Silver Dove (Silver #2)

by E. J. Shortall

  When I looked up Becki had wrapped her arms around herself and had tears welling in her eyes. “I’m sorry!” she whispered.

  “Why are you apologising, there is nothing you can do. We just have to hope and pray that this new treatment helps.” I frowned. “Enough about me and my depressing tales, what’s going on with you? What’s with the recent silent treatment?”

  “I’ve not been feeling too well,” she said.

  I grabbed her hand and squeezed gently. “I can see that. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, I just… oh shit! Excuse me.” She ripped her hand from mine and ran from the room again slapping her hand over her mouth as she went.

  Needing to find out what was going on and fearing that there was something very wrong I ran after her.

  I found her in the bathroom kneeling in front of the toilet. “Becki, what’s wrong?” I asked again, my voice etched with worry.

  “I’ll be okay in a minute. Go and finish your drink, I’ll be right down,” she said as she reached to grab some toilet paper to wipe her mouth.

  “I’ll stay here with you; I want to make sure you’re okay.”

  She whirled around and glared at me. “Just go Amber; I don’t need you in here.”

  We’d known each other since we were little and never had Becki shouted at me before, it took me by surprise and I backed away blinking at her. Once I was out of the room she slammed the bathroom door closed. Not knowing what to do I followed her wishes and retreated to the kitchen and waited.

  Becki dropped down in the chair opposite me a short while later. I could see she had been crying. “I’m sorry I snapped at you,” she said.

  “Becki, please tell me what’s wrong. Is it a stomach virus, food poisoning, something more serious?” She shook her head and wouldn’t look at me. “Then what is it? You’re my best friend and at the moment I’m scared. You look awful.”

  “I’m pregnant,” she mumbled.

  My heart stopped. The world around me stilled. Everything just ceased to exist for those few moments as I digested what she had said. ‘I’m pregnant.’ Those few little syllables that I longed to be able to mutter every day had come out of my best friend’s mouth. My best friend who had vowed she never wanted children.

  “I’m sorry, Ambs, really I am,” she rushed saying. “I know this must be hard for you to hear, that’s why I’ve been keeping my distance.” I stared at her blinking. I couldn’t speak.

  “Amber please, please say something,” she pleaded.

  “How? Why?” I couldn’t find the words.

  “I don’t know. It was an accident, not something we planned.”

  I lowered my eyes from hers down to her belly. She was carrying a baby. I should have been carrying a baby, Craig’s baby, my baby. And it wasn’t even planned? How was that fair?

  My eyes trailed back up to meet Becki’s tear filled gaze once again. “I’m sorry, Amber. I know this must hurt. I know how much you want this.”

  I shook my head as I stood from my chair. “No, Becki, you don’t know how much I want this. You can’t possibly know how much this hurts, not unless you’ve experienced it yourself. I’m happy for you and Scott, really I am, but I have to leave now.” I quickly made my way into the living room and grabbed my bag.

  “Don’t go Amber, please. You’re my best friend and I’m scared. I don’t want to hurt you, God knows that’s the last thing I would want to do, but I need you,” she cried from behind me as I reached out to open the door.

  My head thumped against the glass pane as I dropped my head forward, my own tears threatening to spill. The jealousy I’d been experiencing recently when seeing pregnant women or those pushing around young babies paled into insignificance compared to this. My best friend was pregnant, I was struggling to be, but she needed me. I felt torn.

  Becki reached out to touch my arm. “Please don’t go. I’ve been so afraid of telling you, knowing how much it was going to kill you. You’re not just my best friend, Ambs, you’re my sister. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I hope you’ll be with me through this.”

  “I’m sorry!” I whispered and reached for the door again.

  “Scott’s not sure he wants to keep it,” she cried as I pulled the door open. “Ironic huh? There he was telling Craig to man up before and now he’s in the same position, he wants to take the easy way out.”

  I spun on my heels to face her. “What do you mean he doesn’t want to keep it? Is he making you…” I trailed off; I couldn’t bring myself to say the words.

  Shaking her head she said, “No, not making me. He says the decision is mine. But he keeps saying he’s not ready and maybe now is not a good time for us. I’m scared this is going to rip us apart Ambs.”

  I couldn’t believe Mr Cool, calm and collected would be so cruel. Scott has always gone with the flow, no matter what happened. “Will he come round?” I asked.

  “I hope so, God how I hope so. No this isn’t the right time for us, there was never going to be a right time. But it has happened and we need to accept that and move forward.” Her sad, uncertain eyes betrayed the conviction of her words.

  I pulled her against me and hugged her. “I’m sorry Becki! I’ll be here for you, no matter what. Hey, if I can’t have my own then I’ll be the best damn aunt and godmother that I can possibly be. I’ll be with you every step of the way.” I would not give up on my dream and I didn’t pretend that the green eyed monster wouldn’t constantly rear its ugly head, but I had to do the right thing. I had to support my best friend.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  January

  Craig

  I looked over the piece of paper in my hands again and cursed. It had been nearly a year and the mystery phone calls had all but stopped, but the occasional random notes appearing in the piles of post dumped on Margaret’s desk hadn’t. There was nothing unique about this new one; it was yet another version of ‘I’ll get what’s mine.’ Who it was and what they thought they would get was still beyond me though. I’d tracked Andre down again and challenged him and he still swore he had nothing to do with anything revolving around Amber and me. As far as he was concerned I was out of his life and that’s how he wanted things to stay. The feeling was very much mutual. As much as I hated to admit it, he seemed genuine and I couldn’t help but believe him. That still left me the dilemma of who was involved.

  Scrunching the paper into a ball I lobbed it across the room. My life seemed to be spiralling out of control and this was something that kept taking up more time and energy than was necessary. I should have been concentrating on building the business and trying to keep my wife happy, but at the back of my mind was the constant fear that someone would try something on Amber again, try to take her away from me. I couldn’t risk that.

  “Scott,” I growled into the phone when he eventually answered my call. “I’ve had another note. If this shit is going to start up again I need you guys on the ball figuring out what’s going on. Have you found anything recently?” Scott’s security firm looked after all our security needs at CAS and his people had been monitoring CCTV since the first note had arrived all those months before. The problem was, whoever had been leaving them had been doing so stealthily, leaving absolutely no trace. There was no pattern to them, no leads and no clue as to who was responsible.

  “Nothing, there never seems anything out of the ordinary on any of the footage. Sorry man!” Scott replied.

  “Have you tracked back from Margaret getting the post to it being sorted?”

  “Of course we fucking have. What kind of outfit do you take us for?” he fumed. “We’re doing what we can, Craig. I promise you.”

  “Yeah, I know,” I conceded. It was just all so frustrating.

  After a couple of minutes of catching up and discussing some extra security measures we ended the call. I slammed my phone down on the desk and dropped back into my chair. It was going to be a long day. It didn’t help that I had visions of a very sultry looking Amber playing around in my
head. Since she’d received the results from the clinic a couple of months earlier she’d been happier and more positive about things and our sex life was almost back to normal, well as normal as her ‘schedule’ would allow. It still annoyed the hell out of me that I couldn’t touch her first thing in the morning until she’d taken her temperature, or that certain positions were a no go because it ‘would have been a waste.’ But in general things were okay with us.

  There was a knock on my door and Margaret popped her head in. “Craig, are you busy?”

  “No, why?”

  She smirked. “I have a visitor for you.”

  Frowning in confusion I pulled up my calendar to see what appointment I’d forgotten about. There was nothing. I should have been clear for a few hours. “Margaret, I’m not expecting anyone. Who is-” I cut off when I looked up and found said sultry looking wife standing in the doorway. “What brings you here?” I asked, standing from my seat.

  She closed the door and I heard the click of the lock. “I was bored at home all on my own. I thought I’d come and see my husband.”

  “Is that so?” I asked, walking toward her.

  She nodded and bit her lip seductively.

  “And what did you want to see me for?”

  “Oh, I don’t know.”

  “You must have an idea.”

  “I have several,” she said as I stopped in front of her taking her in. She looked absolutely stunning in a floaty knee length black and red dress that teased me with just the slightest hint of cleavage and black heels that made her already slender legs look endless. She was perfection.

  “And they are?” I asked ghosting my fingertips along the upper seam of her dress.

  “You,” she breathed with a jagged breath when I traced over her breast.

  “Me and?” I wrapped my arms around her back and tugged her against my chest.

  Amber twisted her fingers into my hair and smiled. “You and me, and whatever you have time for.”

  I stared down into her eyes for a moment trying to get a handle on what was going on. Amber often came by the office when she wasn’t working but she was rarely the instigator in any rendezvous we’d end up in. She’d often said she felt uncomfortable about having sex in my office, that it was unprofessional. It never stopped me from seducing her and getting my own way though. “You’re in luck Mrs Silver. I happen to have a free schedule for a couple of hours. What will we do?” I teased.

  She pressed her mouth against my ear. “We start with me getting you undressed so I can tease that magnificent cock of yours for a while.” I sucked in a harsh breath. My sweet and innocent Pingu turning all sexy seductress never failed to get me hard and raring to go in an instant. “And then you’ll sit on the sofa while I ride you… hard.” I closed my eyes for a brief moment while I tried to ward off the pain of my suddenly too tight trousers.

  “That sounds great, Pingu, but there is just one problem.” I nipped at her ear.

  “There is?” She sounded confused.

  “Hm mm. You see your plan sounds a lot like you want to be in control and, well that’s not going to happen.” I grabbed the hem of her dress and yanked it up and over her head. “Holy shit, Ambs,” I gasped when I revealed nothing but her beautiful flawless skin. She was totally naked apart from her heels and the dove necklace she refused to ever take off.

  I crowded her back against the wall and crashed my lips to hers, taking my fill of her soft skin under the palm of my hand. Her lips parted and I eased my tongue inside her mouth, caressing hers until she was panting. “You came to me like this, bare and needy?” I asked as I wrapped a hand around the back of her thigh and pulled her leg around my waist.

  “Yes,” she whispered with a husky undertone that sent my pulse racing.

  “You came here wanting me to fuck you?” I breathed against her ear as I eased a finger along her folds and then slid it inside her.

  “Yes.” She was quivering and writhing around me, pushing harder against my finger.

  “And you couldn’t wait until we were both home later?” I licked along her neck and down to suck a nipple into my mouth.

  “No,” she cried as I plunged a second finger into her. “I needed you, Craig, I always need you.” No more than I needed her. Her body was my addiction.

  Moving quickly, I lifted her and walked us over to the sofa in the corner of the office. I dropped her down and watched as she shimmied back against the cushions. “Touch yourself,” I demanded as I began stripping off my own clothes. I was beyond the point of caring if we were in my office or not, I just needed to be inside her.

  Amber kept her eyes locked on mine as she trailed her fingers down her body and started rubbing along herself. I loved the way she’d lost all her inhibitions around me and found no fear or embarrassment in anything I asked of her.

  With my clothes discarded and our gazes still locked, I slowly stroked along my own length feeling drugged by the power of passion simmering between us. Amber shifted, moving her bum forward, her legs spread wide, and her feet resting on the edge of the cushions, totally open for me. “I need you, Craig.”

  I dropped to my knees in front of her and kissed up the inside of her thigh. When she tried to move her hand away I held it in place, encouraging her to tease her own clit. With one hand massaging her breast I moved the other one to her core and began pumping one, then two, then three fingers inside her. She was shivering and rocking her hips but not once did she break our gaze. It was one of the most erotic moments I could remember us sharing.

  Soon she was tightening around my fingers and her eyes widened as an orgasm tore through her. “Craig,” she rasped in a sexy husky whisper that almost had me coming without having even been inside her.

  I slowed my movements as she came down from her high and then twisted her round so she was laying out flat on her side. I climbed on the sofa and stretched out behind her, lifting her leg to drape over the back and held her head to face me as I slid inside her. “You are so fucking beautiful, Amber, a siren I can’t resist.” I carried on whispering things to her staring into her eyes, getting lost in their hazel depths as I moved in her keeping a slow rhythmic pace. The feeling was indescribable.

  “Craig, I’m getting close,” she moaned and tried shifting her head. I held her in place and brought my lips down on hers kissing her wildly as I increased my pace, thrusting into her harder and faster, driving us closer and closer to the sweet feel of ecstasy we both craved. She gasped and strangled my bicep as every muscle in her body tightened. After a few more rocks of my hips a shudder shot through me and my stomach clenched as the need to come became too great. With my lips pressed hard to Amber’s I groaned as the sweet feeling of release left me hot and panting.

  “I love you, baby,” I whispered against her ear and held her close as we both fought to steady our breathing.

  Amber

  I hope this was the one, I thought to myself snuggling back against Craig’s chest. When I’d woken that morning all signs had pointed to today being our optimum chance of conceiving. Knowing Craig wouldn’t have taken too kindly to me just turning up for sex for the sole purpose of hopefully making a baby, I’d gone for the whole seduction routine. Not that Craig ever needed much seducing. If I was ready then so was he.

  “Thank you,” I mumbled through my post coital haze.

  Craig laughed and stroked along my shoulder. “What are you thanking me for?

  “I needed you,” I admitted.

  “You need me all the time, baby, what was so special about today?”

  I twisted my head allowing him more room to continue kissing along my neck. “It’s just important we did this today.”

  “It’s important we do this every day. You know me, I can’t get enough.” He nipped at my ear lobe.

  I giggled. “I know, and I can’t get enough of you too.”

  Craig trailed feather light kisses along my spine and over the globes of my butt before standing up. Extending his hand out toward me. “C
ome and join me in the shower?”

  “No, you go,” I replied as I moved onto my back and shimmied around so I could raise my legs and rest them over the back of the sofa. I grabbed a cushion and shoved it under my bum and lay back.

  “What are you doing?” Craig asked, frowning.

  “I have to keep my pelvis tilted for ten minutes to help your little swimmers reach their destination.”

  He narrowed his eyes and the pulse in his neck was throbbing, visible due to the tightness of his jaw. “You’re blowing me off again so you can keep your legs elevated? What kind of crazy shit is that?” he asked, irritated.

  “It’s not crazy, Craig. It’s just to help-”

  “Of course it’s crazy. It’s not normal, Amber. Since when did making love to my wife involve her lifting her legs after the event?” His hands plunged into his hair as she walked across the room.

  “Craig, I just want-”

  He turned abruptly. “Oh I know what you want, Amber. Believe me I know. The shit all around the house lets me know what it is you want. The impromptu visits to my office to use me for my sperm is a sure enough sign that I know what you want. The problem is I’m sick of it.” I gasped. “I’m sick of the charts, the thermometers, the regimented positions, the scheduling of when I get to be inside you, and now I get the lovely feeling of being used.”

  “I just want a baby, Craig. Your baby,” I yelled and sprang to my feet.

  He raced back across the room, stopping mere inches from me. His reached out to touch me but then pulled his hands back and ploughed them into his hair. I could see and sense the anger and frustration radiating off of him. “You think I don’t know that?” He paused briefly inhaling deeply and searching my eyes. “What are we doing here, Ambs? What have we become?”

  I had no response. What had we become?

  “I can’t do this anymore, Amber. I’m not a fucking baby making machine. I’m a man who wants to make love to his wife whenever and however he can. This shit has destroyed us. You’ve changed and I don’t honestly know if I can deal with it anymore.”