Stepbrother Outlaw: The Novel (Dark Steamy Stepbrother Romance)

by Craft, Lana

  Trent took a couple tentative steps over to the couch, like he was waiting for permission to sit down. Or maybe he was just afraid she'd hit him.

  "Do you love her?" Blair finally found it in herself to ask. She had a thousand more burning questions running through her mind, but this was the only one that clawed its way to the surface. It was the only one that mattered.

  Trent rubbed the back of his neck, and the familiar gesture tugged at Blair's heart strings, but a lump surfaced in her throat when she took notice of the perplexed look on his face.

  It was all the confirmation she needed that they were through.

  Chapter twenty-two

  Eden wiggled into her jeans, tucking her small fingers between the waistband to give them a final tug up her hips. As she went to work at fastening the buttons, she took notice of the fact that they were fitting more snug than usual.

  It’s a wonder they even still fit at all, Eden thought, and when she remembered why her heart tightened against her ribcage. She looked down at her breasts. They were a bit more sore than usual but that was the only real change she could decipher in them. She knew it was still far too early for her body to be showing any real signs of a transformation, but she also knew it would only be a matter of time.

  Eden heard Trent approaching her from behind. His strong arms wrapped around her waist and his calloused hands came into contact with her abdomen. A small grin surfaced on her face as he kissed his way down her neck. He nuzzled his coarse face against hers as they met eyes in the mirror hanging on his bedroom door. Every time he looked at her, she saw the love in his expression as clear as day. It didn't matter that he had yet to say it.

  It was in his actions.

  It was love that made him put his initial distance between them after what happened. It was love that sat down with her mother to blow out a decade old flame. It was love that brought him back to her three days after the fact, with a rehab pamphlet in one hand and a commitment in the other. They walked into the treatment center together, and they walked out as one. The tabloids could say what they wanted.

  Eden knew the truth.

  The father of her child was no outlaw. He was the most selfless person she ever met. She lifted a hand to stroke his cheek and exhaled a content sigh as she recalled the series of events that had brought them here.

  A few weeks prior she had been sitting in her doctor's office when she got the news. She had blown off an appearance on a daytime talk show to discuss her sobriety just to be there, and she was anything if not on edge. Her period hadn't reared its head in months. Either her system was still adjusting to no longer having drugs, or something much more long term was afoot.

  Trent hadn't been with Eden at the appointment. He had club business to handle and since he was still on probation for the incident with Miles, it wasn't anything he could skip out on. Miles. Eden couldn't even think his name these days without going into a silent rage. No one had seen him since that day and she was glad. He didn't have even an ounce of his brother's dignity. Trent spent weeks looking for him in all his usual crawls, but Eden was glad he never found him. He was trouble, and blood or not, she felt like they were all better off without him.

  Especially when so much was at stake.

  Eden wasn't sure what she would do if Trent found out that she had been sleeping with his brother in exchange for drugs. It didn't matter that she hadn't known him then. It was a dark, humiliating secret she fully intended on taking to the grave.

  Just when Eden was getting fed up with waiting, her doctor entered the room with a small smile. She almost hyperventilated when he told her the news, but when some of the haze lifted she realized that she was more happy than anything else.

  When Trent returned home later that night, Eden was in his kitchen waiting for him. "Babe?" he called out, causing her to drop the trashy gossip magazine she had her nose buried between the pages of. She snatched it up from an outdoor vendor on her way home. There was a particularly unflattering picture of hers on the cover. Above it was the headline, 'After an Overdose, a Kidnapping, Walking Out on a Million Dollar Adult Entertainment Deal, and Now a Pregnancy, Will Eden Winters Ever Get Her Life Together?'

  As one-sided as it was, Eden couldn't believe that the tabloids discovered that she was with child before she even did. Shaking her head, she slid the magazine back inside her purse and entered the living room just as Trent was taking off his shoes. Before he could speak, she launched herself into his arms and swarmed him in kisses. Taken off guard, he stumbled back against the couch but somehow managed to remain upright.

  "Are you feeling—"

  Eden stopped him before he could finish his sentence, standing up on her tiptoes to press her warm lips against his. She kissed him with an intensity Trent wasn't used to from her, and he returned it tenfold, pulling her in closer against him. He didn't know what had gotten in to her, but he definitely wasn't complaining. They remained that way until the need for air overcame them. When they finally broke the embrace, both of them were breathing hard.

  Trent started to say something but Eden cut him off again before he could. "I'm pregnant." The words fell from her mouth on their own accord, unable to stay unspoken any longer. Her heart skipped a beat as she watched a series of emotions flood across his face. His eyes lit up and a few seconds later, an elated smile stretched its way across his cheeks.

  "Holy shit," Trent finally said. "Are you...are you sure?"

  Eden nodded and returned his smile with one of her own as the reality of the situation stretched out between them. Trent's eyes glazed over with tears, and as overwhelmed as he was feeling, he was just as overjoyed. A baby. They made a baby. At the age of forty he would finally be able to call himself a father. After all the pain and disappointment, he had a chance to do right by a life he had come together with Eden to create.

  "You're pregnant," Trent whispered, repeating it over and over until it began to feel real.

  "I'm eight weeks along," Eden added, reaching up to cup his face so that he was looking her in the eye. "It's still early and I know it's out of left field...but I want this baby, Trent. It's you and it's me and I...I can't think of anything more special than that."

  They gazed at each other for another moment, neither one of them feeling the need to speak.

  "You're pregnant," Trent said again, this time with more excitement than shock. Before Eden could say anything, he leaned forward, capturing his lips with her own. It started off slow and soft, but it wasn't long before it turned just as passionate and urgent as their previous embrace.

  Trent gripped Eden's neck, pulling her in closer against him. "Couch," she mumbled. He smiled against her lips and walked them over to it, lowering her onto it and straddling her legs. Eden adjusted beneath him, lifting her head and bringing her lips crashing back against his.

  "I know I've never said this," Trent whispered just a few inches from her face, placing wet kisses along her jaw and down her neck. "But I love you. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone."

  Eden moaned into him as happy tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. His hands felt their way up her body as he leaned back on his knees, gripping the hem of her shirt and easing it over her head. She gasped when he ran his hands down her chest and rested them on her stomach, placing a lingering kiss just above her belly button. He couldn't believe his son or daughter was growing inside there.

  Trent kissed his way up to Eden's chest. Searing kisses that made her grab his neck and redirect him back to her lips. She grew impatient and slid her hands between their bodies, unbuttoning her jeans to give him a needed hint.

  Trent groaned and pulled back as his dark brows furrowed with concern. "Are you sure it's safe for us to be doing this?"

  Eden smiled at his hesitancy and lifted a hand to stroke his face. "It's fine," she told him. "I promise. I asked my doctor and everything."

  Trent smiled and bent to bring his lips back to hers. As their tongues tangled, his hands slid under her jeans and sh
e moaned into him. Her heart raced. This was a far better reaction than she was expecting from him.

  The few weeks later, Eden awoke one morning to find Trent already up beside her. He was studying her while she slept. "How are you feeling?" he asked, grazing his lips over her bare shoulder.

  "A little nauseous," Eden admitted, curling up against him and resting her head against his chest. His gentle hands moved over her stomach. He had been touching her more than usual ever since she told him the news. His child was sprouting to life inside of her. Their child. At first Eden worried that he wouldn't be as invested in this baby as she was, but that wasn't the case at all. Sometimes she would awake late at night to use the restroom, only to find him cuddled up with his head next to her stomach. He did this thing where he tried patterns across her flesh, and it caused her heart to swell with joy every time.

  Trent even spoke to her belly sometimes. It didn't matter that the baby hadn't even developed ears yet, or that it was still just a tiny little sprout. It was the gesture that counted. Eden loved listening to him recount stories about the first time he ever laid eyes on her, leaving out all the dark parts. It made her feel as though she had finally done something right in her life. It was what made her remember to stay strong when she spent entire mornings with her head hanging over the edge of the toilet bowl. The nausea was, at one point, even worse than her most intense detoxes. It wasn’t just morning sickness, but rather all day sickness.

  "Do you think the morning sickness is over?” Trent suggested just a little too tentatively, turning so that were facing each other. Eden couldn’t help but smile at how thoughtful he was, always checking to make sure she was doing okay and holding back her hair while she vomited. He was even in the process of trying to get Chase to lighten up and let him be home more instead of with the club, but that battle was a lot easier said than done.

  Eden pressed a lingering kiss against his mouth. "I really, really hope so.” Trent pressed his warm body to hers, snaking his arms around her waist as she ran her hands lightly up and down his back. "I want to tell people," she mumbled, flicking her gaze up to meet his. “Don’t you?”

  Trent nodded. He was just as desperate as she was to make his child’s presence known, but he knew how much it would hurt Blair and that wasn’t something he was in much of a rush for. Plus, he didn’t want to jump the gun. With Eden being a first time mother and former addict, she was at a higher risk of complications than most women during their pregnancies. Her doctor said that waiting to break the news to people until they went to their twelve-week ultrasound would probably be best, which freaked Trent out in a way nothing ever had. He didn’t even want to entertain the possibility that something could be wrong with his kid.

  Trent kissed the top of Eden’s head. "I do too, but we’ll be able too soon.”

  Eden nodded against him before jumping up with a loud gasp. Her throat tightened in that all too familiar way and she could feel bile threatening to rise up from her stomach. She had spoken way too soon. She covered her mouth and rushed into the bathroom, hearing Trent fall in line behind her as she lowered herself to her knees in front of the toilet bowl. She couldn’t stop it. As she heaved, Trent slid down behind her and pulled her hair back away from her face, holding it in a ball at the nape of her neck as his other hand went to work at rubbing soothing circles across her lower back. After a minute or two of heaving, Eden seemed fairly confident that she was done and leaned back against him, wiping her face with a rag he offered to her. This was beyond gross, not to mention painful, but if it was what she had to put up with for the sake of their child, she was more than happy to do it.

  Epilogue

  "It's a baby tiara!" Eden announced, holding the tiny object in the air for everyone to see. She didn't have to guess who it was from. It had Leah written all over it.

  "I know it's not all Swarovski like you're used to," she spoke up, bouncing a bit in her seat as she popped her gum between her teeth. "Do you hate it? Because it's okay if you hate—"

  "No, Leah, are you kidding?" Eden stood up and gave her a hug. "I love it," she said, smiling at her as she pulled away and slid back into her seat.

  Leah beamed as she showed the crown off to the other girls, who did their part in seeming interested. It surprised Eden that they even showed up at all, being a bunch of crow eaters and all, but Leah was anything if not insistent.

  When the crown made its way back to Eden, she held it up to her face so that she could inspect it up close. It was tiny and gaudy, but perfect all the same. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that her daughter would one day get a chance to wear it. She already had a clear picture of her in her head. Chubby and gorgeous, with a perfect mix of both her parents features.

  Eden smiled to herself as she put the crown back in its box. "Wow," she said when she went to open another, holding up a gorgeous baby blanket. It was one of the softest things she ever touched. "What's this thing made out of? Feathers?"

  One of the girls whose name Eden didn't know held up a hand and explained that she had knit it herself. It seemed like a stretch, but Eden smiled at her and crossed the room to give her a hug anyway. When she sat back down, she noticed her mother staring at her from across the room and wiped the grin right off her face. She didn't want to hurt her anymore than she already had, and showing even an ounce of excitement seemed to do it.

  Blair was wearing a look on her face that was a cross between confusion and heartbreak. She was also more than a little out of place amongst a sea of mini skirts and leather jackets. Every woman in the room was fawning over baby-related stuff like they halfway gave a shit, and she just seemed ready to leave. Eden felt a wave of guilt settle over her. She knew that having this baby wasn't a choice Blair fully supported, but she was grateful for her presence all the same. Her mother was her mother and this party wouldn't have felt right without her. It didn't matter that she looked like she needed a stiff drink. Blair had sat through hours of baby talk, present opening, and maternity games. Eden was more than a little impressed by her patience.

  As Leah grabbed everyone’s attention with a story, Eden waved down Trent and pointed to her wine glass for a refill. He was sitting across the clubhouse with the other men but approached her right away, lowering his head to hers to give her a quick kiss.

  Eden smiled as he gave her another quick peck on the cheek before grabbing the glass and retreating behind the bar. He met eyes with Gina, who stared at him like a deer in headlights before crossing her arms and studying the floor.

  Trent refilled Eden's glass with nonalcoholic champagne and was about to return it to her when Blair sat down at the bar. "You two sure are a sight for sore eyes," she remarked, nodding at Eden from across the room.

  Trent couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic, but he figured as much. As excited as he was about this baby, this was the encounter he had been dreading the most. When Eden told him the girls from the club wanted to throw her a unisex baby shower, it was the main reason he wasn't enthusiastic. Of course Blair would be in attendance, which meant he would be forced to interact with her for the first time since his father's house.

  "Yeah," Trent said, finding his voice. "You know, me and Eden...we appreciate how understanding you've been about all this. You know we wouldn't have been able to do it without—"

  Blair snickered and waved it off. "Well, this is my first grandchild now isn't it?" She took a long drink of her wine and shook her head. "A grandmother at forty-two. Yikes."

  They shared a smile, although Blair's was far more fleeting and Trent felt his chest tighten as it dissipated. He wasn't sure why he said what he did next, but the words left his mouth before he could stop them. "You know, we went in for our halfway check-up the other day. We got a picture from the sonogram if you'd want to see it..."

  "Sure,” Blair said with a slight shrug. “Why not?"

  Trent hesitated, but he could tell by the fleeting look of curiosity that passed over her expression that she wanted to see it. He
reached into his back pocket and slid the photo across the counter for her to look at. He took the photo with him everywhere he went and he it seemed like he was always looking at it too. It didn't matter if he was handling club business or just having a shit day. That tiny black and white picture made his heart thump a bit harder every time he laid eyes on it. It was his daughter, and even now, there wasn't anything in the world he wouldn't have done for her.

  Blair made a sound Trent couldn't quite make out. "She's beautiful," she finally admitted, handing the picture back to him with a sad smile.

  Trent stared down at it for a few moments before sliding it back in his wallet. Everything seemed too quiet now, like there was a tension in the air that hadn't been there before.

  "Do you..." Blair trailed off as she searched for the right words, studying her hands. "Do you worry about her one day finding out about you and me? You know, about who we were to each other?"

  Trent sighed. He knew this question would get asked at some point. "Of course," he answered. "But if she does, we'll just be honest with her. People's roles change all the time. She'll understand."