Page 124 of The Duke's Jilted Bride

Inside, their rooms were already lit. Candles flickered softly, casting golden light across familiar walls. Rowan gave a quiet word to the footman, then closed the door once the servants had gone.

He turned to her, eyes searching her face.

“Have I told you how beautiful you are?”

“You have,” she said, breath catching as he reached up to remove the pins from her hair. “But I never get tired of hearing it.”

Her curls spilled over her shoulders. His fingers sifted through them slowly, reverently.

“Beautiful,” he whispered. “Glowing. Everything.”

She touched her belly. It was still flat, but not for long. “I won’t be for much longer. I’ll be round and sore and probably unbearable.”

He covered her hands with his, eyes warm. “And I’ll love every second of it. Every change. Watching you carry our child… I can’t think of anything more incredible.”

The raw awe in his voice brought tears to her eyes.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“And I love you. Both of you,” he added, gently brushing her belly. “With everything I am.”

His kiss was soft at first, full of wonder and gratitude. She leaned into it, letting it anchor her, warm her from the inside out. The world faded until there was only him.

Only this.

His hands moved slowly, tracing the shape of her as though reacquainting himself with every inch, every curve. He kissed her again, deeper this time, his body pressing gently against hers as he guided her back onto the bed.

Selina’s hands slid beneath his shirt, fingers skimming the warm, familiar skin of his back. He groaned softly against her mouth, and the sound sent a shiver through her. He broke the kiss only to move lower, brushing his lips along her throat, then over her collarbone, taking his time as if they had all night.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, his voice rough with need. “You always have been, but now, you take my breath.”

She cupped his face, pulling him back to her for another kiss, her thumb brushing along his cheek. “I love you,” she breathed, and the truth of it hung between them, bright and steady.

He made his way down her body, kissing the soft swell of her breast, the dip between her ribs, the gentle rise of her belly. Hishands never stopped moving, stroking her skin as if she were something sacred.

When he came back up to kiss her again, his eyes met hers, dark with want, but full of care.

“Tell me you’re ready,” he said, voice barely more than a breath.

She smiled. “I’ve never been more ready.”

He kissed her again, slow and deep, his hand gently curling around her hip as he moved closer. With slow, deliberate care, he guided himself into her. Selina moaned, feeling the length of him. His hips moved, and she clutched at his thighs.

She grew wetter as he slid deeper. Her nails curled into his skin as he rocked deeper, until she no longer knew where she ended and he began.

He drove deeper into her, his breath rough against her ear. “Am I hurting you, my love?”

Selina’s answer was to pull grasp his hips and pull him deeper into her. His hips rolled with deep thrusts, and with a cry torn from her lips, Selina shattered, ecstasy pulsing through her core.

Rowan groaned her name, his thrusts quickening before he buried himself deep and shuddered his own release.

For a long moment, they remained tangled together. Selina clung to him, never wanting this moment to end.

Much later, wrapped in the quiet of their room, Selina lay with her head on Rowan’s chest. One of his hands rested over her stomach, the other wrapped around her shoulder. His touch was steady, grounding.

She traced a small circle on his skin. “Are you happy?”

“More than I know how to say,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her hair. “I used to think happiness was something other people found. Something fragile. Now I know it’s something you build, little by little.”

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