The Baby Bump

by Tara Wylde

  Lucy continues to stare at the name on the mailbox. “I’ve been meaning to ask you. Everyone says you grew up here, but I don’t recall seeing the last name Jakes anywhere, and running the medical center, I’m familiar with most of the families who live here, though I guess I could have overlooked it.”

  “I legally changed my last name to Jakes about six months after I left town. I would have done it sooner, except I didn’t have enough money to handle the fees connected to name changes.”

  I’ll never forget how free I felt after completing that particular task. To this day, it still feels like my greatest accomplishment.

  Lucy crosses her arms over her stomach and studies my face, but she doesn’t say a word, merely waits for me to continue.

  “My dad. He was never a great guy. And he never liked me. He was a big man, a construction worker. When I was little, he owned his own, small construction company that built houses in the summertime and had some private snow plowing in the winter. Typical lower middle class Midwestern family. Just enough money to scrape by, but not enough for anything else.”

  I dig my toe into the road’s soft shoulder and lean against the back of the SUV as memories flood back. “He was so proud of the business he’d created and went on and on about how his boys were going to take it over. And my older brother Trent seemed like the type. But I wasn’t. I was shy and a little on the scrawny side back then, and preferred reading to getting dirty. It drove my father nuts.”

  Lucy edges closer and threads her fingers through mine. I clutch her hand.

  “My dad. He’d always had a temper and would occasionally knock me around, usually after he’d been drinking – which he did a lot – I guess in an attempt to toughen me up.”

  Lucy sucks in a sharp breath. Her shoulders stiffen.

  “It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t unbearable either. Then my mom got sick. Cancer. That’s when we discovered that the medical insurance we had was next to useless. They basically refused to pay for just about anything. Dad lost his business and five months later Mom died. That’s when things got really bad. My dad got a job on a construction crew, fixing pot holes. He’d stay sober enough to make it through his shift, but as soon as he came home, he’d climb straight into a bottle and his temper would implode.”

  “He beat you.” Lucy’s voice is full of sadness, but not pity, for which I’m thankful. I don’t think I could stand for her to feel sorry for me.

  “Beat us. Swore at us. Took our paychecks so he could buy even more booze. Trent moved out a few weeks after he finished high school and moved in with his girlfriend. A year later, she got pregnant and they left town.”

  “Meaning all of your dad’s attention was on you.”

  I nod and continue to stare at the house. “Yeah. That’s when I got real good at going home as little as possible.

  “The one good thing I had in my life was this old dog, some sort of Malamute cross. I found him, rail thin and exhausted, a couple years before and took care of him. He was my whole world. The only good thing in my life. The night I graduated from high school, I got home and found him in our front yard, dead, a bullet through his head. My dad did it because he said he got tired of all the barking. I took my dog and buried him in the woods behind the house, near this beautiful waterfall that I used to hang out at all the time. Then I got in my beat-up old car and drove west. I swore I’d never come back to this damn place again.”

  “Jake was your dog’s name,” Lucy says softly.

  “Yeah.”

  Slow, fat tears roll down Lucy’s cheeks as she leans into my side, offering her body as comfort. “What happened to your dad?”

  “Christian told me that he lost the house about six months later. He did some more digging and learned that about a year ago, a hospice took over the care of my dad. His liver was pickled by that point. He died a few weeks later.”

  “Good riddance,” Lucy spits out, sounding harsher than I’ve ever heard her sound before.

  “Agreed.” I glance back at the house. “I don’t know why I felt like I had to come here tonight. Something was driving me. I needed to see it. And now that I’m here, I don’t feel a damn thing.”

  “You needed closure.” Lucy rises up on her toes and places a butterfly kiss on my cheek. “Now come on.” She tugs at my hand, pulling me toward the SUV, where Keegan still has the engine running. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Ryan

  I watch the gentle sway of her hips as she moves to the bed and turns down the covers. She glances over her shoulder, her gaze locking with mine as a soft smile plays about her lips.

  Visions of going through this routine a hundred thousand times flicker across my mind, each with subtle changes. A child or two, a few more lines on Lucy’s face. Her hair slowly fading to gray, grandchildren. An ache blooms in my chest as a painful lump grows in my throat. I want, no, I need, an entire lifetime of completely normal moments just like this with her.

  Something of my thoughts must show on my expression, because Lucy’s smile slips and she straightens. Keeping her eyes locked on mine, she grabs the hem of her pajama top and slowly rolls it up her body, exposing her perfect torso one inch at a time until she finally pulls the shirt over her head and lets it fall to the floor.

  I push against the bedroom door, closing it with a soft click, before reaching for my own clothes.

  The only sound in the room is the soft whisper of our clothing as we slowly strip while never breaking eye contact.

  It’s insane. Several feet separate us. We haven’t said a word, but it’s as close as I’ve ever felt to another person, almost more intimate than when our bodies are locked together as one.

  Nerves singing with anticipation, I close the distance between us and lock my arms around her waist. She winds her arms around my neck, her fingertips lightly brushing against my earlobes, sending shivers of erotic delight coursing through me, weakening my knees. Sounds of pleasure rumble up my throat before I close my mouth over hers and slowly walk her backward until her thighs brush against the side of the bed.

  Without breaking the kiss, I pivot, until I’m the one alongside the bed. I fall backwards, pulling her down on top of me, loving the feel of her surprised but delighted laughter against my mouth just as much as the way she feels as she straddles my thighs.

  While I miss the shyness that colored our earlier romps, I thrill at the sheer joy currently emanating from her.

  She breaks the kiss and slides backward along my thighs, the friction of her bare skin against mine nearly causing my eyes to cross as my fingers twist into the cool fitted sheet I’m lying on.

  “Lucy,” I gasp.

  “Shh.” She places one long finger over my lips. “I want to play.”

  The sweet coconut scent of her shampoo tickles my nose as she slowly leans forward and rains light, maddening kisses across my chest.

  I reach for her, intent on cupping my hands over her swaying breast, but before my palms connect with her softness, Lucy straightens and sits back on her haunches. She tosses her hair back out of her face and glares down at me, her mouth a firm line.

  “I told you, it’s my turn to play.” Authority rings through her voice, and she punctuates each word by poking a finger into my chest. “I thought you were supposed to be good at taking direction.”

  Before I can think of a suitable response, she swings one leg over my thighs and slides off the bed. I prop myself up on one elbow and watch her gorgeous bare ass shimmy as she walks across the room. Feeling the weight of my stare, she glances over her shoulder. Her tongue sneaks out and moistens her lips. My cock twitches in immediate response.

  Her sharp gaze catches the movement, the proof of my desire for her, and a self-satisfied smile bows her pretty mouth.

  My heart hammers against my rib cage, pounding so loudly I don’t hear the slide of a zipper as she opens the suitcase I had the hotel pack up and delivered to her house.

  She turns – and I swallow. Hard.

  One o
f my ties is draped across her left hand. An utterly ridiculous one that has large laughing penguins wearing brightly colored stocking hats embroidered into the silk.

  She winds the tie around both of her hands as she returns to the side of the bed. She lifts it, pulling the unwound portion of the tie taut, and holds the length in front of my face. “This is all because you didn’t do as I told you.”

  I expect her to wind it around my eyes, to blind me like I did our first time together, but she doesn’t. Instead of wrapping the tie around my skull, Lucy kneels beside my right shoulder. She places one hand on the middle of my chest and shoves, pushing my shoulders flat against the mattress.

  “Hands above your head,” she orders in a husky voice.

  Intrigued and impossibly turned on by this new, take-charge Lucy – so different from the shy retiring woman I first saw in the coffee shop – I obey.

  Beads of sweat roll down the side of my face as Lucy leans forward and wraps one end of the tie around one of my wrists, securing it with a slip knot before sliding it around the far side of the bed post and looping the free end around my other wrist.

  She leans a little closer to double-check her handwork, the ends of her full breasts brushing against my face.

  Unable to resist, I lift my head and capture one of the rosy tips in my mouth. Lucy freezes, her muscles stiffening as I rub my tongue back and forth across the diamond hard peak.

  She holds her position for few more seconds, her breathing nothing more than shuddering sighs as she lets me have my way with her breast before she finally straightens. She stares down at me, her eyes glittering, a smile tugging the corners of her mouth.

  “That was naughty,” she says in a low, sexy purr. “You got to run things last night. Tonight, I’m in charge.” She taps her index finger against her chin. Her gaze sweeps across the length of my body.

  “Now, where to begin?”

  Ryan

  I tug on the tie, testing the knots. Lucy did a good job. They’re not so tight that they interfere with my circulation, and the soft silk doesn’t chafe my skin, but the knots don’t give to the pressure either. Until Lucy decides to set me free, I’m not going anywhere.

  That situation is just fine with me…

  Lucy drops to her knees beside the bed. She looks at my body stretched out on her bed with hungry eyes, like I’m a feast and she’s starving.

  She taps impatient fingers against my sternum, each drum beat sending out a vibration that ripples through me and pools at my groin. I grind my teeth together and struggle to remain still.

  Sweet mercy! If this simple, virtually chaste touch has such a strong impact on me, I won’t last five minutes before I explode. I haven’t been this turned on, felt this out of control since I was a teenager.

  “I’ve been thinking.” The blood roaring past my ears makes Lucy’s voice sound like she’s on the other side of the room, rather than on her knees beside me. “Last night, I let you do all the work while I just laid back and enjoyed myself.”

  She walks her fingers down my sternum.

  “I didn’t mind.”

  A naughty smile curves her lips. Her fingers reach my navel and commence a lazy exploration that makes my hip twitch as my eyes cross with pleasure.

  “Be that as it may,” Lucy continues, “it still doesn’t feel right. And you know what they say, turnabout is fair play. Last night you removed my sight, so tonight I prevented the use of your hands.”

  She bows her head, dipping her tongue into my navel and swirling it around. My arms jerk against the bonds.

  After a few seconds, Lucy lifts her head. Her breath fans across my stomach, cooling the moisture left by her mouth and I shiver. It’s one of the most erotic things I’ve ever felt.

  And Lucy isn’t done.

  Her fingers start creeping, continuing their slow trek south, relentlessly moving in the direction of my straining cock. It jerks and expands to an even greater, more painful size in anticipation of Lucy’s touch.

  Her fingers stop their slow, sensual journey a hair’s breadth away from my heavy balls, and I groan with disappointment. If she loses her nerve now …

  Lucy doesn’t shift away. She continues to kneel beside the bed, her eyes wide as she stares at my aching, proud member.

  She shakes her head. “Yesterday, I was shocked and scared by how massive this thing is.” Her hot breath fans out over the object of her attention, causing my hips to make short, involuntary thrusting motions as my hands strain against the tie. Much more of this and the damn bedpost will break.

  Lucy’s fingers move, drifting lightly over my scrotum before extending toward the base of my cock.

  “I still find it a little scary,” she admits, “but now, I’m more fascinated than frightened.”

  She doesn’t wrap her hand around my shaft, but strokes it all the way from the base to the tip and then slides back down to the base with the tip of one finger.

  My hands clench into tight fists and the cords in my neck stand out as I fight for control. “Damn it, Lucy,” I half groan, half shout. I seriously can’t take much more of this teasing before I explode.

  Her laughter floats up to me as she – finally – wraps her entire hand around my shaft and lightly pumps it, the action coaxing a drop of glistening pre-cum from the tip. My eyes start to roll back in my head as more of my control slips.

  Adjusting her angle so her gaze captures mine, she leans forward until her mouth hovers just above my cock. Her tongue darts out, the tip sliding out, lapping up the little bead of moisture. That single stroke and the way her hazel eyes go dark sends a spark of electric heat zinging through my balls. They draw upwards, tightening in anticipation of what Lucy and I both know is coming.

  Her tongue darts out against, swirling experimentally around the end of my shaft, measuring the length of the slit where more pre-cum gathers before she opens her mouth and swallows me whole.

  Considering her lack of experience, I expect her to be slow, tentative, to take her time and drive me completely wild. I’m wrong. Lucy instinctively opens the back of her throat and slides her mouth down my entire length, not stopping until she encounters my scrotum.

  Her tongue swirls and probes before gliding up and down the engorged vein that runs along the underside of my cock.

  “Shit, Lucy!” The words echo in her bedroom.

  My back bows, my hips leaving the bed, driving myself even deeper into her mouth as I strain against the bonds.

  She moans around me and increases the stroking motion of her tongue as her lips tighten around the shaft. Her fingers, which have been lying passively against the lower edge of my pelvis, move. They find and stroke my scrotum. The dual pleasure created by her hands and mouth is more than I can take.

  Tell-tale tension builds at the base of my spine as I race toward an orgasm. My hips jerk, driving back and forth with short, sharp thrusts. Lucy tightens her lips around my cock and matches the speed of my thrusts with her tongue strokes. The friction is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.

  My vision dims as, with one last long thrust, I shout and erupt into her mouth. She mumbles something I can’t understand. Her mouth tightens around me and I feel her swallow my payload.

  Still shaking with the force of my climax, I have no choice but to close my eyes and let the tremors run through me.

  Lucy frees my member and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand before standing and reaching for the tie. As soon as she undoes the first knot, I reach for her, pulling her down on the mattress with me.

  Our legs tangle together as I tuck her head beneath my chin. She snuggles into me with a satisfied sigh.

  I run my hands up and down her back. The tie, still knotted around my left wrist, trails along the mattress.

  “As soon as I get my strength back,” I murmur in her ear, “we’re going to repeat that, only this time, when I come, it’s going to be in your hot little body.”

  “Promises, promises,” Lucy mutters, fatigue thi
ckening her voice.

  I continue stroking her as I listen to the sound of her breathing start to even out.

  I nuzzle her hair. “Hey, Luce? There’s something I need to say.”

  “Yeah?” She’s seconds from falling asleep.

  “I’m falling in love with you.” I’ve never said the words to another woman, or even another person in my life.

  Lucy stiffens in my arms.

  “You don’t have to say it back,” I hurry to tell her. The last thing I want to do is scare her away. “And I know you don’t feel the same way about me.” But hopefully, at some point in the future, she will. Until then, I’m happy to wait.

  “It’s just something I needed to say.”

  Lucy

  “Will you leave him? Will you come with me? Build a life with me?”

  Heat Flare stares down at Maxie, the intensity of his eyes every bit as powerful, frightening, and hot as the sun from which he draws his power.

  “I …” she wants to. God, does she ever want to. More than anything she’s ever wanted to do in her life. But there was Dillion to consider. Granted, they’ve been drifting apart for some time now, but that doesn’t mean they can’t get back what they once had. Doesn’t she owe it to him, to the memory of the good times they once shared, to at least try?

  “Well?” Heat Flare presses. “I won’t tell you what you should do, who you should be with, but I also don’t want – can’t – spend the rest of my life in a kind of limbo, waiting for you to decide between me and him. And I want you to take your time, to be sure of your decision, because if you choose me, I want you to be fully mine. I don’t want to build a life with you if you’re going to always wonder if you should have chosen him. I refuse to live in his shadow.”