Chapter Sterling #3
I heard him stifle his laugh but I knew he didn’t need to because I wasn’t going to tell on him. “I understand completely, Miss Sterling and I’m glad that you’ve found somewhere that brings you happiness.”
“Thank you.” I hung up before I finished the transfer of gratuity to his account. I did it when we were already off the phone so he couldn’t attempt to return it or try to talk me out of it.
I’d barely put the phone back into my bedside table when Aldrich walked in with a worried look on his face. Ami was moaning against his chest and I could see her thrashing like she was uncomfortable.
I shot out of bed and made my way over to her. I could feel that she was warmer than she should’ve been but I didn’t lift her off his chest. He looked completely upset and his eyes were frantic as he looked at Ami like he could will away what was wrong with her.
“Please help her.”
We had been in the trenches for hours still trying to get Ami’s fever to go down.
Despite the pain relief that she’d been given, her ears were still bothering her to where she didn’t want to eat.
Her not wanting to eat meant that she was crying because she was hungry and there wasn’t a lot I could do to soothe her.
Aldrich and I had both taken our turns walking around the house with her but nothing helped. We’d sung, played music and even held gently warmed compresses to her ears but Ami was in pain and didn’t care who knew it.
“This shit is killing me.”
He looked tortured and I wasn’t about to ask him to clarify because I knew what was up.
He’d made a drastic change in the few months since I’d gotten here.
Some of it coincided with his family arriving but I think some of it was a resignation that his life was just different now.
The easy camaraderie we’d had while taking care of Ami had been nice.
But it was times like this that would stress the bounds of the surprisingly easy friendship we’d developed.
I nodded my understanding as I reached out for her to take my turn again. This was technically my responsibility and if he needed to rest I would be happy to take my turn. “Take a break if it’s too—”
“It is but not like that. She’s so little and this shit is tearing her up. Her little face is all red and she won’t stop crying. My baby hasn’t been able to catch a break in or out of the womb and I’m about to lose my shit if the universe doesn’t ease up off her.”
His face was as contorted as hers and he truly looked like he would battle God and all the ancestors if it meant he could provide her some relief.
His turning into a full-on girl dad warrior wasn’t what I’d thought we’d get to but miracles apparently happen.
We’d been pacing the hallway between our rooms and the den and I knew she was on the verge of losing it.
“I know you’re upset, but just take it easy.
She can feel our energy and our being apprehensive is only going to make it worse for her.
Are you sure you don’t want me to take her?
” I was trying to give him a second to calm down because she really could sense that he was upset.
He’d taken his shirt off for skin to skin.
It was something to see his tattoos and muscles carefully cradling such a small baby in his arms like she was the most precious thing to him.
“No, but I know I should probably give her to you. I know she’d much rather be lying on your chest than mine.”
I laughed as he slid the baby off of his shoulders before handing Ami over to me.
When he held her to my chest so I could grab her, his hand inadvertently brushed against my nipple.
It took all my strength to keep myself from crying out.
The move was shocking even in its innocence and I needed to get him away from me before I did something crazy.
“My fault.” Her crying was still shaking her little body and I swear Aldrich almost snatched her back out of my hands. She was less warm than she’d been before so I knew the meds were working.
He was looking everywhere but at me, his body several inches above mine but it was hard to avoid looking my way when he was holding his daughter against my chest.
“You’re fine. Accidents happen.”
When she started to root around I knew she was hungry again so I grabbed the bottle and put it to her lips. When she started to drink all the stress left his face and he almost collapsed on the sofa from relief.
I felt the same way but there was nothing that would stop me from ensuring she got this bottle finished.
I knew she’d sleep deeply afterward and watching her little eyes struggle to stay open as she drank was making me sleepy.
For safety, I sat down on the sofa and allowed my arm to rest on the side so I’d have additional support.
“Even with all this going on you make it look easy.” His voice was filled with admiration and I wasn’t about to look up at him.
“You were just with me shooting in the gym. You more than anyone knows this isn’t at all easy.” I grinned as I watched her little body relax with each pull on her bottle.
“There’s nobody else I’d wanna go through baby bootcamp with but you, Ling.”
“Ami?!”
I woke up with a start my hand going quickly to my chest where she had been happily sleeping when I closed my eyes. “Shit!”
I sat up and looked around, praying I hadn’t done something crazy like drop my charge and hurt her.
The blanket I’d loosely placed over her was on the ground but she wasn’t in it. My heart dropped as I looked around but her lack of crying made me wonder where she was.
“You good?”
Aldrich sleepily rolled over from where he was lying next to me on the sofa and I tried to still my emotions before I spoke to him. His chest was bare and my heart dropped thinking of how I was going to tell him what I’d done.
“I can’t find Ami. I’m so sorry I don’t know how I fell asleep but she’s not—”
“Ling, I put her in her crib like an hour ago.” He rubbed his eyes before blinking up at me again attempting to force the sleep away.
“What?” I’d panicked for nothing and I wondered why he hadn’t woken me up and told me what he was doing.
“You were running on fumes and she finally knocked out after that last bottle and dose of meds. She was sleeping well and then you drifted off mid-sentence. I tried to wake you but you were gone. So I took her off you and put her in the bed. It ain’t a big deal.”
“Why did you go to sleep?”
“Because I knew you were gonna wake up worried and I thought I would chill til you got up. But my ass fell asleep too.” A yawn punctuated the fact that he was tired too and I had to shake my head at the two of us being this tired.
I looked around not needing to get my bearings but trying to get my heart rate to return to normal.
“Guess I have that comforting effect on people tonight.” I smiled and sat up fully but still felt terrible that I’d fallen asleep.
His hand went to the side of my face, brushing the hair that had come loose from my bun. His hand on my skin electrified my body and the way he looked at me set me on fire.
“Aldrich—”
“Tell me not to kiss you right now and I swear I won’t. I’ve been fighting this shit for weeks and being strong. I’m not strong enough to fight tonight, Ling.”
I watched him and knew we were about to cross a line that no one could come back from. And neither of us seemed to care. Tomorrow I would blame it on being sleepy but I wanted this and wasn’t going to stop him.
“I’m not either.”
His lips were on mine before I finished speaking.
The way he was gentle but insistent had me struggling to breathe.
Not from his lack of finesse but from the way my lungs couldn’t function with the way he claimed my lips with his.
Aldrich’s tongue met mine without hesitation, his hands came to either side of my face.
His body weight came down on me lowering my body to the couch cushion.
My body was bombarded with sensations and I felt every place we touched.
His hand caressed my breasts, my waist and my thighs and each new spot made his dick feel harder against my core.When he wrapped my legs around his waist and stood up with me in the air I almost came right then.
No one had ever tossed me around before but Aldrich just proved that saying was true: I wasn’t heavy, those other men were just weak as fuck.
He took us down to the floor and pulled off my shorts and my panties.
His brows rose questioningly and I nodded because there was no going back now.
I didn’t expect him to bury his face unabashedly in my pussy like he was using his tongue to search for buried treasure.
The deeper he went, the more I started to squirm and my hips moved on their own.
My hands were reaching for anything on the floor to give me something else to grip onto but there was nothing close by but his head.
I laced my fingers into the curls on his head as my back arched.
I felt like my gripping his scalp was making him go harder and I felt my legs shake as he had the nerve to hum like I was doing him a favor by letting him taste me.
“Aldrich!” I whispered screamed because no matter how good he felt I wasn’t about to wake Ami up by being loud. The hums turned into something that sounded like disapproval and I just knew this man wasn’t tongue-deep inside of me still annoyed I called him by his first name.