by Bec Botefuhr
Then the television changes to some other breaking news. My fingers tremble as I process what just happened. Marcus Harrison resigned? He gave up his career? Why? Did Chayne have something on him after all? My mother grips my arm and gently rubs it.
“This is a good thing, honey.”
“It doesn’t mean anything changes for us, he probably got forced out of the job.”
“I would doubt that.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. It’s fine, Sierra. You have to talk to him sometime anyway. You’re carrying his child.
“What do I tell him, momma?”
“You’re pregnant, love. You have to tell him.”
“I know but…”
“He deserves that much…”
I nod, swallowing. “I know he does.”
“Just see what happens, see where he ends up before you make any choices.”
I give her a weak smile and then I hug her tightly before heading out into the living area. My father is just coming in, he gives me a smile and a hug before telling me about his morning rounds. I listen intently, but my gaze soon slides to the sleek, black, SUV pulling into my driveway. My heart hammers against my chest. My father notices my stare and turns. A broad smile creeps across his face. He likes Marcus, so when he steps out of the vehicle, he chuckles softly.
“Thought I liked the man when he resigned for you, but hell, I like him even more now.”
“He might not be here for me,” I whisper, watching Marcus get out of the driver’s seat.
He looks dazzling and completely…relaxed. I’m not really sure what I expected him to look like. I thought maybe he’d be angry, or sad, or wonder if it was the wrong move, but he looks completely calm as he strides towards the house. The tight black t-shirt he is wearing, does amazing things to his chest. He’s got on a pair of blue jeans and some heavy black books. I love seeing him so…casual. He just looks so perfectly…well…perfect. My father shoves me towards the door, to which I give him a scowl. I go though, unable to stop my legs from moving.
When I reach the door, Marcus stops and his eyes soften. His lips part as he breathes in deeply. His head tilts to the side, just a fraction before he steps closer. I step out the door until we’re only inches apart. My heart is hammering as I stare up into those deep, brown depths. I’ve missed his eyes nearly more than anything else. They take me to another place. The promise of happiness, trust, love and most of all, raw, sexual desire. I swallow, forcing the burning tears back down. I don’t want to cry, not right now. He might be here to say goodbye. I have to save the tears for that.
“You resigned,” I finally croak.
His eyes soften and he murmurs. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“I should have known,” he says, not answering my question.
“Should have known what?”
“It’s so perfectly obvious to me now.”
“What is?”
“I can see it written all over you. Your rosy cheeks, your shining eyes. I should have known when your breasts begun to grow and swell, and your perfect little cherry nipples got darker.”
What the fuck is he on about?
“Marcus, no offence, but this isn’t the time to get horny.”
He chuckles softly and steps forward so I can feel his body gently against mine.
“You’re carrying my baby, aren’t you?”
I suck in a breath, so that’s what he was talking about. I feel my cheeks heat and I look away, but he grips my chin and forces me to look up at him.
“Answer me, Sierra.”
“Yes, Marcus, I’m pregnant.”
I expected a lot of things when I told him those few words. I honestly thought the first reaction would be shock, followed by anger and maybe he would walk away and take a few hours to wrap his head around it. What I didn’t expect is the way his face lights up. His lips part in pure, emotional, happiness. His hand slides up to his chest, and splays out over his heart. He’s happy. He’s truly, unbelievably, happy. I feel one of those well held back tears slide down my cheek and he reaches out, letting his finger catch it.
“I’m going to be a dad?” he rasps.
“Yes.”
“Oh, Sierra…I knew I wanted kids one day, but I didn’t realize how much, until this moment.”
“Marcus…it’s not going to be easy if…”
He puts a finger to my lip. “I resigned, Sierra.”
“You didn’t tell me why?”
His eyes search my face. “Sweetheart, you haven’t figured that out yet?”
“No,” I squeak.
“I resigned for you.”
“You can’t give up your career for me and…”
He cuts me off again, this time with a kiss to my lips that has my knees buckling. His hand wraps around my waist and he pulls me to him as our lips combine in a sexual dance that has my body coming alive. When he pulls away and begins talking, his voice sounds like candy dipped in chocolate. It’s so sensual, so real, so fucking perfect.
“I didn’t give it up for you, Sierra, I gave it up for us. You were right, all along you were right. I have lived years in a job that I thought completed me. I went to work, I had a woman, I thought it was how I wanted my life to go. Until I met you. Everything you believe, everything you’re passionate about…made me realize that life is so much more than a career. It made me realize that a career is nothing, if you don’t have love or family in your life. When you left me, Sierra, my world crumbled. I’ve never felt such pain. I couldn’t imagine anything worse in the world, and so I made a choice. I made a choice for you, for that baby, but most of all, Sierra, I made a choice for me.”
“Oh, Marcus,” I breathe. “Won’t you regret it?”
“How could I ever regret you, sweetheart? I gave up one career, but I have the resources to do whatever I want. It’s not the end for me, my career will go on, but…if I didn’t make a choice…it would have been the end for me and you. You were always right, I lived my life around power. I controlled everything so perfectly, that I thought I was secure. When you walked away, I lost my control. It didn’t matter what I did, I couldn’t get you back. Control suddenly became useless. I suddenly became helpless. Don’t you see, sweetheart? My world without you, isn’t a world at all…it’s merely an existence.”
I am crying now. Big, fat, ugly tears roll down my cheeks. Marcus grips my face and his lips slide across my cheek, then down to my lips. I press myself against him and I kiss him back, hard, deep. I hear my family cheering behind us, and a chuckle escapes Marcus at their happy whoops. When we pull apart, I reach up and slide my hand under the sleeve of his t-shirt. I pinch the skin on his arm hard and he yelps.
“Don’t do it again,” I warn.
He bursts out laughing and pulls me close to his chest. “Sweetheart, I believe you need some therapy for this constant abuse.”
I giggle and rub my cheek against his chest.
“You should stop being an ass, and I won’t have to abuse you.”
“Ah, so that’s the secret.”
“Where to now, sir?” I murmur.
“You’re really pregnant?”
“Yes…”
“We’re going to have a baby?”
“Yeah.”
“Then we need to do the only thing that seems logical right now.”
Oh what’s he going to say now? Buy a house? A car? Get a new job? Move away?
“What’s that?”
“We need to go on a date.”
Huh?
~*~*~*~*
MARCUS
I feel my heart quicken as she comes around the corner. She’s dressed in a light blue summer dress. Her hair is tied up loosely and she has bare feet, just like I requested. I feel my vision cloud as I stare at the woman who changed my world. I don’t regret a single decision I made, when I see her standing in front of me, with those rosy red cheeks. A small smile creeps across her face and I grin, stepping closer. I see her mom and dad standing in the kit
chen, smiling. Jayelle is clapping her hands happily behind me.
“Are you ready, sweetheart?” I murmur.
“Ready as I’ll ever be. Where are we going?”
“It’s a secret,” I grin.
“Still no shoes?”
I shake my head. “No, baby.”
“All right, I trust you.”
I stretch out my hand and she takes it, letting her soft fingers curl around mine. We say goodbye to her parents, and I take her outside to the car. I open the door for her, and kiss her sweet lips before helping her in. When I slide into the front seat, she’s flushing and looking at me through those thick, pretty eyelashes. She’s giving me one of those sexy, fuck me looks.
“I thought you were pregnant, baby?” I husk, feeling my body jerk to life.
“Doesn’t mean I can’t want you…doesn’t mean I won’t take you…”
“Baby,” I murmur. “You’re killin’ me.”
She smiles, giving me a lustful look. “That’s the plan, revenge and all that.”
“Bad girl,” I growl.
“Only for you, sexy sweet.”
Grinning, I start the car and back out of the driveway. We begin driving towards the location I have all set out for us. It takes us a good three hours to get there, but we chat the entire time. We talk about the baby. She’s convinced it’s a boy, I’m pretty sure it’s a girl. There’s just something so beautiful that happens inside me, when I think of a tiny girl to cherish. Smiling, I lean back into the chair.
“Names?” Sierra asks, sticking her hand into a bag of potato chips and throwing one into her mouth.
I raise my brows at her.
“What?” she says between mouthfuls. “I’m pregnant now.”
“Ha, good excuse, sweetheart.”
She pouts. “Don’t worry, I won’t make extra booty for you to drag around.”
I snort a laugh and grin at her. “Your booty could be the size of this state and I’d still drag you around everywhere with me, and I’d do it with pride. That’s how much I love you.”
“Aw, you sweet thing, you.”
“Now, back to names…”
“I like…well…it’s a stupid name, but I always liked it when I was growing up.”
“Spill, sweetheart.”
“If the baby is a girl, Esmeralda. If the baby is a boy, Noah.”
I grin at her, I love her mind. I love everything about her right in this moment.
“Had a fascination for the hunchback as a child, did we?”
“I liked that movie! Hey, I didn’t suggest Quasimodo as a boy’s name. Give me a break,” she giggles.
“Quasi…I like it.”
She shoves my arm. “Not funny, Marcus.”
I wink at her. “Baby, I love the name Esmeralda. We could call her Esme.”
“Oh no…” she groans.
“What?”
“The Twi-hards of the world will think we’re copying them.”
I focus on the road with a blank expression. “The what?”
“The Twi-hards. The twilight fans. You know…the vampire movie?”
I glance quickly at her. “I’m sorry…what?”
“Never mind! The mother’s name is Esme.”
“Is it Esmeralda?”
“No.”
“Then it doesn’t matter, does it?”
She chuckles softly. “No, I suppose it doesn’t.”
“Ok…we’re here baby.”
She turns and stares at the private little cove on the beach that I have set up for us. Her eyes widen. The little cove is being protected by a few guards I hired so no one can come down. I paid a lot of money to secure it. She can’t see the table I have set up hidden on the sand behind the trees, or the blanket where I fully intend to suck every inch of her beautiful body.
“Oh, Marcus,” she breathes. “All ours?”
“All ours, baby.”
She looks over at me with a smile so big, it digs deep into my soul. Every moment that she smiles at me like that, makes me know that every choice I made in the past few days, has been the right one.
I don’t regret a single decision.
CHAPTER 15
SIERRA
I feel my heart swell as we walk down onto the sand where Marcus has organized a table to be set in the middle of the private cove. There’s also a rug on the ground, it’s huge, and looks extremely soft and inviting. I flush and look up at him, he’s grinning down at me and for the first time…like…ever…he looks truly happy. He takes my hand and leads me over to the table and chairs. I stare down at the round table that is covered with a white satin table cloth. It has a few of those fake candles and a couple of red roses in the middle. There’s a few dishes covered with silver tops. I can’t help the splitting smile that creeps across my face.
“My sexy sweet is a romantic,” I murmur.
He looks down at me with those sexy, dark brown eyes. “I’ll be anything for you, sweetheart.”
I grin. “Would you submit to me?”
His brows raise. “Submit…are you serious?”
“I could be…”
He tilts his head to the side. “You want me on my knees, baby, I’ll get on my knees.”
I feel my eyes grow heavy. “You will?”
He strokes my cheek. “I’ll do anything.”
I lean up and brush my lips across his, then I rub my stomach. “Hungry.”
He chuckles and pulls out my chair. “Then let us eat.”
“Why thank you kind sir,” I grin, sitting down.
He opens the dishes and pours me an orange juice and himself a wine. I feel my heart swell again. He’s looking after me and peanut. That’s sweet. I inhale the smell of food. Yum. Just yum. I stare down at the set-up of sandwiches, cheese, crackers, some roast, and is that…oh…it is…caramel tart. I lick my lips and Marcus laughs.
“You look like you’re about to jump the table for that tart.”
“Oh, I am.”
“Lunch first.”
I pout at him. With a gorgeous smile, he serves me a plate full of food. I begin eating and we chat through lunch in a way we’ve never chatted before. We laugh, talk about growing up, talk about our favorite things and our hates. It’s all things we have never really had a chance to talk about before. When we finish our tart, Marcus presses a button on a small player by the table, some soft music comes on. He stands and offers me his hand.