Little Secrets--Claiming His Pregnant Bride

by Sarah M. Anderson

  He rolled on the condom and fit himself between her legs. “Yeah?” he asked, dragging his erection against the folds of her flesh.

  Her hips arched into him as her eyes fluttered. “Yes, please,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing him close so she could sear him with her lips.

  “So polite.” He was going to push her past that. He wanted her demanding and bossy, confident in her desires and in his ability to fulfill them.

  He shifted and found her opening and then, as carefully as he could, he began to thrust. Her body was tight around his and the sensations—damn, the sensations. He’d always liked sex. Careful sex, of course. He wasn’t going to get anyone pregnant and leave them high and dry. He was not that guy. But sex itself had always been fun.

  This? Burying his body inside Kate’s went far past fun, he realized as they fell into a rhythm. Being with Kate wasn’t a fun Saturday night. It was suddenly as vital to him as breathing.

  She rose to meet him as he plunged into her again and again and he completely surrendered to her. Her hands gripped his shoulders, his arms. “Oh, God—Seth,” she cried, her body tightening around his.

  “Yeah, babe—yeah,” he ground out, straining to keep his orgasm in check long enough. He wouldn’t dare leave her unsatisfied. It simply wasn’t polite.

  She thrashed her head against the pillow and dug her fingernails into his back as her body gripped his with such strength that he couldn’t hold anything back. He gave himself over to her and held on as she came.

  He collapsed on top of her, both of them breathing hard for a few moments as his head cleared. This time, when he leaned back to withdraw, he was ready for the tears—because they were there again. She looked at him and smiled and then laughed and said, “It’s good crying, I promise.”

  He was willing to take her at her word that this was a hormonal thing. “You never cried before?” he asked, getting rid of the condom and draping himself around her.

  “No,” she said, sounding tired and sated and happy. “Or laughed. But then, I don’t ever remember having orgasms like that, either.”

  Roger was an idiot. A clueless idiot. “I am ever at your command, my lady.”

  She laughed again. “I think you were right.”

  He propped himself up on his elbow and began to trace her collarbone with his lips. “About what?”

  She cupped her palm around his cheek and lifted his face so he had to look at her. Her eyes sparkled. “I think you’re going to be very good for me.”

  His chest puffed up with pride and he nipped at the space where her shoulder met her neck. “It was only the beginning, Kate. I can be even better for you than that in just a few minutes.” He lowered his mouth to her breast again, but just then her stomach rumbled. He bit back his smile and leaned away, putting his hand on her stomach. If he didn’t know she was pregnant, he wouldn’t be able to tell. Soon, maybe. “Maybe we should have dinner first? I picked this hotel for the room service.”

  He would do anything for that smile of hers. Everything. “I’d like that.”

  Seth called in their orders while she got cleaned up in the bathroom. When she came back out wearing her boring white shirt again, he growled.

  “I am not going to be naked when room service shows up, thank you very much. Besides,” she went on as he stared at her legs, “you can always take it off again later.”

  “Woman,” he groaned, falling back on the bed as if she’d shot him. “Come wait with me.”

  They curled up under the covers and turned on a game, although they didn’t watch it. Seth was too busy touching her skin, massaging her shoulders, stroking her hair, to pay any attention to sports. By the time dinner showed up, he was more than half hard for her all over again.

  And the whole time, he kept thinking that it was a damn shame that he had no plans to stay in Rapid City on a permanent basis. Though even if he were staying, he wouldn’t want to keep this thing between them going. Kate didn’t need a long-term relationship that was nothing more than casual sex. She needed a man who could settle down and stay in one place, someone who could be a good dad and shoulder his half of the load—if not more. She needed someone who would be there every night and every morning and that, sadly, was not Seth. He simply didn’t have it in him.

  He’d always been restless. Although his mom had never said so one way or the other, Seth attributed his wanderlust to his birth father. The man had disappeared before Seth had been born, never to be seen on the reservation again. Seth had no idea if his father was kind or hard, laughing or serious. All he had ever known about the man was that he left his girlfriend and his unborn child behind without a second look.

  That was why Seth’s new position at Crazy Horse Choppers fit him so well. He’d already spent a year in Los Angeles, hobnobbing with the rich, famous and the wished-they-were-famous. His uncle Bobby was always looking for the next big thing. Billy just wanted to build motorcycles. Ben kept an eye on the bottom line—but Bobby? Bobby wanted to take over the world, and he was more than willing to use Seth as a means to that end.

  Seth was going to get this museum project started because he believed it would be both a great way to extend the Crazy Horse Choppers brand name and also expand their revenue streams. But beyond that, it would showcase the occasional mad genius that was the Boltons. And after that?

  After that, Seth was looking toward the future. American-style motorcycles were beginning to take off in popularity in Asia. His uncles and his father—they were family men. All Boltons were. They loved their wives and were actively involved in their children’s lives. It would be hard to ask them—even Bobby—to pack up and head to Shanghai for six months or so to open up the Asian market.

  But Seth? He was unattached. No wife, no children. Just a restless wanderlust and an up-to-date passport.

  That night, after he had pulled Kate on top of him and teased her breasts until she cried out with a shattering orgasm, he lay in the dark, listening to her breathe and feeling her warm body pressed against his. He decided he wouldn’t tell her about the possibility of Asia. Not yet, anyway. It was still several months away, and he had to get the museum project going first.

  Which meant he had several more months of nights like this.

  Twelve

  Just like it had every Saturday for the last three weeks, Kate’s heart sped up when Seth Bolton walked into Zanger Realty. Today was no exception.

  Rain had dampened his hair and a few stray drops clung to his eyelashes, and he was impossibly more handsome now than he’d ever been. When his gaze locked on hers from across the office, she could see how much he’d been waiting for this moment, too.

  Because she had been waiting for him.

  “Ms. Burroughs,” he said, his voice going right through her.

  “Good morning, Mr. Bolton.” It was a little game they played, pretending to be professional when there might be someone else around, even though Harold Zanger rarely came into the office on Saturdays. She stood. “We have a busy day ahead of us—two industrial properties I think will work for you. And after that, are you ready to buy a house?”

  He was buying the home on Bitter Root. Her house—although it wasn’t hers. Soon, it would be his.

  She’d always known she’d be sad when that house sold. But oddly, she was happy that if anyone else had to buy it, it was Seth. He’d take good care of it.

  His eyes darkened as his gaze swept over her body. Because he was buying a house today, she had splurged on some new clothes that fit—she’d get her commission before the bills came due. The broomstick skirt with an elastic waist and the tunic top with a deep vee at the neck weren’t outright maternity clothes, but she had read that it was a wise financial investment to buy regular clothing one size larger than she had been wearing because she would probably need them after she had t
he baby.

  And although she knew this wasn’t a committed relationship, she wanted to look her best for Seth. She couldn’t do anything about her rapidly changing body—although Seth seemed to appreciate her new curves far more than she did—but by God she could at least put on flattering clothes. And lingerie. The new lacy black bra—yet another size up—and the matching panties made her feel like she could still be sexy.

  Especially when Seth looked at her like that.

  “I’m certainly looking forward to celebrating my new home,” he said, his voice low. “You look amazing today, Kate.”

  She felt his words—and his desire—in her chest. Everywhere. A shiver went through her—the kind of shiver that promised better things to come. “I’ve always found home ownership to be inspiring.” She couldn’t wait until the ink was dry on the legal documents and the key to his new house was in his hands. Normally, she would buy clients a gift basket to welcome them to their new home—a candle, a few knickknacks that seemed to match the personalities of the buyers.

  Today? She wanted to welcome him to his new home in ways that had nothing to do with candles.

  His grin deepened and he took another step into the office, leaving wet footprints on the carpet behind him. “Incredibly inspiring,” he agreed. “But assuming the rain moves off, we’ll need to make a small side trip.”

  “Oh?”

  His grin tightened and suddenly he looked nervous. “My sister’s regular game got delayed because of the storm, but it’s supposed to clear off soon. I promised I’d try to stop by. If they win today, they’re in the championship.”

  “This is Julie, right?” They’d talked some about their families, but only enough to scratch the surface. What could she say about her parents? Her mother was a doormat and her father was a steamroller?

  His family life seemed vastly more complicated. The man outright dismissed the notion of living in one place for more than six months at a time and yet he was the most devoted big brother she’d ever met. For a man who wasn’t the least interested in setting down roots, he was perfectly happy to spend a crazy amount of money on a luxury home.

  After a month of spending time with Seth, she was no closer to understanding him, really.

  “Yeah. She and my cousins make up half the starting line. We won’t have to stay for the whole game, but I do want to put in an appearance.”

  She was not looking for anything more permanent. She wasn’t. She was appreciating this time with Seth as the gift it was. But still, his offer to include her in a family thing warmed her.

  Wait a minute. “Will your parents be there?”

  He dropped his gaze. “Yeah. The whole family will be.”

  Oh, dear. Of course, once she had figured out she would be spending time with Seth, she had looked up the reality show the Boltons had done a number of years ago—even catching glimpses of the teenage Seth working with his father.

  Seth had been a cute boy on the verge of manhood then—but the Boltons? Billy was like an angry grizzly bear, Ben Bolton glowered sullenly anytime a camera was shoved in his face, and Bobby? Well, the last Bolton brother wasn’t dangerous-looking like his brothers—but he was smooth and sharp and good on camera. And their father? He was the epitome of every tough old biker ever.

  And Seth wanted her to meet these people?

  “We don’t have to,” he said into the silence. “They can be overwhelming—trust me, I know.”

  It was tempting to say that they wouldn’t have time for a side trip. Or to say she wasn’t dressed for standing in a wet field. Or that she wasn’t feeling up to it. All of those would be perfectly fine excuses to save her from meeting the Boltons en masse. Because meeting the whole family—that felt huge. Far too big for a casual relationship like the one she and Seth had.

  But family was forever. Or, for a long time—until they disowned you, anyway. And she’d feel terrible if she caused any sort of trouble for him with his extended family just because she might be a little intimidated by a group of bikers. He was willing to go above and beyond for his family, and she couldn’t fault him for that. If anything, she admired him all the more.

  So despite her misgivings, she put on a smile and said, “We can do that. But we better get going if we want to have time.”

  * * *

  When Seth opened her car door for her, she was past panic and straight over into stark terror. “You’re not introducing me as your girlfriend,” she told him, staring at his hand. “That’s not what this is, right?”

  He didn’t answer for a long moment, and she suddenly didn’t know how he’d answer that question.

  Worse, she didn’t know how she wanted him to answer that question.

  “Right,” he finally said, slow and serious. “You’re my real estate agent.”

  Oh, this was a mistake. An epic, huge, grandiose mistake.

  But she was going to make it anyway.

  After he helped her from the car, they began the long trek to the playing field. Apparently showing up late meant that they got the worst parking spot. Although she’d worn boots to walk around the potential museum sites, she still had to hold her skirt by the hem to keep it from getting wet in the tall grass.

  Which was fine because if she was holding her skirt, then she wasn’t accidentally holding Seth’s hand.

  When they reached the playing field, Kate looked around. “Is that them?”

  Most of the parents on the sidelines were regular-looking people sitting on folding chairs with coolers. But at the end of the field, there was a group of big, burly men around a cluster of pickup trucks with the tailgates down. The trucks were massive and even at this distance, she could tell they were top-of-the-line.

  And the Boltons were loud. Kate could hear them bellowing words of encouragement to the players on the field.

  “That’s them. Don’t be intimidated. They’re a lot nicer than they look. All bark, no bite—that sort of thing.”

  She shot him a look.

  They paused at midfield, and Seth turned her toward the game. “We’re rooting for the green team, the Mustangs. The forward? That’s Julie. The right guard’s Eliza and the left is Clara—my cousins. They’re unbeatable.” He said it with obvious pride when any other man his age might have been embarrassed or at least put out to have to give up part of his Saturday on a regular basis to watch little girls kick a ball around. But not him. He really did love his family.

  The thought made Kate unexpectedly sad. She hadn’t played soccer when she was young—but she’d had dance recitals and choir concerts, and had even acted in a few plays in high school. Her mom had come—but not her dad.

  As they watched, Eliza passed the ball to Clara, who faked out a player on the other team and then kicked the ball to Julie, who bounced it off her chest and then kicked it in just past the goalie. The green team erupted into cheers—as did the parents on the sidelines. Especially the group of Boltons at the end of the field. Seth let out a tremendous whoop and the girls on the field pivoted as one and waved at him before their coach bellowed something and they all trotted off down the field.

  “They seem pretty good,” Kate said as they began to make their way toward his family—and her doom.

  No, no—not her doom. Just a really awkward meeting with her not-boyfriend’s parents. No need to panic.

  “The Mustangs came in second in the championship last year. I think they’re going to win it this year. Julie’s unstoppable and Eliza is a monster on the field.”

  Kate kept an eye on the game. Julie and Eliza looked a great deal like each other but Clara? Kate had a feeling that if they all stood still next to each other, she’d be able to see the resemblance, but Clara was much lighter in coloring than the other two.

  And then it was too late to turn back because the biggest of the three men stood up from the ta
ilgate and bellowed, “Seth! About damn time. Where the hell have you been?”

  Kate recognized him. It was Billy Bolton, the biggest and meanest-looking of the brothers. He was older than he’d been in the reality show, his grizzled beard shot with silver—but he was still a force to be reckoned with.

  Then Billy’s gaze landed on Kate and she froze like a deer in the headlights.

  One of the women—petite and brown and who looked a great deal like Seth—put her hand on Billy’s knee. “Language, honey.”

  A kid about eight or so looked up from the book he was reading. “Seth is here? Yeah!” He hopped up and gave Seth a high five and immediately began telling him about some complicated...card game? Kate couldn’t tell.

  A little girl, maybe five, squirmed out of Ben Bolton’s arms and came charging up to Seth, who caught her easily. “Set!” she crowed. “Spin me!”

  Kate’s heart clenched at the sight of Seth making a little girl squeal with joy while simultaneously carrying on a very important conversation with a kid. Of course he was great with kids. He was perfect, apparently.

  And she was...not.

  The woman who’d shushed Billy Bolton stood and made her way over to Kate and instantly, every hair on the back of Kate’s neck stood up in warning. “Ignore my husband. Hi, I’m Jenny Bolton. And you are?”

  “Kate.” Kate swallowed, trying to remember who she was supposed to be right now. But that wasn’t easy because every single pair of eyes at this tailgate party were now staring at her. Two other women, both about the same age as Jenny Bolton, closed ranks, standing behind Jenny. “Kate Burroughs,” she finally remembered when the one woman with long, dark brown hair raised an eyebrow at her. “Of Zanger Realty. I’m Mr. Bolton’s real estate agent.”

  Someone snorted, but Kate kept her focus on the women. Because it suddenly occurred to her—why had she been worried about the Bolton brothers?

  She should have been worried about the Bolton women. Including but not limited to the three younger ones running up and down the field.