was moaning, thrashing in the covers, obviously caught in the throes of a bad dream.
“Alyssa,” he whispered, putting a calming hand on her shoulder. “Wake up. It’s only a dream.”
He had to repeat himself several times before his low voice penetrated her subconscious.
“What?” She blinked at him through the darkness. “Jadon?”
“I think you were having a bad dream,” he told her, sitting on the edge of her bed, wearing only his boxers. “Are you okay?”
She stared at him for several heartbeats and then slowly nodded. “It was a bad dream. Some guy was chasing me and being pregnant I couldn’t run fast enough to get away from him. For some reason he wanted to hurt my babies. When he grabbed me I thought I was going to die. Sorry if I woke you.”
“You didn’t wake me. I wasn’t sleeping.” He was glad he’d come in. What an awful dream. “Do you want me to get you something?”
“No.” She pushed up and propped herself on her elbows. “But now that I’m awake I need to go to the bathroom.”
He chuckled and held out his hand. She took his hand, using his strength to lever herself out of bed.
“Thanks,” she murmured, moving past him. Her hair brushed against his bare chest, leaving tiny shocks of awareness.
Jadon took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his neck, knowing he should go back to his own room. Alyssa was fine. He wasn’t needed here anymore.
But he waited until she returned. Her white nightgown left her sexy shoulders bare and he had to swallow hard not to show his reaction. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes.” Her nightgown rose a bit as she swung her legs back into bed. “The dream was far too real, though.”
He didn’t want to leave, but forced himself to move toward the door. “Call me if you need me.”
“I will. Uh, Jadon?”
He swung back toward her. “Yes?”
“You don’t think my dream is some sort of a premonition of something bad happening to the babies, do you?”
“No, of course not.” He came back and sat next to her.
She shivered. “It was just so real.”
“Do you want me to stay with you for a while?” He didn’t want to leave her like this. “I’ll hold you until you can fall asleep.”
She must have been more shaken than he’d thought because she nodded. “Maybe, just a few minutes, if you don’t mind.”
All of his senses went on red alert. Lying beside her didn’t sound like much, but he was already half-aroused; he wasn’t sure he could trust himself to be so close to her.
But his thoughts didn’t make it to his mouth. “Sure,” he heard himself say. “I don’t mind.”
“I’m sorry to be such a problem,” Alyssa said as he slid beneath the covers on the opposite side of the bed. She lay on her side, facing away from him.
“You’re not,” he promised, gently snuggling up behind her. He slid his arm under her pillow so he could hold her closer.
“That feels good,” she murmured on a sigh, relaxing against him. “It’s hard to get comfortable. My back aches constantly.”
With her bottom pressed firmly against his groin he could relate, since he was anything but comfortable. Yet he wasn’t about to complain.
Not even when she slipped into sleep, leaving him rock-hard and wide-awake.
ALYSSA woke up with the vague sensation of being nestled in a cocoon. Safe and warm. A sleepy smile curved her mouth. Jadon had stayed with her all night and the nightmare hadn’t returned.
How sweet was that?
She enjoyed listening to Jadon’s deep, even breaths as he slept beside her. Soon, though, she became aware of his body pressed against her. And she grew warm. Extremely warm. Hot. Very hot.
Aroused.
During the night, the lower edge of her nightgown had crept up around her waist. Jadon’s erection pressed urgently against her bottom and his hand rested dangerously close to her breast.
Her breasts, especially her nipples, were hypersensitive. When his hand moved, cupping her breast, she sucked in a quick breath. His fingers lightly brushed the tip of her nipple and instantly her body grew ready. Her breath came in short gasps as she became fully awake. Moisture gathered deep between her thighs and she instinctively arched against him, pressing her bottom more fully against the hard ridge of his desire, wanting him to touch her. Everywhere.
Maybe the reason she yearned for this intimacy with Jadon was because she was pregnant and hadn’t felt very attractive these past few months. Despite the twins growing in her abdomen, she was more than a mother-to-be.
She was a woman. And she hadn’t been with a man in months. Since the last time she’d been with Jadon.
Obviously meeting men when you were pregnant wasn’t easy, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway because she hadn’t wanted any other man but Jadon. How could she have convinced herself it was nothing more than an affair?
He groaned, a low raspy sound near her ear as he caressed her breast again. She couldn’t see his face to know if he was awake. Or still half-asleep.
She wasn’t sure she cared, except for the possibility that if he woke up and realized what he was doing, he might pull away again, like he had after their kiss. And if he did that, she’d probably scream with frustration.
His knee pressed between her legs and she eagerly parted her thighs, opening herself to him. His hand left her breast, lightly caressed her round belly and then moved lower still, until he reached the juncture of her thighs. She held her breath with anticipation as he moved her silky panties out of the way and touched her where she needed him the most.
With his fingers caressing her from the front and his hard erection behind her, Alyssa was trapped in pleasure and didn’t want to move. Yet at the same time she ached with the need to have him inside her.
“Please,” she whispered, subtly lifting her hips to press against him again.
“Are you sure?” he murmured near her ear, before trailing a string of heated kisses along the side of her neck.
Was he kidding? He was finally treating her like a woman he was attracted to and he thought she had doubts?
“Yes. I’m sure.” She pressed urgently against him.
“Easy now,” he said, kissing her again and gently stroking her cleft, sending shock waves of pleasure through her body. “Relax. Let me do all the work.”
Fine with her if he wanted to do all the work, but could he get on with it? Relaxing when you were aroused was impossible. And he was treating her like she was fragile spun glass instead of a woman who knew exactly what she wanted. She didn’t want him to hold back. Reaching around, she tried to pull him closer. She was more than ready. Like ready right now.
He brought her close to the edge of an orgasm before he managed to get rid of her panties and push his boxers out of the way. Her body offered no resistance as he slid deep. The feeling of his thickness inside her, skin against skin, without the barrier of protection, was exquisite.
“Yes. Finally,” she gasped.
He pressed another kiss below her ear and pulled her over so that she was lying more fully on top of him. This position not only gave him more access to thrust inside her but also