Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
ERIK
One week later…
The air is charged when I pull into the garage, the kind that sets instincts on edge, the kind built out of too many years of reading danger before it had the courtesy to announce itself.
Inside, Claire’s curled on the couch under a blanket, laptop open beside her, chamomile half-finished. She looks soft. She looks safe. She looks like everything that storms try to break.
She looks like mine. “Power keeps blinking,” she murmurs.
“I already checked the grid twice today,” I say, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head. “I’ll run diagnostics again.”
“You always do.” She thinks it’s a quirk. It’s not. It’s survival.
The monitors show nothing obvious, but the third camera at her store, Camera 3 reports - the alley feed logged another 1.4-second blackout at 15:02.
A blackout is a blink. A blink is a probe. "A probe" means someone’s tracing the pattern of our life.
My jaw tightens.
Bjorn texted earlier:
Camera malfunction is flagged. Running a full trace.
Good. We’ll need it. Behind me, Claire stretches, the blanket slipping just enough to reveal the soft fullness of her breasts, rounder, heavier, and already flushed from her afternoon letdown. My pulse steadies in a different way.
A storm is brewing outside, but there is warmth inside. “Come sit,” she says, patting the couch beside her. “You look like a coiled wire.”
She’s right. The couch dips as I sit next to her; she shifts until her thigh brushes mine.
“I finished my 4 PM pump session. Leander is doing well with the store, and I asked him to close early. The online sales are really starting to help, and we’re working more on that than the physical store aspect.
” She softly adds, "I'm considering a shift in focus, hosting more book readings and local author signings. Today I pumped almost fourteen ounces on the left. I pumped thirteen and a half ounces on the right side.”
My eyes darken; I can feel it, the hunger and reverence tangling in my chest.
“How are you feeling, little one?” My voice is deeper than intended.
“I’m feeling fantastic.”
Her hand slides into mine. I trace the faint pump marks on her skin, the tender fullness at the curve of her breast, and the heat there.
“You’re doing something extraordinary,” I murmur. Lightning flashes white outside, illuminating the awe I can’t hide.
Her breath catches. And that’s when she whispers, "Touch me.”
ERIK
I lead her to our bedroom since my baby girl has sweetly asked if I could touch her. And yes, I most certainly will be touching her. Touching her everywhere.
Slowly I approach her, hands possessively coming to rest on her hips. I stare into her eyes, and she gasps.
“I got you, baby,” I whisper gruffly. “Don’t worry.” She starts to speak, but I suddenly crash my mouth down onto hers.
It’s a hard kiss. Passionate. Consuming. My hands glide up her heaving breasts, fingertips brushing against her hardened nipples and her areolas. She doesn’t pull away from my explorations of her mouth either, her body pressing closer to mine.
My fingers find her blouse buttons, unfastening each one slowly.
The soft cotton brushes against my skin, sending shivers down my spine whenever I touch her.
Her blouse drops to the floor, swiftly trailed by her nursing bra.
I then help remove her yoga pants, leaving her panties in place, my hands kneading her swollen breasts firmly as my lips slide down her neck.
“You are a fucking dream come true,” I purr lewdly.
Next, I hastily remove my shirt as well as my pants and boxers, with her assisting me by thrusting my pants down.
She looks wonderful standing before me like that, and my dick agrees as I muffle a thick, strangled noise, and my hands roam all over her curvy figure.
Digging my thumbs in her panties, I yank them down swiftly, freeing her glistening pussy. She moans, and her eyes darken as she looks up at me. I move her towards the bed.
“Get on the bed," I say gruffly. She nods and crawls onto the bed, then lies back on the pillows. Quickly I grab a condom from my nightstand drawer and tear the package with my teeth.
Sliding it onto my dick takes two quick movements of my hands before I position myself between her spread thighs. “Ready when you are, baby.”
She whimpers and wraps her legs around my waist, my dick rubbing eagerly against her wetness as she sits further back onto the bed.
“You’re dripping wet,” I swear as I slip a hand between her legs, rubbing her wet folds softly. She shifts her fingers in my hair, causing me to growl lowly in approval. Her head lolls back onto the pillows.
“Erik…” she whimpers.
Thrusting into her, I bury my cock deep inside her warmth. Her tight, hot pussy envelops me perfectly, and she screams, nails embedding into my shoulders.
“Oh fuck, Claire!” I swear as I grasp onto her thighs, keeping her from moving too much as I lose myself in our connection.
My hips move back and forth at a relentless pace; there is no stopping me now.
The sounds of us making love flood the room.
My heavy thrusts slam up against her clit, causing the wet slurping of my flesh to smack into her sensitive bundle of nerves.
Her squeals and whimpers echo between us, accompanied by my erratic breathing.
I feel like I could break every time we move like this together.
I grunt, "You feel so good," as I delve deeper and deeper into her, my rock-hard cock rubbing against her tender spot.
She shifts ever so slightly, giving my cock more room to move faster and deeper. I love how her pussy clenches around me, sending delicious shocks of pleasure through me.
There is pressure building inside of me as my seed feels like it’s going to burst free.
“Erik, I’m close.”
I don’t hesitate. If anything, my hips thrust into hers harder, faster. Suddenly her pussy tightly seals around me, capturing me in a warm embrace as she orgasms. She shouts, and her entire body trembles from the pleasurable overload.
Seconds later, I orgasm too, my cock pulsing inside her pussy as I grunt loudly, releasing my warm semen into the condom. I hide my face in the valley of her neck, my hot breath causing trails of goose bumps to form across her skin.
We remain there for several minutes basking in our afterglow, chests rising and falling with every heartbeat. Eventually, I withdraw from her, tossing the condom into the small wastebasket next to our bed and curling up next to her.
One hand slinks under her while the other one rests on her lower abdomen. I notice her bright gaze staring up at me. She smirks. “That was…”
"Amazing," I say proudly.
“A dream.” She blushes, and I feel half triumphant, half proud.
“Being with you is the most incredible fucking dream.” I say softly into her ear, sucking and nipping at her earlobe. Repeating my actions, I trail kisses down her jaw, peppering them softly.
CLAIRE
My body feels like warm candle wax, melted, reshaped, held together by his hands. The storm outside becomes a lullaby as he wraps the blanket around me, stroking slow circles between my shoulder blades.
“I like the sounds of the storm outside,” I murmur.
“I do too, little one,” he says softly, brushing a strand of hair from my cheek. “This time with you is one of my favorite moments we share.”
I sigh into him. The room smells like milk, sex, and skin.
“Stay with me today,” I whisper.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
He presses a kiss to my temple, gentle, grounding, and devastating. I fall asleep against his chest.
I'm unsure how long I sleep, but when I wake, he isn't next to me in bed. He’s at the window, still and focused. He appears predatory in a way that should frighten me, yet all I sense is security.
“What is it?” I ask.
He doesn’t turn fully. “Truck across the street. The truck is the same one from last week.”
Cold crawls up my spine. “Maintenance?”
“No.” His tone leaves no room for hope.
“Someone’s watching?”
“Someone’s trying.”
He snaps a photo, and I hear him texting; I assume it's the brothers. Erik pockets the phone and finally looks at me. The storm outside is nothing compared to the one in his eyes.
“You’re safe,” he says. “Come here.”
I go. Of course I go. He holds me until the thunder outside fades.
I fall asleep again after we snuggle for a while in bed and wake up feeling heavy; my breasts feel tender and very full. My nipples are sensitive, the weight of my supply pressing into me. Erik notices before I speak.
“You’re aching.” Not a question.
“A little.” He’s already heating the compress, already engaged in his usual task of creating a sense of calm amidst chaos.
“I don’t think I can do the full shift today,” I admit.
“You’re not going to. Leander can handle the half day, and you have been doing a fantastic job growing your online storefront, which you’re able to work on from here.”
He cups my cheek. Firm. Decisive. “From now on, you only work mornings at the store, except when you feel unwell, like today. You can spend no more than three hours at the store. The rest of the time is remote, here, for your online storefront."
“That’s not fair to Leander.”
“He’s thriving,” Erik says simply. “And he likes protecting your space.”
My heart softens. “He does?”
“He’s a Halvorsen,” Erik adds with a faint smirk. “They come wired that way.”
I laugh, then wince as the ache pulses again.
“Compress,” he orders gently. “Then pump.”
I nod with a smile and obey.
I’m mid-session, the pump humming quietly, when the loft door buzzes. Erik answers without hesitation. His voice shifts, warm and familial. “Hello, Grace.”
My smile widens. She walks in glowing, hair pulled up, cheeks pink, hands resting on the swell of her nineteen-week baby bump.
“You look incredible,” I say, turning the pump off as Erik tactfully excuses himself to “do some work” in his office.
Grace grins. "The energy of the second trimester is intense. I feel like I could jog here.”
“You don’t jog.” I quip with a chuckle.