“I am, and I want you to come with me. Marry me, Lena. I want to raise our child in New York with you. I would have left anyway, even if there hadn’t been an out in the contract. No one can treat the woman I love like that and expect to continue to do business with me.”
“Oh, Noah.”
“I meant to do something much more romantic, not ask you in a car on the side of the road like this, but I mean every word. Lena Bishop, will you do me the honor of being my wife?” I fumbled in the armrest of the car, pulling out a small blue Tiffany box.
She held out her hand. “Yes, Noah! Yes!” I flipped the box open and slid the platinum set diamond onto her ring finger.
“I will do everything I can to make you happy. This was my grandmother’s ring. She and my grandfather were happily married for almost sixty years. I want that for us.”
She leaned toward me, and I captured her lips with mine, fusing us together for what I hoped would be a lifetime.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Noah
We busted into the apartment, giddy and euphoric, both in a rush to get our clothes off and fall into bed.
“God, I love you, Lena. I was so scared I was going to lose you.” I fell to the bed with her, locked in an embrace, her belly the only thing between us.
“Noah, I was so scared.” She stopped unbuttoning my shirt and gripped the fabric in both fists, pulling me closer.
I hugged her close, my heart in my throat as I thought about what could have happened. “It’s okay, baby. It’s all over. He’s never going to hurt you or your family ever again.”
“He was so angry. Why did he get so angry?” She wasn’t thinking rationally. Down the road, she would need counseling, but for now, I comforted her the only way I knew how. I held her as she cried, and when she sought physical comfort, I obliged, letting her take the lead. Her new shape made her a little awkward, but I didn’t care. I loved her, and I loved that precious new life we had created together. I was never letting either of them go.
“Lena, look at me.” Her wide frightened eyes met mine. “I will never let anything happen to you.”
She stared intently into my eyes. I could see her thinking, digesting everything that had happened. Then it was like a switch flipped, and lust suddenly filled her gaze.
She was on me, kissing me. Our lips met and fireworks exploded. I felt myself spring to life again as she began to tear my shirt off, wrestling with the buttons. She rolled me onto my back and straddled me. I raised up enough to shrug out of my sleeves, and tossed my shirt to the floor as she attacked my belt, unzipped my pants, and freed me. She took me into her small hands, and I thought I would lose it right there. I didn’t think I could possibly get any harder until she began stroking me, up and down, and I grew even more.
“Lena,” I breathed out, reaching for her.
“Uh-uh. Not yet.” I lay back, relinquishing control, something I never let women have. I was always the dominant one in bed, but she needed this. She needed to control something, so I let it be me.
She sat above me, and I could feel the wet crotch of her panties grinding into me as she pulled her blouse over her head. Her breasts hovered just above me, bigger, rounder than I remembered. They spilled over the cups of her lace bra. My fingers ached to touch them, to feel their smooth weight in my hands, to taste the rosy nipples. Just thinking about all the things I wanted to do to her made me ache. I couldn’t wait to bury myself inside her.
“You like?” She asked as she hovered above me, taking the pins out of her hair and letting it spill down around her shoulders.
“Oh, God, Lena,” I croaked out, my mouth dry. I reached for her hips, her skirt riding up her thighs, as she rocked into me again.
She smiled that siren smile and reached back to unclip her bra, letting it fall from her shoulders, her breasts swinging free above me. She leaned forward, dangling them just above my face.
“What do you want?”
“You.” I could barely get the word out. “I want you.”
She smiled that wicked smile again, the one that said she knew she was in control. She reached under her skirt, and cool air rushed across me as she rose up on her knees and pulled her underwear down and off, finally kicking it off one leg and onto the floor.
And then suddenly, I felt her slowly lower herself until my head just grazed her warm, wet slit. She hovered there, teasing me, making my back arch, as I longed to bury myself in her. She lowered herself, bit by bit, inch by inch, teasing me, drawing it out until I was practically in agony. Then, finally, I was completely encased in her core.
“Ohhhhh,” I groaned, a feeling of rightness washing over me.
I wasn’t to enjoy the relief for long. Just as I adjusted to being inside her, she began to ride me. Her hips rolled, and her body rose and fell as she impaled herself on me over and over again.
The vision of her, a goddess, taking her pleasure from my body, no longer thinking of me, but totally taken over by the sensations, pulling her release from me—it was the sexiest thing I had ever seen. All thoughts of the day were gone, replaced by the vision of her perfection.
She threw her head back, eyes closed, one hand massaging her breasts, the other braced back on the bed, my eyes drawn to our connection, watching myself disappear into her, over and over again until her mouth opened and she moaned her release. She paused with my cock buried deep inside her, and her walls quivered in violent spasms around me. My release hit me like a semi, and I was lost. We came together, my spurts timed with her release as she milked every drop from me. I don’t know if it was minutes or hours later when we both came down from that place of infinite pleasure, but she lifted off me and came to lay on her side next to me, snuggling in tight, my arm wrapped around her.
We lay that way, my eyes slowly drifting shut when I felt her stir and roll away.
“Noah, what’s going to happen to my dad? To my mama? To Toby?” She lay on her back next to me, staring up at the slow turning fan on the ceiling. Beautiful in her pregnancy, her rounded belly rising up from her still slim form.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Lena
“Mama!” I cried as she opened her new apartment door and held her arms wide. I fell into them, holding her close. She didn't seem as brittle, and stepping back a moment, I really took her in. Her eyes held a sparkle I hadn’t seen in years, and her shoulders didn’t look as stooped.
“Oh, you’re getting so big!” She hugged me again and led me by the hand into the simple living room.
“This place, Mama!”
“I know! Isn’t it great? Noah wanted to get us something bigger, but I told him we just wouldn't feel comfortable in anything fancy. Here! Come look!” She led me to a closet off the hallway. “It even has a washer and dryer! Isn’t that amazing?”
I smiled reminded of my first night in Noah’s place. I had felt the same way—totally off kilter with all the extra space and new things. It made sense Mama wouldn’t let us do more.
We really were an us. That still surprised me. Little Lena from the secretarial pool got pregnant and was getting married to the love of her life.
“I wanted to talk to you about the wedding, Mama.”
“Oh, I have so many ideas! Cindy, down the street, she said she would…”
“Mama,” I pulled her down on the couch and took her hand in mine. “I would love to have your help, but I have something I want to ask you.”
“Yes?”
“Would you walk me down the aisle and give me away?”
“Oh, baby!” Tears started leaking from her eyes, running in rivulets down her creased skin. “I would love to!” She fell into my arms, sobbing.
“What are you two going on about?” Doris walked into the living room, leading Toby by the hand.
“Hey, Doris, Mama and I were just talking about the wedding.”
“For real? Can I come?”
“Of course! I want everyone to be there!”
“Awesome!” She popped her ever present gum.
“Can I get a new dress?”
“Absolutely. I want you to be my bridesmaid. We can pick your dress out together.”
“Rock on! Hey, I gotta get Toby to preschool. My new teacher said if I was late one more time for first period, I would have to go to detention, so I gotta run. Catch you after class?”
“Call me!”
“Yeah! See ya!” And she was out the door like a shot, Toby toddling behind.
“Everyone doing okay?” I asked Mama as she sat up and wiped her eyes.
“Noah has been so amazing. He found us this place, and everyone is back in school. Did he tell you? He found me this job.” She grabbed my hands again like she didn’t want to let go. “They pay twice what I was making at the mini mart, and I have the morning shift during the week, so I’m home at night when everyone gets home from school.”
“I am so happy for you, Mama.”
“And your sister—we got her away from that boy. She’s even going to graduate!”
“I am so glad everything is going so well.” The apartment was small but clean, everything worked, and nothing was broken. The sunlight made the whole place smile. I peeked in on the boys. They all lounged in their room, playing a video game and working on homework. The best part—the room was messy. Growing up, one random sock on the floor could trigger a beating. A messy room made me happy. It meant my family felt safe.
“Here she is! What are you going to name her?” the nurse asked as she tucked my little girl in my arms. I had never seen anything as amazing. Even with her red, scrunched-up newborn face and bits of birthing ick in her fuzzy hair, she was beautiful.
“Oh, I have an idea,” I said, smiling up at Noah as he came and sat on the hospital bed next to me. I felt the bed dip with his weight, and I leaned in to his side as I tilted her up for him to see.
“Noah, meet Kinsey Bryce Hendrix, your daughter.”
“Kinsey? That’s… that’s my mom’s maiden name.” He choked up as he gazed at our sleeping baby. “And Bryce? That’s my dad’s middle name. Oh, baby, you named her after my parents!”
“I couldn’t think of a better way to honor your parents’ memory.”
He wiped away a tear. “Thank you.” He leaned down, and his lips locked with mine, sending tingles all the way down to my toes. Then he bent further and placed a gentle kiss on our daughter’s forehead. He stroked her head and then reached up to caress my cheek.
“I found us a house!” Noah announced excitedly as he strolled into the living room where I sat in the rocking chair with a sleeping Kinsey in my arms.
“Shhhhhhh.” I sent him a furious gaze as I held my finger to my lips. “I just got her to sleep!”
“No, really!” He switched to a whisper as he came and knelt at my knee, fondly looking down at her and watching her lips move like she was still nursing even though she was no longer attached. “I found us a house. It’s upstate. I can commute on the subway, and then, if you want to come back to work, we can commute together. The schools are good. The neighborhood is safe, full of young families like us. It’s perfect!
“If it’s so perfect, then why is it for sale?” I ruffled his hair, my hand curving down to cup his cheek.
“The family in it now is moving overseas.” He reached up to grasp my hand and squeeze it. “He was the ambassador to China, and he’s retiring. My friend Mr. Zao is taking his place.” He released my hand and stood, going to flop on the couch. He kicked his shoes off and propped them up on the coffee table.
“He doesn’t want the house?” I cocked my head, trying to figure out why we had stumbled on this deal. Housing in upstate New York was tough to find, we’d been looking for months.
“His wife wants to live near her sister. They just had their second, and she wants to be close to family.” He loosened his tie, tossing it on the coffee table and rolling up his sleeves.
“Oh, okay.” My head spun with all the changes in our lives. From leaving Kentucky and moving the company headquarters to New York, to having a baby, our lives hadn’t stopped changing for almost a year.
“He wants to sell quickly. They leave for China at the end of the month.” He leaned back, settling into the couch, and rolled his head sideways in my direction. “So, what do you think? Wanna go look tomorrow?”
“Whatever you want to do.” Kinsey stirred, restless from our talking.
Noah dropped his feet to the floor and stood again, coming to settle at my feet. “Babe,” he looked up at me, “this is our first house. I want you to like it.”
“Hon,” I shifted Kinsey and leaned forward to kiss him, “any place is home as long as you are there.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Noah
“Noah! Can you get Kinsey, I hear her crying!” Lena came around a corner and caught me sneaking through the living room.
“Yeah, babe.” I was taking the stairs two at a time when my phone buzzed in my pocket.
John: Can I come over?
Me: Sure
John: I need to talk to you.
Me: I’m home all day. Lena and Kinsey are here too.
John: See you in a bit.
I scooped up Kinsey, her little face scrunched into a wail, covered in tears with her lower lip quivering. When she opened those big blues eyes at me, I was a goner, every single time.
I trotted down the steps, precious bundle in tow, and deposited her in her mother’s lap.
“Here you go, babe.”
“Thanks, hon.” She kissed the tears on Kinsey’s cheeks and proceeded to feed her in her favorite spot on the couch, overlooking our big back yard where she had made me promise to build Kinsey a tree house in the next few years. I love our little lives.
I whistled as I wandered down the hall to my office, my wife and daughter just a few feet away.
I wonder what John wants? I shook my head and looked back at the reports on the latest round of phase I clinical trials on the chemo drug John and I were trying to get to market. The FDA approval process took years. If these reports showed what I thought they would, we could start phase II. This drug had the potential to revolutionize treatment for leukemia.
Ding dong! Ding dong!
I glanced at my watch. That didn’t take John long. Whatever he has to say must be important.
“Hey, John.” I opened the door to let my friend and partner in.
“Noah—” He spotted Lena sitting on the couch, crocheting a blanket. “Lena! You look lovely as always.”
“John, so good to see you.” She set the half-done blanket aside and stood to hug him.
“You mind if I steal this guy from you for a few minutes?”
“No, go ahead. You two, have fun.” She waved us away as she sank back into our comfy brown leather couch, once again engrossed in her work while keeping an eye on Kinsey.
“So, John, what’s so important you came all the way out here to see me. We could have just talked at work tomorrow.” I led him down the hall to my office. “You thirsty? Want a beer?”
“Ah, no. I can’t”
“What? You sick or something? You never turn down a good Negra Modelo.”
“Well,” John said, walking up to look at the backyard, hands clasped behind his back. “I actually am sick.”
I stopped, half in my office mini fridge, hand reaching for a cold beer. My head popped up over the edge of my desk. “What? You’re sick?” I grabbed two bottles. Even if John didn’t drink one, this conversation sounded like I’d need them both for me.
“Yeah.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and turned away from the window. “Cancer. The doctor told me this morning.”
“Cancer? Like leukemia? Like what our drug treats?”
“Cancer, yes. But no. Glioblastoma.
“Glio-what?” I gaped at him.
“Glioblastoma. I have a brain tumor, Noah, wrapped around my brain stem. Inoperable.” John rocked back and forth on his heels, staring at something on my carpet.
“Oh, God, John. I’m so sorry.” My mind was
reeling. “How do they plan to treat it?”
“They can’t. The hope is chemo will slow it down, and they can buy me some time.”
“Buy you time?”
“Six months—maybe a year.”
“What about our drug?”
“Maybe, in a few years, we could modify it enough to work for me, but not yet. I bioengineered it specifically for leukemia. I don’t have enough time, the company doesn’t have enough time, to re-engineer it, get it through testing, and then approved for trials.
“What if we do it just for you? No testing, no trials.”
“Time, Noah. There is not enough time. I will be dead before we produce the first dose.”
“John, there has to be something we can do!”
“No, not for me. But there is something we can do for my family. I need you to buy me out.”
I took a drink—no—I guzzled my beer. The entire bottle. A sip wasn’t going to do it. I started to speak, and then bit back my first thought, taking a deep breath and starting again. “What do you need?”
John came up, sat across from me, and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I need you to buy me out.”
“Out of?” My brain froze, and I wasn’t sure what he was getting at.
“I need you to buy my portion of the company. I need to spend what little time I have left with my boys.”
I popped the top off the second beer and took a long drink. Closing my eyes as the cool beverage slid down my parched throat, I set it down in the sweat ring on my desk and took a deep breath.
“I can do that. When do you need it?”
“As soon as you can. Chemo is expensive. I want to make sure I take care of my family.”
“Consider it done.”
“One more thing.”
“Name it.”
“I need you to keep an eye on my boys, Mark and Mason. Can you make sure they have everything they need when I am gone?”
Noah Page 13