She couldn’t look away from him. Never again did she want to hide from him behind her walls—she wanted him to break them down every time. Gasping as he slid even deeper, she grasped his face in her hands and brought his forehead to hers. “Ian…”

“I love you,” he rasped, and it was even sweeter than the first time he’d said it.

“I love you.”

“Marry me.”

Shock snapped her eyes wide, and he kissed her wildly, further tumbling her under the waves threatening to wash her away. The physical maelstrom of pleasure, the emotional joy of his words—it was all too much. She had only one reply to all of it, and she tore her mouth away from his to cry it out. “Yes!”

And she barely got the word out before climax rendered her mute with all-consuming ecstasy. As she floated back down to earth, panting, shivering, Ian nestled his face into her neck and locked into her, groaning her name as she felt him pulse deep inside.

For a moment, in the warm afterglow, neither of them spoke. Then he slid off her and pulled her into his arms, snuggling her close.

“Yes?” he whispered with a smile as he rained kisses along her jawline.

In the blistering heat of the moment, it had been easy to shout out her answer. It was no more difficult now. “I will. Of course I will.”

“You don’t know how much that means to me,” he murmured, caressing her cheek with his thumb.

Knowing what she’d been through before, he meant. God, she could even question her own sanity. Still, on some deep level, far below her hang-ups and her walls and all that other crap in her soul she didn’t like to deal with, she knew this was right. It was a certainty she’d never known before, even with Mark.

Poor Mark. He wasn’t a bad guy, really, and she had some explaining to do. But she’d deal with that later. She and Ian had the whole night ahead. A lifetime of nights.

Dreams really did come true.

Chapter Twenty-Two

March

At precisely 3:02 a.m., Gabriella Rhodes’s eyes flew open. She knew because she was staring straight at the glowing red digital numbers of her alarm clock.

Sighing, she turned her face deeper into her pillow and mourned for the long-lost nights when she could sleep all the way through until sunrise. According to Kelsey, they were gone for good. Or at least for several more months.

At the moment, however, there were any number of aches and pains or kicks or Braxton Hicks contractions or bathroom runs to disturb her rest, and turning over in bed was such a chore that it required her to be alert to pull it off.

Would this ever freaking end?

She was four days overdue, but no matter how much she begged and pleaded, her doctor didn’t want to induce her. Everything was fine, and she hadn’t dilated. So it was a waiting game. The baby was comfortable in there, apparently, and not ready to make his or her debut yet.

Ian still slumbered peacefully beside her, and she had the thought that she should kick him. If she had to be awake, then he had to be awake. It was only fair.

But no, fair or not, she’d rather kiss him than kick him. Gathering her strength to attempt a rollover, she noticed an uncomfortable ache low in her back. Huh. That was new. Not that her back didn’t hurt often, this just felt…different.

Maybe this was labor.

Ha! If only she could be so lucky. She’d been to the doctor two days ago. Not even one freaking centimeter dilated. Nothing worked—not walking, not sex, not the million and one different ways she’d tried to get things rolling. She was going to be pregnant for the rest of her life.

The ache eased somewhat, and she shoved her weight over, wincing with the effort. This was f**king ridiculous. Her massive belly ensured that it took damn near all her might to even turn onto her other side.

Whatever she’d expected, it hadn’t been this. The indignity of it all. It was one thing Kelsey hadn’t crowed about until Gabby mentioned it one day; then she’d said, “Oh yeah! Just wait until you deliver. By the time that’s over, so many people will have seen your vagina that you’ll automatically spread your legs whenever you hear the door to your room open.”

Bitch. Everything else she’d warned about had been true. Horrifically true.

Forcing her eyes closed, Gabby tried her best to get back to sleep. She almost got there. Except that dull ache in her back…

And she had to pee. Of course.

Flinging back her covers with a curse—she emitted them so often these days—she sat up with more great heaving effort…

Oh dammit. This was the final straw. Everything else she could handle, kind of, but incontinence on top of everything else…that was a deal breaker. This baby had to come out, or she was going to stage a sit-in at her OB/GYN’s office. A couple of hours of listening to her bitch, and they’d gladly give her an epidural if only to shut her up. And she’d take it.

So now she had to wake Ian up after all and tell him she needed to change the sheets she’d just peed all over.

Except…that was quite a lot of…

“Ian!” she shrieked. He popped up next to her, then sprang out of bed to grab for his clothes. She almost laughed. Was he even awake yet? Obviously, he’d been training for this. “I need some peppermint patties. Like now.”

He stopped, jeans in hand, hair rumpled up, and stared uncomprehendingly at her. “Huh?”

“Now. Keep getting dressed. Go get me some.”

“Gabby.”

“Ah! Seriously, you believe that? Oh my God. My water just broke.”

Plopping his cute bare ass back on the mattress, he shoved both feet into his jeans. “You ask me seriously when you’re joking at a time like this?”

“I’m sorry, I’m just ecstatic. Not two minutes ago, I was contemplating reaching into my uterus and pulling this baby out with my bare hands.”

“That’s gross, Gab.”

“You ain’t seen gross yet, baby.” After pushing herself up from the bed, she pressed both hands into the small of her back, stretched and grimaced as a vise seemed to clamp all the way around her nonexistent waist. “Yeah, that hurts. Okay. This is the real deal. Oh God.”

Now that the time was here, really, truly here…she wanted to crawl back under the covers. All those traumatizing childbirth videos flashed through her head. This was happening. To her body. Soon.

“Are you okay?” Ian asked, coming around their bed to stand beside her, fully dressed now. She needed to get changed out of her sopping-wet jammies.

“I will be. Ugh. So much to do.” Gabby waddled stiff-legged to the clothes she’d already laid out for this very occasion. Ian helped her along as if he were afraid she might collapse and start pushing at any second. “I’m fine,” she assured him, taking a moment to look up into his beloved face and give him a smile. “Let me get cleaned up while you grab our stuff and take it to the car. And can you call the hospital and tell them we’re coming in?”

“Sure.” He drew her into his arms, and she went happily, needing that comfort and safety to face the thought of the long hours ahead…even if she couldn’t get as close to him as she used to, thanks to her ginormous stomach. Please, please let her labor be smooth. Preferably short, but she’d settle for slow and uncomplicated. No problems, no worries. Just happiness. They deserved that, didn’t they?