by Levine, Nina
J’s hands slid around my waist a minute later as I guzzled some icy water. His lips grazed my ear. “I’m an asshole, baby. How about I run you a cold bath and get you in it?”
I rested my head back against his chest, my irritation at him forgotten as his touch calmed me. “Oh God, that sounds good, but I’ll never get out of it. Have you seen the size of me lately? I’m a freaking blimp.”
He kissed my neck and ran his hands over my stomach before finding his way to my breasts. “You’re not a blimp, Madison. You’re beautiful. And these tits are something fucking else.”
I smacked his hands away. “I’m not having sex with you today, J. I’m too damn hot and bothered.”
“Yeah you are, so get your ass in the bath and cool down. I’ll get you out when we’re done.”
I turned to face him. “When we’re done? There’s no way you’ll fit in there with me.”
He backed me up against the fridge, the bossy expression I knew well, settling on his face. “Babe, stop thinking and let me take care of you for once. You’re nowhere near as big as you think you are, so if I wanted to get in that bath with you, I could. But I don’t—”
I frowned. “You don’t want to take a bath with me?”
I didn’t blame him when he cursed softly under his breath. I was annoying myself with my emotional whiplash, so I could imagine how frustrating I was to him. These bloody hormones were out of control.
Taking hold of my face with both hands, he moved closer and kissed me. My pregnancy had called for lots of his kisses. They were one of the only things that calmed me when I got moody or anxious.
And God how I’d been anxious.
There were so many things to worry about for our child. Would the delivery go okay? Would she be healthy? Would J and I figure out this parenting thing or would we fuck her life up? Would she grow up without getting into drugs or other stuff that would harm her? Would she find love and be happy?
So many things I’d never thought about before.
How did parents even get through a day?
“Madison,” J’s gravelly voice cut through my thoughts. “Stop thinking, baby. Everything’s going to be okay. Willow’s going to be healthy and we’re not gonna fuck shit up. I’ve got you, and I’ve got her, and I’ll never let anything happen to either of you.”
I sank into him.
Thank God he was mine.
I smiled up at him as the tension left me. “I love you, Jason Reilly,” I said softly, feeling every ounce of that love as he tried to put my mind at ease.
He brushed another kiss across my lips. “I love you, too.” He stepped away from me. “Now get in the bathroom and let me get my eyes on those tits.”
4
J & Madison
Madison
This scene takes place during the same time Gunnar’s story was set.
“I’m too sweaty to have sex with you right now,” I say as J wraps his arms around me. I’ve just come home from the gym and I need a shower before I can even contemplate fucking him. And coffee. God, I could go a coffee.
He doesn’t remove his arms. “I don’t give a fuck if you’re sweaty.”
I smack his arms away. “I do.”
Our daughter takes this moment to wake up, crying in her room, and J mutters, “Fuck.” Meeting my gaze in the bathroom mirror, he says, “You’re mine tonight. It’s been too fucking long.”
I roll my eyes. “I fucked you yesterday morning, J. That’s hardly too fucking long. Some men go without sex for weeks, you know. Some go months. I’m sure there are even men who go years.”
“Not us, Madison.”
With that, he leaves me to go take care of Willow.
I love my husband and I love sex, but goodness, he’s becoming too much. Not because of his demands for sex, but because he’s trying to get me pregnant again.
I’m not ready to think about having another baby. Willow’s only six months old. I want time with her before having another child, and I want time with J. His rush to fall pregnant again is too much, and we’re going to have a conversation about that tonight when he gets home from work, which means I need to spend today mentally preparing for that. Thank God I’m seeing my girls today. Their support always lifts me up and helps me take charge of the things in my life that I need to take charge of. Like J. Ugh, I love this man like crazy, but he drives me crazy at times.
I shower and dress before joining J and Willow in the kitchen. He’s got her in his arms and is talking to her. He doesn’t hear me come in, so I take a moment to watch them. It’s one of my favourite things to do.
“When you grow up, you stick to your guns, baby. Not quite as much as your mother sticks to hers, but don’t ever let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do.”
Willow grips his cheeks while babbling happy sounds.
“Now, we need to make her coffee. It’s the way to her heart in the morning. And trust me, we need to find a way there today. She’s grumpy.”
“Am I?” I say.
He turns to me, grinning. “Yeah, you are.”
I move to him, placing my hand on his ass. “I’m just keeping you on your toes, baby.”
“I’m on my fucking toes. Trust me on that.”
I laugh and kiss him. “Good. Keep it that way.”
“You fucking kill me, Madison. You know that?”
He puts Willow in her high chair and makes me coffee and her breakfast. I sit next to her and watch him while he moves around the kitchen. J only gets better looking with every passing year. I should know; some days I feel like I need to fight other women off. But he only has eyes for me. Luckily. I’d have his balls otherwise.
“I love you,” I say when he hands me a mug of coffee.
Sitting on the other side of Willow, he eyes me. “You fucking better, woman.” He starts feeding Willow. “What are you girls up to today?”
I sip some coffee. “Velvet’s got the day off, so she and Harlow are meeting us for lunch. I thought I might clean out the spare room too. It’s a mess in there. Have you got a busy day on?”
He nods. “Yeah, I think so.”
“Madison,” my mother calls from the front door. She has a key and lets herself in when she comes over. Because she knows J likes to have sex all the damn time, she always announces herself when she enters.
“In the kitchen, Mum,” I call back.
She bustles in, placing her handbag down on the kitchen counter. “I need to borrow your hairdryer. Mine just blew up.”
J looks at her like she’s a crazy person. “You drove here just to dry your hair?”
I stand. “Of course she did. I would have too.”
“I’ll never fucking understand some things,” he mutters, and then to Willow, he says, “You won’t do crazy stuff like that, will you, baby girl?”
Willow loves her daddy and smiles so big it makes my heart hurt. God, I could watch these two for hours.
Mum and I head into my bathroom and while she dries her hair, I say, “You’re seeing that guy today, aren’t you? The one you met on Bumble.”
She smiles. “Yes.” She stops the hairdryer. “Do you think I look okay? Is this outfit okay?”
“You look beautiful, Mum, and this dress is gorgeous. If he doesn’t like what he sees, he’s blind.” I love watching my mum date and seeing her genuinely happy.
“I’m so nervous, Madison. It doesn’t seem right to be this nervous at my age.”
“This is good, though.”
She frowns. “How do you figure that?”
“Because it means if you two get on, there will be butterflies. And butterflies and falling in love is everything that I want for you.”
She stills, like I’ve said something important. When she speaks, her voice is full of emotion. “Thank you. That means everything to me.”
My heart squeezes with love. Mum and I don’t share many moments like this, so this feels super special. “Gah. Now I’m all choked up.”
“Me too, and I ca
n’t ruin my make-up, so you need to go and leave me to dry my hair.”
I smile. “I’m going!”
I head back out to J and Willow. They’re finished with her breakfast and J’s put her down on her playmat while he’s cleaning up the kitchen.
I move behind him and slide my arms around him, leaning against his back, suddenly craving this closeness.
“What did I do to deserve this?” he asks, taking hold of my hands that are clasped around his chest.
“I love you, J, but you need to understand that I’m not ready to get pregnant again.” I can’t wait to discuss this tonight; I need him to know it now.
Turning, he meets my gaze. The look in his eyes tells me he’s finally paying attention to what I’m saying. To what I’ve been trying to say for weeks now. “When are you thinking?”
“I honestly don’t know. I want time with Willow to really bond with her before she has a sibling. And I want us to have time too. It’s hard to find that time with one child. Imagine how much harder it’ll be with two.”
He thinks about this for a moment and then says, “I know I’m an impatient bastard. I just need to know it will happen.”
I smile up at him. “It will definitely happen. I want lots of kids with you.”
His hands slip around my waist and rest on my ass before he brings his mouth to mine. Kissing me like it’s his job, he says, “Lots is a good fucking word.”
I know my husband well, so I know where his brain has gone. “Because it means lots of sex?”
Heat flashes in his eyes. “You remember how much sex it took us to fall pregnant with Willow?”
“I’ll never forget it, baby.”
He kisses me again. “Okay, so we’ll delay getting pregnant.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Why was this so easy? You’ve been hardcore on wanting another child straight away.”
“I’m still hardcore on that, but I listened to you,” he says, his tone more serious than J ever gives me. “And I’m hearing what you’re saying. I agree that we need time together, and since I’m more hardcore on keeping us strong than I am about having another kid soon, we’ll delay.”
My tummy comes alive with butterflies at what he says. “I love you, Jason Reilly. You might drive me crazy some days, but you never fail to give me what I need.”
His lips brush mine again, and then he gives me the J I know and love and want to sometimes kill. “Don’t fucking think I’m pulling back on fucking you, Madison. If we only have one kid, we have all the fucking time in the world for sex.”
I roll my eyes. “Only you would think that.”
His grin as he smacks my ass and says, “Tonight, you’re mine” stays with me all day. J might do my head in at times, but God I love him and never want to do any of this without him.
5
Blade & Layla
Layla
This scene takes place around the same time as the events in Gunnar’s book.
I wipe down the bar as I watch Donovan enter. It’s just after 10:00 p.m. and I haven’t heard from him all day. A rare occurrence for us. We usually speak a couple of times throughout the day. Taking him in now, I can see the stress he’s carrying.
Grabbing the bottle of scotch I keep for him, I carry it and a glass to the table in the back that is his. Pouring a drink, I pass it to him when he reaches me.
Sliding his arm around my waist, he drops his lips to mine and kisses me before murmuring, “I’ve missed you today.”
“I was run off my feet all day. Were you too?”
He nods and then throws some scotch down his throat. “Yeah, it was a fucking mess of a day. One I’ll be glad to see the end of.”
“Is everything okay?”
“It will be.” At my frown, he adds, “Don’t worry about me, sweetheart.”
“I always worry about you.”
He drinks some more scotch, keeping his eyes on me. “Are you ready to go home?”
I move into him, bringing my hands to his chest. “I’m feeling nostalgic tonight. I thought we could sleep here.” In my old room above the bar.
Surprise fills his eyes. “What’s caused this?”
I smile, not ready to tell him yet. Taking his hand, I nod with my head for him to follow me. “Bring that bottle.”
He grabs the bottle and his glass, and follows me upstairs. Jess has everything under control with the bar, so I don’t give it another thought. There’s only one thing on my mind tonight and that’s my husband and the news I’m about to share with him.
When we reach my room, he closes the door behind us and reaches for me before I’ve even really made it into the room.
Gripping my waist, he turns me in his arms and pulls me close. Bringing his mouth to my throat, he trails kisses down to my chest while working the button on my jeans. “I fucking need this,” he rasps as he moves to his knees and strips me of my jeans and panties.
“Oh God,” I moan and clutch his hair.
Donovan takes hold of my ass and presses his face to my pussy as he growls, “Fuck.”
He inhales my scent, and fuck if that doesn’t shoot lust through my entire body. The need my husband has for me never fails to do that.
He flicks his tongue over my clit and then pushes it inside me. He’s fucking talented with his tongue and I’m pretty sure my legs won’t be holding me up soon.
When he roughly spreads my legs and switches his tongue for his fingers, I know for sure my legs won’t survive this.
As I lose myself in the orgasm he delivers, he stands and picks me up and takes me to the bed. Stripping, he watches me, fucking me with his eyes. No words are exchanged, but we don’t need them.
“You are so fucking beautiful,” he says when he positions himself above me.
I curl my fingers around his biceps. “I need you inside me.” My words come out a hot, needy mess. Something he always brings out in me.
Placing his hands either side of me on the bed, he orders, “Wrap your legs around me and hold on.”
I don’t need further instructions. I know how Donovan prefers to fuck me, and when he says hold on, he means hold on and don’t fucking let go. So I do.
He thrusts inside me.
If I didn’t know him like I do, I’d think he was trying to break me.
But he’s not.
Sex is how Donovan deals with his demons and I am more than happy to hold on and take everything he wants to give.
“Fuck.” The word falls from his lips savagely as he slams inside again.
He moves slowly to begin with and then picks up the pace.
His rhythm becomes fierce, brutal, relentless as he chases his release.
My fingers dig into his skin as I come.
Donovan keeps pounding into me, his growls of satisfaction coming from deep within.
Fuck!” he roars as his orgasm claims him.
When he’s done, he stays inside me and drops a kiss to my shoulder. It’s this moment I always live for. The moment right after when he lingers. I’m not sure why I love it so much, but I think it’s because it’s the calm after the storm. The relief for him after he works that dark energy out of his system.
I clean up in the bathroom after he collapses to the bed, and when I come back, he’s watching me intently.
“What are you thinking?” I ask as I move next to him.
His arm comes around me and he pulls me tightly against him. “I’m wondering why you’re feeling nostalgic. You didn’t tell me.”
Angling my face up to his, I say, “I’ve been thinking about how you used to come here for a long time before we got together, and about how happy you’ve made me.”
He watches me silently for a beat. “And?”
I smile. He reads me so perfectly. Always. “And about how much you’ve wanted us to have a baby.”
His eyes search mine. Again, he’s reading me perfectly. “You’re pregnant.”
I nod. “I’m pregnant.”
He’s silent for the long
est moment, but only if we’re talking about actual words, because in every other way, he’s louder than ever. Donovan doesn’t always say a lot, but his energy vibrates all around me. Some days it’s a low thrum, others it’s a roar. Today, it’s the kind of energy I live for.
Donovan’s happy.
Like, the kind of happy I would pay all the money in the world to see him experience.
“You could have started with that,” he finally says.
“Where would the fun have been then?”
He shakes his head before sliding his fingers through my hair and pulling my face to his so he can kiss me.
“I’m going to be a father.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“Fuck.”
I smile. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you lost for words.”
“Well you have now.” He kisses me again.
Donovan has wanted us to fall pregnant for a while, but I’ve made him wait while I got my bar to a more profitable state. He’s waited patiently, so I’m not surprised he’s speechless.
“I love you, Donovan. Thank you for letting me take my time with this.”
“Fuck,” he growls again. “You know I’ll always give you what you need.”
“I know, and that’s everything to me. I couldn’t have asked for a better husband.”
He kisses me before saying, “So you’re aware, I’m almost certain you’re not going to like how protective I get during this pregnancy.”
“Oh, I know, and I’m ready for it.”
“As in you’re ready to tell me to back off, or you’re ready to accept it?”
I lean in close and kiss him. “As in I’m ready to accept it. You gave me time, I’ll give you this.”
“I don’t fucking deserve you, Layla, but I’m fucking keeping you and never letting go.”
“You better not let go or I’ll find ways to hunt you down and bring you back.”