I’M PACING THE floor, waiting for my father to return from California. His flight landed an hour ago, and he still isn’t home. He’s been across the country for months, trying to work out a deal between Mateo and the FBI. Nothing was even set in stone before he left. He simply told me he would try.
He used his connections in the agency to try to set Mateo free from his crimes, but even my father has his limitations. What if they backed out of the deal and sent Mateo to prison?
Tears stream down my cheeks as I think of the worst possible outcome. Damn these pregnancy hormones. My hands drift down to my baby bump. I’ve really started showing over the past several weeks. And thinking about Mateo not being here with me during the birth of our son or daughter has a wave of fresh tears cascading down my face, and I furiously try to wipe them away.
“Don’t cry, Aria. You know what your tears do to me,” says a deep voice from the doorway.
Gasping, I turn and see him. He’s wearing his normal attire of a dark suit and dark shirt — black on black. His hair is shorter, and he has a thicker beard, but he’s still as brutally handsome and intimidating as ever.
My tears blur his face as he approaches and scoops me up in his arms. He buries his face in my neck and says, “Dios mío, I missed you.”
I sob against his chest. “I thought I would never see you again,” I confess.
“It almost didn’t happen,” he tells me. He pulls back and stares into my eyes. “Choosing you was the easy part. Working everything else out is what took forever.”
Slowly, I climb down out of his arms. There’s so much we need to discuss. But first thing’s first. Grabbing his hand, I pull it towards me and place his palm over my swollen belly.
Mateo’s eyes widen before narrowing. “What…” And then he surprises me by getting on his knees. He lifts my shirt and stares at my stomach.
We never discussed having children…or having a future together, really. So, I’m not sure if he even wants this baby. “Mateo,” I start.
“Do you have any idea how happy I am right now?” he asks, interrupting me. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy before,” he tells me before gently placing a kiss above my belly button. “I’ve dreamed of this moment with you, mi corazón.”
My shoulders sag in overwhelming relief, and I wipe away a stray tear as I stare down at the man I love adoring our baby that’s currently growing in my belly.
“Your father never told me,” he whispers in disbelief with a slight shake of his head.
“Knowing my dad, he probably wanted to make sure you were making the choice you wanted to make and not the one you thought you had to make.”
Mateo nods in agreement, nuzzling his thick beard against my sensitive skin. “He’s a smart man. I know now where you get your intelligence from.” His big hands wrap around my baby bump. “Pregnancy suits you, mi corazón.” And then one of his hands drifts lower under the waistband of my pants and thong. “I’ve missed you so fucking much. Your face. Your smile. Your body.” The moment his fingers touch my clit, I can’t help but groan out loud. “It’s been so long since I’ve heard those noises coming from your throat.”
I stare at the door and wonder out loud, “Someone could come in.”
“Let them come in. Nothing will stop me from tasting you right now, Aria.”
And with those words spoken, he pulls my pants down and moves my thong to the side before his tongue delves in between my folds. I ground myself by digging my fingers into his hair, and he growls from the sharp bite of my nails into his scalp.
He eats me like a man starving for my taste, and it turns me on even more. I can feel my wetness coating my thighs. I’ve been so desperate for his touch over the past few months.
“Tell me I’m the only one who’s ever tasted you.”
I can’t help but smile at his possessiveness. “You’re the only one. No one touched me while we were apart.” And then I confess, “I didn’t want anyone else. Only you.”
My words seem to spur him on, and he flicks his tongue rapidly over my clit, sending me soaring.
“Oh god, Mateo!” I groan.
Suddenly, he pulls his mouth away and stands at his full height, towering over me. I swallow hard as I stare up at him, his eyes dilated and full of hunger.
He moves me over to the bed in the center of the room, ridding me of the rest of my clothes as we go, and then gently pushes me down onto the comforter. I sit there patiently like a good girl while I watch him undress. And when he frees his cock from his boxer briefs, my mouth practically waters at the sight.
“See something you like?” he asks with a smirk as his hand closes around his thick shaft, stroking himself.
I grin widely. “Oh yes.”
He steps in between my open thighs and draws me closer to him before he teases me with his cock running up and down the length of my slit. “Have you been aching for my cock, mi corazón?” he asks.
“Yes!” I cry out, biting my lip to keep from cursing him for teasing me and not giving me what I truly want.
“Then let me give you what you’ve been craving.”
When he enters me, the feeling is almost indescribable. It feels so familiar but so strange at the same time. We’ve been apart for far too long, but my body still remembers his.
He doesn’t take me softly or slowly, and I don’t expect him to. No, he’s already gone, lost in his pleasure as he fills me to the hilt and takes what he wants, rutting inside of me and groaning against my neck before sinking his teeth into my skin, marking me.
“Mine,” he growls against my skin before soothing the sting with his tongue.
“Yours,” I agree with a sigh.
“And I’m yours, Aria,” he breathes. He pulls back, and I watch his eyes go to my baby bump. A possessive look is in his eyes as he runs his hand over it. “Fuck, you’re so beautiful, so fucking sexy.”
I can’t help the blush that rushes to my cheeks. Most days I feel bloated and disgusting, but the fact that he finds me sexy and beautiful makes my heart soar inside my chest.
“I want you pregnant. Always,” Mateo confesses as his hips flex.
“Let’s have this baby first and then see what happens,” I try to compromise.
He frowns at my response but then nods his head in agreement. Leaning down, he places his lips against mine and kisses me, putting all of his emotions into that kiss. When he pulls back, I can see an undecipherable emotion written all over his face right before he confesses, “Aria, I love you.”
Tears fill my eyes as I desperately try to blink them away. “I love you, too, Mateo. So much.”
A deep moan rumbles from inside his chest as he captures my mouth with his again. He fucks me slow and deep then, sending me closer to the edge. “Come for me, mi pequeña cautiva.”
His words are my undoing, and I break apart, shuddering underneath him as he holds me through my bliss. He whispers terms of endearment in his native tongue while I cry out his name. And then he finds his release, his body trembling against mine.
Then, he gently pulls out of me and lays down on the bed, motioning for me to join him. I eagerly go to him, placing my head on his chest as I listen to his racing heartbeat. Just hearing his beating heart has my own soaring. I thought I lost him forever. And just having him here, having him a free man who can be with me and our baby is almost too good to be true. It’s almost like a dream.
Wanting to be absolutely sure, I reach over and pinch my arm. “Ouch.”
“Did you just…pinch yourself?” Mateo asks me.
“I wanted to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.”
A deep chuckle rumbles through his chest. “Maybe I should pinch myself too.” I watch with a smile on my face when he does it. “Nope. This is real, baby,” he says with a satisfied grin.
We lay there in silence for a while until our breathing and racing heartbeats return to their normal rhythm. And then Mateo tells me, “I’m never leaving you again.”
Sitting up, I stare down at him. “Promise me,” I say in all seriousness.
He reaches up and gently pushes a stray hair behind my ear. “I promise. I’m all yours.”
“Forever.”
“Forever and always,” he swears.
