss to Jon’s sinfully flat and chiseled belly, and then scrambled off the bed. She buttoned and zipped her pants back up, tucked in the T-shirt, and finger combed her hair.

“Time to go,” she announced, bouncing toward the door. Making love with Jon left her feeling rejuvenated. “Don’t fall asleep!”

A few minutes later, while she was finishing tying up her shoe laces, Jon emerged from the bedroom looking every bit a man who’d just been fucked senseless. She couldn’t help grinning, prideful of her ability to make her man feel good.

Walking over to her, Jon took her face in his hands and devoured her mouth, plunging his tongue between her lips like a man starving for another taste. “When we get back,” he told her, running his thumbs around the ring of her mouth to wipe away the moisture he’d left there, “I’m going to fuck your mouth so hard you’ll need braces when I’m through with it.”

Patti licked her lips, recalling the taste of him. “I’m looking forward to it already.”

Jon’s hands tightened briefly on her face before he released her to grab his keys and wallet and shove them in his pocket. “And they say men are dangerous,” he muttered, holding the door open for her.

Patti chuckled as she passed by, letting her palm skim over the bulge in his pants. If she played her cards right, she could have him back in her mouth by the time they hit the car, and wasn’t that enough to make her mouth water.

27

Everyone was there by the time they reached the waiting room of the maternity ward. Considering they had all been pulled from their beds for the event, it was amazing how wide-awake everyone appeared. Then again, the coffee maker bubbling away and the half-dozen paper cups littering the rectangular table could have been reason enough for that.

“Hey,” Patti greeted them as she and Jon entered the room.

“Hey, you.” Jules rose from her chair in the corner and enveloped her in a hug. Lynn and Sheila followed suit, and Poppy, the newest member of their group, approached her hesitantly.

Patti opened her arms. “It’s okay, I don’t bite,” she encouraged her. Smiling shyly, Poppy gave her a brief but affectionate hug.

“Man, am I glad you’re here,” Felix was saying to Jon. They performed some male handshake thing that Patti had never understood.

When Jon stepped back, he was grinning, albeit somewhat tired looking. He took up Patti’s hand in his and laced their fingers together. “Any news yet?”