by J. B. McGee
Bradley and I are sitting on the bench facing the amphitheater and one of the ponds that runs in front of the stage. It’s the bench where he asked me to move in with him last year. He pulls me close to his body and wraps his arm around my shoulders. His breath is warm against my ear. “Can you believe all we’ve accomplished today, Mrs. Banks?”
I smile against the hardness of his body. “In a way, it seems like forever since we made love this morning, but then again, the time seems to have flown.”
“Have you enjoyed your surprises?”
I stare into his hooded eyes. “Yes, they are all so special. You said for me to pack a bag. It’s late, and I’m wondering if your last surprise may have something to do with The Carriage House Inn?”
“We make really great memories in Aiken. Especially there, though.” His finger tugs my chin to his cool lips. Our tongues twist and turn, dancing in perfect rhythm with each other. The chill I’d been trying to escape by cuddling close to him is replaced with a sizzle. “Gabby…” His breathing hitches.
“Hmm?”
“We should go find everyone else.”
My lips curve upward. “Yes. Quickly.”
He stands and offers his hand.
I place mine in his, and he pulls me into an embrace. Triplet girls are walking in front of us. They’re wearing wide-legged pants with ruffles on the bottom with matching jackets. Their hair bows must be as big as their heads. Sam and I never had clothes like that. Probably because those types of outfits weren’t popular back in the day, but also because of our age difference. Disappointment zaps my stomach. “Those little girls in front of us are adorable.”
“They are. Triplets. Can you even imagine?”
I shake my head. “No, I can’t.” I gaze into his blue eyes. “What would you do if I got pregnant with triplets?”
He chuckles. “I don’t know. It’s hard to even consider what I’d do when I can’t even wrap my brain around that kind of news.”
“Would you be upset?”
He stops and puts both of his palms on my face. “I will never be upset over you carrying one or more of our children.”
“Even if we already had five?”
“I’d hope once we have enough for a basketball team, we’d rethink our birth control methods before that happened.”
I shake my head, laughing. “Let’s agree we’ll discuss our methods after we have enough for a singles tennis match.”
“That’s only two.” His smile dissipates.
“How many do you want, Mr. Banks?”
“I don’t know.” We approach the gates we entered. There’s a line already formed for the next trip back to the parking lot. He points. “There’s Ryan, Sam, Joe, and Rebecca.”
They’re standing away from the refreshment table, but they’re all holding Styrofoam cups. Sam’s eating another cookie. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her eat so many in one day. “Hey! What’d you think?” I ask Rebecca.
Her eyes twinkle. “This place is magical. It’s absolutely incredible.” She looks at Bradley, then at Joe. “Thank you for inviting me.”
Bradley nods. “Magical, indeed. The pleasure was ours. Maybe you’ll be able to join us for more of our adventures and yearly traditions, Rebecca.”
Ryan coughs, and I scan him, but he’s glaring at Rebecca and then at Joe. My eyes roam to Sam, and she’s also looking at Joe. “Bradley, do you want another cup of hot chocolate?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Do you?” I nod. “I’ll get it for you, then.”
I watch as he walks to the table. His shoulders are broad, filling out his sweater, and his hips narrow. The jeans hang perfectly, and even after all this time, I can’t believe that gorgeous specimen of a man is mine.
No one says a word, and I’m almost afraid to ask what has happened since we all split up, and then, I think even if I’m not afraid, I don’t want to open a proverbial can of worms, so we all stand in silence.
Bradley puts his hand on my back. “Here you go.” He kisses my temple. “Let’s get in line for the next bus.”
When the rest of the group is out of earshot, I whisper, “Is it just me or has something shifted with them?”
“I’m sure it’s nothing some alone time and alcohol can’t fix.”
“Right. Because those things fix everything.” I jab my elbow into his side.
“Hey.” He smirks. “All I can say is it sure as hell helps.”
“True, Mr. Banks.” The triplet girls we’d seen before are in the same line as us. Turning around, I pull Sam to my side. “Look at those little girls. Are they not the most adorable things you’ve ever seen?”
“Oh man. A triple threat.”
“I can’t imagine triplets, but if I had them, I’d wanna dress them just like that.”
Rebecca chimes in, “I want a kid. Not multiples.”
I raise my eyebrows at Sam and shrug, but she sighs and rolls her eyes. She addresses Rebecca. “It’s not like you get an order form where you can tick off little checkboxes for what you want, Rebecca.”
“I know that, Sam.”
“You should also know that in many cases of multiples, those folks have spent years trying to conceive just one, and they are elated to have had their prayers answered. Three is a triple blessing.”
“Look, I’m not dissing anyone for having multiples. I’m just saying I want a single child, and that’s it.”
Sam crosses her arms and glares at Joe and then back at Rebecca. “Good for you. I hope you’re not one of the ten percent of women who have difficulty conceiving or staying pregnant so you don’t ever require IVF, which increases your chance for multiples.” My sister looks back at Joe.
Joe takes a step between her and Rebecca. “That’s—”
Sam puts her palm to his chest before continuing. “I hope the person you fall in love with wants the same things you do because, for me, it’d be a deal-breaker to want a bunch of kids and have my partner on a different page.” Her glare turns to Ryan.
Ryan takes her hand and pulls her toward the bus that just arrived. “Let’s go.”
Bradley sweeps me off my feet as he pushes the door open to our room at The Carriage House Inn with his foot.
I wrap my arms around his neck, kissing his cheek, then his ear before whispering, “Did you manage to actually get us in the same room we were in on our engagement night?”
He eyeballs the area like he’s looking for something and then flashes a devilish grin. “Are there actually others here?”
“I wouldn’t know.” I thread my fingers through his hair and gaze into his beautiful blue eyes, his black lashes and eyebrows making them pierce me. “I think they should rename this one The Banks Suite.”
“You do, huh?”
I nod. “The room is beautiful.” Red and pink roses are scattered over the bed and floor. A bottle of wine is chilling, and there’s a platter of chocolate covered strawberries. “Everything is beautiful. I just wanna know when are you gonna stop talking and kiss me, though?”
He kicks the door closed with his heel, and his lips capture mine. I dart my tongue in his open mouth and deepen our connection. He walks me toward the bed and gently places me back as he crawls over me. “I hate winter.” His kisses go to my neck then to the sensitive part behind my ear.
So random. “Why do you hate winter?”
He blows on the delicate skin he’s giving his attention to, causing my body to shiver. My hips rise in an effort to create the friction I’ve been yearning for since this morning. “Why do you hate winter, Mr. Banks?”
“So many damn clothes in my way.” He tugs my sweater up, and his fingers trace a trail to my breast.
“Stop.”
He freezes. His brows crinkle, and he swallows.
I smile. “Let me up a minute. I won’t be long.”
He smirks and rolls over on his side. “Do you have some surprises of your own tonight, Mrs. Banks?”
I wink before pulling my scarf down with one ha
nd and letting it fall to the floor. “I’m not sure if it’s the kind of surprise you may be thinking of.”
“And what is that?”
My fingers undo the button of my jeans, and slowly, I pull the zipper to where each notch can be heard. “I don’t have any kind of fancy lingerie or heels.” Bradley sucks in a breath. “You saw what I put on this morning.”
His eyes dart to my breasts and back to my fingers. “When you were teasing me in the closet? Why, yes. I remember.” I nod, shimmying my pants down to my ankles. Turning around, I lean over and remove my boots and socks, then slide the pants off. When I turn around, Bradley’s scooted to the edge of the bed, closing the distance between the two of us, and kicks off his own shoes. His eyes are on me as his fingers push his own socks to the floor. “If your surprise is stripping and teasing me, you’re doing a fine, fine job.”
I lick my bottom lip and bite it. “Do you think Santa will think I’ve been a naughty girl and only bring me coal for Christmas?”
He chuckles. “Santa saw you in the kitchen last night with Chaos. He was so proud of the sexy, confident woman you’ve become.”
My lips curve into a huge grin as I cast a sidelong glance, then pull all the layers covering my torso over my head. “Screw the striptease. Ain’t nobody got time for all that.”
Bradley throws his head back, laughing. “I love you, Gabby. Come here.”
Taking a few steps, I straddle him and pull his sweater and shirt over his head before tossing it on the floor. He places his hands on both of my hips, and our heads go to opposite sides and devour each other’s necks like we’re vampires who haven’t eaten in a thousand years. His hands move up my back, and the clasps of my bra are swiftly undone. The black lace fabric becomes loose before he tosses it to the pile on the floor with the rest of our garments. My hips start to move from back to front and then side to side against the steel length beneath his denim. Bradley’s mouth finds my freed breast and scrapes it with his teeth. I toss my head back and slide my fingers up and down his chest. “I swear I could come just like this. It feels so good.”
“What’s stopping you?” he murmurs as he nibbles his way to the other nipple.
My lips part as I gasp for air like a fish out of water. “Can I?”
He trails his tongue up my chest to my neck, and then our mouths meet. “Please.”
My pace increases as I climb the mountain of ecstasy. As the peak approaches, everything starts to ripple until everything explodes. Bradley grunts and growls, and it only makes the orgasm that much better—to know I affect the man I love so much.
When the waves become farther apart, Bradley flips me over to my back and towers over me as he undoes his belt, then his button and zipper. He slides his jeans and boxers to the floor as Chaos springs free. I manage to keep my laughs to a minimum, but I can’t help but smirk. His fingers slide under my panties, and he pulls them down as he steps out of his jeans. I shake my feet to kick them to the floor.
“Bradley?”
His eyes are a smoldering grayish-blue. “Yeah?”
“Do that growl thing you just did.”
He chuckles. “Like right now? While I’m standing here naked in front of you?”
I giggle. “Yeah.”
His lips curve in an amused smile. “I can’t grunt on demand.”
“Then come here.” I summon him with my finger. “And let me give you a reason to do it.”
He pushes me farther back on the bed, then licks his way down my body until his head is at my core. His tongue swirls my mound, thrashing and lashing my clitoris. My legs start to shake, and I thread my hands in his hair as he grunts. “Yes. That. Keep doing that.” My hips buck up and down. “Need. You. Now.” His head bobs up, and he plunges Chaos into me, filling me completely. “Ah.”
This morning our sex was slow and sensual, but not tonight. This is fast, feral. He pounds in harder each time, and I give him back everything I can, desperate for him to reach me as deeply as he can. My head becomes fuzzy. I close my eyes and let my hands see for me as they roam his chest and then his back. The heat increases with each thrust, and I’m about to tip over the edge again. “Come with me,” I beg. “Can you? Now?”
He growls and our parted lips touch as we both breathe each other in while he releases his orgasm, and my body consumes it.
When we still, I wrap my legs around his waist, and he slides to the side. We hold each other, and bliss is the only thing I feel.
He strums my hair. “You know earlier when I was picking on you about baby fever?”
“Yeah.”
“I think I may be the one with the baby fever.”
The way he spoke those words was so soft, tender, and raw. I don’t think he’s kidding, but he can’t be serious. My mom made me promise her things before she passed, and Bradley’s already been so patient. I hate to even bring up this one.
“Gabby?” His fingers skim my cheek, then my chin and trace their way down my chest, and finally land on my belly. “Let’s make a baby.”
My chest tightens.
“Say something,” he whispers in my ear.
“I’m not ready.”
“No one is ever really ready.” I clasp my hand with his and put it over my pounding chest. “Those triplets tonight, the boys at the tree farm.” He shakes his head. “I found myself wondering if our little girls would have your unruly hair and those gold specks in their eyes. When I saw little boys, I wondered if they’d be momma’s boys.”
My throat tightens. Things were going so well, but Bradley seems determined to bring up every possible tense situation today. “It’s really important to me that I finish school.”
“I know it is, but you’re halfway through your junior year.”
“Right. And nine months from now I’ll be starting my senior year. I’m so close.” I roll onto my side so we can make eye contact. Well, and so I can put some distance between me and his breath on my ear. “I can’t wait to have babies with you, but I have to finish.”
“You assume we’re going to get pregnant the first time.”
“Uh. Yeah.” I look away. “It’d be my luck that I’d be so close to finishing, and something would happen to where I couldn’t. I promised my mom.”
“What didn’t you promise her?”
My mouth gapes open and a tear strays down my cheek.
“I’m sorry.” He swipes it away. “I didn’t mean it quite like it sounded. Gabby, she’s gone, though. We’re here, and you make me the most impatient patient man in the world.”
Turning away, I get up from the bed, go to my overnight bag, rummage through until I’ve found my silk nightgown, and slip it over my head. “So, this is my fault?”
“No.” He stands and slides his boxers on, then pulls me into his arms. “I don’t want to fight tonight. That’s not what this was about.”
“You’ve opened Pandora’s Box. How do we go back at this point? I’m just going to be thinking about how you want babies and I don’t.”
“Ever?”
“Bradley Banks.” I tilt my head.
He smirks and raises his eyebrows. “What?”
This is a serious conversation, and he’s not going to bring it up then dismiss it like he asked something trivial and simple. My mouth starts computing months in increments of nine months. “August of next year.”
“What about it?”
“That’s my compromise. We can start trying next August.”
“As in approximately eight months from now?”
“That’s right.”
“Deal.” He leans his forehead on mine. “Dance with me.”
“There’s no music.”
“Pretend it’s One Thousand Years.” The song we danced to when we met.
I laugh, closing my eyes, and put my head on his chest. “I can do that.”
“I love you, Gabby Girl. I only want you to be happy,” he whispers,
“I want you to be happy. I hope you don’t think I’m being selfish
.”
He stills us, and tugs my chin up, and our eyes connect. “I shouldn’t have asked you to pick starting a family over finishing school. Those little girls were so cute, though.”
“They were. And our time will come, but I also don’t want to rush the time we have together alone. For instance, this moment right now.” I bring his lips down to mine. “Wouldn’t be the same if there was a baby in a crib where the bottle of wine is.”
He chuckles. “Good point.”
“So, for the next eight months, let’s travel. Let’s make our traditions as a couple. Let’s do lots of practicing how to make a baby.”
“Now?”
“Please.” I jump up, and he catches my butt in the palms of his hands. “Against the wall maybe.”
“Surprises. You are full of them.”
“You have no idea what I’m capable of, Mr. Banks.”
“Luckily for me, I have the rest of my life to figure it out.” He pushes me against the wall to the bathroom. “Better use one that doesn’t have a potential neighbor. Like your sister or my best friend.”
I giggle. “Thank you!”
He frees Chaos and drops me a bit, then guides him in, filling me. “Ah. I. Love. Wall. Sex.”
Bradley chuckles. “I love you.”
He moves in and out, and the friction builds. My fingers tangle in his hair, and our tongues lash out with each other’s, tangling and thrashing. “Faster.”
The thrusts come quicker and harder. That low, throaty growl vibrates on the sensitive skin of my neck. “You smell like outside, hot chocolate, and me.” His words send shivers from my head to my feet. My toes curl. His tongue grazes my ear lobe. “You taste so sweet.”
Everything he says sends me closer to the edge until the currents of pleasure become too much and my body shudders from its orgasm. Bradley grunts and we stare in each other’s eyes as we climax together. “Incredible.”