Then, as though from muscle memory, I was suddenly stalking her until I caught her, gripping her biceps and hauling her into my arms. Sucking her gasp of surprise into my mouth and replacing it with my tongue. All of my blood rushed to my groin and I groaned as I grew painfully hard.
My hands made their way down, over her tight ass, to the back of her thighs. I bent my knees and lifted her, guiding her legs around my waist and backing her up against the wall.
She moaned as I ground my cock into her pussy, shivers wracking her body. I needed her more than anything else at that moment. I reached for my zipper when a loud buzzer tore through my haze of lust. What the fuck?
Pulling back, I looked for the cause of the offending sound and recognized the cook timer on the stove was going off. Something was bubbling in a pot on top, and clearly a dish baking in the oven.
My stomach chose that minute to growl fiercely, reminding me it was empty. With the spell broken, I lowered Jade to the ground, doing my best to ignore her whimper of protest. I stepped back, my hands on her waist to steady her until she slapped at them, and I let go. She hurried over to the timer and shut it off, pulling from the oven what looked like … freshly baked bread? No way.
This seemed like a scene from a movie, the little wife in the kitchen making her man dinner. Except this was anything but a movie, Jade was the last woman who would ever be my wife, and I wasn’t sure she would be willing to share.
My stomach roared in protest and I considered the dangers of seducing some of this food out of her.
“I brought some groceries because I wasn’t sure if the house was stocked,” Jade said, stirring the pot and keeping her back to me. “Mr. Wilkinson explained nobody had been in residence. I was going to ask what you wanted to do about dinner, but I couldn’t find you. “
She started hunting around and I finally snapped out of my trance, helping her to locate dishes and silverware.
“I made minestrone soup, salad is in the fridge, and there are fresh rolls. Help yourself.” She was still avoiding my gaze and it was beginning to annoy me, but I worried about what I’d do if I looked into her intoxicating eyes. So, I helped myself to the food, put it on a tray, thanked her quietly, and ran to my office like a coward.
A little after midnight, I took my dishes to the kitchen, rinsed and put them in the dishwasher, then went up to my room. I hesitated at Jade’s door, my hand itching to reach for the handle. Did she sleep in silky little nighties? Or a pair of boxers (I felt violent at the thought that she might be wearing another man’s clothes) and a t-shirt? Or, I swallowed hard, in the nude?
I groaned and forced my feet to step one in front of the other until I was shut in my bedroom. Keeping my eyes anywhere but on the connecting door, I stripped and took an icy shower. After I had dried off, exhaustion hit me, and I practically stumbled to the bed and passed out.
Several hours later, I woke in the darkness from a distant sound. Instantly alert, I sat up and listened. It sounded like—well, like someone was getting sick. After a moment, I realized it was coming from Jade’s ensuite bathroom. I threw the covers off and raced to her room.
5
Jade
Ugh! Could tonight get any worse? Apparently it could, because another convulsion shook my body and I lost whatever contents remained in my stomach from dinner. Minestrone soup wasn’t fun when it came back up, especially not when it had been paired with a salad.
Make that much, much worse. “Jade? Are you okay?” Lucas’s question was spoken gently through the door, in a tone I hadn’t heard from him since before he turned into an ass and stormed out of our hotel room.
“Do I sound like I’m fine?” I muttered under my breath.
The opening of the door was the only answer I got to a question he couldn’t have possibly heard. Then he was on his knees behind me, one hand bunching my hair at the back of my neck while the other rubbed my back in soothing strokes. Jerky Lucas was hard enough to resist, I couldn’t possibly expect myself to fare any better with this caring version of him. At least I didn’t have to worry about falling victim to the chemistry between us anytime soon, since I felt like death warmed over and probably looked like it too.
When it seemed as though I was done, Lucas helped me to my feet and settled me on the stool in front of the vanity. The freaking vanity! This house was nothing like anywhere I’d ever lived before and I couldn’t help but feel intimidated by the visible signs of wealth all around me. Well except maybe for the gourmet kitchen. It had truly been a joy to cook in there.
My stomach gurgled and I shoved all thoughts of food from my mind while taking the cold washcloth Lucas was handing me. Before I could use it, his hand was on my forehead, checking for a fever. I slapped it away and swiped the washcloth over my face.
“I don’t think you have a fever.” He sounded genuinely concerned. “And I ate the same dinner as you, so I don’t think it’s food poisoning.”
I wished I was lucky enough to have food poisoning. “It’s not.”
“Maybe it was whatever you had for breakfast? That could explain why you were sick in Mr. Wilkinson’s office earlier.”
So could the baby I was beginning to think I was carrying. Not that I was going to tell him that, so I kept my mouth shut and let him continue.
“You should have made something lighter for dinner,” he chided. “As much as I enjoyed the soup, chicken noodle would have been better if your stomach was still upset.”
“Like you’re the expert on what’s good for me,” I mumbled. “You don’t even know me, not really. Or you wouldn’t have said all those horrible things.”
And, yep, those were tears welling in my eyes and streaming down my cheeks. What the heck was wrong with me? Oh, yeah. That’s right. I was tired. I was also nauseous, but somehow hungry at the same time. Plus, I’d been stupid enough to pack a bag and move into the bedroom next to the man I’d let fuck me on a desk in a hoity-toity law office. An office belonging to the man who’d convinced me it wasn’t just in my best interests to stay here but also Lucas’s, and for some insane reason I actually cared. To top it all off, I was more hormonal than I’d ever been in my entire life. Probably because I’d missed my last period, not from the stress of my mother’s death and my upcoming show, as I’d hoped, but due to the fact that I was almost definitely carrying Lucas’s baby.
Who was now my step-brother.
Who I lived with.
In a mansion that I half-owned.
Hysterics, here I came.
Refusing to let him see how much of a mess I was, I kept the washcloth over my face while I tried to calm the heck down. Only Mr. Caring wasn’t having any of that.
“Here, take this,” he said gruffly, pulling the cloth out of my hand. I didn’t look up at his face and instead focused on the toothbrush he was holding out for me. It was the one I’d put into the fancy holder on the marble countertop and he’d squirted some of my toothpaste onto it.
I shoved the brush into my mouth and scrubbed my teeth, avoiding inserting it too far for fear that it would start off another puking session. Once I was satisfied the taste was out of my mouth, I got to my feet and moved to the sink to spit and rinse. Lucas stayed nearby, leaning against the doorframe with his gaze on me the entire time. I finally realized what he was wearing, or um, not wearing, as the case was, since he was naked. I guessed I needed to add horny to the never-ending list of things I was feeling because the sight of his bare chest and other large, hard parts of him, put me straight back into a daze. And then I remembered what I was wearing, a pair of boyfriend shorts and a thin camisole. Cursing my fair coloring as I felt a blush sweep up my skin, I kept my eyes up while I brushed past Lucas and back into my bedroom.
Climbing back into bed, I pulled the covers over my body and kept my eyes on Lucas’s face as he came closer. Don’t look down. Whatever you do, don’t look down!
“I’ll call the family doctor and ask him to come see you first thing in the morning.”
“I’m perfectly capable of making a doctor’s appointment for myself.” Because there was no way in the world I was going to let his doctor examine me. No way, no how.
“Then make one,” he ordered, moving towards the door that connected our rooms. Wait! There was a connecting door to our bedrooms? How had I not noticed this before?
“I will!”
He stopped in the doorway. “And you’d better let me know what the doctor says.”
“Of course I will. Right away, sir.” Liar. If the doctor told me what I thought he was going to tell me, I was going to stall my butt off while I tried to find a way to give Lucas the news.
“You’re pregnant.”
The doctor’s announcement shouldn’t have come as a surprise considering why I was here, but I was still shocked. The receptionist had taken pity on me when I’d called to schedule and let me take the opening from a cancellation. It was a good thing, too, because I didn’t think Lucas would have let me get away with not seeing his doctor for more than a day. And the last thing I wanted was to have to try to convince some doctor I’d never met to keep my pregnancy a secret until I was ready to talk to Lucas about it.
He already thought I was an opportunist who’d tried to trick him into giving her an art show. And a gold-digger. Apparently, he could add whatever it is people call women who get pregnant on purpose for money to the list. Not that I’d done this on purpose or wanted anything from him. But I was sure he’d see it that way because I’d been subject to his harsh judgment twice before. I wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of going through it again. Especially not knowing whether this was going to happen for the rest of my life since we were going to have a child together.
I tried to focus on what the doctor told me about how far along I was and how their office handled pregnancy appointments. I retained maybe half of what she said, scheduled my next appointment and then made it to the safety of my car.
I was pregnant.
I let the thought really sink in. My mom and dad were both dead, and I’d never been close to my extended family since they were spread across the country. My hand cradled my stomach protectively, and I was in awe of the idea that I was going to be a mother.
A baby was growing inside me. One I was going to raise. Someone I’d love unconditionally. A life I’d do anything to protect, starting with whatever it took to fulfill the terms of my step-father’s will to ensure this child had anything they’d ever need, even if Lucas decided he wanted nothing to do with us.
I made a couple stops along the way back to my new home. I tiptoed into the house and softly closed the door behind me, hoping beyond hope that Lucas wouldn’t hear me come in. I had the bag from the pharmacy in one hand, filled with anti-nausea meds and prenatal vitamins. In the other, I had one from the bookstore with several pregnancy books inside. I might not have planned to get pregnant, but I intended to be the best pregnant woman ever now that I knew I was.
“What did the doctor say?” Lucas’s question came out of nowhere.
I turned quickly and found him standing under the archway which separated the foyer from a formal sitting room with a window overlooking the front drive. He must have been waiting for me to get home. I felt the blood drain from my face and grabbed for the doorknob as spots danced in front of my eyes. Crap! What the heck was I going to tell him? And how in the world was I going to stop myself from passing out?
6
Lucas
I lunged forward and caught Jade right before she hit the ground. My heart was beating out of my chest. I’d worried about her all day, then she finally arrived home and passed out in my arms. I stopped pretending I wasn’t worried.
Scooping her up, I hooked her bags on my fingers and started up the wide staircase, taking the stairs two at a time. At the top, it split into two hallways, one on either side, both open with a railing allowing a view down into the foyer below. I turned down the right hall and without thought, took her into my room and set her gently on the bed, dropping her bags on the dresser. What the fuck kind of a doctor had she seen? He was clearly a quack if he sent her home like this.
Her eyelids started to flutter and I quickly retrieved a damp washcloth from the bathroom to cool her forehead as she came to. I was still vacillating on whether or not I should call nine-one-one when her beautiful green eyes were suddenly staring at me, swimming with fear. She was obviously as worried about her fainting episode as I was.
“Sweetheart. What did the doctor tell you?” I asked softly, keeping my voice low in case her head was bothering her.
She looked around before asking, “Why am I in your room?”
I hadn’t even realized I’d come straight to my bed. “Force of habit,” I lied. I’d brought her in here because it felt natural, like this was where she was supposed to be.
“I’ll take you back to your room.” I started to lift her into my arms again but she pushed my hands away.
“I can walk—“
I grabbed her wrists and held them in front of her with one hand, the other going under her ass to lift her up. “I’ll carry you,” I said firmly, my tone brokering no argument.
She remained silent, which was probably a good thing because if I had to get her to stop talking again, there was a good chance I’d be using my mouth to do it and I wouldn’t be telling her to be quiet.
Once I had her settled, I sat on the bed next to her and her eyebrows rose to her hairline with surprise. “So?” I demanded.
She closed her eyes and sighed. “Could we maybe talk about this when I’m not so woozy? I think I just need to rest for a while.”
I wanted to argue, but the faint purple shadows under her eyes convinced me she needed rest and my inquisition could wait. I brushed some of her hair off of her forehead, resisting the temptation to place a kiss there. “Alright, we’ll talk after you’ve slept for a bit.”
I stood and padded to the door, leaving the room and shutting it quietly behind me. Then I strode purposefully into my bedroom and pulled my cell phone from my pocket, pacing as I put a call into my family doctor. I didn’t care what she said, she was going to be checked out by a physician I knew and trusted.
Hanging up my phone, I dropped it on the dresser and noticed the bags Jade had brought in with her. I picked them up intending to sneak into her room and leave them where she would be able to find them. I must have grabbed the wrong end because the contents of one of the bags slipped out and crashed onto the floor, making a racket despite landing on plush cream carpet. I squatted down and picked up the bottles, only glancing at their labels for a second.
The room started spinning and I lost my balance, my ass hitting the ground hard, the bottle rattling in my hand.
Prenatal Vitamins.
It didn’t take a genius to know what those were for. Was Jade pregnant? With another man’s baby? A slow burn started in my belly and I felt fury building. But another part of me knew it was more likely the baby was mine. Was it? No, we’d worn condoms. Every—oh fuck. I’d gotten carried away and fucked her bare in the shower.
The room stopped spinning, in fact, the world stopped rotating, time halted, and I’m pretty sure even the angels in heaven stopped singing. I’ve never experienced such utter stillness and quiet. All the better to hear the screaming in my head. One part howling with anger and one part a caveman beating on his chest in triumph.
I was torn, still struggling with my belief that she was using me for my money and position as owner of the gallery. Yet, the signs indicating I’d been wrong were piling up. Why hadn’t she asked about the gallery showing?
My mind played over her reactions at the lawyer’s office, once again. Could her shock have been genuine? Then she’d bought groceries and made us dinner, without being asked, or demanding reimbursement. Of course, it’s not like she needs the money anymore, right? She’s gotten exactly what she wanted. I think. I sighed and scratched my head, the whole situation was like a rollercoaster and I couldn’t figure out which way was up.
I emptied her other bag to find books about pregnancy, but looking at them was making me nauseous. I’m aware of the irony. Putting everything back in the bags, I clutched them tight, not ready to let them go, as though if I did, it would cease to be real. Moving my pacing to the front hall, I anxiously waited for the doctor to arrive.
An hour later, I’d worn a hole in the damn floor waiting for Dr. Morgan. I asked him to wait in the informal family room located through another arched doorway near the stairwell, while I checked on Jade. Realizing I was still holding the books and medicine, I dropped the items on a table in the entryway and jogged up the stairs to her room. I knocked softly and listened for any sound indicating she was awake.
I heard shuffling and the door opened revealing a deliciously mussed Jade. Damn, she looked adorable and so fuckable at the same time. She looked a little green and had a hand over her flat stomach. A vision of Jade with her hand resting on a swollen belly flashed before my eyes. She looked beautiful.
“Have you seen the, um, bags I brought home with me?” she asked, breaking me out of my daydream. Her voice was hesitant, but her green eyes were flared with worry. Was she ever intending to tell me? I was becoming rather confused. Why wouldn’t she have announced it right away and demanded I marry her? I couldn’t let her take all of the blame for her condition, but I was shocked she wasn’t trying to use it as leverage to trap me.
It suddenly occurred to me, was it because I was technically her step-brother? Tension wrapped itself around my heart as I considered the possibility she might fight for me to not be a part of my child’s life. No. That wasn’t going to happen. As soon as I could get control away from the current board at work, I’d be marrying her ass if I had to drag her to the courthouse, kicking and screaming. Until then, we’d have to keep it a secret and stay under the radar.
The Yeah, Baby Series: Limited Edition 9 Book Set Page 10