Safe With Me

by Kristen Proby

  “You are so fucking beautiful,” he groans and I know he’s close. His sack tightens in my hand and his cock hardens even more inside me. I clench around him and sink down, succumbing to my own orgasm, rocking and shivering over him.

  “Oh my god!” I call out as he lets go and comes hard inside me.

  Holy shit. I had no idea sex like this existed.

  We’re both panting and sweaty and I’m pretty sure I lost the feeling in my legs about ten minutes ago. I pull forward, allowing him to slide slowly out of me, and before I know it, Caleb pulls me back to him and settles me against him, tucked to his side.

  “You are trying to kill me,” he mutters and kisses my forehead. “Holy fuck, Legs.”

  “I couldn’t help myself,” I chuckle. “You’re just so… hot.”

  He laughs and smiles down at me, those dimples of his on full-blast.

  “See?” I ask and cup his face in my hand. “This is who we are, Caleb. Don’t forget that.”

  He sobers and searches my eyes for a long moment before he pulls me into a strong hug, his nose pressed against my hair.

  “You are the best part of my life, Bryn. Don’t you forget that.”

  I smile softly and kiss his chest, my eyes heavy with fatigue.

  Right back at you.

  ***

  “That outfit you got for the concert is smokin’ hot,” Jules informs me and grins as we walk through the mall in downtown Seattle. “Oh, look! Michael Kors!”

  “You need another handbag like you need another hole in your head,” Nate chuckles and kisses her temple.

  “A woman can never have too many handbags, ace,” Jules informs him.

  I am shopping today with Jules and Nate, Nat and Luke and Stacy. It was supposed to be a girl’s day out, but Caleb insisted we take the men along for protection and he and Matt and Isaac stayed home with the kids.

  I think we got the better end of the stick.

  Natalie and Luke are walking ahead of us, Luke pushing Olivia’s stroller and Nat has her arm around Luke’s waist, her hand planted firmly in the back pocket of his blue jeans.

  “Hot guys pushing a stroller are really hot,” Stacy leans over and whispers to me.

  “Luke Williams pushing a stroller is hot,” I respond and we giggle, shoving each other’s shoulders.

  “We can hear you,” Nat calls back to us sarcastically, causing Stacy and I to fall into a fit of laughter.

  “I didn’t whisper!” I call back.

  “If you’re gonna marry a hot movie star,” Jules taunts Nat from behind us, holding her own hot husband’s hand, “you have to know that people are gonna ogle his hot ass.”

  “He does have a nice ass,” Nat agrees and pats it with a smirk.

  “I’m glad you approve, baby,” Luke murmurs down to Nat and kisses her softly.

  “Gag,” Jules mutters, making me grin. “Hey guys, I have to use the little girls’ room.”

  “Do you need to go to the doctor?” Nate asks. “That’s the fourth time since we’ve been in the mall.”

  “No,” she waves him off. “I’ve been drinking a lot of water.”

  “No, you haven’t, Julianne.” I look over my shoulder to see Nate glaring down at her.

  I’m sandwiched between two of the hottest men on the planet.

  The others are at my house right now.

  “Come on, girls. Y’all need to freshen your lipstick.” Jules leads the way to the public restroom, leaving Nate, Luke and Livie behind.

  “I don’t wear lipstick,” Stacy reminds us as we follow the petite blonde. She’s stunning today, just like every day, in a maxi dress with a denim jacket over it and black heels that click along the floor as she walks.

  Jules is the only woman I know who wears heels all day shopping without needing a foot transplant by the end of it. If I didn’t adore her, I’d despise her.

  When we all get in the bathroom, Jules looks under the stalls to be sure we’re the only ones there.

  “This isn’t high school, Jules,” Stacy reminds her with a smirk.

  “I need you two to keep Nate busy for a while,” She informs Stacy and me, her eyes wide with excitement.

  “Why?” I ask. “Where are you going?”

  “She and I are going lingerie shopping so she can wear something hot when…” Natalie begins but is cut off by Jules as she jumps up and down and claps her hands excitedly.

  “When I tell him I’m knocked up!”

  “Holy fuck!” Stacy exclaims.

  “Wow!” I agree, and we both rush her and hug her close, rocking back and forth.

  “Oh, let me in there,” Natalie says and wraps her arms around all of us.

  “This family is suddenly swarming with babies,” Stacy murmurs and wipes tears from her eyes.

  “Oh my God, can you imagine how beautiful their baby is going to be?” I ask and hug Jules tightly again. “This gene pool is seriously impressive.”

  “I’m so excited for you,” Nat tells her and squeezes her hand. Jules looks at each of us and sighs with a big smile on her face.

  “I know it’s soon. We just got married a few months ago, but…” She shrugs and flips her hair back over her shoulder. “Ready or not, here it comes.”

  “Nate is going to be beside himself,” Natalie says with a grin.

  “So you’re gonna get all sexed up and then tell him?” I ask with a smile.

  That’s so Jules.

  “Hell yes I am.” She nods and then her eyes go wide. “Wait. I really do have to pee again. Why didn’t anyone ever tell me that you pee all the time when you’re prego?”

  “I did tell you,” Nat calls to her through the stall door. “You never listen to me.”

  “So what’s the plan?” I ask.

  “Why don’t you two take Nate and go get a table at that Italian place across the street, and Jules and Luke and I will meet you there in a few?” Natalie suggests as Jules comes out of the stall and washes her hands.

  “Sounds good,” Stacy nods. “I could go for some lasagna.”

  “Okay,” Jules grins and we follow her back out to the guys. “Hey, ace, would you go with Bryn and Stace to get us a table at the Italian place across the street while Nat and Luke and I go buy a some baby shit for Olivia?” She smiles sweetly and rubs her fingers over his chest. He narrows his gray eyes down at her for a moment, as though he knows she’s lying and trying to decide if he should call her out on it or not.

  Finally he shrugs and simply says, “Sure.”

  “Bye bye!” Livie calls from her stroller, smiling and clenching her tiny fist in and out, doing the toddler wave.

  “Bye bye,” we call back and wave to her, leading Nate out of the mall.

  “What is she really buying?” He asks us as soon as we’re out of ear-shot.

  “Baby stuff,” I reply with a shrug and Stacy nods in agreement, but neither of us can look him in the eye.

  “Women always stick together,” he mumbles under his breath. I giggle and loop my arm through his.

  “Yep. Glad you’re finally catching on to that.”

  We push through the glass doors of the high-end Italian restaurant and Nate approaches the hostess to request a table, just as Steven and Gail Montgomery are leaving the restaurant, laughing with a tall, very handsome strange man.

  Steven sees the three of us and his eyes go wide and face immediately loses all of his color.

  “Hi, guys.” Stacy smiles, happy to see her parents-in-law.

  “Oh my goodness! Hello!” Gail pulls us all in for a hug and turns to the tall man who has stepped back and folded his arms over his chest, watching us all with narrowed bright blue eyes.

  He has dark, perfectly styled hair and an olive complexion, broad shoulders under a cable-knit sweater, and just a hint of a dark five o’clock shadow dusting his chin.

  “Dominic,” Gail addresses him and turns to us. “This is Brynna, Stacy and Nate.” She turns back to us. “This is Dom Salvadore.”

 
“Hello,” he nods and offers us a half smile, and I do believe my girly parts just came awake.

  Who the hell is this guy, and why are Caleb’s parents having lunch with him?

  “I think Jules and Natalie will be along in a moment with Luke and the baby, if you’d like to say hi,” Nate offers, his eyes glued to Dom, watching him carefully.

  “We would, but I do believe we need to go,” Steven responds quickly, ushering Gail out ahead of him. “Kiss Liv for us.”

  They wave and quickly exit, leaving the three of us looking back and forth between us with puzzled expressions.

  “Weird,” I finally remark.

  “Definitely,” Stacy agrees.

  Nate pulls his phone out of his pocket and wakes it up. “She said his name is Dominic Salvadore?” He asks.

  “Yeah. What are you doing?” I ask.

  “Making a note.” He tucks his phone back in his pocket and winks at me and I melt. Nate is seriously hot, but more than that, he’s kind and strong and so good for Jules. We all adore him.

  “You could kick his ass,” Stacy offers and smirks at him.

  “Of course I could, sweetheart. That was never in question.”

  He raises an eyebrow and scoffs.

  “Did I mention that you have an ego the size of the Space Needle?” I ask.

  Nate laughs, a full out belly laugh and drapes his arm around my shoulders, hugging me to his hard side, as the hostess motions for us to follow her to our table.

  “Ego or not, honey, I could kick his ass.”

  ***

  “I shouldn’t have had that slice of tiramisu,” I mumble and rub my belly as Stacy pulls her minivan into my driveway.

  “Who is that behind us?” Nat asks and then giggles. “It’s Will and Meg.”

  “What are you doing here?” I ask as I gather my purchases from the back of the van.

  “Isaac sent out an S.O.S.,” Will informs us with a laugh.

  “What? Why?” Stacy’s voice is surprised, her eyes wide with worry.

  “He’s got a cop and a SEAL in the same room with him,” Luke replies with a laugh and lifts Olivia into his arms, pulling her out of her car seat. She laughs with him, as though she knows what he’s talking about. “What could possibly be going on in there?”

  Us girls all look at each other and immediately make a beeline for the front door. Jules pulls her phone out and has it pointed out like she’s about to take a picture.

  “What are you doing?” Luke asks her as I unlock the door.

  “I’m ready to document whatever is on the other side of that door.”

  Never, in a million-billion years, am I expecting what we find inside.

  “Holy shit,” Nate mutters under his breath. “Hey, Jules, is it wrong that I suddenly find your brothers smokin’ hot?”

  “Mommy!” Sophie exclaims and runs over to Stacy, hugging her around the knees.

  “That’s a great color on you, man,” Luke taunts Caleb who scowls. No one in the room has moved besides Sophie and Jules has hit record on her phone.

  The guys are sitting on the floor, around the girls’ small craft table. Josie and Maddie have set up a tea party with what look to be brand new American Girl dolls – holy crap, that must have cost them a fortune – and they all, every last one of them, are wearing tiaras.

  Tiaras.

  Even Sgt. Bix is seated dutifully between Josie and Maddie, sporting a princess tiara on his head, his bad ear flopping over the side. His eyebrows move up and down as he surveys the scene.

  “Wow, you’re so pretty, Matt,” I mutter, not able to hold it in anymore.

  “Okay, tea party is over,” Caleb announces and pulls the pink tiara from his head and hands it to Maddie.

  “But you only had one cup,” she complains.

  “That was plenty,” he mutters with a scowl and pulls himself up off the floor.

  “Isaac, are you wearing a necklace?” Will asks, howling in laughter and pointing at his brothers.

  “Sophie wanted me to wear it,” Isaac responds, puffing his chest out. “Just you wait,” he points to Luke. “Liv will do the same to you.”

  “This is so going on YouTube,” Jules mutters and continues to film.

  “Turn that off now, Jules,” Matt instructs her, his voice hard.

  “Not a chance in the world,” she shakes her head and giggles. “This is awesome.”

  “Give me your phone!” Caleb lunges for her and she throws the phone to Meg.

  “Take it!” She shouts.

  Meg easily catches it and continues to film, moving quickly about the room. As Isaac is about to pull the phone from her hand, she throws it to me.

  “Legs, I swear to you, if you don’t give me that phone…” Caleb stomps toward me, glowering at me.

  “You’ll do what? Spank me?” I smile sweetly and pull the phone out of his reach.

  “What is wrong with these women?” Matt asks the room at large. Luke, Will and Nate are laughing so hard they’re holding their stomachs.

  “Oh man, this is the best day of my life,” Will sputters as he tries to pull air into his lungs. “I’m so glad we caught it on video.”

  “I’m going to break all of your legs,” Caleb promises. “And what is up with your kids being little extortionists?” He asks me.

  “What are you talking about?” I ask and look immediately at my girls, who refuse to look up and meet my gaze.

  “They talked us into going to the American Girl doll store,” Matts begins. “We figure, sure, we’ll get them a doll. It’ll keep them busy.”

  “Seven. Hundred. Dollars.” Isaac stomps his foot with every word. “For three little girls to get a doll and a whole wardrobe for said doll.”

  “Why did you buy them so much?” I ask, my eyes wide in shock.

  “They lie to you there,” Matt responds with a sigh. “The tags have numbers on them, which we thought were the prices.”

  “But no,” Caleb joins in as the rest of us stand in the living room, watching them in awe as they tell their story. “No, it’s a code number that tells you how to find the price on a chart. A chart!”

  “So instead of that outfit being eight dollars like we thought, it was forty damn dollars!” Isaac exclaims, pointing to Sophie’s doll.

  “Forty dollars for a doll outfit?” Meg asks with wide eyes. “Holy crap.”

  During this whole exchange the three little darlings in question have been silently playing with their dolls, as though they’re the only ones in the room.

  “And then when we check out, these three smile up at us with the most innocent looks on their faces.” Matt shakes his head in disgust.

  “They’re not innocent,” Caleb grumbles. “They’re freaking extortionists.”

  “Nate?” Josie has walked over to the tall, dark man and taps his arm to get his attention.

  “Yes, beautiful girl,” he replies and squats so he’s eye-level with her.

  “Can I have a ride on your motorcycle when it’s sunny outside?” She asks and twirls her hair around her finger, her brown eyes wide and flirty, and if I’m not mistaken, she actually bats her lashes at him.

  “Of course you can,” Nate replies with a smile and taps her nose gently with his forefinger.

  “Thank you!” She wraps her arms around his shoulders and hugs him and then returns to her doll.

  “If she’s already hitting on the guy in the leather jacket with a bike,” Will remarks with a laugh, “You’re going to have your hands full with that one.”

  Caleb curses under his breath as the rest of us laugh.

  “That, right there, is why we’re only having boys,” Nate tells Jules as he points to Josie.

  “I guess we’d better hope this one’s a boy then,” she replies with a grin, watching Nate’s face.

  “That’s fine, I just… Wait.” He turns on her and grips her shoulders in his hands, watching her face intently. “What did you just say?”

  “I wanted to tell you later when we’
re alone, but I can’t keep secrets, and most of our family is here anyway, so…” Jules shrugs and bites her lip, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “We’re gonna have a baby, ace.”

  He leans in and cups her face in his hands, pulls his fingers down her cheeks and rests his forehead against hers, and the room is completely still as we wait to hear what he has to say.

  “Am I dreaming?” He asks, his voice raw.

  She shakes her head no and wraps her arms around him. “No.”

  He kisses her then, long and hard, like I’ve never seen him do in public before, not even at their wedding. He finally pulls back and gazes down at her with so much love in his eyes, it feels wrong to be watching it, like we’re intruding.

  Caleb reaches down and links his fingers with mine and squeezes tightly. All of the Montgomery men are quiet.

  This is their baby sister.

  “I love you so much, Julianne.” Nate finally speaks and brushes the tears off her cheeks with his thumbs. “Thank you,” he whispers.

  He scoops her up into a big hug and twirls her in a circle before setting her down and turning to the rest of us. “We’re gonna have a baby!”

  “Congratulations!” We descend on them, hugging and laughing and then hugging each other, celebrating and rejoicing in the new life that is about to join our family.

  “Mommy,” Maddie tugs on my hand to get my attention. “Can Sophie stay with us tonight?”

  “No sweetheart,” I lift her in my arms and kiss her cheek. She’s almost too heavy to hold like this now. “Not tonight.”

  “Why not?” Josie asks.

  “Sophie has to go home and sleep in her own bed,” Stacy tells them with a smile.

  “She can sleep in our bed, like Caleb sleeps in Mommy’s bed,” Maddie replies and once again the room goes dead silent. My eyes go wide and I look around the room, looking for Caleb, who is standing next to Nate, also with the deer in the headlights look on his handsome face.

  Isaac laughs, and everyone joins him, and I just close my eyes and lean my head against Maddie’s shoulder.

  Just shoot me.

  Chapter Thirteen

  ~Caleb~