36. Xaden
THIRTY-SIX
Xaden
It’s a little later than I expected when Ivy walks in through the front door. I’ve already put Daisy to bed, which is no big deal, but the moment Ivy is inside, I can tell something is bothering her.
“Hey, babe. What’s wrong? You look very on edge.”
She doesn’t respond right away, hanging up her coat and scarf and ditching her shoes for slippers. When she walks over, she goes straight into my arms and lies her head down on my chest.
“Oh, damn. Okay.” I stroke her hair. “What’s up, hun?”
Shaking her head against me, I feel her tense before she lifts her head and meets my eyes.
“I’m not sure if I’m overreacting, but I…I think my father is here. I was out with Sam, right, and I got this text message at lunch. It was…I’m scared, Xaden.”
Panic grips me, but I’m not about to let that affect Ivy. She needs me to be level right now, and I won’t have it harm the pregnancy because she’s so stressed.
“Hey, I’m right here. You’re safe.” I kiss her, holding her face in my hands. “Is that why it took you so long to get home?”
Ivy shrugs. “Sort of. I was trying to distract myself and keep Sam from worrying. I had her take me to a movie where there were lots of people, and I sent the message to that email.”
Looking down at her intensely, I make sure Ivy can feel my hands grounding her. “Hey, I’m proud of you. I know it’s hard to send that stuff and open these wounds again. You did the right thing.”
She smiles gently, but I can see the worry still reining over her expression, tension clinging to her shoulders and jaw.
“I think you need to relax. Daisy is down, and I can run you a bath and then maybe…a little something sweet to make you tired?”
I cock a brow, helping along the innuendo. Ivy smirks, shaking her head. But I know I’ve got her. As much as the stress doesn’t want to let go, she’s no match for a bubble bath and some personal attention.
“You know what?” She smiles up at me, fully leaning against my chest. “I’m not even going to fight you on it. Yes. Please help me think of anything else right now.”
“Done.”
As soon as the word is out of my mouth, I scoop Ivy up into my arms and start carrying her up the stairs. She chuckles lightly, resting her head on my shoulder.
“You’re my hero, Xaden.”
Gazing down at her, I smile. “Anything for you, babe.”
With Ivy in the bath, I make sure the locks on all the doors and windows are in place. As much as I don’t want to believe that her father is here, I’m not about to risk her safety either.
Or Daisy’s, for that matter.
I get the house good and locked up better than Fort Knox, setting the security system, too. As I stand at the panel near the door to do so, I see that Ivy’s porch light is on at her house.
She hasn’t been staying there for a while now, but it still acts as a sort of closet for her. While I watch the bugs and leaves wisp along on her porch, an idea strikes.
Her father can’t know that much about her life. He still thinks she’s staying there—if he’s here and found her address, at least.
“Good thinking, Xaden.” I finish arming the security pad and turn to jog back upstairs to Ivy. “But first things first.”
I meet Ivy in the master bathroom, where she lounges in the full tub. Her head is back against the little pillow I had delivered for her, and the room is softly lit with candles and her favorite salt lamp.
She perks up a bit when she hears the floorboard creak under my foot. “All good downstairs?”
Kneeling to the side of the tub, I take the washcloth draped over the bath caddy—another of Ivy’s items that’s made its way over here—and rub it up and down her calf.
“All good.” As a relaxed moan escapes her, my plans for after this rush to the front of my mind, an erection growing behind my zipper. “You look beautiful, all relaxed like that. But…”
She smiles and then cracks open one of her lids to eye me. “Yes?”
“Would you like to come to the bed? Frankly, my dear, I’m just famished.”
A soft pink flush colors her fair skin, reaching from her chest to her cheeks. Her breasts are still hidden from me behind bubbles, and I am so damned tempted to blow them away.
Ivy’s expression changes, however, and it’s enough to tell me that she’s more than ready for a little treat. With her lids lowering from the build-up of lust, Ivy bites her bottom lip.
The gesture always goes straight to my cock, and I know I’m going to have to take care of myself while we do this.
Yes, this may be a special thing for Ivy, but I’m only human, after all.
“Take me to the bed, handsome.” Ivy smiles, holding out her hand.
I stand up and then help Ivy to do the same. The bubbles trail off her body, revealing more of her sensuous curves, which have definitely started to fill out already, thanks to the pregnancy hormones.
Without looking away, I snag a towel from where it hangs on the bar next to us and wrap it around her. Ivy helps secure it under her arms and then leans up on her tiptoes to kiss me.
The taste of her lips is still such a dream, and I lift her up into my arms and carry her to the bed. As I set her down gently, I move the kisses from her mouth to her neck, then her chest, then the top of her breast.
“You’re so damn beautiful, Ivy.”
She grins. “Shhh, I want that mouth occupied with other things.”
I chuckle, loving it when she gets a bit bossy with me. Planting teasing kisses right on the edge of the towel, I wait until Ivy is squirming before I start to free her from the fuzzy fabric.
The rush of cooler air around her as I remove the towel makes Ivy’s nipples harden immediately, and I need to have them in my mouth.
Leaning over her, I suck one of the pebbled buds between my lips while I grope her breast with one hand. The other goes to my zipper, and I slide it down, freeing myself through the gap.
A deep, throaty moan rumbles out of her—Ivy’s hands tangling in my hair—as I swirl my tongue around her like a damned lollipop. I lavish her with the best attention I can pay, stroking my cock as she arches against my mouth.
“That’s my sweet girl. God, those fucking sounds you make are sinful.” I pump into my fist as I flick her with my tongue. “I’ll never get enough.”
“Please, Xaden. I—ugh!” She jerks as I pinch her nipple, playfully biting the other. “Oh, God, yes. That .”
Smirking, I repeat the move again—and again. I make sure to swirl my tongue around the overworked bud between each assault, and Ivy reacts as loudly as she can without worrying about waking a certain little one up.
“Such a naughty girl tonight. You’re getting so worked up over just a little,” I nip at her, “bite.”
Ivy rolls her hips up, her body seeking out more sensation, and her slim hands pull my mouth against her warm skin, nails digging in.
“It’s so much. I…I can’t explain it. The sensation is…fucking…oh God…”
I am all about doing whatever my sweet girl wants, and I lovingly torment her nipples until I’m sure Ivy is close to climax.
My strokes have gone erratic as well, trying to deliver the feelings I need as the lust and arousal and desperate need for my Ivy grows.
Before she can reach that peak and tumble over, I drag my kisses down. I pay particular attention to the underside of her breast, toying with her nipple in my hand before sinking down between her legs.
Ivy can’t handle staying still, and I fucking love it. Pleasuring her is my new drug, and I am so very addicted at this point.
I try to tease, sticking by Ivy’s hip or brushing my fingers over her seam only barely, but it doesn’t take long for her to grab a fistful of my hair and shove me where she wants me to go.
As always, I am all too thrilled to enjoy her sweet taste on my tongue, and I smooth it through her folds, making her buck and whine as she clamps her legs down around me.
“Xaden! Oh, God, yes. Don’t you dare stop.”
She grinds herself against me, rubbing her clit against my tongue as I lap at it, and her grip on my hair tightens. The slight burn in my scalp is intriguing, and I pump faster into my hand as I devour her.
Ivy is so responsive, and I love to feel how she squirms and flutters against my mouth as the pleasure winds up inside her. Slipping in two fingers as I turn on my side slightly, I flick her clit as I thrust in and out.
Slick and slippery, my girl is so gone to the delicious sensations, and watching her, tasting her, is enough to have me right near orgasm as well.
“Oh, Xaden, please. I’m so close. I need…I need…”
I let up only slightly, still swirling my fingers as I pull back and look up at Ivy with a grin. “What do you need, baby? Tell me, and I’ll give it to you.”
She glances down at me, flushed and tussled from the passion. It’s so damn beautiful. I also know that speaking up is hard for her, and I want her to be brave.
I want her to show her strength and then reward her for it.
“I…” She hesitates, but the need to come is too strong for her to fight now, and she closes her eyes as she finishes the demand. “Hook your fingers into the top. Press there while you…use your tongue.”
Her voice is quiet, but the confidence slowly builds until the words are out. I smile all the harder, turning my hand over so that I can do exactly what she said.
“Of course, baby. I’ll do anything for you.”
Ivy whimpers again as I press into her G-spot and go back to sucking on her clit. It’s only moments after that when I feel her clench, and her entire body goes rigid.
There’s my girl.
Stroking my cock hard and fast with the other hand, I don’t let up for a second on Ivy, and soon she’s pulsing against my tongue and around my fingers as the powerful release claims her.
“Ugh!”
More of her taste floods my mouth, and I revel in every second, working my erection until the burn in my shaft is nearly too much to bear, and then I fly off that cliff with her.
We climax for what feels like hours, and when we’re finally spent, I can see how exhausted Ivy is.
She chuckles. “Oh, wow. That was… intense .”
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.” I smile up at her, kissing the inside of her thigh.
“Looks like you did, too.” Ivy gestures down at the little mess that thankfully landed on the towel she was using.
I laugh back and begin to extract myself so I can clean things up. “It’s easy to enjoy myself when I get to pleasure you. It’s…well, it’s damn fun.”
Giggling lightly, Ivy pulls herself off the towel and then immediately ducks under the covers, lying back on her pillow.
“Well, I’m going to pass out now.”
Knowing I’ve worked her to the point that she needs to sleep fills me with pride, but then I remember what I was going to tell her after we finished.
“Hey, you get comfy. I’m going to check the locks at your place and make sure it looks like you’re inside.”
Ivy stills for a moment, but then she meets my eyes and nods. “He’ll think I’m there. That makes sense. Umm, thank you. I’m…I’m sorry about all this.”
I shake my head. “Don’t worry about it. You know I’d do anything to help you, keep you safe.”
She smiles. “You know, I do. I do know that, and I like it—a lot.”
I help her to get all snuggled in and then kiss the top of her head before getting set to head next door.
Setting up Ivy’s house to like she’s inside and checking the locks doesn’t take long. I’m even more glad that she’s staying in my place afterward too.
It’s not the most protected home, and I have a few bells and whistles she doesn’t. As I leave through the front door, I make a point to wave and call out a goodbye.
I’ve got a scene to set, after all.
“No, no. Don’t get up. I’ll see you later!”
Closing the door, I lock it up and then slide the key under the door. I have another one at my place.
“You’re all set!” I say, patting on the door.
After that, I walk back over to my place— our place—and use my key ring to get back inside. But as I shut the door behind me, the silhouette of a figure catches my attention.
Is someone standing in the street?
My blood goes cold, and I step back out onto the porch, locking the door behind me in an abundance of caution.
There’s still that shadowy figure in the road at the other end of my long driveway, so I step down off the porch and walk in that direction with purpose.
I’m not a small guy, and I was a SEAL, for fuck’s sake, so I turn up the intimidation vibes to eleven.
“Hey! This is private property. Fuck off!”
The figure wavers but doesn’t make a move to leave right away.
“I have no problem dealing with you myself, asshole. Get lost!”
To prove my point, I roll up my sleeves. That seems to do the trick and whoever is there backs up slowly before they disappear into the darkness across the road.
I don’t like it, though. My nerves, my instincts, they’re screaming at me that something is going on, but I can’t do much more right now. So, I go back inside and get into bed with Ivy.
Gently pulling her into my arms, I hold her close as I lie down next to her.
I’ll keep you safe, baby. I promise.