"Didn't you say you needed to get home tonight?" E asked when she came back into the room.
"Yeah. What time is it?" I sat up from where I had been laying next to Vivi.
"Five forty-five. Grant should be here with dinner any minute if you want to stay."
"No. I better get going. Travis wanted to spend some time with me before I have to head home to my parents' for the weekend."
I gathered my bags and walked to the door. I placed a gentle kiss on DJ's head and picked Vivi up, swinging her around much to her delight.
"I'll see you next week," I called out as I left.
"Bye, Aunt Maya," Vivi shouted at my retreating form.
I smiled the whole way home at the vision of Vivi blowing me kisses as I drove away.
* * *
"Dinner smells delicious." I came up behind Travis as he stirred the sauce on the stove and wrapped my arms around his middle. He wore a red and white swirly apron that did nothing to detract from his masculinity. The man practically oozed sex.
"Thanks," he murmured.
"Meatballs and gravy. My favorite." I placed a kiss to his back before stepping away.
He looked at me with mock grievance. "I thought I was your favorite."
"Oh, I can think of a few things you do that are my favorite."
He grabbed the towel from the counter and snapped it at me.
"Hey!" I jumped away from him and rubbed my smarting tush.
"Consider it punishment."
"For what?"
"For not giving me any sugar when you got home." He gave me a little pout, so I walked towards him and wrapped my arms around his neck.
"You want me to love on you?" I asked with my lips against his.
"Yes, please." He closed the small amount of distance between our mouths and gave me a hard, wet kiss that curled my toes.
"Your sauce is going to burn," I told him when we finally broke apart. I could hear it bubbling up behind us on the stove.
Travis' hands gripped my ass and pulled me tighter against his aroused body. "Fine. I guess I can feed my woman, but I'll be sure to cash in later."
"I hope so."
He let me go and went back to stirring the sauce. He turned it on low and took out his phone. With a few clicks of the button music filled the apartment.
"Dance with me?" He extended his hand to me. I put mine in his and let him draw me into his arms. As Michael Bublé crooned, we swayed together with my head resting on his chest and his cheek on my head.
"I'm going to miss you. I don't like being without you," he said softly.
"Me too."
It was my parents' fortieth wedding anniversary, so my two sisters and I were throwing a surprise party for them at their house in Southampton. Travis had an important project deadline at work so he was only coming in for the day of the party and then leaving again, which meant we were going to be apart for most of the next five days.
"Close Your Eyes?" I asked, referring to the song that started playing. I didn't want to think about our time apart but rather focus on being right there with him.
I felt him nod against my head, and I smiled. The words wrapped around us like a cocoon, saying everything that I couldn't begin to put into words for Travis—him pulling me through such a dark time and saving me by being my safe harbor.
I looked up into Travis' face, my hands cupping his cheeks. "I love you so much. Thank you for loving me enough to see past all my mistakes and flaws. For never giving up on me when I was so ready to give up on myself. I don't deserve your love, but you give it to me anyway. You make me realize that anything is possible as long as we have each other."
"I love you too," he whispered and kissed me again. Instead of pulling back or worrying about burning the sauce, I let him take me to the floor where he gently and tenderly showed me just how much he loved me.
* * *
"God, my boobs hurt," I complained as Travis stripped my bra off. His mouth immediately attached itself to the hardened nipples, gently sucking and laving them.
"Not exactly words a man wants to hear when all he can think about is playing with your tits," he murmured before going back in and tormenting the sensitive peaks.
I tightened the grip I had on his hard, thick cock. Pushing the tip into the top of my panties, I rubbed it along my clit. It was such an erotic tease and felt so incredibly good that I had to moan.
"My pussy doesn't hurt. In fact, it would love to be pet right about now."
"I thought that was what you were doing," he pointed out then groaned when I squeezed his length even tighter.
"Not the way I really need. I want your hands. Your mouth. And then I want you to fuck me until I see stars," I whispered my naughty words knowing he loved hearing them.
When his hands tugged my panties down my legs in answer, I yelped. He dropped to his knees and next thing I knew his tongue was probing me and he was tasting me.
"Yes. Right there," I cried out. Threading my fingers through his hair, I pulled him closer as I sought out my climax.
Travis added first one, then two fingers to his ministrations. He explored me so thoroughly, my body was trembling with need. When the orgasm hit me, I had to reach back and steady myself on the footboard of the bed.
"My turn," I said coquettishly and pushed his pajama pants further down his legs, so I could access all of him. He kicked them away and watched with hooded eyes as I lowered myself to the floor in front of him.
Looking up at him through my eyelashes, I reached out and gripped him before leaning forward and rubbing his tip over my lips and cheeks. He jumped in my hand with excitement over the contact.
"What do you want?" I asked him in a low, sultry voice.
"You. Always you." His jaw clenched, and his eyes closed as I continued to tease him.
"Watch me," I ordered him.
Once his eyes met mine, I licked up the underside of his cock, tracing a thick vein. My tongue curled around the tip before I took him all the way in mouth, deep down my throat. Breathing through my nose as it rested against his pelvis, I lifted my eyes fully to his and watched in fascination as he lost his restraint.
"Jesus," he bit out. Gripping my head with both hands he pulled out and thrust back in at a fast pace. My hands held onto the back of his thighs as he wildly fucked my mouth.
I felt him swelling even further and knew he was close to the edge. I marveled in the heady sensation that overcame me knowing I could drive him out of his mind.
He pulled out abruptly and wasting no time, put his hands under my armpits and hauled me up from the floor. He pushed me back on the bed and I bounced when I hit the mattress. He crawled on the bed and wrapped his hands around my ankles. Flipping me over, he gripped my hips and brought me to my knees.
"Just like that," he murmured, running his hands along the skin on my back and my ass.
I felt him position at my entrance and with one long, sensuous glide he was inside me. Right where he belonged.
My head fell forward as he began to move inside me. Each thrust was a little harder and a little deeper than the last.
Lowering my torso to the bed, my right hand pushed out in front of me to grip the headboard. My left hand went behind my back and gripped Travis's hand. That small connection easily made this one of my top positions. Holding Travis' hand grounded me and tightened our physical and spiritual bond.
"I'm going to come," he grunted and thrust harder.
"I'm right there with you," I promised him.
Ensuring I followed him over the edge, he did a delicious hip circle that sent me soaring.
Travis stilled behind me, grunting and sighing with his release. He slumped down and covered my body with his. His lips rubbed back and forth over my shoulder as he came down from his high.
"Welcome home," he finally said. Slowly pulling out of my body, he rolled to his side and propped his head up in his hand with his elbow in the bed.
"Mmmm... it's good to be home." I smiled lazily, far t
oo sated to move from my spot on my belly.
"How's everyone in the Hamptons?" He asked referring to my family and the rest of my parents' anniversary weekend that he missed. Having spent the last three days apart, I wasn't surprised that he accosted me as soon as I walked into the bedroom tonight. I hadn't even had a chance to say hello.
I let out a dreamy sigh before answering him. I couldn’t help it, my man knew how to turn me inside out, and I loved every minute of it.
"Good. Kayla still isn't talking to me. I swear that girl confuses me. You'd think she would be grateful that I saved her from a life of misery being with Ashton, but no," I drew the word out. "She blames me for her heartache. Oh, and she blames me for his arrest. I guess he won't talk to her."
"Well, it is your fault... technically anyway."
"I like to think of it as me speeding up the process of him getting his just desserts." I gave him a playful grin.
"Why does she care that he won't speak to her? You'd think she would be disgusted by what he's capable of." He shook his head in astonishment.
"I know. I don't get it." I frowned and tried not to let it bother me. It was so hard though since Kayla and I had always been so close. I missed her and hated knowing she was upset. There was no way I was going to apologize though. I didn't do anything wrong.
I started to get up from the bed and groaned. "My boobs really do hurt." I circled back around to my earlier comment.
"Why don't you take a test?" His hand reached out to pull me back down on the bed but I dashed away towards the bathroom.
After cleaning up, I poked my head around the door. "The tests they had me take a few weeks ago said I didn't ovulate. It's probably just the hormones." I shrugged and walked into my closet. Digging through my lingerie drawer, I grabbed a clean pair of panties. I stepped into them and ran into Travis in the doorway with his arms folded. He was leaning against the doorjamb watching me with rapt attention.
"Your breasts are larger." He reached out and weighed them in his palms.
"I think you're seeing things." I tried to brush him off by ducking around him, but he cut me off when I went to his closet to get a t-shirt to sleep in. After my drive back from the beach, I was tired and just wanted to curl up in his shirt and go to sleep. Preferably with him wrapped around me.
"Humor me," he said with a gleam in his eyes.
I rolled my eyes and pushed my arms through a white t-shirt. "Is it really that big of a deal?"
"Yes."
"Fine." I acted put out because I sort of was. The idea of taking a pregnancy test was always daunting. No matter whether you thought you were pregnant or not, there was always a moment of pure hope as you peed on the stick. When it showed a negative result, it's like all your dreams died instantly. It sucked in the worst way, which was why I wanted no part of it.
"Come on," he gently chided me. "You didn't get your period."
"Hormones," I said in a sing-song voice on my way back to the bathroom.
Shutting the door in his face, I couldn't help but laugh at his shocked look. I might be doing this because he wanted me to, but that didn't mean I was going to let him watch.
Gripping the unopened foil package I had unearthed from the drawer, I swallowed hard.
You can do this, I repeated silently to myself before ripping it open and taking care of business.
Travis was sitting on the edge of the bed, leaned back on his hands when I exited the bathroom.
"Well?" He raised his eyebrows in question.
"Five minutes, Hamilton. Are you going to go stare at it?"
"Funny." He smacked my ass when I walked by him on my way to unpack my bag.
"I know." I turned my head and winked before going back to my task.
I was halfway done with my task when his voice interrupted me. "Are you seriously not going to go look at it?"
"Go ahead," I said over my shoulder.
When I heard him going into the bathroom, I bit my lip and waited... and waited.
"Well?" I finally asked when he flopped back on the bed without saying a word.
"Oh, now you want to know?"
I shot a pair of socks at his head and put my hands on my hips. "Travis Michael Hamilton."
"Well, Mommy. Looks like I was right." He gave me an “I know everything” grin and my heart stopped.
"No!" I screeched in disbelief. Running to the bathroom, I skidded to a stop in front of the sink where the test still sat. Positive. "Holy shit!"
Travis came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my middle. He kissed the side of my neck and I felt him smiling there. "Congratulations, Mommy."
I leaned back and allowed myself a small moment of pure elation—forcing all the fear from my mind before it was able to suck me into a freak out and ruin the moment. "Congratulations, Daddy. I can't believe this is real."
"It assure you it is."
* * *
The high-end spa Elizabeth and I tried to frequent at least once a month was like a little oasis from the cold spell that had moved in over New York City. It would seem fall didn't want to stick around long and was heralding in winter temperatures far too early.
I dipped my feet in the hot, bubbling water and rested my head on the back of the European spa chair. While my feet soaked, I let the heat from the chair works its way through my muscles.
Beside me, Elizabeth moaned as the massage function on her chair kneaded her back. "This is great," she breathed out.
I let out a little laugh and agreed. Normally I would use the massage function myself, but I had heard not to do massages in your first trimester of pregnancy. I wasn't going to take my chances.
We were one week away from the cutoff and the ultrasound we had went perfectly. Instead of being freaked out, I was perfectly calm this time around. And when the technician played the heartbeat for us, I wept tears of joy.
"What else are you having done today?" She asked in between her little moans.
"Just a facial. Jesus, E, is Grant not taking care of you at home? You seem a little too into that chair right now."
"Sorry." She straightened in her chair and looked around nervously. "I hope no one else saw that."
"You mean heard that. Do I need to have a chat with your husband about cleaning out your pipes?"
"No, it isn't like that. I'm just worn out from the kids. Jennie went home to California to visit her parents, which means it's all me."
"And your mom," I reminded her.
"Oh trust me, I haven't forgotten that. She's the source of most of my stress." She furrowed her brows. "Although I'm glad she seems to have a lot more energy lately."
"Well, I have something that might boost your spirits."
She rubbed her hands together. "Gossip? I love gossip! We haven't done story time in so long."
"Well, not really." I made a face at her.
"Okay, so what then?"
I leaned forward conspiratorially and whispered, "You're going to be an aunt."
Elizabeth screamed and jumped out of her chair. Water sloshed onto the floor and she slipped before gripping my chair. Once she steadied herself, she pulled me into a tight hug and jumped up and down.
"This is so great!" She shouted, not caring that all eyes had turned towards us. When she finally pulled away from me, tears shimmered in her eyes. "I'm so happy for you."
"Thanks. We're pretty excited too. But maybe you should sit down before you get hurt."
She looked down at the large puddle on the floor and shrugged. "I couldn't help it."
After she settled back into her foot bath, she asked, "How far along are you?"
"Ten weeks," I answered.
"So then when are you due?"
"May."
"Have you told anyone else?"
"Just you." I gave her a wide smile.
"Well shit, I feel important," she croaked out and the waterworks started again. This time I found myself crying right alongside her.
"Do you want a boy or a girl? God, I ha
te that question and yet here I am asking you. It isn't like you can choose."
"I don't really care as long as it's healthy. You know?"
"Girls clothes are way cuter to pick out," she informed me. "And girls don't pee on you when you try to change their diaper."
"Hey, I bought you those tee-pee things to go over his wee-wee."
"Yeah well when there isn't one handy, look out. My boy has great aim." She cringed at that.
"Alright fine. If you must know technically I have always dreamed of having a girl. But—" I held up my hand to stop whatever she was about to say. "I'll be happy with whatever God blesses me with."
"I can't wait. DJ is getting so big way too fast. Now I'll be able to get my fill of a baby with yours. Excuse me, miss." She stopped the spa employee walking by us. "Can you get my friend and me here a glass of champagne?"
"I can't drink," I reminded her.
"I know. We'll split it. I'm breastfeeding so I don't want to drink too much either."
"One glass of champagne coming right up," the woman said before disappearing.
"How excited is Travis?"
"Oh my God. You have no idea. He's so damn adorable. He sleeps with his hand on my stomach and won't let me do anything that he thinks might be too stressful. Oh, and I accidentally found out he met with a designer for the nursery too. He's going to spoil me rotten," I gushed.
"You deny it, but I know you love it."
"I do." I laughed. "I'm just taking this one day at a time and enjoying it while I can."
The woman came back with our drink and E held it up in a toast. "To you. To Travis. And to this wonderful little miracle."
Chapter Twenty-One
Eight months later...
"I want to thank you all for coming today. Travis and I are so very excited to have everyone be part of our special day. And I especially want to thank my mom and Elizabeth for throwing me such a marvelous shower," I spoke loudly to quiet the din of laughter and talking throughout E's living room. "All these gifts you've given us today are amazing and I'm so grateful to have such wonderful people in our lives."
Forever Your Concierge Page 19