Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

DANIELA

Panting like he'd just run a marathon, Braden brought his lips to mine in a soft, tender kiss as he slipped an arm under my shoulders and gripped one of my legs, then rolled us over so I was splayed across his chest. When I rested my head on his shoulder, he kissed my hairline while trailing his fingers up and down my spine.

For several long, leisurely minutes, neither of us spoke. It was like we were both afraid to be the first one to break the spell we were under. Like the second either of us said a word, we'd wake up to find out we were dreaming.

"How do you feel, sweetheart?" he finally asked, barely above a whisper. "Sore or anything?"

"Just a little. I'm okay. Better than okay. That was…" I trailed off, unable to find words.

How did I describe the way it felt to connect with him not just with our bodies, but with our hearts and minds and spirits? The way it felt to be seen, understood, validated, and cherished the way Braden had just done for me? The way it felt to realize that the one person I'd thought was my mortal enemy was actually the other half of my soul?

"Everything," he finished for me, moving a hand to my chin and tilting my face up so he could steal a kiss. "Absolute fucking perfection."

I chuckled. "Wow, so poetic."

He laughed, then rolled us to our sides as he slowly pulled out of me, making me whimper at the sudden loss of him.

"Do you have a washcloth?" he asked me.

"Bottom right drawer of the vanity."

Braden pulled me close as he brought his mouth back to mine, kissing me long and slow. I moaned at the utterly blissful feeling of his skin against mine as he caressed my shoulders, my back, my hips, my ass while our lips and tongues moved together. Like a faint echo of the magic that was still swirling around this room.

"I'll be right back," he whispered against my lips.

Getting out of bed, he went over to my vanity and pulled open the drawer, retrieving two dark washcloths. Then he walked out of the room, and I heard water running in the bathroom before he returned with my bottle of ibuprofen and a wet washcloth.

He gently rolled me onto my back and put a hand on the inside of my thigh, guiding my legs apart. "You're bleeding a little, sweetheart. Let me get you cleaned up. And we should change this sheet too."

As he brought the warm washcloth to my core, I hissed at the feeling of the coarse fabric against my sensitive skin, but I forced myself to keep my legs open as he gently washed the remnants of our lovemaking away.

"Sorry. I'm done," he murmured, dropping a kiss on my lips before handing me the pill bottle. "I know you said you're not that sore, but I want you to take some ibuprofen. Just in case."

I sat up and kissed him, whimpering softly as he pulled me close again, but just as he licked at the seam of my lips, I heard Isaac crying and pulled back. Honestly, I was surprised it had taken him this long to wake up with all the noise I'd made in the past half-hour. I'd tried to keep it down, but Braden had just been making me feel too good. It was impossible not to vocalize it.

"I've got him," Braden said. "Go get some water to take the pills with and grab a fresh sheet. I'll help you change it after I take care of him."

"He probably needs to be changed," I told him. "You sure you're okay doing that?"

He chuckled and kissed my nose. "Last I checked, changing diapers was part of a dad's responsibility. I'm gonna have to get used to it."

I snorted. "Okay, if you're sure. Everything you need is on the changing table. If he needs a new onesie, they're in the top drawer of the white dresser. And be warned, he's a little wormy-worm. He does not like dirty diapers."

"Got it," he said with another chuckle before getting up. "I'll be back."

While Braden pulled on his boxers and jeans and walked out of the room, I got up and threw his t-shirt on, smiling as I smelled his cologne on it. I'd always kind of wondered what the big deal about girls wearing their boyfriends' shirts was, and now I got it. There was just something about it that was comforting, kind of like a long-distance hug.

I headed to the kitchen to get some water and put the black beans on a simmer to warm them back up, and turned off the music that was still playing while I was at it. Now that he'd satisfied my…um, other hunger, I was actually hungry. And fried plantains weren't great on the second day, so we needed to eat those tonight regardless. Then I went to the small linen closet right outside the bathroom and grabbed a fresh sheet, bringing it and my water back to the bedroom.

After taking the ibuprofen, I brought the bottle back to the bathroom, then decided to go check on Braden and Isaac. And absolutely nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I walked into the nursery.

Braden was standing in the middle of the room, light still off, and swaying back and forth with a cooing Isaac in his arms as he softly sang "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses. I just stood there in the doorway watching for several long seconds, melting into a puddle of mush.

Looking at the scene in front of me, once again I wondered how I could ever have thought Braden would have tossed his son aside. He was such a natural with Isaac, and their connection – even from the first time they'd met – was something beautiful to behold.

I quickly ran back to the bedroom and grabbed my phone, then rushed back, taking a couple of pictures. Because this moment? It was priceless and absolutely needed to be memorialized. As he finished "Sweet Child O' Mine," he went directly into the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun," still completely oblivious to my presence, and I quietly started recording a video. About a minute into the song, he looked up and saw me, an ear-splitting grin coming over his face as he carried our little boy toward me.

"Don't stop on my account," I said quietly as I stopped the recording. "That was adorable."

"Did you just call me adorable?" he teased in a whisper.

"Yes. Yes, I did. Deal with it," I said with a grin. "You're so good with him. I don't know how I ever thought you?—"

Carefully maneuvering Isaac into one arm, he silenced me with a kiss as he wrapped the other arm around my back and pulled me close. "Nope. We're not doing that tonight. Tonight's ours , and we're not giving anyone else a single millimeter of headspace. Got it?"

I took a deep breath and nodded. "Got it. So, you hungry for real food now?"

He smiled. "After you put so much effort into it? Absolutely. Let's get this sleepy little dude back in his bassinet and go change the bed really quick, then we can eat."

"Damn, this looks incredible," Braden said as I set a plate of the traditional Cuban shredded beef dish, accompanied by rice, black beans, and fried plantains, in front of him. "Thank you, sweetheart. You didn't have to do all this for me."

Stealing a kiss, I pulled my chair around the table so I could sit closer to him. "Yes, I did. I needed you to know I was paying attention. And that even when I tried to tell myself this was just a business arrangement, it never was. Not really."

"It never was for me either," he confessed as he took his first bite of food. "Holy fuck, this is amazing."

I laughed. "Muchas gracias."

He groaned. "Okay, new rule. You're not allowed to speak Spanish while you're sitting there in nothing but my t-shirt unless you want me to drag you straight back to the bedroom. I'm trying to be a gentleman here, but you're making it damn hard. Pun absolutely intended."

My cheeks heated as I chuckled awkwardly, and I was sure I was the color of a tomato. Braden grinned and leaned over to kiss me, sliding his hand along my thigh, before returning to his food.

"Can I ask a dumb question?" he asked a minute later.

"Only if I can give a dumb answer."

He snickered a little before speaking. "I swear to God, I'm not trying to judge you or your parenting. You're doing amazing with Isaac and I wouldn't want you to change anything. But why do you have him in the nursery already?"

"It's not a dumb question," I said with a weak snort. "Trust me, I still feel kind of guilty about it. But I used to wake up every time he made any kind of noise in his sleep. Like every grunt, every coo, everything. So after Lina started working for me, I asked her if it was okay to transition him to the nursery, and she said that as long as I made sure his sleeping area was up to standards and had the monitor on, it was fine. She even reminded me I'd be no good to him or anyone else if I wasn't getting my rest too."

He gave me an almost sad smile. "I hope you know your days of taking care of him alone are behind you now. Not just because of Lina, but because I'm not going anywhere either."

"I know," I assured him, standing halfway to kiss his cheek. "And I'm glad, because he needs you in his life."

"So, are you ever going to tell me what you were saying in the bedroom earlier?" Braden asked as we settled on the couch after putting the leftovers in the fridge and doing the dishes together. "Or are you going to make me guess?"

I had to think about it for a second; I honestly couldn't remember what Spanish phrases I'd said to him at first. I just knew that every time he told me it turned him on, it made me want to speak it more.

"Um…when we were in the kitchen, I said, ‘You're the man of my dreams.' Then when we first got to the bedroom and you said you didn't understand why I felt close enough to you to want you, I told you it was because I love you and you're incredible too. And when you told me you weren't letting me go, I said I wasn't letting you go either and I wanted to be with you forever."

He didn't let me tell him what the final thing I'd said to him was before he captured my lips with his, pulling me over to straddle his legs as he coaxed my mouth open with his tongue.

"I meant it, beautiful. I'm never letting you go," he said quietly, his lips still touching mine.

"So did I," I told him, bringing my mouth back to his, needing another kiss like I needed oxygen.

When I felt his stiffening cock pressing against my core, I whimpered as I started to rock over it. A soft growl rumbled in his chest as he moved his hands to my hips, encouraging my motions. Despite the slight soreness between my legs, I couldn't help myself. I lost myself in the sensations coursing through me, in the heat and passion I felt flowing through my veins.

"You wanna know what the last thing I said to you was?" I whispered against his lips, continuing to grind myself against his dick.

"What?" he breathed as he dragged his teeth over my neck, making a shiver race through my whole body.

Instead of telling him right away, I stood up, unbuttoned his jeans, and dragged down the zipper. Braden helped me tug them down, letting his dick spring free from its confines. Moving back to his lap, I positioned him at my entrance and slowly sank down, groaning a little as I felt him fill me almost to the point of overflowing.

"Fuck, Dani," he mumbled. "I'll never get enough of you."

"Me either," I whimpered as I started to slowly rock back and forth, adjusting to this new, more intense angle. "Oh, God. I feel so full."

"Take your time, beautiful," he whispered as he slid his shirt up my sides and pulled it over my head, then started gently pushing up into me, matching my rhythm. "Let yourself adjust. It's okay."

"Oh, fuck," I muttered as I sped up my movements just a little, then moved my lips to his ear. "I told you to fuck me. That was the last thing I said. Síngame, B."

Groaning, Braden dipped his head down to tug a nipple into his mouth, pinching the other one between his thumb and forefinger. With a moan, I used his shoulders for leverage as I lifted myself up and then sank back down onto him, feeling him hit spots inside me I'd never even known existed. After a few minutes, I couldn't take not having his mouth on mine anymore, and I pulled his head up from my chest and crashed my lips to his as I sped up my movements.

"That's it, sweetheart. Take what you need," he encouraged me as he pulled back to look at me. "Fuck, look at you. I've never seen anything so damn gorgeous."

He glanced down between us, then gently caressed my neck and tilted my head downward.

"Look, beautiful. Look how fucking perfectly we fit together."

I obeyed, casting my gaze to where we were joined together. And fuck . Seeing his dick disappearing inside me, slick with my arousal, as I alternated between raising up and down and gliding back and forth over him, made my core clench. There was something so hot, yet so incredibly intimate at the same time, about watching the way our bodies moved together in perfect harmony.

"Shit, Dani," he rasped as he put his thumb on my clit, rubbing tight circles over it. "You like that, sweetheart? You like seeing how well you're taking me?"

"Fuck yes," I whimpered as I pressed myself as far down on him as I could, grinding my clit against him. "God, I'm so close."

"You're. So. Fucking. Tight," he growled as he held my hips still and started to pump himself up into me harder. "Touch yourself for me, beautiful."

I obeyed, sliding my hand between us and starting to rub frantic circles over my clit, biting my lip to keep from screaming at the top of my lungs as my entire body seemed to burst into flames. My other hand went to my breast, my thumb flicking over my nipple as I watched his cock move in and out of me, bottoming out with each thrust.

"Good girl," he praised me with a groan. "Keep rubbing that clit. Make yourself come."

"So. Close," I panted as I pressed down harder against my sensitive bud, still not looking away from where we were joined together.

Within less than a minute, I exploded over him, my vision going white as wave after wave of sheer bliss and euphoria washed over me. I didn't even realize that I'd taken him over the edge with me until he pulled me back into his arms, kissing the side of my head as he gasped for breath.

"Holy shit," I mumbled breathlessly. "I think I need to talk dirty to you in Spanish all the time. Or whisper sweet nothings, since apparently that gets the same response."

Braden laughed and pushed me back just far enough so he could look me in the eyes. "I won't complain. But let me make one thing clear. I will never fuck you, Dani. No matter how hard or dirty it is, every time I'm inside you, every time my mouth is on that perfect pussy, it's making love. You hear me?"

I smiled and nodded as I pressed my lips to his. "Good, because I'm not built to fuck. Not really. I just like what it does to you when I say it in Spanish."

"And I fucking love hearing it, so don't get any ideas about stopping," he chuckled as he gently lifted me off his lap, stood up, and held his hand out to me. "Now, come on. We're going to get into the shower, I'm going to take care of the woman of my dreams and get her cleaned up, and then maybe we can get a couple hours of sleep before our little man wakes us up."

Taking his hand, I let him help me to my feet, then slid my arms around him, resting my head on his chest and smiling against his skin when I felt him comb his fingers through my hair and kiss the top of my head.

"I like that plan," I sighed contentedly.