by Jani Kay
Mom looked first at me then at Levi. “The two of you make a beautiful couple. You’re lucky to have found one another.” She leaned over and covered my hand with hers while her eyes searched mine. “You want to marry this man, Monty?”
Tears brimmed on my lashes and my smile nearly overtook my whole face. “Yes, I do.”
It was a strange kind of marriage proposal, but then again nothing about my relationship with Levi had been normal. I’d never guessed when it started that we’d swap our fuck buddy agreement for a more traditional one.
“Well then, I give you both my blessing,” Mom said in a shaky voice while blinking fast.
Levi’s eyes sparkled and he squeezed my hand. “Thank you, Mrs. Marx, you won’t regret it. I’ll take good care of your daughter.”
A sharp rap on the door startled me. The nurse who’d been assigned to take care of my mother, and who I’d met when I helped Mom move in, came into the room pushing a steel trolley. “Hello, Montana,” she said while checking Levi out. “Sorry to interrupt, but it’s time for Mrs. Marx’s meds.”
“Oh, hi. Wendy, this is Levi,” I said proudly while squeezing his arm.
They smiled and greeted one another.
“Mom’s looking so much better already in just two weeks.”
Wendy had promised she’d do a good job when I was first introduced to her. Already I could see that Mom had picked up a bit of weight and was looking healthier. It was worth the extra dollars I had to fork out each month.
“You’re glowing too my dear,” she said and winked at me.
My cheeks grew hot and my hand instinctively rubbed my stomach. “Thanks,” I said with a smile.
“Mrs. Marx’s blood pressure has been high and I need to check it,” she said indicating to a machine she’d brought in on the trolley. “Do you two want to take a walk in the lovely gardens while I tend to your mother? Give us fifteen minutes, okay?”
Levi pushed to his feet and pulled me up from my chair. “Sure, we’d love to get some fresh air.”
With his hand at the small of my back, he steered me toward the gardens.
We walked in silence for a few minutes until we reached an opening under a large tree. The leaves were turning orange and red and dropping to the ground.
“Want to sit?” Levi said indicating to a bench in the shade.
“Yeah, it’s beautiful here.” Suddenly I felt a bit awkward. “I love the roses. Don’t they smell lovely?”
“Yeah,” he said, his eyes burning into me. “But I don’t want to talk about the garden.”
I sucked in a breath.
“I’ve been wanting to ask you something for the longest time . . . but then I figured it was more polite if I met your mother first and asked her approval.” He took hold of my chin and lifted my face to meet his eyes.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. “Baby, will you marry me?” His voice was hoarse. “Will you agree to make ours a permanent arrangement?”
“Yes, Levi, I will.”
His lips came down to meet mine and he sealed my promise with a breathtaking kiss.
“I love you so much, Montana. You’ve made me that happiest man on earth.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
I had some news of my own that I hadn’t been sure how or when I was going to share.
Now feels like the right moment.
“Um . . . there’s something I need to tell you.”
“You love me and can’t live without me?” he said with a smile.
“Yeah, that and something else.”
He pulled away a few inches, a small frown knitting his brow. “Good news, I hope?”
I nodded. “I think so.”
“Tell me, Montana.”
“I . . . um, I’m pregnant. I’m going to have your baby.”
“Sweet Jesus. Is that true?”
“Would I joke about something like this? I’ve been throwing up a lot lately but every time something had happened to upset me, so I’d put it down to that. And then I missed my period and I felt bloated. I bought a pregnancy kit and . . . it’s positive.”
“And you’re only telling me now?” His hand rubbed over my stomach in large circles.
“I was waiting for the right moment.”
“Hmmm . . . I could spank your ass for keeping secrets from me.”
“Levi?” He hadn’t told me how he felt about it yet and my stomach felt queasy.
Levi’s hand disappeared into my hair and he pulled my face closer. This time his kiss was passionate and raw. “I’m so fucking happy right now, baby. So fucking happy.”
He laced his fingers through mine and placed them over my stomach. “You want to get married just after Red and Beckham? I can’t wait to have you become my wife and for our daughter to arrive.”
I laughed. “It’s a boy.”
Levi chuckled. “You’re wrong baby, it’s a girl.”
Adamant, I shook my head. I just knew I was carrying a mini-me of the man I loved.
Levi pulled me up by the hand and caged me in his arms. He rested his forehead against mine.
“Let’s go ask your mother what she thinks.”
That would be interesting. “Okay.”
He kissed me long and hard. “I want a lot of babies with you, Montana. I’m glad we’ve already started.”
My whole body flushed with happiness.
“I love you, Levi. So much.”
“Oh the fun we’re going to have making those babies,” he chuckled.
“Hmmm,” I hummed.
I’d come full circle.
I was a lucky, lucky girl.
***
***** THE END *****
***
Thank you for reading SEX & SECRETS. I hope you enjoyed it!
A review would be such a great help in getting the word out about my stories and I’d truly appreciate if you would take the time from your busy schedule to please post a review. Thanks!
Research
Information about ambiguous genitalia as described in Chapter 36 was found at
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/ambiguous-genitalia
This is a real condition that affects 1 in 4500 births and may vary in severity.
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Jani Kay's Novels:
FIREBIRD TRILOGY
#1 Lost in France
#2 No Regrets
#3 Title TBR
SCORPIO STINGER MC SERIES
#0.5 Ryder Prequel
#1 Two Worlds Colliding
#2 Unchain My Heart
#2.5 A Biker Christmas
#3 Gods & Monsters
#4 Tormented
LOVE ON WALLSTREET SERIES
#1 Debonair (Novella)
STANDALONE NOVELS
Open Your Eyes
Sex & Secrets
WHAT’S NEXT?
Wanted
Co-written with Normandie Alleman
(Release Date: May 31st 2016)
WANTED
Jani Kay & Normandie Alleman
What man doesn’t like to be wanted?
Well, not if you’re me and you’ve just done a stint in jail for a crime you didn’t commit.
The press and social media
have crucified me. People hate my guts. Nobody believes that I’m innocent.
Especially the woman who is determined to put me back behind bars because I destroyed her family. She’s hell bent on making me pay for my sins.
I’m starting a new life and putting all that crap behind me.
Except that Addison James won’t let me. She worms her way into my life and my bed until she’s under my skin and I just can’t shake her.
I’m Foster Cruise.
I’m wanted.
STANDALONE
Pre-orders available now
Chapter 1 — Foster
The sunlight hit my face and I squinted as I stepped outside and drew in a deep breath.
Ah, fresh air.
During the last five years my cage hadn’t been completely indoors, though it might as well have for all the freedom the exercise yard gave me. The world smelled different when you are free. Cleaner to be sure, and full of possibilities.
Inside, the air was stale. Stagnant, and it smelled of piss, punctured lives, and withered dreams.
A minute ago, when I heard those metal bars clank closed behind me for the last time, I vowed I’d never let anyone lock me up again.
Most inmates took the small stipend given to them by the prison and took a bus to their next destination, but I wasn’t most prisoners. I had money, and I intended to use it. I’d arranged for a cab to pick me up. A limo would’ve been ostentatious and might have sent the wrong message, like I wasn’t remorseful for my sins.
I was sensitive to that, even though I’d never committed a fucking crime.
But nobody knew better than me that looks were more important than the truth. Hell, appearance is everything.
I learned that after I’d been convicted for helping the most notorious thief in the world, my boss, bilk hundreds of people out of their life savings even though I hadn’t known a thing about it. Those people claimed that my boss, Arnie Hirsh, had taken their money, claimed to invest it, and had basically stolen it for himself.
A red, white, and blue cab pulled up beside the dark grey building just outside the heavy duty fence topped with loops of razor wire.
I slid into the back seat, and the cabbie asked, “Where to?”
“The airport.” No sense going back to New York where I used to live. Everything I owned was in storage. Plus the last time I was in New York, people were ready to tar and feather me everywhere I went. My handsome face had been plastered on every news station and all over the internet. It was one of the reasons I grew a beard while inside. People were less likely to recognize me now, especially on the other side of the country.
A few hours later, as I settled myself into the comfortable first class seat on the airplane, for a moment, I felt pity on those poor bastards sitting in coach. Was it my imagination or had the airlines made the seats smaller back there? Plus it looked like first class was getting more luxurious. I placed the noise cancelling headphones over my ears, reclined my chair to a practically laying down position, and flicked through the new release movie menu for something to take my mind off the past as well as the future. For a few hours I didn’t want to think, I just wanted to sip on hundred year old scotch and relax after I quenched my thirst with an ice cold beer. Later I’d access the internet to check the latest news. This was going to be one quick trip.
Glancing around the cabin, there weren’t any women who caught my eye. Not that I was looking for a mile high encounter, but it had been a long five years with nothing but my own hand to keep me company. I may have been hard up, but at least I didn’t look it. My clothes were probably a bit dated, but most people weren’t as knowledgeable about fashion as I was. Keyword: was.
Thank god I’d picked up some magazines at the airport. That would help catch me up, and when I got to California I’d go on a shopping spree. Build a new wardrobe from scratch.
I felt like a new man. I needed new clothes. Hell, I was going to have to re-create my life. I might as well look good doing it.
No one from my past life was left. My so-called friends all took off as soon as the indictment came down, and while I was behind bars, my supporters dwindled from a handful down to zero. Even my family abandoned me.
My mother’s one and only visit was so “traumatic” that she burst into tears and left after about fifteen minutes. What the hell did she imagine it was like in there? Regardless, ever since then, the contact with my parents progressed from infrequent to non-existent. During my stint, I’d been lucky to get an e-card at Christmas or on my birthday, and when I emailed them to tell them I was being released, they didn’t respond.
I tried to not let it bother me. Hell, I was a grown man. I didn’t need mommy and daddy anymore. Fuck, I didn’t need anyone. Thanks to a trust fund bequested to me from my maternal grandfather, I could buy a small island if I wanted to. And fortunately, I’d been smart enough not to let Hirsh get his filthy paws on it. Okay, that wasn’t completely true.
I gave Hirsh a small investment when he first hired me as a show of loyalty. The fucker didn’t need to know I’d be worth billions when I turned twenty-five. When the money disappeared along with the shyster to a private island near the Bahamas, I barely missed it.
A pretty blonde flight attendant approached. She leaned over and gave me a glimpse of her ample cleavage. “Can I get you anything?” she asked in a sing-song-y voice that was more than a little too cheerful.
You, bending over this tray table and me taking that ass. An image of her naked flashed through my mind. I was dying to sink my cock into that bubble butt of hers. Shove her panties in her mouth to shut her up. My cock stirred, pressing against my pants.
“A beer, please. Imported.” Damn, five years was too long to go without a woman.
The beer tasted better than I remembered. It went down smooth, and I ordered another one.
After the second one I had to piss. I got up from my seat to make a trip to the lavatory.
While I was taking care of business, I was just thinking about how incredibly small these airlines restrooms had become. There wasn’t room for a big guy like me to stand up straight in there, much less partake in any mile high action. Two people would fit in with a squeeze. Not that I minded getting up close and personal, but I’d crossed mile high fucking off my bucket list years ago. Been there, done that.
I closed the door behind me and headed towards my seat. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.
The nerdy man seated across the aisle was stuffing something into the seat back in front of my chair.
I took a few long strides and I was upon him, towering over the seated man who was now nervously shifting his eyes from side to side.
“What are you doing?” My voice was sharp. If there was one thing I learned in prison it was not to back down from a confrontation. Pussy out and the jackals will pick their teeth with the bones from your carcass.
“Oh, nothing. Sorry. You seem to have dropped your boarding pass.
I shrugged. Who the fuck cares?
“Are you really Foster Cruise?”
My guts fell through to the floor and it wasn’t the turbulence. Not. This. Shit. Again.
All right. I tried to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, but this little prick was wearing on my nerves now. “You’d better keep your hands to yourself, and stay outta my backyard,” I said, and I was pleased how it came out. Much more menacing than I ever could have managed before prison. Hmm. Maybe there were upsides.
The nerdy guy curled into himself, practically flinching.
“You got that?” I wanted to growl at him, but I refrained.
“O-o-okay.” The nerd gulped just as the flight attendant rushed over, probably excited to show off some new “conflict resolution” techniques she learned at the latest training seminar.
“Everything all right here, gentlemen?” she asked.
I sat down and buckled my seatbelt. “Just a little misunderstanding.”
“Uh, Miss, can I please talk to you?” The
nerd pointed towards the front of the plane. She nodded and glasses-boy got up gingerly eyeing me the whole way as he followed the blonde to the front of the airplane.
I watched them for a second, the nerd whispering to the flight attendant. She said something back I couldn’t overhear, so I put on my noise-cancelling headphones and turned my attention back to the series that I had just discovered but everyone in America seemed to be talking about.
Within a few minutes nerd-boy came back to his seat, packed up his things and the flight attendant got him settled in a seat three rows ahead.
What the hell? So they guy recognized me, even with the beard. What did he think I was going to do? Steal his life savings from across the row?
What a dick.
Exactly what it had been like in New York.
Everywhere I went people talked about me, whispered behind my back, or even publicly chastised me. My favorite was the time I got out of the limo outside the Guggenheim on my way to view an important art opening only to have a bucket of fish guts hurled on me. The fuckers found ways to track my movements and going anywhere became a challenge.
After the fish incident, I mostly stayed home, and had my assistants do all my shopping and errands. I got so tired of being a prisoner in my own home that I started to look forward to going to prison. In fact, I asked my attorney to negotiate for me to go in a week earlier. If I had to be a prisoner, at least I wanted the time to count.
Now, on this fucking airplane, I noticed out of the corner of my eye, more and more people walking past my seat, glancing down at me then their eyes widening in some combination of recognition and horror. It was the way people would look at a pedophile.
Suddenly, I was in the cage again. Spectators standing outside talking, whispering, pointing.
I took a deep breath, hiked up the volume, and focused on the zombies in front of me falling apart as they trudged slowly down the street. I could relate.
This was going to be one long-ass trip. Fuck.
When I got to Los Angeles it was still late afternoon and as the hired car traveled up the coast to Malibu, I started to relax. It was beautiful there. The sapphire blue ocean with its cresting waves and occasional dolphin popping out of the water calmed me. The jagged coastline, and its sandy beaches seemed to call to me. Maybe this was the right choice. This felt like it could be home.