Just One Night - Josh & Bailey (Crossroads Book 13)

by Melanie Shawn

  Her inner walls clamped around his digits, spasming as he worked them inside of her. Within seconds, her head fell back and her back arched, and the movement freed her breasts from the confines of her bra. He didn’t miss a beat and bit down hard on her nipple as he fucked her with his fingers.

  “Yes, yes, yes,” she breathed encouragements as she rode out her release. Her hands fisted in his hair, holding his head in place.

  When her limbs finally relaxed, he pulled his hand from her panties and sucked her juices off his middle finger. Then, with his forefinger he outlined her nipples before he licked her release off of her skin.

  He took his time, lapping up every last drop when she lowered down onto the cot. He moved to join her but she shook her head. “I want to taste you.” With that bold statement, she deftly unfastened his pants and freed his straining erection.

  “Oh, fuck,” he groaned, as he rested one hand against the wall. With his other hand, he grabbed the soft tendrils of blonde hair at the back of her head and wound his fingers into them, gripping her hard as she slipped her lips all the way down his shaft.

  Her tongue rubbed up and down the sensitive skin of his steel-hard flesh as she moved her mouth back and forth from tip to base again and again. It was an expert mixture of sensations she was creating with all of the perfectly-timed and synchronized movements of her lips, tongue, and hands.

  There were so many things working together to drive powerful pulses through him; sensations that wound around each other and blended to create one giant melting pot of pleasure. They coordinated and swept over him like a tidal wave.

  Without missing a beat, she pushed his jeans and boxer briefs further down his thighs and then gripped his ass hard, pulling him toward her with each stroke as she drove her mouth down hard on his dick.

  Her nails dug into his flesh. The small pinpricks of pain actually served to increase the pleasure he felt. They added an intense counterpoint.

  Just when he was starting to wonder how long he could hold up against this erotic assault on his senses without coming down the back of her throat, she slid her hands down the back of his legs and slowed her pace to gentle stroking.

  She let her hands wander all over his body, trailing her fingertips up and down his legs and back, pushing her hands up under his shirt and scratching her nails over the peaks and valleys of his tightly-formed six-pack.

  Even though the pace that her mouth was working him at was not as frantic, he still felt close to the edge. The movement of her hands all over his body made him feel like she was touching him everywhere, like there was not an inch of his skin that hadn’t felt the sweet brush of her fingers.

  He stepped back then, even though it was definitely not the easiest choice. Immediately, his cock felt the loss of her mouth and wanted it back. But he had bigger things in mind.

  He made fast work of stripping out of his clothes. His dick swelled even harder and thicker as he did because of the naked hunger in her eyes. She sat back and watched him remove his clothing. “Enjoying the show?” he teased.

  “You really are beautiful,” she said in wonder.

  “I think that’s supposed to be my line.” He grinned. As much as he wanted to unwrap her like a present and devour her, show her how much he needed her, loved her, and pour out every ounce of unsaid emotions he had for her, he didn’t think this was the time or place for that. They were both emotionally raw and he didn’t believe that was the rabbit hole to go down when they may be interrupted at any moment. So, he decided to go a different, more playful route. “Your turn. Strip.”

  * * *

  Oh boy.

  The wetness that flooded Bailey’s southern regions took her by surprise. She’d just had an incredible orgasm and with one command, her body was primed for round two. But that wasn’t the only unexpected reaction. At his order, she sprung to her feet to obey.

  Normally, the concept of “obey” was not in her wheelhouse. Not even close. But somehow, in this moment, with Josh standing naked in front of her and using that oh-so-freaking-delicious commanding tone, it just seemed like the thing to do.

  As she shimmied out of her clothes, she saw that the tables had turned. Josh was now watching her undress with the same fierce intensity that she’d watched him with just a few moments before.

  She echoed his earlier sentiment. “Enjoying the show?”

  His signature tense nod was his only response. He hadn’t even lifted his eyes to meet hers, they just remained glued on her body the entire time.

  When she stood before him, stripped bare of every article of clothing that had been on her body, he let his eyes run slowly from her shoulders all the way down to her toes, and then back up again at that same languid speed.

  However, just because his gaze was slow-moving didn’t mean there was no heat behind it—in fact, it seemed even more fiery for taking its time.

  Everywhere that his laser-sharp focus landed, a prickling awareness rose on her skin. Her entire body tingled in the wake of his attention. She tried to remain as still as possible, loving that this encounter was so easy. This was exactly what she needed after the day, the year, the life she’d had.

  Being with Josh, like this, was the only time in her life when she wasn’t thinking, analyzing, or worrying. When she was with him, she was just being.

  Finally, the burning embers of his eyes rose to meet hers. The fire that smoldered in them jumped straight across the small space from him and into her soul. She felt the spark start in her belly and spread outward from there, taking her breath as it moved through her torso and into her chest.

  She’d never understood the connection she had with Josh. It was magical. Being with him was like an otherworldly experience. Their chemistry was so combustible that she felt like it rewired the synapses in her brain, or that it changed the very strands of her DNA.

  She wanted to tell him—maybe not that, exactly. But something. Something that would get across to him how profound this was to her. But the words just weren’t there. When she opened her mouth to try, all she could feel was the lust that flooded her body grabbing at her throat like a fist and squeezing it shut.

  Josh gave her a small smirk. “Turn around.”

  His command ricocheted through her brain. Her knees nearly gave out on her they got so weak.

  Again, it was like she couldn’t follow the instructions fast enough. She turned around and felt his hand run up and down her back. He remembered her favorite position and the anticipation of him taking her from behind caused a shiver to run through her entire body.

  One hand gripped her at her waist and the other pressed between her shoulder blades. As she bent forward, he gruffly instructed, “Spread your legs.”

  As soon as his low, growling voice hit her ear, it happened again. She became almost too weak to hold herself up. This time, though, he was holding her and he gently maneuvered her so that she was on her hands and knees on the cot.

  Using his thigh, he widened her legs even farther as his hands firmly held her hips in place and he dug his fingers into the tender flesh there. A gasp fell from her lips when she felt his engorged tip at her opening. She gripped the small pillow at the top of the bed, using it as an anchor.

  Her inner thighs trembled as she waited with bated breath. The anticipation built to such a fever pitch because of the fact that she couldn’t see what was happening behind her and was limited to only what she could feel. In a certain way, it was like having a blindfold on, just waiting for the next thing that Josh was going to do to her, totally at his mercy.

  She never would’ve predicted that she’d like something like that, but, damn. If the juices dripping down her legs as she waited for him to thrust into her were any indication, she sure as hell did.

  She kneeled there on the bed, the pillowcase balled up in her fists, just waiting for Josh to thrust into her. She felt almost like someone that was standing on top of the trapdoor. She knew, of course, that at some moment it was going to be yanked out from
underneath her and she’d be filled with a powerful sensation—but there was the big question: when would that moment arrive?

  Everything was suspended, just waiting for that rush of sensation to fill her body, aware of nothing but the sound of her own raspy breathing in her ears and the skittering tingles that covered her skin from head to toe.

  Then, that instant came, and her head spun around with the toe-curling pleasure that filled her as Josh entered into her at the same time as he yanked her hips backward, creating a whirlwind of intensity with every stroke.

  He thrust in and out of her again and again, the friction his rock-hard staff created as it rubbed against her inner walls building up to the explosion she knew was coming.

  The small room was filled with the sound of sweaty skin slapping against sweaty skin every time he buried himself in her and his abs smacked up against her ass.

  In the back of her mind, she thought about the reality that at any moment, someone could knock on the door. That anyone might be able to hear what was going on inside. But that didn’t make her want to stop. It actually turned her on a little. Or a lot. The idea that they might get caught. Just one more surprise reaction that Josh had brought out in her.

  Slowing his rhythm only a little, he leaned down and pressed his chest against the length of her back. She had to bite her lip to keep from screaming at the pleasure of it. As good as it felt when he touched her, kissed her, licked her, it felt just as good, if not better, when they were simply pressed up against each other, skin to skin, nothing in the way. That was when she felt the most connected to him.

  He pressed his lips up against her ear and whispered, “How close are you?” before giving her ear lobe a little nip with his teeth.

  “A lot closer if you keep doing that,” she whispered back.

  He growled, and that was all she needed. Every muscle in her body stiffened and clenched, her inner walls bore down on him with fierce intensity. Explosions of pleasure went off in her belly like fireworks and they radiated out to every part of her body.

  Staying quiet in that moment was one of the hardest things she’d ever done and she only accomplished it by biting down hard on the pillow that her face was pressed against.

  Josh wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back tighter against him as his muscles clenched. She could feel how tightly they were wound under his skin, and it gave her even more of the sense that they were one in that moment, both experiencing this at the same time.

  They rode out the powerful waves, and when those waves calmed down to nothing but tiny ripples lapping at the shore, they collapsed down onto the bed and held each other, no sound in the room but their breathing and the beating of their hearts. Bailey curled into Josh, resting her cheek on his chest as he ran his fingers through her hair.

  After a minute or ten, she wasn’t sure, she felt his chest rumble as he spoke her name, “Bailey.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I love you.”

  Hearing Josh say that he loved her made everything that she’d been through to get to this point worth it. “I love you, too.”

  They might not have everything figured out, but they had that.

  Chapter 19

  Josh knows about the baby.

  It was a statement that Bailey found herself repeating over and over again.

  She shut the door to her office and took a seat behind the desk. Her entire world had changed a little over twelve hours ago and her brain was still trying to catch up. Everything felt exactly the same and totally different at the same time.

  Josh knows about the baby.

  Her limbs were heavy with exhaustion that was bone deep and different than the being tired from lack of sleep. The fatigue she was experiencing was the result of the toll the secret she’d carried for so many years had taken on her. She felt the release of the information on a cellular level.

  Josh knows about the baby.

  There was a lot between them that was still up in the air. They’d decided last night to put whatever was going on with them on the back burner. That was after they’d made love and held each other for almost an hour in their on-call room hideaway, of course. Bailey felt they had enough on their plates with Angie, Noah, and Stan. Making relationship decisions didn’t really feel like a priority when their grandson was recovering from heart surgery.

  She leaned back in her chair. It felt like she was dreaming, but she knew that she wasn’t. This was real. This was happening.

  Josh knows about the baby.

  And there was one other person in her life that needed to know. She’d wanted to wait until she wasn’t on duty to have this conversation, but since Dr. Lee was still out with a family emergency, she was on for another twenty-four hours.

  She stared at her cell phone as it sat beside her keyboard and bit the inside of her lip. Procrastination wasn’t going to solve anything, so she picked up the device, scrolled through to find her brother’s name, and pressed the Facetime icon.

  Her own face filled the screen as it rang. Her expression was tight and anxious, so she tried to relax her features by blowing out a long breath. Bailey had never felt guilty for not telling Josh about the baby. Like she’d explained to him, he’d made his choice, or at least she thought he had. And since she wasn’t close to her parents, she’d never had an ounce of regret for keeping it from them. The only person that she’d ever felt any remorse about not telling was CJ.

  He was more than her brother, he was her best friend. Her only friend for a lot of years. He was her confidant. Her sole source of support. But he’d only been nine when she’d left to go to college and she felt like it would’ve been too much for him to handle. Then, when he was older, she just didn’t see the point.

  CJ picked up the call on the third ring and addressed her the way he had when they were kids. “Hey, favorite sister.”

  She answered the way she always did. “I’m your only sister.”

  “That we know of.” There was mischievous glint in his hazel eyes as he smiled, revealing the deep dimple on his left cheek.

  “Very true.” Since they didn’t know who CJ’s father was there was a good possibility that he had more sisters. Thinking of that situation made her nervousness increase. She smiled brightly, a little too brightly. “You got a minute?”

  “What’s wrong?” Concern shadowed his strong features. It was a completely valid response. The last time she’d asked if he had a minute was back when she had to call and tell him that their father had died.

  “Nothing.” Her voice went up. She cleared her throat. “I just…I have something to tell you.”

  There was no reason for her to be this anxious. This was her brother. Her best friend. The one constant male in her life. And then it hit her. That’s why she was so freaked out about telling him.

  CJ had always been her shadow. Up until she left for school, he’d followed her around like a duckling follows its mama duck. He’d always put her on a pedestal, and she was scared of getting knocked off of it American Gladiator style.

  But even if this information served as an inflatable joust pole and she landed flat on her butt, that was the chance she had to take. He deserved to know the truth.

  Since there was a lot to tell, she figured she’d do it in stages. Stage one: tell him that she’d had a baby. Stage two: tell him that she met her daughter. Stage three: tell him that her baby had a baby.

  “I’m not sure how to say this, so I guess I’ll just say it. When I left for college, I was pregnant. I had the baby and gave her up for adoption.” Bailey waited for CJ’s reaction. When his expression didn’t change she wondered if there was a bad connection. “Did you hear me, I said I had a baby?”

  “Yeah, I heard you,” he replied calmly.

  Her brows lifted. “That’s it?”

  His head tilted to the left, looking uncertain of what she expected him to say. “I’mmmm,” he drew out the word before continuing, “glad you’re finally telling me.”

  “Fin
ally telling you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why are you acting like this isn’t a surprise?”

  His shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Because it’s not a surprise.”

  “You knew?!”

  “Yeah.”

  “How long have you known?”

  “I don’t know, I guess…right after you left for college.”

  “Bullshit.” No one knew. Her brother was full of it.

  He shrugged again.

  “How? How did you know?” she demanded.

  “It was a lot of little things. You were being so weird before you left. Then, every time I talked to you on the phone you sounded so sad. So I went in your room to see if I could figure out what was going on with you and I found a baby pro/con list you made. It was wadded up in your trash can. That was my first big clue. And then for months whenever I talked to you, you were tired.” His hand came into the frame and he made quotations marks. “Or you were coming down with the flu.” He did the motion again.

  It was true, those were the excuses that she’d told everyone.

  He continued, “My friend Cain’s mom was pregnant at the same time and you sounded just like her. Then you wouldn’t let me come visit you during Christmas like we planned because you were busy. When I finally did see you in the summer, you had put on weight—”

  “Yeah, I told you, it was the freshman fifteen,” Bailey defended. It had taken her almost a year to lose the weight that she’d put on during her pregnancy and she figured the freshman fifteen was the perfect cover.

  “And you wouldn’t talk to Josh,” CJ pressed on, not acknowledging that she’d said anything. “I just…I figured it out.”

  “Why didn’t you ever say anything?” If she’d suspected that her brother had a child, she would sure as hell say something.

  “I thought you’d tell me when you were ready. I tried to make it easy for you after dad died. Remember, I talked about how hard it must’ve been for mom to carry around that secret?”

  “That’s why you said all that?”