More Than He Expected by Andrea Laurence

trying not to think about the
implications of his slip and the fact that he’d positioned himself so she
couldn’t see his expression. He hadn’t immediately rushed back to his room, so
maybe she was making something out of nothing. Gwen tried to focus on just being
with him, and before long, she fell asleep in the protective warmth of his
arms.
    * * *
    It was still early morning when a beam of sunlight
stretched across the bed and into Alex’s face. It pulled him from the
comfortable fog of sleep. His eyes fluttered open, looking around for a moment
in confusion at the whitewashed furniture and blue comforter before he
remembered where he was.
    Gwen’s bed.
    Easing his head up, he saw her unruly, dark blond curls and her
arm draped across his chest. She was still asleep, her breathing soft and even
as she cuddled against him.
    Alex needed to leave if they were going to keep last night a
secret from the rest of the house. He didn’t want to go. He wanted to pull up
the duvet and sleep away the rest of the afternoon with her in his arms, but
that was just a pipe dream. If it was daylight out, he should’ve returned to his
room a long time ago. Will always got up early, although there was no sense in
tiptoeing around him. He didn’t know much about the other guests in the house,
but he certainly didn’t want any of them to see him dash, half-naked, to his
room.
    All he had were his jeans. Alex swallowed a groan when he
realized they were a soaking wet heap in Gwen’s bathroom sink. When he had come
downstairs the night before, he was after a drink and some cake. If he’d thought
for a moment he’d end up in the pool or Gwen’s bed, he would’ve planned
accordingly. And he most certainly would’ve brought a condom.
    The memory of the slipup slapped him in the face and made sure
he was good and awake now. God, he was an idiot.
    No condom. How could he forget something that important? He had
never had sex without one before. He wasn’t about to get snared like his father.
Not once, not even one time in all these years, had he allowed himself to get so
wrapped up in a woman that he could let something like that happen.
    Alex wasn’t quite sure why it bothered him so badly. Gwen
couldn’t get pregnant with his child. They both vouched for being healthy.
Nothing should come back to bite either of them. What was it, then, that left
him with a pool of worry in his stomach?
    It was just one more thing. One more difference between Gwen
and every other woman he’d ever been with. Since he’d first met her, she’d
gotten through almost all of his well-fortified defenses. She probably didn’t
even know it, but she had. He never would’ve sought her out again, much less
made love to her, if she hadn’t gotten under his skin.
    Gwen had penetrated his brain, occupying his thoughts and
dreams over the last months. Making him think of nothing but having her back in
his arms again. She’d pierced his physical defenses last night, getting closer
to him than any other woman had. Without the barrier of latex between them,
their joining had been so different. It didn’t just feel different; it was
almost as if it meant more than he’d ever intended.
    The sound of birds chirping outside the window declared it was
officially morning and distracted him from his worries. He glanced over at the
nightstand and the clock sitting there. It was just after six. He definitely
needed to get back to his room, jeans or no. Alex picked up Gwen’s wrist and
slowly eased out from beneath her. She grumbled sleepily for a moment, then
curled into a ball in the warm spot he’d left behind and fell back asleep.
    Alex struggled to swallow a lump in his throat as he watched
her sleep. Her ash-blond hair was a tangle across the pillowcase, her pink lips
still swollen from his kisses. Just the sight of her like that made his chest
tighten.
    Typically, the morning after was uncomfortable for him.
Sunlight always brought a cold dose of reality with