ACER final

by Hargrove, A.

  “Mmm hmm.” She yawned and stretched, reminding me of a cat.

  I reached for my phone and called Raiden.

  “Little Guy. What’s up?”

  “Can we use your mountain house to get married in?”

  “Wow. That’s awesome. When?”

  “Four weeks from today.”

  “Four weeks. Isn’t that a little fast?”

  “Not by my thinking. I’ve been trying to get a date out of this woman forever.”

  Raiden chuckled. “For a minute there I thought she might be pregnant.”

  “Well, there is that too.”

  I heard some weird noises and then he said, “Sorry, I dropped the phone. Did you say Isla is pregnant?”

  “She sure is. She’s going to have a Baby Kent.” I rubbed her flat belly as I spoke.

  “The Little Guy sure worked fast.”

  “What can I say?”

  “I’ll check with Cruze on the house but I’m sure it’s totally fine.”

  “Let us know ASAP so we can let both families in on it. That’s all it’s going to be, by the way.”

  “Cool with me.”

  An hour later, the phone rang and we were in.

  * * *

  I stood in front of the fireplace as Isla walked down the steps. Her brother escorted her to me and handed her off. She was able to find an almost wedding dress, as she put it, and it was perfect. Not being good at describing these things, all I know is the back was almost to the crack of her ass, which I loved, and at first I was shocked. Come to find out there was actually material there, it was just super soft and looked see-through. Apparently, they called it illusion something or other. My woman was sexy, beautiful, and everything I could’ve dreamed of.

  We were married in a simple ceremony, and then we had a nice celebration afterward with a sit-down family dinner. The two of us were staying in a fancy honeymoon suite nearby and I couldn’t wait to get her naked. Even though the dress was perfect on her, naked Isla was much better.

  The hotel sent up strawberries dipped in chocolate and alcohol-free champagne. Since neither of us drank, I’d requested it. They also sent up a vast array of goodies from a charcuterie tray to a variety of sweets. We were set for the night. We danced, fucked, ate, fucked, talked, and fucked some more.

  The best part was the massive shower where we spent a fair amount of time. Isla’s back was against the tile wall as I nailed her, and then used the handheld showerhead to make her scream. We were squeaky clean after that round.

  Isla fell into bed and was snoring in a couple of minutes. It wasn’t a loud snore but a soft sound. I took a picture of her cuddled up against me. I loved this woman with everything I had. Having a child should scare me, but it didn’t in the least. The two of us were an awesome team and we’d make a great parenting duo too.

  When the sun’s rays tried to push through the seam of the blackout curtains, I woke to see Isla eating a brownie.

  “You hungry?”

  “Yes! Let’s order pancakes, waffles, French toast, bacon, sausage, and omelets. Oh, and some orange juice.”

  “That baby is going to be gigantic.”

  “Yep, he’s going to take after his daddy.” I hadn’t been referring to that, but whatever.

  Breakfast arrived and after she’d had her fill, she said, “Acer, I’m worried.”

  “What about?”

  “After the baby comes. What will happen to all our sexy times?”

  I waved a hand. “Eh, we’ll become more creative. I’ll bang you when Baby Kent is napping.”

  She pouted. “I’m serious.”

  “I am too. We’ll overcome it. Think about it. How did my parents have four kids? People manage it all the time.”

  “But not everyone is like us.”

  I pulled her onto my lap. “What does that mean?”

  “It means, not everyone wants sex all the time.”

  “In other words, they’re not horndogs like you are.”

  “You are too.”

  “I was teasing. Like I said, we’ll manage. Trust me. My parents had their private time. We had to knock on their door. I thought they were napping or that my dad was working. I had no idea. We’ll figure it out.”

  “Promise?”

  “If you think I’m going to deprive myself of your sweet pussy, then you’ve lost your mind.”

  “Okay. Well, this sweet pussy of mine would enjoy a visit from your savage beast.”

  By the time we checked out of the bridal suite two days later, we’d managed to fuck in almost every square inch of the place. It was a honeymoon worth bragging about.

  Chapter Fifty

  ACER

  Six Months Later

  “Ughhhh, these are awful. Drive faster,” she yelled.

  “I don’t want to get into an accident. We’re almost there.”

  “How did this happen so fast? I thought it would take hours.”

  “Isla, take a deep breath.”

  “Fuck that, Acer. I want drugs.”

  “Okay. Meditation might help.” I was only suggesting things to get her through the car ride.

  “Meditation? I’m about to birth a watermelon out of my vagina and you want me to meditate? What the fuck, Acer?”

  “Maybe that wasn’t the best suggestion.”

  “Damn, skippy, it wasn’t. Ughhhhh.”

  Thank God the hospital was only a block away. This was nerve-wracking.

  A shrill scream ripped through the car. It scared me so bad I screamed too. “What the hell.”

  “I’m dying, Acer. This is awful.”

  “You scared me.”

  “Fuck you. You have this baby then.”

  And what could I say to that? I pulled into the circle drive and ran inside the hospital, yelling, “You have to help my wife. She’s having a baby.”

  No one paid any attention to me. Fuck that. I ran back out and carried her inside. “Help! Baby’s coming.” That got their attention. What was wrong with these people? Someone came with a wheelchair and wanted me to put her in it.

  “Noooo! I can’t sit. I’ll sit on Baby Kent’s head.” We didn’t know the sex, so that’s what we still called it.

  “The baby is coming?”

  “Yes,” Isla cried.

  “Nurse, we need a doctor,” the person yelled. A nurse ran out and ushered me into a room where I could lay Isla down. A doctor was paged while another fierce contraction hit her.

  “Squeeze my hand.” Isla wasn’t a large person but she was strong. While I didn’t think my hand was broken, it was surely bruised.

  While we waited on the doctor, two nurses helped Isla get her pants and underwear off. Then they covered her with a sheet.

  “Where’s the doctor? What’s taking so long?” Isla asked.

  Instead of answering, one of the nurses began taking her information. “Is this your first baby?”

  “Yes,” she bit out as another contraction hit.

  I gave them the other details they needed. The doctor moseyed in and asked, “So I hear someone is having a baby.” His casual stance pissed me off.

  What the fuck! “Yeah, she’s about to do it right here.”

  He patted my shoulder and said, “All fathers are nervous. I’m sure we have—”

  The nurses had Isla’s legs in the stirrups and one of them shouted, “Doctor, she’s crowning.”

  Talk about a rapid change of pace. The doctor quickly donned a gown, mask, and gloves and then went to work.

  “I want drugs,” Isla shouted.

  “What’s your name?” he asked.

  “Islaaaa.”

  “Isla, I’m Dr. Lawrence. I’m sorry, but you’re way beyond the time where we could’ve given you something. However, the good news is it’s almost over. Now when I tell you to push, I want you to give me everything you’ve got.” He shot a glance at me and said, “Take her hands. You’re going to help her.”

  She put that mighty grip on me again and when he said push,
we leaned her forward and she pushed with a growl. I’d never seen her face that red.

  “Relax a second and I need one more.”

  Relax? How the hell could she do that? I didn’t dare inspect what his view held. I’d never be the same again.

  Then his order came, “Push, Isla.”

  We went in for round two. Good Lord, a blood vessel was going to pop in her head if she kept this up. They had her attached to all kinds of equipment by now, but no one said a word about it. I guess everything was okay. I was pouring sweat and I wasn’t even the one doing the pushing.

  I made the huge mistake of glancing at the doctor and he had something in his hands that looked like an alien thing. My stomach got queasy and my vision wasn’t exactly clear.

  “Hey, he’s going down,” I heard someone say.

  Next thing I knew, I woke up on the floor.

  “You okay, Mr. Kent?”

  “Yeah, sure.” I sat up even though my head swam.

  “Isla? Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Come here and meet your daughter.”

  “Daughter, huh? I figured it was a boy.”

  “Nope, but she’s perfect.”

  I went to stand but they made me sit on a chair next to the bed. Then I peeked at the baby. A flashback hit me when that thing was half in and half out of my wife. Ugh, I hoped I would forget that sight.

  “Do you want to hold her?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Take off your shirt.” Right. We were doing that skin to skin thing. I stripped and Isla handed me the naked baby.

  “She’s so tiny.”

  “Mr. Kent, she weighs nine pounds and five ounces. Your wife had a large baby,” the nurse said, chuckling.

  “Hmm, looks like a tiny thing to me.”

  Isla raised a brow. “Next time, you push that thing out and then tell me what tiny looks like.”

  My mouth slammed shut. I’d never say tiny again with regards to this baby.

  “Ace, let’s name her Olivia Dana after our moms.”

  “I like that. But I thought we were going for Brooklyn Marie.”

  “I changed my mind.”

  “Okay. I like Olivia Dana. Our parents will love it too.”

  The baby let out a tiny yell. “Do you think she’s hungry?” I asked.

  “The nurse showed me how to feed her, so let’s see.” She latched onto Isla like a pro. Instinct was a powerful thing.

  They moved Isla into a regular room on the labor and delivery floor and there sat a little square thing that was her crib. It contained diapers and all sorts of baby items.

  “Look how cute.” I held up a pink hat for her.

  “Aww. That’s adorable. Let me put it on her.”

  Then I took a picture.

  “Hey, babe, you did amazing. Thank you for giving me a beautiful daughter.” I kissed her.

  “I’m sorry I cursed and yelled.”

  “Why? That was awful. You had every right to do that.”

  “At least I didn’t labor for twenty-four hours.”

  “That’s true enough, but the labor you had was intense.” She switched the baby to the other side to feed.

  “How do you know how much she’s getting?”

  “No clue. Maybe there’s some way to figure this out. The experts on this are supposed to come in and talk to me.”

  “Good because I’m no help.”

  “Acer, will you call my mom? I know she’ll want to speak to me but I’m so sleepy, I’m not sure I’ll be awake much longer.”

  “Sure. I’ll call mine too. They’ll all come running here. Just wait.”

  “That’s cool. It would be helpful if they did, since we know nothing of babies.”

  That was true. We sure had a lot to learn.

  * * *

  The next month was crazy. All we did was feed the baby, change her diapers, and do laundry. How could such a tiny baby go through so many clothes and diapers? But our families helped and that child, being the first granddaughter on both sides, was getting spoiled already.

  “You are going to have to move to Denver, Mom,” Isla said.

  “That’s looking better and better all the time.”

  “If you do, you can’t come here every single day.”

  “Isla, I do have a life of my own. I’d get involved in a church and find a job somewhere. I don’t like to sit around and do nothing. But I also don’t want to be so far away from my granddaughter.”

  “What if Lenox has kids?”

  “Pfft. That man is never going to settle down. I’m done waiting on him.”

  * * *

  My mother-in-law moved to Denver two months later. She was a huge help when we went back to work full time. Hiring a nanny was a perfect solution, but whenever we needed an extra hand, Olivia came running. She had even set up a bedroom for the baby in her own home. If we wanted to go away, she could care for her there. It was ideal.

  And that’s what we did. We never had a true honeymoon, so using the corporate jet, we flew to Hawaii and stayed for eight days. It was supposed to have been two weeks, but neither of us could stand being away from our baby.

  On our last night, we took a long walk on the beach and talked about our future.

  “After knowing what you do now, how many kids do you want?” I asked.

  Her laugh bubbled out. “At least three and then we can reevaluate. I love the baby part. Even the pregnancy was nice. But that labor part. Um, not so much.”

  “I remember. It was brutal on you.”

  “Yeah, tough guy. It wasn’t so easy on you, either. You dropped like a stone.”

  I stopped and pulled her against me. “Isla, seeing you go through that was not easy. You are my person, my one and only. I never want to risk any harm coming to you. On second thought, maybe we should adopt.”

  “You’re a goofball, you know? I’ll be fine. But I admit, it was rough. Look what we have to show for it though.”

  “She’s a prize. Exactly like her mother.”

  “I love you, Acer.”

  “And I love you. If we never had anything at all except each other and Olivia, I’d be the happiest man alive.”

  “The same here. I’m glad you forced me to marry you.” She winked.

  “So that’s how it is then?”

  She had an inkling of what was coming next, so she took off running toward our bungalow on the beach. I was faster than her, but I let her win. She’d get her payback in the bed when I teased her and she begged for mercy. With that thought in mind, I took off behind her. There was going to be a fantastic sex storm tonight.

  Epilogue

  Three men sat in a dim room, one smoking a cigar. They passed around information that had been in a file. While two of the men read what the file contained, the third went to a bulletin board that hung on the brick wall.

  “How many recruits do you have?” the man standing asked.

  “We’re up to eighteen. Most will arrive this week.”

  As the second man spoke, the first pinned up photos on the board. When he finished, there were six total. On each person’s head he drew a target. Then his lips stretched into what closely resembled a smile. The other two men shivered. “Good. That should be enough to accomplish my goals. These are the first two to be taken out.”

  One of the seated men asked, “How do you want it done, boss?”

  “I don’t care. Just keep it clean.”

  “Explosives work the best for that. Neat with nothing left behind.”

  The boss appeared pensive for a moment. “Okay, but I want this explosion to occur in their fancy headquarters. That should make a point with them.”

  The other two men present glanced at each other and nodded. “Not a problem. We can make it as big as you want if that’s what you’re interested in.”

  “What I’m interested in is having them dead. I want them to pay. And after those two are taken care of, then go after these two meddling fuckers.” He pointed to a man and woman. “Make an
other grand point with them.” He drilled a finger into the picture of the man.

  “Boss, that might be more difficult. Their building is sealed up as tight as a virgin’s pussy.”

  The boss spun around with a scowl. “Then fuck with it until you loosen the damn thing up.” Bending over, he slammed his hands on the table. “I want them both to feel my pain.”

  “We’ll come up with something, boss,” one of them added quickly.

  “Not just something, dammit. I want the fires of hell to burn those motherfuckers.”

  “Got it, boss. You can count on us.”

  Then an evil grin spread across the boss’s face. “I’ve saved these two for last.”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “The perfect weapon.” They watched as he pinned another picture to the board. This time it was that of a baby.

  “A baby?”

  “Not just any baby. It’s their precious daughter. When I threaten her, the other two will crawl out of their hole and come running. That’s when you’ll strike. I want the kill to be outrageously horrific. Am I clear?”

  “Absolutely. How soon should we start?”

  “When the rest of the men arrive. Bring them up to speed and get this done. Then we’ll resume operations. They think they’ve gotten the O’Briens. But they were mortally wrong. They didn’t realize they left the most ruthless one behind.” Aiden’s vicious laugh filled the cavernous room they occupied.

  The End … For Now

  To Be Continued in RAIDEN

  Thank you so much for reading ACER! I hope you loved this slightly darker romantic suspense. If you did, I would be forever grateful if you could leave a review. The Kent Brothers Novels are a spin off of the West Sisters Novels. If you would like to read more about Reynolds and Brax, you can find their story in One Blissful Night. If you enjoyed reading about Drex and Gemini, you can find their story in Tragic Desires.

  Sign up for a RAIDEN LIVE ALERT here.

  One Indecent Night (A West Sisters Novel)

  Evan Thomas.