She looked at me curiously as I climbed back into bed and I pulled her up into a sitting position, ignoring her groans of protest. "You wore me out, Dec," she whined playfully. But, her face morphed into wide-eyed shock as I presented her with the box and opened it to reveal an antique engagement ring. The band was intricate gold filigree that wound up to the center and created a flower that held a two carat diamond in the center.
"Juliette Moureaux, will you marry me?" It was a question, but my tone of voice and look of resolve brooked no argument.
Her face lit up and a beautiful smile graced her lips as she stared inside the jewelry box. "You bought me a ring?" she breathed.
"Well, it's an heirloom. It belonged to my father's mother," I told her, assuming she would appreciate the special history. I wouldn't have given this ring to just anybody. If I'd never met Juliette and ended up proposing to another woman, I wouldn't have used it. It was meant for Juliette's finger, even if I wouldn't have known it, I would have felt it.
So, I was shocked when her light dimmed and she seemed to be forcing her smile. "It's beautiful, but I'm not sure I should be the one wearing it yet. I mean, it's obviously very special to you and who knows what's going to happen. Let's see how things go first, okay?"
My jaw hardened from frustration and I felt my elation deflate into hurt. I'd gone to my safety deposit box the day after Juliette left and brought this ring home. It had been burning a hole in my proverbial pocket since then. I'd thought she felt the same overwhelming truth as I had, that we were meant for each other.
I mentally shook off the melancholy thoughts and spoke with firm resolve, "Juliette, I can't make this any clearer. You. Are. Mine. You have been since you made the choice to take my hand. There is no if, and, or but, in this situation. We are getting married and there will be no discussion, not ever, of us separating."
Taking the ring from the box, I slid it onto the fourth finger of her left hand, and raised it to my lips. Then I crawled over her, forcing her to lay back, and caged her in with my arms on either side of her head. "We are a family-you, me, and our little peanut. Now, as excited as I am to have our baby in our life, we need to take advantage of the next five months, don't you think?"
I slammed my mouth down over hers, still clinging to the small burst of energy from before. After a few minutes, I slowed down and spent the next couple of hours worshipping every inch of her body.
When I at last allowed myself to taste her pussy, she was drenched and I lapped up every bit of her cream as I drove her to an intense orgasm. I slid up her body, our sweat soaked skin making the journey easy. Before the last of her aftershocks died, I pushed inside her, groaning at the exquisite feel of her bare pussy pulsing around my cock.
I didn't think I would ever get used to the feeling of being inside her without protection. It was heaven and I wanted to savor it for the rest of our lives. I moved slowly in and out, lazily making love to her, fascinated by her expressions, her cries of delight, every shudder and twitch of her body.
Every thrust into her, I released more of my love until we reached the height of ecstasy together. I would have given her everything, all of me, but the truth was, she already had it.
***
"Jules," I called down the hallway from my office, "what time should the movers be at your apartment tomorrow?"
She was in the kitchen making lunch and something clanged as it was dropped onto the stone floor. I sighed and sat back down in my chair, then asked the scheduler on the phone if I could call her back. Then I waited, knowing what was coming next. Sure enough, Juliette came to my door and glared at me, her fisted hands propped on her hips. She looked gorgeous with her violet eyes full of fire and my cock hardened at the sight.
After I'd made love to her, we'd talked for a little while, then fallen asleep in each other's arms. Even passed out cold, I couldn't bear to let her go. I was afraid I'd wake up and she'd be gone. It would be a futile attempt on her part, of course, because I'd chase her ass down and chain her to the fucking bed if I had to. I was determined to get her moved in and married to me as soon as possible.
"Excuse me?"
"Baby, I told you last night. You're moving in with me. Now, what time tomorrow? They'll pack up everything and transport it here." I frowned in thought, then narrowed my eyes in warning. "I don't want you lifting a single box, Juliette."
She glared right back at me. "I agree that I should move in, eventually. Definitely before the baby is born. But, you can't just decide it's going to be tomorrow! We have plenty of time to worry about that, then we'll tackle the wedding after the birth."
I almost laughed at her ridiculous comment, until I realized she was serious. "Juliette soon-to-be McGowan," I growled. "I am moving your sexy little ass in with me immediately. And, you will have my last name before our baby is born"-I held up my hand when I saw she was about to argue-"This is not up for debate, baby. But, I'm not completely unreasonable, I'll give you three months to plan a wedding, or I'm dragging you to the courthouse."
I opened a drawer in my desk and fished out an envelope, then tossed it to her. She caught it and opened is cautiously, her brow shooting to her hair line at the contents.
"Those arrived this morning. There is no limit on that credit card and the other is a temporary debit card to our checking account. We'll get you permanent ones after you change your last name." I ignored her sputtering and went on, "I expect to see plenty of charges for the wedding and baby."
"Declan-"
"If tomorrow isn't good, pick a day this week or I'll choose one for you, Jules," I interrupted stubbornly.
She made a frustrated sound and threw her hands in the air. "Fine! Tomorrow," she growled. And damn, it was cute as fuck. "I'll be done with work at three." Then she pivoted and stomped back to the kitchen. I waited as long as I could before I let the laughter burst from my lungs. So fucking adorable.
By the next night, she was almost completely moved in and I was able to heave a partial sigh of relief. After wearing her the fuck out that night, we were lying in bed and I was holding her with my hand resting on her belly when the baby kicked. It was amazing. I couldn't wait to meet our little peanut.
***
"Dr. McGowan, I hear congratulations are in order." Dr. Frazier grinned at me as she entered the examination room.
I beamed back at her. "For the baby or the engagement?" I was standing to the left of Juliette, holing her hand, so I lifted it to show off the ring.
Dr. Frazier laughed and patted my arm as she maneuvered around the equipment and stopped at Juliette's other side. "Both. Though, I wasn't actually aware of the engagement."
Holding out a hand, Dr. Frazier warmly introduced herself to Juliette. "I hear you're about four months, Ms. Moureaux?"
"Yes. We're positive about the conception date." Juliette blushed and I chuckled, earning myself a cute little frown. "You can call me Juliette," she added.
Dr. Frazier nodded with a smile. "Okay, shall we see if this little one wants to cooperate today?" She pulled up Juliette's shirt to just under her breasts, exposing her baby bump. After putting some gel on there, she started moving a transducer probe around and a swishing sound emanated from the machine. Then, there was a pulsing, a heartbeat, and my knees weakened a bit.
I stared at the screen and watched the little person inside my girl. I was filled with a million different emotions but when Juliette's hand tightened around mine, I swung my gaze to face her liquid purple eyes. Lowing my head, I kissed her lips gently, infusing the gesture with love and gratitude. She was my dream come true, and it was almost surreal at that moment to know she and the baby were mine.
"Do you want to know the gender?"
Chapter 7
Juliette
"Yes."
"No," I answered at the same time as Declan.
Dr. Frazier's gaze darted between the two of us before a startled laugh bubbled up her throat. "I guess I could only tell Dr. McGowan, but I doubt he'll be able to keep the secret from you for five days, let alone five long months. Why don't the two of you take a moment to discuss what you'd like to do? I'll step out to give you some privacy."
The minute the door closed behind her, Declan leaned over me, setting his hands on the exam table on either side of my head. His eyes practically glowed with happiness, and his smile was the biggest I'd ever seen.
"You think you're going to get me to agree, don't you?" I asked suspiciously.
He dropped a brief kiss on my lips before answering. "I hope you will, but that's not why I'm grinning like a fool. I'm just so damn happy to be able to experience the first decision we're facing as new parents together."
"We can't even agree on something as simple as learning the sex of our baby," I fretted, twisting the engagement ring around my finger. "We barely know each other and we're already living together, engaged to be married, and going to have a baby."
"I can't wait to learn everything there is to know about you, Juliette," he whispered against my lips after giving me another sweet kiss. "But I disagree about this being an easy decision. I'm a bit of a planner, which I'm sure isn't a surprise to you by now, but that's not why I want to know. This isn't about planning the nursery or buying baby clothes for me. I just feel this deep-seated need to learn as much about him or her as soon as I can. I'm already wondering if our baby will have your gorgeous violet eyes, if he or she will be as graceful as you, if our child will have my love for medicine or yours for dance. We have to wait for the answers to all those questions, but the ultrasound can tell us one thing about our baby-whether it's a boy or a girl."