by Amy Brent
Because I was lying. I loved Thai. I shrugged. “Because I figured you liked it.”
Ethan put his fork down and rested both his wrists on the edge of the table. “I don’t want to be force-feeding you food over the next eight months that you don’t like simply because you’re unwilling to speak up.”
“Well,” I said hotly, “speaking up doesn’t seem to make a difference with you either.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I spoke up about moving in. I told you I didn’t want to. Then, you just paid me off with all of your money and didn’t give me any say in the matter.”
“I didn’t pay you off,” he said thinly.
“No? So offering to pay to break my lease isn’t paying me off?”
“Last I checked, people call that a favor,” Ethan muttered, “and usually, at least in my experience, people say thank you when you do them a favor.”
“You want me to say thank you?” I said incredulously.
Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. “That’s not exactly what I meant.”
“Sure sounds like that’s what you meant.”
“Listen, Dev, I’m sorry, all right? I just wanted to make sure you were safe. I wanted to make sure you would have access to everything you needed. If that makes me the villain here, then fine.” He picked up his fork again and resumed eating. He was stabbing his food with much more gusto than before, and I could practically hear his raging thoughts behind his dark eyes.
“You’re not a villain,” I said softly. He didn’t look up at me. “I’m sorry too. For being such a handful. I’m grateful, Ethan, I mean it. I just … this is a big change for me all at once, and I would have appreciated the time to make the decision on my own.”
He paused, swallowed his food, and nodded. “I can understand that. I shouldn’t have pushed.”
“Truce?”
“Truce,” he agreed.
“I do like Thai food, by the way. It’s one of my favorites. After Mexican and Italian, of course.”
Ethan threw his head back and let out such a joyful belly laugh that I couldn’t help but join him. Soon, we were both hunched over the table laughing uproariously at our own ridiculousness.
Ethan wiped the corners of his eyes once he had himself under control. “You are full of surprises, Devon Mansfield.”
I smiled proudly and then stood to gather our dishes.
“I can do that,” Ethan said, trying to swipe his plate out of my hands.
“Let me help out,” I said, “I don’t want to be this freeloading presence in your place. Let me do things while I still can. When I’m huge and can barely fit through doorways, you can pick up the slack.”
Ethan still looked unhappy with this arrangement. He got up and followed me into the kitchen where I was loading the dishwasher. I closed it with my hip and washed my hands while looking over at him leaning against the doorframe.
He was so handsome. His eyes were dark and swirling. I wondered what he was thinking about. It could be anything. Maybe he was thinking the same sort of thoughts that I was. The tightness in his jaw told me he was.
Now that I wasn’t angry with him, I was horny. It had washed over me as soon as we started laughing. It was like we had pushed aside all the pent-up tension from the last few days and moved on to newer, fresher things, and those things made me excited.
The next eight months were going to be such a wild adventure, and right now, the only thing I wanted to do was show him with my body how grateful I was for his hospitality. My body and my mouth.
I took the hem of my shirt in my trembling fingers and pulled it over my head. I wasn’t wearing a bra. Next, I undid the fly of my jeans, worked them slowly down my thighs, and stepped out of them. I stepped closer to him in nothing but my red lace thong.
He was watching me the same way he had the last time we had sex. That look set my blood on fire.
“I need you again,” I whispered, feeling the heat gathering between my legs. I wanted nothing more than to be on my back on his bed.
Ethan’s eyes looked me up and down. The corner of his mouth curled up, and he took me by my waist. He drew me to him and kissed me softly. The light grazing of our lips made my legs feel like pudding.
He flicked my nipples playfully as he kissed me. I was so sensitive. I leaned into him, desperate to feel as much of him as I possibly could.
He took my hand and brought me to his bedroom. He lifted me up effortlessly and placed me on the edge of his bed. Sitting on the very edge put my hips level with his as he hurried to undress. I watched and relished the sight of his nakedness like it was the first time I had seen him. He was so sexy.
I stared at his cock as it popped out of his boxers. He stripped them off his legs and caught me watching him.
“Like what you see?” He asked with that primal look on his face.
I nodded.
He pushed my legs apart and made to settle between them to eat me out again.
“No,” I breathed. “Just fuck me, please.” I couldn’t explain it. Usually, I liked foreplay first. It always made the sex better. But this time, I just wanted to feel the length of him rocking inside me. I had never felt so hungry for cock before.
He stood between my legs. I held my own legs under my knees as he entered me. He was so full and hard. I closed my eyes and let out a delighted breath as he filled me up. He felt bigger than he had the other times we had fucked. It was like he fit me perfectly, sliding right up into the right place on the first thrust.
“You’re so wet,” he breathed as he pressed his thumb down on my clit.
He was going to make me come right away. I had never been so turned on. I gripped the sheets and clenched my teeth. I had never felt this way before. This was all new to me. It must have been the pregnancy. My hormones were all over the place. I knew sex was better for some women when they were pregnant. I never suspected I would be one of the lucky ones.
“Harder,” I pleaded.
He met my request and fucked me harder. He rubbed my clit in slow circles until, all at once, my whole body seized up as my orgasm took hold of me. I let out a shuddering cry, and Ethan continued burying his cock inside me as I squirted juices around his cock.
That was another new one for me.
He didn’t stop once I was done. He continued thrusting, and his thumb never stopped its perfect circular motion on my swollen clit. I was tightening around him again. I couldn’t believe I was going to come again right away.
“Oh my God,” I gasped as it ripped through me again. I was even wetter. Ethan’s cock was slick with my come, and every thrust felt more and more exquisite.
Ethan dropped over me and planted his hands on either side of my shoulders. His hips still moved against me, in and out, as he lowered his face to mine and kissed me.
I released my legs and gripped his forearms. I lifted my legs up and my ass off the bed so he could get even deeper inside me. The angle drove me wild. His tongue in my mouth while he fucked me was ecstasy. I moaned into our kiss and suckled his bottom lip. His hand cupped my nape as he held me to him.
I came again. It was explosive. I cried out with pleasure and shook uncontrollably beneath him. He caressed my cheek and kissed me more deeply. I melted into him as he pressed down on top of me. He was still moving inside me. My pussy was swelling and pulsing around his cock.
He groaned into my mouth. I felt the vibration of it in my lips. It was the sexiest sound in the world. It was primal and fierce and desperate. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, and he pushed himself deeper inside me. I wasn’t sure how he managed it, but he did. I gasped and let my head fall back to the mattress.
He kissed my throat and moved to the side to nibble my earlobe. Then he was moving down until he was suckling my nipples and pinching them lightly with his teeth. His hands wandered up and down my sides until he was crushing his mouth against mine once more.
I was coming again. He knew it. I could tell by the way he was
straining to maintain the same motion between my legs. It was working perfectly. I clung to him as my climax hit its peak. He kissed me all the way through it, not caring that I couldn’t return the favor with my own tongue. I was completely incapable of doing anything as my whole body submitted to the pleasure coursing through it.
When I had recovered, he slowed above me. I stared up at him, admiring the sharpness of his jaw, his prominent brow and cheekbones, and the beginnings of stubble forming a light five o’clock shadow.
“In my mouth,” I managed to whisper.
He seemed unwilling to pull out of me at first. After he finally did, he climbed up beside me on the bed on his knees. I had never sucked a guy off after he had been inside me. This was the first time I had ever wanted to, and holy hell, did I want to.
I rolled onto my side and propped myself up on one elbow taking him in my mouth, tasting myself, and used my other hand to gently caress his balls. I had him moaning in seconds.
He reached down between my legs with one hand and played with my pussy while I sucked his cock. I was still so wet. His fingers slid easily in and out of me as I matched his rhythm with my mouth until, all at once, his cock bobbed in my mouth, and he blew his load in the back of my throat. I took it all, swallowed it, and continued sucking him clean.
Then, when he was done, I fell on my back and stared up at him. He was staring back. The two of us were out of breath. The only thing I wanted now was sleep, and as he collapsed on his back beside me, I suspected the same thing was on his mind.
He put his hand on my thigh, and I closed my eyes.
Chapter Eleven
Ethan
Devon’s hair was in my mouth when I woke up. I peeled strands of it off my lips and rubbed sleep from my eyes. I had no clue what time it was, and I felt groggy and confused.
I had slept awkwardly. There was a kink in my neck that I would have to work out later. I turned to look at Devon who was sleeping with her back to me. She was naked still. Her bare shoulders were over the covers, and her hair was a chaotic tangle of dark curls across her pillow and my own. That lovely lavender scent was swimming around in my brain.
Normally, I didn’t let women sleep in my bed. Normally, I chased them out as politely as I could roughly twenty to thirty minutes after fucking their brains out. Having a woman in my bed bothered me. I liked my space.
But having Devon in my bed didn’t bother me at all. She was pregnant with my child, and she looked serene in sleep.
I rolled out of bed and got ready for the day, careful not to make too much noise as I showered and got ready in the bathroom. I didn’t want to wake her. It had been a busy weekend, what with moving and arguing and then having some of the best sex I had ever had. I was sure she was tuckered out, and she needed her sleep.
I called my driver to meet me outside in fifteen minutes. After getting everything together and grabbing a cup of coffee, I made my way down to the lobby of my building.
My driver, Eddison, was a middle-aged man with a goatee and graying hair. He gave me a curt bow in greeting as he opened the back door to my limo.
“Good morning, Mr. Garrison,” Eddison said.
“Morning,” I said as I slid in the back.
“To the office, I presume?” Eddison asked.
“Yes, please. Remind me later to discuss driving arrangements for a friend of mine with you, will you?”
“Certainly, sir,” Edison said, closing the door behind me.
Just as I was getting situated in the back right corner seat, my phone buzzed. I took it out of my pocket and answered the call to hear the familiar voice of the receptionist from One Billion Fantasies.
“Good morning, Mr. Garrison. I hope I’ve caught you at a good time?”
“Yes, now is fine.”
“Excellent. I was calling to check in about the status of conception.”
“The status?” I asked, a little confused.
“Yes. In other words, is Ms. Mansfield pregnant?” the receptionist asked.
“Oh, yes, she is,” I said.
“Congratulations, Mr. Garrison,” the receptionist said cheerily. “Would it be at all possible if she could come in this morning to do a test here? Once we have a positive result, we can write her the check for the remaining first half of her payment. We like to do this as soon as possible to keep our accounts organized.”
“I understand,” I said. “That’s no problem. She and I will be there in an hour together.”
“Excellent. Looking forward to seeing you again, sir,” the receptionist said before hanging up.
I opened the window between the back of the limo and the cab. “Eddison, something has come up. Please stay here while I run back up to my place. I’ll be back down in half an hour, and we’ll be heading downtown.”
“Sure thing, sir,” Eddison said, giving me a thumbs-up.
I exited the limo and hurried back into my building. I caught the elevator up and got off on the top floor. I let myself into my suite and went straight to the bedroom.
Devon was still asleep. She was in the exact same position I had left her in. Her lips, as always, were full and slightly parted. Little whistles of breath escaped between them as she breathed deeply in sleep.
I took her shoulder and gently shook her.
She was a light sleeper. She opened her eyes, and her gaze locked on mine. She looked a little disoriented at first, so I leaned back to let her sit up. She did so slowly, yawning and stretching like a cat.
Then she looked around and realized she was still in my bed. “Oh,” she breathed, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep in your bed. You could have woken me, and I would have gone back to my room.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s completely fine. I hate to wake you, but we have to head out. The agency called, and they want us to come down so you can take a pregnancy test. Once they see the results, they’ll transfer you more of your money.”
“All right,” Devon said, pulling the blankets off.
Then, she realized she was still naked. She yanked the blankets back on, despite me being more than familiar with her body, and looked up at me with wide eyes.
It took every ounce of self-control I possessed to not break out into a fit of hysterical laughter at her shocked expression. “I’ll give you some privacy,” I said, before ducking out of the room and waiting in my living room for her to get ready.
Just shy of an hour later, I was sitting in the waiting room of One Billion Fantasies while Devon took the test. I didn’t have to wait long. She returned with Claudette on her heels, and the two of them were chatting happily with one another.
I stood and joined Devon and Claudette at the receptionist’s desk. “Everything went all right?” I asked.
Devon looked up at me and smiled. “Yes, everything is perfect. Definitely pregnant.”
“Excellent,” I said, feeling relieved even though I knew I hadn’t had anything to worry about.
Claudette leaned over the desk and plucked a piece of paper out of a file. She handed it to Devon. “This, my dear, is your new banking information. The funds have already been transferred. If you’ll just give us a moment, we’ll have a card for you to use to access your money.”
“New banking information?” Devon asked as she flipped through the pages. Then, her eyes widened.
I peered over her shoulder at the dollar amount at the bottom of the final page. I whistled and nudged her gently in the ribs.
“Four hundred and sixty-eight thousand dollars,” Devon breathed. “I never thought I would live to see this kind of money.”
“Well, congratulations, sweetheart. It’s all yours,” Claudette said.
Devon looked up at her, still looking a little bewildered. “Why did I need new banking information?”
Claudette nodded like she had been asked this question a million times before. “Making deposits of half a million dollars into a standard bank account tends to make your average bankers’ heads roll. When dealing wi
th this much cash, it’s easier to handle things privately.”
“My banking is all done that way,” I said, sensing the nervousness in Devon. “Trust me, it’s nothing to stress about. Everything is all good.”
She nodded and some of the tension in her shoulders evaporated. “Okay.”
“Come on,” I said, resting a hand in the small of her back. “Let’s go home and get some food in you.”
Back at my place, I prepared a smorgasbord of food. I brought a platter full of cheeses, breads, jellies, pickles, and meats to Devon who was curled up in the corner of my sofa in the living room. She had a blanket draped over her lap and was reading a book. When I set the tray down, she looked up, folded the corner of her book, and leaned forward to pluck a piece of aged cheddar cheese from the edge of the plate.
“Delicious,” she said, nodding approvingly.
“The jellies are pomegranate habanero, mango, and mulled raspberry. They pair well with the brie, in my opinion,” I said.
Devon looked up at me with a crooked smile. “You’re so sophisticated,” she giggled.
“I appreciate the finer things,” I said defensively. I had picked up on her teasing tone. “Can I get you anything else? Is this enough food? I have—”
“Ethan, this is enough food for a party of six. I think I’m good here.”
I rubbed my hands together. “All right, good. I have to run out for a few hours for some afternoon meetings. Are you going to be okay here on your own?”
“I can manage,” she said, popping another piece of cheese in her mouth.
“If you need anything, just call me. I’m only a fifteen-minute drive away. And if you want me to pick up anything on the way home, just shoot me a text or something, and I’ll make sure to grab it for you.”
Devon stood up and pressed her finger horizontally to my lips. I could smell the cheddar. “Shh,” she said. “Relax. I’ll be fine on my own. You go worry about work. I’m going to relax with my book and enjoy this food. This will be the best afternoon I’ve had in ages.”
Her finger on my lips was distracting. It drew my attention to the softness of her skin. Soon, I was staring at her lips and thinking about how badly I wanted to kiss them. Then, I was admiring her slender neck, her cleavage peeking out of the neckline of her V-neck T-shirt, her hips in those insanely tight blue jeans.