Page 121 of To Tango, with Desire

With him, I could breathe.

With him, I could be myself.

With him, I didn’t have to pretend.

He accepted my desires. My dreams. My family.

And I couldn’t seem to think of the words to express how it made me feel. All I knew was that I needed him so utterly and completely, it frightened me.

When the pressure began to build, I knew I was close. The slippery wetness turned into a trickle, the drugging ache turned into a sharp need, and I clawed at his back, begging for him for more, for release.

When Zane groaned, calling my name, I lost all control. Legs shaking, I cried out, coming in a sharp, sudden moment of bliss.

I rocked over him until there was nothing left. But then I heard it. Amidst the sounds of rain and the whisper of the trees was his plea. And I knew he was about to come.

Shifting now, I knelt, covering him with my mouth. He gripped my hair, thrusting into me, and then it was over. Hot, silky beads of cum coated my tongue. I swallowed, lapping up his seed, tasting myself on him until there was nothing left.

“I can’t get enough of you, Amira.”

He picked me up, carrying me in his arms, our clothes forgotten.

I would have laughed at the sight of him naked in the moonlight if my heart wasn’t so damn full.

And when he laid me down on the bed and made love to my body once more, I lost myself in him. And I knew without a doubt, from this moment, I was his.

THIRTY-ONE

AMIRA

My hand trembled. Two pink lines.

Heart hammering in my chest, I couldn’t quite understand or comprehend it.

I was pregnant.

With Zane’s baby.

I wanted to curse at the pregnancy stick, to throw it away and pretend like it wasn’t true. Just when things were starting to go well between us, just when Zane was letting me in, now this.

He didn’t want kids. And I didn’t either.

But staring at the two lines left me feeling not just dread, but a weird and strange excitement. It didn’t make sense. I didn’t want a baby. I didn’t want to be responsible for another human being. I was so damn busy with my own business that the thought of having to scale everything back for another person left me feeling sick.

I fought back another wave of nausea. I’d been cramping all this week . . . now I knew why. Not my period, but a baby.

Fingers shaking, I fought against the bile that burned the back of my throat. But before I knew it, I was vomiting in the toilet, unable to stop.

“Amira?”

Zane knelt beside me. “You okay?”

I shook my head, unable to speak. He held my hair back as I retched until I had nothing left to give.

Gently, he helped me stand, using a cloth to wipe my face. And then he froze.

I looked over and knew the moment he’d spotted the test.

“You took it.”