That was it. I was toast.

I dropped my face, hiding it behind my hands, and sobbed.

“Ladybug,” Cody said with an exasperated sigh, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. “She’ll come when she’s ready.”

“I know!” I wailed, still hiding my face. “I just miss you. It’s been so freaking long, and I need you.”

“Okay, baby,” he replied, rubbing my back gently. “Okay, come on. Shit. It’s all right. Don’t cry.”

He leaned down and slid his arm under my legs, lifting me up to carry me like a baby. And even though I was a snotty, crying mess, it felt so good that I couldn’t be sorry for it. He smelled like home to me, his familiar cologne and the leather of his cut that I’d grown accustomed to over the past couple of months.

When he laid me on the bed, I refused to let go of his neck, whimpering deep in my throat and pulling him with me until he was kneeling over my body.

“Shhh,” he said, shrugging his cut off his shoulders. “I’ve got you, Ladybug.”

He leaned down and kissed my face, running his lips over my cheeks and forehead before meeting my lips and pulling the bottom one with his teeth. “You gotta let go so I can get my shirt off,” he whispered.

I immediately let go of his neck, my hands going to the bottom of his shirt as he grasped it behind his neck and pulled it off. When he leaned back down, I could have cried again at the feel of his bare chest against mine. It had been so long since we were that close, and I’d almost forgotten the sensation of the hair that grew in a small diamond on his chest rubbing against my skin.

I raised my head to kiss him again, and before I could do anything, his hands were all over me and he had parted his lips, pushing his tongue against mine. His hands glided down my sides, then back up over my belly, stopping to rub where my belly button had popped out from the pressure on my skin.

“You’re so gorgeous, Ladybug,” he said on a breath into my mouth as his hands slid up to cup my breasts. My nipples were sensitive as hell, and he used it to his advantage as he ran his fingers over them in feather-light touches, teasing me until my back was arching off the bed.

“God, what is wrong with me?” he mumbled to himself, watching his hands on my chest. “I’m an idiot.”

I was frantic, wrapping my legs around the back of his thighs and squirming, trying to get his hips closer to mine as he dropped his mouth to my breasts. He used his tongue to flick at my nipples, then closed his mouth around each one, sucking them hard in turn as I writhed and moaned.

When he leaned up and pulled my underwear down my thighs, I sighed in relief. Finally. It was finally happening after months of waiting and trying to be patient, doing everything I could not to take whatever was bothering him personally.

“I like this.” He groaned, running his fingers through the closely cropped hair at the apex of my thighs. “It’s different.”

“I didn’t want to wax while I was pregnant. I didn’t trust them not to fuck it up,” I explained, my voice hitching as two of his fingers slid inside me.

“Yeah? How do you keep it short? Can you even see down here?” He moved down the bed and lay on his belly between my legs, looking at me as if fascinated.

“I use your beard trimmer,” I answered as his tongue took one long swipe at me. “And a mirror.”

His head popped up, and his eyes were so dark I could barely see the blue irises in them anymore. “Yeah?”

“It’s not easy,” I replied jokingly.

“Why do it?”

“I kept hoping—” My voice trailed off, my face growing hot.

“I’m an asshole,” he said flatly.

“You’re here now.”

“Baby, you gotta stop cutting me so much slack. Fuck.” He dropped his head until it rested at the base of my belly. “You remember when I asked you to fight?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“I need you to do it. My head’s so fucked up, Ladybug. I keep messing this up.”

“You’re not messing it up,” I argued.

“You’re not getting what you need from me. I’m messing it up.” He lifted his head and shook it slowly.

“So, fix it,” I whispered, pushing my hand into his hair and gripping it tightly. When I pulled his head to my hips, he growled, and within seconds his tongue was everywhere. He licked and sucked and bit me tenderly, his hands holding my thighs open as he loved on me.

When my orgasm finally rushed over me, I called his name, making noises I didn’t even know I was capable of.

“Fuck, you’re so goddamn sexy.” He groaned, climbing from the bed so he could take off his boots and drop his jeans and boxers to the floor. “I missed the way you taste.”

I smiled blearily at him as he climbed up between my thighs, still feeling hazy from my orgasm. I just wanted to cuddle at that point, my body so boneless I felt like I could slither right off the bed.

“No, you don’t, beautiful,” he said teasingly as my eyelids started drooping. “Up on your knees.”

“Why?” I whined as he used my arms to pull me up.

“You’ve been on your back too long already, Ladybug,” he said, chiding me.

“Have you been reading my pregnancy books?”

“Shut up and get on your knees.”

He positioned me so I was sitting on my heels, my hands holding on to the headboard. When I didn’t feel him move up behind me, I turned my head, flicking my hair over my shoulder so I could see him.