Lust was written all over her face. I hoped she could tell what was written on mine. I was a man determined. I needed to complete the connection we were sharing. I leaned in, capturing her lips and kissing her with all that I had.
I needed more, I needed deeper. “Lift your hips for me, sweetheart,” I said and she complied.
I pulled a pillow from the other side of the bed and slid it under her. I pulled out and slid back into her. “Perfect.”
Still buried deep inside of her, I raised up to my knees. Grasping each of her knees with my hands, I pushed her legs back and put her ankles on my shoulders when I noticed something. Something I hadn’t seen the last time we were together. The moonlight that filtered in through the windows hit the silvery skin that ran across her bikini line.
“Is this what I think it is?” I asked, running my fingers across the line that didn’t look big enough to take out a baby.
“Yes,” she answered, moving her hips, obviously trying to get me back on task.
It was then all of it came over me. This beautiful woman went through a major surgery and I wasn’t there to help her. She didn’t have me, but kept our daughter when she could have given her up. My heart filled with so much pride and devotion and most importantly love.
“Fuck, sweetheart. I love you.” The words just tumbled out of my mouth and before she could react I pulled her up with me into a kneel and sit position. I needed her close to me.
I held onto her as we began to make love in this new position. The long, hard, methodical strokes I was giving her made her arms clutch me tighter as she moaned excitedly in my ear.
“I love the way you can make love to me and fuck me at the same time,” she whispered quietly in my ear and it drove me completely insane.
Clutching her, I hurled her forward. Gripping her legs up and over my shoulders as I started to pound into her, a few pumps of my hips to hers later she came; seconds later so did I. I felt like I was floating, this didn’t feel real. Christianna kissed me one more time, thanking me, and I just smiled. I pulled the comforter from under her body and covered her up with it.
I pulled off the condom, tying a knot in the end. I found my boxers at the end of the bed, slipping them on. I went into the other room and deposited the condom into the toilet and made sure it was gone before I walked out. When I got back to the bedroom, Christianna had rolled over and fallen fast asleep. I guess I wore her out, even though I wasn’t done with her, not even close. I would let her sleep.
We’d have the rest of our life to go all night long.
The sound of crying coming from the next room had me frantically looking for my shirt. Not caring if it was backwards or inside out, I tugged it on and went into see what was going on with Layla.
Crossing the door’s threshold, I saw she had pulled herself up and was standing in her crib. As soon as she saw me she stopped crying and started jumping.
“Hey there, sweet girl. Why are you awake?”
She gurgled and cooed, as if she was trying to tell me what was going on. I picked her up, noticing she had a full diaper. I changed her and got her comfortable. She was still awake but laying her head against my chest and sucking on her fist.
“I guess you want a bottle. All right, I’ll get you one, but you have to be quiet. Mommy’s sleeping.”
We walked out of the room quietly. I carried Layla downstairs to the kitchen where I proceeded to make her a bottle one handed. I didn’t know how skilled I was until I did it. When it was done and I tightened the top, she snatched it out of my hand and started to suck it down.
By the time we were back upstairs, she was asleep. Laying her down in her crib, I leaned in and kissed her before leaving.
Christianna was still sleeping in the same spot I left her in. I walked around the other side of the bed and slid in, refraining from doing anything other than laying my arm over her hip, even though I wanted to do naughty things to her.
When I woke up in the morning, the light was shining straight in my face. I stretched myself outwards and yawned. Reaching for Christianna, I came up empty. Sitting up stock straight in the bed, I looked around. My clothes were neatly folded on the chair in the corner. I got up and went in to check on Layla, but she was gone.
“Shit,” I said to the empty room before scooping up my clothes and slipping out the door and into my room unseen.
Showering and changing in no time, I went downstairs to find breakfast sitting in the warmer and no one around. My patience was wearing thin. I pulled my phone from my pocket, ready to scream out for someone to find out where they had taken my family when I heard the low rumble of laughter coming from the back of the house.
Following the sound, I found everyone hanging out in the enclosed porch. I stepped around the group to see what everyone was staring at. And then I saw her, my girl was scooting around in her walker, laughing and trying to get to people. It was like she noticed that I was in the room. Her head turned and she cried out and started to scoot backwards to me.
“Good morning, Nico,” Luke said and I gave him a nod.
Kneeling down to Layla’s level, I waited for her to make her way to me. When she got to me she threw her hands up. I looked at Christianna, her fingers pressed against her lips at our interaction. Picking Layla up out of her walker, I let her snuggle into my chest. She babbled her little baby talk at my chin while she picked at the button on my shirt.
I realized that we were alone when I looked up to see Christianna standing before me.
“You didn’t wake me.”
“I didn’t have the heart to, you were lying there so peacefully.”
“You’re forgiven,” I said, leaning in for a kiss.
When she kissed me back, I knew that everything was going to be okay with the both of us. I just knew I had to concentrate on the threat against her and everything would be all right.
“Did you have breakfast?” she asked, stroking her hand down Layla’s back.
“I haven’t; I came downstairs looking for my girls first.”
“She really likes her walker,” she said, smiling at the adorable pink plastic toy on the floor.
“I saw. Sorry I pulled her out. She just seemed very excited to see me.”
“I know, she can play with it again later. Let’s get you some food.”
I let Christianna take me by the hand to the kitchen. I put Layla in her high chair, taking a seat close to her. Christianna made me a plate, placing it in front of me while kissing my temple. Tugging on her hand, I pulled her to sit on my knee. I ate my food while she ran her fingers through my hair, I didn’t notice until Christianna nudged me with her shoulder to look over at Layla, who was watching me with rapt attention as I ate my breakfast.
She didn’t want any of the food I had, she didn’t cry for anything. She just watched me eating. It touched me to see her so interested in me. Here I was sitting with both my girls, I couldn’t be happier. If you had told me a week ago I’d be sitting here with my family, a woman I cared deeply for and a child that was mine, I’d call bullshit.
It’s like when you never thought about having something, but then you get it, you question yourself how you ever lived without it.
We worked like a well-oiled machine. When I was done with my food, Christianna put my plate in the dishwasher while I took Layla out of her high chair.
“Did you have plans today?”
“A few things I had to take care of this morning, but other than that I think I’m free. Did you want to do something?”
“No,” she said and I felt my face fall. “Well, maybe. Alex is coming over. I have deadlines, I have a book to finish. I need to find out what’s going on with my schedule of events.”
“You want me to take Layla? I can. I’ll just have to make sure the guys know that they have to keep their swearing to a minimum.”
Christianna giggled, taking Layla from my arms. I didn’t realize that she had dozed off in my arms until she had her in hers.
“I was
just thinking that maybe I could let my parents take Layla for the night so you and I could go out to dinner,” she said, looking down at our daughter before kissing her sleepy head. “My mom called this morning and asked if it would be okay; they haven’t had her over in a while.”
“I think having our first official date would be perfect, I would love to take you out and show you off.”
“I don’t know about all of that.”
I laughed at her modesty. “Trust me, beautiful, the night at the club. I saw the way men were looking at you. Why do you think I stood around you for so long? I was warning them off with my eyes.”
“Eyes, huh?”
“Nah, more like it was a look, the way I looked at you and then them. They knew you belonged to me.”
I stepped closer and placed my hand against her face, stroking her cheek with my thumb. I inched in for a kiss, just to show her I meant what I said when we were interrupted.
“Sorry to bother you, Nico.”
Instead of showing the intimacy that I shared with Christianna in front of Luke, I kissed her on her forehead before turning around.
“I’m going upstairs so you can talk to Luke. Can you let them know I’m expecting my sister?”
“I will,” I said as she looked up at me and smiled.
Looking at Luke, his face said it all. And it wasn’t good.
“Transfer came from a holding group based in Parma. Bobby found that the group has ties to Michelino.”
“He wouldn’t dare.”
“Maybe, maybe not, but she would.” Luke was right and I was about to lose my fucking mind.
Chapter Eleven
Christianna
I wanted to be nosy and listen to what was going on, but I knew it would only scare me more to hear the news. Recalling the conversation that my mother and I had on the phone this morning, I told her the truth. I told her I accepted him into my life, into our lives. I’ve never, ever been able to lie to her. I even told her about my night with him and wasn’t ashamed.
She went on and on about knowing him, trusting his family, and that they knew the best way to protect us. I knew that by the look on his face and the way he held me. I could even see when he was angry and tried desperately to contain it so he didn’t blow his top around Layla.
It was she who suggested Nicholas and I do something as a couple. She said that since we didn’t get a chance to do all of the courting—yes, she said courting—she wanted for us to have some time together, I agreed. Not to mention, knowing my Mom and Dad they really miss Layla. They would drop by the house a couple times a week just to hang out with her.
Putting Layla down in her playpen, I hoped Alex remembered to grab all the things I needed from the house. I even asked her to pick me up some dress clothes so I could wear something fancy for Nicholas tonight. As soon as I let the words ‘date” slip from my lips, I had a feeling I would regret saying it. Knowing that Alex’s idea of a date and mine differed, she always wanted me to be a little more like her.
I was anticipating the worst.
Opening up my laptop, I was glad I hadn’t shut it down completely the last time I used it. I was able to open my Word document and get to work. I was so deeply engrossed in my writing that I didn’t notice that Alex had arrived until a steaming cup of coffee was placed before me.
“You’re a lifesaver,” I said, not even bothering to blow on the hot liquid. I downed two gulps, then kicked myself for being so stupid as to burn my taste buds.
“I brought you some stuff. You should have seen the guy at your place. He was really cute. He even helped me load everything in the car.”
“The baby monitor?” I asked.
“It’s in the black duffel. I packed it with a couple of shoe boxes.”
“Thank you.”
“So, did you make a dent in the book?”
Checking the word count, I realized I had written more than I thought I had. “About twelve hundred words.”
“Good, maybe you’ll get this one out ahead of schedule.”
“We’ll see.”
“Let me go over your schedule and deadlines.”
“Okay,” I said, focusing on her.
“I got the date for the signing in the city. It’s going to be a month from Friday. You’re going to be signing for two hours and the bookstore is supplying the books. They want you to do a reading and Q&A beforehand, but they said it would be at your discretion.”
“I don’t mind doing either, so it would be around three hours.”
Looking down she scanned whatever she was looking at on her laptop’s screen. “Yeah, it says about forty-five minutes.”
“That’s fine, I’ll make arrangements with Nicholas about it.”
“How are things going with you two?”
Sitting back in my chair, I sighed and then smiled. “Better than I expected, other than the obvious. I’m very happy with him.”
“Do you think that things will stay the same after they find out who the asshole is?”
“I hope so, I love him. Not just from now; I started to fall for him when we met. Having Layla strengthened it. He makes me so happy.”
“And he’s great in bed?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
I giggled like a freaking schoolgirl. “Yes, he is so good. He did so many naughty things to me last night.”
“Last night?” She closed the computer and set it to the side. “You did the dirty with Nico last night? Oh shit, now I see why you wanted that baby monitor.”
“Can you keep it down?” I pleaded, looking over at the sleeping Layla, who flailed a little when Alex screamed.
“Sorry, I’m just so happy that you’re finally getting to experience all of this. It’s been a long time coming.”
I nodded at her words; it truly had been a long time. I was leaving myself open to all possibilities and letting them lead me where I was destined to be.
Alex went over the rest of the emails that had been building up. I gave her a definitive date on when I anticipated finishing the book. Hopefully I could buckle down this coming week and have it done way before then. I just hoped that there weren’t any more things that happened between now and then.
I was trying to work out a plot point with her when Layla woke up from her little nap. Alex happily took over, getting her changed and downstairs for a bottle.
I was in a zone, typing away, and didn’t realize I had crossed over into the fifty thousand word mark when she walked back in without Layla.
“Where’s Layla?”
“Downstairs with Daddy. After I got her bottle, we were on our way back up here to see you when she heard his voice. She started to cry for him. I don’t know what was going on but he came through a door and practically flew down the hallway. It was almost comical to see how quickly he scooped her out of my arms. She just laughed.”
“He really loves her,” I said and the thought warmed my heart.
“I know, I could tell. While I was there I got to see that Luke again; he’s got a killer smile. I want to experience things with him that make me blush. Do you know if he’s seeing anyone?”
“Not sure, I’ve only ever seen him here. I haven’t heard anything, I don’t see him checking his phone or anything a guy would do if he was entertaining a girlfriend. Although it’s possible that he does it at night.”
“Well, do you think it would be okay if I asked him out on a date?”
“If you’d like. He seems sweet and he likes your niece. I don’t think you could go wrong.”
“All righty then, I will,” she said with a laugh.
“You will what?” a voice said and both of us looked up to see Luke standing anxiously in the doorway.
I didn’t know what to say. I looked at Alex, who was blushing. Luke’s eyes were on her. Maybe he was single after all. I sat back to watch the scene unfold before me. Alex didn’t waste any time. She stood up and walked toward Luke. He stood stock straight, following her with his eyes.
“Can w
e go somewhere and talk?” she asked. All he could do was nod.
I chuckled a little bit when Alex took off with Luke, their exchange was pretty funny. I just immersed myself back into work. I didn’t know how long I sat there writing word after word, with no intentions of stopping when I was broken from my writing sprint by the sound of laughter filling the room.
“See, there’s Mommy, sweet girl. I told you we’d find her.”
“Were you two looking for me?”
“Yes, and no. I was downstairs waiting for Luke. He didn’t come back down, so Layla got restless. I put her in her walker, she chased me all over downstairs. When she was done, I asked if she was hungry and she sucked her fist. It’s lunch time. We thought you’d want to have lunch with us. Laura is downstairs, she made chicken and dumplings with rice.”
“I am hungry,” I said, saving my Word doc and closing down my computer.
“Well, let’s go and get this little one something to eat.”
He didn’t have to ask me twice. I got up and walked over to them. Leaning down, he puckered his lips and I knew what I had to do. I kissed his lips, lost in the moment as the tip of his tongue snaked out and entered my mouth. I got one pass with my tongue against his before a little chubby hand pushed against my cheek.
“I guess she doesn’t want anyone kissing her daddy except for her.”
“Then, I’ll have to kiss you later.”
“I would be mad if you didn’t.”
Placing his arm around my shoulder, we walked toward the door.
“Have you seen Luke?” he asked.
“Yeah, my sister said she wanted to talk to him. They went off about a half hour ago.”
Nicholas just shook his head and we kept walking. When we got to the top of the stairs, I heard the muffled laughter coming from a door a few feet away. Nicholas busted out laughing, which caused Layla to start her own little giggle.
“Seriously?” he said. “Will you hold her for me?”
I held out my arms and welcomed her. She scooted in but wanted to keep her eye on her daddy.
Shaking his head, Nicholas knocked on the door, then turned to me and winked. There was a scurry happening on the other side of the door. I couldn’t contain my laughter as I held Layla closer and laughed into her shoulder. When the door opened a disheveled Luke stood there, wide eyed and surprised.
Can't Walk Away (The Thomas Family Chronicles #1) Page 13