by K. F. Breene
“Nice-like?” Mike said, fishing out the keys. “I thought you wanted to be chauffeured on dates.” He dropped the keys into her palm. “Thought you said I should give the car back…”
“And I thought you said it lost a bunch of value. Or something or other.” She clicked the unlock button and headed to the driver’s-side door. “It seems wrong to waste it.”
Laughing, Mike followed her and opened the car door. To her questioning gaze, he said, “I’m all for women’s lib, but in compromise, you have to let me continue to be a gentleman.”
She tilted her head up, and he complied, bending down for a light kiss. His body got a zing and his hard-on returned. He tried to ignore it. He sensed the final reveal coming up, and he didn’t want to wait any more. He needed to know where they stood.
The purr of the motor and soft country music lent the otherwise quiet ride a peaceful melody. Sara was debating what was to come, Mike could see it. Even though she wasn’t talking, he could tell when she was freaking out about some decision or other. And judging by the swishing hair, her grip on the steering wheel, and occasional clearing of her throat, she was absolutely freaking out.
She must be pregnant. She had to be. It wouldn’t be this big of a deal to her if she wasn’t.
Would it?
He should just ask her. What sort of a coward wouldn’t just open his trap and ask?
“Just here,” Mike said quietly, indicating the turnoff onto the long driveway up to the ranch.
“I probably should have let you drive after all,” she replied in a hush, leaning forward to peer out the window. “A streetlight or two wouldn’t go amiss.”
“Yeah, it can get a little darker up here. Are you okay?”
She nodded, the car not doing much more than crawling up the slope. “Good headlights.”
The minutes ticked by. She became increasingly agitated. His palms got increasingly sweaty.
After they finally parked, Mike held her hand as they made their way through the quiet grounds, all the staff headed to bed or to watch TV, and the guests no doubt having done the same. People retired early out here, many working on the sun’s schedule. As there were few lights and no outdoor activities after dark, it made sense.
Their feet crunched and scuffed as they traversed the path. Finally sitting down, Sara folded her hands in her lap and stared out past the drop-off. The stars cascaded down toward the ledge. Mike curled his body around her, resting on his elbow and pulling her body back to rest against his chest.
“So…” Sara said quietly, decisiveness in her voice. “I’m, ah…” She blew out a breath. “I’m just going to come out and say it. I’m pregnant.”
Butterflies swirled through his stomach and turned into a jolt of pure adrenaline, coursing through his limbs. His arm spasmed, constricting around her, before he could control it. His fingers and scalp both tingled.
He wanted it, but he hadn’t been ready to hear it.
“Okay.” It was the first thing that came to mind to block out the curse of surprise.
He was going to be a father!
What kind of father would he make? Would he succeed, and be better than his dad?
What would happen to the little boy or girl if he failed?
What if something happened to him—would his money last for Sara and the baby?
“Holy…” Shit.
“It’s a shock, I know. And we didn’t plan it, so I totally get it if you don’t want to be involved. I can—”
“Stop,” Mike said. “Don’t start apologizing for this. Never for this. I just had to have a moment to freak out. You should know what that looks like.”
He could hear her relieved exhale. “I can’t see you.”
He leaned forward and hugged her even tighter. “I’m… elated. This is the best news I’ve ever heard. In my whole life. I was afraid you weren’t. I was scared that you would say you weren’t and I wouldn’t be able to contain my disappointment.”
She half turned quickly so she could see his face in the moonlight. “You mean it?” Her eyes reached into him and tickled that spot only she could find—way deep into the center of him where he had always gone to hide from others. The place she helped build.
He nodded, unable to contain his smile. “We’re having a baby!”
He could barely see her face in the soft glow from the moon, but he knew that her smile took up her whole face, just like his. “Mikey, I’m so happy! I want this. With you. But do you think this is too soon?”
“No, and it wouldn’t matter if I did. It’s happening. My God, woman, I love you.”
He straightened up so he could kiss her, sweet and celebratory. He put a hand to her stomach. To their baby.
“We’re having a baby,” he whispered in a delighted hush.
“Let’s go home.” Her soft palm came to rest on his.
* * *
The night started with passion, sweet and innocent with the lust and urges of the mature. But as Sara led Mikey to the door, feeling his hand gently slide across her stomach, and his soft kisses on her neck, the mood softened. After he unlocked and opened the door, he swept her up into his arms and immediately carried her upstairs.
Once in his room, with the moonlight falling through the window, he set her down gently in front of the bed and looked down into her eyes. She gently laid her hands high on his chest.
“You’ll have to bear with me, Sara,” he said, tucking her hair behind her ears. His eyes glistened, so soft it made her heart pound. “I won’t be experimenting or going crazy tonight. I just… want to take care of you tonight. Of you and our baby.”
Getting her gulp past that lump in her throat was surprisingly difficult. “Okay,” she managed, her own eyes tearing up.
He nodded once, stroking her cheek with his thumb. He laid a faint kiss on her lips before slipping her dress carefully over her head. His fingers then worked at her bra quickly and skillfully. When the material dropped away, his eyes didn’t scan her nudity. Instead, they went lower, to her stomach.
“How soon will you start to show?” he asked, bending to place a soft kiss on her flat belly. Then again. He laid his cheek against her, waiting for her answer.
“I don’t know. Not for a few months at the earliest, I think.”
He stripped off her panties while he was down there and quickly shed his clothes, his palm traveling the length of her body before circling her stomach again. “This is a trip. Suddenly I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m afraid of hurting you.”
Sara laughed, pulling him back up and rubbing her hands over his perfectly sculpted, mouthwatering pecs. “This is no different than the other times.”
“Yeah, but… it kind of is.”
“I was pregnant two of the three times we’ve done this. I was in a man-made shelter in the middle of nowhere two of those three times. I think we’re okay to do this. Besides, I’m extremely horny.”
“Hmmm,” he said with a grin, bending.
A moan rose from her throat as his hot mouth closed over her nipple. “That’s more like it.”
He stood, his fingers traveling lightly up her inner thigh. His lips graced her neck, leaving a warm trail up to her chin. His fingers traced the lips of her sex, and one finger dipped in.
“Ohhh, Mikey,” she said, her eyes fluttering. “I’ll never get tired of this.”
“Neither will I.”
Quickly, he stood and pulled back the covers on the bed. He lifted her again and gently settled her in a moment later. Rather than pulling the blankets over to cover them, he laid her on her back and settled between her legs, kissing down her stomach.
He paused near her belly button. “Just go to sleep, little peanut. I need to talk to your momma awhile.”
She laughed, running her hands through his thick black hair. His hands pushed her thighs apart right before his tongue dipped into her folds. Sara arched back, clutching the bedsheets. His mouth took in her sex, sucking hard, pulling a moan from deep in h
er body. His fingers worked inside her, rubbing just right, working in sync with his tongue.
“Hmmm, Mikey,” she gushed. “I love you.”
His tongue worked around her as he sucked, two fingers working her body into an intense heat. Her hips pushed up; she needed more. Her breathing labored. Her back arched.
“Mmmm,” she breathed, eyes squeezed shut.
His mouth sucked harder, his fingers rubbed just right. Her hips worked up and down, pumping harder. Her body screamed for release.
“Oh, Mikey—oh Mikey, OH MIKEY!” She clutched his hair and yanked with the ferocity of the orgasm. Her body exploded, then shattered.
After she settled, she licked her lips, incapable of moving any larger part of her body. “Oh my… word.”
Mikey crawled up her limp form.
“No, wait.” She willed herself to move. “I’ll give you a few seconds in heaven.”
His deep chuckle sounded near her ear, right before he lightly licked her lobe. “Next time. Let’s cuddle.”
Her legs spread wider to accommodate his large body. Before she could even nod, his sizable manhood parted her sex and filled her in a firm thrust. He kissed her passionately, one of his hands cupping a breast.
“I love you, Sara,” he murmured against her mouth, the sensations from his body lighting her on fire.
He kissed her again as he drove, his body working low over hers. His hips swung into her, harder, winding her up. She ran her hands up the back of him, her body starting to tense.
“Oh God, Mikey. Oh, oh God. Oh…” She gritted her teeth, the pleasure so sweet it cut. His kisses, fervent and incensed, heartfelt, burned her up. Pressure pushed at her from all sides.
“Mmmm.” She strove harder, clutching his back. Kissing him with passion she barely understood. Loving him in a way that consumed her soul.
“Oh, Mikey,” she cried. “Ohhhh!”
Her body blasted apart. Pleasure crashed into her. His body shuddered over hers.
After they’d paused, holding each other, catching their breath, Mikey removed his weight to the side and curled around her possessively. His hand lay on her stomach as they drifted off to sleep.
* * *
“C’mon, Sara, go get a present from Santa.” Denise, Sara’s mom, tried to edge her three-year-old daughter out into the crowd of kids hovered around Santa Claus and his booming voice.
Sara shrank back into her chair, bowing her head to hide from the scary animation of one of the fathers dressed up for the mass of kids.
“C’mon, Sara, it’s just Santa. He has presents. Look at all the kids out there. Go join them.” Denise nudged her daughter toward the laughing and squealing pack of kids.
“She’s really shy, huh?” Pam asked, shaking her head at her four boys elbowing each other for position within the pack of kids.
“She warms up to people after a while, but she’s too young to really get what Santa is about. She knows he’s exciting, but try to get her to sit on his lap and no way. She wants nothing to do with him.”
“That’s probably good, though. Being wary of strangers. I wish my boys were that smart.”
Denise laughed and tried once again to coax her daughter into the fun.
Mikey, jostling with his brothers within the mass, looked next to him to the place Sara usually occupied. Not seeing her, he glanced around, Santa forgotten for the moment. He spied her sitting with the adults, quiet and fearful, hiding from the scary stranger in red.
“Oh good, here comes Mikey,” Denise said, ready to nudge her daughter again.
Mikey gave the adults a quick glance before holding his hand out for a cringing Sara. “C’mon.”
Sara’s little hand reached out and took his, allowing him to pull her out of her seat and lead her toward the excited children and laughing Santa.
“It amazes me,” Denise said, watching her daughter led into a place she dreaded to go a moment before. “She’ll brave anything as long as he’s holding her hand. I try to get her to go, her own mother, and she tries to hide in a plant or something.”
Pam laughed and shifted her seat. “Young love, I tell you. You don’t matter as much as he does. At least I’ll have a partner in crime at the Christmas parties after they get married.”
“Oh, Jack would love that!”
The two women laughed as Mikey dragged Sara around the floor, trying to get closer to Santa.
Chapter 22
Sara rolled to a stop at the lower ranch house in her new car. Before she got out, she took a moment to hang out in the luxury. Cushy seats, buttons, heaters, navigation—this machine had all the bells and whistles. What’s more, Mikey would’ve made it absolutely and totally hers. He tried to sign it over that morning! Instead, she’d allowed him to put her name on it so they could share it.
She sighed and closed her eyes with the memory of waking up with a smile and snuggled a little deeper into his thick arms. He’d kissed her neck softly and whispered that he loved her. Such bliss.
She’d never, ever felt like this before. This deep, soul-lifting feeling that made her feel buoyant was the best kind of surprise. She realized that Phil hadn’t been her first love. Even now, his memory was fading. It had always been Mikey. Mikey had touched her heart before anyone else. Touched it, clutched it, and now held it in a loving embrace. He was her rock.
She breathed out a smile.
And now to work.
She stepped out of the car holding her pen and notepad. The dilapidated hovel some of the ranch staff used for occasional housing crouched on a hillside, the only flat part of the lot carved out for the house. Dirty windows and chipping brown paint gave the impression no one cared about this place any more than they might a tent. Sara had the distinct impression the upkeep was done only when needed. Rain started dripping through the roof? Patch it up and move on.
Sara could not imagine spending any time in this shack. Mikey, Jake, and Greg apparently didn’t share the same sentiment, because this was where they stayed when they decided to be close to the ranch. Boys would live in anything.
She let herself into the musty-smelling building and took a left across the dirty entryway floor. Mikey said he was usually the only person who stayed in it on a Thursday, and since he’d been with her in his house, it should be empty. That was the only reason she came without him. She didn’t need to see any half-naked men wandering around scratching their balls.
No one needed to see that, actually.
The living area consisted of a table, small kitchen, and a couple chairs around a wood stove, and had been moderately cleaned and tidied up. The floor still had some spots of dirt tracked from one side to the other, but for the most part, someone had put things away and wiped things down.
Probably Mikey.
She smiled to herself as she checked the cabinets in the kitchen, taking stock of the inventory. Her brain filled in the bare areas with what they needed, and checked over the minimal cleaning supplies. That done, she hit the bathroom.
Then wished she didn’t.
Why men couldn’t get their stream in a large, round bowl was beyond her. Why they also didn’t wipe it down after they sprayed all over the place was anyone’s guess. Seriously, they’d been peeing all their lives, so how could they still be this bad at it? Did it not strike them as a glaring failure in their skill set?
Shaking her head, she wrote down various toiletries they would need on a regular basis—including cleaning items. Breathing through her mouth, lest that acidic smell turn her stomach, she turned toward the bedrooms just to see if she could spot which one was Mikey’s, and get anything that would make him more comfortable.
“Oh!” She bounced off a large chest and stumbled back into the bathroom.
“Well, well, what are you doing here?” Duke’s large body loomed in the doorway, and he stared down at her with a sardonic glare sparkling with anger.
“Why am I here?” Sara asked, willing courage to come. “Why are you here? You stay in the upper r
anch house.”
“Yes I do. But I have a score to settle with that mama’s-boy Boy Scout.” His eyes raked down her body. “But this might be ten times better. Seems he’s taken a liking to you. I’m sure he wouldn’t want any harm to come to his pretty little lady.”
Cold washed through Sara’s body as her chin rose. She refused to take his bait. Bullies liked to pick on the weak, so she couldn’t let him see his intimidation was working. In fact, she’d treat him like she would a bear. Not challenge, but confuse him.
“Right now you’ve just got a pink slip, Duke. Touching me would result in jail time,” Sara said matter-of-factly.
“Ah,” he said smoothly, stepping toward her. “That’s if I leave any bodily fluids. I’ve come prepared.”
Duke brought up his hands to show his black leather gloves. They looked brand new.
“I don’t think gloves will prevent them finding a strangler,” Sara replied calmly, despite her racing heart and sweaty palms.
His eyes sparkled with malice as he wiggled his fingers. “I don’t plan to strangle you. I plan to rearrange that pretty little face of yours.”
“You’re going to beat up a girl?” Sara said with a strength in her voice she didn’t feel. Her grip tightened on her pen. “How did you plan to beat up Mikey? He’d wipe the floor with you.”
“The element of surprise teamed with a weapon would’ve been good enough for him. You, however, don’t need any of that, do you? Just a punch or two—”
* * *
Mikey walked toward the stables with a bounce in his step. He felt good today. Everything was coming together—the girl, the family. He had it all.
He found Christie waiting by the supplies, eyeing him with a smirk. “You’re early. Sara kick you out of bed?”
“You’re early, too. Bored with no one to talk to?”
“Yes! I had to talk to myself for company,” she said, laughing. “So, good news, then, huh?”