by Ava Walsh
I rushed up the stairs to look for her, and my hands shook when I watched her come towards me dressed in the burgundy color of her new team. Her eyes were distressed, and I cupped her face in my hands, kissing her as she tried to say something. “What the fuck is up with you just disappearing like that? You never told me, never said goodbye. I got nothing from you.”
“Justin,” she said, and I pulled away to see her crying. “Are you okay? What are you doing here?”
“I’m out for the season. I’m traveling and trying to stay away from the television as much as possible,” I replied as she nodded and covered my hands with hers. “I heard that you were here. I looked for you online, and here you are, beautiful as hell.” My eyes dropped down to her stomach as her eyes widened. “You’re so beautiful like this. Who is the lucky guy?”
Jennifer swallowed and looked down, trying to smile. “I…didn’t want you to see me like this.”
“Why not?” I asked as I looked into her eyes.
“You’re going through enough right now. I didn’t want to add more to your plate,” Jennifer said as people rushed to their seats around us to see the first face-off of the game. “This is your baby, Justin.”
“What the fuck,” I breathed as I took her hand and pulled her to a less congested end of the stadium.
“I have to be available for the team,” she told me as I got to an end and pulled her through a door where we could see the rink from a dark corner.
“Always the good worker,” I muttered. She looked at the screen and then me with big eyes. “Talk to me. Why is it mine?”
Her face darkened as she stared at me but I didn’t look away. “I was only with Keith and we were always very careful. Don’t you remember our night?”
“Remember it? I can’t stop thinking about it, Jen. Are you sure about this?” The name of her former lover made my jealousy flare up, and I clenched my fists.
“I don’t sleep around. I never have, Justin. That’s your world,” she said, more tears sliding down her cheeks.
“Not anymore. Not since this fucking injury and realizing that I only want you. I tried to fuck you out of my system, but it didn’t work. Now, there’s a baby, and I can’t walk away now.” I held onto her face and kissed her hard as she molded her growing breasts against me and met my tongue with her own. She tasted like heaven. “I love you, Jennifer.”
The game played around us, and I heard everything that was happening as I slid my hands over her body to feel the changes in her curves. “You do?”
“Yes. More than I’ve ever loved anybody,” I replied, and Jennifer smiled against my lips as she kissed me again.
“I love you, Justin. I have from the beginning though I tried so hard to stop. So hard.” Jennifer was crying as she clung to me and I heard something called out over the loudspeaker as she turned her head and looked towards the ice. A player was down, and she gasped before she pecked my lips. “We’re having a girl. I have to go down there. Watch for a while and I’ll find you after the game.”
Jennifer was gone, and I stepped out of the dark as the news played through my mind. A girl. A beautiful little girl. I couldn’t wait to meet her, and I went back to my seat with a grin as Chad took a long look at me. “Finally here to watch a game?”
I looked over the ice and saw Jennifer walking back to the bench as a couple of guys assisted a player from the ice. “What happened?” I asked as I focused on her face. I could still see that she’d been crying, but she looked beautiful with a contented smile on her face now. The compassion that she felt for others showed in the way that she waited for the player and spoke to the coach, making me realize that I almost lost something great.
“He took a stick to the neck and then went down to the ice from another hit. It looked pretty painful. Do you know that girl?” Chad asked with that tone that I was used to.
“She’s mine,” I said as I felt his eyes on me for a long moment. “She’s it for me.”
“Are you into being a dad all of a sudden?” I narrowed my eyes at his question and pushed any doubt that this baby was mine out of my head. Jennifer didn’t sleep around, and she was different from the girls that I was used to meeting. “She’s pregnant.”
“It’s my baby,” I said and looked at his stunned face. “I was with her back in Philly. We broke up before I knew she was pregnant, but now that’s not going to happen.”
“Holy shit. You’re serious.”
“I am as serious about Jen as I have been about anything else. Get used to it.” I assured him as I leaned back to watch the game and keep an eye on her. Jennifer looked at me several times if she was out front and her smile filled me with hope, despite my injury and uncertain future.
Chapter Eleven
The game ended with a victory for the team, and I cheered as they skated off the ice. Kellan was going to be okay from his second injury, and everyone was happy, including me. I couldn’t believe that Justin was here and that he loved me. No, he loved us. I took care of business before we left for the night and walked out to the main entrance to see Justin looking down at his phone as he leaned against the wall. “You’re still here,” I breathed as he glanced up at me with a smile. “I almost thought this was a dream.’
“I’m not going anywhere, Angel. I told my buddy that I had a place to stay. I hope that wasn’t too presumptuous of me?” His eyebrow raised and I giggled as I shook my head. “Good. I want to hear every detail of this pregnancy and every thought you had. The only part I wish I’d dreamed is that you were alone through it.”
“I have my stepmom and my dad. There're friends. I’ve been okay, for the most part,” I assured him as I walked towards him.
“Now I’m here, and I am never leaving you two.” His voice was confident, and I tilted my head.
“You’re not out of football, Justin.”
“We’ll be together no matter what happens. Here, there or anywhere you want. I am happy with you,” Justin bent his head down and pressed a kiss to my lips. My body instantly reacted, well-aware that my hormones were going to get what they desperately needed. “Let’s go.”
He drove my car home and peppered me with questions as I tried my best to answer them. Pregnancy brain made it difficult to remember all of the details that he wanted to hear though I tried my best. Justin hung on every word I said with a look of amazement on his face, and he parked the car when we arrived at my new condo. “Nice place.”
“It’s cute. There're two rooms, so I’ll be all set when she gets here.” I watched him unlock the door and enter with a long look at the living room. “My folks are close by.”
“Good. That’s good.” He said as I dropped my purse on the table and stepped towards him as need throbbed between my legs.
“There’s something about pregnancy that you need to know,” my voice was low, and he stared at me as I slipped my arms around his neck.
“What’s that?”
“I’ve never been so horny.” A look of anger crossed his face, and I shook my head before I gave him a soft kiss. “I haven’t been with anybody. I can’t feel anything for anyone like I do for you. Now that you’re here, I am going to jump you like a teenage girl, though.”
He kissed me hard and our teeth crashed together as we worked out our passion and started making out against the wall. It was everything that I remembered and more, and Justin stroked my hair before he lowered his hand to my ass and tried to lift me. “Baby, I’m heavy. You’re not carrying me with one arm.”
“Fine. Where’s your bedroom?” I laughed and showed him before I went to use the bathroom again. I stared into the mirror and hoped that I looked good since I wasn’t feeling very sexy as a pregnant woman. I pushed the insecurity aside and undressed out of my work clothes before I freshened up.
I found a dress that I sometimes wore alone to sleep in that accented my curves and displayed my expanding cleavage. It wasn’t sexy lingerie by any means, but I thought Justin would enjoy it. It was a dark plum and clingy to my
body, and it hung to my mid-thighs. I left off any underwear and ran my fingers through my hair before I walked into the bedroom. Justin was sitting on the bed wearing his jeans unbuttoned, and I took him in with a hungry gaze. He was gorgeous, and I knew that he was all mine. He looked at me and his eyes darkened before he looked down my body with the gaze of a starving man. “Fuck me. You’re stunning.”
“I’ve grown,” I teased him as I cupped my breasts and his mouth hung open.
“I noticed that first,” Justin stood up and walked over to me as he took me in. He cupped my face to kiss me, and I got lost in it before he slid his hand down to take mine. “I’m limited for a while.”
“I don’t care. You’re here.” We made our way to the bed, and he lay on his back as I removed his jeans and bent over him to taste his hard cock. I’d missed my chance before, and he sucked his breath in as I slid up and down his shaft.
“Jesus, Jen. That feels so fucking good.” I moved faster, and he was stopping me before too long as his hand crept between my legs. “I am coming inside of you tonight, every time. I’ve missed your sweet pussy.” His finger found my needy clit, and I moved against his hand as I felt the pressure in my body building. I knew that it wouldn’t take much, and he found a rhythm that had me crying out his name within a few moments as I got the orgasm that I’d been craving for months. “Oh, God. I love how you come for me.” I nodded weakly and looked into his eyes as a moan escaped my lips. “Take that off. I want to see you.”
I shimmied the nightgown over my head, and Justin slipped his hand up to cup my round breast with the extended nipple. “Holy shit. They’re beautiful.” I smiled and moved over his body as he stared into my eyes. “I can’t wait to fuck you properly.”
“Plenty of time for that,” I assured him as I leaned over his face and he took one if my nipples into his mouth. He sucked and nibbled as I rode his cock that was pressed under my wet center and felt him harden. “I think I can work some magic this way.”
“I wanted to see you riding me. There were going to be so many more times, Jen.” His eyes filled with emotion as I nodded and remembered the day that I left him. “I’ve never felt that broken before about anything except for sports. I was used to not caring for people too much, but I fell for you so fast.”
I lifted up and felt his head prodding my entrance before I slid over him and moaned. He filled me so completely, and Justin let out a sigh before he started to suck on my other nipple. Our lovemaking was different this time, but I was willing to get him anyway that I could before I was able to take care of him again, to heal him.
We made love like that twice before we lay and talked about everything naked in bed. There were so many words that needed to be said and so many emotions that had to be freed so we could move into something new. I felt so good as we laughed and even cried while we worked out everything that had gone wrong.
After that, I used ice on his injury and rubbed the rest of his body before he felt the need to give me another glorious release. He fed me before too long, assuring me that the baby needed food and even started planning a menu for me. It was ridiculous, and I loved him all the more for it.
The next day, I took him to meet Dad and Rosie, and we explained the situation. I could tell that Dad knew his reputation by the way his eyes flashed at the name, but we talked to him. He could see that Justin loved the baby and me and intended to stick around. We ended up going out to dinner where Justin had them laughing with some football stories. I knew how much he missed it, but he seemed content here. He got to meet my team, and they all took on their protective stance and pissed him off until they felt like he was the real deal.
Justin couldn't believe that none of them had hit on me as blatantly as he did when I was his therapist. I just laughed, because nobody could ever be like Justin McLeod.
He stayed with me in Boston until he went back to his doctor at home. I managed to get away that weekend, and we both cried when they suggested surgery, which he agreed to.
Justin was healed up by the time Melody Claire McLeod was born and we both cried right along with her as she was born. My parents were there; Coach Michaels showed up, and even some of Justin’s closest friends were waiting outside to see her. Everyone embraced the new Justin, and I fell more in love with him every day.
He was going back to football, and I easily agreed to join him back in Philadelphia as his fiancée and a stay at home mother to our daughter this time. We were going to get married soon and start our new life in full, and I couldn’t wait. I was so glad that we got our second chance.
*****
THE END
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Bonus Book 1: Soul of Werewolf (Shades of Werewolf Series Book 1)
By: T.S. Ryder
Description
A curvy Wolf on the run, a hot but vengeful Werebear taking her captive, and a dark secret that haunts them!
This is the first part of the exciting 5-part “Shades of Werewolf” series.
Between taking care of her twelve younger siblings and always making sure the household is clean and orderly, Mary Locke has never had a moment to herself.
She has always felt like an outsider, even in her own family. In a community of Wolf Shifters where lean muscle is the epitome of beauty and worth, Mary's curvaceous frame only highlights that she doesn't fit in. Then one day, she does the most daring thing she could do–she runs away…
… straight into Andre. He is a Bear shifter, a traditional enemy of the Wolves. Andre once had a wife and daughter, but when cruel hunters killed them, the best part of him went with them. Since that day, he has had one focus in his mind; to find and kill the hunters that killed his wife and daughter.
But when the Wolf finds herself falling for the Bear, can her lonely soul heal his angry heart?
Chapter One
Clusters of snowflakes grouped together, forming large chunks of what looked like cotton candy falling from the sky. The steady thwack, thwack of the windshield wipers kept pace with Mary Locke's heart as she drove along the deserted highway. Her hands clenched around the steering wheel, and she shivered, even though the heat was turned on full blast.
Her inner Wolf leaped with joy for the snow, but she reined it in. She had to get away as fast as she could. She couldn't stop and play.
The money her father had given her for groceries and to refill the car with gas before she had left the farm that morning sat folded in a Ziploc bag on the passenger seat. It would be enough to get her to the nearest airport, and she had already booked her ticket from a library computer using the credit card she paid the family bills with.
Was this the right thing to do? Mary swallowed hard, glancing at the clock. It had been two hours since she had left home. She still had half an hour before she was meant to get home. The farm was forty minutes from the nearest town, and shopping for thirteen children and her parents always took a long time. Plus her father had given her permission to spend some time reading in the library. By the time they came to look for her, she would be long gone.
Mary's hands tightened, her knuckles turning white. How could she do this? Just abandon her family like this? What will they do without me?
At twenty-four years old, Mary was the oldest of thirteen children. With the youngest just a year old, it was up to her to do the laundry, make meals, buy groceries, help the younger ones with their homework, and nurse her mother in her ill health. Would all this responsibility fall on sixteen-year-old Julia now? The older boys all worked with their father, taking care of the livestock, mending fences, fixing tractors and various other activities on the farm. They didn't have time for women's work!
No, Mary told herself. You are not going back. There's no place for you there.
That is what her mother had told her two months ago when Mary had finally bolstered her courage enou
gh to ask if her father could talk to David Monroe's father about David courting her. David was a nice young man. He had always been kind to her.
"Nobody wants a lazy girl for a wife," Mary muttered under her breath, remembering her mother's words. "There is no place for you there."
She didn't think she was lazy, but when she was twelve, she topped off her height at five-foot-seven. The rest of her didn't get the memo. Now amply sized, when the others in the Wolf community saw her, compared with her lean and muscle brothers and sisters, they shook their heads and told her that if she would do a little more during the day, she would thin out that waist.
Tears blurred Mary's eyes. When do I have time to do anything else? Even now, escaping from the home she didn't belong to, she wanted to scream it out loud. She didn't know where she would go from here, but even the unknown was better than what she was leaving behind!
As she raised a hand to wipe the tears from her eyes, she felt the car lurch to the side. A gasp tore from her lips, and she instinctively began pumping the brakes, as her father had taught her. Her heart pounded in her ears, and the car skidded across the road. She stopped with a sudden jolt, the seatbelt digging into her neck as it stopped her from being flung out the window.
Mary took a moment to calm her racing heart. She had slid off the road into a drift, but nothing hurt, and she hadn't hit any trees, she could make it out.
The engine spluttered and died.
"No." Her fingers trembled as she turned the key. Not even a faint whirring. "No!"
What now? What were her choices? I could freeze to death trying to get to the next town. She couldn't remember how far it was. Or I could go back.