“It is. I was… I didn’t think of it that way.”
Harrison nodded, and the look of sheer hurt on his face made her stomach hurt. Alarmed, she clutched at her belly, afraid of the worst.
“Harrison, I’m sorry. I was going to tell you tonight. But I fell asleep.”
Harrison nodded again, and he opened his mouth to say something, but abruptly seemed to change his mind.
“Are you all right? Leigh? You’ve gone pale – really pale. You’ve been overdoing it. Working too much, and taking all of this on – you should take better care of yourself. No, I should take better care of you.”
“You’re angry with me.”
“I’m frustrated and annoyed, but I dare say I’ll get over it.”
Leigh tried to smile, but to her horror, she felt tears bubbling up.
Harrison looked utterly flabbergasted.
“Hey, what… Leigh, what’s wrong? Come on, don’t cry.”
He sat down beside her on the bed and held her close.
“I’m sorry,” she sobbed, holding on to him and soaking the front of his shirt with her tears. She tried to hold them back, but they seemed to have a life of their own.
“It’s all right. You really are overdoing it if you’re crying over this. You hate crying. Shall I make you a protein shake? Some food? We can fight over this later. That’s marriage, right? We have all the time in the world to fight.”
Leigh tried to chuckle, but it came out as more sobs.
“You’re beginning to really freak me out, baby,” said Harrison, holding her and rocking her.
“I’m sorry,” she said again, as if that was the only thing she could manage to get out of her mouth.
“What happened, honey? Did you find anything particularly horrible? Have my parents risen from the grave and come to haunt us because we didn’t invite them to the wedding?”
Of all the things, that’s what made her stop crying and start chuckling. Subsiding, she sat there, held safely in Harrison’s arms, and wondered what to tell him first.
“I found out a few things. Did you read it? The detective thinks that it wasn’t so clear cut – that it might not have been an accident. His gut tells him that it wasn’t. He just couldn’t prove it. There was a lot of circumstantial evidence that suggested that such an accident was unlikely. And… Harrison, promise me you won’t be angry with me.”
Harrison smiled and kissed the top of Leigh’s head. If she thought that he could be angry with her when she was in that state, for whatever reason, then she didn’t know him very well.
“Of course not.”
“Before going to the detective, I went to my parents. They’re the ones who gave me the detective’s contact details. Dad has been in touch with him over the years.”
“I guessed that much, Leigh. I figured that’s what happened. The cops we’ve talked to so far, with the exception of Portia, haven’t been particularly helpful. I didn’t think you just went in and asked for the case files.”
“I considered asking Portia, but I didn’t want to owe her too many favors. I mean, she seems nice and all, but…”
“Yes, I know. There’s always that but. You found a way around that, of course, like you always do.”
“There’s more, though, Harrison. Mom and dad told me… Don’t be angry with them, too, please. They really were trying their best to protect you. But they didn’t push as hard as they could have back then, and there were a few anonymous threats.”
Everything in Harrison seemed to go on high alert.
“Threats?”
“Your parents got a few threatening letters before their accident. When you graduated from college, my mom got one, too. That’s in my bag – I kept those in the bag.”
“That’s… I never knew.”
Leigh nodded, but she didn’t pull away from him. She wanted to stay in his arms.
“I didn’t, either. Altogether, I really think that it’s all connected. I think whoever this is has some kind of connection to your parents, and maybe their accident. I don’t know, I’m not thinking very straight right now. I’m so tired.”
“Yes, I can see you’re tired, but your thinking seems perfectly fine,” said Harrison.
“No, I feel all mixed up. It’s the hormones.”
“Hormones? Time of the month? That explains the crying, I suppose…”
Leigh held him tighter and shook his head.
“No, not that. Actually, about that… It turns out that… Well, the long and short of it is, Harrison, I discovered today that I’m pregnant, too.”
Time itself seemed to stand still. Harrison’s arms tightened around her.
“Pregnant?”
“Knocked up,” she confirmed.
“Leigh,” he whispered, and when she looked at him, she saw that everything else had faded away. She saw so much love on his face that nothing else mattered.
Chapter 11
The kiss was soft, sweet, so tender that she thought she would melt. All she could think of was Harrison. He was all that mattered.
“Can we… I mean…”
Leigh chuckled softly.
“I haven’t had the chance to schedule an appointment yet, but it’s fine. I’m perfectly healthy. We can make love. I want to. Make love to me, Harrison.”
He looked at her and saw more than the woman he loved, the woman who could drive him do distraction without trying, the woman he craved like he craved his next breath. He saw the woman who was his world, and who now carried his world inside her, too.
“Leigh,” he murmured, as he kissed her again, so gently that she felt everything in her go limp. He pushed her back onto the bed, and she felt his fingers working their way down the buttons of the shirt she wore.
“You drive me to insanity. I love you so much. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he said, the tenderness become a little rougher around the edges as he spread her blouse open and flicked the front clasp of her bra undone, letting her breasts spill out.
“Do they… Can I…”
Leigh smiled, enchanted by how protective he was.
“They’re fine. A little bigger than usual, don’t you think?”
“Perfect. You’re always perfect. When you get big and round and fat, and you waddle around, and can’t stand straight without a hand to your back, you’ll still be the most beautiful woman in the world and perfect.”
Leigh chuckled.
“You know, I’m strangely looking forward to all of that. We made a baby, Harrison.”
“Maybe if we hurry we make that twins.”
Leigh grinned.
“I don’t think it works that way,” she told him, but her words were silenced with such gentleness as his mouth covered hers, kissing her so softly, his tongue stroking hers and making her whimper against him. His hand was on her breasts, stroking them, touching her nipples before grasping one between his fingers and rolling them gently, so delicately.
“Harrison,” she whispered, needing him so much.
“Touch me, Leigh. Please, touch me.”
The need in his voice made her feel powerful. She could do that to this strong man, and she loved it. Quickly, just as impatient as he had been, she undid the buttons of his shirt, sliding her hands inside and touching his strong, muscled chest.
The desire that burnt through her made her gasp. Her fingers became more frantic as he trailed soft kisses down her neck, nibbling at her soft skin delicately. She fumbled with his trousers, needing to feel him.
“Harrison, please…”
He heard the rough edge of lust in her voice and moved away to quickly undress the rest of the way, pulling off his pants and boxers. His fingers trembled as he stroked her torso, moving over her belly lightly and tenderly. Quickly, he undid the catch of her skirt and pulled it down her hips, taking her panties down with them, leaving her naked for him.
“Leigh…”
“Please, Harrison, I need you!”
Her eyes were on his crotch, his man
hood standing hard and proud. She wanted him inside her. Everything in her pulsed with that desire that would not be denied.
He felt her urgency and moved over her, but he tortured her with gentleness as he kissed and licked his way down her torso, pressing such soft kisses to her belly, kissing her sensitive hips and moving down her legs.
“Leigh,” he moaned, as he spread her legs and pressed soft, open-mouthed kisses to her navel, moving lower in a straight line, until she was writhing against him, as he licked and teased her relentlessly.
“Harrison, please!”
It wasn’t a plea. It was an order, despite the magic word. He spread her legs and dipped his head, licking her slit once, just once, to make her shudder. She begged now, with no pride between them. When she finally felt his tongue slide between her wet, swollen folds, she cried out, writhing on the bed, arching her back, pressing herself closer to his face as his tongue found that hard little button of flesh that could make her feel like she was on the cusp of heaven.
He didn’t make her beg again. His lips closed around her clit and sucked, as his fingers slid inside her, moving in and out of her so slowly that she thought she would never be able to bear it. He took her to the edge, and when she reached for her climax, he moved away, pressing soft kisses to her trembling thighs. He nuzzled her again when she came down from it, taking her higher and higher again with his lips and his tongue, before making her wait again, until she was nearly sobbing from it.
“Harrison,” she moaned, unable to say anything but his name. She could think of nothing and nobody except him.
When he finally moved over her, she wrapped her legs around him and raised her hips, eager to take him inside her.
“Slowly, Leigh,” he whispered, and took her mouth in a kiss where she tasted herself on his mouth. She opened for him as the tip of his hard, long shaft pressed against her moist, tight entrance. She welcomed him as he entered her, slowly, before withdrawing again, making her move with him. Her heels pressed against his back, drawing him deeper inside her.
She needed to feel him inside her, filling her. He thrust gently, so gently, his hips moving in soft circles as he invaded her body, with Leigh opening to him and welcoming him. She held him close to her, their mouths joined as their bodies were as they began to move together, in a slow, steady rhythm that kept her on that edge for longer than she had thought was possible.
She gasped, and sobbed, but he wouldn’t go faster, wouldn’t go faster. He tortured her with pleasure, with all the gentleness of which his body was capable, as he made love to her slowly, moving with her gently, taking her so gently.
“You’re mine, Leigh,” he whispered in her ear, and she knew that she was – of course she was. She would always be his.
She would always belong to him.
She whispered his name, no longer demanding that he go faster, that he take her harder. Her surrender was complete as she put herself, her heart, body and soul, in his hands and let him do as he wanted. She belonged to him.
“Now, Leigh,” he whispered, and his rhythm changed. His hand slid between them and his fingers found her, stroking her as he moved just a little faster, but still not harder.
She breathed him in, took him in, and held him closer and closer as he took her higher, and higher still. When she finally shattered in pleasure, wrapped around him, he held still, so still and steady, until her shudders stopped.
Then he moved, still gently, holding himself back with ruthless control, until she finally whispered to him her need to have him fill her with his seed again. As if he had been waiting for that, he groaned her name and thrust so deep inside her, holding himself there as a heart-stopping climax made his body tense and shudder, in her arms.
And he knew that just as he would keep his wife and his child safe, always, he would never feel safer than he did in Leigh’s arms, with no defenses between them, either.
Leigh woke up later to find Harrison sitting beside her, with his laptop.
“What’re you doing?” she asked?
“First, you need to eat. Second, I made an appointment for both of us to see the doctor. Third… Well, you were right. I should’ve thought of my past. I didn’t. So I managed to dig up all I could find from my parents’ past. It took a pretty hefty dollar-amount of persuasion, but I managed to get a certain somebody to scan everything they could find and send it to me.”
Leigh’s eyes widened.
“How long was I out?”
“About seven hours.”
“You managed to get all of that in seven hours?”
“It was a very hefty dollar-amount of persuasion,” said Harrison with that irrepressible grin that she had never been able to resist.
“All right, then, what have we got?”
Harrison hesitated.
“It’s all right. The past will have to stay in the past. We cannot change things now. But we can face them.”
Harrison nodded, looking a little sad.
“I know. I know you’re right. It’s just that… Well, I always thought of my parents as being good people. They were always good to me.”
Leigh nodded.
“I’m sure there were. But you know that in business, sometimes decisions end up hurting people. Sometimes it’s nobody’s fault.”
Harrison shook his head.
“And sometimes it is somebody’s fault. It usually is. Anyway, whatever harm you cause, even if you didn’t mean to cause it, is your responsibility. I had this safety cushion of money that I so virtuously refused to touch because I was determined to make it on my own. It never occurred to me to ask if that safety net had caused somebody else’s to be destroyed.”
“Harrison, what did you find out?”
He sighed again, but seemed to make up his mind and harden his heart a little.
“There’s no point beating around the bush. Well, it turns out that when my father’s import-export business started to become profitable, he had a partner. I never knew anything about a partner. I don’t remember anything about a partner at all. Anyway… It looks like there was trouble a few months before the accident. There were pretty big expansion plans in the pipeline, but the numbers are all wrong, Leigh. I can see the cash flow problem here. If I had it all on a spread sheet, I could put it all straight and get the numbers, but there’s about three hundred thousand dollars missing here. Nothing explains it except – well, except something deeply unethical. Either embezzling, or hefty bribes… Well, there are no good explanations. Only bad ones.”
Leigh nodded and moved closer to him, trying to offer him what strength and comfort she could.
“Knowing is better than not knowing. Any explanation is better than none.”
Harrison smiled, fleetingly, but Leigh held on to that.
“Yes, I suppose so. Anyway, it looks like the partner – a Ronald Lacy – was pushed out of the business. It looks like he wasn’t paid anywhere near the amount of money his share of the business was worth. What happened there?”
“Maybe he was in trouble. Maybe he was trouble.”
“Or maybe my father got greedy and took advantage of this partner. Maybe he pushed him out of the business. At any rate, none of this was revealed to the investigating team. At least, very little was. It looks like the partner was questioned and released, but that was routine.”
Leigh nodded.
“Yes, I recognized the name from somewhere. I guess it was in the report. There were so many witness statements that I couldn’t remember all of them. Nothing seemed to stand out.”
Harrison nodded.
“But there was probably some kind of motive there. I’m pretty sure there was.”
Leigh frowned.
“Are you telling me that you think that your parents’ accident was caused by this partner?”
Harrison shrugged.
“I don’t know. Maybe. It’s a possibility. We need to check up on it.”
Leigh made up her mind quickly.
“Well then, we need
to find out just what this Lacy person is doing now. If he’s around, he’d be prime suspect. Two decades ago – we need…”
“I know. I’m tapping Darius for this. I need his help.”
Leigh made an exaggerated face of surprise.
“You are actually asking for help without me having to force you to do so? Why, Harrison, my little heart!”
“Brat,” said Harrison, affectionately.
“Well, if there’s any trace of him online, we’ll find him. Now I need to get my hands on whatever there is about my parents’ business. It doesn’t look like it even exists anymore. It was sold, and it seems to have gone bankrupt in about four years. I don’t understand how that happened, either.”
“If it weren’t for the timeline, I’d say that whoever bought the business has a pretty good reason to be pissed off, too,” chimed in Leigh.
“Yeah, it crossed my mind. Now, I’m taking the day off. Darius is going to be here and we’re going to be working all day.”
Leigh nodded and sighed.
“I guess I need to go to work and handle actual work – the kind I’m supposed to do. I don’t feel like it, though. I… Oh, holy shit,” said Leigh, clapped a hand over her mouth and lurched to the bathroom.
Harrison followed, understandably alarmed, and saw his wife sitting on the floor, hunched over the toilet, hugging it almost as desperately as she held on to him when they made love.
“Leigh, are you all right?”
In response, he got a retching sound that made him shudder, but not the nice way.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
“Water,” she croaked, and Harrison rushed to get her a glass of water, feeling wretched. He needed a manual of some sort.
His wife was pregnant and apparently trying to throw up the baby.
What was he supposed to do? Maybe he should get a few tips from Roger.
Leigh took the water gratefully, sipped, and immediately turned a sickly shade of green.
“Oh, crap, I don’t think water agrees with me,” she managed to say, before resuming her death grip on the toilet and retching again.
Harrison sat next to her, held her hair and patted her back gently, wondering what he was supposed to do. Did women routinely get nine months of maternity leave? If they felt like this, they should.
Our Happily Ever After: BWWM Interracial Romance Black Women White Men (That Forbidden Love Book 3) Page 12