Page 60 of Say We've Found Forever
“What?”
“That…touching certain places can produce beneficial endorphins.”
Holy shit, she is trying to kill him.
Does she want him to touch her? Where? How? Should he know this already from the books, or is she screwing with him?
He can’t remember any massage instructions, but she’s the expert on having babies, so he won’t question it.
“Can I show you where?” she asks, her words low and deep.
He only nods, afraid to speak and say something stupid.
Her hand slips into his, guiding it to the back of her neck. “Here, this is a good spot. Little circles or light scratching.”
He follows instructions while her whole body shivers.
“And um…here.” She moves his other hand to press below the curve of her breast, his fingertips slotting against the dips in her ribs.
His thumb brushes dangerously close to where he shouldn’t be. Then again, she put him there, so maybe it’s exactly where he should be.
“You gotta tell me how,” he begs, overcome by indecision. Hoping she’ll take pity on him and say flat out what she wants or doesn’t.
“A waving motion with your thumb. That would be….oh shit—”
The minute he complies, brushing the pad of his thumb across the swell of her breast and ghosting the underside, she hisses out a curse.
“Sorry, sorry, you meant on the ribs? That’s what you meant. Fuck, I didn’t mean…I dunno why I did that.”
“I meant exactly what you did.” Her teeth snag on her lower lip. “It’s just a cramp. It’ll pass. It already is.”
“Oh.” He’s having a silent panic attack because she’s so damn close he can feel her exhale on his chin. “Are you sure that’s normal? It’s been happening a lot.”
“It’s fine,” she assures him.
Whatever happened, she’s already recovered, and she looks like she’s waiting for him to kiss her. All the signals are smacking him in the face, bright enough that even he can’t miss them.
If she didn’t want him to kiss her, she’d have moved away by now.
If she didn’t want him to touch her, she wouldn’t have put his hands on her body.
Is she cruel enough to tease him to the edge and then rip the rug out from under his feet? No. No, she wouldn’t do that.
Then she glances at his lips again and snakes her tongue out to wet her own. His last shred of hope at controlling his reaction shatters between them.
He plans to move slowly and give her plenty of time to rethink this and shove him off the sofa, but before he can lean in, she grabs her stomach with a grimace on her lips that he was just about to kiss.
“What is it? Addison, talk to me. What’s happening?” He crouches down in front of her, his hands at her elbows, while she doubles over.
“I think something is wrong with the baby. The cramps have gotten worse. I didn’t want to say anything because there’s nothing we can do.”
Her skin is as pale as his must be after hearing that.
They need the ultrasound machine.
They need a real doctor.
Only one of those things exists within their grasp. Even once they have a clear view of whatever is wrong inside her, he has no idea what they plan to do with that information.
