by Harper Sloan
“You have no idea. ” He smiles.
I look up at Cohen and give him a smile before I move to climb off his lap. He lets me go without argument, and I walk over, bend, and wrap my arms around my daddy’s neck.
“You’ll always be the first man I loved, Daddy. ”
“I know, little princess. I know. ”
I swallow the lump in my throat, kiss his tan cheek, and walk back over to Cohen. When I feel his arms wrap around my body again, I let their strength soak in, and I listen as the men in the room go about what the best course of action from here on out is.
I don’t think I’ll feel settled until the invisible threat around me is gone, but right here, in this moment, I feel as safe as I’ve ever felt in my life because I’m wrapped up in the arms of the man I love.
“DO YOU WANT MY COCK or my mouth, Dani?” I ask and trail my fingers down the center of her collarbone and between the valley of her tits.
“Your cock, baby,” she pleads.
“Do you want my cock in your pussy or your ass?” I question, continuing my path down her body until my fingers dance over the smooth skin on her mound.
“My pussy?”
“You don’t sound so sure about that, baby,” I murmur and dip my finger into her body. “Although your cunt is begging for it. Is your ass going to milk my fingers if I dip them in deep?” I ask, pumping my fingers into her wet center.
“Ye-yes,” she stutters.
“I’m sure it would, but right now, I want my cock right here,” I say and curl my fingers until I hit that spot that has her juices running down my fingers and down her crack. “So responsive. ”
I pull my fingers out of her body, and she watches with heated eyes as I pop them in my mouth and hum.
“Fucking taste so good. ”
I push my fingers back in and give her a few hard pumps before I take them and offer them to her mouth, wiping her juices along the seam of her lips before she opens and sucks them clean.
“Fuck,” I groan and move so that my cock is rubbing against her.
Her legs drop open and she starts to rock with my hips. My cock ring and other piercings make her cry out each time they roll over her clit.
“Do you want me hard or do you want me soft?” I ask, rocking even harder when those hot fucking mewling sounds start climbing up her throat.
“Soft . . . and hard,” she pants.
“Yeah,” I say and pull my hips back, and when I line up, I push home in one slow thrust. Her eyes go glossy and her moan is long. “Yeah, baby. Soft and hard. ”
I give her what she wants. Soft thrusts until my balls can’t take it any longer. The second I feel her walls start to flutter and I know she’s seconds away from coming apart in my arms, I start to slam into her hard enough that the headboard bangs against the wall. She takes every thrust I have, and right before I feel my balls tighten, she throws her head back and screams my name loud enough that the sound pierces my ears painfully. My climax tears through my body, and my cock is milked dry by her tight walls.
After a few more thrusts to feel her walls quivering against my sensitive cock, I pull out and lean back on my knees to watch our combined come drip out of her body.
“Fuck that’s hot. I wish you could fucking see us falling out of your body,” I tell her.
I bring my hand to her pussy and thrust my finger deep into her still-shuddering cunt. When I pull my finger out, it’s gleaming with our joined come, and I look past her rapidly falling chest to meet her wide, turned-on eyes.
“You see how fucking hot we are together?”
She nods, and her eyes darken to the hunter-green color they always take when she’s turned on.
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“My girl likes that?” I ask and move my hand back down to her pussy. I rub my hand through her slit and rub our come into her skin. “Open,” I demand and wait for her to understand my meaning.
My fingers, wet and dripping with us, start moving towards her head, and without question, she opens her mouth wide and waits for my fingers.
When her warm lips close around two of my wet fingers and suck me hard, I almost come again.
“Fucking hell,” I groan.
“Mmmm,” she moans in return, and I look down to see her rubbing her legs together.
“Already?” I question.
“Always,” she retorts.
Fucking hell, indeed.
Hours later, with Dani passed out in my bed, I throw on some sweats and walk into the living room.
Chance sees me coming from his spot in the chair by the window and pulls off his Beats. “I take it I can remove these now?” he asks with a raised brow.
“She’s asleep if that’s what you’re asking. ”
“She isn’t screaming, so that’s my answer. ”
“Did you find out anything?” I question, ignoring his comment.
“Nothing you’re going to like. ”
“Well, fucking give it to me. ” I spit in his direction.
“Questioned each person who was in the salon when that package came. So far, I’ve been able to sit down with everyone except two people. Don W. Johnson—one personal assistant to Devon Westerfield—and one of their cameramen. That’s as far as I’ve gotten. I looked into the background checks Axel had run when they first started coming around, but so far, nothing is sticking out. Devon, the producer, is being as helpful as he can. My gut tells me that he is no threat. His other assistant, Mark Seymour, has also been very forthcoming. He and Dani had struck up a friendship and he was very concerned about how she is fairing in light of all of this. He did mention that Don wasn’t too happy about Dani being pregnant. Something about it putting a wrench into their filming. ”
“I see,” I tell him, careful to calm myself before I snap about some douchebag being close with Dani.
“I’ll keep digging. ”
“You do that,” I tell him. “I’m taking Dani to look at houses next week. Are you sure you’re cool with this?” I ask, knowing that, even though he’s a loner as of late, that isn’t something he deals with well. Chance has his own issues, but I know that the front he puts on for the world to see isn’t the man I know.
“I’m not going to swallow a bottle of pills or cut my wrist because my buddy is moving out, Cohen. I’ll be fine. Plus, I won’t be around much anyway. We’ve picked up some big clients lately at CS and I’ll be doing some bodyguard work until we can train more men. ”
“You’ll let me know if the nightmares come back?” I ask.
“Fuck,” he sighs and rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, all right, I’ll fucking let you know. ” He stands from his chair and walks over to the desk in the corner of the room, grabbing some papers and tossing them to me. “Printed the ones I felt would fit what you two need. Some I grabbed are a little more than you’ll be needing right away, but with the way you two go at it, you’ll need the space. ”
I look down, confused, and laugh when I see the handful of printouts of houses for sale he gave me. “Thanks, brother. ”
“Yeah,” he mumbles and walks down the hall.
I wait until I hear his door click shut before I laugh to myself and toss them down on the coffee table before I pad back down the hall and climb back in bed with Dani in my arms.
“I’M NOT SEEING HOW A house this big is something we need, Cohen. ” I look up at the large colonial house and my eyes hit every window—and there are many—and I look over to my left at the four-car garage that sits at an angle to the house. “Four cars seems like overkill. ”
“Nah,” Cohen says and grabs my hand before pulling me up the front steps.
We’ve been house-hunting for the last three weeks and I’m over it. True to his word, he hasn’t left me for a second. He came with me a few days after it was decided for me that I would move in with him and helped my brother and Lee move all of my stuff back out of the townhome I shared with
the girls and into his apartment. Lee thought it was hilarious, and after Nate got over trying to act like our dad when it came to Cohen and me, he joined in and thought that my being basically kidnapped was the funniest thing he had ever seen.
Of course, that was after I kneed him in the balls.
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Lyn and Lila were over the freaking moon about the new status in Cohen’s and my relationship. Maddi was just happy I was happy. They thought that it was the best thing in the world.
Megan was the only voice of reason I had, but even that was short-lived when she witnessed firsthand how Cohen was around me. Her eyes got wet, and after I fussed, she told me that we reminded her of how her husband had been towards her when they’d first gotten together. Of course, that concerned me, but she was able to settle her emotions and, after that, was another cheerleader Cohen had in his corner.
After that, I just decided to say the hell with it and roll with what came.
We’re about to be parents, so it makes sense.
Plus, there’s that whole thing with my heart feeling like it’s breaking in two when he isn’t near.
All things considered, living with the man of my dreams and the love of my life isn’t exactly a hardship.
Between looking for our future home, we’ve spent the last three weeks becoming closer than ever before. In between family dinners at either my parents’ house or his, we’ve spent the majority of the time in bed either making love or talking about everything we can think of.
It’s been some of the best times of my life.
“Come on, Dani-girl. There’s something I want you to see,” he says and gives my arm another tug.
“Okay, okay . . . Jeez,” I laugh and follow him through the front door.
He leads me past the smiling real estate agent and up the huge staircase that dominates the front entry. He doesn’t stop until we’re both facing one of the many closed doors in the upstairs.
“Go ahead,” he urges and nods to the door.
I give him a look but reach out and turn the nob. When my eyes settle around the room he’s found, my lip quivers. “Oh, Cohen. ”
“It’s perfect, hmm?” he says, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my body until he has his hands against my belly. His lips press against my temple. “I figured, with us deciding not to find out the gender, that this color would be perfect. You can match anything you want with a green like this. It reminded me of your eyes, and that made me think about our little one having the same green eyes as you, and it just seemed like a sign. ”
“It’s perfect. ” And it is.
The large room has light-green walls and a dark hardwood finish. The back wall has a huge floor-to-ceiling window that overlooks the wooded backyard. I walk deeper into the room and notice the huge walk-in closet through one doorway. The other doorway leads into a connecting bathroom. I imagine where each item I have carefully planned on buying for our child would go, seeing the room come together instantly.
“This is it, Cohen,” I tell him and watch his handsome face brighten with happiness.
“I hoped you would say that since I put an offer on this one last week. ”
“You did what?” I laugh. “Then why have we been looking at house after house since then?”
“Even on paper, it was perfect, Dani. There’s more than enough room for us and our family to grow. I had no problem putting our future in writing. I wanted you to see your choices before I showed you mine. Had you liked something better, I would have pulled my offer and gotten you that one. ” He walks over and rubs my belly. “You, me, and baby against the world. ”
I nod my head and lean up on my tippy-toes to give him a kiss. “That’s right, Superman. ” I giggle.
I’m not sure what kind of strings Cohen pulled to have us in our home so quickly, but not even a week after he showed me the beautiful home with our child’s perfect nursery, we are moving our stuff in.
Against his better judgment and a lot of convincing from me that I would be perfectly fine at the apartment with Chance, Liam, and my brother—not to mention that my girls were all on their way to help—he left to meet with the realtor and the contractor we had hired to finish our basement and to wait for the furniture company to deliver ninety percent of our stuff. He had a busy day at the new house, and with all of us busy boxing up the rest of Cohen’s and my stuff, it was best for him to leave me here to make sure it gets done.
“Chance!” I yell out Cohen’s bedroom door. “Where is the packaging tape?”
When no one answers, I heave my almost eight-month-pregnant body off the floor and walk into the living room, where I left them arguing over which PlayStation games belong to Cohen and which ones he had stolen from them. Sometimes, I wonder if they’re really grown children.
“Hey, where are you guys?” I ask, looking around.
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“Danielle. ”
I jump and spin towards the familiar voice.
“I’ve been waiting for you. ”
My eyes widen when I see the blood staining the knife in his hands, and when I move my eyes back to his, I notice that they’re wild.
Oh. My. God. This isn’t happening. I quickly look around and search for the guys. The blood on his knife could only mean one thing, and my stomach drops when I realize what that is.
“Where are my friends?” I question. Keep him talking . . . I think that’s what Dad said to do in a situation like this. Keep him talking until you can figure out a way to get help.
“Your friends,” he says as if the words taste bad against his lips. “Those men that you’ve been whoring yourself to aren’t going to be a problem. The big one and your brother left a second ago, and I took care of that other motherfucker just like I took care of Don and Clint. ”
“Don and Clint? Clint the cameraman? What are you talking about, Mark?”
“I saw the way they looked at you. Always looking at you. And you let them. You shouldn’t have done that, Danielle. ” He laughs, the sound making my skin crawl. “You shouldn’t encourage that they had a chance with you. YOU are mine and I’m tired of watching you act like a slut when you know, YOU KNOW, what we have. ”
I gape at him, dumbfounded. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Mark. ” A sense of dread starts to take hold of my body, and I try to think of a way out of this mess.
Until he speaks again and I’m shocked to my core.
“I saw the way that you would look at me. I know you felt it. All of our dates we would have. When you would tell me what you loved about me as a boyfriend. I remember it all, Danielle. But you’ve been a naughty girl. It’s time to take care of all of these . . . complications. ” He waves the knife around until the tip is pointing down. At my swollen belly.
“No,” I gasp and clutch my stomach. “No!” My scream goes unnoticed by him as he takes a step forward. “Mark, those weren’t dates. We had lunch—with about five other people—in the breakroom at Sway’s. That was it. You were asking my advice for the girl you were dating. Mark, we aren’t anything. ” My attempt at reasoning with him only angers him further.
“No!” he bellows, repeatedly jabbing the knife in my direction. “We’re EVERYTHING!” his voice takes on a manic level of insanity, and he starts to advance on me.
“Please . . . I’m begging you. Don’t hurt my baby. I’ll do whatever you want, but please!”
“That,” he says harshly. “That is an abomination and it must be removed from you. I won’t stand for it. ”
I grip my stomach tighter and sob. The tears mix with the snot as they roll down my face. The hope I was holding on to that I would be able to talk him off the ledge starts to dwindle. I look around again, praying that I’ll find something that will give me the answer on how to escape this impending doom.
This is it. I’m going to die right here where my future started. Right where it started, we’re going to
die, and I know there is no way Cohen will survive this kind of loss. That knowledge and my love for him are the only hope I have left. I spot the lamp just an inch away from my fist right when Mark makes his move and lunges forward. Given the fact that my belly has gotten huge in the last seven weeks since Cohen returned home, my movements are slower than normal, and right when I feel his knife pierce my left side, I heave the lamp with everything I have and clip him right on his temple.
Mark goes down hard, dazed but not out, so I bring my arm back—weakly now that my side is killing me—and swing at him again. His lifts and his knife digs into the top of my hip. Desperate to do what I can to protect my stomach, I twist and fight with everything I have in me. If this is the last moment I have on this Earth, I’m not going to be taken out easily.
“Stop fucking moving so I can get that thing out of you!” he bellows, and it isn’t lost on me just how far gone he is on the sanity scale.
“You won’t get my baby, you sick fuck!” I scream, and with a renewed strength, I start to kick my legs between driving the heavy lamp down onto his face. “You can’t have my baby,” I sob, my body growing weaker. “Never!” I scream out and never stop, my throat burning with the raw sounds coming out.
I feel it before my mind registers that there is nothing else I can do, and as my body is pulled down with nothing left to give, I use the last bit of my strength to twist so that, when I fall, my baby is protected.
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“HOW HARD WOULD IT HAVE been to carry this shit down when Cohen got here and could help us?” I ask Nate after dusting my hands off on my jeans.
We’ve just spent the better part of thirty minutes trying to get Cohen’s big-ass seventy-inch television down three flights of stairs and attempted to get the damn thing loaded into the back of my truck without breaking it.
“It seemed easier than it was when I planned it out in my head. It’s not my fault it’s heavier than it looks. Damn thing looked like it would be easy. ”
Yeah. Famous last words of Nate Reid.
“Plus, if Chance wouldn’t have been so fucking lazy, he could have helped out too. ”
“Chance”—I reach over and shove Nate as we start to walk back up the stairs—“is up there keeping an eye on Dani. Something that, I’ll remind you, we should be doing as well. ”
“Seriously, Lee? She’s right up there! What the hell is going to happen in the two seconds we took to take care of that shit?” He pulls his UGA ball cap off and scratches his thick, black hair before jamming it back down. “Fuck, it’s hot out here. ”