“I’m going to come,” I managed while groaning.

Ashlyn didn’t stop. If anything, she went harder. With a moan of her name, I spilled deep inside her mouth. She continued, and didn’t stop until I was completely spent. When she pulled her mouth away, her tongue darted out and ran the seam of her lips as if she had just tasted the best thing ever. She pushed back onto her heels and sat on the floor in front of me, her eyes dark with lust and satisfaction.

“Now, I hope that was perfection,” she said with a seductive tone.

“Panties off now,” I said, growling like a starving animal.

“So bossy.”

“Ashlyn, get your panties off now and get on my lap. I need to be inside of your pussy within the next ten seconds, and you are going to ride me until you are screaming my name and begging me to come inside of you. It’s been too fucking long.”

Ashlyn shimmied out of her panties and removed the shirt she was wearing, then stood naked before me. The space between her thighs glistened with her arousal, and I knew my girl was ready for me. She lowered herself onto my cock, and her head fell back, exposing her neck to me. I licked from her collarbone, up her neck, until I reached her lips.

“This is going to be quick. Take what you want, Ashlyn, and don’t leave anything behind.”

After fucking Ashlyn to within an inch of her life, I carried her to what was now our bedroom, and we both collapsed onto the bed in a tangle of limbs. She curled up beside me and rested her head on my chest, as I ran my fingers through her hair.

“Did you know it was in this room that I realized I was in love with you? When you suggested I move in with you while my apartment got renovated, I had no clue what I would be walking into. I didn’t realize I would be walking into a brand new life, one that I never could have imagined.” Ashlyn rolled onto her stomach, rested her chin on my chest, and looked up at me with wide eyes. “Can I tell you something?” she asked softly.

“Babe, you can tell me anything.”

Her cheeks flushed as they did every time I called her babe. “When I first saw you in college, I thought you were the hottest guy I’d ever seen. I had heard all about you from some of the girls around campus, and I knew you were completely out of my league. When you started smiling at me in the halls, I thought you must have been put up to it, because a guy like you would never notice a girl like me.”

“Ash,” I whispered at the intensity of her words.

“Please, let me finish.”

“That night we shared was the beginning of my fairy tale. You gave me everything that night. You gave me confidence, assurance, and you made me feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. Something I had never felt before. Yes, I wished we had those five years, but now that I think back, it led us to this moment. I needed those five years to find who I truly was and to become the kind of woman a man like you deserved. You protected me when I didn’t even know you were doing it. It was you that was always there to help me pick up the pieces. It was you and your wicked, naughty ways that made me feel desirable. It was you, Josh. It’s always been you. I am who I am today because of the hurdles I have faced. You have made me realize that I would rather live with regrets than live in a world of what-ifs. You may think you are a cliffhanger, but you have always been my happily-ever-after, and now you’ve given me the most precious gift in the world.”

I looked at her longingly, and watched as tears swam through her green eyes. This beautiful girl, who always found it so hard to talk about her feelings, was laying it all out in front of me, and I couldn’t be more proud. She inched over closer, and the sweetest smile swept over her lips.

“I’m pregnant.”

With two words, the life I knew ceased to exist, and a new life was born.

Pregnant?

“What did you just say?” I asked, as my own eyes began glistening with tears.

“You’re going to be a daddy. I’m eight weeks pregnant.”

“I’m going to be a dad?” I stammered, scared that this was some kind of fucked up dream and that I was going to wake up at any moment. “You’re carrying my baby?”

She nodded, and a single tear ran over her cheek.

Without a second thought, I lifted her shirt until it was resting just below her breasts. The thought that I would be seeing her belly swell with my child consumed me. She was officially carrying the most precious cargo in the world. I placed my hand gently over her flat stomach, and her gasp rang throughout the room. I laid my head beside her waist, and my eyes locked onto my hand.

“Are you happy?” she whispered, raking her fingers through my hair.

“We made a baby, Ashy. You’ve made me the happiest man in the world.”

“Team Joslyn,” she whispered, and my heart just about jumped out of my chest.

A worrying thought hit me and my head shot up to look at her. “Did I hurt you earlier? Was I too rough in the kitchen?”

I wasn’t gentle as she rode my cock. I hadn’t been inside of her for weeks, so I definitely fucked her with wild abandon, hitting her deep and hard, repeatedly. Holy shit, did I hurt her? The baby? Fuck! Panic reared to life within me at the thought.

A wistful smile flittered over her lips and she linked her fingers with mine in reassurance. “You didn’t hurt me or the baby. We can still have sex, plenty of sex. Apparently pregnant women have an increased sex drive, so it might be you that gets hurt.”

“You do realize that I’m going to be insanely protective of you now. Like overbearing, annoying, and crazy,” I admitted, knowing full well that I would be going caveman, Tarzan, everything on her.

She nodded. “I know.”

“I’ll probably piss you off . . . a lot,” I continued.

“You will have to deal with my cravings, my all-over-the-place emotions, and my complaining that my clothes don’t fit, so I think we will be even.”

I dropped my head back onto the bed beside her hips and placed my hand gently on her stomach once again. I never knew this kind of love could exist. I loved someone who I had not yet met, and I loved them unconditionally. My little one was in there; protected by mommy and cherished by daddy. My throat constricted as emotion flooded me.

“I’m your daddy, little one,” I said softly as I moved closer to Ashlyn’s stomach. “Your mommy only just told me about you, but I already love you obsessively. I wonder if you will be my little prince or princess . . . if I will be playing ball or having tea parties. Maybe both. You are going to have the best life, and your daddy is going to be your biggest fan.”

I looked up at Ashlyn and found tears streaming down her face. Her smile said 1000 words. “I love you obsessively, Joshua Crawford,” she whispered through a sob.

The love I shared with Ashlyn was like nothing I could have ever predicted. I knew our love would be intense, but this was life altering. My eyes only saw her, my heart only craved her, and the future was painted with images of so many possibilities for us. Hearing her tell me she loved me would never get old, and every time I heard it, I felt like the luckiest bastard alive.

I moved up beside her and wrapped her in my arms, providing my girl and my baby all the love in the world. Tonight Ashlyn gave me everything I could ever ask for. I always knew we had a future, but this was different. Our love had created life, and our obstacles had shown us a path to a future neither of us could have imagined.

We had won.

I was going to be a father.

And if I had a daughter, I’d have to buy a shotgun.