Dedicated Ink by Ranae Rose Read Free Book Online Page B

sick.”
    She chewed the inside of one lip. Sam only knew she was home because she’d texted him half an hour ago when a receptionist from her OB-GYN’s office had rescheduled her next appointment. She’d figured he’d read the text when he woke up, but instead, her text had woken him and he’d called her.
    “I appreciate you coming by,” she said, struck again by surprise as he emptied the shopping bag, revealing a bag of oranges, a box of crackers, a package of fruit-flavored hard candies, a bottle of ginger ale and a little plastic box, framed by cardboard packaging. 
    She reached for the last item. “What’s this?”
    “Those are Sea-Bands. You wear them on your wrists, like bracelets. They’re supposed to reduce nausea.” He plucked the package from her hands. “Hospitals use them. Want to try them?”
    “Yeah, sure.” She’d reached a point where she’d try just about anything. If a pair of stretchy bracelets might help, why not?
    She didn’t regret agreeing at all as he opened the package, scanned the instruction sheet, and then took one of her hands in his.
    Brushing his fingertips over her knuckles, he gently unfurled her fingers. “You’ve got to hold three fingers together, like this, to measure.” He demonstrated, and she extended her first three fingers, watching as he laid them against the inside of her other wrist.
    “This is the pressure point we’re looking for.” He placed the tip of one of his own fingers against her inner wrist, in the center, right under her lowest finger.
    When he slid the first band over her hand, he let the little plastic nub settle into place, applying pressure where he’d indicated. Even after his touch was gone, heat remained, and a tingling sensation crept over her entire body, concentrated in her fingertips, lips and breasts.
    “You’re supposed to wear them both at once.” He repeated the process, and by the time he was done, her nerves were practically humming with anticipation. Even sick and shabby in her pajamas, her body retained the memory of their one night together; the feel of his skin against hers rekindled an instant magic that had her thinking of much more than the contents of the bag he’d brought.
    When he withdrew his touch, his eyes lingered overlong on her wrists, then traveled higher to the cleavage that swelled above her cami’s neckline.
    The heat he’d filled her with manifested in a blush that burnt across her cheekbones and the bridge of her nose. The cami wasn’t anything designed to seduce, just a cotton basic she’d picked up during a sale at the mall. Still, her breasts had swollen to the point that the top only half-covered them, and her nipples were hard beneath the thin fabric, definitely visible.
    Her body had changed since the last time he’d seen her naked, and not just her belly. What would he think? She’d been wondering over the past two weeks, since they’d started seeing each other again. During that time, they hadn’t slept together. Not even once, and it wasn’t like he’d made a move and she’d turned him down. It just … hadn’t happened.
    Two weeks wasn’t exactly an eternity, but they’d agreed to raise their babies together, as a couple, and they’d been going out. They’d had dinner several times, and seen a movie once. Sometimes he gave her looks like the one that had her practically squirming in her seat now and they made her ache for an irrefutably sexual touch, a kiss … something that would lead to an encounter as passionate and unstoppable as their first.
    How could they be a real couple if they weren’t sleeping together? Considering the fact that in a few months they’d be parents together, it seemed absurd to hold back. She ached, physically and emotionally, to connect now, while they could, before things got even crazier than they already were.
    “Would you like any of these other things?” he asked, finally raising his gaze until it locked with hers. “They’re all