by KB Winters
I glanced down at the embers in the bottom of the grill. “I think I’m good. The fish is all cleaned, seasoned, and ready to throw on here. What else did you want to have with dinner?”
Melissa shrugged. “Hmm, Let’s see…it’s so hard to decide, what with all of our riveting options? We could have fried plantains or mashed plantains. We might even have a potato somewhere.”
I laughed. “Oooh. How gourmet.”
“Hmmm.” She tapped a finger on her lips. “Let’s live on the wild side and go with roasted plantains!”
“Well if anyone can make it taste good, it’s you.”
“Thanks.” She glanced down at the grill.
“This is pretty pathetic though, huh? Nothing like the five star joints you’re probably used to.” I chuckled and added another handful of charcoal to the fire.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I glanced over at her and my heart fell at the cross look on her face. “I didn’t mean anything by it, Melissa. Just that you’re probably missing some of the creature comforts of home.”
“I haven’t complained yet,” she retorted, crossing her arms.
I held up my hand. “Whoa. I didn’t say you did. You and Jackson have both been troopers with all this shit. But come on, even I’m hankering to get back to the states and go to a restaurant and have a nice steak or something.”
Melissa stared past me, her eyes glowing with the reflection of the red hot coals. “Hmm.”
“Hey,” I took her chin between my thumb and fingers and brought her eyes up to mine. “What’s wrong? What’s really bugging you? You’ve been a little out of it for a while now and you won’t tell me why. If I’m keeping you in the loop, then I’d ask that you do the same.”
“There’s nothing to tell. I’m just trying to keep it all together for my sake, Jackson’s sake, your sake, too. But I’m getting a little stir crazy here. I’d almost rather we get back on the boat just to have something new to see or explore.”
I considered her, not sure I believed her story. When we’d arrived at the cottage, she’d fallen in love at first sight with the place. Now she wanted to leave? “Are you sure that’s all that’s got you down? You’re bored?”
She shrugged. “Aren’t you?”
I stared at her another moment but she dropped her eyes to the grill again and before I could poke further, Jackson came out the back door wearing a pair of his pajama pants and no t-shirt. “Did you gut the fishies!”
I laughed at his excitement over the question. “Yeah, sorry, bud. I got it all ready. You can help me grill them though. How about that?”
Jackson nodded and crossed the deck to stand by my side. “I’m your first mate!”
“That’s right, although, right now it’s more like a sous chef.”
“What does that mean?” Jackson asked, wrinkling his little brow.
I chuckled. “My second in command in the kitchen.”
“Okay! I’m your sous chef,” he said, pronouncing it like Dr. Seuss.
I didn’t bother to correct him.
By the time I glanced back at where Melissa was standing, she was already gone. I could see her silhouette moving on the other side of the thin curtain that hung over the back doors. She was probably getting the plantains ready. I ached to go to her and wrap her in my arms and comfort her, but I knew right now, it wasn’t an option.
* * * *
After dinner, Melissa took Jackson into the bathroom to get him ready for bed. Once I’d cleared the dishes, I wandered over to the couch and sat down on the well-worn cushions. The TV had rabbit ears and barely managed to pull in three channels. All of them in Spanish. I knew enough Spanish to keep me from getting totally lost but it certainly wasn’t the same as life in the United States. At my place, I had a giant TV that covered the majority of the living room wall in my condo. I had a channel list a mile long and at any given moment, I could pull up hundreds of options. I wasn’t much for TV but when I didn’t have the options, I suddenly missed them.
After rotating through the channels a few times, I clicked the TV off, and tossed the remote down beside me. The sudden silence was almost unnerving. I dropped my head back against the couch and closed my eyes.
“That can’t be comfortable.”
My eyes fluttered open at the sound of Melissa’s voice and the dry feeling in my mouth told me that I must have fallen asleep for some time. The crick in my neck reinforced the notion. “How long was I out?” I asked, glancing at Melissa.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just got Jackson to bed, so maybe half an hour?”
“Jeeze.” I rubbed the back of my neck.
“Here,” Melissa said, coming closer to me. “Turn that way.”
I did as she asked and she climbed on to the couch and balanced on her knees behind me and went to work, digging her fingers and knuckles into the kinked knots in my shoulders and neck. I groaned with deep, guttural relief at the tension releasing with each move of her hands.
Melissa laughed softly. “You’re a mess back here. It’s amazing you’re not all hunched over.”
I chuckled. “Well, as nice as this place is, the beds leave a lot to be desired.”
“Agreed,” she said with another laugh. “I don’t miss the rocking, but the boat did have nicer beds.”
“True.” I chuckled. “Of course, I’ve been missing having company in mine the last few days,” I said, venturing into dangerous territory.
Melissa fell silent and the pace of her massage slowed.
I turned around to face her and captured her hand in mine. “I don’t mean anything by that other than that I miss you. I miss…us.”
She nodded but kept her eyes trained on our interlocked hands. “I know. I do too.”
I wrinkled my brow. “Where did I lose you?”
She darted her eyes up to mine and shook her head. “You didn’t lose me, Chase. I’ve just been…distracted. I guess.”
I brushed my fingers down her cheek. “All right. I get that. There’s a lot going on right now. It’s just hard not to feel like I fucked up at some point. I talk to Jackson more than you these days. Of course, that could be because he goes at a hundred miles an hour,” I said, smiling at her.
She smiled back and laughed softly. “That he does. I honestly don’t know where that came from. Something about being out here has brought out a whole new side of his personality.”
“It’s fun.”
She nodded. “It is.”
“I’m here for you, Melissa. You’re not alone in any of this. Okay? I know everything with Henry is your fight right now, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help. I want to.”
“Chase,” she whispered. “You do help. Can’t you see that? I don’t know what I’d do without you. I hope you don’t think I just see you as hired muscle or that I’m using you as a babysitter for Jackson.”
I chuckled. “No. Don’t even think that. I know that’s not what’s going on here.”
“Okay.” She paused and licked her lips, more nervous than seductive, but it got my heart racing anyway.
I brought my lips to hers and brushed them across in a soft, sweeping kiss. Melissa melted into me and I gathered her against my chest. I parted her lips with my tongue and was happy to hear her moan softly. It had been too long for both of us.
The kiss deepened and my hands went to her waist to slide under her thin t-shirt. “Come to bed with me,” I whispered against her ear, breathing in the scent of her lilac scented locks.
She nodded and I stood from the couch. I reached back for her hand and she followed me down the hall to my room. Once the door was closed, I wrapped her back in my arms and captured her lips with mine again. This time the kiss was hotter. More possessive. Melissa backed up to the bed and our lips broke apart long enough to strip each other. I peeled away the t-shirt and she immediately went to the button on my shorts. We were a hurricane of clothes, limbs, and stolen kisses, until we collapsed down against the bed, our skin melding together as we lo
st ourselves in each other.
Chapter Three
Melissa
“I missed this,” I whispered in the near dark. The sun had set while we made love and only a small night-light provided a soft glow. We laid together in Chase’s bed, still naked, clinging to the last moments together before I would need to sneak across the hall and climb into bed with Jackson. I hated leaving Chase, especially when we finally felt close again, but I knew I needed to force myself to go. My eyelids were getting heavy and if I let myself relax any further, I’d drift off right there in Chase’s arms.
Maybe someday I would know what that was like.
Chase held me tightly in his arms, my back against his chest. “You know what I missed?” he asked.
I rolled over to face him and traced a finger down Chase’s firm chest, taking a lazy tour around his hard nipple and then down between the solid muscles beneath. “What’s that?”
“I missed this,” Chase growled, grabbing a handful of my ass.
I laughed and smacked him on the arm. “You’re terrible. Always one thing on your mind, huh?”
Chase chuckled and wrapped me back in his arms. “When it comes to you, yes, most of the time.”
I smiled and laid my head back down against his chest. With our bodies pressed together it was impossible not to think about the baby growing inside me, the little life we’d created. I was overwhelmed with the urge to tell him about the baby. We finally felt close again, but with that secret between us there was still a barrier.
“Chase…”
“I missed this too,” he said softly. “I like having you close like this. It was beginning to feel like I’d lost you for a while there.”
I shook my head. “No, you didn’t lose me.”
“That’s very good news.” He kissed me slow and a wave of heat rose up from my belly.
“Oh, Chase,” I breathed as his lips trailed from mine down the side of my neck. I arched against him at the feel of his cock stiffening against my thigh. “Mmmm.”
Chase breathed hot and heavy in my ear and I stroked his cock, provoking a growl from him that vibrated across my skin and sent a shiver down my spine. “You’re trouble, you know that?”
I laughed softly and stroked back up the velvet soft skin. “I can’t help it. You make me want to do very bad things.”
“Aha, so it’s my fault?”
“Uh huh.” I trailed my fingers back up his torso, feeling the lines of his abs, the v-lines at his hips, and then up his sculpted sides to obsess over his perfect pecs again. “You’re like candy.”
“Man candy?”
I giggled as I nodded. “Yeah, where do you think that saying came from?”
Chase laughed. “Good to know. Guess that means you should go down and get a taste.”
I bit my lip at his naughty suggestion before pushing up onto all fours. Chase rolled over onto his back and I crawled down his body. His skin brushed against my nipples and I moaned at the surge of pleasure. When I reached his cock, I glanced up at Chase and smiled at the dark look in his eyes. He wanted me.
I teased him with the tip of my finger and smiled darkly at the way his expression shifted. He reached for my face and tangled his fingers in my hair. I lowered my mouth over him, starting with a lingering kiss to the tip, and then spread my wet lips over him, rolling down slowly—agonizingly slowly—as Chase groaned with every inch until I had him fully in my mouth. My tongue flicked against the base and I sucked in my cheeks as I pulled back up just as slow.
“Damn, Melissa,” Chase said, his jaw tight. “Go slow, baby.”
I swirled around the tip until he was begging me to keep going and then worked back down. When my fingers slipped up between his strong thighs and teased his balls, he jolted and as I stroked him, he moaned again just as I sucked him back into my mouth.
Chase dug his other hand into my hair and directed my pace and speed as I sucked his cock. He thickened inside my mouth and I smiled to myself, knowing he was close. “That’s right, baby. Just…like…that.” I arched my back and stuck my ass up into the air to give him a better view.
Before I could finish sucking him off, he stopped me with a tug on my hair. “Baby, look at me. Let me see your eyes.”
I paused and looked up at him, pulling my mouth away from him. “Don’t you want me to keep going?”
Chase shook his head. “I want to come inside you, baby. I want to feel that tight little cunt wrapped around my dick. Come here.”
“Oh, you’re nasty.”
I crawled back up his body and straddled his hips. I glanced down at my stomach and was thankful I wasn’t showing yet. Chase’s eyes went to my breasts and I stuck out my chest to give him better access. He grinned, reached both hands up and palmed my boobs. “Yeah, well, you’re so fucking sexy, Melissa. I can’t help it.”
I grabbed his cock and slid it across my wet pussy lips, not that it needed any more lubrication...his cock was just as slick.
We both hissed out a moan as I lowered myself onto him. I slipped over him easily and shuddered when he filled me up. The head of his cock moved ever so slightly across my sweet spot. I ground down on him hard, I needed more! More of his perfect cock pounding deep inside me. It was so good—too good!
Being pregnant apparently amplified everything inside. My G-spot was tender and full of nerves. My clit throbbed against the base of his dick and I rolled my hips—hard—letting Chase’s strong hands guide me up and down and forward and back as we got into a wild animalistic rhythm.
Damn! He was good!
When he pinched my nipples in between his thumb and fingers, I lost it. The subtle pain mixed with the overwhelming pleasure took me over the edge of release within seconds. I dropped my head back and moaned. Loud. My whole body shook as I came over and over again. The whole world went dark and all I wanted was him. Deeper, faster harder. “Fuck… Chase! Oh my God! Yes!” My orgasm ripped through me and I fell forward, panting and bucking—I needed more!
Chase grabbed my hips hard and slammed into me, crying out in a guttural moan. I arched back further as he shuddered. All I could think about was him coming inside me. I wanted it all. All his come, all his cock, all his heart! Every nerve was sizzling with heat and relief until I melted down against Chase, my thighs still clinging to his hips.
“Oh my gosh, that was intense,” I panted, as I laid my head against Chase’s chest. He was coated with a thin sheen of sweat and breathing just as hard. His hand went to the back of my head and he tangled his fingers in my hair.
“Damn! Woman!”
“Twice in one night. Not bad, Mr. Hart,” I teased.
He chuckled and stroked my hair, running the strands through his fingers and then dropping them before gathering a new section. It was like a scalp massage and I relaxed every muscle. “I’d do this all night if we could…”
I looked up at him and smiled. “Maybe someday.” My mind went back to wondering whether it was the right time to tell him about the baby but I couldn’t get the words out. I didn’t know how to start the conversation and my brain was fuzzy with exhaustion from days of sporadic sleep.
“Mmhmm,” he mumbled, his eyes fluttering shut.
I rested my head back down and closed my eyes. Just for a second…
Chapter Four
Melissa
“Mama! Mama! Where are you?”
I jerked awake at the sound of my son’s frantic screams and bolted upright in bed. “Jackson!”
Oh shit! It took a second for me to realize that there was a solid form beside me. One that had about a hundred and fifty pounds on my five-year-old. I remembered the night before and kicked myself for thinking I could just relax for a minute and then go to my own bed. The sun streaming through the thin curtain told me just how stupid that plan had been.
I scrubbed my hand down my face just as Chase sat up beside me. “What’s going on?” he asked, his voice thick.
“Jackson’s—”
“Mama!”
&nb
sp; I threw off my covers and Chase did the same. He jumped up and pulled on his boxer shorts. “He probably just had a bad dream,” I assured him. “I’ll go.” I tossed on my long t-shirt and scurried across the hall to the bedroom I was supposed to be in and saw Jackson sitting upright in bed, breathing hard.
“I’m here, honey,” I said, swooping into the room.
“Mama!” He reached for me and I gathered him into my arms.
“Sweetie, what’s wrong?” I smoothed away his hair and realized his forehead was soaked with sweat. “Did you have a nightmare?”
He nodded and I could see the outline of his chin quivering in the soft glow from the night light on the far wall. I pulled him back against me and he dug his fingers into my arms like I was a life preserver and he was cast out to sea. I planted a kiss to his brow. “I’m here, baby. I’m so sorry you were scared.”
“Where were you?” he asked, his voice tiny.
I winced, mentally kicking myself for being so careless. Chase and I had fallen asleep together in his bed on a few occasions but I’d always woken up and gone to my own bed before Jackson woke up. I made a note to myself that next time I needed to set some kind of alarm on Chase’s phone. I still didn’t want Jackson to know Chase and I were together. With the news of my pregnancy I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret forever, but for the time being I wanted to preserve the small comfort of a normal life. Or, at least as normal as it could be.
I knew if I told him about me and Chase, I’d have to explain that his dad and I were no longer together. That alone would open an entire set of questions and concerns for him. Pretty soon though, the evidence of his future brother or sister would make it impossible to ignore completely. But as I held my trembling son, that was a concern for another day.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He sat back and his breathing slowed to a normal pace. “Do you want to tell me about the dream?”
He shrugged his little shoulders. “I don’t remember it. But it was scary.” Another flash of guilt spread throughout my system at the thought that his nightmare had probably stemmed from the chaotic night in Cabo where we’d been forced to wake him from a dead sleep so we could race across the beach in the dark of night to escape from Henry’s men. I cringed at the memory of the terrible night. Just as I’d tucked him away in bed a massive explosion and resulting fire on the boat beside ours had shattered any remaining hope for peace. He still didn’t know what had happened, but there was probably some part of his subconscious that was holding onto the danger.