A Pregnancy Scandal (8 page)

Except clearly she didn't. “Then why the guilty face?”

“Because I—” She looked away, biting her lip again. A dead giveaway that she had something on her mind that she didn't want to say. “I didn't want to go home.”

“You hate my house? You can't sleep? What is it? You can say it.”

She was hesitating because she knew she was guilty as charged. She should be at home with her feet up, letting him cater to her every whim. She deserved to be treated like a queen and to have a husband around who could look after her well-being. Which would be hard for him to do in Washington, as well.

How had everything got so complicated?

“It's too empty,” she blurted out. “I don't like being there alone.”

He waved it off. “You're not alone. I have a full staff—”

“
You're
not there, Phillip! I don't like being at the house without you. I work until ten so I can go home and fall into bed, so exhausted that I don't think about how you left Sunday with barely a goodbye. I missed you. I miss the way we were before
this—
” she sliced at her midsection “—happened. Why can't the pregnancy be something that brings us together?”

A lone tear rolled down her face and the sight of it clenched his gut. The emotional distance he'd created wasn't working so well. For either of them. She'd been working late because he hadn't been engaging her as a person, as the future mother of his children.

This was his fault and he needed to fix it, before the damage to his marriage became irreparable.

Here, in the light of these revelations, it didn't seem so terrible to admit that he wanted to be with her. To hold her whenever he felt like it and let her do the same. The distance he'd created hadn't done what he'd hoped anyway. He still thought about Alex, still wanted her in his bed.

The Distance Plan sucked. New plan—make Alex glad she'd married him. Get back to where they'd been before the babies came into the picture. Be real friends and partners. Back to Basics. That was a great new plan. Hopefully along the way, he'd earn the right to be included in things like ultrasounds. The only thing he didn't have quite worked out yet was how he'd get closer to Alex and keep his commitment to Gina's memory.

But he had to. Somehow.

Seven

T
he first thing Phillip did when they got home was draw Alex a bath.

The second thing he did was insist she get in it while he made her a tray of tea and crackers.

After the emotional breakdown in her office, Alex had half expected Phillip to jet back to Washington. They didn't have a real marriage; theirs was based on rules. She got that, knew what she'd signed up for. The whole time she'd been admitting how much she missed him, she knew she shouldn't be, that it was a risky move, but there was no way she could have held back, not with Phillip within arm's length. Not when she was still so raw from his sudden appearance and the way he'd held her and touched her.

And yet Phillip hadn't fled. He was here, in the house, with no apparent plans to leave. Maybe that meant an opportunity to change things. But how? And to what? Alex wasn't one to jump in with both feet. Except for that one time at the party, and look where that had got her.

Bubbles up to her neck, Alex relaxed in the giant oval bathtub as best she could under the circumstances. The bathtub might be her favorite spot in the house. It was on a raised platform with windows surrounding it, and the bathtub overlooked a cheerful garden. At night, the garden's floodlights cast the bathroom in a dim, rosy glow. The day's stresses melted away.

And then Phillip bustled in, tray in hand. Gorgeous, self-assured, and oh so very sexy with his shirtsleeves rolled to midforearm and dark hair rumpled from his flight.

“I, uh...didn't know you were coming in,” she squeaked.

She was naked under these bubbles. And her husband didn't seem too worried about it as he crossed over to the pale marble tub and perched on the wide lip. Carefully, he placed the tray of tea and saltines next to him on the ledge and slid it out of the way, toward the wall.

“Well, I wasn't planning on it, but that water does look tempting.” His lips quirked as he let his gaze travel down the length of the tub, which consisted of nothing but bubbles. The sudden heat flashing through his expression made her wonder if he could see more than she assumed.

But then...he'd seen her naked before, so what was she freaking out about? And she'd been dreaming of the day he wanted to see her naked again. If today was that day, she didn't want to breathe too hard in case she blew away her chance to be with Phillip again.

“I meant, I didn't know you were coming into the bathroom,” she corrected hastily. Did she sound as breathless to him as she did to herself? “Men don't like baths.”

“As a rule, I suppose, but other men don't have you in their bathtubs.” Lazily, he swirled a finger through the bubbles as he watched her. “Lucky for me I'm not other men.”

It sure looked like he might be seriously contemplating joining her. Was he going to dive right into the tub? Oh, my, she certainly hoped so.

She didn't know where to put her hands. “There's enough room for two.”

Her cheeks burned as she envisioned Phillip stripping down and sliding against the marble, his skin slick against hers. Then he'd touch her and they'd fall back into the way they'd been at the party. Connected. Hot. Meaningful.

That was all she wanted—his attention on her like it had been then, so focused and delicious. No rules, just two people who wanted to be together.

His grin lit her up inside. “That's the best invitation I've had all week. But not now. This evening is about you and you only. I want to take care of you. If I got into that tub, all my good intentions would go out the window.”

Now she couldn't decide if she was disappointed or intrigued. Maybe a little of both. “That sounds interesting. Tell me more about that.”

Something wicked flashed through his expression. “You want to hear about how easily you could break down my good intentions? I didn't know you liked dirty talk, Mrs. Edgewood.”

“I haven't heard any yet, so I honestly don't know if I'd like it,” she countered primly, trying hard to be shocked at her own boldness and failing miserably.

She'd married this man to provide a family and future for her children. That didn't mean she had to live alone, be lonely or pretend she didn't want him. In fact, she didn't recall any rules against that.

“Well, see... I wanted to rub your feet.” He punctuated this comment by dipping a hand in the water and fishing her ankle from the suds. Then he held it in his palm as he kneaded her instep with a thumb. “Like this. Thought you might enjoy it.”

She was too busy groaning at the exquisite sensations radiating through her foot. Why hadn't she realized her feet hurt that bad? “You can do that. I don't mind.”

“Oh, I had all these
good intentions
to massage your whole body.” He picked up her other foot and began to rub it in kind. Her eyelids fluttered closed involuntarily. “I was about to launch into a very long description of how I'd taste your whole body if I got into that tub with you.”

Every inch of her went liquid as that promise exploded in her core. Caught between the tantalizing glimpse of what could be and the amazing things currently happening to her body, her brain wasn't too quick on the draw.

“You twisted it all around,” she murmured as her head sank back against the marble. “I wanted to hear about how you planned to take care of me.”

“One and the same, Alex.” His low voice drifted through her. “Or at least it is now. Because every second I'm seeing to your comfort, my hands will be on you. And I'll be thinking about how taking care of you might include something pleasurable for us both.”

That she could get on board with in a hurry. Something had changed. She could sense it, as if he'd opened up. And now that she had his attention, she could admit, to herself at least, how much she'd craved it, how her body cried for his touch.

“I definitely want to hear more about that.”

“How about I show you instead?”

Wordlessly, he found her hand and gently pulled her out of the bubbles until she was standing in the water, bared to him. Droplets of water and suds slid along the planes of her body, sensitizing it. His gaze followed the drops, lingering along the way, and that heightened the heat blooming along her skin.

Phillip grabbed a towel and dried her carefully, murmuring about how beautiful she was. He dropped flowery phrases as he worked, turning the utilitarian act of drying skin into a seduction. Her starving soul ate up the words, hiding them away. Her neglected body soaked up his touch. Everything felt bigger, better, stronger than the last time she'd been naked with Phillip.

Her left brain recognized that pregnancy hormones were heightening the experience. Her everything else couldn't wait to find out what the rest of it was going to feel like.

“Phillip,” she said hoarsely. “Take me to bed.”

His hand stilled on her back. “Are you sure? No morning sickness tonight?”

The questions lingered in the air. He was giving her a chance to back out if this wasn't what she wanted. A chance to analyze where this step in their relationship might lead, and he was okay if she used morning sickness as an excuse. She appreciated that more than he could possibly know. It meant he understood she didn't normally throw caution to the wind—and he wanted her to make the choice.

“None. Finish what we never got to start the night of our wedding.” Actually, she hadn't even thought about her stomach since the moment he'd walked into Fyra earlier that evening.

He grinned and picked her up easily, snugging her into his arms as he nuzzled her ear. “You sure you don't want that massage?”

She nestled into his embrace. Strong. Capable. It was a good thing she wasn't standing because her knees had just gone weak. “I thought I was promised both.”

“And both you shall have.”

He carried her to the bed and laid her out on it, worshipping her with his gaze.

She shivered under the onslaught, though he hadn't touched her again. His eyes on her were enough as he swept her from head to toe with that heated contemplation.

She'd forgotten how nice that felt. Phillip made her feel beautiful, even when she had nothing on her face. Her company had been built on the premise that a woman required enhancements to be attractive, to gain the attention of a lover. She'd never thought it worked, that it
should
work. If a man wanted you, he should want the woman you were, not the woman you pretended to be.

It was her shameful secret. She owed Cass so much, owed Trinity and Harper for taking her in despite her juvenile arrest record. How could Alex tell her friends that cosmetics made no sense to her?

Here under the laser-sharp, watchful eye of Phillip, she didn't have to pretend. He knew she didn't like dressing up and he didn't care. The way his gaze perused her naked body said he liked what he saw. That was so powerful.

“I hope you're planning to join me in the bed,” she murmured. “The bath was one thing, but I'm pretty sure the activities I had in mind require you to get wet this time.”

His brows shot up but he schooled the shock off his face. “Why, Mrs. Edgewood. Is that a sample of the dirty talk you mentioned earlier? I wasn't aware you planned to be the one doing the talking but I'm in favor of it.”

“More where that came from,” she promised as the sound of his voice calling her Mrs. Edgewood curled up in her belly, warming her. Strange. Who would have thought a simple title could be so affecting? Must be the way he'd said it, with a slightly naughty edge.

Whatever had shifted between them got her vote. She just wished she knew what it was. So if things shifted the other way again, she could fix it.

With a small chuckle, Phillip began shedding his clothes. She watched, shamelessly. Of course, she'd seen him naked too, but that had been months ago...and pre-whacked-out hormones, obviously, because she really didn't remember the sight of his fingers slipping buttons free of their moorings being so erotic.

But as the second one popped out, something sharp stabbed through her core, heating her from the inside out. Third one, fourth, and the heat flushed upward to encompass her torso, spreading to her breasts, peaking them.

He watched her just as shamelessly as she watched him, his eyes growing darker the more her body visibly reacted.

“You're a fan of stripteases, too?” he asked, his voice rough with appreciation. “That's incredibly hot.”

His shirt was as unbuttoned as it could be, baring his chest. And then he slid it off, first one shoulder, then the other. It shouldn't have been so—
wow
.

“It's news to me, as well,” she muttered as her back arched involuntarily. “Don't you dare stop.”

“I wouldn't dream of it. I find myself anxious to explore all the interesting things going on with your body.” His hands had moved to his pants and the zipper released with a quick tug. Then, as he shoved the fabric away, catching his briefs in the same motion, she got a good eyeful of how she'd been affecting him thus far.

Oh, my. She wanted that gorgeous length of flesh. Right now. That pleasure he'd promised her had already started in a very big way and she ached to finish it.

Silently, she held out her hands and he fell onto the bed next to her, drawing her into his arms a bit roughly, but she didn't mind. His body felt heavenly against hers, insistent, hard, hot. All of it inflamed her to the point of senselessness and a moan fell from her lips as he thrust a thigh between her legs.

He took her mouth with his in an urgent kiss that grew exponentially more heated every second. Their tongues clashed, seeking, tasting, feeling, and she nearly bucked off the bed when his hands found her breasts. He molded them to his palms, explored them as he'd told her he would, and the ache at her core morphed into something almost agonizing. She needed him more than she'd ever needed anything.

“Hurry,” she mouthed against his lips and rocked her hips against his for emphasis.

“I don't think I could do it another way,” he muttered as her fingers closed around his gloriously hard shaft. “And this will be over if you keep that up.”

With a groan, he removed her hand and rolled her to her back. Then he kissed his way down the length of her body, spread her thighs and put his mouth in the center of the heat she couldn't contain.

The first wet touch of his tongue nearly split her apart. She might have screamed as sensation rocketed through her body. Her hips bucked against his mouth as he pleasured her and that tight coil of need spun faster and faster until it exploded in a storm of light behind her eyes.

Her whole body stiffened as she cried out his name, and then he was kissing her gently, holding her tight against him as she rode out the thick waves of release. No words. No bones. Her whole body might have disintegrated in the aftermath and she didn't care.

He let her recover—not fully, because that was frankly impossible, but enough. His hands threaded through her hair as he cupped the back of her head, drawing her face close to his so he could nibble on her lips, then her throat, and the whole tide started over again.

But this time, he murmured more flowery phrases as he kissed her, and when he poised between her thighs, ready to claim her a second time, he captured her gaze, watching her intently as he pushed inside.

The connection electrified her, sensitized her, heightened her pleasure as his blue eyes went hot. They were joined and it was magnificent, much more so than the first time. With no condom between them, it took less than a minute for her to crest that peak again.

He shuddered with his own release and they both went limp in each other's arms, torsos heaving and neither in a hurry to drift apart. His palms smoothed across her buttocks, cradling her close, and something so raw and elemental broke open inside her, she could barely breathe.

The same thing had happened when she'd shown him the ultrasound pictures... His awed, perfect reaction had touched something deep inside. The look on his face had floored her, rushing through her, awakening parts of her she didn't know existed. Kind of like now.