by Zoey Parker
“It’s just a tank top, Lucas.” She rolled her eyes.
“No bra?” He slid a finger beneath the thin strap of material over her shoulders and pulled it down, the tank following along. Her breasts popped out of the shirt as he dragged it down.
“I…no. Why?”
He pushed her hands away when she started to cover herself.
“I’m fine with no panties and bra when you’re with me.” He picked up her breasts in his hands and bent to take one nipple into his mouth. “Just surprised you’d wear just this flimsy thing.” He snapped the material against her belly before moving to her other breast, repeating the action of running his tongue around the peaked flesh and suckling it just before sinking his teeth in.
As if his cock weren’t already at full mast, her little moan at his nip sent him over the edge. Growling, he pulled away from her and took a step back. “Take everything off.” He waved his hand over her body. The scrub bottoms weren’t baggy. He could make out every curve she owned, but he wanted to see it all.
“Aren’t you hungry?” She pointed to the pizza box with a half grin.
“Not for pizza. Now take off your clothes.”
She tapped her forefinger against her lips as though she were thinking real hard about whether or not she’d give in. Teasing him wouldn’t get her very far, but she hadn’t learned that lesson yet.
“If you want to keep your clothes in one piece, I would encourage you to hurry it along.” He folded his arms over his chest but continued to stare at her.
With a mock look of surprise, she pulled her tank top off completely. “Maybe I’ll just say no, take my pizza, and sit at the table.” She hooked her thumbs into the elastic band of her scrubs and waited for him to answer.
“And maybe I could not give you any orgasms tonight. Maybe I’ll just take my pleasure with your body and leave you wanting.” He shrugged, acting as though it didn’t matter one way or the other to him. But it did. To keep her on edge would definitely keep him hard for hours, if not days, but to completely deny her release would be as much of a punishment for him as for her. It didn’t mean he wouldn’t do it to show her who was in charge, who owned that tight body of hers, but he didn’t want to be pushed into it.
Several long seconds ticked by as they appeared to be in a stare down. That was fine. He’d had those before, and he’d win this one just like he had all the others.
In the end, she huffed and shoved her pants down, pulling her feet free of the pant legs. He watched as she picked up the pants and a pair of her panties tangled up with the fabric, neatly fold them, and placed them on top her tank top and scrub top. She’d kicked off her gym shoes and pushed them with her foot under the counter, out of the way.
“There. Now we can eat.” He gave her a grin and reached for the pizza box.
“What?” He could feel her heated glare on him as he put the box on the kitchen table and he popped it open.
Once he had a piece of the pie on a plate, he looked over at her. Had any woman ever looked so damn fuckable when they pouted like her? “What? Did you want something?” he asked, taking a bite of the pizza.
“I’m not eating naked.” She reached for the clothes, but he was faster than her, grabbing the pile from the opposite side of the island and taking them back to the table with him.
“I didn’t say you were going to.” He left the pizza on the table and rounded the island. Sliding his arms beneath hers, he pulled her into a hug. “You are cute when you don’t get what you want.” He kissed her temple.
“You’re a child.” If the reprimand hadn’t come out laced with a soft chuckle, he would have been offended. “Maybe a bully, too.”
He pulled away and spun her around to face the island. Pressing his hand into her back, between her shoulder blades, he put her where he wanted her. She yelped at the two hard swats he delivered to her upturned bottom but didn’t fight him. He gave her two more and damn near embarrassed himself by coming in his pants with the look she threw him over her shoulder.
“Behave,” he warned, secretly hoping she wouldn’t. His hand rubbed her ass, taking away any sting that might have been left from the very light spanking. Gripping her flesh, he groaned. “I could just do this for days to your ass.” He patted her lightly, then slapped her thighs. “Open.” Again, she moved right into the position he wanted her.
Passing his fingers over her pussy, he gathered the flowing juices. She was already sopping wet for him, and they’d just gotten started. Still keeping her bent over the counter, he thrust two fingers into her. She cried out but not from pain. He heard a soft curse leave her lips and he thrust again, harder. Her body clamped down around his fingers.
Letting one finger dangle forward, he teased her clit. The hard nub was already swollen and wanting, making his little touch that much more intense for her. She started to rock against his hand, fucking his fingers, and he wanted to scream.
“Fuck yeah.” With his free hand, he slapped her right ass cheek, delighting in the little giggle. She didn’t stop moving, so he gave her another swat to her other cheek. “Good girl, fuck my fingers.” With one hand, he managed to unbutton and unzip his own jeans, moving to position himself behind her.
“Lucas.” Her hands pressed down against the countertop, and she thrust harder back at him. “It’s not enough. I need more.” Her eyes landed on him, wide and pooling with arousal.
There wasn’t much need to wait any longer. He removed his fingers from her heated pussy and pushed his jeans farther down, freeing his rock-hard cock. He pumped it in his hand a few times, enjoying the envy in her eyes as she watched him. Finally, she wiggled her backside at him. “Please.”
“Oh, well, since you asked so prettily.” He gave her one last slap to her ass before gripping her hips and plunging hard into her. She yelled out but didn’t try to twist away when he pinned her between himself and the counter. Instead, she wiggled again. He wanted to laugh with delight, but instead, he withdrew and plowed hard into her again.
“Again!” she yelled, and who was he not to oblige her?
She lifted up from the counter enough for him to see her tits swaying with each of his thrusts. Her nipples grazed the countertop, and her head was thrown back while she uttered soft words he couldn’t understand. Other than a few “fucks” or “yes,” she didn’t make any sense.
But his mind wasn’t exactly clear either. Her tight passage clamped down around him, pulling him harder into her. Her body began to tremble; her thighs shook beneath him. Reaching around her, he flicked her clit, knowing it wouldn’t take much more to get her to explode. He flicked again and then he rubbed, manipulating her hot button in a circular pattern with more pressure.
“Oh, God! Oh. Oh. Oh.” She slammed her hand down on the counter and shoved back at him with all her strength.
“That’s it; that’s my girl. Fuck me. Come. Come hard.” And come she did. Every wave of her orgasm pulled him farther into her, milking him. A familiar tingle began at his spine, and with two more stokes, he was screaming right along with her.
Her body milked him, taking every drop of his seed from him, leaving him exhausted. He’d fucked plenty of women, but none of them drained him of all self-control and energy.
He kissed her bare back as he slipped out of her. He yanked the towel hanging off the oven door off and cleaned her up. “Have you been to the doctor? I mean, you have a doctor?” He dragged the dishtowel along her pussy, wiping away his own cum as it slid from her wet and swollen folds.
“Yeah, of course I do.” She turned around, her arms crossing over her chest. “Do you think I could have my clothes back before we, you know, talk about this?” Her eyes shimmered with her smile.
“Sure.” He patted her hip and stepped out of the way for her move around to the table. He finished getting himself put back together, then joined her at the table. “Take another piece.” He pointed to the pizza when she’d only taken one slice.
“I will. Let me finish this one firs
t.” She laughed. It was an easy laugh, a casual sound that fit right into his house. She was exactly where she belonged, whether she understood that yet or not. It didn’t really matter.
“So, doctor. You’ve seen one.”
“Of course I did. I’m thirteen weeks along.”
“Good doctor?”
“Nope. I got the worst one my insurance offered.” She gave him a wry smile before sinking her teeth into her pizza. He loved how she had no remorse for her appetite.
“Smartasses get spanked.” He raised his eyebrows and pointed a finger at her.
“Well, if it leads to what we just did over there,” she jerked at thumb behind her at the island, “then I’m game.”
“Funny.” He took another piece of pizza. “The morning sickness is bad, though, huh?” The memory of the hospital was still fresh in his mind. He couldn’t remember ever helping a chick puke before. He usually just waited outside to make sure they were okay before handing them off to their friend. But Josephine wasn’t a chick. She was his woman.
“It’s not great. My mother keeps promising me it will go away soon. But so far, it’s shown no signs of stopping. Morning, afternoon, middle of the night, he knows no boundaries.”
“Like his father.” Lucas grinned with pride.
“Cute.” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t mind a good night’s sleep, though.” She rubbed her eyes and leaned back in her chair.
“Maybe you shouldn’t work. You know, take time off.”
“Off? I need my job, Lucas. I need the insurance, the paycheck, the retirement fund.” She ticked off on her fingers the benefits of her job.
“I already told you, I’ll take care of everything.”
“Yeah, about that.” She looked back at the counter where the envelope full of money still sat. “I can’t take that. I just can’t.”
“Fine.” He picked up his plate and grabbed hers on his way to the sink.
“Really?” she asked with a skeptical tone.
“Sure.” He shrugged and picked up the envelope. “The hospital’s been made aware to send the bills directly to me for your mom. I’ll just have the baby doctor do the same thing.” He opened the drawer the money had been sitting in before and tossed it back in. “I thought you’d like to handle that yourself, but if you can’t—”
She jumped up from her chair. “It’s not that I can’t, it’s that I don’t need you to take care of everything like that. That’s not what I wanted. This isn’t what I asked for.”
Her cheeks flushed with anger, but she looked hotter than hell to him.
“How about we don’t have this argument? How about we go sit in my living room and watch some TV? You can tell me about your day, and I’ll rub those feet of yours. When we’re done, we’ll go to bed.”
She started at him unblinking. “Go to bed?”
“Yeah. It’s where I sleep.” He nodded. “It’s late. Let’s watch a movie, and we’ll talk about all the little details tomorrow.”
“You can’t just take over my life, Lucas,” she snapped at him, but her eyes had already started to soften.
“I don’t want to. I just want to be a part of it, and I want to take care of you. I said we’ll talk tomorrow.” He walked over to her, linking his hand in hers. “Come on. Just for tonight, pretend to listen to me, okay?” He threw her a smile and pulled her out of the kitchen into the living room.
They’d talk in the morning, before she headed off to work. He’d get the name of her doctor, and he’d be sure she understood that he was taking care of the bills, that he’d be at every one of her visits. Nothing was going to be left to chance. He was going to take care of his family.
Chapter 8
Lucas was true to his word. All hospital and doctor bills were current, and Dr. Leopold’s office had called Josephine to let her know they could go ahead and schedule her mother’s procedure.
Meredith questioned Josephine about her relationship with Lucas, but all Josephine would tell her mother was that they were seeing each other, nothing serious.
“He’s the daddy.” Her mother waved a hand at her. “I know it.”
“How do you know that?” Josephine tried to deflect with a smile of her own.
“Because I’m your mother, and I know what I see when I see it. That boy is the daddy.”
“Mom…”
“I know my head don’t work right. I know potato, dammit, tomato…” Her mother took a steadying breath. Although the medicines were working to shrink the tumor enough to attempt surgery, it was still pressing on the part of her brain that messed with her speech. Now and then, the wrong words would come out, and try as she might, she couldn’t call forth the correct ones.
“Mom, you’re right.” Josephine decided not to rile her mother up more. The words were harder to find when she was upset. “Lucas is the father. But we aren’t serious. We are giving this relationship thing a try, but I don’t want you getting your hopes up, okay? He’s not exactly the bring-home-for-Christmas kind of guy.”
Meredith rolled her hand in the air. She wanted more.
“He’s in a motorcycle club, Mom.” Josephine confessed that information with a hushed voice. The nurses walking past the door didn’t need to hear her. Meredith rolled her eyes and waved her hand again. “He’s a mechanic mostly, works in their garage. But…I don’t know, I think he does other stuff. Stuff that dads shouldn’t do, right? I mean, what if he goes off on one of his jobs and doesn’t come back? Then what would I do? It’s not like the MC has a life insurance policy.”
Her mother started to laugh. “And what would you do if he’s not in your life at all? Same thing!” She patted Josephine’s hand, which rested on the bed beside her. “You give him a chance. He’s really good looking, that Lucas.”
Josephine sighed. Thankfully, he wasn’t there to hear the compliment. The last thing that man needed was an ego boost. He did well enough on his own. She wouldn’t deny that he was attractive. If any man could make her drool just with a grin, it was him. He carried himself with confidence, as though he owned every room he walked into. And people just seemed to know it.
Lucas had taken her to dinner the night before. Nothing fancy, just a diner in town, and every waitress came up to say hello. The cook even came out to speak with him for a moment. The waitresses weren’t hanging on him, and they didn’t give Josephine any evil glances. In fact, most of them had fully ignored her. They probably saw him with a lot of women and had stopped even taking notice of them. That idea had sent Josephine into a sour mood.
It wasn’t his fault. He had introduced her to everyone who came up to the table, and once that happened, they were more receiving of her. However, the few women who walked into the diner just as they were leaving hadn’t been so polite. They didn’t just ignore her when Lucas introduced her, they openly snubbed her.
Lucas had started to say something to them, but Josephine stopped him. No sense in him causing a scene, and who knew, they could be right. In two months, they could be over and done with.
“You give that boy a chance.” Meredith announced with a firm nod.
Josephine rose from the chair she’d been sitting in. “You just get some rest, Mom. I have to get to work. I have the late shift tonight.” She swung her purse over her shoulder and leaned down to give her mom a quick peck on her cheek.
“It’s going to be all right, Josephine. I know it.” The vow was spoken in a soft voice, but she could feel every ounce of her mother’s determination behind the words. Her mother had never let her down. Not once in her entire life had she missed a recital, a baseball game, a birthday—nothing. No matter how hard things were, how tight money was, or how busy she was, she never let Josephine think for a moment that she wasn’t loved.
“I know it, Mom.” She gave her a wave before heading out the door, stopping just outside to take a steadying breath. As a child, her mother’s vows that everything would work out had always soothed her worry and taken away her panic, but now, seeing her fr
ail and wasting away in that hospital bed, she didn’t feel the same relief.
Lucas could pay the hospital bills, but he couldn’t make the cancer go away. He didn’t have that sort of power. Her stomach started to turn on her, and she took several deep breaths. The nausea was starting to get better. She threw up less and less, but now and then, she’d feel a little sick.
What the hell was she doing having a kid now? Her mother needed her. She was dealing with too many things. It had been a selfish thing to do.
“Josephine.” Dr. Leopold walked up to her in the hallway. “Are you all right?” He laid a hand on her shoulder.
She straightened up and smiled. “Yes. I’m fine. Just a little morning sickness.” She nodded and wiped a stray hair from her forehead.