by Pam Godwin
Salem found my eyes, his sunburned forehead creased in concern. “Everything okay?”
“Yep. Sorry to interrupt.” I hadn’t realized he’d already be in a meeting. My excitement could wait. “I’ll come back.”
I slipped out of the room, through the building, and stepped onto the main road.
Five years ago, Salem had told me he didn’t want a fertility test. I never mentioned it again. After so many years of unprotected sex, I’d assumed what happens happens wasn’t going to happen.
Footsteps sounded behind me, and before I turned around, strong arms wrapped around me from behind.
“You look absolutely beautiful this morning,” he whispered at my ear.
A shiver raced through me, and my lips pulled into a smile. “I’ll never get tired of hearing that.”
He stepped around me, keeping me tucked close, and searched my eyes. “Something’s on your mind.”
I pushed my hands through his thick black hair, tucking the longer strands behind his ears and sliding my fingers along his whiskered jaw. He still couldn’t grow a full beard or hair on his chest, and other than the occasional sunburn, his porcelain skin remained gloriously, flawlessly beautiful.
“Kiss me.” I lifted my mouth and hummed the moment his lips met mine.
The kiss lasted forever and not long enough.
He pulled back, eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Something happened.”
I nodded. “What happens happened.”
His brows pulled tight then released with the catch of his breath. “Are you…? We’re…having a baby?”
“Surprise.” I bit my lip.
“How?”
I arched a brow.
“No, I mean, how do you know?” He paced around me, raking a hand through his hair. “You took a test?”
“Michio gave me a kit a while back.” My stomach fluttered with nerves. Is he upset? “I’ve been feeling a little queasy, so when I woke this morning, I took the test.”
He caught my hand and held it a long time as he gazed up at the two-story house on the hill. The pitched roof, numerous windows facing the lake, and the little porch with the bench he’d built. Our house. Our home.
When his eyes came at last to our joined hands, he lifted them to my flat stomach, lowered to one knee, and spread our fingers over the life within.
“I had a lot of dreams, Dawn.” He touched his forehead to our hands. “This was the one that scared me the most. The one I didn’t think we’d ever experience.”
My heart soared, and my eyes welled with tears.
He rose, took a step back, and gifted me with a smile that rivaled the beauty of the sun. I reached for his hand, but he scooped me into the cradle of his arms instead. Then he carried me through town, up the hill, and all the way home.
His eyes flickered with electricity, the glow of happiness burning behind them. They were a color without color. Not white or clear, but bright and deep. The exact shade of love.
The kind of love that conquered all.
.
OTHER BOOKS BY PAM GODWIN
DELIVER SERIES
Deliver (#1)
Vanquish (#2)
Disclaim (#3)
STAND-ALONES
Dark Notes
Beneath the Burn
Dirty Ties
ACKNOWLEGMENTS
To my critique partners—Author Ellie Masters, Jill Bitner, and Ann White—for sticking with me through the holidays and your hectic schedules, for your constant encouragement and kickass advice, and for being the precious, irreplaceable core of my writing process. I love you and your written words.
To all the bloggers and readers who took a chance on this series. It’s different and freaky and sometimes outlandish, yet you jumped in and read it, and I can’t express how much that means to me. Thank you!
To the Freedom Fighters—you’re my girls, my laughter, my book-lovin’ whores. Thank you for making this job so much easier and fun.
To my proofreader, Lesa Godwin—for being the best typo buster in the business and the coolest sister-in-law a girl could ask for.
To Amber—you’re my oyster, my tasty lovable oyster. ‘Nough said.
To my Chad—for giving me inspiration for all those scenes. You know which scenes, you sexy fucker.
ABOUT PAM GODWIN
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Pam Godwin, lives in the Midwest with her husband, their two children, and a foulmouthed parrot. When she ran away, she traveled fourteen countries across five continents, attended three universities, and married the vocalist of her favorite rock band.
Java, tobacco, and dark romance novels are her favorite indulgences, and might be considered more unhealthy than her aversion to sleeping, eating meat, and dolls with blinking eyes.
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