Katie had changed into one of the gypsy skirts he’d come to like so much because they suited her lithe figure and effervescent spirit. She wore her hair loose. Golden curls swayed around her hips.
He put out his arm and she lowered down next to him on the couch. His fingers burrowed through silken waves.
She gave Rill a secret sort of smile before she said her last good-bye to her mom and disconnected the phone. That small smile lingered on her lips as she set aside the phone, spellbinding him.
He reached for her.
“Did you tell your mother you were pregnant?” Rill against her damp lips a while later. He’d spent the last several minutes trying to discover the mystery of that smile with his searching tongue. All he’d succeeded in doing was to grow hot and hard for her, ready to move on to the next thrill he knew he’d find in Katie’s soft flesh. But he could wait, and the delay would be delicious as well.
A lifetime stretched before him like a golden, sun-kissed beach, as long as Katie was in his arms.
“No, I just wanted to call her and Dad and tell them we were safe. Mom says she’ll call Everett. Stash’s arrest probably won’t get to the Los Angeles news—it all was pretty low-key there at the end, thanks to you—but the local news trucks came to the diner, and who knows what Dad might see on CNN or something.”
He filled his fist with soft curls and leaned down to inhale the scent at Katie’s neck. Both sensations made his cock purr in appreciation.
“So you haven’t told your parents about the baby?”
“No,” she said softly. “Only Everett. I thought it was best, you know?”
He glanced at her questioningly.
“Because I might still lose it, at these early stages,” she said.
Rill leaned away so he could focus on her better. “Did the doctor tell you that? Is something wrong?”
“No, there’s nothing wrong,” she said, pulling him back toward her and pressing her breasts against his ribs. “It’s just customary to wait, to be as sure as possible, that’s all.”
“You’re not going to lose the baby.”
Her eyebrows arched up. “What makes you say that with such confidence?”
“Because it’s a Pierce, and Pierces are known for their stubbornness.”
“It’s not a Pierce yet.”
He smiled at her subtle challenge.
“It’s been a Pierce since day one,” he said. “And if you’re talking about the legalities of the matter, we’ll resolve that as soon as I can talk you into marrying me.”
Her playful smile froze and then faded. He cradled her jaw with his hand.
“What are you shocked about?” he asked. “The fact that I remember the night we made the baby? Or the fact that I just asked you to marry me?”
“Both, I guess,” she whispered. “You . . . you remember? That first night?”
“Not like I should, no,” he admitted with a grimace. “And until I went back to Malacnoic, I don’t think I could have remembered it. But after a while ... I knew. I remembered some things.”
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged, feeling a little sheepish at having to explain his vulnerabilities and blind spots.
“I remembered what you said, the evening I found you in the bathroom with the pregnancy test. You mentioned something about how drunk you’d found me . . . how you’d almost got tipsy inhaling my breath,” he said quietly, meeting her eyes. “I hadn’t gotten really shit-faced since you came here, Katie. Or ever, in front of you. You and I both know I was never a big drinker before Eden died. Or at least I hadn’t been drunk around you. Not until that night when you came to Vulture’s Canyon.”
He closed his eyes and inhaled, trying to gather his thoughts.
“Rill? Are you all right?” she prodded.
He shook his head. “Yeah. It’s just . . . It’s hard.”