by Fox, Nicole
Oh. That wouldn’t do.
I nudged the door to the nursery open. It was painted in pale yellows and pinks and blues with clouds along the walls. It was small, with only one bookshelf and a rocking chair aside from the crib that took up most of the space, and was the source of the wailing that was coming from it.
I walked over, heart pounding. This was it. My child.
I had never held a baby before. I’d never really been around children, except for when I was one, and that hadn’t counted. I had thought about reading baby book after baby book to prepare myself for when I finally came in contact with my child, but Satan, before he passed, had told me that there wasn’t anything that a book could tell a man about being a father that he didn’t just already know when he looked into his child’s face for the first time.
I hadn’t understood what he’d meant until now.
She was a cherubim little dream, pink-faced and wide-mouthed in her little screams. I thought that I would be put off by those first few cries, but I was charmed in a way that I hadn’t expected. I reached in without hesitation and I pulled her to my chest. Experimentally, I bounced her—gently. That’s what you did with babies that were crying, right? Bounced them?
Or changed them.
Or fed them.
I had no idea where items for those particular activities were, however, and her wails started to hiccup into little whines until eventually, she quieted.
I was so ready to learn her name. The wait had been agony, and now that I was here, I craved and craved to know my daughter. The idea of raising her ran through my head—would she be a tomboy? A girly girl? Would she be into music or sports and would she want a car or a Harley for her sweet sixteen?
“… Wheeler?”
I started and turned. In the frame of the door stood Ember, leaned against it. She was tired but obviously surprised to see me. Her eyes were drooping and her nightgown hung low on her shoulder. She was fuller than I remembered her but the baby weight looked good on her and I liked knowing that it was there because of me.
Because of our child.
I smiled at her, and I nuzzled myself to our daughter’s soft little face.
“She’s perfect,” I said.
“Her name’s Emma,” she said. She walked up to me, sliding her hand through the little angel tuft of hair that was on our daughter—Emma’s—head. Her hand was so soft and gentle over Emma’s head. A mother’s touch.
Well. She’d had a month of practice by now, after all. I knew that she would be a good mother.
“Emma … Emma and Ember. My two girls.”
Ember smiled warmly at that.
“I like the sound of that.”
“It’s why I said it.”
She slapped me playfully on the shoulder and laughed softly at me.
“Shut up, you. Go on and put her down. She’s back asleep now. You’re going to want to take all the quiet moments that you can.”
Gently, I leaned down and placed Emma back into her crib. She squirmed a little and clenched her little fists into a ball but she remained asleep. I stood there, with Ember pressed into my side and her arms around my middle. We watched Emma sleeping. She rolled over once, yawned, and nuzzled her little face against one of her little fists.
She was a part of me. For nine months, a piece of me and a piece of Ember formed together to make her.
I was instantly in love and enchanted and I knew that I would do anything and everything for this little angel.
I turned to the other angel of mine.
Ten months between now and the last time that I had seen her separated us. There was a lot of time to make up for, and I wanted to do every bit of it right now. To hold her and taste her and feel the heat of her wrapped around my body and how wet and amazing she was and tell her I loved her—
I took her face in my hands and leaned forward, kissing her. I moaned against her mouth and tugged at her bottom lip, pressing close to her. I hadn’t kissed her in so long, I savored it, letting my mouth caress hers lovingly and part her lips to the intrusion of my tongue.
Ember wrapped her arms around me and drew me closer. It was like heaven having the softness of her curves pressed against me again. I carded my fingers through her hair and tightened that hold, tangling my fingers in her red hair. I had liked the different styles that she had had when she was wearing wigs to disguise who she was, but I loved nothing more than having my fingers plunged into the rich thickness of her waves.
“I missed you,” I breathed. “So damn much. You’re going to have to catch me up on … everything.”
She laughed.
“What, my mother’s intel hasn’t been enough?”
I pulled away a little, surprised.
“You knew about that?”
“I know that it’s impossible for you to stay away in any situation, and I also know that it’s impossible for my mother to resist the pleas of a good-looking man. So I put two and two together when she hadn’t started nagging me about keeping you in the loop or trying to play matchmaker for me in trying to get us back together—like some sort of fairy godmother.”
I laughed.
“I like to think of your mother as a fairy godmother. It’s fitting.”
I took her hand and squeezed it tight, leading her out of the nursery and back over to her bedroom. I would greet her mother in the morning. Maybe I would even treat the girls to some homemade breakfast, depending on what Angela had in the fridge.
We lay down on the bed together, facing each other. I slid my legs between Ember’s and pulled her close to my chest. I pressed my face into her hair and just breathed her in. She smelled like honey and spice.
“I missed touching you,” I said. “And holding you. And fucking you. I missed you so much.”
We were back to kissing. It was like we needed to in order to breathe, and I was perfectly fine with that. If I needed Ember to breathe and vice versa, then that would be the life I would lead from now on.
It didn’t take long for things to get moving. I rocked between her legs and pushed up the thin little nightgown that she was wearing. I kissed her hungrily, my mouth roaming from her lips to her neck to her full, soft breasts. I moaned against her and felt her warmth through my jeans.
We made love that night. The first time was nice and slow and deep. I went a little harder the second, and let her ride me smooth the third. We were a sweaty, messy pile of love and limbs after we came.
I rolled to my side.
“You know, after everything, we still didn’t use a condom.”
She laughed.
“I’m on the Pill this time,” she informed me. “I went on a little after Emma was born. To prepare.”
I bit my lip. Well. That solved that problem. But.
“Maybe in the future we can forget about the Pill again?”
“You just met your daughter and you’re already vying for another baby?” She laughed again.
“Well, you know, I think it would be a good present for Emma if she had a little sibling, you know? I think as her loving father, it’s the least that I could give her.”
“Well, as her loving mother, I suppose at some point, it’s the least that I could give her as well.”
Naked, I pulled Ember toward me. I was still inside her, and she was still wet with cum and slick. I didn’t want to leave her—so I didn’t. instead I held her close to me, listening to the beat of her heart in the silence of the bedroom, and feeling the soft puff of her breath against my bare chest as she started to fall asleep.
It was dark in the room. So dark. But there was so much light in my future that emanated from this one woman, and from the baby girl in the room across from us.
The future was looking good.
I couldn’t wait.
THE END
***
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Books by Nicole Fox
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KNOCKED UP BY THE BAD BOY: The Warriors MC
FIVE REBEL BIKERS. FIVE INNOCENT GIRLS.
WHO CAN KNOCK THEIR WOMAN UP FIRST?
I made a bet with my brothers:
First one to knock up a local girl wins.
At first, I don’t care what happens.
But when Bambi crosses my sights… losing is no longer an option.
I could never resist a pretty girl.
And Bambi’s body screams temptation.
She’s the County Queen.
Doe-eyed.
Long-legged.
Sin and sex with curves for days.
But it isn’t until I’ve snatched her for myself that I realize there’s a lot happening in the shadows.
The stakes are higher than I ever imagined.
Too f***ing bad.
I intend to make Bambi mine.
Screw the bet.
Screw it all.
She WILL carry my child.
But only after she begs for my seed.
Again.
And again.
And again.
HIS SEED: Satan’s Sons MC
HE’S GOT THE GIFT I DIDN’T KNOW I NEEDED.
And he’s about to give it to me…
All of it.
All of him.
All. Night. Long.
I play with fire for a living.
But Wheeler Blake is hotter than anything I’ve ever touched before.
He stands out in the front row of my performance.
There’s no one else like him.
With those tats, those muscles, and those eyes that seem to strip me naked right then and there…
I can’t help but notice him.
And I know for a fact that he’s noticed me, too.
Because I didn’t expect to end my evening on the back of his bike.
But once Wheeler gets an idea in his head, there’s no turning back.
He doesn’t just want one taste, or one night.
He wants to give me the one thing I’ve been missing my whole life.
But a man like him comes with demons on his trail.
And Wheeler’s demons are looking for any way they can to hurt him.
Unfortunately, their sights have landed on me.
To be more specific, they’ve landed on Wheeler’s baby in my belly.
I’ve danced with fire for a long time.
But it wasn’t until now that I truly got burned.
MARRIED TO MY MASTER: A Bad Boy Hitman Romance
SHE OWES ME EVERYTHING. AND I’M COMING TO COLLECT WHAT’S DUE.
She’s responsible for my family’s nightmare.
Not that she cares.
Emily West has no clue who I am – yet.
But by the time I’m finished with her, she’ll be moaning my name.
She thought she was safe in her corporate skyscraper.
But nothing can stop me from getting my revenge.
The things she did drove my brother to madness.
To her, he’s just a number on an accident report.
Easy to ignore.
Easy to forget.
But I won’t be ignored. I won’t be forgotten.
Miss West is going to pay for her crimes.
With her mouth, her body, the last of her innocence…
I won’t rest until I own her.
This won’t be over until she takes me as her master.
MOB BOSS’S BABY: The MacKay Family Mafia
I NEED TO OWN HER FOREVER.
It’s not easy being the son of the Don.
Especially not with an FBI agent sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong.
I’ll ravage her once, just to show her who’s boss.
And if that’s not enough, I’ll have to make her mine forever – with my baby in her belly.
I was born into this underworld.
I’m a prince here.
Woman fall to their knees for me at the snap of my fingers.
But I’ve never wanted anyone like I want Agent Scarlet O’Bannon.
It’s not just that she’s sexy as hell.
It’s not just the look of lust in her eye.
It’s the fact that she’s utterly forbidden.
Sleeping with the Fed investigating my family is probably a bad idea.
But I just don’t give a damn.
I’m gonna have the prissy little princess.
However I want.
Whenever I want.
But no sooner have I stripped her down than I get the worst call of my life.
My father is dead.
The Mob is in chaos.
And our enemies want my head on a platter.
Suddenly, the stakes are a million times higher.
And Scarlet is about to find out how real things can get on this side of the law.
Especially because she can’t turn back now.
Not with my baby in her belly.
GRIZZLY’S BABY: The Butchers MC
HE’S GOING TO GET ME PREGNANT OR DIE TRYING.
He’s part of a past I want to escape.
But Grizzly found me.
And this time, he won’t be happy with just taking my body.
He wants to put a baby in me, too.
He carried me away from the worst night of my life.
I can’t scrub the images from my mind’s eye.
The blood…
The fire…
The bodies.
I’ve done my best to forget about it.
To move on.
But now he’s back, and all the horrible memories have come with him.
My body remembers what it’s like to have that bike roaring between my legs.
To have the thick, muscled body of my man in front of me.
To bend down and feel his touch exploring my thighs, my hips, my skin.
But no. No.
I can’t go back to that life.
I won’t.
At least, that’s what I tell Grizzly.
Not like he gives a damn.
He’s found me again, and this time, he won’t be letting me go.
I’m his, he tells me.
I’m his woman.
His ride or die.
And, if he has his way, I’ll soon be pregnant with his child.
MAVERICK’S BABY: The Silent Angels MC
I’m pregnant with Maverick’s baby.
There are some things that should never be done.
Like sleeping with a murder suspect.
And there are some things that are even worse…
Like getting pregnant with his baby.
“Laced up” might’ve been a good way to describe me.
Shoes shined, shirt crisp – the pride and joy of my city’s police force.
And I liked my cases the way I wore my uniform:
Nice and neat.
But the world doesn’t always work that way.
It’s messy.
Chaotic.
Wild.
Just like Maverick Mace.
I said I was proud – he made me beg.
I said I was chaste – he made me dirty.
I said I was independent – he made me his and his alone.
And I loved every second of it.
But if getting involved with a suspect in a mysterious, crime-world murder was bad…
Then what happened next was far, far worse.
It’s not just myself I’ve put in trouble.
There’s also a baby I can barely protect, not to mention a dangerous man I barely know.
And the killers coming to end us all.
Maverick made me his…
And no one takes what belongs to him.
MOBSTER’S BABY: Esposito Family Mafia
I’m pregnant with the mobster�
�s baby.
I broke the rules – I slept with a mobster.
One mistake would have been bad enough.
But now that I’m carrying his baby… my whole world is about to come crashing down.
Because the bad boy is coming to claim what’s his.
I’ve always been a good girl.
I looked the part, acted like it.
The politician’s daughter, as prim and proper as they come…
And I f**king hated it.
I was dying to know what it felt like to be free.
To be wild.
To be bad.
So I crossed the tracks and did what I never, ever should have done.