Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Walker
I’m draining the noodles for a simple pasta dish I decided on for dinner when my phone alerts me to someone turning on the road. I take a glance at the monitoring app before getting a tub of butter out of the fridge.
It’s about damn time Wilder returned my woman. She has been gone for hours, which makes no sense because it should’ve been a quick trip to town. Since my best friend doesn’t like anyone except Ridge, Rowan, and me, I find it hard to believe she wasn’t begging to come home to get away from him. Even more than that, I thought Wilder would return her as quickly as possible.
Sprocket’s attention shifts from me to the door, and I see the indecision in his dark eyes.
“I promise not to drop any food while you greet them,” I say with a jerk of my head. “Go on.”
He breaks from his place next to the island and darts off, barking loudly. It’s an annoying habit of his I’ve made no effort to correct. The biggest deterrent a homeowner can have is a noisy dog. Animals are unpredictable, and bad guys don’t like their odds.
“Well, hello,” Skylar coos from the mud room. “How was your day, angel baby?”
“It was good. How was yours?” I turn the corner in time to see Sky crouched down, giving Sprocket some love.
“You’re so corny.” She grins before striding over to me. One arm goes around my middle, the other up to scratch under my chin like I’m the dog, and in the same baby voice she was talking to Sprocket in, she asks, “Were you a good boy too?”
I bend over and nuzzle her neck, tickling her with my beard and making her squirm. “Now who’s corny?” A throat clearing has me righting myself and pulling Skylar into my side. “How’d things go?”
Wilder scratches the back of his neck. “Fine. Tall Mike was towing the rental as we passed up the hill, and the car company is filing the insurance claim.”
“Yeah, I was watching him earlier. He had to do a lot of shoveling. I’m pretty sure I could hear the storm of curse words from all the way up here.”
“I’ll bet. Anyway, I promised to return her safely, and here she is. I’ll see you later.”
“You should stay for dinner,” I say. “I actually planned on it, so I made a shit ton of food.”
“No, I don’t want to intrude.”
“Since when? You’ve never had a problem intruding before.”
He glances down at Skylar, and I wonder if I was right. Maybe they did have a hard time getting along today.
“For fuck’s sake, Wilder. I thought we squashed this earlier.” She kicks off her boots and moves toward the kitchen.
“Did things get weird?” I ask.
“No.” He hangs his coat. “Not at all, but I think I’m in love with your girl. You better not fuck this up because I’ll be right there to steal her away.”
We both cut up. Of all the things to worry about with Skylar reappearing, his loyalty isn’t one of them. He’s my brother in every sense of the word. “Wait until you see her eat. Then you’ll change your mind. She says it’s because of the baby, but?—”
“Fuck you, Walker.” Her middle finger appears from around the corner. “For your information, he’s already seen me eat. He had Jazzy pick us up some Greek food for lunch.”
“Exactly. So I feel justified when I back Walker up on this one,” Wilder says.
“Assholes. Both of you.”
Skylar managed to charm Ridge yesterday, and now, after seeing the easy banter between Wilder and her, I feel weirdly proud. I didn’t even know I was worried she wouldn’t fit in with my life until now, but it must’ve been in there somewhere. Since I have no doubt she and Rowan will get along, it solidifies my feeling that this is where she’s meant to be.
After one of the most fun meals I’ve had in a long time, where Skylar poked and prodded my very serious friend, he leaves, and we start cleaning up.
“I’ll do the dishes tonight,” Skylar says.
“No, you’ve had a long day.”
She takes the plates from my hands. “You cooked, I’ll clean. Those are the rules.”
“Whose rules?” I ask.
“The rules everyone lives by.” She turns on the tap to fill the sink with sudsy water.
“Why don’t we leave these for the morning and go to bed instead?” Stepping up behind her, I grip her hips and pull her into me so she can feel my erection. I feel like a damn teenager with this constant state of arousal, but I can’t help it.
“You’re funny. You still have to take care of the animals, which I plan to help with too, but not until it warms up outside. You’re on your own until then.”
“Baby, you’ve never even owned a dog.”
“Neither had you before you moved up here. You learned, and so can I.”
“We’ll see. But you’re right—I can hear the bitches yelling at me.” I sigh and set out to do my nightly chores. “Come on, Sprocket. We got shit to do.”
It only takes me twenty minutes to get everyone settled for the night, since I had plenty of time to do a deep clean earlier while Sky was out. Sprocket and I take a short walk through the forest just to make sure everything looks as it should, and then I’m back inside, anxious to bury myself in Skylar’s hot body.
The lights are out when I get inside, so I double-check the locks on the doors and windows then head upstairs. My ears perk up at the sound of moody music and the scent of lavender. Nearing the bedroom, I feel the change in humidity and deduce she must be taking a bath. Which means she’s naked. And wet.
Wanting in on that action, I drop my pants and strip out of my shirt. The bathroom door is open, so in my mind, that’s an open invitation for company. I’m not prepared for how sexy Skylar looks illuminated by candlelight, hair piled high on her head that’s resting on the edge of the tub, a towel cushioning her neck, surrounded by milky water. Only the swells of her breasts are showing, but it’s erotic, nonetheless.
“Is there room for another?” I ask.
Her eyes are still closed when her lips turn up in a smile that hits me right in the chest. She’s happy because of me, and damn if that doesn’t make a man feel good.
“Of course. Come here.” She sits and spreads her arms wide.
“Oh, okay. I was thinking I’d be the one holding you.”
“Next time. You always take care of me; now let me take care of you.”
I push my boxer briefs down, already half-hard and on my way to fully erect, in hopes “taking care of me” means my dick will get some attention. Sinking into the water, I seat myself between her legs that immediately wrap around me.
“I want to give you a massage,” she says and dribbles oil over my shoulders and down my back. Then, her hands are on me, kneading into my muscles and making me feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven.
“Baby, that feels so good,” I moan, leaning forward to give her better access but also to put my lower back flush against her bare pussy. It does nothing to help my aching cock, but there’s something intimate about it that makes me feel good.
“I’m glad. How were the bitches?”
“Fine. Pissed they didn’t get yard time. The next week is supposed to warm up into the forties and be sunny, so hopefully, some of this snow will melt, and I can put them out in the yard.”
“The next year will be an experience. There’s a lot I need you to teach me.”
“Gladly.” I run my hand up and down her calf.
“Does that mean you don’t want me to get my own place after this whole thing with Klutch calms down?”
“Is that what you want?” The caveman in me wants to tell her in no uncertain terms that she’s not going anywhere, but the wounded, younger version of me needs to hear her choose me. Choose us.
“I don’t ever want to be apart from you again.”
“Good.” I lean back, and she wraps her arms around me, directing my head to the crook of her neck. I’m not sure I like her being the one holding me, but it seems to be making her happy, so I’ll let her have it for now.
She sighs, absently tickling her fingers over my chest. “I need to think about a job, but first, I need a car.”
“I’ll talk to Tall Mike about a car. He loves going to auctions and finding cars he can fix up and resell. I’ll bet he has one he’d sell to us.”
“That sounds good. Do you know anywhere in town with a job opening?”
“You don’t need to work, you know. I can support you and the baby.”
Her fingers freeze for only a second before returning to their mindless journey. “I love you for offering, but I need to work.”
“I get that. Just know if that ever changes, especially after the baby comes, we’ll be okay.” I turn my head, and we meet for a brief kiss. “What kind of job are you looking for?”
“I really loved working at the preschool. The kids that age are so excited about every little thing, and even when they’re upset, it only lasts a minute before they’re back to being happy. It’s contagious. I don’t think I would’ve made it through the last couple of years without them.”
“I don’t know of any preschools in town, unfortunately. The few school-age kids who live in Culver Springs are bussed to the next town over. But Lisa Warner runs a daycare out of a small building on her property. I think she only opened it because she was a stay-at-home mom of six kids and figured that was enough to open a business and get a tax break, but she’s taken on a few other kids too. Maybe she needs help?”
“That would be perfect.”
“I’ll introduce you.” As nice as this is, I grow bored of just lying here, so I reposition us so she’s in front. “That’s better.”
“You got water all over the place,” she says, giggling.
“Don’t care. Now lie back and let me play with your tits.”
“Horndog.”
“Guilty.” Once she’s situated on my lap, I sigh contentedly, her rosy nipples now just above the water line. I trace the tips, watching in fascination as they pucker for me. “I’m the luckiest bastard in the world.”
The water ripples with her laughter. “We’ll see how you feel when they’re all big and bloated and leaking milk.”
“I think I just came a little.”
“My future lactation turns you on?”
“New kink unlocked.” I palm her breasts, feeling my cock harden. “I can’t wait to taste you.”
“I think feeding one human will be enough for me,” she says, but I recognize that breathy tone.
“I read that when you’re breastfeeding and you orgasm, it could cause your milk to let down. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but thinking about you on top of me, your tits leaking as you come apart on my dick? Goddamn. I can’t wait.”
“Okay, that’s enough reading for you. When What to Expect When You’re Expecting is your pornography, you have a problem.” She turns around to straddle me, my hard cock between us.
“I’ve never looked at a pregnant woman and thought, ‘Oh, she’s hot,’ but the thought of your belly getting bigger does something for me.”
She moves her legs out from under her and bends them so her knees are above water and she can easily grind her pussy on me. “The thought of me being pregnant doing something for you does something for me.”
“Oh yeah?” I squeeze the globes of her ass, pulling her closer.
“Yeah.” She tilts her hips back and forth, holding onto my shoulders.
“Can you come like this?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I want you all nice and relaxed for what I’m going to do to you later.”
“What are you going to do to me?” Her nails dig into my shoulders.
“First, I want you on your hands and knees so I can eat you out from behind while I play with your little asshole. After that, I want you to ride me reverse cowgirl because the mirror over my dresser is at the perfect height for me to watch you watch yourself. I want you to see how fucking sexy you are when you come.”
“Walker,” she says, increasing her pace.
“What do you need, sweetheart? You need me to pinch your little nipples?”
“Yes,” she whines.
I give her the bite of pain she craves. “That’s it. Rub that little clit all over my cock. Mark him as yours because you’re already mine.”
“Fuck, yes.”
“Now, Sunny. Come for me now.”
She throws her head back, thrusting the most magnificent pair of tits at me as her orgasm hits. It’s all I can do to hold back and not make this a protein-rich bath, which I’m not sure she’d appreciate, but fuck me, watching her get herself off is too much.
The second her movements slow, I’m pulling her up to her feet. I help her out of the tub and haphazardly dry her off, then pull her to the bed. I give her ass a pat. “Get on up there. I want you on all fours. I’m hungry.”