by J. M. Walker
I lived and breathed for this woman in my arms. I loved her. I loved her so damn much.
Every inch of me belonged to her. My heart. My body. My damn soul. But it wasn’t enough. I wanted to give her more. I had to give her more.
Inching my hands up her bare legs, I pushed them beneath the towel, all the while keeping my mouth locked with hers.
Piper slid her hands to the front of my waist.
Anticipation sparked a feral need inside of me. A growl escaped me, the tiny hairs on my body tingling and getting ready for that familiar touch.
Releasing her mouth, I opened the towel wrapped around her. Her chest rose and fell with ragged breaths. I leaned down, closing my lips around a nipple, sinking my teeth into the hardening peak.
Piper whimpered.
Remembering a while back how she enjoyed being spanked, I decided to test my little theory. Sliding my fingers up her inner thigh, I brushed the tips along the soft, wet slit at her core. When I gave her nipple another bite, a gush of liquid left her body. My cock swelled.
“God, Jaron.”
Licking up her chest, I kissed her chin before covering her mouth at the same time as I shoved two fingers inside her.
She jumped, spreading her legs wide for me.
Pushing my finger against the ribbed wall of her pussy, I grinned against her mouth as she shook in my arms. “Feel that, baby?” I asked, staring down at her. “That’s your G-spot. I think it wants to come out and play.”
“Holy shit.” She arched against me, her thighs trembling.
I smirked, lowered my mouth to the spot between her breasts, and kissed my way down to her navel. “I suggest holding on.”
Piper gripped the edge of the dresser, watching, waiting for permission to fall.
Suddenly, a cry sounded from the baby monitor, pulling a laugh from Piper’s lips.
I smirked, placing a soft peck on her forehead. “Until later.”
“Wait. If she doesn’t cry again, she fell back asleep.”
“Is that so?” I sunk my teeth into her hip bone.
“Yes,” she breathed.
I was so close to the sweet spot between her legs but when a second cry came from the monitor, I knew that this moment was over. “We’ll continue this later.”
She nodded, gently pushing me back. She shivered when I pulled my fingers from her body.
Our chests rose and fell while we tried to gain control of our racing hearts.
I helped her off the dresser. “I think I need to get you alone,” I told her, brushing my fingers that had just been inside her body, over her swollen mouth.
Her nostrils flared, her tongue peeking out to lick the juices off my fingers.
“You’ll need to put your phone on silent.” She gave me a small smile.
Kissing her softly on the mouth, I wrapped my arms around her. “I’ll get Brynn up,” I murmured against her lips, tasting her on her tongue.
“Really?” Piper leaned back, her brows raising.
“You’ve been doing it for months.” I kissed her nose. “It’s my turn now.”
“Okay.” She pushed me back. “Coffee should be ready by now and I’ll get breakfast started.”
I nodded, did up my pants, and headed to the bathroom to quickly wash my hands. Once I was done, I made my way to leave the bedroom when I stopped at the door.
Piper opened the drawer to her dresser, meeting my gaze in the mirror. “What?”
“You’re beautiful,” I told her and left the room but not before I caught the small smile on her face.
***
(Piper)
Once Jaron left the bedroom, I let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding. What we almost did…what almost happened…I shook myself. Was it too soon? Was there a rule for this? I had no idea but what I did know was that it felt good to be back in his arms again and to feel him, even though it had been just his fingers, deep inside me. Although, when I thought of the last time, the passion then was nothing compared to how it was now. We had been interrupted twice. It was like it wasn’t meant to be. Or it would happen when neither of us could take waiting anymore.
I quickly cleaned myself up, got dressed, and headed to the kitchen in need of coffee, and a lot of it. Last night had been the best sleep I’d had in months. Something was still off with Jaron and I couldn’t figure out what it was. Or even how to help him through it. He went to jail one way and came out a completely changed man.
I made myself a cup of coffee and poured one for Jaron when I realized that I didn’t know what he took in it. Or if he even drank coffee for that matter. Hell, I didn’t know much about him.
“Fuck, baby, you have the tightest throat.”
I remembered he liked it rough and that was it.
What was his favorite color?
Did he like watching movies?
Did he enjoy being a part of his dad’s club?
What was it like being a biker?
Was he looking forward to being president of Hell’s Harlem one day?
So many questions bounced around in my head that I didn’t have the answers to. Would I ever get the answers I was looking for?
My cell phone rang, startling me. I had completely forgotten I plugged it into the wall socket the night before.
I smiled when I saw that it was one of my best friends, video calling. “Hey, Gigi.”
“Hi.” She gave me a wide smile. “I texted you yesterday and then I called but you were obviously getting reacquainted.” She paused. “How’s it going?”
I looked over my shoulder before turning back to her and placing my phone on the counter, leaning it against the microwave. “It’s going.”
“Yeah?” She chewed her bottom lip. “That rough?”
I shrugged, taking a sip of my coffee. “It’s been a while. We’re trying to get into a routine, but it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours. So…”
“I get that.” Gigi pulled her long curly hair up into a messy bun. “Listen, I’m getting ready to head out to the studio but wanted to check in first. I know everyone wants to see him. Even the twins have been asking about him.”
My heart warmed. “Really?”
“Yeah, so you guys can come over whenever you’re ready. No rush. Even if it’s just the girls and us.”
I thought a moment. “I think that would be nice.”
“Babe, who you talking to this early?” Vince Jr. came up behind Gigi and kissed her cheek. “Hey, Piper.”
“Hi. How’s Hannah?” Their daughter was a few months younger than Brynlee and was simply adorable.
“Sleeping just like her mama should be doing.” He took the phone from Gigi.
“What are you doing? Vince, give me back my phone,” I heard her say in the background.
“We’ll meet up soon,” he told me. “But right now, I’m going to take my girl back to bed.”
I laughed. “Have fun.”
He winked. We said our goodbyes and I hung up the phone.
“You complaining to our friends about me?”
I jumped, spun around, and found Jaron standing at the entrance to the kitchen, holding Brynn. She was sucking on her soother, holding her stuffed pig toy. I went up to them and kissed her cheek.
“Sleep well, baby girl?” I asked, running a hand down her back.
She leaned her head against Jaron’s shoulder.
“I asked you a question,” Jaron said, his voice rough.
“I wasn’t complaining about you.” I went to walk away when he grabbed my arm.
“If you have an issue with me, talk to me. Not Gigi. Not anyone else. It’s the least you can do.”
My head whipped around. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Jaron released me and walked over to Brynn’s highchair before placing her in the seat and doing up the belt. She slapped the tray in front of her, throwing her pig on the floor.
He chuckled, picked it up, and handed it back to her.
“Jaron.” I was
n’t sure what he was accusing me of, but this shit needed to end and fast.
He straightened to his full height and peered at me over his shoulder.
“What are you accusing me of?” I demanded, finally voicing my thoughts.
“I’m not accusing you of anything,” he mumbled, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
“No? Because it sure as hell feels like it.” I headed back into the kitchen to make Brynn a bottle. While I was waiting for it to heat up in the bottle warmer, I felt Jaron come up behind me.
“I’m not accusing you of anything.” He wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my shoulder. “I just don’t like that you talk to Gigi and not me.”
“Gigi called, asked me questions and I gave her an answer. What was I supposed to say?” When the bottle warmer dinged, I pulled the bottle from it and tested the temperature on my inner wrist. Satisfied that it wouldn’t burn Brynn, I handed it to Jaron. “She gets one of these for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I’ve started her on baby food as well, so once she’s done her bottle, she can get something from the cupboard.”
Jaron took the bottle from me and spun me around. “I like this. Being here with you. Being a family. But what I don’t like is that I have to learn all of this when we should have learned it together.”
My heart jumped to my throat at the coldness in his eyes. “It’s not my fault. And it’s definitely not yours.”
His jaw clenched. “I know it’s not your fault but...”
I frowned, staring up at him. “Jaron, do you think it’s your fault?”
He looked away.
“No.” I fisted his t-shirt and forced him to look at me. “You told me to talk, so you have to do the same.”
“I’m just having a hard time here, Piper. I should have been there. I should have been with you throughout your pregnancy. Through the birth. Through her diaper falling off the first time you tried putting it on her. I should have been there.”
Instead of waiting for me to respond, he pushed past me and left the kitchen to go feed our daughter.
My heart hammered in my ears. I had no idea that it bothered him as much as it did. I didn’t know at all. I had no warning. Not one bit. And now I was left with a broken man who hated himself for what he did and for leaving me. Even though he saved my life, I knew Jaron wished things would have turned out differently. I just wondered how much of that he blamed on me.
Jaron
I never meant to come off as an asshole but the fact that Piper had no issues talking to Gigi about our problems, instead of me, pissed me off. I knew she never really said anything, just that we were trying to get into a routine but that side of me came out before I could stop myself. Words spewed from my lips quicker than I would have liked and of course, Piper was on the receiving end of it.
While she rummaged around in the kitchen, I pulled up a chair beside Brynlee and gave her the bottle.
She clasped it with both hands and stuck the nipple into her mouth.
I sighed, leaning back in the chair and ran a hand through my hair. “Did you breastfeed her?”
Instead of answering me, Piper left the kitchen and went to a bookshelf sitting beside the TV. She pulled a box off the bottom shelf and brought it over to me.
“Everything is in here. The ultrasound pictures, doctor’s notes, more photos and so on. I even kept journals,” Piper told me, but she wouldn’t meet my gaze. “And yes, I did breastfeed her.”
I stood from the chair. “Piper.”
“Read the journals, Jaron. Everything you want to know is in them.” Her shoulders slumped, almost like she was admitting defeat.
“Hey.” I pulled her into my arms when she went to walk away. “Stop this.”
“Stop what?” She struggled against me, but I wouldn’t release her. I refused, knowing we needed to work through this. “I can’t do this with you. I don’t know what I expected when you got out, but it definitely wasn’t this.”
“Don’t push me away.” I cupped her face, forcing her to look up at me. “I can’t do this without you either. I know I’ve changed. I get that. But you don’t know what I went through. And I know I should tell you and that you deserve to know but I also don’t want you hearing that shit.”
“I want to know everything.” She turned in my arms, placing her hand on the spot above my heart. “I want to know what made you change. I want to know you, Jaron. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. I went to make you a coffee and I don’t even know if you drink coffee. I just…” She huffed. “I’ve known you since we were kids, but I still feel like we’re strangers.”
I opened my mouth to argue but no words came out. She was right. She was absolutely fucking right. “Then let’s take this one day at a time. We can even start dating.”
She leaned back, frowning. “Really?”
“Why not? We have a kid together, Piper, and sure, we may have done things out of order but that doesn’t matter.” I ran my hands up and down her arms. “I want to date you. We don’t have to even go out for dinner. We can stay here, order in pizza, watch movies.”
“I like that idea,” she whispered, her eyes shining.
“Good.” I kissed her forehead, breathing her in. “And we may not know every single thing about each other or what we like and don’t like. Our hobbies and things like that but I do know you. I know every single inch of your body. And yes, I know it’s been a while, but I can still read you, baby.” I released her and sat down. “To answer your question, I do drink coffee. Black. And I know that you drink yours with half a spoon of sugar. Brown sugar if you can get access to it and a little bit of milk.”
Her eyes widened. “How do you know that?”
“Because I paid attention in Paris.” While Brynn drank from her bottle, I pulled the box closer to me. “I’m still waiting for that coffee.”
I could feel Piper’s gaze burning into me but after a couple seconds of silence between us, she headed into the kitchen.
When she left, I blew out a slow breath. “Your mama drives me crazy, baby girl.”
Brynn babbled, probably defending her mama, and shoved the nipple back into her mouth.
I only shook my head and started looking through the box of items. When Piper said she saved everything, she meant just that. She saved every single thing she could from her pregnancy. I pulled out a bundle of notebooks. Five to be exact. Pulling the elastic off of them, I flipped through the pages. My eyes widened when I saw that every single page was written on.
“Geeze, Piper,” I murmured. She really did keep everything. My eyes landed on a journal entry.
Not feeling well today. I really miss Jaron and wish he was here to massage my lower back. It hurts so much and I’m only five months pregnant.
My chest tightened. I flipped through a few more pages.
Meadow made me the best donut today. It was filled with peanut butter, icing sugar cream type stuff and chocolate. I probably gained ten pounds, but it was worth it, and baby is happy.
I picked up another journal and flipped to the middle.
I’m in my fourth month of pregnancy and I want Jaron. God, I want him so bad. Everything hurts. It aches. And knowing he’ll probably read this one day is making it that much worse.
What would I say to him if he was here?
What would he do?
What would I do?
Would I get on my knees and beg?
Would he force—
I slapped the journal closed. “Fucking hell.”
“You started reading about the fourth month into my pregnancy, didn’t you?” Piper placed a mug on the table in front of me.
“Oh yeah.” I took a sip of the coffee and let out a heavy sigh.
She sat across from me, drinking her own cup. A rosy tinge had hit her cheeks. I was going to have to read the rest of that passage later with her.
“There’s other stuff in there. My mom bought me a Polaroid camera, so I took a bunch of pictures too. And I have digital c
opies as well. But I…”
I met her gaze, placing the mug on the table. “What?”
“I want some pictures with you. Family pictures and so on.” She hesitated. “I mean…if you want that of course.”
“I would like that,” I told her and continued looking through the box. “Do you have videos too?”
“I do.” She reached into the box and pulled out a smaller box. “I had these put onto CDs and also a flash drive. So you can watch them whenever you want. Gigi was in the delivery room with my mom and me, so she videotaped. I just made sure she stayed at my head.” She laughed lightly.
I gave her a small smile. “I can watch you give birth to our baby.” My body stirred, the tiny hairs on my body tingling at the thought.
Piper coughed, clearing her throat. “Yeah. You can. Oh, Luna gave birth to a boy. His name is Benjamin and named after your uncle who died. We were pregnant around the same time. Just a few weeks off from each other.”
Luna Stone was one of Piper’s best friends and was also engaged to my cousin, Zach. I was happy that they finally worked through whatever it was they were having issues with. I hadn’t seen them since they came to the hotel my crew and I were staying at. Fuck, that was so damn long ago.
“They’re also getting married in a few months,” Piper continued. “Zach proposed a while ago but they were waiting for you to come home. Vince and Gigi are getting married too.”
“Meadow and Shade already did,” I added.
Piper nodded. “They couldn’t wait. With everything they went through, I don’t blame them.”
My chest tightened, remembering back to when my dad told me that Sunny Harrison had been shot and killed. He was a good guy and had been a longtime member of Hell’s Harlem, along with Roy Allen, known as Shade.
“They have a son together. Andrew.” Piper reached across the table and cupped my hand. “I’m sorry about Sunny.”
“Thank you. He was a good man.” I sighed. “I look forward to seeing everyone and meeting the kids.” My dad tried keeping me in the loop as best he could, but I completely forgot everything. With what had gone on, it fell to the back of my mind.
“We’re invited to all the weddings of course.”