by M Dauphin
“You don’t, but I plan on showing you how sorry I am for the rest of my life.”
I smile at him and shake my head. “Always with the dramatics.”
“You bring out a side of me I never knew existed, Nora. I go crazy around you.”
“Trust me, I know.” I roll my eyes and walk to the couch, sitting down on the far side of it. “Sit. You have some explaining to do.”
He sighs and sits closer to me than I’d like, but there’s nowhere else for me to go so I sit and wait for him to start talking.
“I was so scared, Nor. I was scared that I was going to get caught and bring you down with me. That night, when I got home, I got so many texts about the cops being out for me and all I could think about was how I didn’t want to ruin you for my stupid mistakes. I thought my only options were to run or bring you down too.”
“Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?”
“Yes. I do, now. At the time I was running out of fear, something I’d never done so I didn’t know which direction was up for a while.” His eyes keep flicking to the baby bump, but I don’t want to talk about this yet. I want him to know how much he fucked things up… even if I plan on letting him back into my life.
“You left me, Max. You left me after you said you’d never leave.”
“I know. I know I did and I’m sorry, but it’s all going to be okay now.”
“How? Do they just stop looking for you after a few months’ time?”
“No,” he whispers, then takes a deep breath. “Nora they were never looking for me.”
I narrow my eyes at him and cock an eyebrow up in question. “Excuse me?”
“Your friend Nick set it all up. He paid practically everyone I knew to tell me that someone ratted me out and the authorities were after me. I think he was trying to run me out of town, and I was so wrapped up in fear that I didn’t stop to think about the logistics of it all.”
“You just said Nick paid people to help run you out of town… is this correct?” I can hear my heart beating in my ears, I’m so worked up right now. When he nods his response I growl. “I’m going to murder him.”
“You’re going to do nothing in your situation,” he growls, his eyes flicking to my stomach. I see him clench his jaw and I know he wants to ask about the baby, but he’s not off the hook yet.
“You just left, Max… didn't you once think to stay and see if my dad could help at all?”
“No. It didn't cross my mind. He's the law, and I was breaking it. Then I ran and when you run from the cops it automatically makes you guilty… It was an entirely horrible fucked up scenario and I'm so goddamned sorry.” I notice his eyes flick to my stomach again then back to me. “Is it mine?” he finally whispers.
I look down and rest my hand on the tiny baby bump and furrow my brows.
He left me. He left and now he’s walking back in like it was just yesterday he left town!
“Um... excuse me,” I mutter, getting up from the couch. He stands, eyes wide and jaw tight. It’s amazing what body language can tell you about someone.
Good, Max. I hope you hurt over this.
“I said excuse me,” I mumble, eyes cast down. I can’t stand to look at him right now. We never talked about kids, I don’t know if he ever wanted a family and now here we are. What if he rejects us?
“Nora, please,” he whispers, his hand taking mine in his. “Please, princess, talk to me.”
I glance up and catch his gaze, those beautiful eyes glistening with unshed tears, and shake my head.
“I have to go,” I whisper, trying to walk past him, but I don’t get far before he speaks up.
“I love you, Nora.”
I spin and look at him, the ball of emotions in my throat threatening to break free.
I want to be mad at him. I should be mad at him. I should be so mad at him, but the look he's giving me right now melts all those walls and the only emotion I have now is love. Love for a man I thought I’d lost. Fuck you, Holzer! I want to be mad at you!
“How far along are you?”
“Nineteen weeks,” I manage, tears flowing freely now. “I find out next week what it is.” I sniffle.
“Nor, is it mine?” His voice gruff, eyes glistening, hands tight at his sides. I grin at his hopeful expression and nod slightly.
“Of course you asshole,” I manage before I let the tears freefall.
“Shit,” he huffs, his body relaxing as he rushes over to me, sputtering words of love and amazement as he kneels in front of me and presses his lips to my belly. “Holy shit,” he whispers finally, standing up and taking my face in his hands.
“We, Nora. We find out what it is. This is us, now.” His hand rests on my bump, as small as it is, and I smile gently at him.
“How can you be so calm about this?” He literally just came back. I should be pissed at him, he should be upset he wasn’t told… hell we never even talked about kids or a future together and now here we are. This man makes me do crazy things, and letting him walk back into my life after he walked out of it is definitely crazy.
“Nora, this is all I ever wanted. I… you’re giving me everything I want in life.” He shrugs and smiles where his hand rests on my abdomen. “I guess I thought I’d be walking in to you being with another man. I mean... look at me. I’m clearly not the ideal boyfriend to bring home to your cop dad. Maybe I thought you had found someone else. Someone more ideal.”
“No one is ideal, Max. No body’s perfect,” I scoff. “But you were it for me. There wasn’t anyone else.”
His eyebrows pull together and he takes a step back. “Were?” His voice is raw with emotion.
“I don’t know if I can trust you again, Max. I mean… look at everything that’s happened between us.”
His face falls and he takes a deep breath.
“You have full right to feel that way, Nora. But this time I swear to God I’m not going anywhere. I’m here, whether you want me or not. I made you love me once, I can do it again.”
“I never stopped loving you, Max. That’s the problem,” I whisper, tears dripping down my cheeks.
“Fuck,” he huffs, wrapping his warm arms around me. This. This right here feels perfect.
“I want to hate you so much, Max. I want to be mad, and angry… and I am… but I’m so fucking happy you’re back.”
He doesn’t say anything. His hands rub my back as we stand in silence.
“I need to know what to do to prove to you that I’m not holding anything back this time, Nora. You’re it for me. You’re all I want in this world.”
I take a breath and back away from him.
“I’m tired, Max.”
“I can go,” he starts, but I press my lips to his before he can finish. The minute my lips touch his I feel the last of my walls crumble.
I can’t stay angry with Maxwell Holzer. It’s just not possible. That’s the crazy thing about my love for Max. As much as others may say I need to stay away from him, I can’t. He’s always been mine and I can’t push him away. I love him too much.
“Can you just stay here tonight?” I whisper.
“Absolutely,” he whispers, a slow grin spreading on his beautiful mouth. “I never want to leave you again, Nora.”
I wake up in the morning with Nora’s limbs wrapped around me, warm and comfortable. This is everything I’ve been missing these last few months. We laid in bed and talked until the early morning hours about everything until she finally passed out, her head resting on my chest. I’m not sure if she forgives me, but I won’t stop until she does.
We discussed everything last night. Why I left, why she never tried to find me when she found out about the baby. I told her I had plans for Nick, but she was adamant she didn’t want me getting into a fight with him. I could take the fucker, but she said ‘we’re better than that’ and is determined to find another way to make him pay. She doesn’t want to start our new lives together beating the life out of someone. I can’t say I blame her, I’ve nev
er been a huge fan of kicking people’s asses, but sometimes it has to be done.
I still can’t believe we’re having a baby. A kid! Fatherhood never even crossed my mind, but now that it’s my future I couldn’t dream of a better way to live my life. When she opened that door the first time with the pickle thing I wasn’t paying attention to her body because those blue eyes hit mine and my entire world started coming back into focus.
Then she slammed the door on me and I literally let out a laugh.
My girl wasn’t broken. She was pissed and rightfully so. She wasn’t sad and blubbery. She wasn’t weak and done with me. She was angry, and she wanted a fight and I loved every second of it.
The minute my eyes landed on her belly I knew. I knew she was pregnant and I fucking knew it was mine.
No other options.
“Mmm,” she moans, curling into me. “Good morning,” she whispers, her hand playing lazy circles on my stomach.
“Merry Christmas, beautiful,” I murmur, leaning up and kissing her forehead.
“Same to you,” she groans and stretches. “I haven’t slept that good in months.” She leans up on her elbow and grins at me. “Hi.”
“Hey.” I chuckle.
“So I was thinking,” she starts.
“That’s never good.” I smile and she whacks me on the stomach. “Ow!” I laugh.
“Shut up and listen.” She sits up and throws her hair into a bun.
“Oh lord we’re getting serious here.” I roll my eyes and grin at her annoyed look.
“Seriously, Max. Nick about ruined us. I don’t know if what he did was legal or not, but it was definitely wrong.”
“Yea. So you should let me beat the shit out of him for it,” I grumble. “He deserves it.”
“He deserves a bigger scare than you punching him in the face, Max. Even though he deserves that, too.” She chuckles. “What if we have my dad get involved?”
“Your dad lives in Chicago, princess, I’m not certain what he could do.”
“Right, but he has connections with the police force here. You don’t think he’d let his little girl move here and not make sure someone was keeping an eye out for me, do you?” She quirks an eyebrow up and I chuckle.
“Nora, why can’t we just let bygones be bygones? Payback doesn’t sound like a good way to start our lives together,” I say, leaning back on the headboard and pulling her closer to me. As much as I want to pummel the fuck out of this guy, being with her… seeing her swollen stomach… hell I’d rather not start any trouble where it’s not needed. He didn’t break us. I fucking got my girl.
“I just hate that he did that to us, Max,” she huffs and her phone starts to ring. “My dad,” she whispers.
“You should probably answer it.”
She takes a deep breath and hops up to grab the ringing phone before it’s sent to voicemail.
“Hey, Dad. Merry Christmas.” She smiles at me, waiting for his reply. “I have something I need to tell you,” she starts after the formalities are out of the way. I get to sit in the bedroom while she walks off to more than likely explain this whole situation to her father. I hope he doesn’t hate me. God, if he hates me I don’t know if she’d be able to stay with me. Shit!
Jesus I fucked things up. Bad.
Nora walks back into the room, looking even more beautiful than the first day I met her, and smiles. She crawls back on the bed and holds the phone out.
“Max, you there?” her dad speaks up finally. She put him on speakerphone and is grinning at me as her dad waits for an answer.
“Yes, Sir,” I answer, eyes wide at Nora.
“Son, last time Nora spoke to me about you, she told me you had left town. You left her and my grandchild, Maxwell. Do you know how that makes me feel about you?”
My face falls and I can feel the blood pumping throughout my body.
This is it. He hates me and he’s going to let me know.
“I bet not too highly, Sir.” I take a breath and lean closer to the phone. “I can’t tell you enough how sorry I am for putting her through it. I felt like, at the time, it was the only option I had.”
“Did you never think your future—” he pauses and I cringe, praying he doesn’t give away our conversation in Chicago. “I would have been able to help you?”
“No. I didn’t even think about it, Sir. I was so scared of ruining everything Nora has built here by being connected to her, that I thought the only way to save her was to leave.”
“Dad I need you to make Nick pay,” Nora blurts.
“Sir, I’m sorry but no, Nora.” I look at her and shake my head. “Babe we need to drop it. I’m here with you now, and that’s what matters. Revenge never ends well.”
“Daddy he ruined our lives. What he did has to have some sort of illegal aspect to it.”
I hear her dad’s hesitation in his silence before he finally speaks up.
“Nora, sweetheart, I think Max is right. You don’t need to get revenge on anything. Nick knows what he did was wrong. The only thing that matters right now is that you’re happy. Are you happy, Nora?”
She looks over at me and smiles wide.
“Immensely happy, Daddy. I’ve never been happier.”
“Then that’s what matters. Revenge will not make you happier. The man in front of you? He will. Stick to him.”
Nora’s face brightens and she beams with love, glowing beautifully in the morning light coming in from the window.
“Thank you, Sir,” I mumble, somehow growing a chub for the beautiful woman in front of me while on the phone with her fucking father. Jesus Christ my dick needs to learn to control itself.
“Fine,” she huffs.
“I have to get off here. Long shift at work today,” he says. “Merry Christmas, you two. Max, take care of my little girl or I will have your life ruined before you can blink. I don’t often give second chances.”
“Yes, Sir, I absolutely will.”
“Love you, Daddy, Merry Christmas,” she croons and ends the call then smiles at me.
“Did you tell him everything?”
“Only what he needed to know at the time,” she says, shrugging. “You know, that southern twang and manners you just pulled out for that phone call has me all kinds of hot and bothered,” she says, fanning herself dramatically. With her skin glowing, even in the middle of the cold-ass morning, she’s fucking radiant.
“Oh yea?” I growl, grabbing her and pulling her to my lap. She giggles and starts to protest, but I slam my lips to hers, wanting everything I’ve been missing since I left.
When I pull the shirt over her head and latch onto her pert nipples she gasps and her hands go around my head, weaving her fingers in my hair.
“God, Max,” she pants as I nibble my way from one breast to the other.
“I love you, Nora. And I fucking love these,” I mumble, burying my face in her tits.
She laughs and pulls my head back, smiling at me.
“I love you too,” she whispers.
A feral growl erupts from me and in one swift movement she’s lying underneath me, begging for my touch.
“I’ve missed you so much, Max,” she pants as I worship her body. I grunt and press my lips to hers as I slide off her panties and toss them aside, doing the same with my boxers. I need us bare. Together.
“Where’s your toy drawer?” I growl, lying her on her back and starting to kiss my way down her body.
“I— Fuck!” she bucks up to me as I slide two fingers inside her, letting her adjust to it before slipping another one in. I can’t help but grin watching her writhe underneath me.
“You gonna tell me?” I ask, pulling my fingers from her and watching her groan in frustration.
“Over there,” she waves to a chest of drawers and I head straight for it, pulling out the small pink vibrator. Taking a look in the drawer I let out a long whistle. Her admission last year to never really using toys seems like it never happened now looking at all the different options in
this drawer.
“You’ve come a long way since Chicago, Ms. Avondale” I say, walking back over to her.
“I needed something to be as good as our first time together. No one in this town was doing it for me.” She smiles and bites her lip.
“Does this help you?” I ask, turning on the vibrator and slowly running it between her legs, careful to stay away from the only spot she wants it.
“Mmm, yes,” she purrs, wiggling to get the release she wants so bad.
“So this little thing is better than me?” I growl, pressing it to her clit hard, making her scream and buck up.
“Fuck, no!” she whines when I pull it away. I smile and watch her glare at me from lust-hooded eyes.
“Good,” I whisper, winking. Resting the vibrator just above her clit, I slide two fingers inside her again. She’s so fucking wet I can hear her juices as my fingers play her. The noises coming out of her are straight out of a porno, and when she reaches over and starts stroking me I think I could lose my load right there.
“Hands and knees, princess,” I growl. She grins at me and turns, wiggling her ass at me. In one push I’m inside her and a feeling of pure bliss comes over me. “Holy fuck, yes,” I growl, pushing into her as far as I can. I can’t get fucking close enough.
“God, Max,” she pants.
“Take this. You know what to do.” I put the vibrator in her hands and she grins back at me. Reaching between her legs, she presses it to her clit and I can feel her pussy start to tighten. “That’s my girl,” I whisper, pulling out and slamming into her as hard as I can. She screams out, but meets every thrust perfectly. Her fucking pussy is tight and hot and wet and I’m not going to last long.
“Fuck I love you,” I say, teeth gritted, trying to ride out this pleasure a bit longer. My dick hasn’t seen anything in months and coming home to this is better than the best I’ve ever had.
It’s perfection.
“Oh God, I’m coming!” she screams, burying her face into her pillow as her orgasm tightens around me, bringing me to the brink of mine and helping pull me over. Squeezing my eyes shut, the most intense orgasm I’ve ever had rips through me, forcing me to slam into her over and over, not wanting the ride to end.