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She couldn’t look away froain did she want to hide from him behind her walls--she wanted hi as he slid even deeper, she grasped his face in her hands and brought his forehead to hers "Ian…"

"I love you," he rasped, and it was even sweeter than the first time he’d said it

"I love you"

"Marry me"

Shock snapped her eyes wide, and he kissed her wildly, further tu to wash her away The physical maelstrom of pleasure, the emotional joy of his words--it was all too much She had only one reply to all of it, and she tore her ot the word out before cli ecstasy As she floated back down to earth, panting, shivering, Ian nestled his face into her neck and locked into her, groaning her name as she felt hilow, neither of them spoke Then he slid off her and pulled her into his ar her close

"Yes?" he whispered with a s her jawline

In the blistering heat of the moment, it had been easy to shout out her answer It was no more difficult now "I will Of course I will"

"You don’t knoher cheek with his thuh before, he meant God, she could even question her own sanity Still, on so-ups and her walls and all that other crap in her soul she didn’t like to deal with, she knew this was right It was a certainty she’d never known before, even with Mark

Poor Mark He wasn’t a bad guy, really, and she had so to do But she’d deal with that later She and Ian had the whole night ahead A lifetihts

Dreams really did come true

Chapter Twenty-Two

March

At precisely 3:02 am, Gabriella Rhodes’s eyes flew open She knew because she was staring straight at the glowing red digital nu, she turned her face deeper into her pillow and hts when she could sleep all the way through until sunrise According to Kelsey, they were gone for good Or at least for several more months

At the moment, however, there were any number of aches and pains or kicks or Braxton Hicks contractions or bathroo over in bed was such a chore that it required her to be alert to pull it off

Would this ever freaking end?

She was four days overdue, but no ed and pleaded, her doctor didn’t want to induce her Everything was fine, and she hadn’t dilated So it was a waiting game The baby was comfortable in there, apparently, and not ready to make his or her debut yet

Ian still sluht that she should kick him If she had to be awake, then he had to be awake It was only fair

But no, fair or not, she’d rather kiss hith to attempt a rollover, she noticed an uncomfortable ache low in her back Huh That was new Not that her back didn’t hurt often, this just felt…different

Maybe this was labor