I screamed his name and clutched at his arms as I came. He planted his hands on either side of me and fucked me hard and fast. I forgot all about the time that had passed since he left for Florida. He was back, and he wasn’t going to leave me again. Some might call me a fool for believing him, but I did, and the happiness he gave me was worth risking it all a hundred times over.
I dug my nails into his wrists, and he gritted his teeth above me. His hair hung in front of his eyes, and the muscles in his jaw flexed. I traced my fingers up his forearms and followed his veins until they disappeared at his shoulders. I used the lines of muscle across his back as a map to his sides, where I pressed my nails against him once more.
Brayden groaned and dropped down to kiss my neck. All the while, he continued moving inside me, his hips dipping and rolling like a wave. Every thrust felt deeper, and soon, I was coming unhinged and baring my soul to him as sweat broke out at the nape of my neck.
He pushed me up higher on the bed and crawled toward me. I moved to get on top of him, but he pushed me back down by my shoulders. I stayed where I was on my back, holding my knees together teasingly as he tried to push them apart.
“Let me in,” he said softly, planting kisses along my shoulders. He tried to ease my legs apart, but I held fast and giggled breathlessly.
I was playing a game that he and I both knew I could not win. And that was the fun of it.
He grabbed me by the hips and flipped me over so that I was on my stomach. He told me to stay where I was, but I pushed him and tried to roll back over. He planted a hand in the small of my back and held me down. He leaned over me and pinched my earlobe between his teeth.
“I’m not finished with you yet,” he whispered hoarsely.
“Good.” I sighed, arching my back and pressing my ass against his dick. I lifted upward so that my hips were off the bed and all my weight was on my elbows. He grabbed my waist and pulled me down on his cock.
As he rode me, I gripped the sheets beneath me until I pulled the edges off the mattress. Brayden’s hips jerked, and he rocked against me as his orgasm crept up on him.
His hands moved up my waist to my shoulders, and he pulled me down harder, driving deeper into me than he had ever been. Then he came. His warm come filled me up just as I gave in to my own climax.
We stayed joined together until we were both done, and then we climbed up to the top of the bed to rest our heads on my pillows.
Brayden rested a hand on my hip as I rolled onto my side to face him. I cupped my hand under my cheek and watched him catch his breath. His eyes were closed, and he was facing the ceiling. He was so handsome, so perfect, and I let myself be in awe of him for a couple minutes before I did what I should have done when I first realized I had forgiven him.
I had to tell him I was pregnant.
I was sure he would take it well. We were both on the same page now. But there was still a voice of fear in my head telling me that this was it. This was when he would really walk away from me forever.
“Brayden,” I said softly. “I have to tell you something.”
His eyes fluttered open, and he turned his head to the side to look at me. When he saw my face, he must have realized that this was something serious because he rolled over to face me and reached out to caress my cheek with his hand.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Maybe nothing. It depends how you see it.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Okay.”
I took a deep breath. I just had to say it. I couldn’t hide it. He would see my belly in a month or two, and it would be out of the bag anyway.
“I’m pregnant,” I said.
The two words hung between us for a good five seconds before he reacted.
“Pregnant?” he asked, his eyes a little wide. He looked much the same as Gracie had when I told her.
I nodded. “Yes. I found out last week. I went to the doctor. I’m healthy. Everything is good. But yes. I’m pregnant, and it’s yours.”
“You didn’t call…” he said slowly.
“I wasn’t going to. I didn’t want you to feel like you had no other choice but to come back here. I couldn’t make you give up the life I thought you loved in Florida. If you came back here or called me, I wanted it to be because you wanted to be with me.”
“And I do.” He put a hand on my hip and moved closer to me. I could smell his cologne and the sweet musk of his sweat. “I meant what I said. I love you. I’m not going anywhere. I want to do this with you.”
I exhaled a sigh of relief. I felt lighter than I’d been in weeks. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
“Bella is going to be ecstatic,” he said, chuckling.
“Do you think she’ll want a brother or sister?” I nuzzled in close to him and settled against his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my head.
“I don’t think she’ll care. She’s just going to be happy to have a family.”
I smiled into him and listened to his heartbeat against my cheek.
“We are going to make one good-looking kid.”
Laughing, I poked him in the ribs. He flinched and chuckled, then kissed the top of my head.
I knew in that moment that everything was going to be all right. For the first time in a decade, I felt like I was truly where I was supposed to be.
I had finally found my home.
Chapter 31
Brayden
When I woke in the morning, Rein’s hair was in my mouth, and all I could smell was her floral shampoo. I pulled the strands out of my mouth and wrapped my arms back around her. I didn’t want to wake her. Lying in her bed with my arms around her was pure bliss. I would not be the one responsible for cutting it short.
Reality seemed too good to be true.
I had lain awake well into the night with Rein sleeping in my arms. My mind had been racing with thoughts of her being pregnant. At first, it had been a little daunting. Then, as I mulled it over a bit more, my stomach began fluttering with excited butterflies. I was going to have a child with the woman of my dreams, and we were going to give Bella a little brother or sister.
I smiled to myself and rested my cheek on Rein’s head.
There was something bittersweet about all of this. It had been what my mother wanted for me for so long. I just hadn’t been ready to hear it or willing to pursue it. Now, I saw the sense in her plans for me. She knew me better than I knew myself and she always had. She saw how happy I would be with Rein at my side, and she had done everything in her power to push me back to her; to the woman who had stolen my first kiss. Now she would hold my last one, too.
My last first kiss would be Rein Petty, the girl of my dreams.
I would be eternally grateful to my mother for that.
Rein yawned in my arms and stretched. I loosened my hold on her as she reached her arms over her head and arched her back. Her breasts pressed into my chest as she leaned back. She opened her eyes and gave me a sunny smile.
“Good morning,” she said sleepily. Her eyes closed, and she nestled her face in her pillow. “How did you sleep?”
“Like a baby,” I said, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “You?”
“Same.”
“I hate to do this to you, but we should get up and go get Bella. Emmett will probably be wondering where we are by now. I sort of dropped by his place unannounced last night.”
“Okay,” Rein said as she succumbed to another yawn. She sat up, and the covers fell from her shoulders. I watched as she rolled out of bed and stretched again once she was standing. “Do I have time to shower first?”
“As long as I can join you.” I grinned.
She smiled back and tilted her chin toward her bathroom door. “Come on, then.”
I got up and followed her in. She started the shower, and soon, the bathroom was full of steam. She stepped in first, and I joined her. The water bounced off her back as she tilted her head to run the water over her hair. She s
licked it off her forehead and opened her eyes when I cupped her breasts in my hands.
“You’re going to make Emmett wait, after all?” she asked, biting her bottom lip.
“If he were in my shoes, he’d do the same thing.”
Rein giggled, and I flicked my thumbs over her nipples. She squirmed in my grasp, and I spun her around. I pushed her forward until her breasts were pressed against the tiled wall of the shower. I eased my knee between her legs, forcing her to spread them. My cock had been thick and ready since I woke up, and when I slipped myself inside her folds, the wetness that greeted me proved that Rein was just as turned on as I was.
We made love in the shower, pausing to lather each other in soap, until the water ran cold. We got out but didn’t bother to towel dry. We kept fucking like animals. I bent her over the sink and fucked her from behind. She lifted a leg to let me in deeper. Then, when her legs were trembling and she couldn’t stay on her feet, I lifted her up and put her bare ass on the counter. I finished inside her with her legs wrapped around my waist.
We got ready together and were unable to keep our hands to ourselves. She danced around me like a siren, and I slipped a hand between her legs any chance I got. When we finally had to get dressed, I was disappointed but unwilling to let the shenanigans end.
We bundled up for the cold weather and went out to my rental truck. I had managed to get the same one I had a couple weeks ago. I helped Rein up into the passenger seat and hurried around to my door. I climbed in and started the engine.
As we waited for the cab to warm up, Rein slid toward me and leaned over the console. She massaged my cock with one hand while she kissed me and held my neck with the other. I returned her teasing by slipping a hand down the front of her jeans and rubbing her clit in slow circles. She was moaning and breathless when I put the truck in reverse.
I had my hands in her pants all the way to Emmett’s place.
When I parked the truck in his driveway, I looked apologetically over at Rein. “We have to be on our best behavior now.”
Rein smiled and nodded. “I know. I can make you come later.”
Her words had me gritting my teeth. “Don’t talk like that.”
“Why?” she asked with a small smile. She opened the truck door.
“Because. It turns me on too much. I don’t want to have to wait.”
She laughed and hopped out of the truck. “Waiting is half the fun.” She slammed the door closed, and I got out too. We made our way up to Emmett’s door, shared a passionate kiss on his threshold, and then knocked to announce ourselves.
I heard him call for us to come in.
We unbundled in the foyer and made our way into his living room to find him sitting on the sofa with his back to us. Bella was kneeling in front of him, unscrewing the top off a bright pink lip gloss.
“Rein!” Bella cried and stumbled to her feet. She raced around the sofa and threw herself at Rein, who had dropped down to her knees. The two hugged each other tightly. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” Rein said. “I’m so happy to see you.”
Although the reunion between my two girls was adorable, my attention had been captured by Emmett, who was still on the sofa and facing the other way.
“Hey, Emmett,” I said. “Come here.”
Emmett groaned.
I glanced down at Bella. “Did you give Emmett a makeover?”
She grinned up at me and nodded.
Rein looked positively delighted by this discovery. She stood up and walked around the sofa. When she looked down at Emmett, she busted out laughing. I joined her and stared down at my friend.
“Wow,” I said. “You look beautiful, which is something in and of itself. Good job, Bella.”
Emmett scowled. “Shut up, Brayden. I didn’t know what to do. She’s impossible to say no to.”
“Tell me about it.” I chuckled. “That blush really brings out your eyes, though.”
Emmett pushed himself up with his hands on his knees and then pointed a finger at me. “Remind me about this the next time you ask me to do any favors.”
I held both my hands up. “All right, all right. Relax. I was just paying you a compliment.” I looked down at Bella. “You should be a makeup artist. Emmett has never looked prettier.”
“Hey, now—” Emmett started to say before Rein interrupted him.
“You do look like a real peach, Emmett.”
He threw both his hands in the air with an exasperated sigh. “Babysitting. Never. Again.”
Both Rein and I laughed. I clapped my friend on the shoulder. “In all seriousness, thank you for watching her. I owe you one, all right?”
“Damn straight you do.”
“Language,” I reminded him.
“Right.” He glanced at Bella who was back to playing with her small makeup collection. “Darn straight you do.”
“Come on, Bella,” I said. “Get your things. Let’s go get some breakfast.”
***
We went to the Tavern for their breakfast special. Bella ordered blueberry pancakes, which arrived with blueberries dropped in them to form a happy face. A swirl of whipped cream sat on top to represent a hat, and Bella clapped her hands together to express her enthusiasm. Then she drowned the pancakes in syrup as Rein and I started eating our eggs, bacon, and toast.
We had told Bella on the drive over that Rein and I were a couple. She had squealed with delight in the back seat and asked us a torrent of questions, all of which we hadn’t thought through enough to give her any sort of answers.
She wanted to know if I brought Rein flowers or chocolates, like the boys in the movies did.
She asked if Rein loved me.
Then she asked if I loved Rein.
From there, the questions got trickier:
“What happens now?”
“Are we going to live here or in Florida?”
“Are you going to get married?”
I held up my hands and leaned across the table at the Tavern. I grabbed Bella’s hand. “Slow down there, kiddo. We still have a lot of things to work out. But there is something Rein and I are excited to tell you.”
Bella looked back and forth between Rein and me. She smiled. “Okay. What is it?”
I glanced at Rein, who motioned for me to tell Bella. I stared into my daughter’s big, bright green eyes. “You’re going to be a big sister, Bella. Rein and I are having a baby.”
At first, this news didn’t seem to sink in. Bella’s brow furrowed together, and she turned her head to the side as she looked at me. Then it all clicked into place, and she exploded like a firecracker.
She leapt out of her chair and raced to Rein. “A baby!” she cried, slipping under Rein’s arm so she could wrap her arms around her waist and press her ear to Rein’s belly.
Rein giggled and patted Bella’s back. “You won’t be able to feel the baby move yet, but soon enough.”
Bella closed her eyes and hugged Rein tighter. “I’m ready to be a big sister. I can teach them how to tie their shoes and brush their hair. And how to change their dolls. And how to—”
I laughed and leaned back in my chair. “We have to wait nine months, you know.”
“Nine months!”
“Eight now,” Rein amended.
“There’s going to be lots to do in the meantime,” I said. “We’ll have to decide where we’re going to live. We’ll have to prepare the nursery and make sure we have everything the baby will need when he or she arrives. There will be plenty for you to help with.”
Bella nodded eagerly. “I want to help. Can we paint the nursery pink?”
Rein laughed and patted Bella’s head. “Maybe we should wait and find out if we’re having a boy or a girl first. Then we can choose a paint color.”
“Or,” I said. “We don’t find out.”
Rein and Bella both looked at me.
“Maybe we wait and let it be a surprise when the baby is born. What do you two say? You in for a little bit
of an adventure?”
Rein took a bite out of her toast and licked strawberry jam from her lips. Then she smiled and my heart swelled. “I like surprises.”
Chapter 32
Rein
Eight Months Later
Even in the dim fluorescent lighting of the hospital room, Brayden was handsome as hell. He looked exhausted as he sat with a tiny blue bundle cradled in his arms at the foot of my bed. His jaw was covered in dark stubble, and the skin under his eyes had a dark tint to it. But he was smiling, and he was happy.
Our son had been in the world for twelve whole hours now.
It was crazy to think that yesterday morning, I had felt my first contraction. At first, I had shrugged it off, thinking it was just a cramp. I’d been uncomfortable for weeks, and the pressure on my hips and below my belly had been slowly increasing, so the cramp felt almost normal. Then it had returned with a fiercer pain, and I knew that I needed to get to the hospital.
Brayden and I had prepared well. We had our hospital bag packed, as well as a bag for him and Bella with a change of clothes and things to freshen up if the delivery took a long time. Brayden loaded everything into his truck and clipped Bella into her seat in the back. Then he came back to me and helped me get my coat and boots on.
He held my hand as I made my way down my porch steps and to the truck. All the while, he spoke reassuring words to me. I could tell how frazzled and excited he was under his cool, calm, collected exterior. He was putting on a brave face for Bella and me, but at his core, he was brimming with nerves just like I was. That, for some reason, put me more at ease than his practiced words did.
The drive to the hospital felt short. Brayden took the quickest route and continuously assured Bella that everything would be fine as I groaned with pain in the front seat. The contractions had started, and try as I might, I couldn’t keep myself quiet.
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