by Katie Dowe
She told him.
There was a moment of silence and then he responded. “Think or know?”
“Almost certain.” She said with a shaky laugh. “I just threw up my entire meal and I am having dizzy spells. Oh and I took a home pregnancy test and it read positive.”
He was silent again and she waited for him to speak. “I will take care of it.” He said briefly.
Allison felt a sense of letdown. “What does that mean?”
“It means I will take care of it.” His voice was cool and rang with authority. “Dr. Whittingham is several miles away so we will have to fly there. Be prepared to do so on Monday.”
“I have work-“
“We leave at ten.”
“Yes, your majesty,” she muttered.
“I will call and let you know where to meet me.” He hung up without saying anything else.
“I am not going to allow you to spoil this for me Phillip Anderson,” she spoke out loud as she placed her hands on her flat stomach. “Let’s see you ignore me now.” She got up and went into the kitchen to make herself some tea.
*********
“Darling?” Yvette stared at him as he came back to their table. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” he told her briefly without going into details. He stared at the polished blonde and felt his interest waning. He had taken her out to dinner to discuss a property she had and wanted to sell him but he knew she wanted more than that. She was divorced but before her brief marriage three years ago they had had a brief fling and he knew she was hoping that they would pick up where they left off.
“I ordered the lamb. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” He leaned back in his chair and sipped his wine. Her skin was smooth and white and her blonde hair was piled on top of her head exposing a long graceful neck. She had limpid blue eyes and a very sultry smile but he felt nothing when he looked at her. He had not called Allison in three weeks and that had been deliberate. He was losing control of the situation and that could not happen. They were in a contract and they had to stick by it.
“What do you think?”
“Of what?” he asked with a slight frown.
“Of the property.” She looked at him curiously. “Are you okay?”
He forced himself to stop thinking of her. “It is in a prime residential area and will have no problem in selling. Why do you want to get rid of it?”
“Too many bad memories,” she said with a laugh. “Orville and I fought too many times and the last one had us throwing stuff at each other. It was a stormy marriage and one that should never have happened.” She looked at him beneath long lashes. “You drove me into his arms darling.”
“I am sure that is not true,” he said with a slightly amused smile.
“You left me that night and told me that it was over. I was so devastated that I went for second best.” She said with a pout.
“So he was just waiting in the shadows?” Phillip asked with raised brows.
“We had something,” she said with a shrug. “When he asked me to marry him I just said yes and waited to see if you would come back and stop me from marrying him.”
“We spent three nights together Yvette, why on earth would you read something more than just sex in it?”
Yvette leaned forward giving him an enticing view of her milky breasts which were barely covered by the rich blue silk. “Those three nights were the best sex I ever had,” she told him honestly. “You sure know how to make a girl feel damned good.”
He lifted one of her soft white hands and studied the polished nails. “I am sure you will find someone very soon.”
“But not you?” her voice was disappointed.
“Not me.” He put her hand back down. “I think I am already committed to someone else.”
Chapter 6
The doctor did the examination in silence. She had had to call the woman who worked with Daisy on weekends and asked her to take her morning shift for her. She had no idea if she would make it back for the afternoon but she would call. He had picked her up at the mall uptown in an inconspicuous car and taken her to a private hub where his plane was and they had taken the trip to the medical center. The doctor had seen them immediately and he had come into the room with her. He stood at the corner leaning against one wall, his stance casual. He was dressed in a pearl grey suit and a light pink shirt and reminded her that he was this powerful businessman who made deals while she was probably sleeping! His grey eyes met hers coolly and she looked away. He had not said anything much to her on the ride here and she had been too nervous to say anything.
“Three weeks pregnant,” Dr. Whittingham finally said something as he snapped off his gloves and gave her a reassuring smile. Phillip had filled him in the details so he was familiar with the strange circumstances and he had seen more of his fair share of strange circumstances when it came to these wealthy men. “We won’t be able to tell whether or not you are carrying multiples until you are about at the end of your first trimester. I am going to recommend you come and see me once per month so that we can monitor you closely.” He said looking at Allison.
“Thank you.”
“Get dressed my dear and I will discuss the dates with Phillip.”
Allison got dressed slowly, her hands trembling slightly as she zipped up her dress and put her sandals back on. Her hair had become undone from the simple coil at the back of her neck and she did her best to tidy up. She was pregnant! The thought hit her and she closed her eyes briefly. She was carrying his children and without the doctor confirming it she already knew she was carrying triplets. Her lips quivered as she thought about it. Their children would be born next April and by that time surely he would come to realize that they belonged together!
*******
The plane ride back was uneventful and he helped her into the passenger side of the vehicle. She leaned back against the soft leather upholstery and closed her eyes feeling a little drained. “Have you eaten?” he asked her briefly after they had been traveling for a few minutes.
She turned her head and their eyes met. “I had some tea and biscuits. My stomach could not tolerate anything else,” she told him with a faint smile.
“Are you hungry?”
She nodded. “I am not certain what I can eat,” she admitted. She wrinkled her nose and caused him to stare. “Maybe a ham sandwich – No you know what I will wait until I get back and make some soup.”
“Okay.” He nodded and stared back on the road.
“Why do you want multiples?” she asked him softly after a few minutes. He did not look at her but stared ahead. She waited for him to answer and sighed when he did not. “Phillip I know you look at this as a business arrangement-“
“That’s because it is!” he told her coldly.
Allison felt the high of learning about her pregnancy deflated at his callousness but was determined not to let it get her down! “I just want to know.”
His face was hard as he stared at the road. “I want more than one.” He told her briefly. “I want to get it done at one time so I won’t have to--“ he broke off and she filled in the blanks.
“What about love?” she asked him softly.
His eyes swung around to her and he laughed harshly. “I am certainly not looking for that.”
“What if you find it anyway?” she persisted.
“Are you having some romantic nonsense about our agreement?” he put the indicator on and turned into a little used road and stopped the car. He released the seat belt so he could turn to face her. “Let me make this abundantly clear Allison; this is an arrangement and that’s all. I will not have you clouding it with some romantic vision of seeing her ending up together and living happily ever after. It is not going to happen.”
Allison felt the sting of every harsh word but she was beginning to become immune, at least some parts of her. “I am not giving up. I am carrying your children and I know that you feel something--“
She gasped
as he leaned over and released her belt, hauling her over to him. “Listen to me carefully,” his tone was mild but sent shivers down her spine. “When you deliver these children that is it for us. You will get to see them because you are their mother but as for a relationship with me, that will never happen.”
She shivered at the look on his cold handsome face. “Are you sure about that?” she asked with forced calm. One hand went up to touch his jaw and he went rigid! Her lips parted and he felt himself hardened as he stared at her parted lips and her warm dark brown eyes. With a tortured groan he bent his head and took her lips with his in a rough kiss that stole her breath. Her arms went around his neck and she held onto him as she returned the kiss with all the pent up love and passion she was feeling for this man. His hands came up and cupped her breasts. She dragged her mouth from his and he stared down at her. “Please,” she whispered. “Phillip please,” with a groan he bent his head and took a nipple inside his mouth. Allison dug her fingers through his thick dark hair as her body shuddered against his. He suckled her nipples and went to the other one and did the same. By this time she was on fire and squirming helplessly. He unbuttoned her dress and his mouth made little biting marks along her flesh. She cried out as he stopped at her flat stomach and kissed it softly before heading down. He released the seat so that it went back and lifting her to his face, he took off her panties and tongued her ruthlessly until with sobbing cries she came inside his mouth flooding him with her orgasm. He licked her clean before releasing his erection he placed her on top of him. She rode him relentlessly, her mouth seeking his as his hips bit into her soft flesh. He came soon after, his cries echoing hoarsely around the interior of the car. She sprawled against his chest, her fingers curled into the lapel of his dark blue jacket, her breathing uneven!
******
When he let her off where she had parked her car he watched as she stood there before walking away. Her clothes were crumpled and her hair was falling down over her face. Her lips were swollen and he was sure that her nipples were sore where he had been sucking on them as if his life depended on it. He pushed the start button with a snarl and pulled away in a hurry, his mind muddled and his body feeling beaten and battered. He would have to make a detour to the house before going in because he smelled of sex and arousal and he had to do something about the erection poking through the material. When had it become so complicated? He wondered grimly as he made his way through traffic. When had his carefully laid plans take a turn for the worst? He had been planning this for months but nothing had prepared him for this petite dynamo of a woman who had stirred up these feelings inside him that would not go away!
*******
Allison knew that very soon she was going to have to tell her dad. It had been a week since her pregnancy had been confirmed and the nausea had gotten worse. She had been given pills to combat them but they did not seem to be working. She could not keep anything down and it was coming to a point where she stayed late at work to avoid the dinner and the questions as to why she was not eating. He had not called her but she had no intention of making it worry her too much. She was lying in bed after a particularly trying day where everything she ate came back up when she called him that night.
“Are you okay?” he asked her quickly.
“No.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I could not keep anything down and when I tried to drink the soup again, that came up too.” She said wryly as she put one hand over her stomach. “Our children are determined to make their presence felt.”
“I thought Henry gave you something for the nausea?”
“I will give him a call and have him send something to you.”
“Thanks.”
“Is that it?”
“No. I need you Phillip.”
“Allison-“
“I know what you are going to say. This is a business arrangement and I should not be feeling this way but I am,” she cried softly. “My body is crying out for you. You are the first man I have ever slept with and my children’s father. How can you not expect me to feel anything?”
“That’s your problem,” he told her coldly.
“You don’t mean that and I know you feel something too.”
“What I feel is anger and frustration that you are not abiding by the rules. If you were not already pregnant I would terminate the agreement.”
“You don’t mean that.” She said softly. “You put your tongue inside me. Do you know what that does to me? When we make love Phillip I feel something shift and I swear that you touch my soul! I cannot give up on something like that and I am not going to let you do that.”
“You are not going to let me!” he let out a harsh laugh. “Little girl, do you know who you are talking to?”
“The man I love, the father of my babies.” She told him softly.
There was silence for a long time before she heard the click in her ear and knew that he had hung up on her. She had not meant to declare her love for him but it had slipped out and she did not regret it one bit!
******
He went out of his way to be seen with different women almost every night. Usually he was not one to entertain but he tried hard to make a point and knew that whatever he did would be photographed. He was captured in a photo with his head bent intimately towards a stunning red head and it looked as if they were madly in love. He took her to her home that night and left her there because when he looked at her, when he looked at all of them all he could see was a petite African American woman with dancing dark brown eyes. Damn her to hell! He thought furiously as he made his way into his bedroom and loosened his tie. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was only ten which meant he would not be getting any sleep at all. He went to the mini bar he kept in his room and reached for the bottle of whiskey. He hesitated over the glass before deciding to drink straight from the bottle. He went out to the balcony and sat there enjoying the sultry breeze coming from the trees. She had said that she loved him. How dared she turn this into something he was not ready for! He drank down the fiery liquid and almost choked as it hit his stomach. He leaned against the rail and closed his eyes as he remembered buried deep inside her. Christ! He groaned. What the hell was going on with him?
********
She was heading towards the end of her first trimester when she told her dad. The test had been done and it was confirmed: they were having triplets. She had seen the smile come and go on Phillip’s face and knew that he was pleased. She was ecstatic and wanted to share the good news with the ones close to her and that meant both her father and Elena. Besides she was going to start showing soon.
“I have to tell my dad,” she told him quietly as she sat carefully on the sofa in his living room. “Just hear me out please,” she said hastily as he looked at her. She had come over again because he had sent for her and had stopped being resentful about him just calling her over. She had also seen his picture in the papers with different women and saw it for what it was: something to turn her off him but that was not going to happen. She was carrying his children in her womb and it made her fall in love with him more.
“I am listening,” he inclined his head briefly as he opened the bottle of non-alcoholic wine to pour them two glasses. “I live at my father’s place and very soon I am going to start showing. I have to tell him.”
“I am getting an apartment ready for you to move into.” He said briskly as he handed her the glass.
“What? No.”
He lifted a brow at her in amusement. “I will not have the mother of my children living in that small place Allison. That was part of the deal. You get your own place where you will be able to have the children over.”
She put away the glass of wine. “I am not moving from my dad’s place. At least not yet. He needs me.”
“Does he?”
“He does.” She said stubbornly. “He just had surgery a few months ago and I want to be there for him.”
“That was what the money was fo
r,” he looked at her searchingly. “You must love him very much.”
“He is all the family I have. At least until now,” she curved her hands over her belly and his eyes followed her movements. “I have to tell him.” She looked at him pleadingly.
“What exactly do you plan on telling him?” he asked his eyebrows quirked.
“I-“she spread her hands wide and knitted her brows. “The truth?” she ventured looking at him uncertainly.
“And what will he say to that?” he asked her sardonically.
Allison bit her lip for a moment as she thought about it. “He is not going to like it.” She said hunching her shoulders. “But I have to tell him that I am carrying his grandchildren. It’s an unusual situation but he will be happy for me.”
“Suit yourself,” he said abruptly as he drank down the wine. He turned away to pour some more and when he turned she was right behind him. She had taken off her ankle length boots and barely came to his chest. Her sweater molded to her bosom highlighting her breasts. Her hair tumbled around her small face, giving her an appealing look. His heart lurched inside his chest as he looked at her.
“Phillip,” she reached up and touched his jaw, using a finger to draw a line along his strong chin. He captured her hand in his tightly, his grey eyes smoldering.
“Back off,” he told her softly.
“I can’t,” she whispered. “I don’t want to live in some apartment by myself and have our children come and visit. I want us all together-“
“Stop!” his hand tightened around her wrist and she endured the pain of him digging into her flesh. “Damn you!” he groaned and putting away the glass he hauled her into his arms, his mouth buried on hers!
*********
She made dinner. His favorite: chicken Alfredo with fresh garden salad and some hot chocolate with whipped cream. Her stomach still rebelled at certain foods but it was getting better and the medication Dr. Whittingham had given her was working wonders. It was Sunday afternoon and Elena had gone to visit a friend and she was grateful for that because she wanted to tell her dad first.