“You are stunning,” he growls and kisses my shoulder as he begins moving in and out of me fiercely. “I can’t take my eyes off you. Even in a roomful of people, you’re all I see.”

“Oh my God, Zack,” I whimper, trying to thrust my hips back to meet his hips, but he has me held still.

“You make me crazy. I dream of you, whether I’m asleep or wide awake trying to work.” He suddenly pulls out, turns me around, and boosts me up onto the bed, lying back so my hips are at the edge. He wraps my legs around his hips and dives right back in, locking my gaze with his own.

I cup his cheek in my palm and guide his lips to mine.

“You are the best part of my life,” he whispers gently. “I didn’t know it was possible to feel this fucking fiercely about anyone aside from Seth. To want to protect and love anyone the way I do you.”

“I love you too.” I wrap my arms and legs around him tightly and hold on with all my might as he pounds in and out of me, riding me hard as though he’s been swept away with too much emotion and just can’t hold it in anymore.

He pushes a hand between us, presses his thumb against my clit, and sends me right over the edge into oblivion. I cry out with the surprise of the intense orgasm wracking my body.

“Jilly,” he breathes and stills, his whole body clenched hard, as he comes, surrendering to his own climax.

He’s sweating, panting, and his heart is pounding a fast beat as he braces himself over me and tries to compose himself.

“Did I hurt you?” he asks softly.

“Never.” I hold him closer and kiss his cheek. “You’d never hurt me.”

He stands and pulls out of me, then leads me to the bathroom. I reach for the pins in my hair, but he stills my hands. “Wait. Leave it up.” He turns on the bath and while it fills, he boosts me onto the countertop, helps me out of my shoes, and rubs my feet with firm thumbs.

“Sweet Jesus, you’re good with your hands,” I moan.

“Like that, do you?”

“Mm,” I reply and sigh as his thumb pushes up my arch. “Just do this for about a year, and I’ll be good to go.”

“If the shoes hurt your feet so much, why do you wear them?”

“It’s not the shoes’ fault.” When his hands still I open one eye to find him staring at me with disbelief. “They don’t hurt my feet. You just have magical hands. You could rub me all day every day and I’d never get tired of it.”

“Would it sound as sweet if I said that you could rub my cock all day every day and I’d never tire of it?” he wonders aloud, making me snort.

“No. It doesn’t sound as nice. Sexy, but not nice.” I grin up at him as he switches feet and administers the same attention to the other foot. “You looked so handsome tonight. Thank you for dressing up for me.”

“My pleasure. I don’t really mind wearing a suit.” His hands glide up my calves to my thighs. “Mom used to make Josh and me wear suits to church on Sundays.”

“I like your mom.”

“She likes you.”

He nibbles my lips as he lifts me off the counter and lowers me into the steamy water.

“Hot,” I mutter and take a deep breath.

“Too hot?” he pauses.

“No, just need a second to get used to it.” I grin and then sigh deeply as I feel my muscles loosen in the steam. “This tub is big enough for two.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” He winks and climbs in behind me, pulls me against his chest, and kisses my head.

“Thank you for celebrating with me tonight.”

“You’re welcome. Congratulations, sugar.” He kisses me again and pulls a washcloth off the ledge, wets and soaps it, and begins dragging it over my body. When he reaches my breasts, I suck in another breath as the soft cloth feels like it’s going to peel my nipple right off.

“I’m sorry, baby. You’re that sore?”

“Yeah. It’s okay. Damn hormones.”

He continues cleaning the rest of me, and when he’s done, I take the cloth and return the favor, running it over his legs, hips, and stomach and then pay his dick special attention. He hardens in my grasp, but doesn’t make any moves to make love to me again. Instead, once we’re clean, he helps me out of the tub, dries me off, and leads me to the bed. I yawn widely.

“Tired?”

“It’s been a long day,” I reply.

He peels back the covers and tucks me next to him, covers us both, and wraps me in his arms. I glance up at him in surprise. He doesn’t want to make love again?

“You’ll most likely wake up with me inside you,” he whispers and kisses my cheek, drags his nose to my jaw, and plants another kiss there. “But for tonight, I just want to hold you while you sleep.”

I grin and sigh, luxuriating in his strong embrace, and let myself drift into blissful sleep.

CHAPTER Sixteen

“Hi, Jill,” Hannah says with a smile as she enters the small exam room. I’m naked under a worn blue hospital gown that’s gaping open in the back, and there’s a paper blanket over my lap.

“Hi, Dr. Malone,” I reply with a grin.

“It’s just Hannah,” she says with a wave. “I’m not that formal.”

“Oh, good,” I reply.

“So, tell me what’s going on.” She sits on a black rolling stool and looks up at me expectantly.

“I might as well start at the beginning, so get comfy.” I take a deep breath and start my story. “I have a diagnosis of unexplained infertility. My ex-husband and I tried for many years to get pregnant. We went through everything from artificial insemination to in vitro, and nothing worked.”

“I did have a chance to read through your records from the other office,” Hannah says and nods. “Sounds like it must have been a very frustrating time for you.”

“That’s an understatement,” I reply softly. “Since the last treatments over a year ago, my cycles have been all screwy. I sometimes go several months between periods, and when that happens, I’d just get a medication to sort of jump-start my system again, then I’d be regular for a few more months.”

“So, I take it you’ve been irregular again?” she asks while jotting down notes.

“Yeah. It just occurred to me the other day that I haven’t had a period since about October.”

“Are you having any sort of symptoms now?”