“Noah, wait.”
He continued walking. Let her follow if she wished, but he needed to put distance between Bambi and himself.
“Please. Can’t we talk about this?”
“I don’t know what to say.” He opened the hood of the Taurus and pretended to work. Truthfully, concentration escaped him at the moment. His thoughts on Molly. Lori had been a virgin the first time they’d made love. After that night, they’d been inseparable. When she found out she was pregnant, they ran off and got hitched. Both of them barely nineteen.
So what had happened? He thought harder but nothing explained it. Not even a minor incident came to mind. He slammed his fist down on the front fender.
“Noah.”
Shit, Val. Wrapped up in his thoughts, he’d forgotten she stood waiting. “I’m sorry. It’s been a bad day.”
She touched his arm. “No, I’m sorry. I never should have blurted it out.” She pulled her hand away and crossed her arms. “It’s just that when I saw her touching you, I got…so…so jealous. It doesn’t excuse anything. And I’ll understand if you want to press charges against my mother.”
Press charges? That thought hadn’t crossed his mind. He shook his head. “No. I’m glad the truth came out about Bambi. But, Val.” He took her arms and pulled her close. “That test can’t be right.”
“I know how bad you want a child, but…”
He placed a finger over her lips. Electric volts shot through his veins. Soft and sexy lips begged to be kissed. Kiss them he would, but he had to clear up this infertility myth first.
“I know for a fact the test is wrong.”
“What?”
“Where to start?” He let her go and started to pace again. “Bambi’s not my first wife. When I was nineteen my girlfriend, Lori, became pregnant with my child. We rushed out and got married. At eight months along, she had a car wreck.”
“Oh, my! What happened?”
A lump formed in his throat. The words lodged and he had to force them out. “Our daughter didn’t make it. It tore our marriage apart. Lori was in pain and her mother jumped in, talking her into divorcing me. A few months later we ran off again and remarried. But we never got past losing our baby. The second time, we decided to end things.”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” A tear trickled down her cheek.
“Neither does Bambi, so I kept that information to myself until she told me the truth.”
“Well, what about the test?”
“It’s wrong.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve never had any illness or injury that could cause sterilization. I’ve never taken any drugs to cause it either.”
“So…you’re saying…you can…” She paled.
“Val, what’s wrong?”
“I’m late.”
The words sank in as a taxi pulled in the drive. Sadie and Bree escorted Bambi to the cab. They tossed her boxes in the trunk while Bambi cussed and kicked at Sadie. Good God! What had he ever been thinking?
He looked down at Val and pulled her into his arms. “Have you taken a test yet?”
“No. I’ve been scared to.”
“I still have a few upstairs. If you want, you can take one and I’ll be here with you. Or not. The choice is yours.” His stomach knotted. One baby had been ripped from him today. But a baby with Val…He couldn’t hope. The pain would be too much if she wasn’t.
She bit her bottom lip. “Okay. We’ll find out together.”
“Together.”
Chapter 17
Val opened the upstairs bathroom door. Noah stood on the other side, biting a fingernail. He looked nervous; his eyes wide and his hair disheveled. Her heart stopped. Three weeks ago he’d beamed with pride at the news of Bambi’s baby. Today he looked worried.
“Well?” He pushed his way into the bathroom.
Not that she could stop him, after all, it was his house.
“We need to wait a few minutes.”
He stalked over to the plastic strip on the bathroom counter. “God, I hate this test. It takes too long. Couldn’t you have used a different one?”
“Forgive me, your highness; I forgot which one you preferred from the last time I balanced over a toilet and pissed on a stick with you stalking outside the door.” Lord, had he been this bad with the other pregnancies? Was he just nervous or did he detest the thought of them having a baby together? Pressure squeezed around her chest.
“I’m sorry.” He massaged his eyes with one hand. “Today’s been like a rollercoaster ride.”
She sat down on the edge of the tub. “It hasn’t been easy for me either.”
“No, I guess not.” He lowered himself down beside her. “Are you okay?” He placed his hand on her knee.
Fire lapped up her thigh and settled between her legs as if a lit match had been set on a string soaked in acetone. Traitorous hormones! They’d gotten her in this mess to start with. If she knew Noah wanted a positive result, she could allow herself to be happy. As it was, her nerves wouldn’t calm.
“I’m holding up okay. I mean, I woke up this morning thinking there was a possibility I’m pregnant. Then I found out there’s no way I could be. And now I’m back to theory one.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You keep saying that.” But what are you sorry for? That I might be pregnant or that Bambi’s child isn’t yours? She had to stop thinking these thoughts. Not thirty minutes ago, he’d thrown out that lying tramp and he was here with her. Yeah, but he also held Bambi’s hand while she took the same tests, in this same room.
“There’s been plenty of time. We’d better look before it disappears.” He squeezed her knee. “Do you want me to look?”
“No. I’ll do it.”
Taking a breath to calm down, she stood and replayed the instructions in her head. One line, not pregnant. Two lines, pregnant. She gazed at the stick.
Two lines.
Pregnant!
Nestled deep inside her grew the child of the man she loved. She utterly and completely loved him with her whole heart. The same man sat waiting for an answer. And the tone of her first pregnancy depended on his reaction. She bit her lip.
“Val? Which is it?”
She had to tell him, but the words lodged in her throat. Gathering all her strength, she nodded once.
Spinning her around, Noah pulled her into his embrace and rubbed her back. “I’ll be here for you in any way you need or want, whatever you decide to do.”
She slapped him away. “What the hell?” Not one sign of emotion. No anger. No excitement. Flat and detached. He couldn’t have broken her heart anymore than if he’d reached into her chest and snapped it in two. She edged away until her back smacked against the wall.
“Women.” He shook his head. “I don’t understand. I’m trying to support you. At least let me do that much. It’s a major life altering decision…Maybe you need more time to think about it, but I guess…I thought since you suspected, that you had an idea…”
“What are you babbling about?”
He sat back down on the edge of the tub. “I don’t know. When you figure out what you want, let me know.”
“Damn it, Noah! I want to know how you feel. At least get angry or something. Three weeks ago you were over the moon at the thought of Bambi having your baby. I get that I took that away from you today. If you don’t want this baby, then just tell me.”
He looked up at her with a blank expression. “This is different.”
“How?”
“How! You and Bambi are as different as night and day. She’s immature and bratty. I can’t trust her to do the right things. You,” he pointed to her, “are intelligent and level-headed. I don’t have to monitor you twenty-four seven and worry about having Sudafed in the house. The ball is in your court.”
“But, I thought—”
“I forced Bambi to move in with me because I needed to protect that child. And I’m still going to when I turn her in for drugs. You,
on the other hand, cannot be ordered around like a two-year-old.”
He still hadn’t answered her and she had to know. “Noah, what do you want?”
Before she could say anything else, his mouth covered hers, causing her head to spin. God, she wanted this. How she’d missed his soft but strong tongue caressing hers. His hands on her body.
“What do I want?” He murmured between kisses. “I want us.” Warm fingers stroked her stomach. “I want our baby. If you’d let me, I’d pack your stuff and move you in tomorrow.”
He worked his way down her neck, kissing a line to her collarbone. A moan escaped her throat. They needed to talk, but her mind clouded over with desire. She pulled him close, ran her fingers through his hair.
“Oh, God yes.” His last words registered. Had he just asked her to move in with him? “I mean…”
His hand slid up her skirt. He wasted no time in pulling her thong to the side and rubbing her clit.
“I know what you mean. It’s hard for me to think straight too with your pussy so wet.” He kissed her lips again; hungry and rough. “We can talk later.”
Her nipples puckered and pressed against his chest. The echo of his zipper filled her ears. Within seconds his hard cock pressed against her opening. Everything inside her wanted to push down and feel the thickness of him. But she couldn’t. Not yet.
“Noah, stop.”
Breathing hard, he placed his forehead against hers. “Val, baby, you’re killing me. I want you so bad. Let me make love to you. I need to be inside you. Do you need to hear me beg? I will. I’ll do anything.”
“Did you sleep with her while she was here?”
“What? Hell no! All I could think about was you. Your legs. Your ass. Your pussy.” He pressed forward.
“Stop!”
He didn’t move farther.
“We can’t do this until you’re tested for STDs. Heaven only knows where she’s been and who with.”
“Miles ahead of you, babe. I’m negative. Please, can we talk later?”
She pushed down, urging him on. He filled her like no other. Swift and firm, he took her standing up. His massive strength held her pinned to the wall with her legs wrapped around his waist.
Harder and faster, he thrust inside her. A cry tore from her lips as her release ripped through her. She convulsed around his shaft.
Deep husky moans blew across her bare neck as his seed warmed her. She dug her nails in his back and pulled him as close as she could. Her clit rubbed over his low belly. The heat of his sperm deep inside sent her over the edge a second time mere seconds after her first climax.
When the waves subsided, they relaxed against each other.
“I’m sorry I lost control.” His chest heaved as he talked. “I’ll never take you like that again.”
“I’m not complaining,” she whispered and kissed his neck.
He pulled out, but held her close. “God, Val, I’ve missed you. Patience has never been my strong point. I rush into a lot of things, but I know this is right. Even though I tried not to do this, I’m not strong enough when it comes to you.” He grasped her cheeks with both palms and held her eyes with his gaze. “Move in with me. Let me be there for you every step of the way and let me be a father to our baby. I love you.”
Tears threatened the corners of her eyes. Missing emotions from earlier spilled from him now. Her heart swelled at his confession. “That’s all I wanted; to hear how you felt about this baby and me. Noah, I love you too. This baby deserves a family and I want us to supply that for him or her.”
“Her. I’ll love either one, but I’ve always wanted a girl.”
“I’ll let you fight that out with my mother.” She giggled.
He traced her lips with his finger. “So, will you move in?”
“Yes.” She smiled.
Returning her smile with his own, he kissed her.
“Val!” Bree’s voice rang out from below. “Are you two done? Hurry up and get down here.”
“We probably should tell them.” She straightened her wrinkled clothing, waited for him to adjust his crotch and then opened the door.
They walked down the stairs hand in hand. Heat burned her cheeks at the knowledge of having a quickie with their families downstairs.
“It’s about time. You have got to see this.” Bree clicked play on the TIVO.
“Nurse arrested for stealing drag queen’s sperm. Story at 10.”
A woman in scrubs was handcuffed and being lead out of the hospital. “Oh my, God! Mother, that’s Rita on the news.”
“I know, honey. I’ve been on the phone with her husband and my team of attorneys this whole time. Apparently, the real Sam White was in the hospital the same night Noah was. Rita looked at the charts and took a sperm sample from the wrong guy.”
“Mother!”
“Don’t worry, with Bree’s little bun in the oven, I’ll be able to buy Rita a defense that makes Jonny Cochran look like a law school dropout.” She slapped her phone shut. “Oh, and it looks like Noah’s parts could still be working just fine.”
“They are working fine. I just took a pregnancy test upstairs.”
The three women in the room stared at her.
“It was positive. We’re having a baby.”
All the women squealed together. Sadie rushed to congratulate Noah while her mother and sister hugged her.
“Two grandbabies at the same time. What wonderful news to tell Dad. Now, I’ve got to run. I called a cab to take me to post bail for Rita and lucky for me, I know the judge.” After hugging both of her girls once more, Mom raced out the door.
“What was all of that about?” Noah asked.
“I’ll explain all of it later, dear. That is if you are sure you still want me. After all, my mother comes with the deal, whether we like it or not.”
He bent down and placed a peck on her lips. “What can I say? My life will never be boring, but I’ve always loved excitement.” He smiled. “I’m positive. And now that we’re past the meet-the-parents-stage, I see no reason not to get married.”
“Whoa, driver, slow the car down. First…let’s go shopping for new bedroom furniture. Something that neither Bambi nor Tyler has slept on.”
“Hum? That might be hard to find, but I love a challenge.” He kissed her nose.
“I think we can find something in my grandfather’s factory or we’ll order something to be custom made.”
“I love you, Valerie Jordan.”
“And I love you Noah Precious Kittler.”
“Lord, I hate that name. How did you find out?”
She laughed. “Maybe I have a bit more of my mother in me than I want to admit.”
He pinched her butt. “There’s always something new around the curve with you.
And I can’t wait to see what’s around the next bend.”
The End
ABOUT JASMINE BLACK
Jasmine Black has been writing romances from her heart since 2005. Her stories don’t follow a cookie cutter pattern and the plots are all different as she lets her characters tell her where the story is going. She enjoys reading, computer games and quite time. She also has a heart for charity, and you can find some of her stories in Coming Together anthologies-Against the Odds and Al Fresco.
LINKS
Blog: http://www.jasmineblackromance.blogspot.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/jasmineblackromance
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Jasmine-Black/1060054245
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