My eyes start to water again, and I squeeze them shut, wiping away the stray tears.
“Damn, you'd think I learned. Your mama was Niagara Falls pregnant with Harrison. I'm sorry, Pumpkin,” he laughs.
“It's okay, they're happy tears. Really, really happy tears.”
-------
“I'm almost positive we have it upside down,” I say studying the directions and then looking back at the crib.
“It says A to B, not B to A. Let me see,” Nico grumbles.
He reaches for the directions and I pull back making him lose his balance, his hands going to the sides of my body, his face in front of my belly.
“You don't trust me?” I say arching my eyebrow.
“You talking back to me?” he says arching one back.
“If I am?”
“You know what happens, eight months pregnant or not,” he growls.
“You would not spank me right now,” I laugh.
“Keep talking and find out.”
I open my mouth but then shut it as I hand him the directions. As soon as he has his hands close enough, I snatch it back and laugh.
“Blondie, Blondie, Blondie. I'm about to google ‘can I spank the shit out of my eight-month pregnant girl’ and if it says yes, you're not gonna be able to sit on that ass until the baby is born.”
I gulp, silently handing the directions over to Nico because not only did his words send a jolt straight down to my center, but my stomach is cramping again...bad.
“That was too easy, what's the matter?” Nico says with concern.
“Nothin’,” I say quickly.
“Lacey, is it the baby or-”
“Do you wanna...um...move some stuff back in? Is it too fast? It's too fast, right? It is, I just-”
He cuts me off with a kiss, his hand going to my back as the other goes to my belly and I feel it in my heart, the flutter. No matter what happened in the past, he will always have my damn heart.
“Yes, I want to move some stuff back in. I should have never taken it out.”
“Okay,” I whisper, feeling the cramp subside. “Is this where we say, screw the crib and fuck on the floor?” I smirk.
“Yes, my girl. Yes it is.”
Nico lifts me in his arms, walking us to my bedroom, our bedroom and drops me to my feet as he drops to his knees.
“My belly is too big for this,” I laugh.
“Maybe this position, but not this one,” he says getting to his feet and jumping onto the bed.
I laugh at his silliness as he drags his jeans down his legs along with his boxers and yanks his shirt over his head, laying on his back, oh so gloriously naked.
“God, you're fuckin’ gorgeous,” I moan.
“Come here and sit on my face, Mama,” he smiles.
His gaze is hooded now, his smile not as loving. It's naughty, his words promising my undoing all over that filthy mouth and I walk quickly to the bed, shedding my clothes as I climb on top of him.
“I've missed you so fuckin’ much,” I admit looking down at his face while I hover my body over his.
“Not as much as I've missed you,” he says back, rubbing a thumb down my cheek.
His hand grips my ass as he moves me over his mouth and then he's there, lashing at my pussy like it's been years instead of days. One day actually, one damn day, and it still wasn't enough, it never will be. I could have this man at my mercy every second, for the rest of my life and it would never satiate this yearning, this need.
I'm so close, all the blood already south of my body and it's almost embarrassing how fast he can bring me to the edge and over.
“Oh God, oh God, oh God,” I moan incoherently as I ride out my orgasm.
“It's Nico, Blondie. I know the two can be easily confused.”
My orgasm finally subsides as I shake my head and roll my eyes on top of him.
“I know I say this at least once a day, but the magnitude of your arrogance still amazes me.”
He lifts me off his body and lays me to the bed on my side, spooning me from behind slowly pushing his length inside me.
“Tell me if this is okay,” he whispers.
My body instantly is sedated by his, the slow invasion of both heart and body. His hand wraps around the front of me, cradling my belly and I sigh as he pushes in deeper. He pulls back out and in again, not thrusting as deep as he can go and way too soft.
“Nico…”
“You okay?”
“I'm fine, stop askin’ and go deeper. Pleaseeee.”
“I...it's probably not safe for the baby,” he says his voice strained.
He wants this but he's holding back. I love him for it, but this is only making my need stronger, my body more anxious at wanting something that is being dangled right in front of my face but unable to grab.
“Just a little, please, and go faster,” I beg.
“Lacey, I can't,” he groans.
He pushes himself in and out of me and a torturous rhythm, my body screaming at me to satisfy its hunger.
“Dammit, Nico! Be normal!”
“Lacey, I can't, it might-”
“Fuck it!” I snap moving away from him causing him to slip out of me.
I push him to his back and straddle him, hovering over his length and grab it in my hand, slowly sitting, inch by inch being sucked inside me.
“Lacey!”
“Shut the hell up,” I snap. “I have carried this Hulk Jr inside my body for the past eight months. Catered to every damn cravin’ she has wanted, includin’ drinkin’ fuckin’ milk, and I hate milk! I have had to go through most of this pregnancy without a real-life cock to satisfy me because you were an irresponsible idiot! I have forgiven you, I love you, but so help me God, Nicholas James Johnson, if you do not fuck me like the Hulk I know you are, I will literally shave your head and eyebrows off in your sleep and blast it all over social media until someone makes you a fuckin’ meme that you will never escape. Lay there, shut up and take me,” I say through gritted teeth.
I grip his chest, digging in my nails until I'm seated all the way on him, his stubble on his lower stomach rubbing against my clit.
“Okay,” he smirks. “I don't want to be the condom head meme. I like my hair and my eyebrows. I just want to keep you and baby girl safe and we both know I'm big enough to probably pop that sac she's floating in.”
“Just...keep your mouth closed for a couple minutes, baby. I don't need you to speak, I just need you to make me come.”
Nico bucks up into my body and I gasp, gripping his chest harder.
“I see pregnancy made that sassy fucking attitude even sassier. You're not gonna be pregnant forever, Lace. I swear in a few months, I'm gonna fuck the shit out of you for that comment,” he growls.
I close my eyes and exhale, a small, devilish smirk forming on my lips.
“I'd like that in writin’, Hulk.”
I dig my knees into the bed hard and start to bounce on top of him. My movements are slow, taking in the feel of him, the feeling of being truly full that I've missed so much. His eyes close and I cup his cheek, running a thumb along his strong jaw as it flexes.
“Look at me,” I whisper.
His eyes open and his hands come up to my hips as he lifts himself, meeting me thrust for thrust.
“You like this? Is it okay?” Nico asks massaging my hips.
“So good,” I struggle to say.
My legs are slowly burning, my body slowing down, needing a release before I just collapse from exhaustion.
“Almost,” I say through gritted teeth moving a little faster, teetering on the brink.
“I'm there, Blondie. Let go for me,” Nico says his voice tense.
“Uhhhh yes!” I gasp feeling the burning down my legs start to ease.
I stay on top of Nico as I catch my breath and then he slowly brings me to the bed, wrapping me in his arms.
“I love you baby girl,” he says rubbing my belly. “And you too, Mama.”
I sm
ile as he pulls the blanket over our naked bodies.
“Love you too, Daddy Hulk.”
We lay in silence, our breathing eventually evening out and we sleep. I sleep the best I've ever slept in a long, long time.
Chapter 19
Nico
I knock on the front door to Jackson and Savannah Turner's house, my need to puke probably evident on my face when Savannah opens the door and smirks.
“Nicholas, what a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?”
“I...is your husband here? I mean Jackson...Mr. Turner. Dammit,” I mumble.
“He is,” Savannah says slyly motioning for me to come inside.
I walk in the front foyer and she motions for me to wait in the living room. I play with my fingers, unsure of what to do with my hands like a fucking teenager picking a girl up on a first date.
I notice pictures on the mantle above the fireplace and walk over to them, picking one up of a little girl with pink bows in her hair sitting in a big puddle of mud with a big, goofy grin on her face. I look to the next one and see the same girl, just older, standing in front of a desk, next to Savannah, the two of them back to back with their arms folded. I laugh as I move to the next one, a younger Jackson holding a small bundle of pink.
“They always say time goes so fast. You don't realize how true it is, until it's already too late,” says a voice from behind me.
I jump putting the picture back on the mantle feeling like a kid that got caught sneaking cookies before dinner.
“I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to pry.”
“Nico, you don't need to call me sir,” Jackson says laughing.
He sits in a chair and motions for me to sit across from him, his gaze still on the picture I put down. We're silent and I wait for him to break it. He does after a couple of agonizing minutes.
“My whole life, everything I thought it was gonna be, changed that day. I swear I never thought I could love somethin’ so damn much after only havin’ it in my life for such a short time.”
His voice is soft, and he still doesn't look at me when he speaks, just stares at the picture on the mantle.
“I couldn't sleep for two days straight because I would watch her, make sure she was okay. She made these weird little noises in her sleep and I thought if I closed my eyes and drifted off for just a second, somethin’ would happen to her. So, I literally stayed awake, two whole days,” he laughs.
“That should have been the first red flag, Kat couldn't have cared less,” he says shaking his head. “She slept so easily, didn't check on Lacey, didn't bother to wake up for feedings. I should have known. I should have taken her away right from the start and I should have never given her that letter.”
I'm not sure if he's talking to me or just talking to himself out loud, but I answer anyway.
“As bad as it is to say, I'm happy you did, sir. If anything in the course of her life changed, even just a fraction, we might not be where we are today and as selfish as that makes me, I wouldn't change a thing. I love your daughter with all my heart, and I am going to try with everything I have in me to be the father you were to Lacey for our little girl. She is an amazing woman, the best woman, and I want to thank you for raising her the way you did. Our daughter is going to have such a good role model to look up to with her mother and her grandmother.”
Jackson finally looks at me and his brows furrow.
“Why did you come here, Nicholas?”
“I...I came to ask you permission to marry your daughter, sir.”
His eyebrows shoot up and he shakes his head as if I've clearly thrown him off guard.
“And why the fuck would I let you do that after the crap you've put her through?” he asks, his voice even, not angry.
“Jackson…” Savannah says coming in from the kitchen. “Let's hear what the boy has to say.”
“You're right sir, I don't deserve her, but ya know what? Nobody on this damn earth does. There will never be a man good enough for her because she is perfection in the craziest way. She is my perfection. She makes me a better man, she pushes me, she keeps me on my toes, she doesn't take my shit, in fact she gives it right back to me and then some,” I laugh.
“She never will run the dishwasher or washing machine during the night because she's scared the house will flood and I can't swim. She says I'm too big for her to save me, so she waits until I'm not home. That's crazy, right? But it's her way of showing me she wants to protect me, and maybe me seeing it like that makes me fucking crazy too, who knows?”
“We argue over making the bed, it's not a big deal, right? But every day she fights me on it. She’s relentless, she doesn't give up an argument for shit and it's nuts, because then I start to believe it too! She says it's a waste of time if we're just gonna mess it up again when we-” I swallow my words realizing what I almost said. “Sorry I...my point is that I'm so in love with her, every crazy part of her and I've messed up in the past, yes, but I would never hurt her. I want to love and protect that woman for the rest of my life. Please sir, I want to marry your daughter.”
I study Jackson’s expression. He's looking at something by my feet, his face stone, unwavering, not give me a fucking centimeter. I look up to Savannah and she's the same. We stay that way for a few minutes, neither of them moving, saying a thing.
Dammit.
I get to my feet and exhale.
“Okay, I have to earn it, I get that. Don't think I won't be back though, because I will, until I have your permission.”
I walk towards the front door defeated. Would I have realistically given my daughter’s hand to some schmuck like me? Probably not. I probably would have been way worse than Jackson was. I open the door and walk down the steps checking my phone for messages.
Lacey: Patiently awaiting my driver for couples’ therapy. Where did your sexy ass go this mornin’?
I smile and get in my car to drive back and pick up Lacey. I try to mask my hurt, but she smells blood in the water the second I walk around to open her door.
“What's the matter, baby?” she asks cupping my cheek as I bend to kiss her.
“Nothing. Just went for a quick workout.”
Her eyebrows furrow and she smirks.
“I could have used the workout this mornin’ too, ya know. I've read sex helps labor. I'm comin’ up on 38 weeks. I could use some of that help.”
I smile shaking my head as she hops into the car.
We drive to therapy in silence, Lacey trying to make small talk but my mind still at the Turner's house. The more I think about it, the more I feel like an asshole. I'm sure Jackson knows about the stupid fucking bet I made with Lance, nothing in that family is a secret. God, he must think I'm such a prick. How has he not attempted to beat my ass already? I'm a big guy, but Jackson Turner isn't that far off. He would give me a run for my money, and I would gladly take it, I deserve it.
“Nicholas?”
I shake my head and snap out of my thoughts. I didn't even realize we were sitting in front of Rose as I get stares from next to me on the couch from Lacey and across from Rose.
“What's goin’ on with you today?” Lacey asks softly putting a hand on my knee.
“I'm just a little distracted, sorry,” I mumble.
“Wanna talk it out?” Rose asks. “Y'all are really doin’ great. I feel that there might not be much more to work through.”
“Not really, no,” I respond.
I feel Lacey stiffen next to me and I hate that she can so easily go on high alert. You did this to her, Nico. Jackson is right. Why the fuck would you deserve her?
“I thought we weren't doin’ the secret thing anymore?” Lacey says sternly.
“Don't push this one, Blondie, okay?”
She takes her hand off my knee and crosses her arms over her chest.
“Fine,” she snaps.
“Nicholas, we've been communicating so well, what is stoppin’ you from telling Lacey what's botherin’ you?”
“Because it's kin
d of a surprise and I...I just can't, okay?” I say my voice more harsher than I meant for it to be.
I’m pissed at myself, not her, but I can't let go of it.
“A surprise that's got you all pissed? Sounds great, I'm dyin’ with anticipation.”
“I said don't push it, Blondie. I'm not in a talking mood.”
Walk Off (Double Play Series Book 5) Page 25