Chapter 18
ISLA
Vaughn is between my legs as I sit propped up against pillows in his bed, his tongue working me into a state.
It didn’t take long after our unexpected evening for him to go right back at it.
The man has stamina and doesn’t accept recovery for my dear body.
But I don’t mind because he’s slithering up my body, taking a detour around my giant belly until his mouth covers a nipple and his fingers play with my other one.
That’s when I nearly lose it.
Actually, I’m a few seconds away from losing it.
My breasts being sensitive in the best possible way doesn’t even come close to this heavenly feeling of him worshipping my body.
Then I’m gone when his finger continues to stroke my pussy. I’m crumbling into tiny pieces as my orgasm takes over my body.
“Fuck,” I moan out.
Then the devil studies my facial expression with a small laugh. “The baby has ears, remember?” he teases.
“Thank goodness we don’t follow the cliché swear jar, otherwise she already has a college fund based on the last few days.” My breath is still heavy when he flops onto the bed beside me.
It’s a minute or so before my cheek smooshes against the pillow when I turn to look at Vaughn in his glory.
“You’ve done the work of a superhero. I’ve been getting more uncomfortable by the day with this pregnancy, but you were the perfect relief to relax me.”
He side-eyes me. “Except we are horrible at maintaining boundaries.”
“Extremely horrible,” I agree.
The back of his finger caresses my arm. “I’m completely on board with your body like this. Your tits are driving me crazy.”
“I’ve noticed.” My elusive smile can’t seem to disappear.
Vaughn adjusts his body to lie on his side and look down on me. “You know, last time we did this, in my car, I swear I noticed your breasts were larger.”
I breathe out a sigh. “Now you know why.”
“I didn’t realize I have this kink, but I’m going to struggle watching this kid suckle on your tits for weeks on end.”
Now I just want to burst out laughing. “First off, I’ll only breastfeed if it feels right.
You don’t know if you’ll have enough milk, or the baby just doesn’t want to do it.
And secondly, many guys are into tasting milk or using it for other things.
” I flash him my eyes. Vaughn just looks at me, puzzled.
“Like lubricant,” I clarify, and his eyes bug out.
“Okay, I don't think that's actually for me. Not sure what rabbit hole of a conversation we're heading down.”
I shake my head to myself, still smiling. “Think of something else. I don’t dare to figure out what the hell we do now, with our spectacular ability to complicate things…” I’m not even trying to nudge him into a discussion; I really don’t know what the hell we do now.
Thankfully he brushes past that comment and glances at the clock. “I really need to get some shuteye. My flight is tomorrow, late morning.”
“Oh, I thought you said next week is the draft.”
He bops the tip of my nose with his finger. “Tomorrow is Monday, that’s next week,” he points out.
That does make sense.
“Kind of a good thing to avoid the awkwardness that I’m sure will cloud us,” I joke.
"The timing sucks, and I wish I didn't have to go, but the draft is probably one of the major points in the year for a general manager."
Vaughn brings his arms behind his head to rest on, and I can’t help but follow the lines of his muscles and tattoos. I was never a tattoo kind of girl, but his are not that big and only etched in black.
Tiredness begins to take over me. Sex was great, but there’s a tightness between my thighs I’m not familiar with, not in a bad way by far.
“I get it. I do. Anyhow, I should go sleep too if I can. I’m beginning to feel like an absolute whale,” I note.
He touches my arm. “Stay, I’ll go grab that giant pillow thing from your room.” He’s off before I can answer.
I guess we’re sleeping together. Another point on the scoreboard for our really bad judgment to ensure we don’t seem to clarify things between us. However, I want to feel a body next to me—his arms around me, to be exact. My wish wins by far right now.
Vaughn comes back and settles in behind me, and I do my best to get comfortable with multiple pillows.
“Here.” Another head pillow is placed behind my lower back.
“Ugh, whale me is getting moody and frustrated. I’m not sure I will last many more days.”
Vaughn rubs soothing circles on my back. “Try to relax. And did you not hear me earlier? Marine mammals did not enter my comments at any point.”
I smile to myself. “Fine. I’ll be cheery.” I don’t sound completely on the bandwagon, but then again, he’s right. I’ve gotta go into birthing this little girl with full-on positivity and ready to party.
Vaughn’s gravelly laugh feels good, and it causes me to close my eyes just before his palm finds my belly to rub circles.
It appears his hand has no plans on leaving either.
Waking up, it hits us as soon as we look at one another.
Yeah, Vaughn and I really did that last night. Had excellent sex, not worrying about repercussions.
Give us an award, because without any words and only a few good beats of searching one another’s eyes, our bodies become flush and ready. He throws the pregnancy pillow to the ground right before he slides into me, and we smolder together.
This isn’t fair. I’m always horny these days. He wakes up hard, and he’s offering. What kind of woman would ignore all of that?
A smart one.
Nope, not me, with a college degree and motherhood on the horizon. It’s me, I’m acting a fool.
But it’s oh so good.
Vaughn’s warm breath against my skin sends ripples through my body, and his mussed hair, with his accompanying gravelly noises in the back of his throat are just so freaking fantastic.
I would completely agree for him to tie me to the bed and take me like this whenever he wants.
He pumps into me, and it feels even more sensitive than last night. Vaughn’s being tender, and our eyes connect while our hands entwine. I’m too far gone. And so is he when he’s filling me up.
He collapses to his back, while I just breathe out a heavenly feeling and rest my head against the pillow.
Maybe we fall back asleep, or it’s simply fatigue still circling me, but we rest for a few minutes before Vaughn vacates the bed and stands, and then I wonder if regret is now hitting him.
“Want to join me in the shower?” he asks as if this is a normal day.
I twist part of my body to look at him. “Hell no. Let’s just pile up our lack of crossed lines even more.”
The corners of his mouth twist. “Language, Isla,” he teases.
“Oh shit… wait… no, ahh, I curse like a sailor sometimes.” My eyes drop to my belly. “Sorry, little girl.”
“You do that a lot? Talk to her?”
“Well, yeah, you’re supposed to, so they get used to your voice,” I explain.
His eyes roll. “That’s just great. My daughter has heard me basically be an jackass and say really dirty things to her mom. That’s how she knows my voice.”
I snort a laugh. “Oops.”
Then the air turns serious between us, especially when Vaughn sits on the bed next to me. “We’ll talk when I’m back in a few days. Maybe my trip is a good thing, so we can both think without distraction.”
“Yeah.” My voice is soft. “You’re right.”
The back of his hooked finger glides along my cheek before Vaughn kisses my forehead then pats my belly. Then he’s off to the bathroom for a shower that I choose not to join.
But I have no control of my mouth spitting out things I probably shouldn’t say or ask. “Vaughn,” I call out, and he stops when he is about to open the door.
He glances to me with a glint in his eyes. “Yeah?”
“Why did you insist on meeting me at the hotel?” I’m referencing Florida way back.
He tries to suppress his boyish grin, but his dimples appearing give him away. “It can be fun to follow the whirlwind path of attraction. But I think… there can be a bolt of lightning between two people, and it simply can’t be ignored… so I took the initiative.”
I like his answer, but I’m just not sure what to do with it. “Well… a whirlwind path of surprise obstacles we have followed.”
“Obstacles, hmm.” His eyes drop down then fly up. “Last night… right.” His T is sharp before he gives me a faint smile and leaves me for the shower.
Inside me, fear swirls again, in case we just ruined any chance to make the co-parenting thing work. Then realization hits me that it’s not that; I’m scared it won’t work between us as two people in a relationship.
A few days later, I’m sitting with my brother in the living room on the couch.
“You’re really doing it then, leaving for Seattle?” I am sad about it, but Briggs is right that I’ll still see him, especially during the summer.
“It’s for the best. Besides, it means the dynamic between Vaughn and I can be strictly somewhat… I don’t know… but you bind us.” He struggles to form an explanation.
“You’re not leaving because of him, right?”
Briggs waves me off. “Nah, I was already in discussions before he graced us with his presence, I told you that.”
I touch his arm. “Good. If you’re happy then I’m happy.” It’s a lie, I’ll miss him.
Briggs ended up living in Lake Spark for the Spinners, and it just so happened that I found a job too. We’ve always been around one another, not only as siblings but also friends. Now part of my family will be away.
I begin to rub circles on my belly when a weird feeling hits me, one that I’ve been having all day, but it’s not a cause for alarm.
He groans a sound. “Dare I ask if Vaughn is stepping up?”
I shake my head. “You have to accept all of this. Plus…” I splay my hands out to display the house. “Do you not see that he is providing?”
Briggs snickers. “It takes more than that to be a father. A good father, I mean.”
“I need to give him a chance and so should you.” I wince and a strained breath hits me.
My brother notices. “You okay?”
“Totally. How about a fresh round of drinks?”
He begins to stand. “I’ll get it.”
I grab his arm. “No, I need to keep moving, and this can be my exercise.”
Briggs listens and lets me stand and walk in the direction of the kitchen. However, the moment I’m next to the kitchen island, I take hold of the counter when I feel an unusual sensation, and I swear I hear a pop.
My eyes draw a line down to my dress, and then I see water trickling down my bare leg.
“Oh no.” Panic hits me.
Briggs is up on his feet and racing toward me in no time. “What is it?”
“I think my water just broke.”