Precious Lace (Lace #4) (10 page)

  "I was afraid that you wouldn’t want us." A large lump formed in my throat. "I didn't know how much I wanted this baby until I saw that little pink plus sign in the window."

  "I know. We never got a chance to talk about it, but Eva, I never not wanted you or the baby. Never for a minute. I know now that it must have looked that way, but I swear that thought never crossed my mind. I was just so scared. It was never, ever on my radar, and suddenly there it was. And the past few weeks had already been up and down, it just took me by surprise is all. But I promise I always wanted you and our baby. Always. When I heard you that morning in the shower…" his voice filled with emotion and I lifted my head to look into his beautiful blue eyes. "My heart broke that I had given you the idea that I didn't want you. And you were so strong. I could hear it in your voice when you were talking to our baby. It was beautiful. I'll always have that image with me. I knew right then that I could do this, and that we could do it together. I can do anything as long as I've got you." He wrapped his hand around my neck and caressed my jaw with his thumb. Tears streaked down my cheeks at his admission.

  "Are you okay? I’m sorry that I’m upsetting you," he said. 

  "No, they're happy tears. I'm so relieved. I was prepared to do this alone if I had to, but I’m so relieved that I don't. I'm so happy that we're going to do this together."

  "Not for a second were you ever alone." He squeezed my hand reassuringly. "Not for a single second, Eva." He brought me into his lap and hugged me fiercely. 

  "Thank you," I whispered into his neck. 

  "I love you, Evangeline."

  I nodded with another soft sob. "I love you, too. I'm such an emotional wreck now days." I pulled away from him and wiped the tears off my cheeks. "I need to get hold of myself, we have so much to do."

  "Like what?" Carter questioned as he continued to rub my arm. 

  "I need to tell my parents we're married first." 

  Carter's eyes darted up and held mine. "Really? You're ready?" Happiness danced across his blue irises. 

  "I’m ready." I nodded with a smile. "I’m also ready to wear this ring on my left hand." I held my right hand out to him. He took the cue and slipped it off my finger and slid it onto its rightful place on my left hand. 

  "Thank you," he whispered and kissed the gleaming gem. 

  "I also thought since we're going to be a family, maybe we should be the Morgan family."

  Confusion flashed across his face for a moment. 

  "I thought I would change my name, Carter."

  "Really?" Childlike glee spread across his face. "You don't have to Eva, it doesn't matter to me. I mean it does, but not really. I just want you here, every day with me."

  "I want to do it Carter. I want to be the Morgan family. Carter, Evangeline and baby Morgan." A smile spread across my face and I kissed his soft lips. He could hardly keep the grin off his face. 

  "You are the most amazing woman." He placed both hands along either side of my face and kissed me fully on the lips. 

  "Why, thank you. You're pretty amazing yourself." I grinned between kisses. "Can we go to bed now?" I wrapped my arms around him and laid my head on his shoulder. 

  "Definitely, although sleeping is the last thing on my mind." Carter ran his hands up my torso and thumbed the fabric underneath my breast. 

  "I didn't say anything about sleeping, Mr. Morgan." I crawled up into his lap and kissed along his jaw. 

  "Mmm…" he moaned. "Insatiable as ever Mrs. Morgan." He held me tightly as he stood and I wrapped my body around him and held on for the ride. I kissed along his jaw and flicked my tongue on the sensitive skin beneath his ear as he climbed the stairs. I ran my fingers through his hair and tugged softly. 

  "I missed you so much, Mr. Morgan," I whispered into his ear. A ragged groan escaped his throat as he palmed the cheeks of my ass. 

  "Keep that up and we won't make it to the bedroom."

  "I don't mind." I caressed the shell of his ear with my tongue before dragging my teeth down his earlobe. He stopped on the next landing and bent us over a settee in the corner. 

  I moaned and arched into him as his hands slipped under my shirt and made contact with my skin. He lifted my arms and slid the shirt off my body and then leaned back as his eyes took me in reverently. 

  "You are so beautiful, Evangeline. You bring so much light into my life," he said as he slid the straps of my bra down my arms and pulled the cups down to reveal my breasts to him. I groaned and arched my back as he took a nipple in his mouth and sucked softly. I thrust my fingers into his hair and pushed him closer to my chest, needing more friction along every inch of my body. 

  "What do you want, Evangeline?" he whispered as he moved to my other nipple, while his hand pressed against my aching center from the outside of my jeans. 

  "Fuck me, Carter." I pulled his hair to bring his lips up to mine. I pressed a hard kiss against his soft lips and our tongues twisted together passionately. 

  "I'll fuck you senseless later, right now I'm going to make love to you," he whispered as he popped the button on my jeans and slid them down my thighs. He slid to his knees on the floor, removing my jeans and spreading my thighs. My breathing hitched when I realized that he was going to make love to me with his mouth. 

  "Carter," I moaned his name and writhed beneath his firm hands holding my thighs in place. He dipped his head and I felt his soft hair tickle the sensitive flesh between my legs. 

  "Keep still, baby," he said in a throaty whisper before laving his tongue up my center. My body relished the contact as I threaded my fingers through his hair and pressed him closer to me. He thrust two fingers inside as he circled his tongue along my clit. 

  "Carter," I gasped and bucked into him. "God… please."

  "You're so fucking wet, Evangeline. I'm going to make you come so many times tonight you won't be able to walk when I'm done," he said before sucking my clit between his lips and pulling. Amidst a haze of swirling and massaging and thrusting I fell apart panting his name. 

  "Not even close to being done, love." I heard his zipper come down and he aligned his arousal with my center and entered me slowly. He rocked in and out, never fully entering all the way, caressing the sensitive nerves at my entrance. I groaned and threw my head back in pleasure. 

  "Look at me. I want to see your beautiful eyes when we make love." He continued to rock gently as my eyes fluttered open to meet his. Bright blue irises shone back at me with love and emotion. He rewarded me by thrusting deeper into me, hitting me to the hilt quickly and then dragging his length back out slowly, caressing every nerve on the way. I gasped when he thrust and shuddered each time he pulled back. My teeth locked down on my lip as I held eye contact with him. A lopsided grin crossed his face. 

  "Let it go, baby. Let me see the pleasure I give you." He gripped my ass in both his hands and began to pound relentlessly, lifting my hips to meet him and hitting a sinful spot deep inside that had me screaming and writhing with pleasure. My body clenched around him and I heard his own erotic groan as he hit his release. My nerve endings tingled and stars flitted in my vision as I squeezed my eyes tightly while deep breaths wracked my body. 

  Carter collapsed onto me and I held his body tightly to my own, caressing the firmness of his back with my fingertips. Carter carried me the rest of the way to our bedroom moments later and proceeded to fuck me senseless and make love to me the rest of the night. 

  The next few weeks went by in a blissful blur. I stayed with Carter at his house; it was now our house as he reminded me at every moment. I happily signed the paperwork to make my name officially Mrs. Evangeline Morgan. My heart swelled with love that the three of us would be a united family. 

  I wasn't naive enough to think that all of our problems were behind us, and I would be lying if I said that once and a while I didn't fear that Carter would throw his walls up and lock me out, but he hadn't and I wanted to believe deep down in my heart that those days were behind us. 

  I’d also bit the bullet and called my parents and broke the news that Carter and I had gotten married. My mom was understandably devastated. I was her only child; she'd always dreamed of being at my wedding some day. She cried, I cried, but I explained that Carter and I were happy and working on our future together. Dad on the other hand wasn't so receptive, but I knew Mom would bring him around. 

  Carter and I had decided to wait to share the news with our families about the baby; I was so nervous that something bad could happen at any moment, I was still holding my breath every passing day until our next appointment. Carter also broke the news to his parents that we'd gotten married and they were beyond excited. Emma had in fact known that day at the barbecue and gushed on the phone that she was so excited to finally have a sister and that she'd nearly burst with wanting to spill the beans.  

  "Are you nervous?" Carter had taken the day off to take me to my six-week appointment. This was the big one, the one where we would hopefully hear the heartbeat. 

  "Always," I frowned. The nurse called me in and took my vitals. Everything was as expected. The nurse guided us into a room and I sat on the table while Carter held my hand and caressed my wrist softly with the pad of his thumb. 

  "Maybe we could get lunch after this? Or make a stop at La Perla?" he breathed in my ear seductively. His warm breath tickled my neck and sent shivers down my body. When I wasn't sleeping or peeing my desire for him was through the roof, apparently a side effect of all of the hormones in my system. Carter wasn't complaining in the slightest. 

  "Carter, you're making me nervous." I tilted my head to block his access to my neck. 

  "I’m trying to distract you." He pulled the hair off my neck. The cool air caused another wave of shivers to race through my body. 

  "You're making it worse," I whispered. 

  "It doesn’t sound like it." He trailed his lips along my sensitive flesh. 

  "Good morning, Evangeline." Dr. Burke breezed into the room with a nurse following behind her. Carter pulled away from me in a flash.

  "Good morning." I smiled. 

  She shuffled through her paperwork and then turned to me. "Six weeks today, huh?" She stood and placed a hand on my shoulder. 

  "Yep," I sighed nervously. 

  "So we're going to listen for the heartbeat today. We should be able to hear it, but if not it's still early on and not abnormal. Lean back on the table and lift your shirt." 

  Carter laid me back slowly and waggled his eyebrows with a mischievous smirk. I rolled my eyes at him. 

  Dr. Burke turned around and placed a probe against my belly and turned up the volume on the box in her hands. I held my breath as she moved around my belly searching for the little heartbeat I was desperate to hear. Carter held my hand tightly and continued to caress the skin with his thumb. It was taking what felt like forever. I kept reminding myself that if we didn't hear it to today it didn't mean anything was wrong. 

  She moved the probe to just above my pelvis and then a small whoosh-whoosh echoed through the room. 

  "Is that it?" My eyes darted to hers.

  "That's the baby." She smiled brightly. The whooshing sound filled my ears and a smile spread across my face so wide it hurt. Water pooled behind my eyelids and I heaved an immense sigh of relief. I looked at Carter and his own wide smile matched mine. 

  "I can't believe it."

  "Me either," he whispered. 

  "That’s interesting." The doctor shook us out of our blissful baby bubble. 

  "What?"

  "I think I’d like to get a closer look." The doctor turned to the nurse and whispered a few indecipherable syllables before the nurse stepped out of the room. My heart clenched in my chest. 

  "We're going to do an ultrasound, Evangeline." Dr. Burke pulled away the probe and the whooshing that had filled the room with so much love moments ago was now absent. 

  "Is everything okay?" I choked out through a lump of fear in my throat. 

  "I just want a closer look." She patted my leg. She meant it as a reassuring gesture but it only served to ratchet up the fear that had settled in the pit of my stomach. The nurse came back in wheeling a cart with a monitor perched on top. 

  This was terrifying and wrong. Something must be off. What could she have determined through that sweet whoosh whooshing of the heartbeat we'd heard just a few moments ago? Could she tell if there was a defect? 

  Oh God, please just let our baby be healthy. The fear choked my throat and a few stray tears traveled down my cheeks. Carter took notice and wiped them away with the pad of his thumb. 

  "Everything is going to be okay, baby," he whispered and kissed me on the forehead. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. 

  "This is going to be cold." The doctor squirted gel on my stomach. Carter continued to rub my forehead and stroke his large palm down my hair. It calmed me to have his soothing hands reassuring me. 

  Dr. Burke swirled another probe around my belly and then pushed hard above my pelvis where she'd found the heartbeat.

  "There's the baby." She turned the monitor to us and pointed at the screen. "That little flickering there is the heart." We watched as a little black dot on the screen flickered inside a tiny white blurb. The doctor shifted the probe around more and the baby moved off the screen. She pushed and prodded and then the baby came back into view from a different angle. 

  "And there's baby number two." She smiled brightly. My world froze in time as I stared at the second flickering heartbeat on the screen, now obvious next to the first one.

  "Oh my God. Twins?" My eyes widened.

  "Yes, congratulations. You'll be welcoming two babies next July."

  Carter's hand stilled on my forehead and the hand holding mine tightened to almost the point of pain. I realized that he hadn't said anything and I turned to him.