“Yep. And if I was misunderstanding our previous conversation, please correct me.” He pulled her into his arms and cradled her head in his hands. “But were we fighting about both of us wanting to be together?”
She felt her face heat up as he leaned down to capture her lips and walked her to the bed.
“I don’t want to leave you.” He kissed her neck. “There are too many things I want to do to you.” He added another kiss, this time on her collarbone. “To prove that to you I’m going to fuck you until you lose your voice.”
“But I have customers downstairs.” She gasped as her fingers held tight to his shoulders.
“Then they will never question where I want to be.”
Merryn screwed her face at him.
“Everyone’s gone. Bea closed up shop. Now, can I get back to where I want to be?”
“And where’s that?” she asked as her heart pounded loudly and she felt like she was underwater.
“Deep inside you.” Stripping down her pants, he trailed kisses down the outside of her thigh as her pants came down her leg and he knelt before her. Her fingers ran through his hair and he removed his shirt before moving inside to kiss is way back up her body. With nimble fingers, he moved his hands under her shirt and along her ribs tickling as he went.
Squirming, he held her still as she stood with the bed against the back of her legs. His tongue circled her belly button and she let out a sigh again, trying to move to sit down but he held her up.
“Moving is not allowed,” he commanded.
She gazed down into his dark eyes as he stayed on his knees before her.
“Turn around.”
“You just said I couldn’t move.”
“Moving is not allowed without my permission.”
Heat pooled in her belly at having Austin turn on the commander routine. She hadn’t thought it would be so sexy coming from a man in blue jeans and…well, he didn’t have a shirt on now. Her fingers outlined the muscles in his shoulders as she turned around. His hand caressed her backside before giving it a small smack that stung and sent a jolt directly to her clit. His lips kissed the tingling area then traveled to the other cheek where he nipped at her skin. She swallowed hard and her hands braced her on the bed.
His hand came between her legs, then toyed with her clit. Another sweet sting of pleasure made her belly tighten right before his fingers found their way inside her. Moving in and out, she tried to hold back her enjoyment as he toyed with her sex with one hand while the other lightly grazed her skin setting it aflame. Hovering over her flesh, she soon lost where he ended and she began. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she bent her back and rode the climax to its apex.
Lost in the moment, she moaned and in one fluid motion, he removed his fingers and soon she was filled with his hardness. Light thrusts at first as his hands held her body close to his. The mist of sweat covering both their bodies created a lubricant as his chest was pressed against her back.
She turned her head and saw him enjoying the feel of her as she surrounded his cock. He caught her gaze and leaned down to claim her once and for all as his. Their mouths fused as hot jets rocketed inside her body and she knew in that moment, they would never be apart.
Chapter Twelve
“I can’t believe you distracted me like that,” Austin teased as they lay in bed together with the sunset streaming through the window. “That is so immature.”
“Exactly how did I distract you?” she asked.
He grinned as he played with her hair. “If I remember correctly, you looked at me.”
“Was it my come hither stare?”
“Show me it…but be warned, I will not be able to control myself if it’s the one I think it is.”
Merryn rolled on her side, stuck out her tongue, and crossed her eyes.
“That is close,” he said. “And it’s all I can do to not be overwhelmed by your sexiness right now.”
“How about this?” she asked before doing a dramatic fall back of her head then batting her eyes at him.
“Nope.”
“This has to be it,” she said as she screwed her lips to the side and closed one eye.
“Again, not what did me in.”
“Then I don’t know.” She sighed and looked at him straight on.
“That’s the one,” he said as his hand traveled up her side. “Irresistible.”
“This one?” she asked pointing at her face.
He gave her light kiss. “Yep, I can’t help wanting you.”
“That explains all the big tips.” She laughed.
“Well, I know how to combat this.”
“How is that?” she asked.
He pulled a knit hat that she had on the bedpost off and pulled it down over her face.
“This could make our relationship harder, don’t you think?” she asked.
“Nope, when I want sex I’ll just pull up the cap like so.” He did and as if on cue, he began to harden again, but he knew his limits and he blew past those a half hour ago. Now, he needed to deal with what he had originally came here for. “Merryn, show me the other apartment.”
“It would be easier if you wouldn’t screw me into exhaustion.”
“If I wait until morning, I’ll get distracted again.”
“You’re lucky I’m hungry,” she mumbled as she snagged his t-shirt off the floor and pulled it over her head. It fell just enough to cover her ass.
Damn, why couldn’t he be shorter?
She grabbed an apple from her kitchen table, then her purse and went out into the hallway. “I refuse to be a landlord,” she said as she dug through her purse and flipped through her keychain.
“Why do you even lock it?” he asked. “The door to outside is locked tight.”
“Let’s see…it’s probably been two years since I went in here, so I don’t know. It’s just a little place.” With a shove she opened the door with a loud groan. “See it doesn’t want me here.”
“Isn’t that your Christmas tree?” he asked pointing to the green bag in the corner.
“Two years, four months whatever. I don’t come in here, but feel free to look at where you won’t be living.”
The apartment had a similar set up to hers with the bathrooms adjoined, by his best estimate. This would work perfectly. They could set it up to seal off the outer doors, so Trinity couldn’t sneak out and she could have the back bedroom and they could expand…maybe even refigure the whole upstairs.
“Are you done?” she asked placing her purse on the counter in the kitchen that didn’t have any appliances.
“What do you think? Ten, maybe twenty thousand.”
“Thousand what? Dollars? A month, maybe I’ll rethink this whole landlord business.”
“To gut it and make your little apartment one big one.”
“And why would I do that?”
“So Trinity could have a place to stay when she visits.”
Merryn bit her bottom lip as she craned her neck to check out the extra space.
The building had been there for a century with little to no updating since, he assumed, somewhere in the late nineteen twenties. “We’ll need a baby gate,” he said as he looked out into the hall.
“Why?” Merryn asked and her voice caught in her throat.
“Did you forget about Bo?” he asked.
“Bo.” Relief resounded in her voice.
“If we open this all up to make one big room, he can run and play. I’d hate for him to feel cramped in our apartment.”
“Our apartment?” she repeated with a lost look in her eyes. “How soon would this be our apartment?”
“A few months of construction and it would be a great place to call home. Two bedrooms. Or we could turn this whole part into our room with our own large—what’s that word they use on those home improvement shows.”
“En suite?” she asked.
He could see the vision coming to her. “Yeah, you could have an even bigger closet.”
; “I left a closet bigger than this whole upper floor. That’s the last thing I want, but tell me what exactly are you going to do to lift your weight around here? Last time I checked, you weren’t a contractor.”
“But I can paint.”
“Well knock a hundred bucks off that reno cost.” Merryn laughed.
“Maybe you could teach me to cook.”
“No one cooks, but me.”
“I could run the register,” he suggested. “I heard a rumor about Kristy is moving to Des Moines with her boyfriend.”
“I haven’t,” Merryn said. “But it does explain her current rush of availability. She hates giving bad news, so she tends to go overboard.” Merryn started pulling open cabinets and dusting off the counters. “You really want to do this? The whole being serious and grown ups.”
“There is nothing you could do that would make me go away.”
“What if I told you I’ll probably be extremely depressed in a few weeks and need to cry for about a month…maybe two, but I’d ask you to not pry.”
“I’d wonder why, but do you think you’d get over it?” he asked the call from her doctor came forth from his memory.
“I’m sure I will.”
“Will you tell me why you’re sad?”
“No reason to break both our hearts.”
He pulled up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Merryn, please tell me what’s going on. Those tests, we haven’t had time to talk since then. Between the funeral and Trinity being here, this is the first normal day we’ve had.”
Her hand went into her purse and pulled out an envelope. Placing it on the counter, she looked at him then walked out of the apartment.
He opened the top flap and pulled out a set of test results as a black and white picture floated to the ground. Dropping to one knee, he looked at the small white dot that had the label Baby Sota next to it. He dropped the paperwork on the floor and slid down, so his back was braced by the lower cabinets. Staring at the ultrasound picture, he circled the dot. His dot. His child. Why would Merryn be depressed? She couldn’t get pregnant, this should be a blessing. He thought back to the conversation about her first husband and their attempts to conceive. She told him even if she could get pregnant she wouldn’t be able to carry the child. The paperwork lay dormant and the floor and he made out something on the second page.
Treatment Plan. He scanned the document discussing her high risk pregnancy. Steps she’d need to take to keep the baby and her chance of losing it. On another page, he noticed a history citing she’d lost five pregnancies already.
The shock of having another child numbed his brain. This apartment idea wouldn’t be enough. They’d need a house. A real one with a backyard and—five. Merryn had lost five children. Erik had left her because of it.
Pulling himself up, he steadied his wobbly legs as he walked into the apartment.
Merryn stood looking out the round windows as she sat in the window seat. The last of the sun bathed her in a halo and she’d never looked more beautiful in his t-shirt with her smooth legs crossed.
“Marry me.”
* * * *
If he would’ve asked her ten minutes before, her answer would have been yes, a thousand times over. Now, she feared he was asking out of obligation and the only thing he knew to do when he knocked a girl up. She didn’t move. Instead, she hugged the pillow closer and watched, as two women were power walking their way across the street.
“Merryn?” he said. “Do you hear me?”
“Why now?” she asked. “Why now and not this morning?”
“This isn’t because of the baby,” he stammered a little as he spoke and she heard the floor creek telling her he’d moved closer. “I swear. I just walked in here and you look…Marry me.”
“Austin, I’ve lost every child. Would you want to marry the woman who can’t bare your child?”
“I want to marry you, the woman I love. I hope our baby survives. I’ll do anything to help in that process, but no matter what, I want to marry you.
“Part of me thinks this time, it’ll be different. I’ve never made it to nine…wait, ten weeks before.” A lump burned in her throat as she tried to not think of the past. She wasn’t sitting in a mansion on the beach. She was looking out a window in a town with less people than her first apartment complex had. Although the place had changed her body that had been detoxified, poked and prodded to be given the best chance of carrying a child had always failed. She wasn’t sure she could survive after failing Austin. Not now, that he knew. Why had she told him? Had she wanted him to hold her after she lost their child? Or to tell her he still loved her, as his eyes checked out?
“I’m not afraid of losing anything but you,” he said and she felt his breath on her neck. “I love you Merryn, you don’t have to marry me, but please don’t look at this blessing as a curse.”
“How long?” she asked as her breath caught. “How long have you loved me?”
“It would be a hell of a lot cheaper to make egg salad than buy it.”
“Why did you make me wait so long?”
“Because I was afraid, but you gave me strength. We’ll get through this.”
“I’m not strong,” she said as she turned and fell into his arms.
“Then I’ll be strong for the both of us.” He cradled her against his chest and then picked her up, carrying her to the couch. “Tell me about our baby,” he commanded as he stroked her hair back.
“What do you mean?”
“How is it doing and why is this the first of heard of the little nubbin?”
“Nubbin?” she asked liking the nickname more than she should have. “It is ten weeks old.”
“Ten huh?” Austin counted back on his fingers then looked at her with a smirk. “Valentine’s Day…You and I wandering into the Buddy’s and stumbled home.”
“I remember knocking off a few more of your to do to Merryn list.”
“A few.” He smiled and placed his hand on her belly. “Tell me more about our baby.”
They talked for over an hour and Merryn had to admit she felt more at ease about the baby then she ever had with Erik. Austin wiped away her tears when she talked of her fears and kissed her as he told her she had never looked more beautiful. They turned on the TV when she told him she couldn’t talk anymore about the future.
When a commercial came on, he tapped her knee. “We will take each day as a blessing that nubbin is in our life. If he leaves us before we get to hold him, he still gave us this moment where we could dream of his dark hair and potential.”
“His? You tend to make little girls.”
“I do, don’t I?” he smiled. “Damn cute ones too.”
“Can’t disagree with that.”
He crawled up her body until he came to her hips. “Hey you in there,” he said as he kissed her stomach. “Do me a favor. Grow big and strong and come out and play with me. You’ll be mommy’s little Thanksgiving turkey.”
“Now the nubbin’s a turkey?” She laughed.
“Yep, we’re calling you Tom, girl or boy.”
“Really?” Merryn laughed. “I think we’ll wait a bit on that one.”
“Think about it…Tom the turkey or Thomasenia…she’ll sound so exotic.”
“No rushing remember?”
“I remember, it’s so hard. You know I’m like a little kid.”
“That explains how I got knocked up.”
“I love you,” he said for the hundredth time since she told him she was pregnant. “But I need to warn you about one thing.”
“And that is?”
“I will not only spoil you rotten, but I’ll be extremely protective of you.”
“Because I’m carrying your child?”
“No,” he said and looked her dead in the eye.
Her heart skipped a beat, as the dark eyes she’d found nothing but solace from, blinked once before his lips formed the words she needed to hear. “I want you to know what it’s like to be married t
o me, because one day I’m going to convince you that not only do I love you more than anyone else in the world, but you love me too.”
Epilogue
“Merryn, I swear to God, if you put one more of those pies in the oven I’m going to throw you over my shoulder and drag you out of here.”
Merryn eyed Austin as she placed six pies in the oven then turned to him. “Now, I want to see you haul me,” she challenged as she rubbed her hand over her swollen belly.
All their hopes and dreams were wrapped up in a tiny little baby that probably weighed all of six pounds. She’d been having contractions all week, but she couldn’t disappoint the kids at school. When he tried to stop her, she looked at him and held his face in her hands telling him in ten years, their little nubbin would be raising money for a field trip.
He couldn’t imagine a more wonderful thing. Even though at this point in time, he’d never look at another pie. It was the first thing she’d let him help with in the kitchen and if he hadn’t been in awe of her before, he now had mad respect for her abilities.
Her face reddened and she curled into herself again.
“That’s it,” he ordered pointing to the door. “Seven minutes apart.”
They’d gotten past the magical thirty-six week mark. In fact, Merryn was officially a week and five days overdue. Making up for all the lost babies before. Although she’d still not married him, they had opened up the apartment and now had a room for Trinity and a nursery decorated in neutral colors and a frog theme. She drew the line at the turkey. Sometimes, she’s no fun. At least, she agreed the baby would be a Larsen.
“Waterloo is not that far away.” Her face suddenly paled and both he and Beatrice stared at her. “I think I peed my pants.”
“I doubt it.” Beatrice laughed. “Get her some new pants and she won’t even think about saying no now.”
“Why am I scared?” she asked as he traveled double time up the spiral staircase to their home. He wanted to go back down and comfort her, but Beatrice would handle that. Just like she’d take care of closing up shop after all the pies were made. Summer and Beatrice would also take care of delivery. All this, he would have to explain a dozen times to keep Merryn calm until she delivered.
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