Read Online Expecting Miracle Twins by Barbara Hannay - Free Book Online

on her bra. ‘This is a weakness you should never, ever try to give up.’
    Mattie was amazed by how uninhibited she felt withJake, as if being with him took her straight into her natural element.
    She loved everything about making love with Jake. Loved the way he tasted and the way he smelled. She adored the daring ways that he kissed her and touched her, sometimes gentle, sometimes fiery.
    Always, always he knew exactly what she needed and before she even knew that she needed it.
    When they neared the point of no return, only one thing worried her. If Jake wasn’t prepared, she would have to raise the touchy subject of protection. With the surrogacy about to begin, she couldn’t afford to take any risks.
    But she needn’t have worried. Jake was well and truly prepared and he was as keen to avoid any risks as she was.
     
    Later, as afternoon sun streamed through the window, Jake reached for Mattie’s hands. He lifted them to his lips and kissed each of her knuckles. ‘Has anyone told you that you have beautiful hands?’
    She laughed with surprise and held out her hands so she could study them in the deepening sunlight.
    ‘See how white and dainty they are.’
    But Mattie was looking at Jake’s big, wide hands and the darkness of his skin. She trembled deliciously as she remembered the incredibly intimate way his big hands had touched her.
    ‘Compared with yours, my hands are tiny.’ She giggled softly. ‘To be honest, I prefer yours.’
    ‘No, no,’ Jake protested, his voice turning playful. ‘Your hands are gorgeous.’
    ‘Yours are gorgeous-er.’
    ‘I could eat your hands.’
    He began to nibble her fingertips and Mattie gasped as the warm intimacy of his teeth and tongue sent ripples of heat straight to the pit of her stomach.
    ‘I…I suppose I should take more care of my hands,’ she murmured. ‘When my friend Gina was single, she used to slather cream on her hands every night and wear gloves to bed.’
    Jake laughed. ‘No gloves in this bed, please.’
    ‘You won’t know. You won’t be here. You’ll be in Mongolia for the next six months.’
    ‘I’m here now.’ Jake took her hands again and held them above her head. With a soft chuckle he lowered his mouth to hers. ‘Make the most of me.’
    ‘Oh, don’t worry. I plan to.’
     
    The magic afternoon rolled into an equally magic evening. Dusk fell, filling their room with purple shadows, and Mattie and Jake realised they were ravenously hungry. They went through to the kitchen to make pasta, deciding they would concoct a brilliant sauce from whatever ingredients they could find in the fridge and the pantry.
    Together they investigated Will’s collection of CDs and agreed on a middle-of-the-road rock ’n’ roll number and, while the flat throbbed with its beat, they cheerfully chopped bacon and vegetables and supervised the pasta boiling on the stove. The whole time, their newfound happiness bubbled through them, erupting into sudden bursts of unexplained laughter or melting into blissful lingering kisses.
    The meal turned out surprisingly well, and they found half a bottle of wine to wash it down. Then, knowing they had the luxury of one last long night ahead of them, they took Brutus for a walk.
    Salty wind plucked at their clothes and at their hair as they walked hand in hand, stealing kisses and sharing jokes, grinning madly at the moon and feeling very much at one with the entire magnificent, beautiful universe.
     
    It wasn’t until Jake looked back on their behaviour the next morning that he realised they’d carried on very much like lovers. Like idyllic fairy-tale lovers who could look forward to a happy and long-lasting future. Not at all like a couple on a one-night stand.
    It was a worrying discovery.
    As dawn broke, he lay awake beside Mattie, fighting to resist the temptations of her delectable body and to hold at bay the tantalising memories of last night—the heady scent of her skin, the sweetness of her lips, the