For the more squeamish readers: this takes place the morning after Hunter's return. So our power couple is in bed literally for this entire chapter. Mostly they're flirting, joking and occasionally kissing. But smut does happen at the end. Read at the risk of being traumatized or whatever. LOL.

Hunter lay in bed, casually watching some movie on a science fiction channel. He wasn't even sure what the hell the plot was about; this had just been the first thing to catch his attention while he'd flipped through the listings. It's not like he'd be focusing on whatever programming was on, when he had Stephanie lying right next to him. Or, on him…that was more accurate.

His wife was rightfully exhausted from working and running around after the kids alone for almost two weeks. Once it became apparent that they were going to have quite a long night together, she decided she'd work from home today if need be. Hunter wanted her to rest but as the minutes and hours ticked by and she'd hardly made a peep, he figured he should go ahead and get the kids squared away. In order to get downstairs to make breakfast, he had carefully detangled his limbs from hers. Once he made it to the kitchen, he'd whipped up a meal and literally seconds later, his kids came running down the staircase. Hunter had laughed to himself, thinking that the three small people somehow managed to sound like stampeding buffalo or something. Although he embraced them fervently, he did ask them to try not to make too much noise because their mother was still asleep. They complied and after they'd eaten, had taken to hanging out in the living room. As a reward for listening, Hunter promised they'd see the movie they couldn't stop talking about.

After cleaning up the kitchen a bit, Hunter had gone upstairs, undressed again and slipped back into the bed. Mostly, he resumed their prior positioning with Steph still being out cold. Currently, her head was lying against his chest and she had an arm thrown over his upper body. Her dark brown hair fanned out over her bare back and shoulders somewhat wildly. She seemed so content, with her long eyelashes resting against her cheeks and her lips curved into a small smile. Every now and then, Hunter trailed his index finger along the curve of her spine, eliciting a little purr of delight from her. It seemed she was taking the description of "satiated feline" quite literal. As much as he wanted to touch her further, she needed the rest. So he turned on the damn television to at least somewhat distract him from the total perfection he had the good fortune to be married to.

A wonderful scent was invading her senses. It wasn't the familiar one of her husband – that, she could easily pick out even with her eyes closed. Plus she could feel the chiseled muscle around and underneath her. Stephanie audibly sniffed the air before allowing her eyes to flutter open.

Hunter's hand brushed wayward strands of hair from her face. "Welcome back to the land of the living, gorgeous."

Stephanie chuckled lowly before she answered. "Good morning to you, love."

"How are you feeling?" He asked, hazel eyes probing hers…compelling her to not sugarcoat anything. As she'd expected, two weeks of abstinence had made their initial joining…slightly painful at first. The sensation had passed within a couple of minutes, thankfully, and she had been able to enjoy herself immensely.

"Well-rested," she said vaguely, mostly to mess with him. He continued to stare at her, patiently waiting for the rest of it. "Pleasantly sore." At the guilty look that crossed his features she quickly said, "It's nothing I didn't expect. It's normal for me."

"As long as I didn't hurt you…"

"You didn't, honey. I'm fine." Stephanie readjusted and pressed a lingering kiss to his lips.

Hunter grinned at her but asked, "What'd I do to deserve that?"

Stephanie lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "Nothing specific. I just missed waking up like this," she admitted.

"To me teasing and complimenting you at the same time? Or to morning-after-sex talk?"

"No," she said, kissing him again. "To you, period."

Hunter considered for a moment. "Well," he began. Suddenly he reversed their positions so that she was pinned underneath him. He skimmed his lips across her earlobe and said, "I missed waking up to you." His tongue shot out and trailed down the side of her neck. "I missed going to sleep with you." He attacked her collarbone with feather-light, quick kisses. "I missed you during all the time in between waking up and going to sleep."

Well, she had no problem whatsoever with starting the morning like this. Being showered with kisses and caresses by Hunter was very high on the list of things that she enjoyed in life. Plus, during his absence they had opted not to…relieve themselves, so to speak. In fact it was her idea that they let the tension build solely that they could enjoy mauling the hell out of each other when he returned. Of course, that was when he was only supposed to be gone for a week. Two weeks of that made her so crazy that she wanted to tear her hair out.

Now Hunter was back, all hers and she intended to show him just what the lack of loving had done to her. As if he didn't already know, given how she behaved last night. Not only had she practically been the damn energizer bunny, but various syrups had somehow ended up involved, too. A few little things she'd picked up solely for whenever he returned. They'd both been quite sticky but very satisfied when they dredged up the energy to rinse off. That's about all they had left in their respective tanks. It hadn't even been a proper shower, to be honest. On that happy, devious little thought, Stephanie hooked her legs around his waist and flipped him over.

That earned a hearty chuckle out of her husband, even as he ran a finger down the dent in her chin affectionately.

"I missed being able to touch you and kiss you," she started.

"Prove it," he challenged.

"Hey! Did I interrupt you during your spiel?" She asked, silencing his laughter with a kiss of her own.

A quick dart of her tongue past his lips got a somewhat surprised groan out of him. "Mmm. Caramel."

"What?" She asked in between kisses.

Hunter didn't answer her immediately. Instead, he used the distraction to flip her over again. He dragged his lips downwards until he was at her breasts. His mouth and tongue swirled and sucked at each mound as he enjoyed the breathy gasps from underneath him. "You still taste like caramel," he said again. "Tastes good, baby."

Baby. Whoops, she totally forgot. Again. "I'm glad you're enjoying. I am, too…but I wanted to talk to you about something."

Hunter's eyebrows drew together in momentary confusion. "Now? Why now?" He asked seriously. They were both obviously very turned on and he was having difficulty thinking of a topic that wouldn't be a killjoy.

Stephanie tapped against his shoulder until he rolled out of the way. She sat up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. For some reason she actually felt nervous…she hoped that this was still something her husband wanted. They hadn't discussed it at all since the whole Howard blow out. God help her, she didn't want to think about that catastrophe. But she couldn't simply proceed without broaching the subject.

"I had planned to talk about it on whatever day you came home. Last night was a total surprise…and then…well, I was easily sidetracked by the sexy beard and chest hair," she revealed. Just because she felt like it, she touched his cheek and enjoyed the curious sensation all over again.

"Okay." Hunter placed his free hand on one of her hips and asked, "What's up?"

"I'm not sure how to start…I think it'll be easier if I show you something first."

"All right," he agreed. Stephanie scooted off the bed and got to her feet. Hunter followed her lead by also standing up.

Stephanie laid her hands on his chest and instructed, "Stay here. Okay?"

Hunter tilted his head curiously, but nodded for her to go on. He watched as she made a hasty…and completely nude beeline for the bathroom. What in the hell was that woman up to now? He was seriously baffled but stayed put, standing alone in their bedroom as she'd asked. In less than a minute she reappeared, grabbed his hand and led him over the small waste basket in their room. He wasn't even going to ask questions anymore – just let her do the talking since she seemed extremely nervous about whatever it was she was doing.

"I know this is kind of weird. But since I've been on the fence before…and done some questionable things…I wanted to do this to show you that I'm serious."

"Okay," he said, even though he still had no idea what the hell she was talking about.

Stephanie squeezed his hand once before releasing it. In her other hand, she revealed three small packets of very tiny pills. He watched with great interest while she made it a point to pop each pill out of its slot and into the trash can individually. It took a few minutes, as each packet contained more than just a few pills. When she was finished, she tossed the packets in after the pills. "Those…well they were my current birth control pills. I get them in three month supplies."

"Uhhh…if you're supposed to use them over three months, you probably shouldn't have tossed them," he pointed out, with some concern.

"It's been awhile since we last talked about it. But do you still want another baby?" At his nod, she smiled. "Then I don't need the pills." God help him. She'd been so reluctant and wishy-washy over the topic that her poor husband still didn't understand what she was trying to tell him. The blank look on his face was clear evidence of that. "Hunter I've been thinking about this a lot over the last few weeks. And I know that I'm ready to have another child with you."

Though he tried hard to fight it, the corners of his mouth twitched up into a smile and his eyes lit up. Once he got himself under control, he returned to being neutral. "I'm sorry. I didn't quite catch that, Steph. Could you say that again? Or re-word it so I understand better?"

Stephanie rolled her eyes playfully and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm saying that I'm ready to try for a baby." She yelped in shock before she burst out laughing. Hunter had yanked her up into his arms and was carrying her across the room so quickly you'd think they were trying to outrun a fire. It wasn't quite so surprising when he laid her on the bed and kissed her full on the lips, though. She was quite pleased with this reaction, to say the least. A part of her had worried if maybe her constant doubts over another pregnancy had turned him away from the idea. Judging by the erection that had gone absolutely nowhere during their chat, she was going to say that quite the opposite was true. Looks like he couldn't wait to get started on their efforts for kid number four. She moaned into his mouth as said hardness brushed up against her most sensitive areas.

At that same moment, Hunter's stomach growled and Stephanie snorted.

Hunter pulled away and narrowed his eyes at her.

"I…" she started before covering her face to hide how hard she was laughing. She was failing because the rest of her body was shaking uncontrollably. And not in the way he intended to make it shake. "I'm sorry…I. Have you eaten today?"

"No. I was waiting for you to wake up. I fed the kids breakfast but what's left is for us."

A little piece of her melted at his sweetness and thoughtfulness. She reached up and rubbed his arms. "It's like eleven…I feel so bad now. Maybe we should get you some food first."

Hunter arched an eyebrow at her in question. Then, he took her arms and pinned them above her head. "Absolutely fucking not," he said against her ear before nibbling at the lobe. "As soon as the kids know you're awake I won't be able to steal you away until they go to sleep. I want you now."

"Can't say I didn't try," she said nonchalantly. When he was famished later on, she certainly couldn't be held to blame for it. She tried to get the man to satisfy his appetite. But the number one thing on his priority list was an appetite of a different kind. One that only she could curb.

"Uh huh," he murmured, kissing and licking at her neck lazily. "Tell me what you want, Stephanie."

"I…" she started and trailed off on a moan as a thick finger slid inside her. "Oh…fuck."

It was an active fight to keep from laughing. He honestly loved how his strong, intelligent, wonderful, professional, good-natured, dignified woman would tremble, shake and moan, muttering something that was either incoherent or a curse word, from his touch. It was rather exhilarating. Making her talk during foreplay and sex was also amazing…he loved her voice as it was naturally. But when she was hot and bothered, the tone dropped and became so sultry it made his head spin with desire. There literally wasn't a single thing about her that didn't do something to him.

His lips trailed upwards towards her ear again. "Tell me what you want, baby," he repeated. "And I'll give it to you."

Stephanie yanked lightly on his ponytail until he lifted his head to look at her. She pulled the band and tossed it across the room. She fastened her hands in the blonde locks and told him very clearly, "I want you."

"Could you be more specific?" He asked, crooking his finger inside of her.

Fucking Hunter, he was trying to make her so horny that she'd explode. As hot as this was, if he killed her from anticipation, she'd damn well find a way to take him with her.

"I want you inside me," she said. She hissed at the next crook of his finger. She wracked her brain for what he could possibly want to hear that would compel him to put her out of her damn misery already. "I…want you to make love to me…?"

Another crook of his finger.

"Damn it," she hissed, partially in frustration and partially because it felt good. But it wasn't what she wanted - not all the way. For God's sake, she already told the man what she wanted physically. How more specific could she…suddenly it dawned on her what he had her repeating just a few minutes ago. Instead of saying it, she chose to take control. Using the bit of resolve that he hadn't sapped from her mind, she pushed against his shoulders and used his surprise as leverage to roll him over using her weight.

"Asshole," she said, even though she was smiling.

"What?" He asked innocently. "You didn't say it."

"True. I wasn't figuring it out at first. But," she interrupted her own sentence to lean down and kiss him passionately. "I want to have your baby," she reiterated for the third time and hoped it was the charm to get the second thing she wanted.

To answer her unspoken inquiry, Hunter placed both hands on her hips and swiftly flipped her over.

Stephanie nodded at him to confirm that she was ready. He kissed her and slowly began to inch his way inside. Her nails scored his back and he stopped advancing. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine," she replied, adjusting underneath him the slightest bit. She fastened her hands in his hair and crushed her lips to his. Taking this as his cue to continue, he slowly slipped past her silken folds until she surrounded him completely.

#HelmsleyBabyNumberFour #ftw lol