by Amy Brent
I’d do anything for this woman, and that meant giving up this business. If that’s what I needed to do to make her mine-- to keep her by my side for the rest of my days-- then that is what I was willing to do.
Without a shadow of a doubt.
“I suppose I could go for a nice lunch,” she said.
“Where would you care to go?” I asked as I walked towards her. “After all, you just saved my ass.”
“I most certainly did,” she said, grinning.
“So, where does the lovely lady care to venture?” I asked.
“‘Lovely’, huh? A few minutes ago, I’m pretty sure I was the bitch that broke your heart,” she said.
“Why don’t we talk about that over dinner,” I said.
“Lunch and dinner? Sounds like someone’s groveling,” she said with a smile.
“Is it working?” I asked.
“Depends on how good the food is,” she said, winking.
I took her to lunch and we simply sat in each other’s company, but it was dinner I was looking forward to. For the first time, I brought her to my home and saw what she would look like in it. The penthouse suite on the top of the most beautiful complex in the area boasted of a view that dropped her jaw, but the only thing I could think of was pressing her against it and covering it in her imprint.
“Enjoying the view?” I asked.
“It’s beautiful up here, Mr. James,” she said.
“‘L’,” I said. “Just ‘L’.”
She looked at me with a smile in her eyes and I took her hand and lead her to the kitchen. My home was filling with the smells of a decadent filet mignon, and I could see her lick her lips in wanton lust for the food I was preparing.
“For a man who eats out all the time, it smells delicious in here,” she said.
“Only the best for the best,” I said.
“Ah, flattery will you get you everywhere with me,” she said.
“Not flattery,” I said as I sat her down at the table. “Simply the truth.”
I set a glass of wine down in front of her, but I noticed she wasn’t touching it. She was obviously nervous for the conversation that was about to ensue, so I decided to settle her mind as I set our plates of food down onto the table.
“I love you, Charlie,” I said, as I looked down at her.
She whipped her head up to me, her eyes glistening over with tears, and I bent down beside her and took her hand. I rubbed small, comforting circles on top of her skin while her eyes danced in between mine, and I raised up to place a light kiss to the tip of her nose before I continued.
“I was absolutely irate at the idea that you had betrayed me,” I said. “When I knocked on your apartment door and Rick opened up, it took everything I had not to punch him in his nose.”
“You should have,” she said. “I would’ve enjoyed that story much better than the one I came back to.”
“We had just had that perfect date, and then I walked into the office with Michael cornering me about our relationship, and then you left early because you were sick and I was worried about you.”
“I know,” she said as she brought my hand to her lips. “I know.”
She kissed it lightly and I felt a jolt of electricity leap up my arm. My hair stood on end as Charlie nuzzled her cheek into the top of my hand, and I turned my palm over to cup her cheek. Here she was. The vulnerable, beautiful, luscious woman I’d fallen in love with on that boat in the middle of the ocean. She was here with me, her heart bleeding in her lap for me, and I pulled her face towards mine before I descended my lips upon hers.
“I love you,” I said, murmuring into her lips.
“I love you, too, L. So much,” she said.
“I could never do that to you,” she says, breaking our kiss. “I could never cheat on you. There could never be another man in my life that would amount to anything close to what you’ve become to me.”
I watched as silent tears fell down her face at her admission, and my heart pounded heavily in my chest. Here was this strong, independent, prideful woman with words that cut like daggers and the ability to manipulate the most powerful people I’d ever known, and she was crying into the palm of my hand.
“When you wouldn’t answer my calls or texts, I got so angry at you. I needed you so much, so desperately, and you weren’t there. I was yelling for you, calling for you—reaching out for you.”
“I’m sorry,” I said with a whisper. “I’m so sorry, Charlie.”
“What happened?” she asked.
I leaned my forehead against hers as I brushed her wet cheek with my thumb. I felt her hot breath pulsing upon my lips as our food grew cold in the background, and I nuzzled my nose with hers before I found the courage to answer her question.
“I smashed my burner phone after I’d met Rick,” I said.
Her breathless laugh made me grin, but it was when she threw her head back in laughter that I finally saw my Charlie reemerge. The happy, resonant, life-changing Charlie I had come to know and understand. Her stomach lurched with her laughter and her bosom bounced with her giggling, and all I could do was smile as I took it all in.
She was in my home, our secret was out, and she was relaxed.
Charlie fit perfectly around me, among me, and within my soul, and there was nothing she could say or do that could make this scenario any better.
“Charlie,” I said.
“Yes, L?” she asked.
“You never told me. What was it you came into my office to talk about today?” I asked.
Her face grew somber and for a split second my stomach rolled with sick anticipation. I wanted her smile to come back. I wanted her to continue filling my kitchen with the sounds of her laughter. I wasn’t ready to venture back to reality.
Not yet.
Not after all this.
“I’m pregnant, L.”
I stared at her with an incredulous shock as her eyes danced around my face. My hand slowly fell from her cheek and sat in her lap, my gaze dropping to her stomach. That’s why her hand was splayed over her belly in my office. That’s why she was out sick for the past two days.
That’s why she wasn’t drinking her wine.
“You’re pregnant,” I said.
“Yeah. I-I uh—found out Monday,” she said.
“Have you been to a doctor?” I asked.
“No. Between my anxious nerves and the morning sickness, I haven’t really been able to get up and go,” she said.
All at once, my mind shut off. This incredible woman—who loved me throughout everything we had endured over the whirlwind that was the past few weeks—was carrying a child. My child. This sexy, passionate, honest woman—with the curves of a goddess and eyes the color of the sea before a storm—was pregnant.
With my child.
I pulled her from her seat and wrapped my arms around her. I picked her up and swung her around, my heart filled with the greatest of joys as I laughed into the crook of her neck. We twirled in circles before I sat her back down on her feet.
“You’re pregnant,” I said, smiling.
“So, you’re not upset?” she asked.
“Upset? Charlie, the woman I love with every fiber of my being is carrying my child. How the fuck could I be angry with that?” I asked.
I watched tears of happiness boil up in her eyes as I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever laid my hands on, and she was about to grow big and rotund with my child. I’d get to pamper her and help her. Massage her feet and wrap my arms around her growing stomach. I’d get to be at every doctor’s appointment and go on every shopping trip. I’d get to be a part of something I never thought I’d have in my life.
And best of all, I’d get to do it with her.
“Holy fuck, I love you,” I said.
And then, out of nowhere, she grabbed the collar of my shirt with her hands and pulled my lips down upon hers. Her tongue begged for entrance, swiping along my lips as I willingly parted
myself for her. My hands cloaked her back and pulled her fragile body close, and dinner melted away into the background as my hands slowly made their way down to cup her ass.
“I love you, L,” she whispered into my lips.
But, all I could do to reciprocate what she had just given me was to sweep her off her feet and take her to my bedroom.
I was going to paint my walls with her.
Chapter 34
Charlie
I curled my body into his strong chest as his arms carried me into his bedroom. His home was just like him—icy on the outside, but warm and comforting on the inside. I could feel his breath on the top of my head, settling my body and massaging my soul.
L was like me in every way that counted. He was understanding, kind, competitive, and intelligent. His smooth skin rippled over the chiseled muscles that housed an effervescent mind, and I was lucky to have met him. The way L made me feel when I was with him was a cohesive mixture of both safe and adventurous—just enough to keep me guessing without ever making me feel uncomfortable.
He was the man of my dreams. The man every teenage girl salivates over and daydreams about marrying one day. He was strong, he was smart, and he was attentive. My needs were a priority, and not because he wanted to get in my pants. They were a priority because he loved me, and that was something I never thought I’d find in my lifetime.
He believed in me and my dreams, and I was about to start a family with him.
I felt him lay me down on the bed before his lips dipped to my stomach. His hands worked my shirt up over my bosom while his fingertips hooked into the hem of my skirt, and the only thing I could feel was his lips peppering my belly button. He was smiling into my skin, granting our child kisses and whispering sweet nothings into my stomach.
L was going to be a wonderful father, and I was going to have a front-row seat to the lifelong show.
By the time he peeled every single article of clothing from my body, I was dripping for him. Every single time he bypassed my stomach he would plant a kiss there. It was as if he was wishing our growing child sweet dreams while my body worked to create for him something he wasn’t sure was real yet.
So, I grasped his hair and pulled him up to me before I crashed my lips onto his.
“Yes, I really am pregnant,” I murmured into his lips.
One by one, his pieces of clothing fell to the floor. My fingertips felt along the dips and valleys of the muscles I had come to memorize, and all of a sudden my mind shifted into autopilot. My hips rolled into his while his cock dripped onto the inside of my thigh, and my body yielded for him just as it always had.
Just as my heart eventually had.
“You’re gonna be a wonderful mother,” he said into my ear.
“I’m gonna get fat,” I said, giggling.
“And I will kiss, and lick, and suck, and memorize every single part of you that changes.”
“What if I get stretch marks here?” I asked, rubbing my hand along my thighs.
“Then, I’ll kiss them every night before I go to bed,” he said as his lips traveled along my skin.
“What if I get them here?” I asked, running my fingertips along my breasts.
“Then, I’ll spend every single night tracing their outlines with my tongue,” he said, his fingertips dancing along my nipples.
“What if I get them here?” I whispered as I fluttered my hand down the inside of my thigh.
“Then,” he said as his kisses fell between my legs, “I’ll spend every waking moment loving them the way I love you.”
I felt his tongue part my pussy lips and it transported me back to Finland. Back to the first time I’d ever seen his body in that steaming sauna room in that hotel. It ripped me back to the first time I’d ever thrown myself at him, crashing my lips into his as his body yielded before his mind shut him off.
His tongue rolled over my clit, causing me to buck into him. Yielding to him the way he wanted to yield to me that night.
“I love you,” I said breathlessly as my hands found his hair. “Oh fuck, I love you.”
He hummed in glorious retreat before I felt his fingers slide into me, and the tremble that began at my knees shivered my entire body. I could feel my soul opening up to him. I could feel it splitting my body in half, offering to him my heart and soul. My legs shook with every flick of his tongue and my pussy fluttered around his fingers as he crooked them inside of me.
His tongue caressed every part of my pussy. He wasn’t drinking me down or swallowing me whole. He was simply feeling my body against his face. Memorizing my every movements.
Taking in the moment on the off-chance it ended.
“I’m so close. I’m so close. Oh, Ellison. Yes, baby. Please don’t stop.”
I rolled into his face one last time before my body shook with pleasure. My muscles contracted and my legs locked him in, pulling him deeper into my body as he smiled with wicked pride. My hands tugged at his hair while his tongue pressed deeper into me, and soon all I could do was heave the precious air of his home into my lungs as I recuperated from his ministrations.
The whole night long was spent like that. He rolled me on top of him so he could watch my bosom bounce. He rolled me over and plunged his dick into my depths just to make my ass bounce upon his pelvis. His balls smacked my clit, throwing me over the edge while he pressed wet kisses all along my spine.
I was now a panting mess as I laid on my side in his bed.
“Lift your leg,” he whispered into my ear.
I felt his hand guide my leg over his body before his massive cock slid into my swollen, aching depths. Sweat had drenched the bed and I could feel his muscles twitching with exhaustion, but neither of us cared. We were free from the confines we had imposed upon ourselves, and my reservations about calling his name to the heavens disappeared. My throat was hoarse from all the moaning I’d done, allowing his name to drip from my lips with every orgasm he wrenched from my body.
And now, it was his turn to call out mine.
He set a steady pace, jostling neither of us as his hand laid spread across my stomach. I could feel him protecting us, even now. In the most vulnerable state he would ever have me in—where my body could no longer move or fight alongside him—he was holding the two things he loved most dear, directly in the palm of his hand.
“You are—the best thing—that has ever—ever happened to me,” he said, breathlessly.
I felt him pick up his pace, sheathing himself time and time again into my growing wetness as we dripped our sweat onto his bed. His pelvis snapped against my ass while his dick filled me to the brim, and I moaned as his thrusting began to stutter.
“You are so perfect,” I heard him whisper.
I found the strength to buck back into him one last time before he stilled his motions. He sucked a patch of skin on my neck between his teeth while his dick throbbed deep within my body, pumping me full of the very same cum that was responsible for the child my body held. When he was done, we simply laid there—his arms holding me close while his heartbeat pounded into my back.
The familiar sensation of our juices dripping down my thighs caused a smile to break forth before I slowly turned myself around in his arms.
“What will we do now?” I asked breathlessly.
“About what?” he asked.
“Work.”
“Well, a meeting will obviously have to be held,” he said.
“You know I won’t be upset if you fire me, right?” I asked.
“Oh, you’re not going anywhere. You’re carrying my child. I want you at work where I can see it. If you take sick days, I want to know about them so I can take them with you. If you take longer lunch breaks for health and wellness appointments, I want to be there with you. It’ll be easier to coordinate all that if you continue working,” he said.
“What if I don’t want to work?” I asked.
“Then take a leave of absence if you wish. But, I know you. You’ll work until a doctor tells you tha
t you can’t,” he said, grinning.
“We can’t hide this pregnancy forever, L,” I said. “Someone’s gonna find out.”
“Sweetheart, they already know, thanks to Sheila,” he said.
“Then, what’s the plan?” I asked, trying to break the tension I felt taking hold.
“I’ll hold a meeting,” he said. “A meeting with everyone important. I’ll admit to them that I’ve been breaking the rules, and that because of those rules being broken I have fallen in love.”
“You’re really gonna tell a room full of board members and VP’s that the Ellison James is in love,” I said.
“Yep,” he said. “I’ll tell them that some rules were made to be broken, and that maybe it’s time for a change.”
“What about the lawsuits this will open you up to?” I asked. “The people you’ve fired over breaking that rule?”
“Sweetheart, what you have to understand is that the people breaking those rules were usually also getting themselves into something else. Taking too many sick days or not showing up on time. Missing meetings or constantly screwing up paperwork. It’ll be hard to prove that I fired a negligent individual because they were having sex with a coworker, and if it comes down to it I’ll argue that their relationship was affecting their work. I gave them all a choice—stop the relationship or lose their job.”