Friends and Lovers

by Tara Mills

  “Sure.”

  “Thanks.” Lauren got to her feet. She was so beat she swayed into Jackie. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Jackie nodded. “Hell yes.”

  It felt good to get back outside. Being late afternoon, there was more traffic on the streets than on foot as people tried to beat rush hour. Lauren and Jackie were the only customers at the outdoor eatery. They took the one clean table out front and dropped onto the benches, absolutely exhausted. Lauren hardly had the energy to sip the Tropical Breeze—heavy on the pineapple—that was slowly warming between her hands. Jackie’s long handled spoon lay abandoned on the table and she sucked her soupy chocolate shake through the straw.

  All talked out, they turned their glazed eyes on the lone employee picking garbage off the other tables. He gave the sticky spots a cursory wipe with a damp towel, obviously preparing for the dinner rush.

  A shadow passed over Lauren and she looked around then shot to her feet, throwing herself against Wes. That’s when the hot tears finally came. She didn’t know how she held it together for so long.

  Wes kissed the top of her head and rocked her gently. He sounded tired when he said, “Hi,” to Jackie over her shoulder.

  “Hi.”

  Lauren looked at her friend. Jackie’s smile was feeble and fleeting. But to her deepest gratitude, Wes was already on it.

  “I know we haven’t been properly introduced, but you look like you could use one of these too.” He held out his arm and invited her in.

  “You know, I really could,” Jackie admitted, her voice breaking and her eyes glittering. Their hug became a threesome.

  Lauren rubbed her cheek dry on Wes’s shirt, knowing he wouldn’t mind. “So…did Coulter make it?”

  “No word yet.”

  She nodded and gripped him harder at the same time that Jackie pulled away.

  Jackie gave Wes a self-conscious smile. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Lauren moved around to Wes’s side and hooked his waist. His arm went across her shoulders and they both looked at Jackie.

  Lauren asked, “Are you ready to go home?”

  Jackie nodded. “More than ready.”

  Ten minutes later they pulled in front of the shelter so Jackie could get her car. They waited until she left and to Lauren’s surprise Wes got out.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “I want to make sure the house is locked and secure.”

  Lauren got out with him. “I’ll go with you.”

  “Why don’t you wait here? I’ll only be a minute.”

  “I don’t want to be alone.”

  Wes smiled and held out his hand. They went around the building together, checking the doors and windows.

  “Well, everything looks good,” he said, tugging her away from the back door when she tried to see inside.

  She frowned at him. “What?”

  “Don’t look. Trust me. The crime scene cleaners will be here tomorrow. Let them handle it.”

  They returned to his car and Lauren watched the shelter grow smaller in her side mirror as they drove away. They ended up holding hands all the way home, neither willing to break the necessary contact. Walking into the house, they were both quiet, but as soon as Wes shut out the world behind them he drew Lauren close and they held each other for several silent minutes.

  Lauren eventually stepped back and wrinkled her nose. “You really need a shower.”

  Wes laughed. “I’d love a shower. Join me?”

  “Okay.”

  * * * *

  They both turned when a cellphone started ringing on the other side of the rippled glass doors of the tub. Wes blinked water out of his eyes and frowned at the pile of clothes on the floor. Somewhere in that sweaty, stinky mess, buried deep in one of his pants pockets, was his phone.

  “Let it ring,” he said, in no mood to be bothered now that they were safely home and he had Lauren all to himself. The world could go screw itself for all he cared.

  Ignoring the incessant noise, he finished rinsing his hair while Lauren kissed and tongued his chest, her hands molded to his slippery bottom. She looked up and nuzzled under his chin as he swept the soapy water back from his face with his hands.

  “I really lust you right now,” she said, following his muscular dips and bulges with eager hands.

  But every ring built on Wes’s tension, and it wasn’t doing his hard-on much good either. Even with Lauren’s rather skillful caresses he was losing it. Thankfully, after eleven rings, the phone went silent.

  Wes sighed and rocked his forehead against Lauren’s. “Finally.”

  “Where were we?” she asked suggestively.

  He hummed with relief as she brought him back to the moment at hand, so to speak. Wes returned the favor, slipping his fingertips between her legs to gently strum her silky slit while their mouths consumed each other.

  Then the phone in the living room obliterated their peace.

  Wes groaned in frustration. “This isn’t happening. Damn it! I have to get that.” With a curse he stepped out and ran naked through the house, catching the phone in mid ring. “What?” he said impatiently.

  “Where the hell have you been?” Ken barked back.

  “Why do you always have to catch me in the shower?”

  “We’re at Memorial, room five-eighteen. Get your ass over here and meet your nephew.”

  Wes watched his already flagging erection give up the fight. Shit.

  “Lauren!” he called out, hanging up.

  Chapter 23

  They stopped off at the gift shop for flowers and balloons before heading up to maternity.

  The grandparents were already there, whispering excitedly over the baby while Ken rocked Robin in his arms. Sherry was sound asleep. Clearly, exhaustion had taken a toll.

  “Hey,” Wes said softly. He set the arrangement down on the counter and tiptoed over to take a look. Sherry wasn’t the only one sleeping.

  Lauren set the balloons by the window and crouched down to smile at the newborn.

  He had a downy cap of wispy brown hair and everything about him was so amazingly tiny. His little hand was curled around one of Ken’s fingers, and they couldn’t get over how perfect his fingers and nails were or how sweet his little nose was. Even his pouts were adorable.

  “Six pounds two ounces and twenty-one inches long,” Ken whispered.

  “Wow.” Lauren sighed, utterly captivated.

  “So how’d Sherry do?” Wes asked.

  “She was a bear,” Ken admitted with a grin.

  Everyone quietly laughed at that.

  Ken looked at her with unabashed love in his eyes and shook his head. “Turns out we could have skipped the Lamaze classes. Everything we learned went right out the window. Sherry wouldn’t listen to me, and she bitched at everyone else. The nurses around here aren’t going to miss her when we check out.”

  Wes raised his eyebrows and grinned. “Did you honestly expect her to listen to you?”

  “Well, yeah.”

  “Fool.”

  “Oh, come on,” Lauren said, jumping to Ken’s defense. “I’m sure Sherry was terrified. Who wouldn’t be? With no personal experience and plenty of horror stories to fill in the blanks, I know I’d be a basket case.”

  Mrs. Dunlop smiled and picked up the camera sitting on the tray by the bed. “Come on, Grandma wants another picture.”

  Everyone crowded in and she raised the camera then lowered it, her wide eyes pinned on Lauren. “What happened to your cheek?”

  Lauren delicately touched the back of her hand to her cheek, making sure it wasn’t bleeding again. She turned to Wes and he shrugged, leaving it up to her.

  She looked at his mother and said, “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.”

  “All right.” Mrs. Dunlop snapped a couple of pictures and handed the camera around so everyone could see them.

  “Have you held Robin yet?” Lauren asked her, passing the came
ra to Wes.

  “I did—just before you got here. It’s been a long time since I held such a tiny baby. I was half afraid I’d drop him.”

  Ken looked up at Lauren. “Do you want to hold him?”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” she demurred.

  “I will,” Wes broke in, taking the heat off of her.

  “You will?” said Lauren in surprise.

  Everyone stared at him.

  “Sure, why not?”

  “Okay.” Ken stood and carefully transferred the sleeping newborn to his uncle.

  Wes looked surprisingly comfortable with the baby in his arms. He smiled down on Robin and said to no one in particular, “Did I ever tell you I delivered a baby once?”

  There was a collective, “No.”

  “When was this?” his mother asked.

  “A few years ago, back in Washington. I was the first to answer the emergency call. The baby was already crowning when the five year old let me in. I found her mom on the bathroom floor, dropped to my knees, and caught the baby just as she slid out. It happened so fast. Just amazing.”

  “Don’t tell Sherry how easy that delivery went,” Ken advised. “She’ll be pissed.”

  “No problem.” Wes chuckled and stroked Robin’s hair with a finger. He leaned down and told the infant in a confidential whisper, “She was bald. I’m talking bald.”

  He looked up and found Lauren smiling at him. Wes smiled back and raised his eyebrows. “You ready to hold him?”

  “What if I drop him?”

  “Sit in the chair,” said Ken. “Trust me, it helps.”

  Lauren sank onto the rocker and held out her hands uneasily, and Wes passed the baby into her arms.

  He stepped back and smiled down on them both.

  Just like that, Lauren’s heart melted and she found her confidence. She stroked Robin’s cheek with the back of her finger and marveled at the softness of his skin. His eyes were moving from side to side as he dreamed. What could a baby this new even dream about? He was two hours old!

  Then she noticed his killer lashes. Those lashes were going to draw the women someday. Smiling at that knowledge, Lauren dipped her head and inhaled Robin’s fresh baby scent while it lasted. When she looked up again, Wes was watching her, a tender smile on his face.

  “Hey Mom, where’s your camera?” he asked, not breaking eye contact. Lauren felt her cheeks flush with heat.

  Their visit didn’t last more than twenty minutes. Ken looked beat and Sherry was still asleep. It was time to give the new family their privacy.

  Wes and Lauren got in the elevator with the Dunlops. That’s when Wes’s dad proposed that they should all go out for a piece of pie to celebrate. Wes and Lauren looked at each other, both wishing they could bow out, but a refusal was out of the question. The old man wouldn’t understand their need for a quiet night at home to unwind after the day they’d had. No, he needed to wax poetically over the changes in his family.

  Resigned to a longer night than anticipated, Lauren returned Wes’s squeeze of her hand and stifled a groan. She could read resignation in his eyes as the elevator dropped along with their hearts. Romance wasn’t going to be a priority when they eventually fell into bed tonight. Bummer.

  * * * *

  It felt strange waking up at eight-thirty on a Friday morning, but since neither of them had to go to work there was no reason to set the alarm.

  Wes woke gradually and with a lazy smile slid up and over Lauren to nuzzle her neck. She hummed drowsily and wrapped her arms around him, holding him there as he pressed kisses to her shoulder and scuffed her skin pink with his unshaved chin.

  He eased back and kissed his way down Lauren’s chest, nursing from her empty breasts while imagining them full and heavy in his hands. Then Wes continued on, tonguing her navel along the way before settling between her legs. Easing her ankles back he dipped his chin and took a luxuriant lick. Lauren squirmed against his teeth, and he planted his hand over her stomach and held her still. Wes ventured forth again and her sex enveloped his probing tongue, anointing it with morning dew. He drew it in and swallowed then returned for another sip. Lauren’s fingers contracted and released in his hair as he satisfied the only hunger worth answering.

  Kissing the inside of Lauren’s thigh, Wes looked up at her with heavy-lidded eyes and asked huskily, “You don’t have anything planned today, do you?”

  “I’m all yours.”

  “That’s exactly what I hoped you’d say.”

  Her brows pinched together in question, but before she could ask what he had in mind Wes distracted her with his mouth again. He used his nose to nuzzle her clit as he bored deeply with his tongue, leaving her gasping in no time and fighting hard to hold back her climax.

  “Wes,” she begged, “I want you!” She pulled at him. “Please, I need you.”

  Her urgent declaration made him feel even more secure about his plans for later.

  Crawling up over Lauren, Wes claimed her mouth, sharing her intimate taste between them. He could feel her rigid nipples poking into his chest and his naked cock, as hard as tempered steel, left wet swirls on her inner thigh as it sought access to her body.

  “What are you waiting for?” she asked, arching her hips in offering, but Wes held back.

  He was tempted, desperately tempted. There was nothing he wanted more than to bury himself deep inside her like this. He wanted to experience that friction, bare skin to bare skin, with nothing between them to spoil the natural sensation, but he wouldn’t do that to her without her consent. He had to be sure she was thinking with a clear head. Lauren had a choice to make, accept the risk or play it safe. Personally, he wasn’t put off by the potential consequences of unprotected sex, but Lauren might be.

  He broke the kiss and looked into her eyes, his words adding to the gravity of the moment. “It’s just me this time. Nothing between us. Are you sure you want me this way? Are you willing to risk it?”

  “Are you?”

  He shook his head. “I can’t make that decision for you, and I don’t want my answer to influence you either way.”

  She smiled. “You are.”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “You didn’t have to. You would have grabbed a condom if you wanted it. You always do.”

  He looked at her expectantly, not confirming or denying what she said.

  * * * *

  Well, what would her answer be? Her body said take him now, as is, and don’t look back. Her head said are you really ready to play Russian roulette with parenthood? But her heart said you love him. No matter what happens, he’ll be there for you.

  With love and gratitude filling her heart beyond capacity, Lauren pulled Wes down and kissed him deeply, her legs drawing him against her. He penetrated her, tongue and cock simultaneously, and they both nearly swooned at the naked intimacy they hadn’t experienced together yet.

  There was no hurry this time, only tender caresses and long heady thrusts that went on like the cosmos.

  Lauren had experienced so many things in Wes’s arms—excitement, comfort, lust, wonder, urgent passion, security, and exquisite release—but only now did she understand how much he truly cherished her. Her body was his temple and he worshipped on his knees, giving everything he had to her.

  “I love you so much, Wes,” she whispered then gasped softly as his thrust nudged her forward.

  “God, I love you, Lauren.”

  Wes kissed her on the forehead, his flickering smile fading against the intensity in his eyes. They were so focused on hers she couldn’t look away. They owned her now.

  In one sudden movement he pulled Lauren away from the headboard so he could tip her back without cracking his skull. Then catching her behind the knees he rolled her pelvis up as he surged over her. With one drive he claimed her g-spot and sent shockwaves rippling through her. Wes hit it again and again, relentlessly, and Lauren shook from the impossible pressure swelling inside of her. It spread everywhere, finally spilling out across her
skin, giving her a heated flush. Lauren would have turned her face away from the scalding temperatures if she could, but she was the actual volcano about to erupt. The powerful pressure reached critical mass, simply too big to be contained.

  “Wes,” she gasped, about to burst apart in his arms.

  He gave her one last solid punch with his hips then held on as she roared, her body seizing violently beneath him.

  “Oh God,” he groaned and shuddered and convulsed on top of her.

  Utterly deflated, they collapsed together and fought for air. They were silent, shocked, and maybe just a little terrified of what they’d just unleashed between them.

  Reaching for each other, they lay quietly, recovering. After several contemplative minutes Wes gave Lauren a tender squeeze.

  “I’m going to jump in the shower. You want to join me?” he asked.

  “I need another minute or two.”

  “No problem.” He gave her a swift kiss then left for the bathroom.

  She watched him go with a wistful sigh. That man had one incredible body. Lauren turned to stare at the ceiling for a moment before slowly tipping her chin down. She looked speculatively at her flat stomach and put her hand on her belly, pressing on it. “Just cool it in there, okay?”

  * * * *

  Wes was making scrambled eggs when Lauren padded out wearing her soft pink robe. Her hair was still wet. The coffee was already made so she went to work buttering the toast when it popped up.

  Wes reached into a cabinet and pulled out another mug. Catching the pot by the handle he poured her a cup and topped off his own. He slid hers down the counter to her.

  “Thanks. Why don’t I slice up an orange?”

  “Go for it,” he said, turning off the heat under the eggs and tipping the pan over the plates waiting on the counter. He divided them equally and set the pan aside.

  Bringing everything to the table they sat down to eat.

  Wes looked up after taking a sip of coffee. “I like you in that robe.”

  “It’s my favorite.”

  “If you’re comfortable in it I’m glad you brought it over. I’d rather see you wearing something you like instead of some lacy, impractical thing you think I’d prefer.”