Read Online Two Weeks in Geneva: Book Two by Lydia Rowan - Free Book Online Page B

at him, and he gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile. Incrementally, she relaxed and when she began the story, she was resting against him again, limbs fluid and relaxed.
    “I finally got to take him home after about five days. I’d nursed in the hospital with relatively little trouble, but when we got home, it was a nightmare.”
    She paused, the memories of those early days clearly flooding over her. Anxious to comfort her, he squeezed her tighter and rubbed his stubbled cheek across her shoulder, silently encouraging her to continue.
    “I couldn’t get him to latch on properly, so he was hungry all the time. And it took forever, I’m talking hours, for each feeding. It was a vicious cycle where I’d feed him—or try to, anyway—for two or three hours, he’d get a little, fall asleep in anger and frustration, and we’d start the process over again thirty minutes later. I cried. He cried. It was an awful time. And I felt like such a failure. What kind of mother couldn’t feed her baby? I thought.”
    The tremor in her voice shredded his heart, and he almost asked her to stop, but she continued after the brief pause.
    “We went on like that for two weeks. My doctor assured me that we were both physically fine, so I tried everything , pillows, swaddlers, books, videos. Looked at every mommy blog and parenting magazine that I could find, certain that if I just tried harder, found the perfect tool, I could do it.”
    “So what happened?”
    “My mother, genius that she is, swooped in to save the day.”
    He chuckled. “I bet she did.”
    “One afternoon, she came over and found me and Ethan in the nursery, both of us crying like, well, babies. She gave me the look. You know the one?”—he nodded. He did indeed know the look—“and said, ‘Go take a shower and lay down, dear.’ I didn’t even pretend to put up a fight.”
    “You needed rest. Both of you.”
    “More than I’d even thought. I slept for like three and a half hours straight, which was longer than I had since he’d come home. I thought I was still dreaming when I woke up and there was no crying. I checked the nursery, where, to my shock, my baby slept peacefully for the first time. When I got downstairs, Ma handed me a can of formula. ‘Two scoops of powder plus eight ounces of water equals a full, happy baby and a sane mommy,’ she said. I never looked back.”
    “Hmm.”
    “What ‘hmm’? Let me guess, you thought I was a selfish career woman who didn’t want to wreck my body—more—by nursing, or maybe didn’t want to sacrifice my time or make the effort,” she said, defensiveness creeping into her tone.
    “Nope,” he said, keeping his voice light. “I thought how strong you were to go through that because you thought it was best for him and how happy I am that Lily was there to help.” And how sad I am that I wasn’t , he added silently.
    “I much prefer your thought to mine,” she said, her words again syrupy and sleepy.
    “Good,” he said.
    They lay together, their breathing the only sound in the otherwise-silent room, and Alexander used the quiet time to explore her, as he’d been unable to for so long. Traced the padded ridge of her collarbone, planted a kiss in the gentle hollow above, drawing a shiver from her, as it always did. Traced a hand over her breast, fuller now than before, but still firm and topped with the delectable dark brown nipple that he loved to lick, tease, and suck. Moved lower, over her stomach, which made the perfect handhold for him to grip when he fucked her from behind, and finally rested his hand near the tangle of curls that covered her mound. As he stroked her skin, the slightly puffy raised ridge that transected her abdomen moved under his fingertip. He’d seen the scar earlier but his attention had been focused on other things, but now, the pieces clicked into place. This was where they’d had to cut her to get Ethan.
    After she’d told him the story, he’d thought about