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“We can start figuring out how to tell— Wait. Does Brady know?”

I shook my head. “I wanted you to know before he did. So we could tell him together, since it took the two of us to get to this point.”

“Good. That’s a good idea.”

“I asked the others if they had a test, so Elena, Carina, Mila, and Wren know. But they won’t tell until we do.”

He kissed my brow. “Another baby. Another one to raise in the next generation. Sweetheart, everything will absolutely fall into place.”

I was convinced, but this was too precious of a moment to suggest that he stop telling me.

“We’ll argue over names, I’m sure, but we’ll manage that. And if we don’t like the layout of the rooms for a nursery, we can add on.”

“Add on!” I shook my head. “There’s more than enough room here, Nik. We could have five more kids and still have room.”

“Can we?”

I furrowed my brow. “Add on?” How ridiculous.

“Have five more?” He gave me a devilish smile.

“Whoa. Let’s, uh, let’s start with this one for now.”

“For now,” he agreed. “Whatever you want.”

“Whatever we want,” I corrected.

“That’s what I said. What you want is what I want.” He kissed me again, deepening the touch of his mouth against mine until it was absolutely electric. “Because that’s how much I love you.”

After the news of my pregnancy and the scarier moment of his coming home looking unhinged and bloody, like he was stuck in a purgatory of guilt but refusing to allow it, I wasn’t sure that I could handle any more surprises or shocks.

But this took the cake.

This topped all the other wild swings of emotions.

Hearing those magical words from his smiling lips tipped me back into the territory of almost crying happy tears again.

I sniffled, grinning at him. “Oh, Nik…”

He kissed me, robbing me of a chance to sound like a coherent person and reply in kind. I held the back of his neck, never wanting to let go.

“I love you, too. So much.”

He exhaled, making it sound like he’d been trapping his breath with pent-up emotion while he waited for me to return that specific declaration.

“I love you, and I will never stop.” He claimed my mouth again. “You are the light I didn’t know I needed. You are the hope I hadn’t realized I wanted.”

I sniffled, refusing to cry.

Kissing him and running my hands over his shoulders, I reveled in how he craved me. My lips. My caresses. My love.

“I love you, all of you,” I vowed. “And I love that we can build our family together.”

We kissed until we had to part, gasping for air, but in those heated, intimate moments, the mood shifted. Instead of the softer style of confessing that we were on the same page of loving one another, that sizzling chemistry consumed me. He was harder, greedier, and more impatient with his lips locked to mine. I whimpered with need and couldn’t imagine staying still. Grinding down on his erection, bare and within my reach since he hadn’t bothered with a towel after the shower, I tested how much control I could have for him.

He tugged at the knot of the towel. The plush fabric fell to the side, revealing my breasts. Without delay, he lifted me up at the same time he dipped his head down. At the first swipe of his tongue on my nipple, I cried out.

And he stopped.