“It would make me feel better,” I said.
Bryn managed a weak smile but nodded. “Alright.”
“Good. Come on.”
I stood and reached for her hands. She looked at them for a beat, then lifted her eyes to me before resting her fingertips on mine. I helped her to her feet and resisted the urge to gather her up against me. She was so close, so beautiful, and all I wanted to do was hold her.
Part of me was expecting to walk out of the kitchen and find my family hovering there pretending to be totally casual. But we managed to get down the hall into the lobby without running into any of them.
“If my parents or any of my brothers ask about me, let them know I’m gone for the day,” I told the receptionist.
She nodded, and Bryn and I headed outside. Her car was parked close to mine, but I didn’t want her driving. Not that being pregnant spontaneously diminished her ability to operate a vehicle. She was just so upset and distracted, I felt better having her stay close to me.
We didn’t talk through the drive. Instead, I spent the time trying to figure out how I felt about the whole situation. No matter how hard I tried to make them, my feelings for Bryn had never gone away. If anything, they had only gotten stronger.
My talk with Lindsey the other night had had a major effect on me. She wasn’t pushy and hadn’t tried to force anything on me, but it had seemed so clear to her. And she wanted to make me think about it the way I should have all along.
If someone asked me point-blank if I was ready to settle down and see myself in a firm, permanent commitment, I would say no. The reality, however, was that would probably always be my response. There would always be something that would make me say I wasn’t ready, just the way there was something that made most people question if they were ready for marriage or children.
There were always going to be those moments of hesitation. But when Lindsey confronted me about Bryn, I realized the hesitation was all about me. Not her. It was wondering if I was good enough. Did I have what it took to be a good boyfriend? A good husband? Would I be able to take care of her in every way she needed? Would I pay enough attention to her? Too much attention to her? Would I make her happy? Years from now, would she wonder if she had made a mistake in choosing me?
It was all so much to think about, but the more I did, the more I realized how strong my feelings for Bryn were. Never in my life had I felt that way about any woman. No one had fascinated me the way she did. No one had challenged me and tempted me the way she did. I could envision myself with her in a way I never thought I would be able to envision myself with anyone.
But now there was a whole new level to it. As I drove toward my house, I tried to piece it all together. I delved deep into my thoughts and emotions, trying to figure out how I felt about all of it. But I was just confused.
When we got to my house, I brought Bryn inside and settled her down in the living room. Once her shoes were off and she was reclined back against the arm of the sofa, her legs stretched out in front of her and a pillow propped behind her back, I went into the kitchen. I poured a glass of juice and emptied a sleeve of crackers onto a plate. Carrying them back into the living room with me, I set them on the table in front of her.
“I don’t really have any memories of my mother being pregnant with Darren except for when she had a big, round belly and I couldn’t sit on her lap anymore. But I spent a lot of time with Lindsey when she was carrying Remy. I was the only person other than his father and his family she told, so I was with her as much as I could be, so she didn’t have to be alone.”
“Did she have a hard pregnancy?” Bryn asked.
“Not really,” I said, sitting down on the end of the couch near her feet. “She had a fairly easy go of it as far as pregnancies go, I think. But early on she was queasy. Something I remember her telling me was that drinking water actually made her feel worse.”
She looked at me strangely. “My doctor went on and on about making sure I stayed hydrated and how that would help me feel better.”
“Yep. Hers told her the same thing. Apparently, she kept trying to do that, and every time she drank a bunch of water, or drank water first thing in the morning, it made her feel sick. So, she talked to a midwife who told her to drink juice instead. She did and it fixed her right up.”
Bryn looked at the glass in her hands. “Thank you.”
I nodded. We sat in silence for a few moments. There were so many things I wanted to know, so many questions bubbling up inside me, but I held them back. She would speak when she was ready to. For as much as my thoughts were churning around, hers had to be just as much, if not more. After all, she was the one who just found out she was sharing her body with another living being. And that she was responsible for that little life coming into this world safely. It was a lot to handle.
After a long stretch, she took a sip of her juice, set the glass down, and looked at me.
“Do you remember the first time I asked you to come to my house?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. You weren’t feeling well, so you wanted me to come over and talk about everything.”
“Right. At that point, I had a stomach virus. It had been going on for a few days, and it was awful. I went to my doctor, and she said that particular virus was really bad this year and I had a nasty case of it. She told me to go home, get rest, drink fluids, the usual spiel. And I did, and I felt better. But then I started feeling sick and exhausted all the time again.”
“After our night together,” I said.
She pressed her lips together and gave a single sharp nod. “Right. The nurse I talked to said it could be that I caught the virus again, or that I wasn’t fully recovered to begin with, or that it was just stress. Only, it didn’t get better. The day I came to your office to give you the check for my seed money, I had an appointment with the doctor.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
“Because I didn’t think this was what it was going to be. I thought the nurse was right and I was experiencing too much stress. It didn’t even cross my mind I could be pregnant. We only had that one night together, and I was on birth control. But—” She held out her hands to her sides, then let them drop to her lap. “—here we are.”
“How are you feeling?”
She shrugged. “Better. Still really tired, and there are mornings when I wake up really sick. But it’s almost like since I know what it is now, it’s not as bad. Like my brain was making me feel worse so I would go find out what was wrong.”
“That’s not so crazy.”
We fell into silence, and I didn’t push it. There was a lot more we needed to talk about, but it didn’t have to be now. I let the quiet calm us both and soon noticed Bryn’s eyes drifting closed. I didn’t even realize I had fallen asleep, too, until I opened my eyes. The clock on the wall read three in the morning, and Bryn was sound asleep, curled up in a ball with her head rested on the arm of the couch.
I got up carefully and took a folded blanket out of the basket sitting at the end of the couch, a housewarming gift from my mother when I first bought the house. Apparently, no living room is complete without a basket of blankets. And they should definitely be changed out seasonally to match the rest of the decor. For me that meant no decor at all, so it saved me a lot of blanket-changing time.
That night, I unfolded a soft white chenille throw and draped it carefully over Bryn. She sighed slightly in her sleep and snuggled down deeper into the couch. I watched her for a few seconds before going to my room and climbing in bed.
27
Bryn
I might have gotten used to waking up not feeling one hundred percent. Whether it was feeling a little bit queasy and dizzy, or having to make a full-on sprint for the bathroom, being sick first thing when I opened my eyes had gotten to be pretty much the norm. But somehow that made it even stranger when what I woke up dealing with was sore, tight muscles down along the sides of my neck.
The pain came before I opened m
y eyes. I also felt warm and cozy, and I wanted to just snuggle back down deep, pull the blanket up over my head, and keep sleeping. But something didn’t feel right. I didn’t have a blanket with that texture, and this definitely wasn’t my bed. Confused, I opened my eyes and looked around.
Just as I was remembering I had come to Nick’s house the day before and realizing I must have fallen asleep after our conversation, I heard a noise in the next room. Seconds later, he appeared, carrying a tray. Several plates and cups filled every inch of the tray, overhanging the sides. As he walked toward me, I worried it wasn’t all going to make it. But he succeeded in getting all the way across the room and lowering the tray to the table.
Sitting up straighter, I watched him unload the enormous breakfast. Eggs, waffles, home fries, grits, sausage, bacon, fruit, and a bowl of biscuits and gravy sat alongside another glass of juice, a glass of milk, and a mug that smelled like rich, robust coffee. I looked at the mug, then at Nick.
“Decaf,” he said as if he could read my mind. “I went out this morning and got you some.”
“You did all this for me?” I asked.
“Well, yeah,” he said, giving me a sheepish shrug. “I wanted to take care of you.”
The smile on his face made me melt. Any worries I had about how he would feel about the baby were gone in that simple smile. I picked up a fork and scooped up some of the eggs. They were perfectly cooked and had a hint of buttery saltiness that made my stomach rumble with hunger. I was glad I wasn’t having a bad bout of sickness that day.
Nick went back into the kitchen and returned with his own, much more reasonable plate of breakfast. He was evidently taking the whole eating for two concept very much to heart. Of course, it seemed the two he was trying to feed was two sports teams of some kind. But I more than appreciated the gesture. It was so sweet and thoughtful. More than I could have hoped for.
After I ate everything I could, Nick gathered up my plates and his on the tray and brought them back into the kitchen.
“Do you mind if I grab a shower?” I asked.
“Of course not,” Nick said.
He came out of the kitchen and brought me to a bathroom that was nearly the size of my living room at my house. Trish wasn’t exaggerating his money. Yet there was something warm and comforting about his home that didn’t feel distanced like I would expect from somebody with that kind of wealth. He opened the closet and showed me where to find towels and necessities, then stepped out of the room.
When he came back a few moments later, he was carrying a shirt and pair of sweatpants. He set them on the counter and closed the door behind him. As I showered, my mind wouldn’t quiet down. Thoughts I shouldn’t have been having, but that the water kept bringing up rushed through my brain. By the time I got out, there was nothing stopping me.
Forgoing the clothes he left for me, I wrapped a towel around myself and headed out into the house. I followed the sound of a TV until I found Nick in his bedroom, folding laundry on his bed. He quirked an eyebrow at me, looking me up and down like he was taking in the towel. I let go of it and let it glide down my body and drop to the floor.
“Are you sure?” he asked, taking the laundry basket off the bed and setting it down on the floor.
“I’m sure.”
Nick bounded from the bed and took me into his arms, and I fell into him. Our lips crushed against one another as he lifted me and spun me for a moment, elation and emotion mixing with the raw primal desire bubbling just under the surface. I savored the taste of his lips on mine, wanting to capture the moment, to bottle it and revisit it again later. But something told me I wouldn’t have to. There would be more moments, so many more. I needn’t stress over capturing this one and holding it pristine in my mind. It was just one of many to come.
Letting myself sink into the moment, relieving myself of the pressure of remembering every detail, I felt my body mold into his clutch. My naked breasts, still damp and warm from the shower I had stood too long in, pressed against his hard pectorals, and I delighted in the strength in the arms that held me aloft. I was safe. I was protected. I was desired.
Nick turned me in midair and gently lowered me to the bed. I sat back, watching him as he tore at his clothes, enjoying the view of his body revealing itself to me piece by piece. When his shirt was crumpled on the floor, his slacks hanging on the arm of a chair and his socks tossed behind him, I reached forward to grab him by the hips and pull him toward me. I pressed my lips to his stomach, letting my tongue slide out and trail along the muscles of his abdomen. Sliding my hands down, letting my fingertips run along the edges of his muscles, I grasped the waistband of his boxers and pulled them down.
His cock sprung out at me, hard and thick. There was no mistaking his arousal at seeing my nude body on the bed. My nipples perked, and goosebumps rose along my arm in response. I craved the taste of his skin, the musk of his massive cock on my tongue, and wasted no time plunging him between my lips. His hips pressed forward, and his body tensed as my soft lips wrapped around his staff, and I lathered him with my tongue. He groaned deeply, and I opened my eyes to look up at him in time to see him throw his head back momentarily before bringing his gaze back down to me. Our eyes locked on each other as I stroked him into my mouth.
Nick slid one hand down behind my head and gripped my hair. I relaxed my movements and let him guide me, and his hips began to slowly thrust forward. The head of his engorged cock brushed the back of my throat, and I tried to take him all the way in but choked occasionally. When he pulled me away from him, I looked up to his face, scrunched in concentration and pleasure, and he pulled me up to him.
When I was on my feet, he kissed me hard and pushed me back further onto the bed. I scooted back until I was near the pillows, and Nick grinned as he reached behind me and grabbed one. Pulling me up by my ass, he slid one underneath me, and I lay back, spreading my knees apart to accept him. But instead of climbing between me and filling me with his thick cock, he curled downward, pressing his lips between my breasts. Trailing kisses down my center, he slid his tongue out to brush on the sensitive area of my inner thigh. Blowing a warm stream of air brought my goose bumps back, and I squirmed at the sensation. He was taking his time now, unhurried and in control.
I relaxed and concentrated on the sensation of his lips on my skin. His tongue flicked out and traced the lips of my core, and I cried out. Fingers tightened on my upper thighs as he held me in place on the pillow, angled so he could reach me more easily. Achingly slowly, his wandering tongue found the pearl at my center, and a lightning bolt of pleasure corkscrewed up my spine and lit my senses on fire. I inhaled sharply as he nudged it until the hood opened. One hand slid away from my thigh, and a fingertip traced its way to my opening, sliding inside easily and making me cry out again.
A powerful orgasm was only seconds away. I could feel the tension building inside me, threatening to explode, to flow through me like a burst dam, and I pressed down into it. I wanted to hold nothing back, not to try to force myself to wait or control myself. He could do whatever he wanted with me and I would respond in only the language of ecstasy, of passion, of overwhelming pleasure. His fingertip found the upper walls of my core and brushed them quickly as his tongue slid through my folds, swirling around my clit, and I clenched the sheets of the bed, pulling them up as my legs squeezed around his neck. Finally, the dam burst, the tension released, and a powerful wave rolled through me, making me arch my back and my toes curl as my feet pointed to the sky.
A groan of appreciation between my thighs told me he knew and enjoyed it. He was worshiping me with his tongue, exalting me in bringing my body to a powerful climax. I filled my hands with his hair, pulling him up in desperation. My clit could only handle so much stimulation, and I needed him inside me. I needed him to fill me. He kissed his way to my lips, and I wrapped my thighs around his hips as his cock nudged against my opening. My hot, waiting pussy throbbed in anticipation, and I released our kiss to make my way to his earlobe.
>
“Please,” I whispered, “get inside me.”
Nick moaned deeply in his chest as the words echoed between us, and he plunged inside. Momentarily I lost the ability to think as his impossibly large cock filled me so much I feared I might rip apart. The pain of my walls stretching, aching at the invasion of his thick, pulsing cock, swirled together in a fantastic orgy of pleasure. Spots danced in my closed eyes, and I forced myself to breathe as he held himself there. Suddenly I realized I was making a sound, a high, songlike note that ended with a wisp of a breath. A stolen voice, lost to the moment.
I opened my eyes and met his and clenched around him. I didn’t need words, and neither did he. Our bodies knew what we needed. He let his hips slide back and then plunge into me again, and this time the stretching sensation was less intense. I molded around him, adjusting to him, and if I had my way, I would do so, like clay, forever. His cock pounded into me as he gained speed and confidence that I wouldn’t simply pass out where I lay. Sitting back on his knees, he began to plow into me, my hips still raised on the pillow giving him deeper access than before, and I clawed at the wall behind me in an effort to grab something solid to hold on to. The head of his engorged staff was pressing against my back walls, and I felt like if I didn’t have something to push into, he would run me through.
Soon, his rhythm became steady, and I felt adjusted, and now the hard thrusts only brought more pleasure and built more tension for another earth-shattering climax. I reached for him, and he pulled me up so I was resting on his muscular thighs while he held my ass in his hands. I rose myself up and settled back down, taking control of our motions, and he took a breast into his mouth. As I rode him, he suckled on my nipple, his tongue swirling around it and bringing it to an even tighter peak than before.
My hips moved faster as the oncoming orgasm pushed me along. I wanted the release again. I rode him harder, his grip tightening around my round ass and guiding me, letting me know if I needed or wanted, that he could take control again. I could feel the climax coming like I was sinking underwater, and I took a deep breath in, clenching my arms around his neck. Nick’s breath became labored, and I knew he was close too. I moaned in increasingly higher yelps, and his voice soon joined me, grunts of pleasure.
Millionaire Hero (Freeman Brothers Book 4) Page 14