Page 64 of Labor of Love

“I slipped you my number. I found it crumpled in the trash the next morning.”

“A hideous excuse for a human gentleman.”

And then Tanner was laughing, the sound as deep and rich and warm as his brown eyes, the movement jostling his cock inside Bracken.

And it did something to Bracken, that laugh. Something irreversible.

“Keep touching me,” he pleaded, strangely close to tears. “Don’t stop.”

Tanner’s laughter slowed. He brushed their lips together with new tenderness. “I won’t.”

He didn’t, not until they were both limp and sated again. Bracken would need a bath soon—he was sticky as well as exhausted. But it was hard to move when Tanner was stroking Bracken’s belly in long, soothing sweeps, murmuring sweet nothings to Bracken and the unborn babe both.

“We’re going to have a baby together,” Tanner eventually said, his voice full of wonder. Which was silly, as that fact had been clearly established for months.

“Why aren’t you more upset?” Bracken asked, his gaze fixed on Tanner’s broad palm on his belly.

“About what?”

“Everything.”

Tanner’s hand paused its movement. “Why would I be?”

“We barely know each other, and we’re chained together.”

“Oh.” Tanner resumed his determined petting. “I don’t mind.”

“Whynot?”

“I was half in love with you after one night,” Tanner said easily, like he wasn’t stealing the very breath from Bracken’s lungs with his words. “It’s possible I impregnated you by force of will alone.” He gave Bracken’s belly a pat. “And it was worth it.”

“You were…” Bracken’s mind had gone strangely blank. “What?”

“Half in love with you,” Tanner repeated. “After that first night. If you hadn’t slipped away, I would have locked you in my room and kept you forever, probably.” Tanner ghosted his lips over Bracken’s ear, nibbling at the sensitive point. “It was wise of you to run.”

“And—and now?” Bracken asked, barely able to get the words out. “Do I still have—have half your heart?”

Tanner pressed his hand to Bracken’s chest. It was solid and warm and perfect, that firm touch. “Now you’ve got the whole thing.”

9

Tanner pressed another kiss to the soft skin under Bracken’s pointed ear. He was rewarded with a lethargic swat to his side. “I’m busy,” Bracken chastised.

“I know. I’m helping.”

“You are decidedly not.” But Bracken tilted his head to the side all the same, making room for Tanner’s searching mouth.

They were finally putting the nursery together in the spare bedroom Tanner was no longer using. Bracken had been acting cagey about it for the last month, and the fact that he’d finally given in seemed like a good sign. A reflection of the way they’d grown closer since the night they’d finally broken down the barriers between them.

Bracken was still prickly and demanding. Although instead of demanding furniture be moved, he demanded Tanner fuck him every which way, which was admittedly a pleasant change. But he was also softer. Less defensive. Sweeter, even, if Tanner caught him in the right moment. His pheromones had softened too. Tanner hadn’t realized how unsettled they’d been until now, when he could scent the difference.

And in addition to the copious amounts of sex, Tanner now slept in Bracken’s bed every night, holding him close.

He’d never been happier.

But there were some things left unsettled.

“Bracken.”

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