Colters' Wife by Maya Banks Page B

deepened his kiss, his tongue brushing over hers. She slid her hand up his naked chest then to his shoulder and over the puckered scar from his gunshot wound.
    Unexpected tears swam in her vision as she once again relived the horror of that night. Damn pregnancy hormones. She was a walking basket case these days.
    “You’re not going to lose me,” Ryan murmured as he pulled away from her mouth.
    God, she needed this reassurance. Her heart seized every time she looked at him lately.
    “I love you,” she said, her voice whispery with emotion.
    “I love you too,” he said gruffly.
    The baby kicked and rolled between them and Ryan’s face relaxed into a grin.
    “Active today, isn’t he?”
    He moved his hand into the waistband of her sweat pants and eased it downward until her belly was bared. His fingers smoothed reverently over the taut skin. Then he bent down to press his lips to the small bump just underneath her ribs.
    “Is that his foot?”
    Holly chuckled. “Could be. I can’t ever keep up, he moves so quick.”
    He slid his hand up, pushing her shirt until he cupped one full breast. Then he bent again and kissed the swollen nipple.
    “I’ve missed you,” he said, and she knew he meant their lovemaking.
    She moaned softly as he swirled a fingertip around the puckered tip, left damp from his tongue.
    “I’ve missed you too,” she murmured.
    In reality, she was about to scream in frustration. They hadn’t made love to her in weeks. She knew they were being considerate of her discomfort, but it was an unnecessary restraint of their part.
    They’d been nothing but excruciatingly gentle since she’d returned to them, never taking her in the way they had before. They made love to her reverently, almost as if they were afraid they’d hurt her.
    Sure, not a day—hell, an hour—went by that they didn’t touch her, caress her, shower her with tenderness, but it wasn’t the same as making love to her.
    “I won’t break,” she said.
    A ragged sigh of frustration broke from Ryan’s chest.
    “I don’t want to hurt you or the baby. Adam, Ethan and I discussed this. We think it would be best to wait until after the baby’s born.”
    A frown tugged on her eyebrows. She rose up on one elbow and glared down at Ryan.
    “Let me get this straight. You and your brothers decided, on your own, without consulting me, that you would be abstaining until after our baby is born?”
    He eyed her cautiously. “Uh, yeah.”
    She pressed her lips into a tight line. “I see. And did it never occur to you that maybe I had no desire to abstain? Since when do you make my decisions for me?”
    He looked at her in complete befuddlement, the look of a man who knew he was cornered and had no idea what to say to get out of it.
    She almost grinned, but it would completely ruin the stern look she was trying to effect. Instead she leaned down and pressed her lips to his chest. She licked the lines between his hard muscles, dipping down to explore his rigid six pack.
    His breath escaped in a long hiss. “Holly, I don’t think…I don’t think this is a good idea.”
    She raised her head to look him in the eye. “That’s your problem. You’re thinking way too much.”
    She slid off the bed, taking only enough time to shimmy out of her clothes before she crawled back on top of him.
    Her fingers dipped to the button of his jeans. “The way I see it, you have a couple of choices,” she began. “One, you can take off your jeans like a good boy, or two, you can suffer the wrath of a hormone-crazy pregnant woman.”
    “Well, when you put it that way.”
    His hands reached down to fumble with his jeans. They shook as he shoved the denim down his hips. A few seconds later, he was naked, his cock straining upward.
    A surge of desire shot through her system, leaving her breathless. Not giving him any time to change his mind, she put her hands on his chest to brace herself then threw one leg over his hips.
    His hands supported her