As the sun filters in the next morning, I reach to my side realize I’m alone. Great. So much for our early morning romp I was looking forward to.
It’s just past six in the morning, and the apartment is wrapped in a sense of calm and quiet which only appears before Braden is awake.
Very carefully, I peek into Braden’s room and see he’s still sleeping. Walking out into the living room, I realize Maddy’s not here. She must still be out on her morning run. Well, at least she’ll definitely be awake when she gets home.
Hmm—thoughts of steamy, shower sex race around in my blue-balled brain.
Just as I start getting the coffee ready to brew, Maddy sneaks in the front door—obviously trying to be as quiet as possible so that she doesn’t wake Braden. She catches sight of me in the kitchen and mimes a sleeping motion with her hands. The gesture that I want to mime about what I want to do to her will likely end in me having to sleep on the couch, so I think better of it and just nod about Braden still being asleep.
I pull down two mugs for us as Maddy walks over to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. Heat ripples off her sweat-glistened body as she moves past me. My brain is stuck in some sex-crazed, slow-motion haze and the droplet of sweat that has just beaded at her neck drifts slowly down the upper swell of her breast before plummeting rapidly into her cleavage. She’d always had a nice rack, but ever since she had the baby…yeah, really nice. Really, really nice.
And the tops of those exceptional breasts are currently popping out of her tight, hot-pink sports bra. Her chest is heaving as she works to catch her breath while chugging her water. When a rogue drop of water trickles down her chin and races behind the bead of sweat, lodged in between her soft flesh, my cock twitches to life. Of course, she catches me staring and immediately thinks the worst.
“Stop!” Maddy wraps her arm around her stomach as if doing so is going to hide something. “Why do you look at me like that?” She always seems the most self-conscious after she runs, which is ironic if you ask me. I think she looks fucking hot. She should be all high on endorphins and shit like that. But, for whatever reason, since the pregnancy changed her body, her runs became less about doing something she enjoyed and more about doing something she felt obligated to do.
I step closer to her and stare down into her bright, green eyes. Swiping a piece of hair from her forehead, I angle my head to the side. “Like what?” I question with a hint of annoyance in my voice. We’ve already been here before, and while I can accept her body has changed, she can’t.
“Forget it. I’m not getting into that this morning.” She chugs the last of her water. “I’m going to shower before he gets up.” She huffs as she tosses her water bottle into the recycling and I’m left speechless at our exchange.
It’s amazing how quickly her attitude shifts. Last night, she was all hot and bothered at the idea of me wanting her; my attraction to her was acceptable. But now, if I look at her like I want her, which apparently makes me crazy, then I’m somehow insulting her.
I mumble, “Okay,” as she walks past me once again and inhale deeply. She smells like a sultry mixture of clean and dirty—citrusy shampoo and salty sweat; fresh, summer air and hot, sweaty woman.
There is no way on earth I’m letting her shower by herself, especially if she thinks it’s wrong of me to be attracted to her “gross, stretched out, baby-body” as she calls it.
When I hear the water start up and the shower curtain slide closed, I quietly open the bathroom door and join her under the hot spray.
With her back to my front, she grunts—an exasperated noise—and leers over her shoulder. “What?” she huffs with an attitude that I’ve seen all too often—one of which I’m not too fond. Her light-blonde-turned-brown hair is splayed across her back as she lifts her face to the water. When she raises her arms to wring out her hair, I band my arms around her waist. Immediately, I feel her tense.
Resting my chin on her shoulder, I nuzzle into her slick skin and lick a path through the water sliding down her neck. “Talk to me, Maddy. Please?”
Marginally, she relaxes into my embrace. Folding her arms on top of mine, she laces our fingers together and turns to face me. “There’s nothing really to talk about.” She shrugs her shoulders lamely.
Turning her around in my arms, I lift her chin with my finger and gaze into her mossy-colored eyes. It’s tough to tell since we’re in the shower and all, but I see the shimmer of tears there. Cupping her cheeks tenderly, I silently will her to open up. When she doesn’t, I have to resort to words. “There clearly is something wrong. Today is supposed to be a happy day. And here we are in a shower, not doing what we do best in showers because you’re obviously upset. So talk to me, please.” I lean down and kiss her forehead as she wraps her arms around my waist and leans into my body.
The feel of her tits crushing into my chest, her nipples grazing along my skin, drives me crazy. But I need for her to open up first before I can push the moment any further. Scenes from some stupid cooking show she made me watch the other day race alongside those of a ball game I watched last night and miraculously, I keep my erection at bay.
For now.
I let my fingertips skim over the peachy skin of her back and smile into her hair when I feel goose bumps dot her flesh. Maddy’s shuddery sigh vibrates against my chest. “Today is a happy day, but I guess I just thought I would be in a different place. That’s all. I know it’s silly to let how I feel get in the way of our son’s birthday, but I just…I don’t…I still feel disgusting.”
Laughter bubbles in my chest and she slaps my arm. “What?” There’s anger in her eyes. She hates when she thinks I’m laughing at her, but she should know by now that I’m laughing at how ridiculous she’s being.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me? You? Disgusting? That thought never crossed my mind.” I hope she can hear the sincerity in my words, see the pleading in my eyes. No such luck, apparently. She just turns away from me and shuts off the water, essentially putting her foot down on the conversation we obviously need to have.
We move around the bathroom like two people who are accustomed to sharing the small space. She steps to the right and wraps herself in a towel as I move to the left to dry my hair. Her shoulders sag under the defeat of her self-consciousness as she walks across into our bedroom. I follow her and marvel at the sexy sway of her hips. The round curve of her ass dances beneath the cotton and the soft slope where her neck meets her shoulder is dotted with beads of water.
Braden is still sleeping peacefully, so I click the door closed behind me and unhook the towel from around her chest.
“Reid! Give that back!” she huffs angrily as she tries to cover up her breasts with her arms. If she thinks that’s going to keep me from getting excited, then she’s most definitely wrong. The sight of her creamy flesh spilling out from behind her lean arms makes my groin jump to life.
Insta-rock-hard.
I drop my towel from my waist and stand so close to her that the evidence of just how hot I think she is pokes her in the thigh. “Drop your arms,” I command with a gruff voice that she doesn’t listen to, of course.
“We have a lot to do today. Can we just deal with this later?” Her annoyed words float over her shoulder as she turns away from me to get some clothes from her side of the dresser.
Now, I’m pissed. I can’t say I understand her insecurities—she’ll always be perfect in my eyes, but I can at least recognize them and try to make them vanish.
I stand behind her and turn her around in my arms. “No, we will deal with this now.” She takes a step back away from me. Whatever clothes she’s just pulled out of the drawer are dropped to the floor when she hears the tone of my voice. “Oh, an eye roll. I’ve never seen that one before, Maddy.” Yeah, that one just gets me another eye roll.
“Oh, it’s on now.” Waggling an eyebrow, I stalk toward her as she moves backward. When the back of her knees bump into the bed, even though she stumbles slightly, she manages
to stay upright. Stepping into her space, I motion as if I’m going to kiss her, but pull back from her lips at the last second. I know she wants me, and the inch she just leaned into me, more than proves it. I move into her again, snake one arm around her waist and pull her toward me as my hand splays across her lower back. Fisting her hair at the nape of her neck with my other hand, I tilt her head to the side and unleash my tongue on her neck. Alternating between sweet licks and tender bites causes her body to melt into mine. I press my fingers firmly into the dimples of her lower back—fuck, those are sexy—and lift her slightly off the floor.
As I drop her on the bed, she gasps in shock. I lie beside her and trail my finger down the middle of her body. “Now, you’re going to listen very carefully. You. Are. Beautiful.” She turns her head to the side, trying to deny me my words. Cupping her chin, I turn her face back to mine. “You are. That’s it. Now, let me finish.” She’s still all pouty, so I straddle her. Yep, that got her attention, real quick.
With one of my hands, I encircle both of her wrists and raise them above her head. With the other hand, I slowly tickle the soft skin of her arms. I catch her eyes roll back in her head and goose bumps race in the wake of my fingers. “Leave your arms there.” She nods subtly at my command. Lips replace my fingers and I kiss every inch I can reach. When I finally make my way to her breasts, my cock twitches against her belly. She feels it and stares at me—a look of disbelief flitting across her face. “Yes,” I answer her unasked question, “you do that to me.”
My lips return to their previous job of bringing her to the brink of pleasure. As they lick and nip at her neck and collarbone, I gently squeeze her breasts. Strumming my thumbs over the puckered tips causes her to groan. “So responsive…so beautiful.” I suck a nipple deep into my mouth while I pinch and roll the other between my finger and thumb. Her hips thrash about wildly and arch in the air searching for some kind of relief. “Soon, baby. Very soon. Just let me finish convincing you.”
I rake my teeth over her hardened nipple one last time and grumble a purely male sound of satisfaction when she calls out my name. My restraint is paper-thin at this point. Whether she sees her beauty or not, I need her. I need to taste her; I need to bury myself inside of her.
In a lightning quick move, I kneel on the floor at the edge of the bed and pull her ankles so that her legs dangle over the side. Pulling a leg over each shoulder, I run the length of my nose up the inside of her thighs. The way she smells, the way she looks drives me fucking crazy.
Oh so gently, with just the lightest touch of the tip of my tongue, I lick down the center of her pussy. “More Reid, more…please.” She arches her back, trying to push her wetness into my face. I tsk at her and press her hips back down to the mattress. Feeling her stiffen as I touch her belly is like taking two steps back. “I felt that. Do we need to start all over again?” I chide her playfully, but I can tell that no matter how turned on she may be, her insecurities are never far away. Kissing a seductive path up and over her mound, towards her stomach—which she obviously still hates—I let my lips linger on her belly button for a few seconds. Planting a reverent kiss there, I look up into her jade eyes. “You grew a person in here. Our baby. A tiny, little perfect boy who is half you and half me. No matter how you see it, your body is more perfect to me now than it ever was before. Your body gave me, gave us, the most beautiful thing in the world.” I catch a flicker of emotion on her face as she lets my words register in her brain. Hoping that they’re sinking in and not pissing her off, I finish what I need to tell her. “You might not think you’re perfect, but I think you’re flawless. Every,” a soft kiss, “single,” a gentle bite, “inch,” a hot, wet, lick, “of you is absolutely perfect.”
I don’t wait to see if she accepts my declarations because I have every intention of showing her just how beautiful I find her new body. When I slide two fingers into her, I swear I hear a sigh of relief hiss through her lips. Curling them forward, I massage her relentlessly in a rhythm that has her pulsing and clenching around my fingers. Her clit pokes out from behind her glistening lips, begging me to lash it with my tongue.
Challenge accepted.
Alternating between rapid flicks and broad strokes, my tongue works its magic on her body. “Fuck…Reid…I’m close…” I see her fists clench the sheets in a white-knuckled grasp. If the vise grip her pussy has on my fingers is any indication, she’s going to come hard and soon. But I need her to come around my cock. I need her to feel as connected to me as I do to her. She whimpers, actually fucking whimpers, when I pull my fingers from her pussy. I lick my fingers clean as she watches, wide-eyed, but I know it turns her on when I do this. She’s told me as much.
Standing before her, with her legs still draped over the side of the bed, I pull both her ankles up to my shoulder. Kneeling in the inch of space at the edge of the mattress, I drive into her, hard and fast. Hot, wet, tight—perfect. “Fucking…Maddy…my God, baby.” My hips are angled up on each thrust, and I feel her tighten around me as I hit that spot that drives her crazy. With her legs in one hand up against my chest, I reach down to tweak her nipple with the other. Her body goes limp as I feel the ripples of her orgasm against my twitching cock. It’s too soon; I don’t want to come yet. It takes every ounce of restraint I possess to let the tsunami of her climax pass without coming myself.
When the rapid fluttering of her pussy slows to a seductive beat, I flip her over and she balances her weight on her knees and elbows. “Your ass is a work of art.” I bite it not-so-gently, and I can’t repress the smile which spreads across my face when I see her skin prickle under the pressure of my teeth. She crawls more toward the middle of the bed and now I really have some leverage. Banding my arm around her waist and digging my other into her hip, I sink into her—inch by agonizing inch. I pull out slowly only to pound into her with such ferocity that her body actually goes limp in my arms.
“Maddy…” Her name comes out on a low groan as my orgasm gathers at the base of my spine and erupts with more force than is humanly possible. We collapse together on the bed—her back to my front, curled in a spoon. I sweep her hair away from her neck and plant a kiss on her shoulder. “Before you had Braden, you were the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. And now since you’ve had him, you’re the most stunning woman on the planet.” She turns around in my arms; her lips pull up in at the corners in a shy, but beautiful way.
“Thank you for saying that, even though…”
“No,” I say with finality. “There is no ‘even though.’ And if you need me to remind you more often, you know I’m up to the challenge.” I squeeze her ass and press my groin into hers to let her know just what I mean by reminding her.
“Wanna remind me again later?” A quirked eyebrow and girlish smile accompany her question, and I have a feeling my plan worked at least a little.
“Absofrigginlutely.”
Relaxing quietly in the haze of our morning romp, we go over everything we need to do for the day. The party is around noon at Momma’s house, so if we want to get everything together and over there in time to set up, we need to get our asses in gear. When we hear Braden start babbling to himself in the next room, we get dressed and get on with our day.
“Hey, birthday boy!” Momma reaches for the baby and he smiles and laughs at her silly faces. Walking into Momma’s house will always feel like coming back home.
“Let me help you there, Reid.” Evan walks out of the kitchen tossing a dishtowel over his shoulder.
“Thanks, Evan. Good to see you again.” Reid and Evan do that guy greeting that still makes me laugh—a handshake, half hug, half back-slap kind of thing—and then they bring the bags into the kitchen where Evan is putting the finishing touches on the food.
Momma and I bring Braden into the backyard, which has been transformed into a little boy’s racecar dream come true. There are balloons everywhere and the tables are covered in racing stripe tablecloths. “What do you think?”
Gasping through
the hand covering my mouth, I squeal in delight. “Momma! It’s perfect. Thank you so much for letting us do this here.” She pulls the ‘are you kidding me’ face and puts Braden in his pack-n-play where a new set of toy cars waits for him. Melanie and Bryan join us in the back and help us get everything else set up. “Wow, Mom. When you go for a theme, you really kill it, huh?” Melanie whistles as she scans the yard before walking over to Braden and kissing the top of his head.
“It’s an important day, so I just wanted to make sure everything was perfect.” Momma winks at me before she makes her way back into the kitchen to help Evan with the rest of the food. “Bryan, can you come help me carry out some of the drinks?” Momma calls from the back door and Bryan pops a kiss to Melanie’s cheek before running off to help her.
“So…” I elbow Melanie in the side, but she just shrugs her shoulders.
“So what?”
“Oh cut it! Did you talk to Bryan last night?” I elbow her again and she blushes. Bryan and Melanie just moved in together last week, and while the last few months of their relationship has been smooth sailing, to say they got off to a rough start is an understatement.
“Kinda, but not really,” she responds rather shyly.
“Oh, so that’s how you’re going to play it, huh? Come on, spill it, girl! You got out of it last night by bringing up your newest book boyfriend, but that’s not going to work now.” I arch an eyebrow at her. She’s not getting out of it this time.
She flops down onto the bench at the picnic table and starts picking at a non-existent piece of fuzz on her shirt. “You want the truth?” She still hasn’t made eye contact with me.
“Of course I want the truth, Mel.” I place my hand on top of hers and squeeze gently. “Is something going on?”
“No, nothing’s going on…it’s just, I guess it’s not as easy as we thought, and that’s not exactly an easy conversation to bring up, you know.”
Let Love Shine (The Love Series) Page 3