Mountain Man's Secret Baby

by Lauren Wood

  Chapter 25

  Denise

  The restaurant was getting busy for lunch and I wasn’t having the best day. I was feeling huge, even though I was only about five month pregnant. It was taking longer than I thought it would for me to get into the swing of it, but I felt like my body was being invaded by a parasite, draining me daily of all of the energy that I ever possessed.

  I leaned against the side of the restaurant and breathed in the cold air. I was always hot and even though I could see my breath as I stood there, I had no intentions of putting my coat on. The stiff breeze felt good and it helped to cool my heated flesh down. Who would have known that pregnancy turned a woman’s body into an inferno? It wasn’t something that I’d known before, much like all of the other changes I was going through. The one that seemed to be the hardest to cope with was the emotions. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster and no matter how silly it all was and how much I knew it was silly, I still couldn’t get myself together. I was far too emotional for my own good.

  Just now I felt my eyes getting red-rimmed and starting to get wet from tears. They flowed down my face and sadly I didn’t know what I was supposed to do about it. It was this helpless feeling that I tried to smile away, but it was moments like this when I was all alone that it got the best of me.

  “Why is the most beautiful woman in Nome crying?”

  That voice was one I didn’t think I was going to hear again and a strange part of me was sure that I was going to turn around and there was going to be no one there. Maybe it was just the wind and my mind, wanting to hear what it wanted to hear. Never once in those moments had I thought that it would actually be Ethan that was standing behind me.

  When turned around, I was surprised that he was standing there. He looked good and he looked like he was all healed up. It was nothing like the last time I had seen him.

  Without thinking, I moved to him to give him a hug. It was only when my stomach pushed back against his that I realized my error. If it really was Ethan, which it was, his body was hot against mine; it meant that there was something rather important that was going to have to be discussed right now. Now there was no timing this discussions or anything like that. Now I had to come out with it pretty quickly because he was already pulling back from me with his eyes on my waist.

  “Ethan…”

  “What is this?”

  He was looking at my stomach like it was a bomb and the relief and love that had washed over me was getting defensive and I didn’t know what to say to his question.

  “What is this Denise? Are you pregnant?”

  It was kind of obvious and I covered my stomach, warding off his glare. This is not at all how I had thought this meeting, if it ever happened would go down. It was like he was accusing me more than asking me a very obvious question. I was pregnant, with his child. How hard was that to deduce?

  “Yes.”

  “That didn’t take long.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I’ve been gone a few months and you’re already knocked up.”

  He was seeing it all wrong and I was so mad at him all of a sudden that I could have hit him. He didn’t get it at all and the way he spit out the words made it clear that he thought he was wronged in some way. I felt like I had to remind him that he was the one that was engaged while we were together. I was just with him. It was only Ethan and for him to suggest or accuse otherwise was more than I was willing to take silently.

  “Yes, with your baby. I went to go see you in Juneau and I was greeted by your mother and fiancée. It was made clear to me then that I wasn’t welcome there. You left the hospital a month and a half ago and I never heard from you. How was I supposed to tell you?”

  He looked at me like he didn’t know what to believe. It was a bewildered and lost look, like he had not honestly thought of that explanation. He also didn’t seem ready to talk about Sandy.

  “It’s mine?”

  Now I was getting aggravated.

  “Yes, it’s yours. I’m almost five months along now.”

  Ethan looked stunned and I don’t know if the accusations or this was worse. He was like a deer caught in headlights and he wasn’t budging. I was still standing by the building and I should have been back in by now, but this was something that I had to get through. This was the conversation that I’d wanted for some time, but it wasn’t going the way that I’d hoped it would.

  “Me and Sandy broke up before I went to Nome. She had my mom convinced that it was something we were working through. It wasn’t. She’s a little whore and I don’t want to have nothing to do with her. I couldn’t help that she was there at the hospital, but when I woke up I had her leave. I’ve been in the physical therapy place ever since leaving the hospital. I got out last night and it took that long to get a flight up here. It just touched down a few minutes ago. You’re the only reason I’m here Denise.”

  Chapter 26

  Ethan

  She was still looking at me and acting a little too standoffish for my liking.

  It was my own fault because all I could think about was Sandy getting pregnant with someone else and my mind instantly went to Denise doing it as well. I should have known better, but I was too busy worrying about everything else to see what was really going on.

  “You’re pregnant and you’re keeping it and it’s mine?”

  Another nod, but the glare was just the same. I had to get it through my head. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. I’d seen it ending with her in my arms and back underneath me in bed. It had been far too damn long and I was still finding it hard to fight back the physical attraction. This wasn’t the time.

  I moved to hug her and she still wasn’t too receptive of the action. She was mad at me and I’m sure it was because I hadn’t reacted the way I was supposed to. It was a lot to take in though. She had to at least get that. It was a lot to take in.

  “I’m sorry for not reacting the way I should have Denise, but that wasn’t what I expected when I came here. I didn’t know.”

  “You never told me about Sandy.”

  “Why would I? We’d broken up and I didn’t want to be the guy, whining about how my ex cheated on me and broke my heart. I wanted a fresh start with you.”

  “I don’t know what to say. I didn’t think I was ever going to see you again. I was going to tell you when I found you. But there was so much that I didn’t know about you. I figured that you’d be married and not want anything to do with me or our son.”

  “Son?”

  She nodded and had the barest of a smile on her face. She was warming up to me.

  I pulled her to me and there was very little resistance from her, which was good to feel. I didn’t want to argue or fight. I wanted her back in my arms. It was all a misunderstanding and I wasn’t going to let that ruin things for us. She was all I had thought about since I’d waken up and nothing else mattered now that she was in my arms.

  “I’ve missed you so much Denise. You changed your number.”

  “I was getting threats for a while there after the bombing and I just changed it to cut down on those.”

  A lot had happened since I’d been gone and I regretted that I hadn’t been able to be there and help keep her safe. I still wasn’t sure that Nome was where I wanted to hang my hat, but I knew that if this is where Denise wanted to be, I wasn’t going to argue with her. I would go wherever she was, no matter if it was Nome or not.

  “You’re all I have thought about Denise and I can’t believe you are here. I can’t believe we are going to have a baby together. This is all surreal.”

  It was and I was still trying to wrap my head around it all. It wasn’t that I didn’t want kids, I did and with her it would be better than I could have imagined, she’d be a good mother. But there was still a part of me that didn’t see it happening this way. I’d thought a few years of marriage would be due before all of this. We were skipping some steps that were rather important.

  “I can’
t believe you are really here Ethan. I really can’t.”

  “What are you doing out here with no coat on?”

  She must have been freezing, but when I held her to me she felt like she was on fire.

  “I don’t know. I needed a few minutes before the rush, which is most likely going full swing. I really need to get in there.”

  “You s shouldn’t be working in your condition.”

  “In my condition?”

  “Yeah, you’re pregnant and I don’t think that you should be working. Do you?”

  “It wasn’t what I had in mind and it’s not ideal, but how else was I going to pay for things Ethan? You forget that you weren’t around, so what was I supposed to do. I didn’t think you’d be around again, but someone had to take care of our son.”

  I knew that she was being real about it, but it was hard to think of it that way. How had I not known? I should have been here.

  “I’m here now and there will never be anything that you have to worry about. I will take care of you both.”

  She smiled and held me. “I still have to go in and give Molly some notice.”

  “I don’t think she is going to mind that much.”

  “How do you know?”

  “She is a hopeless romantic and sees it for what it is between us. She told me a long time ago that I should go after you and she was right. I would be still kicking myself if I hadn’t because what a mistake it would have been. I don’t know what I would have done if I had never went after you.”

  “If you don’t stop, I’m going to cry. My hormones are all over the place and you are here, being so sweet. I don’t know what to say.”

  “Don’t say anything. This isn’t the place to have the conversation anyways. Why don’t we go back to your place and catch up?”

  “I know that look. You don’t want to catch up. Or if you do there won’t be a whole lot of talking.”

  She knew me too well and I didn’t try to deny it. It had been a very long time since we’d been together and it was time to change that.

  “Do you really want to talk?”

  Damn I can’t say how much I wanted her to say no.

  “Not really.”

  Thank God because I didn’t know how much was actually going to be said.

  Chapter 27

  Denise

  He was all that I needed and now that he was back, everything was going to be okay. It was hard to believe that after the last few months and how rough they had been that it could all work out. It wasn’t supposed to and I still hoped that this wasn’t a dream. It felt like one of those erotic dreams that I had at night and woke up wet and dying for him. I was already to that stage and I didn’t want to think that he was going to disappear when I wake up.

  That was always the problem with dreams. They never lasted long enough, although this one was pretty long because it felt like forever to get back to my place when I really didn’t live that far off from the town. I let him drive and I just laid my head on his shoulder and wrapped my arms around the one I was leaning on. It’s hard not to snuggle in against his thick frame. I was burning up, but somehow his heat didn’t bother me. There was peace that came over me and I wasn’t trying to lose that feeling.

  “So why are you driving so slowly?”

  He looked at the speedometer and he wasn’t driving slowly at all. He showed me and I told him that it felt like we were going ten miles an hour.

  “The roads aren’t the best.”

  I was pushing him to go faster. He put a hand on my thigh and that had me settle down. The man knew that I wasn’t good with distractions while he was driving, especially not when he was the distraction. It didn’t help that I was already so horny. It had been months since I’d been touched and my body craved him.

  When the house came into view, he let out an exasperated sigh and said he was thankful that we were finally there. I know that I was happy to see it and since he was almost to my core, I was even happier because he didn’t need to know how wet I was right now.

  I opened the door and slid out before he could say another word. I was ready to get on to the next part of his homecoming because at the moment it was all that I could think about. His hands on me and what he could make me feel like. Ethan had a hold on me that was hard to fathom but it was most certainly a thing. It was something that I didn’t understand and maybe I wasn’t supposed to. Maybe it was supposed to be this way, all mysterious. All that mattered was that he was back.

  There were no promises whispered and I wouldn’t have wanted to hear them if he had been so inclined to say them. Now that we were back at my place, I was feeling a little shy. It had just been so long and I knew that I was ready for something more, but I was actually nervous. The excitement ran through me and the little bit of fear that comes like the first time. Things had changed and it was like seeing him and him seeing me for the first time all over again. That was a good thing in some ways, but it was hell on my senses.

  We didn’t even get in before he was touching me and once the door was closed behind us, he picked me up and started to walk me into the kitchen.

  “Did you forget where everything is Ethan? The bedroom is that way.”

  I tried to point him in the right direction but he was setting me on the high counter and opening my legs in front of him. It was rather clear what he was going to do and before I could say anything to encourage or slow him down, he was pulling my panties to the side, my skirt all hiked up to my waist and his fingers were rubbing on my core. The touch was intense and made me jump several times which he seemed to enjoy making me do.

  “I love how responsive you are Denise. I always knew when it was feeling good for you because you would jump almost a mile high when I touched just the right spot.”

  “Uh huh.” He touched that spot and made me gasp because he pressed down hard and made the shiver even stronger. He hadn’t forgotten that much it seemed.

  “Yeah, just like that.”

  I wanted to bury my face because his was in between my legs and he was talking so casually while he wound me up to no end. I would get so close to coming and it was like he knew and wasn’t going to let it happen because he would beg off for a minute and kiss the inside of one of my thighs until the feeling passed. It was frustrating and my hips rose to seduce him back down. His mouth finally added to the fray and I was desperate to get his hot lips and wet tongue on my core. It was something that he was very good at and I missed that almost as much as I missed him inside of me.

  “Is that what you want?”

  I whimpered because he was going to make me say it and I knew that it was going to be a mess if we went down that route again. Ethan was already trying to claim dominance over me and damn him he already had it again. It really didn’t seem fair that he had it that way, even after all of this time.

  “You have to tell me or I won’t know.”

  Another whine, but it wasn’t going to get me anywhere. He liked to play with me and hear me beg for it, so I was either going to have to and just suck it up, or this could have a very unsatisfactory end to it. I didn’t know if I was willing to do that or not.

  “God Ethan, just fuck me already. You know what it is that I want. Why do you have to mess with me like this?”

  It was all that it took and he was pushing in slowly and I could feel the spiraling need taking over. It wasn’t long at all until my eyes were squeezed tight and I could see stars behind the lids as I came.

  Chapter 28

  Denise

  “I can’t say that I didn’t miss that. You always could wear me out Ethan.”

  “You say it like it’s a bad thing.”

  “Well I was supposed to work today.”

  “I don’t want you working anymore. I thought we already went over it.”

  He just didn’t seem to get that all of these changes were going to take a little time for me to get used to. I knew that I wanted me and him to be together, but I still wasn’t sure what that was supposed to
look like or where that was supposed to even happen. Were we going to stay here or were we going to go back to where he lived? Where Sandy and his parents lived?

  “There is a lot we haven’t went over Ethan. I fall into bed with you after all of this time and I’m just as much in the dark now as I was then. I don’t know what you want me to say or what to expect because you just got back.”

  “You’re pregnant.”

  “I know.”

  “So we get married and we lived together as a family. That’s what we are going to do. It’s what we are supposed to do and we need to do it kind of quickly because it looks like you are half way there. Isn’t that what you said?”

  It was, but he was taking a lot of things for granted that I wasn’t so sure was a given. He wasn’t asking if I wanted to marry him, he was merely telling me that it was going to happen. I didn’t want someone telling me what I was going to do; I wanted a choice in my own life.

  Maybe it was the hormones and seeing him again after all of this time that had me feeling so snippy, but the truth was that he couldn’t just tell me that I was going to marry him.

  “You’re getting way ahead of things Ethan. You just got back and you’re talking about us getting married. Don’t you think you should ask first?”

  “Do I really have to? You love me and I love you. What more is there?”

  It was one of the first times that he had said that to me and he said it so casually like it was something that was common knowledge. He was right about the fact that I loved him. I wanted to get married, but I wanted to at least feel like I had some control over my own life. With Ethan, I never felt like I was in control of anything when it came to him. He always had control and it was something that I fought against, even as I knew that there was no use.