Lieutenant Commander Stud

by Chance Carter

  “Once or twice in passing,” I said, brow creasing with puzzlement. “You’re his best friend, right? I’ve been petitioning to meet you but for some reason Brendon’s been putting it off.” I opened the door wider and waved him in.

  Peter gamely slid his shoes off at the front door and I noticed he was wearing mismatched socks. One was a plain turquoise, while the other was white with little pineapples all over it. Strange.

  Peter loped over to the couch and I followed, hovering uncertainly by the coffee table.

  “Can I get you a drink?” I asked.

  His eyes flashed. “That would be delightful. Got any tequila?”

  “Tequila?” I grimaced. “Why on earth would you want tequila?”

  Peter didn’t answer, just smiled in a friendly way and stared. I guess he wasn’t much a fan of answering a question with a question.

  “No, I don’t have any tequila,” I said. “I’ve got beer.”

  “Beer will do just fine.”

  I nodded and went into the kitchen to grab my unexpected guest his beverage. I wasn’t sure what to make of him or his visit, but I was suspicious. Was he here to tell me to stay away from Brendon? Was he here to offer me some sort of deal to get out of town and disappear forever? Maybe that was just something they did in movies, but visceral anxiety clawed through my stomach and made my hands shake as I uncapped a bottle of beer and carried it back out to him.

  Peter took it, staring at my face instead of my outstretched hand. It was weird but I was glad because it meant he didn’t see my hand quiver. I couldn’t help it. My adrenaline was pumping like I was hosting a cougar in my apartment and not my potential baby-daddy’s best friend, and I wondered if I had made a mistake in letting him in.

  “If you wouldn’t mind cutting to the chase…” I offered a weak smile and slid down opposite him. “You’re making me kind of nervous.”

  Peter blinked lazily and took a draw of the beer. “You’ve got nothing to be nervous about.”

  “That’s what they all say.”

  He laughed. “I mean it. I’m the one who orchestrated the beginning of your relationship, after all. I’m on your side.” He finished with a flourish of his hands, like he’d just performed a magic trick.

  Those words sent a rush of relief through me, even though I didn’t know exactly what it meant to be on “my side” and why he would be on it in the first place. We’d never met and he was Brendon’s friend, not mine.

  I cleared my throat and tried for a friendly smile. “What do you mean by that?”

  And how much did he know about Brendon’s and my first night together? Embarrassment sent a wave of heat to my face and chest, one that I knew would be clear as day.

  “I was the one who nagged Brendon all the way to the whorehouse,” Peter clarified. “If it weren’t for me, you two would have never met, and wouldn’t that be a shame?”

  I let out a small laugh, but didn’t correct him. If it weren’t for me getting a job at Lock Knocks, Brendon and I would have never crossed paths again and the only thing that night would have achieved was setting me up for a lifetime of wondering what if. Still, I supposed I could see his part in the whole thing, not that I was thrilled he’d peer-pressured my boyfriend into visiting a brothel.

  “You must be a great friend,” I replied sardonically. “What are you doing here, though?”

  Peter took a long drink from the bottle, emptying half of it. I might’ve thought it was nerves if he didn’t seem to enjoy it so much. This man had probably never been nervous about a thing in his life. He reminded me of the human equivalent of a mischievous feline. I wouldn’t be surprised if his next move was to knock the flower pot on my coffee table to the floor.

  “I wondered if I could give you some advice.” Peter wiped his lips on the back of his sleeve and waited for my answer.

  I sighed.

  “I have a feeling I don’t have much of a choice in the matter. You’re here. You’re comfy.”

  Peter laughed and his eyes filled with delight. He put the beer down on the table next to him and rubbed his hands together, eyeing me with amusement.

  “I figured there had to be a reason that Brendon was so smitten with you. I’m glad to see for myself.”

  “Peter…”

  “Fine, fine,” he said. “I’ll get on with it.” He settled further into his seat, shifting his back to and fro to get the perfect position. “Brendon is more in love with you than I’ve ever seen him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in love before period, and if I had to be sure about one thing in life it would be that Brendon wants you and he wants the baby you’ve created together.”

  My heart swelled with a burst of positive emotions. I hadn’t felt so good in days, but I was preparing myself for a steep drop. I doubted Peter had come all this way just to tell me that Brendon loved me. And hey, why couldn’t Brendon tell me that his goddamn self?

  Peter read the questions in my eyes and held up his hand to stop me.

  “Now, now, I’m not finished. He does love you and he does want you, but you have also hurt him. He’s never been hurt so badly or so deeply and he is not handling it well. I can tell you from firsthand experience that the man is a mess right now, and if it weren’t for his apparent inability to get his shit together and figure it out for himself, I wouldn’t be here.”

  I laughed. I couldn’t picture Brendon not having his shit together. It was too paradoxical. “I’m not sure I believe you.”

  “Believe me.” Peter leveled his gaze with mine. “He’s being a bit of a baby if I do say so myself, and though I haven’t been around here, I’d say you’re not doing much better.”

  “Hey!” I protested. “I’m doing just fine.”

  Peter raised his eyebrows and stared at me pointedly. “Have you left your apartment this weekend?”

  I only glared, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of answering his question. He laughed and rose to his feet, already strolling toward the door.

  “Is that it?” I called after him. “You drop in to offer some sage advice and then head back out into the night?”

  “Are you inviting me to stay?” he purred.

  I gulped and shook my head. “Uh, thanks, I guess.”

  Peter stopped at the door and looked back at me. “Anytime.”

  He winked and was gone, like the Ghost of Relationships Present.

  I thought about Peter’s visit the whole way to work. I’d considered calling Brendon the moment Peter left, but I decided it was too late and that I could talk to him in the morning.

  While I wasn’t filled with dread at seeing him anymore, I wasn’t exactly buoyed up by hope. I kept rewinding our conversation in my head to see if I’d missed something, if Peter was trying to mislead me somehow. It seemed too good to be true that Brendon and I were just going to go back to the way things were because of an observation his friend had passed along, but I had to try.

  My original plan had been to wait until I got the results of the DNA test back, but if Brendon really loved me that much, would it matter? I certainly hoped not. And if it did, maybe he wasn’t the kind of guy I wanted around in the first place. This baby was my priority.

  I strode into the office with all the confidence and pep of someone with a man and a mission on their mind. Too bad Brendon wasn’t there.

  I stopped in front his receptionist’s desk and waited for the slight girl to notice me. She looked up with a big smile.

  “Hello, Ms. Frayser. How can I be of assistance?”

  “I was just wondering if Brendon’s working from home again today?” I asked, praying to every god there was for her to say no. I didn’t think I could wait until the end of the work day to talk to him.

  “He’s at the Fifth Avenue Store until after lunch,” she replied. “I can get a message to him, if you’d like?”

  I shook my head. “No, that’s okay. Thank you!”

  I was already off, racing back toward the elevator like a marathon sprinter with gold
in my sights.

  It took far longer than I would have preferred to reach Lock Knocks, but soon I stood in front of the large glass doors, short of breath, already searching through the glass for Brendon’s silhouette. I pushed my way inside, trying to skirt carefully around the customers milling around one of the new displays at the front of the store.

  Should I do an announcement for him like he was a lost child? Should I run around screaming his name until he heard me?

  Luckily, I was saved from having to do anything of the sort. I stumbled into the baby section and there he was, standing amongst the cribs with Jessie at his side. Their heads were bent in conversation, and Brendon was pointing animatedly at the cribs around him. As I got closer, I could pick up their conversation.

  “….most important, don’t you think? Comfort, yes, but safety is really the name of the game here. That being said, is there a different option for side sleepers versus back sleepers? Is there a distinction among infants?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh, and doing so caught the attention of the store manager and the man of my dreams.

  Chapter 28

  Brendon

  Never was there a more humbling moment in my life than having to enter Lock Knocks as a customer while I tried to navigate the ins and outs of baby supplies.

  I owned a whole chain of children’s stores—how had I not realized how much there was to know about babies? I could tell I was making Jessie nervous with my ceaseless questioning. She clearly thought I was grilling her because it was some sort of test, and she was anxious to pass.

  “Babies sleep on their backs,” she said. “It’s where you want them to sleep and naturally where they want to sleep.”

  “I see.” I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. “If I want the best crib, should I just get the most expensive one or are there options you would recommend that are better than the best?”

  Jessie opened her mouth to speak and then looked behind me, her mouth widening into a smile. Because her mouth was open it came out more like a grimace, but I didn’t miss the relief in her expression all the same.

  “Aurora,” she chirped. “It’s great to see you.”

  My heart started beating double time but I kept it together externally, even though every hair on my body was standing to attention. I turned to look at Aurora and a bolt of lust dove straight between my thighs. She looked positively radiant, her hair tucked back in a loose bun and her expression bright and clear. The world ground to a halt around me and it wasn’t until her and Jessie started speaking that I remembered where I was.

  “Jessie,” I said, interrupting her just as she was about to go into her vacation plans for the following week. “Could I have a moment alone with Aurora?”

  Jessie nodded enthusiastically. “Holler if you need me!”

  She practically sprinted down the nearest aisle, desperate to get away from me and all of my questions. I knew how nervous I made her so it probably wasn’t fair to be asking her everything, but I also knew she was the most knowledgeable and I didn’t want to take a chance on any second-rate advice.

  Aurora stepped closer, wringing her hands in front of her as she gazed up at me through her lashes.

  “Hey,” she said in a small voice.

  “Hey.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “For not telling you sooner. And for everything else. At first I was scared that telling you about the baby would ruin everything, and then I was scared that it would ruin everything if the baby wasn’t yours. It seemed so much simpler to wait until I got the results to tell you, but it wasn’t the right call.”

  I took a step closer and rested my hand on her cheek. Her skin was soft against my palm, and she leaned into my touch with a tiny contented sigh.

  “I’m sorry too,” he said. “I never learned how to take curveballs well because I’ve never really had any. I’ve always been able to plan within an inch of my life until you came along.” A small smile flitted over my lips. “I understand why you didn’t want to tell me. I know we both could have handled it better, but we’re here now, aren’t we?”

  She nodded, covering my hand with her own. “Where is here?”

  I dropped my hand to her waist and tugged her into my side, smiling down at her. “Here is where you belong,” I murmured, tapping my chest just above my ribs. “You and our baby.”

  She closed her eyes so I wouldn’t have to see the flicker of pain that crossed them. I knew what it was from.

  “Hey.” I tilted her chin up until our gazes were locked. “This baby is our baby. I don’t care if I’m the father or not, I will love this baby just like it’s my own. All that matters is that we’re together, and that we’re going to be a family together.” I held her stare to drive home my point, so there could never be any confusion about how much she meant to me. “All I want is to be with you, Aurora.”

  I felt her melt into me, like she was finally releasing a knot of tension that had been holding her rigid for days. It was the same knot I’d only released myself yesterday afternoon, when Peter came around to try to knock some sense into me. I was still moping when he left, but soon afterward I realized just how goddamn stupid I was being.

  Aurora let out a breath and then smiled up at me, eyes wide and dark. “That’s good to hear,” she said, breath tickling against my lips, “because these pregnancy hormones are making me incredibly horny.”

  The front door slammed back on its hinges and I had to put out a hand to stop it from careening into Aurora’s face as I pushed her through the doorway. She laughed, facing me, and continued pulling at the buttons of my shirt.

  “Just rip them off,” I growled, lips against her throat. “Let’s not fuck around here.”

  Aurora didn’t need telling twice. She ripped open the shirt and the errant buttons skittered over the hardwood. Some sort of primal satisfaction rippled through me and I slammed the door closed, pushing her deeper into the depths of my apartment.

  I kissed back up to her mouth again and lifted her into my arms until she wrapped her legs around my hips. I held her ass in my hands and carried her toward the bedroom, so swollen with need that I wanted to cry out in pain. Our intermission may have been brief, but I felt it like it was a lifetime prison sentence. How many hours had I spent lying awake in bed, dreaming of her plump lips and the look of pure ecstasy that washed over her features as she came? How many times had I masturbated to the thought of her, only to finish feeling unsatisfied and frustrated? No more. Never again. Aurora was mine and I wouldn’t ever let her go.

  I walked into the bedroom and let Aurora drop onto the bed, my shirt hanging open at my sides.

  She bounced where I dropped her and giggled, but her expression soon fell away when I slid the arms of my shirt down and away. Her gaze raked hungrily over my chest, and she threw off her clothes with a kind of urgency I’d never seen before.

  My pulse sang in my ears, urging me forward. I unzipped my pants and slid them down my thighs as I crawled up the bed.

  “I’m going to treat you like a princess for the rest of your life,” I told her, kissing up her calf to her knee. I continued up, feathering my lips over her thighs. “No, not a princess.” I hovered just over the cleft between her thighs, letting my warm breaths fall over it. “A queen.”

  Aurora’s breath hitched and she made a soft moan. It was more than I could handle. I dove into her sweetness, parting her folds with my tongue and finding her sensitive nub with my lips. It was an openmouthed, passionate kiss. Her taste was exquisite and I devoured her.

  “Oh my god,” she breathed. “Oh my god!”

  Her chest rose and fell erratically and she gripped the sheets. I tossed her thighs over my shoulders and groaned as her soft flesh opened for me. My tongue swirled and stroked, pulling her closer and closer to the brink of ecstasy. I wanted her to know how much she meant to me. I wanted her to feel it. So I gave her my all, and was soon rewarded with a high, keening wail and a few curses to accompany her shaking thighs.

 
I didn’t let up, determined to squeeze as much pleasure from her as possible. Her fingers tangled in my hair and tugged, the sensations beginning to overwhelm her. I ignored the pull and sucked on her clit hard while I thrust two fingers inside of her.

  She exploded again, half jumping off the bed with the force of it. Her inner walls squeezed on my fingers as waves of pleasure washed over her, and only when they subsided did I finally draw back to look at her face.

  Aurora had never looked more at peace. I wasn’t even sure she was in the room with me. Her expression was so dazed and distant. She looked like she was going to drift away at any moment, and I covered her with my body just to keep her flat to the mattress.

  “Kiss me,” she managed to murmur. “Kiss me hard.”

  My cock throbbed insistently, reminding me just how much I’d been neglecting it this whole time. I slammed my mouth over Aurora’s at the same time as I slammed my cock into her tight pussy, bottoming out with a loud, fleshy smack. She cried out against my mouth and I slammed in again, picking up the pace until the beast inside of me was satisfied.

  We were so close to each other. Our chests were mashed together, hips interlocked and legs interwoven. I didn’t want a single hair’s breadth between us and pushed down hard, kissing her with brutal, uncompromising lust. She whimpered and moaned into my lips, scratching a passionate map onto my back. We were lost in the moment, lost in each other. My short, hard thrusts built my climax slowly. So. Slowly. It was exquisite torture. Part of me yearned to pull back, to toss her legs over my shoulders and jackhammer into her for all I was worth, but I needed this proximity. From the sounds she was making, she needed it too.

  “God, I love your cock,” Aurora moaned.

  My balls tightened and the base of my spine tingled with the weight of my release. I went mad when she talked to me like that, when she exposed the delicious little minx hiding just beneath the surface. It was a side of her only I got to see, and just knowing that was enough to make me close to shooting.