“You all suck!” she said. “Not you baby boy. Mummy still loves you.” She wrinkled her nose at Alexander. “But you, you, and you,” she pointed at each of us. “You all suck!”
She went to walk out of the room.
“Luce,” Bryce said as he scooped out two perfectly poached eggs that had been hidden in the pot. She turned back around, spying him placing them down on another sliced baguette. “Remember that thing you did for me a few weeks ago, where you said I owed you?”
“Yeah?”
He poured the remainder of the sauce over each plate. “Well, we are even.” He smiled triumphantly as he pushed a plate toward her and one toward Nic.
Lucy stepped forward and took hold of the plate with an equally triumphant grin. “Whatever.” Then she left the room.
***
Nic and Lucy had taken Alexander to the shopping precinct for the afternoon. Bryce had taken off in search of Gareth to have a word to him about skipping his appointments with Jessica, and Nate and Charli had been in their bedrooms. Nate appeared at the top of the stairs just as I was about to head up there to see what they were doing. The sight of him at the edge of the top step terrified me immensely, causing me to panic.
“Nate, be careful!” I shouted in a loud voice.
He startled a little at my outburst and gripped the railing rather tightly. “Mum! You scared me. I was being careful,” he called down to me.
“Sorry, Mate. Just make sure you hang on to that railing at all times, please.”
He nodded and made his way down slowly, timidly walking up to me and giving me a hug.
“Promise me you’ll just be very careful, okay?”
“Okay, Mum.”
“What’s Charli doing?”
“Writing girl’s names on her notepad with coloured markers, there are a lot of names on that list, Mum.”
“I’m sure she’ll pick the right one.” I loved Charli’s dedication to a task that was set for her, although I knew she felt this task was a special one.
“Mum, can you have another baby?” Oh shit! That came out of nowhere.
“Yes, I can.”
“When?”
“Not right away, Mate. Mummy’s body needs to heal first. ” I smoothed his hair away from his face. “Why?”
“I was sort of looking forward to it.”
I pulled him to me and hugged him tight, kissing him on the side of the head. “Do you want to know something?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m going to ask Bryce real soon if he would like another baby, but it’s a secret, so don’t tell him.”
Nate nodded his head, but had a dubious glint in his eye.
“What, little man?”
“What will happen if the next baby dies too, Mum?”
I sighed. “Sometimes these things just happen, for no reason. We can’t stop them. All we can do is accept them and try again. I can’t promise you that our next baby won’t die too, because I don’t control that, Sweetheart. But what we can do is be hopeful and look after each other.”
“Mum, I’m going to look after you.”
“I know you are, because you are totes the sickest son ever!” I said in Nate’s style of lingo.
Nate just shook his head at me.
***
Later that night, Bryce and I were snuggled next to each other in bed.
“I’m going to miss you,” I said as I traced small circles around his abs.
“I’m going to miss you, too, but I have to go, Hunny. It’s just shit timing.”
“You have to do what you have to do, Mr. Clark, being the big billionaire hotel owner that you are,” I retorted playfully, trying to lighten our dull moods.
“It’s what I do, Ms Summers.”
I giggled. He hadn’t called me Ms. Summers in a while and I kind of missed it.
“What else do you do, Mr. Clark?” I tilted my head up to look at him through my lashes.
A small but sexy growl resonated from his throat right before he slid out from underneath me and propped himself up on his side. His eyes found my lips, and I couldn’t help but squeeze them together and drag my top row of teeth across the bottom one. That small uncontrollable reaction to his stare was all he needed to lose his restraint and move forward, rapidly seizing my mouth.
I broke away moments later, breathing heavily, trying to catch my breath. He moved his perfect lips down my neck, gently licking and nipping at my skin. My fingers made their way into his luscious dirty blonde hair, where I gripped his head with the intention to stop his lips teasing me any further. I had to stop him, because his mouth had the ability to torture me into wanting more, and more, I could not have—not for at least another week.
I was about to tell him to stop, when he came back up to my mouth and I felt his tongue once again.
“I know what you’re thinking right now?” he said through heavy breaths in between kisses. “You’re thinking I want to make love to you, and you’re thinking you don’t want to say no.” Yes, your thinking is one hundred percent correct. “Well, you’re right. Of course I want to make love to you...but...you have so many other body parts that need my attention; that need me to make love to them, that need to be fucked by my mouth.”
He caressed my tongue with his own then pulled away from my lips, eyeing me salaciously as he changed course and trailed kisses along my neck and up behind my ear. I sucked in another breath as his glorious lips kissed and sucked my skin.
His hand slid down from my cheek, along my neck and stopped at the seam of my bra, all the while his lips, teeth and tongue continuing to tease the very sensitive spot under my ear lobe. My skin began to heat, and my pelvis automatically rose away from the mattress.
He groaned mildly then slipped his finger underneath my bra, gently grazing my perked nipple. I gasped and tried to roll my hips into him.
“Hmmm, that’s right, Hunny. That piece of you right there wants to be fucked doesn’t it?” he breathed into my ear, before dragging his teeth down my neck then trailing his tongue back up to my lobe, teasing and tricking me into thinking he was going to fuck my nipple.
“Oh, God,” I moaned, desperate to feel his wet, warm tongue on my breast.
He gently bit down on my ear lobe again and squeezed my nipple between both his fingers.
“Bryce! Yes, please fuck it.”
He chuckled against my skin as he made his way down to my nipple. “I have every intention to,” he admitted, as he undid my bra and removed it, eyeing my breast before he slid his tongue across my nipple. It hardened at his touch, forcing my chest to magnetise toward him, pushing my nipple further into his mouth. He groaned at my response then flicked his tongue quicker, sending my body into a meltdown. I was climbing to a climax in a weird kind of way. Not strange weird, but different weird, good weird. It was a new sensation, and I was enjoying the escalation.
He released my nipple from his lips and made his way down my stomach. No, re-attach, God damn it! The things the man could do with a simple touch were utterly mind-blowing. My body had not previously known the kind of passion it felt with him and I was so grateful that it now finally had. It really felt so fucking good.
He trailed the tip of his tongue across my stomach, gently dipping into my belly button and back out again while continuing to move until his teeth were gently nipping at the bend in my side. Holy fuck, that feels good. I flinched and gripped his head.
“Does this spot right here want to be fucked too?” he murmured.
“Yes. Yes, it does,” I begged.
He reached up to grab my entire breast in his hand as he continued to lick, suck, nip and kiss the sensitive skin at my side. Oh, God. I’m gonna come from kiss-fucking. Is kiss-fucking even a word?
My breathing started to spike, and my back began to make its journey away from the mattress yet again.
“Not yet, Hunny. There are more parts of you that want to be fucked and I intend to fuck them all.” Shit! Are there? Okay, go ahead and fuck them.
“Sure, knock yourself out,” I mumbled with my eyes closed, more than happy to let him place his mouth wherever he felt necessary.
He chuckled and I felt him move lower, till he was just above the seam of my underwear, his lips pressing into my lower stomach.
My fingers automatically tensed in his hair, remembering that the last time he did that the kiss was not for me, but more so for our baby. I took in a deep breath as he nuzzled the spot for the smallest of seconds then continued down to the place he wished to fuck next—my legs.
He trailed kisses along the insides of my legs, close to my knees while running his hands up and down them—it was simply divine.
My orgasm began to climb again as he teased with his mouth.
“Bryce, I need you,” I moaned.
“I know, Hunny. I need you too.”
He moved back up to my breast and sucked my nipple, tugging it gloriously long.
I gasped again, only this time I knew I was about to come.
Bryce flicked his tongue at a rapid speed, mouth-fucking my nipple with sensational self-assurance until I released and called his name. It was a different kind of release, but it was a release all the same.
He instantly moved up to my mouth, kissing me ferociously all the while pumping his cock with his palm against my side. My eyes were still closed, encasing me in a new world of sensation, sensation created in a way I never thought possible. As I forced my way back to equilibrium, I heard him groan fiercely.
I opened my eyes and watched him reach his release too, amazed and in awe of his abilities to please us both sexually. His body tensed, his muscles tight and hard, his hand in complete control as he squeezed his cock—it was sexy as hell.
I moved closer, pulled his head to mine and kissed him again.
“As soon as we can, Bryce, I want to try again. I want to have your baby more than anything.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The next morning, Bryce got up early to leave for his flight. I was still comfortably snoozing when I felt his warm lips touch the side of my neck and his suggestive voice whisper into my ear.
“I’ve got to go, my love. I’ll call you as soon as I can, and you can tell me all about your moon boot. I want a picture of you in nothing but the moon boot.”
I giggled at his request as I opened my eyes. “You can be strangely sexy sometimes.”
“I mean it. I want a picture. I need to see every inch of you before I go to bed. I won’t be able to sleep until I do.”
He trailed his finger delicately down my bare back, sending the electric tingles that I loved right through me.
I rolled over, so that I was facing him. “I’m not sending you a naked photo of me in a ridiculous looking moon boot, forget it.”
His finger did not stop its journey over my skin, still swirling around and finding my nipple. He rolled it between his fingers. Oh, fuckity fuck. His fingers are just so...fuck!
Instantly, my breasts firmed and both my nipples said ‘hello’.
“I want a picture,” he said firmly but with a husky voice.
I closed my eyes, taking in the glorious feeling he was giving me. “No,” I reaffirmed.
I felt him take my other nipple into his mouth, so I grabbed his head, digging my nails in and holding him against me.
He growled and engulfed my breast more hungrily. “I’ll send you one.”
My eyes shot open. “You’ll send me a picture?” A large smile appeared across my face.
“Sure.”
I started to get visions of different pictures he might send me, pictures of his body and its stunning parts. “I’ll think about it,” I compromised.
“Hmmm.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine, then pulled away regretfully. “Don’t be surprised if I’m not back here tonight and you are in my arms. I don’t think I have it in me to stay away.”
“Go!” I placed my hands on his chest and lightly held him at bay. “Do what you do, Mr. Clark. I will speak to you later.”
I watched him walk out the door, staring at his perfectly defined arse in his Versace pants, permanently etching it onto my brain so that I could recall the sight when needed over the next few days—and boy, would it be needed.
I got out of bed, showered, and made my way downstairs via the elevator to see the kids off before Danny chauffeured them to school.
“Bye, ratbags. Have a good first day back,” I called to them as they grabbed their school bags and made their way to the elevator.
“Bye, Mum. Bye, Lucy. Bye, Nic,” they called back.
Lucy and Nic were having breakfast and both waved to Nate and Charli as they left the apartment. Nic pushed a cup of coffee across the breakfast bar toward me as I uncomfortably shuffled onto the stool with great difficulty.
“I cannot wait to get this big, heavy, white piece of shit removed from my leg today.” I growled.
“What time is your appointment?” Lucy asked as she playfully shovelled some Weetbix into Alexander’s mouth, his tongue gently pushing half of it back out again.
“2 p.m.”
“Alexander has his six month maternal health check appointment at midday, so I will be back in time to take you.”
“Sorry, Luce, I feel like such a burden.”
“Don’t be silly. It’s no problem at all. I want to help, and anyway why do you think we are staying here while Bryce is gone?”
“Because he told you to stay.”
She laughed. “Well yeah, he did. But no, you are family now and we help out our family.”
I smiled meekly at her over the rim of my coffee cup as I took another sip.
“So what are your plans today, Alexis, other than your appointment?” Lucy asked.
“Well, I was going to ring Derek and see if he was free to start giving me guitar lessons.” I gave Nic a don’t-even-go-there look.
Lucy did the same. “Yeah, I heard about that. I think it’s a brilliant idea. Bryce will flip out—”
Nic interrupted, “Hey about that, Alexis, I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you would deliberately cheat on Bryce with his best friend. I was just trying to give you a friendly warning as to Derek’s forwardness.”
“Nic, just forget about it. All I’m going to say is I love Bryce and would never do anything that would jeopardise that. He is not just my lover, he is my soul mate. We belong together. As for Derek, well, I barely know the guy, but from what I can see, he is lovely and a great friend to Bryce. And anyway, I have plans to set him up with my girlfriend Carly.”
Lucy laughed. “Yes! They would be a match made in heaven.”
“Not sure heaven is the correct place to match Carly up in,” I responded.
Lucy agreed and laughed again.
***
After breakfast, I gave Derek a call to see if he was available for my first lesson. He was a firefighter with the Melbourne Fire Brigade and worked shifts, so I was in luck as he was not due to start work until this evening.
Within an hour of my call, the buzzer to the door sounded.
“I’ll get it, you take it easy,” Lucy said, as she placed Alexander on the floor under his play gym. She walked briskly to the door and let Derek in, and by the time she got back Alexander had barrel-rolled to the edge of the lounge. “Hey you, Roly-Poly.” She picked him back up.
“I think you may need to get a kiddy pen?” I suggested.
She cringed. “I think you may be right.”
Derek walked past the two of them and sat down on the sofa opposite me. He opened up his guitar case and pulled out a black shiny acoustic then jogged to the man-cave and returned with one of Bryce’s acoustics for me.
“I’m sure he won’t mind you learning with this one,” he said with a sly smile as he handed me the guitar.
Lucy’s eyes widened and she scoffed. “You reckon?”
“It’s Alexis, Luce. Come on, he’d hand me my balls on a plate if I taught her on anything less.”
“Ha, yeah you’re p
robably right.”
“Okay, let’s get into it, shall we?” he said, as he positioned his guitar on his right leg. “I hope you’re right-handed?”
I nodded to him, smiling like a kid.
“Okay, hold your guitar like this, and try to keep the headstock of the guitar horizontal to the ground, not up or down like this,” he said, demonstrating the movement for me.
“What’s the headstock?” I asked.
He raised his eyebrows, obviously trying to suppress an outburst.
“What?” I sulked, suppressing my own outburst.
Lucy laughed.
I dropped my head and pouted. “Oh my God, I suck already.”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll start from the very beginning then.”
He took a few moments to point out and explain all the parts of the guitar. I already knew a lot of them, but the head...well...I didn’t know that part was called a headstock. Now that I know, well...yeah...it was freakin’ obvious.
After Derek had patiently explained, I was now more familiar with the parts of a guitar, learning terms like: tuning pegs, position markers and frets.
“Okay, as you can see the guitar has six strings starting with number one being closest to the bottom and up to number six at the very top. Now pluck each string to hear its sound.”
I did what I was told.
“Do you know the basics of sheet music?” he asked.
“Kind of, I took singing lessons in school. We had to learn beats and rhythm, but I don’t really remember. I remember something to do with face though, you know f-a-c-e and ‘even good boys do fart’ or was it ‘every good boy doesn’t fart’. Shit! I can’t remember.”
Derek lost it and threw himself back on the couch laughing hysterically. Even Lucy lost it and rolled on the floor next to Alexander.
“What now? Oh, I give up. This was a bad idea anyway.” I went to put the guitar down next to me.
“No, Alexis. No, I’m sorry.” He chuckled a little more before he composed himself. “It’s not a bad idea. It’s a great idea and Bryce will love it. I just think we will need to practice as much as we possibly can. That’s all.”
Lucy stood up. “I gotta go. Don’t give up, Alexis.”
Fulfillment Page 22