by Katee Robert
His smile was the very definition of smug. “I thought so.”
God, the man was just infuriating. She threw up her hands, torn between strangling him and strangling herself. “Have you been listening to a single thing I’ve been saying?”
“Yeah. I did you wrong—in more than one way. I know I can’t make up for that shit, or ever really lay it to rest because it’s always going to occupy space between us, but I can start by doing right by you from here on out.”
He kept saying that. Do right by you. It was like he thought this baby represented a chance to balance out his karmic debt. Which was all well and good for him, but she wasn’t a debt and she didn’t want to be with a man who saw her as his burden to bear. “I swear to God, if you propose to me, I’m going to punch you in the face.”
Daniel stood and offered her his hand. “I lose my head around you. What we had…it was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. So forgive the fuck out of me if I’m more than willing to play dirty to get you to stay. I know I’m screwing up, but I’m trying my damnedest.”
All she wanted to do was walk away. It hurt being with him, like a knife twisting in her stomach over and over again. But there was more than her to think about now. It didn’t matter how complicated their history was—her baby would know his or her father. Daniel will be a good father. She’d always known that, and apparently she was going to get a chance to see it in real time.
Hope inhaled deeply and took his hand. “Tone down the possessive crap—starting now.”
“I’ll try.”
It wasn’t much of a promise, but it wasn’t like she was an innocent in this, either. She’d known things between them were too intense, full of too much potential to blow up in her face, and she’d still had sex with him. More than once.
Truth be told, she kind of wanted to go there again.
And, damn it, he knew. Daniel’s smile made her stomach do a slow flip. “You’ve got that look in your eye, darling. I’ve been an asshole. Let me make it up to you.”
Even though she knew better, she followed him back into the house. “You’ve set a pretty high bar for yourself if you’re going to try to fix every fight we have with sex.”
“Believe me—I’m more than up for the challenge.”
Chapter Ten
Hope kept a hold of Daniel as he led her into his bedroom, feeling like she was in the middle of the storm and he was the only thing keeping her from being swept away. Ironic, since he was the one responsible for the storm in the first place. But with him looking over his shoulder at her with those dark eyes, and his calluses rubbing against the palm of her hand, she couldn’t think of a good reason to put a stop to this once and for all.
It’s too late. There’s no stopping it now, no matter what I do.
She touched her stomach with her free hand, wondering how so much could have changed and yet nothing at all. They’d barely crossed the threshold when he swept her into his arms. In the back of her mind, she knew it was because he wanted her to be careful with her knee, but her pride had nothing on the feeling of being this close to him. This is really happening. She couldn’t blame this on hormones getting the better of her, or on an impulse she had too little self-control to resist.
She was making the choice to have sex with Daniel Rodriguez.
He set her on her feet and stripped her shirt off. She could barely comprehend the way he looked at her, like he’d never seen anything so beautiful in his life. He used to look at you like that. Yeah, before. She closed her eyes and tipped her head back, silently demanding a kiss he seemed all too ready to deliver. His hands sifted through her hair to cup the back of her head and his lips brushed against hers, teasing her mouth open. She opened for him. She was helpless to do anything else.
His skin was so damn warm beneath her hands. She cautiously slid them up his sides to his chest, not pushing him away, not pulling him closer, just relishing the ability to touch him to her heart’s delight. Daniel made a sound that was damn near a growl at her nails dragging over his skin, so she did it again.
“We’ll go slow this time.”
She barely had a chance to register the words when he toppled them back onto the bed, twisting just enough that she didn’t take his full weight. She could have told him it didn’t matter. She wanted everything he could give her, wanted to lose herself in the feel of him, wanted to just stop thinking for one fucking second and enjoy this.
Of course, he knew. He always knew. Daniel shifted to kiss along her jaw. “Turn off that beautiful brain of yours, darling. We’ll figure it out. I promise. But right now I’m more concerned with getting you out of these pants.”
Fear, cold and irrational, rose to close her throat. Taking off her pants meant baring her scar to him and being forced to witness that horrible guilt on his face. Then she wouldn’t be the only person thinking too much. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
He kissed her again, his hands going to the waistband of her pants and underwear, and she lifted her hips to allow him to slide them down her legs. His movement hitched when his fingers made contact with the top of her scar, but it was such a small hesitation, she wouldn’t have noticed it if every fiber of her being wasn’t focused on him. Daniel tossed the clothing aside, quickly followed by her bra. “Tell me about the tattoo. An anchor.”
“Its whole purpose is to remain in place, no matter how strong the currents or how fierce the storm.”
As usual, his dark eyes saw too much. “You always were strong, darling.”
She didn’t feel the least bit strong right now. She hadn’t since she walked back into his life. She felt like a leaf being thrown around by the wind, free-falling in one direction and then tossed to the side, then falling all over again until she wasn’t sure which way was up and which way was down. But she didn’t want to talk about that right now. She didn’t want to talk about anything. “Kiss me, Danny.”
He did. He just didn’t kiss her lips.
Daniel pressed a kiss to one hip bone and then the other, shifting to settle between her thighs. One big hand pressed lightly down on her lower stomach, and he met her gaze. There was so much left unsaid between them, but now wasn’t the time. He drew his tongue over her center, a long, savoring lick that made her squirm. He kept her pinned in place, though, the feeling only heightening the sensation of pleasure as he licked her again. “You always were my favorite flavor.”
I don’t know what to say to that.
He circled her clit with his tongue, taking away the need to say anything at all. She reached over her head and grabbed the bottom of the headboard, needing something solid to hang onto while he drove her relentlessly to oblivion. Daniel never quite let her take the final plunge, though. He teased her, drawing ever closer to the edge, and then gentling his touches to prevent her from coming.
The third time, she cried out in frustration. “You are a horrible man.”
“Mmm-hmm.” He pushed a finger into her, the shock of penetration making her eyes fly open. “And you’re almost ready for me, darling.”
Almost ready for… She lifted her head. “Then stop teasing me and get up here.”
“When you put it like that…” He crawled up her body and settled between her legs. A wild thought rolled over her that they’d been in this exact position too many times to count when they were teenagers in the back of his truck. She pressed her lips together to keep the hysterical giggle inside. Daniel raised his eyebrows. “What?”
“I feel like an idiot teenager again.”
He went still, and she kicked herself for saying anything to bring them back to those days. To that day. But it was something that would come up again and again. If they didn’t find a way to work through it, they were destined for a future filled to the brim with misery and fights and just plain awful times. We have to figure it out before the baby gets here or he or she will be visiting him every other weekend like Jessica’s parents forced her to do. The thought beat back the desire coursing through he
r body, her mind kicking into high gear again.
Daniel shook his head. “Later.”
His cock notched in her entrance and then he was inside her again, that slow, sensuous slide filling her and making her feel whole. She locked her ankles at the small of his back, allowing him that extra depth that made her back arch. “Danny.”
“I’ve missed the way you say my name when I’m inside you.” He rolled his hips, sliding one arm beneath her back to seal them as close as two people could be. His lips brushed her ear with each word, sending shivers through her body in time with his short thrusts. He kissed her, and that was all it took. She clung to him as she came, her entire world narrowing down to the feeling of Daniel on top of her, beneath her, inside her. His cock filling her, his taste in her mouth.
She came down from her orgasm to realize he was still hard inside her. Hope blinked at him, and Daniel gave her a grin that made her heart skip a beat. “I set a high bar, remember?”
She didn’t remember much of anything right now.
He pushed off her, adjusting their angle until her ankles were propped on his shoulders and he was on his knees. The new position nearly made her eyes roll back in her head, his cock impossibly deep inside her. He thrust, pulling out of her almost all the way and slamming home, drawing a cry from her mouth. Daniel eyed her, adjusted his angle, and did it again.
“Oh my God.” There was nothing to do but hang onto the headboard, riding out the waves of pleasure radiating through her.
She was vaguely aware of his strokes becoming irregular and hurried and him growling her name as he came, but she was too busy floating on a cloud of bliss to do much more than unclench her hands from the headboard and reach up to stroke them down his back where he’d collapsed on top of her. She pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “Okay, maybe you can fix most problems with sex.”
At least temporarily.
…
Daniel managed to scrounge up a snack for them—a bag of Goldfish from behind the absurd number of cream of mushroom cans he’d rage-purchased earlier—but he wasn’t about to let Hope out of his bed any time soon. The sex had been… Fuck, he didn’t have words for how good it had been. All he knew was that the second they left this room, they were going to have to figure some shit out, and he flat out wasn’t ready. This was a much-needed reprieve, and he was going to hold onto it for as long as he could.
On the other hand, there were things they needed to figure out sooner rather than later.
In all the chaos since Hope showed up again that first time, Daniel hadn’t seen much of either his friends or family. Truth be told, that wasn’t as abnormal as it once might have been, but he couldn’t hide her away indefinitely. A weekend, yes. Any longer and word would get out—had already gotten out that she was back in town if the half a dozen missed calls from his mother were any indication.
He needed to let people know about the baby, but telling each person individually and having to deal with the variety of reactions that would no doubt range from shocked to pissed to joyful was exhausting to even think about. It would be easier to get them all together and deliver the news at once—like ripping off a Band-Aid.
First, though, he needed to get Hope on board. He’d already fucked things up enough without springing this on her, too. But if he could do both with one fell swoop…
He stretched, half rolling over to run a hand down her side. Fuck, she’s so beautiful, it kills me. “I was thinking.”
“Always a dangerous prospect.” She opened one eye. “Go on.”
“We have to tell my family eventually—and Adam and Quinn.”
Hope sighed and rolled onto her stomach to bury her face in the pillow. “Can’t we just tell them in approximately eight months when the baby is here? It’s not like they’re going to see me much in the meantime to ask why I suddenly look like a human-shaped elephant.”
Eight months. It seemed like an eternity and not nearly long enough to get used to the idea of being a dad. And she was still planning on leaving in the morning. He forced himself to focus. “You know that’s not an option.”
“I don’t see why not.”
Daniel considered how to respond, trying to keep from steamrolling her like she kept accusing him of doing. “What do you say to getting together for a dinner and announcing it there? Let everyone know at once so there aren’t any hurt feelings that we told one person before another.”
“I suppose that would require me to make yet another trip to Devil’s Falls?”
Not if she didn’t leave in the first place. He ran a hand down her spine, splaying his fingers across the small of her back. “Or maybe you could take some vacation days and we could do it this week. Get it all out of the way at once.” The longer she was here, the better chance he had of convincing her to stay for good.
She lifted her head. “You won’t let it go, will you?”
“This is sheer self-defense.” He kept touching her, trying to soothe away the tension that had bled into her muscles. “If you’re there and so is the rest of my family, there’s the added bonus that with everyone together, we’re less likely to get new asses ripped by my parents.”
Hope made a face. “Speaking of parents, I suppose we should extend an invitation to mine, too, if we’re going forward with this insanity.”
He bit back a denial. She was agreeing to his plan, which meant he couldn’t do a damn thing to jeopardize it. He hadn’t seen the Moores since John’s funeral, but he couldn’t get the condemnation on Mrs. Moore’s face out of his head. It was one of the contributing factors that pushed him to leave Hope alone for good, though he’d never tell her that. The decision had been his, and he didn’t like the idea of causing problems with her and her parents.
That didn’t mean he was all that eager to see them again.
But he’d fake it. For Hope. He cleared his throat. “That sounds great.”
“Liar.” She laughed softly. “But if we’re going down together, it might as well be in flames.”
Daniel kept stroking her back. “We can do this, darling. I promise.” It struck him that he’d made promises to her before, a lifetime ago, and he’d failed at following through on a single one of them. Promises that he loved her, that they’d have a future together, that he’d be by her side through thick and thin.
I fucked up before. I won’t do it again.
“Don’t make promises you know you can’t keep.” She blinked at him from beneath a tangle of blond hair, as pretty as a picture, made all the more attractive because it was because of him that her lips looked so kissably plumped and his whiskers that left light marks on her pale skin. He felt out of control and damn near animalistic with the need to mark her, to prove to anyone who came too close that she was his and his alone. It didn’t matter that he didn’t have a right to claim her.
He’d given up being an honorable man a long time ago.
“We’ll talk about it later…but later isn’t here yet.” She rolled into him, hooking his neck and pulling him down to her. “Now, kiss me and let’s stop worrying for a little while.”
Chapter Eleven
“It’s been a minute, stranger.”
Daniel kept his cell to his ear as he closed the door to the truck, doing his damnedest to ignore the censure in his friend’s tone. “I’ve been busy.”
When Hope had woken up, she’d developed a totally bizarre craving for Greek yogurt, so he was hustling to pick some up before she starved to death since that was the one thing they hadn’t purchased yesterday. Pregnancy sure makes her dramatic. Not that he’d ever tell her that to her face. Things were finally starting to actually move forward between them, and he wasn’t about to do anything to fuck that up.
Not on purpose.
He’d already more than proven he could—and would—fuck up on accident.
Hence, making this call while he was alone.
“Busy.” Adam didn’t sound all that impressed, and he shouldn’t be. As far as excuses went, it was a shit
ty one. “By busy, I take that you mean you’ve been shacking up with Hope Moore for the weekend.”
This goddamn town was out of control. They’d left the house together exactly one time, and that was all it took for gossip to spread like wildfire to everyone who’d listen—which was the entire population. He checked the sidewalk in front of the store, but thankfully he didn’t see any of the older folk lurking, waiting to ambush him for news. If he hurried, he could get in and get out without running into someone he knew. “Word gets around.”
“Yeah, well, you can’t take her to Main Street and expect it not to—though I’m kind of thinking you damn well knew that.” Adam didn’t bother to give him a chance to respond. “What the fuck are you doing? I know things got carried away back at your birthday party, but I was under the impression she went back to Dallas.”
“She did.”
A beat of silence, then another. “Right, well, you don’t have to confide in me about shit. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to be giddy as fuck over you shutting me out—again.”
Damn it, Adam had a point. He was the one who’d opened up a little over a year ago when he finally decided to stay in town for good. Daniel headed into the store, keeping his gaze focused on the ground and his hat tucked low. The truth was, there was a reason he’d called Adam instead of just issuing a blanket invite.
He needed someone to talk to.
It was hard to force the words out, hard to make it real by telling someone other than himself and Hope. He scanned the store, but there was only Jessica popping gum at the register, her attention trained her phone. Still, it couldn’t hurt to move deeper into the place. “She’s pregnant.”
Adam didn’t say anything while Daniel grabbed a basket to throw the yogurt into, and by the time he’d turned down an aisle at random, he still hadn’t said anything. “I’m taking that to mean you don’t approve.”