“Then show me,” Axel said, slowly lowering the covers to expose my hands still covering my tummy. “Let me see all of you, Blaire.” He kept his eyes on mine as he scooted down in the bed until his face was level with my abdomen. He could have easily forced my hands away, but he let me do it in my own time. Taking a shaky breath, I pulled my hands away, and Ax linked our fingers together before finally looking down at the shimmery stripes on my lower belly.

Axel released one of my hands and stroked his fingers back and forth across my abdomen. “This is what you were worried about? They’re like tiny little strings of pearls embedded right into your skin,” he whispered, making what I thought was unattractive seem beautiful. When he looked back up at me, his eyes were shining with tears. “How could you think I wouldn’t see the beauty of your body expanding to accommodate our baby?”

Tears streamed down my face as I watched him reverently place tender kisses from one side of my tummy to the other. “You’re shredding me, Ax,” I rasped, stroking his hair softly.

He put his big hand over me and said, “This is where you grew our child, Blaire. Our beautiful, perfect little girl.” He looked back up at me. “I am so in awe of you.”

I tugged his hair gently. “Then come make love to me.” Axel crawled slowly up my body, parting my legs with his knee. He reached over for a condom and rolled it on, tossing the package onto the floor, never once breaking eye contact. He breathed my name as he sunk slowly into me, our eyes locked together. “I’ve missed you so much, baby,” I told him through my tears.

“I’ve missed you, too. You’re the one for me, Blaire. You always have been, and you always will be.” He kissed away my tears, blessing me with an unhurried circle of his hips.

Oh my… He closed his mouth over mine, and I tasted my tears on his lips as he moved deeply and slowly inside me until I thought my heart was going to burst with emotion. This was lovemaking at its finest.

My first orgasm rolled through me in waves and was so intense, so bold, my body curled into his as I shook in his arms. “You’re so beautiful that you take my breath away, sweetheart,” he murmured against my lips before kissing me again, our tongues tangling in a slow, rhythmic waltz.

How had I lived without him all these years? My soulmate. My love. I ached for more of him, even as he filled me completely. I ached for every minute we had spent apart. “I need you deeper, Ax.”