Page 80 of Child of Mine

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BELLA

Henry’s right about our bodies knowing what to do. The moment we shed the scraps of clothing separating us, instinct kicks in. Can you get a high from sex? Would it be so awful to be addicted to whatever hormones are released when this man’s lips touch my skin?

Pleasure doesn’t have to be badmurmurs in my head—in what I’m pretty sure is my own damn voice—before I relinquish control. Worries fade into the background, and all I do is feel.

The brush of his beard and chest hair over my breast and belly wake up every nerve ending. The calluses on his fingertips part the curls above my sex and set me on fire from the inside out. My nails scrape across his ass and my teeth sink into his trapezius as he brings me right to the verge of pain and pleasure before tipping me over the edge. He produces a condom from somewhere, and next thing I know he’s pounding into me, roaring his own release until we’re little more than a puddle of sweat and heaving breath.

Sex with him forces me to be in the present. Unfortunately, the moment it’s over, apprehension kicks back in. Throwing an arm over my face, I groan, “Everything was less complicated before you showed up.”

He peeks under my arm. “But a little boring?”

“Boring is safe,” I say, gently elbowing him away.

He just rolls me on top of him. “What if you had a safety net?”

When he stretches his arms overhead and folds his hands behind his head, all I can see is the flex of his perfect biceps.

Fingertip on my chin, he redirects my focus. “I could be your safety net.”

Folding my elbows over the shelf of his pecs, I rest my chin on my hands. I’ve never understood pillow talk, but it’s surprisingly easy to have a discussion with Henry like this, like we’re equally vulnerable and safe. Still, I’m not letting him off the hook. “What do you get out of this deal? Besides more sex with me.”

“Family.”

“But you have a family. That you love.”

“Not my own family.”

“You didn’t want that with what’s-her-name in Raleigh.”

“I didn’t want that withher. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever want it, to be honest.” He drags my finger over his mouth, and a sound like a purr rumbles from his chest beneath me. When his eyes pop open again, I’m completely caught by their unusual copper-brown. “But with us, I can have mind-blowing sex and a partner I love working with and the smartest, cutest little girl in the world. It all feels like the perfect package. And it feels like…”

He pauses, seeming almost afraid to continue. I hold my breath to give him space, trying to ignore the flutter in my chest at the word he just used. He loves working with me, but does he love me? Can we just will that into existence?

“Home.”

Caught in my own mental loop, it takes me a moment to hear what he’s said. Not love, but home. Which might be even better. Just as I’m about to agree, though, Ribsy jumps on the bed and sniffs my butt, which has me shrieking in surprise and then laughter.

“Way to ruin the mood, Ribsy,” Henry says. But there’s a smile in his voice like this is all a part of that home he was talking about.

“What about him?” I ask.

“Ribsy? What about him?” He pulls me into one side as Ribsy settles down on the other.

“My cats don’t like dogs.”

Scratching behind Ribsy’s ear, he says, “Ahh. My dog is like me. He can convince anybody to love him.”

Again with that word. Scary, but maybe in a good way. “Pretty cocky, mister.”

“But true?”

“We’ll see,” is the best I can answer.

There’s still a lot to figure out. But maybe it is better to risk taking it on with a partner, rather than on my own.

Making a home might be safer than falling in love.

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