A Kiss of Color: The Complete 3 Book Collection (30 page)

He was extremely good at a plethora of other things.

Helena scooted down to the end of the sofa to get a better look at the man in the kitchen. Xavier had just finished a workout in the home gym he’d put together in the basement and the thin cotton t-shirt he wore clung to the glorious, lean muscles of his torso. Sweatpants slung low on his hips revealed just a scant inch or so of the pale V leading down to the substantial package at the crux of his legs. His hair was pulled up into a loose knot at the base of his neck, and his glasses were as absent as the alluring scruff on his jaw was present. The man had taken the past two weeks off work in order to help her get through her recovery, and it filled Helena’s heart to know that no one but her saw him like this.

Casual…disheveled and undeniably sexy. It wasn’t that she didn’t like seeing the man in suits and button-ups. If anything else, she appreciated his calm, authoritative appeal almost as much as she liked watching him like this.

But here, with her, he was utterly and completely relaxed. It was almost, she realized, as if she’d never left…even though she knew things between them were different now.

They were going to be parents. Where, months ago, the issue had divided them without contest, now they looked forward to a bright future. Helena was beginning to get into the idea of holding a soft, warm child to her breast and watching it grow – just as she was finally coming to terms with the idea that she could make the family that she had always wanted.

Just like Xavier.

She understood now that she could not allow Janette Freeman to be the one who shaped her ideas about motherhood. Nor, indeed, could she let Xavier’s parents and their ridiculous opinions of her derail the enthusiasm she had for rearing her own child. No, all that mattered was herself, her lover, and the product of that love.

“Here you are, hon.”

Xavier set a plate of leftover paella in front of her, along with a glass of her favorite juice. As hungry as she was, Helena couldn’t decide which to salivate over more – her lover or her dinner. Just seeing the man standing over her, his tall, lean form rippling with strength, made her want to take him to bed.

There wasn’t much these days that didn’t inspire Helena’s lust for her programmer CEO boyfriend. Whether it was pregnancy or her newfound confidence in herself, she couldn’t get enough of him…and there was rarely a time when he wasn’t willing to indulge her every sexual whim.

“Helena, don’t look at me like that.”

Except, however, when he was trying to get her to eat.

The young woman batted her eyelashes innocently. “Like what?”

The dark-haired man chuckled lowly, extending a fork to her as he sank down onto the plush leather cushion beside her. “As if you’d rather be eating me than your dinner.”

“I would.” She admitted blatantly, frowning almost petulantly before taking the offered fork and beginning to scoot closer to the coffee table. Xavier gently wrapped an arm around her, helping her move forward so she could lean against him – which, to say the least, didn’t do much for her raging libido.

The man was all hard angles and smelled of sweat and masculinity. The more carnal part of Helena’s brain whispered to her to just jump him – he wouldn’t refuse once she’d gotten his clothes off.

“
After
dinner, honey.” Xavier winked at her, cupping her chin to place a brief, indulgent kiss on her lips. “I’m not complaining about how much you want me…just reminding you that you need to eat to keep your strength up…and
his.”
He rubbed a large hand over the swell of Helena’s abdomen and the young woman’s burgeoning lust quickly faded behind a haze of affection.

She never could have imagined how much she’d missed in her pregnancy, not having Xavier by her side. The feeling she got whenever he stroked over her stomach, leaned down to kiss her and whisper to the baby, or lay his head against her at night to marvel at the child they’d created was incomparable. Though Helena would never have robbed him of his child, she realized she had robbed herself by refusing to speak with him for so long.

Now, she only had one month of pregnancy left, but she knew that she wanted Xavier to be present for every moment of it.

Resting her hand atop his, Helena smiled, raising her chin slightly to kiss him again, this time softer, lingering for almost a full minute. When she finally pulled away from him, the man made a low sound of complaint that had her smiling in triumph. “Still want to eat first?” Her voice was low and husky.

Xavier sighed, brushing his lips across her forehead a moment before taking her plate to set on the table before them. Helena squealed in surprise, the sound turning to a delighted laugh as Xavier hefted her into his arms – pregnant belly and all, to carry her towards the bedroom. “You’re
going
to eat.” He assured her as he lay her gently down on the bed, covering her smaller form with his own as he gazed down at her. Helena shivered at his wicked, adoring smile. “Right after I do.”

A low moan of anticipation left her at his words, and as his mouth covered her own, Helena wondered how she could ever have doubted her desperate love for this man.

**

He wanted her to marry him.

Xavier gazed down at the woman sleeping peacefully beside him, his heart swelling with affection. She made the cutest little faces when she slept and always cuddled closer the moment he attempted to move away.

Not that he was very prone to that – not after being almost half a year without her. Xavier wanted to be as close to his lover as it was humanly possible to be, every second of every day. Knowing that he would have to go back to work soon was a curse, and he counted down the days almost petulantly.

He would never be separated from her again – of that he would make certain.

Frowning deeply, the CEO ran his finger over one of many scabbed cuts that covered Helena’s arms and legs. Every time he thought of Elliot Cauldwell, he wanted to ring the bastard’s neck. How
dare
he touch Helena. How
dare
he hurt her.

The man had a known history of violence, which made Xavier confront Susan at her office in his anger. The Doctor had, of course, apologized – and so had the school. While the institution was exactly that, and Xavier didn’t know how remorseful they could be, Doctor Forge’s grief was evident in every glance she’d payed Helena in her hospital bed.

Xavier knew that he wasn’t helping her guilt by accusing her, but he’d been scared out of his wits. He’d never seen so much blood in his life – and the prospect of losing the woman he loved and his unborn child was enough to steal the breath from his lungs and make his heart race.

He’d been so close…so
very
close.

If it hadn’t been for Brandy calling him…

Xavier took a steadying breath, stroking hair gently from his lover’s brow. He may have come close, but Helena was still with him. Still breathing – still living, by his side. In a matter of weeks, they’d be parents. He would have a son.

He intended to ask Helena to be his for the rest of their lives well before that.

Xavier’s desire came not from some hackneyed idea that men and women should be married before having children or protecting Helena’s propriety. They’d been together for close to six years. And he had loved her, perhaps, even longer than that.

It was far past time to put a ring on her finger.

The only reason he’d ever hesitated was because he knew how she felt about her work. Helena wanted to have her MD well in hand before making any big changes in her life. Of course, having a baby hadn’t been in their plans either, but after a little soul-searching, both of them were in a better place than they’d been before.

And Xavier thought Helena might be much more receptive to the idea of marriage before she finished her MD than she was a year ago.

He wouldn’t push her. That was never his aim. The wedding itself would probably come after she completed her schooling, but engagement was another matter entirely. He’d already bought the ring – something discreet and small but beautifully cut. Definitely Helena’s style more than any large and gaudy bauble.

Xavier was literally chomping at the bit to ask her to be his wife…but he knew it wasn’t as simple as that.

He had to have a plan.

For all his life, he’d wanted the family his parents had never provided for him – but he’d known that in order to have that family, he’d have to be able to support them.

The recent merger that his company had gone through more than assured that. In his short three years in business, Xavier had far eclipsed his parents fortune and now had a sizeable one himself. He would be able to ensure that he raised his son properly, lavished him with affection, and put his family first.

If Helena hadn’t believed in him, Xavier knew, he would have none of the success he had. He owed her everything he was; not only for her financial backing, but also for the love she’d lavished upon him at a time in her life when love had been hard for her to comprehend. She had given him everything, and he would give back for the rest of their lives.

Leaning over, he brushed his lips ever-so-gently across her brow, whispering his love for her. In response, the young woman snuggled close to him, her back flush against his chest as his hand rested on her belly.

Within her, their child slept just as peacefully as his mother, without a single kick or undulation. Inhaling the sweet scent of his lover’s hair, Xavier found sleep, content in the presence of those he loved more than anything.

The next day was the last that Xavier would be allowed home before returning to work. He spent it in utter seclusion with Helena. When she suggested slyly that they not leave bed all day, he decided to oblige her. They had their coffee after an extended romp that lasted until around noon. Then he helped her from bed and they partook of a leisurely shower and lingered there until the water got cold.

They had breakfast out on the terrace before lying on the grass as Xavier listened to his son make a fuss inside his mother’s belly.

“He’s going to be just as high maintenance as you are.” Helena teased as she kissed him. Xavier merely rolled his eyes playfully before smacking her behind.

“You’re the one who’s being high maintenance, Ms. I-Need-It-Now.”

Helena laughed softly, drawing her lover upward to plant a soft kiss against his throat. The warmth of her lips awakened a hunger that Xavier thought had been sated until at least dinner.

How wrong he’d been.

By the time they left the bed again, their last meal was well-overdue. Helena tried not to dissolve into a fit of laughter as Xavier called a plethora of restaurants, trying to explain to them that he would pay extra for delivery and apologizing for the time.

By the time they finally got their sushi and tucked in, it was close to midnight. Rather than return to the bed they’d spent most of the day in, however, the two of them cuddled up before the fire, regardless of the fact that there were still a few months of summer left.

Xavier couldn’t remember when he’d been more content.

He knew that the both of them would have to go back to their respective jobs the next day, but for that minute, they were basking in baby bliss – and each other.

Xavier had noticed that Helena tired much more easily with their child growing inside her. Not thirty minutes after they’d finished their dinner, she was sound asleep in the crook of his arm.

Watching her, Xavier stroked slowly over her shoulder and down her arm until his hand covered hers where it rested upon her swollen belly. The dark-haired man lowered his head to brush a kiss across the taut flesh there before scooping Helena into his arms to carry her back to their bedroom.

Once he had her settled among the blankets, Xavier left her briefly to make his way down the hall to his home office. The entire room was hopelessly cluttered – a detail Helena never failed to point out – and he knew he needed to clean things up a bit. But, for now, the mess served its purpose. Helena was a bit too round to fit past anything – making his desk the perfect place to hide the ring.

Edging past a bevy of boxes yet-unpacked, Xavier sank down into his plush office chair before pulling open the top drawer. Inside rested a red velvet box. For a moment, he just stared at it. Such a tiny, infinitesimal thing...and yet it had the power to change their lives.

Extracting the box from his desk, he thumbed the top open to take a peek at the modest diamond and ruby ring inside. The platinum band sparkled in the low light, and though Xavier knew Helena wasn’t a woman who liked to covet pretty things overly much, she would covet this.

A small smile tugging at his lips, he replaced the box in his desk before returning to bed. Helena had curled up on her side amongst a mountain of pillows and was breathing softly, the sheets tucked around her. Chuckling lowly, Xavier slipped into bed behind her, tugging a few pillows strategically out of the way so that he could lie against her skin to skin.

When they were like this, he could almost pretend that he’d never have to go in to work again, and would get to lie with her until he damn well felt like getting up.

It was too bad life was poised to intervene.

Leaving Helena’s warmth to go into the office was one of the hardest things Xavier had to do in his life. He reminded himself that her assailant was in jail awaiting trial, that she was alive and well, and that they had to get on with their lives to provide for their son.

And that
still
didn’t make things any easier.

Even so, he suited up and hightailed it down town, where his office manager, Margaret, was waiting for him with bated breath and extended claws.

“Xavier! So good to see you!” The spectacled brunette pumped his hand hard enough to make his arm hurt. “How are Helena and the baby?”

He supposed he should be grateful that she started with the pleasantries. Usually, the woman barely bothered to wait until he was in his office to lay into him with a to-do list five miles long. That was, he supposed, part of why he’d hired her. Margaret was ruthlessly efficient – atop being very qualified. “They’re fine.” He managed a smile, massaging his bicep as he followed the slightly older woman into the elevator. “Helena’s due in about a month.”