by Lola White
“What?” She fidgeted on her seat.
“Not a lot of business this time of night, Moon.”
They’d both slept late in Cleveland, but Weslyn figured that was to be expected. After all, they’d been up most of the night, driving from Chicago, and their roll in the sheets toward dawn took a lot of energy. It had been after noon when they’d grabbed ‘breakfast’ and headed out, and Nolan had driven straight through, hours of no relief except a brief stop at a fast food restaurant.
She glanced at the window, meeting her reflection before glimpsing the dark parking lot beyond. “What’s your point?”
“He’s got plenty of time to make whatever we want.”
“You don’t like bacon and eggs?”
Nolan pursed his lips. “That’s not my point.”
“Look, I’ve been in his position. It’s late,” she whispered. “Neither of us know how long he’s been on shift tonight or what he had to put up with before we got here. Let’s just make it easy on him. Besides, protein is good for the baby.”
“Uh-huh. Food, in general, is good for the baby. Maybe I’ll order you a double portion. Get some weight on you.”
Weslyn felt her face growing warm. “Food costs money and I’m doing the best I can. I may not be eating three squares a day, but I don’t starve, you know.”
“I guess not, considering the thousands of dollars you make with your artwork.”
It wasn’t like that, and she only painted a fake when she absolutely had to, but she didn’t feel like telling Nolan any such thing. His tone was dry and even, no accusation within it, but Weslyn still went on the defensive. She lashed out, unable to keep the bitterness from infecting her words, simply determined to make him feel as awkward as she suddenly did. “You know an awful lot about what babies need for a guy who’s never had any.”
He took a deep breath, but nodded. “Read a lot of books.”
“But still couldn’t knock up your wife.”
“Nope.” It was Nolan’s turn to look out the window. “She can’t have children.”
“So you left her?” she sneered.
“Nope,” he repeated. “She left me.”
Dumbfounded, Weslyn closed her mouth. “Oh.”
The server brought them fresh coffee and plates of bacon and eggs. Nolan ate a bite, Weslyn pushed hers around a bit. She took a sip of her coffee.
“You shouldn’t be drinking that.”
She shrugged. “Read that in a book too, did you?”
Nolan smiled. “We went to the Barre Birth and Reproductive Center because I was working out of the satellite office in Burlington. They did a work-up of my sexual reproductive health, full sperm count, body temperature, even a prostate exam. My ex wanted a baby very badly.”
Only vaguely surprised he’d offered the information, Weslyn looked at the expression that crossed Nolan’s face, the tightened lips and the dulling of his eyes to a flat, grassy green. “I think you wanted a baby very badly, too.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I did.” He met her gaze. “And now I’m going to have one.”
“That makes you happy?”
Nolan rolled his shoulders. “I’m not happy that the Reproductive Center had a sample of mine in storage, and I’m fucking furious that my ex forged herself the right to use it whenever and however she wanted. I’m not thrilled that you were able to blackmail a doctor into using my sample for insemination, but I’m looking forward to holding my baby.”
“Why did…” Weslyn cleared her throat. “Why did your wife leave you? If she was the one with the problem…”
“We both had problems.” He stared into his coffee mug for a minute. “We’d both thought a baby could solve those problems, but it couldn’t. She recognized the truth before I did and set out to find a new solution.”
“But that made you mad?”
“She made me mad. Drove me fucking insane. The nicest thing we could do for the other was get the hell out of each other’s life. Completely.”
“But you were mad, thinking she’d been the one who used your sample.”
“Yes. I really don’t want to be stuck with her for life, and that’s what a kid does. We’d both be present at recitals or games or graduations and weddings. All that shit.” Nolan suddenly grinned, and the heat in his smile had Weslyn’s stomach flipping for no good reason. “I’d rather be stuck with you.”
“Why? You don’t even know me.”
He leaned toward her over the table and lowered his voice. “You’re wrong, Moon. I know everything about you. I know you better than you know yourself. How you grew up, where you went wrong. Your strength, your talent. I know your hopes and dreams. And now I know your body, the way you bite your lip when you come, but can’t hold back those sweet screams, the feel of your hot pussy clamping down on my dick in the moment I give you pleasure. I know what you look like when you sleep in my arms. There’s not one fucking thing about you that I don’t know.”
Weslyn lost her breath, so the words she pushed from her throat were scratchy and strained. “I guess you’re a few steps ahead of me, then.”
Nolan grinned. “But the best thing I know is that you trust me. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have let me fuck you, you wouldn’t have participated, and you certainly wouldn’t have let me hold you all night long.”
11
The motel room Nolan rented in Whitehall was nearly identical to the one he’d gotten in Chicago. The wallpaper was different, and the bedspreads were red instead of blue, but otherwise the setup was the same. Two twin beds, a chair and a television, a connecting bathroom.
Weslyn came out of the bathroom to find Nolan resting on his bed, sitting up against the headboard in only a pair of boxers. Like he’d done the previous night, he’d taken off his clothes and carefully draped them over the chair. Considering how tidy he was, Weslyn figured it must be killing him to wear the same suit for the third day. She, on the other hand, had once been used to wearing the same clothes for weeks straight, though she admitted to feeling much better after her shower.
Nolan looked over at her and smiled. “You took a long time in the bath, Moon. I was about to break down the door and make certain you hadn’t slipped out through the window.”
“The door wasn’t locked.”
“Really?” Nolan’s voice dropped into interesting octaves. “If only I had known.”
“Would you have come in and joined me?”
“If you invited me.”
Weslyn hesitated for only a moment. While she’d stood under the shower spray, her thoughts had spun wildly, centering on the issues of trust and companionship, pleasure and men. She’d locked herself away for so long, and she didn’t regret her decision because God knew how badly she’d been hurt before. She couldn’t risk it again. But Nolan was different, and Weslyn had known that from the moment she’d stumbled across his picture at the Reproductive Center.
She did trust him. And he did give her pleasure. But, what was more, he offered her a better future than anything she’d known in a long time—and not just against the Vermont legal system, but for life in general, too. Nolan would do whatever he could for her, for the sake of the baby, and he would honor his responsibilities. For the first time in more than ten years, she was optimistic about the direction her life was heading and glad that she wouldn’t be alone on the journey.
Plus, Nolan was the first good man Weslyn had ever known, and a big part of her wanted to enjoy him while she could.
Decision made, she dropped the wet towel she’d been holding around her body. Nolan’s eyes widened as the fabric hit the floor, then narrowed as he took in the naked expanse of skin she displayed. She walked to the bed in the sexiest way she could manage, and crawled up the mattress toward him on her hands and knees. Nolan made a quiet, yet rough, sound that spoke volumes of his appreciation.
Weslyn licked the bare skin above his boxer’s waistband. “I want to give you pleasure,” she whispered against his hip.
“In exchange for wha
t?”
“For nothing.”
Nolan’s hand smoothed over her hair before he traced her jaw and captured her chin. He angled her face to up his, meeting her gaze with a hefty dose of suspicion. “I told you, I know you better than you know yourself, Moon. You’ve never done anything for nothing.”
“Except this.” She felt her face growing hot, but she forced her confession through her drying throat. “I’ve never felt like this before. I’ve never…”
“What?”
She took a deep breath and just told him the truth, plainly and without grace. “I look at you and my pussy gets wet, Nolan. My nipples tighten until they hurt, and all I can think of is how good they would feel in your mouth, with you sucking them so hard I could come from that alone.”
“Jesus.” Shuddering, he put his hands on her shoulders and urged her up his body. “Come here and I’ll do just that.”
She resisted his tugging and licked another line over his waistband. “I want to touch you, taste you. I want to feel you against me so bad my skin feels like it’s lifting, maybe reaching for you. I don’t know, Nolan, but I’ve never felt such a physical need before.”
“Maybe it’s hormones.”
“Maybe it’s you. I’ve never met anyone like you.” She tugged his boxers down to free his thick cock.
Weslyn had never been a woman to fawn over a penis. She didn’t particularly care for the look of them, or the threat inherent in them. But Nolan was different. He would never use his body to hurt her, or any woman—he would never use sex as a threat or a weapon.
No, his dick had been made for pleasure. Thick and flushed, it grew harder, longer, as she palmed it. His skin was soft and hot, his shaft filled her hand perfectly.
And he tasted clean. She licked the head of his cock and watched his reaction with an uplifted gaze. His nostrils flared, his lips pursed. His lashes fluttered down over liquid silver eyes, but his lids closed completely when she sucked him deep into her mouth.
Weslyn ran her tongue over him, up and down, tracing the head and licking the base. She consumed his cock, swallowing against him, taking him deeper and moaning as she tasted the faintest flavor of his pleasure. She ran her palms up his legs and under his boxers, groping for his balls and fondling them once she caught the tight globes. What she couldn’t fit in her mouth, she took in hand, working him until he was taut and tense, his whole body trembling and lifted, his breath rushing from his throat in growling pants.
“Weslyn. Enough, come here.”
The command was forceful, but his hands were gentle as he pulled her from his dick and hauled her up his body. He draped her against his chest, then smoothed his palms over her legs the way she’d done to him. Heated trails of sensation followed in his wake as he gripped the backs of her thighs, kneaded until she squirmed with desire, then tugged them to either side of his legs. Her wet folds slid over the length of his rigid dick and Weslyn caught her breath with a small moan.
“I want to pleasure you, Nolan.”
“We can take turns,” he promised as his fingers delved into her needy pussy.
He filled her, stretched her and called forth more wetness from her depths. Weslyn squirmed and arched, loving the way his fingers felt, loving the way they rubbed her inner walls, reaching for the spot that would make lightning flash inside her skin. But she was determined to do what she wanted also, so she writhed on his fingers as she caught his dick and stroked.
He pressed deep, she tightened her grip. He pulled back and she grasped his balls. They both groaned and struggled to get closer, lips barely brushing as they teased each other with heated breaths and quick licks. Face to face, they watched each other’s eyes, and Weslyn learned what Nolan liked by the way the color within his irises shifted and darkened.
Silver to green to silver again. Molten and smoldering, his gaze penetrating deeper than his fingers, or the thick cock he replaced them with after he’d loosened her grip. He pushed into her, dragged over sensitized nerves, stretching and filling her in slow inches. Weslyn transferred her hands to his shoulders, ragged nails clawing at his skin as he forged deep and held still, frustrating her with his lack of movement. Her pussy tightened with anticipation.
As he did the night before, he gave her the final decision. “Take me when you’re ready.”
“You say that,” she gasped, “but you’re already inside me.”
“Take me farther,” he whispered. “Fuck me, Moon.”
Her back arched without warning—wholly out of her control as heat stormed up her spine. Her pussy softened in such a way that Weslyn felt it on a profound level, and felt everything between her legs grow steamy, humid, wet and needy. Her inner walls shook and shoved of their accord, and before she knew it, she was riding Nolan without restraint.
She pumped her hips, took him deeper. Up and down without grace, bucking, searching for more of the thick pleasure only he’d ever given her. Freedom came in many forms, she thought as she slid down his shaft, but the exhilarating rush of lust with a man who could control his own was something Weslyn had never thought to experience.
Now that she had, she became greedy for more.
She slammed down on him and grinded, hoping to ease the ache in her clit. He dug his fingers into her hips, angled his pelvis and tried to help. Sharp need spread out and raked her inner thighs with bliss-filled claws. Weslyn tipped her head back.
Nolan swooped in, sucking her nipple into his mouth with just enough force to have her pussy contracting around his cock. Decadent sensation shot down her torso and met the rolling heat working its way up from her pussy. Weslyn clutched at Nolan’s nape and pushed harder with her hips. She descended into primal madness, unable to pull back, only able to move forward. His cock jolted over hidden nerves so eager she was certain they were only seconds away from erupting into flame.
Hard and hot, thrusting and rocking, deeper and thicker until Weslyn exploded. She screamed, but Nolan captured her mouth with his and drank her cries as he pushed deeper still and came inside her with a hard shudder and a flood of heat. Still coming, still pulsing with need, Weslyn rocked and bounced, pulling her lover closer and sliding her hard nipples against his chest.
He held her as the aftershocks racked her body. Every time she thought to catch her breath, new pleasure jolted through her. Nolan smoothed his palms down her back and manipulated her hips until she was sliding back and forth on his softening shaft, both their juices lubricating, easing the friction until he slipped free. Hot, wet and messy. Her pussy convulsed and shivered, slower and gentler, until she finally fell still and silent.
Breathless.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
She felt Nolan grin, just as he pressed his lips to her temple. Then he said, “Get some rest, Weslyn. We’ll get to Barre early tomorrow morning.”
12
They’d arrived in Barre Vermont by lunchtime on the third day of their travels. In spite of knowing he shouldn’t, Nolan procrastinated for as long as he could, and made damn sure Weslyn ate before he took her to the police station.
Everything happened fast, and Nolan didn’t like it. He was used to being involved in as much of the process as he wanted, or as much as his superiors forced him to be, but Barre’s finest didn’t need or want his help. When the police tried to throw a major extortion charge into the mix, Nolan finally had enough and made a call to the Burlington office for a little federal backup.
Aggravating the locals, the FBI swooped in and stole the art forger right out from under the police chief’s nose. Nolan pulled a few strings and got Moon a lawyer, then tried to pull a few more to get her seen by a judge and bonded out the same day, but he failed in that mission. There were a few confusions that had to be cleared up before Weslyn could get a bail hearing—namely, who she belonged to as a prisoner. She was the most exciting thing to happen to either state or federal offices in Vermont in a long time.
Nolan had no choice but let Weslyn go, and warned every agent in earsh
ot that the mother of his child had better be treated as well as possible. He kissed her goodbye and dared anyone to say anything.
Then Weslyn Moon fell through the cracks.
“What in the fuck is the problem?” Nolan gripped the short hair on his head and glared at his supervising agent.
“The problem is Barre’s police chief. He made a real strong case concerning Moon’s crime in his jurisdiction.”
“Bullshit. He’s the judge’s golfing buddy.”
“That, too.”
Nolan took a deep breath that did nothing to quell the rage, panic and frustration chewing on his heart. “She’s been in lock-up for over a month and hasn’t even been arraigned yet!”
“The judge declared her a flight risk—”
“What happened to a fair and speedy trial?” Nolan demanded. “This is unconstitutional!”
“Take it up with the ACLU.” The agent in charge of Nolan’s new office leaned back in his padded desk chair. “Look, Findley, we’re doing all we can to get the ball rolling. The chief’s got a bug up his ass over the way you called in the big dogs and took away his bone.”
“That’s too goddamned bad,” Nolan snarled. “This is exactly the reason I did it, too. That man had it out for her, and now he’s doing his damnedest to see that she stays behind bars for as long as possible.”
“She’s going to serve time anyway,” the other agent cautioned softly.
Weslyn definitely had to pay the price for her artistic deceits, but the confusion of multiple crimes had become a way for Barre’s police department to get a little of their own back at Nolan. He’d used the FBI to pry Weslyn out of the clutches of the overeager police chief and in doing so muddied the waters of the court. Now Weslyn was caught in the middle of a law enforcement pissing match that was threatening to send Nolan over the edge of rationality.
He was ready to commit murder and mayhem, to get her out of the women’s correctional facility she’d been languishing in. Chittenden Regional may not be anything close to Sing Sing, but Nolan still wanted Weslyn out of there and into better accommodations with greater access to prenatal care.