by Taryn Quinn
Part of me wanted to back up and flee. God, I hated any sort of conflict. Things between us were still so tenuous. So very unsure. But he deserved more. And knowing a little about his past, I knew I owed it to him to never ever lie. And for him to know he was the one who mattered most.
Even if I was spilling the beans about my—no, our—baby. I’d been saying our baby for days now because it was true. It was ours regardless of the actual DNA strands doing their thing inside my body.
“Dare, I had to tell him about the baby.”
“Baby?” Tommy took two giant steps back.
Dare frowned at me, his beautiful blue eyes hard and flat. I smoothed my fingers through his beard. “It was right to tell him. But it doesn’t matter. You said that to me. It doesn’t matter because it’s our baby. We’re going to raise it and make a family. And maybe even have more babies.”
Just a few minutes ago, I was so scared to have this child. Truly and utterly terrified to endure that kind of pain, but I was positive I’d do it again for him. It didn’t matter to me if this was Dare’s baby by blood, it was his in love. But if he wanted another one, I’d certainly give it to him.
The knowledge of it should have put me on my knees.
It was too fast.
Everything about me and Dare was too fast, but God, I loved him. And even now I knew it was only going to get stronger.
“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. I didn’t think he’d show up here. I just thought we’d go and talk about it. That we could go together even.”
Maybe I hadn’t really thought that far, but saying it didn’t make it any less true. I’d impulsively texted Tommy that I had to talk to him about something, but I hadn’t done it maliciously. “I’d never go behind your back.” I touched my forehead to Dare’s chin. I didn’t quite reach him in the flats I’d changed into.
The anger seemed to drain out of him slowly. His arms came around me until he was crushing me against his chest.
“Dammit, Kel.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I swear it. I was just overwhelmed with the baby stuff in there and then us getting married.”
“I thought you wanted to marry me.”
“I do, but not like this. Not like it was a checklist. And I know I should have said something, but you’re being so supportive and wonderful. I don’t want you to feel like you’re trapped—”
“I’m not feeling trapped. I just don’t want you to leave.”
“What?” I pulled back.
He gripped the folds of my dress at my hips. “I couldn’t bear it if you left. I wanted to marry you fast so you’d be mine.”
The tears came faster than I could blink them away. “Why would you…” I closed my eyes. God, I was so stupid. The conversation in the car came back to me. Both of them. “I’m never going anywhere,” I whispered.
“Guys? I mean this is all very interesting. And actually, wow, Kelsey. You hooked up with him really fast.”
I dashed away my tears, but I couldn’t help but smile. “I did. Crazy how it happened.”
Tommy jammed his hands into his pockets. Well, as much as he could into his skinny jeans. More like just his fingertips. It was a rare man who could pull off the skinny jeans look, and Tommy just looked like he was trying too hard to be young and carefree. “Now, what’s this about a baby?”
I blew out a breath. “I’m pregnant.”
Tommy paled. “And you think it’s mine?”
“I honestly don’t know. We had that night after Granny Flo’s funeral.”
“Oh.” He scratched his head. “Yeah, wow. I mean, we used a condom and stuff. I thought you were on the pill?”
I shook my head. “I hadn’t gotten my full time job yet, so I didn’t have insurance. And we’d broken up way before that.”
“Shit. I mean…you know. Just I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say shit.” Dare’s voice was more rumbly than usual.
Actually, it was about as close to a growl as I’d ever heard. I patted his chest. “What Dare means is we don’t expect anything from you. I just didn’t want to keep it from you.”
“Yeah. I get that. And thanks, I guess. I mean, if it’s mine I’ll step up if you want. I didn’t really ever want kids, but if its mine, I’ll do what’s right.”
I peered up at Dare and stroked his beard with the back of my hand before stepping out of his hold. I turned to Tommy. “I appreciate it. And if the baby is yours, I’d be more than happy to let you be part of his or her life. If that’s what you want.”
“I wouldn’t want to get between you guys if you’re doing the family thing. Maybe if I thought about it more or something, but…” He shrugged. “It would be okay with me if you wanted to take care of everything. I’m not trying to get out of taking care of it or anything, but you know…”
I reached back for Dare’s hand. “I found a place that will do a blood test. It’s a paternity test. Takes awhile to get the results.” I cleared my throat. “Regardless of the test, I want Dare to help me raise the baby.”
Tommy gave me a tight smile. “It’s probably best. I’m not really dad material.”
No, he really wasn’t. Dare was the perfect guy for me and for our baby. In so many ways. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Looks like you’ve got yourself a great guy. Wow—married, huh?”
I took a step back to Dare. “Yeah.” I laced our fingers more tightly together. “Crazy, but amazing.”
Tommy nodded toward the parking lot. “I’m gonna go.” He cleared his throat. “So, just text me the info for the blood test or whatever.”
“I will.”
With an awkward little wave, he took off at a near run.
Shaking my head, I smiled faintly. Amazing how a few months could change your perspective so much. I definitely didn’t regret my breakup with Tommy now. It was probably the best thing that had ever happened to me.
No, that was falling in love with Dare and making a family with him.
I glanced at my husband. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tommy move so fast in my life.”
“Like his ass is on fire,” Dare muttered. He hauled me into his arms and his mouth came down hard on mine. “Not me. You’re fucking stuck with me, Mrs. Kramer. Can we get out of here yet?”
“I was coming out to tell you Sage had the baby.”
“Thank fuck.”
“Dare.”
“Sorry. We’ve been here a long damn time. Not exactly the place I was looking to spend my honeymoon.”
“No, I don’t suppose it was. I really am sorry about this whole thing—” He kissed me again, with more than a bit of pent-up frustration.
“I don’t want to talk about that emo kid. I want you under me so I can show you how excited I am to be your husband.”
I swallowed. “Is that right?” I stared at his neck, not quite able to look him in the eyes. “I was wondering if you still wanted me like that.”
“What? Of course I do. I can’t keep my damn hands off you.”
I nodded. “It’s not like we don’t have sex or anything, but you know. Not like we did at first.”
“What?” He sighed. “What are you talking about? Every time I look at you, I want to get you naked.”
“It’s good you still want to have sex with me, but it’s different.”
“Of course it’s different. I’m not banging some girl I don’t know anymore.”
“Well, maybe I want to be banged.”
“What?”
I didn’t know how to explain. Was I really so wrong about everything about us? “I want all that passion. I was so afraid you didn’t see me as a woman anymore. Just someone you had to deal with out of duty.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Kel. I can’t stop thinking about you. Please tell me I can take you home and show you. I’m way better at that than words. Because believe me, after tonight, you’ll have no doubts.”
I swallowed hard, darting a glance back at the hospital.
All of a sudden, I was having trouble speaking without fidgeting. Laying it all on the line was so hard. “It’s a girl. Sage had a girl. I think her name is going to be Star. Not sure how that got by Oliver, but it did. I’m sure there’s one hell of a story behind her name.”
“Great.” Dare took my hand and headed into the hospital. This time, Dare’s ass was the one on fire and so was mine. Or maybe it was my panties. “Can’t wait to hear the story another day. Right now, we’re getting our stuff and I’m taking my wife home for a proper honeymoon fuck.”
God, that sounded amazing.
Saying goodbye to everyone took much longer than I could stand. We both tried to get out of conversations, our gaze drifting to each other with way more steam than should be happening in a baby ward. And just when I thought we were finally in the home stretch—I even had my purse and jacket in hand—the nurse came out to tell us we could see the baby.
I couldn’t not go look.
I could feel the matching frustration in Dare as we walked hand-in-hand to the viewing room. There were only a handful of babies. All little bundles swaddled tight in pink and blue blankets. A few were fussing, but most were sleeping.
And right in the middle was baby Hamilton.
“She’s perfect.”
Dare moved behind me, his arms around my middle, the flat of his hand over my still flat stomach. “Soon, that’ll be us with a little one getting toasty warm.”
I giggled as I pressed my hand to the glass. “Do you want a boy or a girl?”
“The right answer is whichever is healthy. But if I end up with a girl who looks like you, I may end up in jail. There’s no way I’ll survive it.”
I turned in his arms and linked my fingers at the back of his neck. “I probably shouldn’t love that answer so much, but I do. Take me home.”
“About time.”
We practically raced down the hallway. We caught sight of Ally in a small alcove and we both froze, but we didn’t have to worry. She was too busy with Seth to bother with us.
Evidently, seeing a baby revved them up too.
Dare and I grabbed our bags and finally made it out the door. It was nearly two in the morning. A few nurses were standing along the edge of the parking lot, smoking cigarettes. I was too wrapped up in thoughts of Dare to care who saw us.
I pushed him up against the car door and went on my toes to meet his mouth.
He seemed to have the same problem as I did because there was no reining in the lava-level kisses between us. He pressed his cock into my belly. “I only slowed myself down because I want you too much, Kel. It’s not duty between us. I promise you.”
I wanted to climb him. To mount him and rub against him until the ache went away. Until I could feel every part of him around me and inside of me. Until there was nothing safe about us.
I’d had safe before. I wanted the wild that I could only find with Dare.
He reached behind his back for the latch of the door and maneuvered me into the car with his hot breath on my neck and my skirt and slip riding up around my ass. He pressed himself against the lacy white panties and garter I’d worn under my dress.
I’d been hoping to show him I was still sexy—not just a mom-to-be.
Dare gripped my hips. “You’ve been wearing this under your dress all day?”
I nodded. “I wanted you to want me.” I hated how tremulous my voice was, but I wasn’t going to hide how I felt anymore.
He pushed my hair aside and dropped his mouth to my neck. He nipped at the skin there. “I do. So goddamn much.” He put me in the seat and instead of pulling my dress down he hiked it higher. “Fuck. So beautiful. So much mine.” He lowered his head between my thighs for a quick second. He dragged my panties aside and swiped his tongue along my slit. “I’ll start you off and you’ll finish before we get home.”
The hint of a growl made my thighs shudder. Actually, it made everything shudder.
He slipped two fingers inside of me and I arched up on the seat, his name more moan than words. He covered my mouth with his as he flicked his thumb over my clit and pumped into me. I could taste myself on his tongue and it made it even hotter as he pushed me up and held me right on the edge of release.
“Shh,” he said against my mouth. “Don’t want the nurses to know I’m finger-fucking my wife, do you?”
“Maybe I do.”
His lips tilted into that smirk I remembered from the day he delivered a pizza to my door. From the bar, the first time we flirted, and finally, a new one to add to my memories.
My husband making out with me in the car because he was so hot for me.
“I’ll remember that.” He drew his fingers out of me, then pulled my hand down between my legs. “Now you.” He guided my middle finger inside slowly then pulled it free and sucked it clean with a hard pull ending in a bite. “Again.” Then he stood up and closed the door.
I collapsed against the seat, my legs splayed open. God, he was going to kill me.
He got in the driver side and leaned over. “Don’t forget to buckle up.” He drew it tight across my hips until I was strapped into the seat. He slid the shoulder strap between my breasts then flicked a fingertip over my rigid nipple. “For safety.”
Yep. I was a dead woman.
He gunned the engine, checked his mirrors, and pulled his own seatbelt on. “You have about thirteen minutes to come twice.”
“Twice?”
He threw a look at me. “Twice, Mrs. Kramer.”
I shivered. Okay, maybe I’d like this game. Maybe two of us could play. I couldn’t move much thanks to the seatbelt, but the dash lights would give him a good show. And it was exciting enough that I wanted to give him a show too.
It didn’t have to be only about how much he showed me he wanted me. I had to do the same.
I hissed out a breath as I rubbed the pad of my first two fingers over my clit. It was already hard and I was beyond wet. The lace of my panties was damp from just a little teasing from my husband. I winced at the sounds my fingers made.
“So fucking wet I can hear it.” His fingers tightened on the steering wheel as he turned out of the parking lot.
“I am. Because of you.”
His jaw tensed and the little muscle there ticked. It made me bolder. I slipped two fingers inside my pussy. “I ache, Dare. My fingers aren’t enough.”
“Jesus.”
I smiled in the darkness. “I want it to be your fingers. They’re thicker than mine.” I lifted my hips restlessly. “Too bad you have to use them to shift. Go faster.”
“You are so getting fucked.”
“Promises, promises.”
He glanced over at me then back to the road with a hiss.
“I’m really wet. It’s almost embarrassing.”
“Fuck no. I want to smell you on my seats tomorrow.”
I dragged in a breath. That was way naughtier than what I could come up with and it drove me closer to the edge. I was a master at getting myself off fast. It was usually just to kill the need on a lonely night or the perfect insomnia cure. But I’d never had to touch myself after I’d been with Dare.
Doing it for him felt decadent and thrilling. Not wrong—no, nothing about it was wrong. It was exactly what I’d wanted. To feel wanted, to feel sexy. There was a power to it and desire was all tangled up in my emotions for him. Add in a few pregnancy hormones and I was up and over the first orgasm before I knew it.
I blew out a harsh breath as I sagged in the seat. “God, I don’t think I’ve ever come so fast.”
He shifted and the gunning of the engine kept the hum inside me alive. His knuckles were white on the wheel. “Again,” he said in a low voice.
“I might need your help.”
“Fuck.”
I reached over to his thigh and gripped the rigid muscle. I inched higher, curling my fingers over his shaft. “I need this. We’re almost home, right?”
“Not close enough,” he muttered on a groan.
“Can I tak
e care of that for you?” I leaned closer to him. “If I loosened my belt a little...”
“No.” He covered my hand, squeezing him harder. Harder than I would have ever dreamed to do. He moaned. “Not safe.” He kissed my fingers then put them on my breast. “Show me these while you come again.”
I dragged in a breath. “Okay.” I loosened the little snap behind my neck until the dress slipped forward. “They’re so sensitive now. Never used to be until I got pregnant.” I cupped one, tugging at the nipple with a little moan.
“You’re so fucking hot.”
I smiled in the dark and tugged a little harder as I circled my clit. The exit for Crescent Cove came up and my fingers worked harder.
“Yeah, you better work that sweet pussy because we’re almost home. And if you don’t come again…”
“What? What will you do?”
“I’ll make you wait hours to come.”
“What?” I couldn’t have heard him correctly.
“Hours. I can make you almost come all night. Until you’re swearing at me in made-up languages.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Oh, I would.” He downshifted as we came to a stop sign just outside of our development.
I circled faster, using whatever tricks I’d learned about my own body up to that night. I was so close, but I couldn’t quite get there. Tension was firing through me and my skin was alive with need. Frustration made me arch my back and then Dare was there. His big hand over mine as he followed my fingers inside and the fullness was just what I needed.
“God, yeah. Like that. Come for me, darlin’.”
He leaned over to catch the screams coming out of my mouth. His car couldn’t muffle them all that was for sure. When I came back to myself, I saw the stop sign on our corner.
I flicked off the seatbelt and threw myself at him.
The kiss was wild and full of laughter, then he buried his chin into the space between my neck and shoulder. “Some other time, we’ll play this game again. And we’ll see if there’s a night of punishment in store. Tonight? Tonight, I just want you screaming my name.”