Chapter 4
Zara
Iclimbed into bed beside my husband, smiling as he instantly curved his body closer to me. He smelled delicious after his shower, and looked boyishly handsome with his damp, rumpled hair.
He pressed a kiss to my shoulder, his fingers stroking up and down my arm. "I booked our Valentine's dinner at Soho for Sunday night. Rach is free to watch the girls."
His mouth continued to dance against my skin, and my lips brushed against his soft hair. "Mmm, Soho. Fancy," he teased.
"Shut up," I murmured against his mouth. He nipped at my bottom lip before he covered my lips with his. I moaned as his tongue stroked against mine before I shifted my body to face him fully. His large hand curved around my thigh, pulling me closer as he devoured me with a passionate kiss.
Just as I was about to pull down the strap of my top, James pulled back slightly. "Wait, what date is Sunday again?"
I quirked a brow at him and shifted back. "What date is Valentine's? The fourteenth, like it is every year."
He snorted before shaking his head and grabbing his phone to check the calendar. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. So he did know how to use a calendar—just not our joint one.
"Oh, shit," he swore. "I forgot. It's Rob's birthday on the thirteenth."
"Okay. And?"
He scratched at his chest as he flicked through the apps on his phone. I tried not to be upset that out of all the important things for him to remember, it was his friend's birthday that he cared about.
"I'm meeting him and the boys at the pub for a few drinks."
My stomach dropped, but I shrugged carelessly. "I can cancel our dinner, and we can do it another time. It doesn't have to be right on Valentine's Day."
"What, why?"
I pushed back a stray curl from his forehead. "Because your hangovers last all day now," I gently teased. "You won't be in the mood for dinner the next night because you'll want to spend the whole day parked on the couch."
He waved his hand dismissively. "We're having lunch at the pub, I'm meeting them at eleven. I'll be home by five. Seven, tops."
I stared at him, conflicted. I was relieved that it was a daytime thing, but a tiny fissure of doubt curled in my gut. "I dunno…I know how you guys get when you start drinking."
He placed his phone back on his bedside table before he slid his hand back up my thigh. A shiver of awareness travelled up my spine, and I stopped his movements before he could distract me.
"Honest, babe. I don't even want to go, but it's Rob, ya know."
He leaned over and kissed me again. He tasted like mint toothpaste, and I giggled against his mouth as he deepened the kiss.
His lips left mine to trail down my neck, and a small moan escaped me.
"You're so sexy, Zara," he murmured against my skin. "Fuck, you smell good."
"It's my moisturiser."
His head shook against my chest as his hand reached out to caress my left breast. "Nah, baby. It's you."
His mouth pressed hot kisses against the swell of my breast before he climbed over me. My hands slid up his smooth back, loving the feel of his hot skin beneath my palms. He was so sexy, and I loved the feel of his body cradled on top of me.
He jerked my top up before his lips kissed down my soft belly. I giggled as his tongue danced around my belly button. "You're terrible," I laughed.
He glanced up at me, his brown eyes hooded in desire. "Oh, I'm absolutely terrible. A complete monster." His tongue trailed down my hip bone, and I spread my legs to welcome him. He nuzzled my panty-covered pussy, and I shuddered as he licked and kissed me through the material.
"Fuck…James."
He grabbed the waistband of my panties and slid them down my legs, tossing them over his shoulder.
"Hey!" I laughed.
He grinned wickedly before he bent down and ran his tongue around my clit.
My breath sucked in, and my fingers scraped against his head, pulling gently on his hair.
His moan of pleasure vibrated through me, and I gasped out as his mouth sucked my little clit.
His finger pressed against the entrance of my pussy, drawing my wetness from me until I was slick from desire.
He inserted a second finger, and I cried out as he pumped his digits in and out of me.
All the while, his tongue continued its delicious assault against my sensitive nub.
My back arched, and a long and loud moan escaped me as my pussy exploded against his moving mouth.
He crawled back up my stomach, and I felt his hand stroking his dick. He kissed me deeply, and I tasted my arousal against his tongue.
I felt his dick nudge against me, his precum coating my mound. "Condom," I gasped.
He groaned against my neck before he pulled back and went to check his bedside drawer. "Fuck, we're out." He stroked his cock, and my mouth watered as I stared at the purple head with a tiny bead of moisture leaking. "Can't we go without?"
That snapped me out of my wanton daze. "No. There's no way I want to risk a pregnancy again."
He reached out to palm one breast, his thumb flicking my hardened tip. "It won't be a bad thing. Three's a nice round number."
I glared at him, the desire I felt quickly fading. "James," I warned.
I'd had a terrible birth with Kehlani, where she had to be resuscitated after an emergency C-section.
When I was pregnant with Sienna, I'd been optimistic that her birth would go a lot smoother compared to her older sister.
It hadn't. Sienna's birth was long and difficult, with her heart slowing down every time I had a contraction.
I had to have another C-section and was put on blood pressure medication for almost a year after.
I tended to have wonderful, stress-free pregnancies, but something always happened during the birthing part. I didn't want to put my body through all that again, so I decided to stop after Sienna.
James had been on the same page as me; having to witness his children's terrible births had shaken him to his core. Well, at least I'd thought he was on the same page. So convenient of him to forget all that when it came to his dick getting wet.
"Condom," I demanded. "Or you could always keep the promise you made me and get a vasectomy."
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I know," he muttered dismissively.
My body didn't do well on contraceptive pills, and while I could try an IUD or have my tubes tied, I decided I'd put my body through enough.
James and I had struggled to conceive at first, so we'd been referred to a fertility clinic.
I'd been placed on fertility medication due to my PCOS, I'd taken countless supplements, had two D&C's—one for a miscarriage.
On top of that, I'd had three pregnancies, two live births, and two C-sections.
No…my body had been through more than enough.
It was time for James to step up and do something to prevent another pregnancy.
When James spied the look on my face, his mouth softened. "Sorry, babe. This year, I promise. I'll book one."
How many times had he told me that?
***
The night before Valentine's Day
Red-hot fury stormed through my body as I called my husband again. It was now almost midnight, and I hadn't heard a word from him all day…not since he'd left at ten a.m. this morning with a kiss and a promise to be home by six. He hadn't answered my countless calls or texts either.
"Hey, baby." He finally picked up, and surprise, surprise, his voice was slurred.
"Where are you?" I exploded. "You said you'd be home by six. It's almost midnight!"
"S-sorry, baby. Time got away from me. We had a-a lock in so decided to s-stay. On my way home now."
God, he sounded way more hammered than usual. Considering he'd started drinking at eleven a.m., it wasn't a surprise.
"You're sleeping on the couch." I hung up on him, my hands shaking in anger.
Midnight came and went, and by one a.m. I decided to head to bed. Fuck him. I didn't care if he fell into a ditch and passed out. I was that pissed off. All that worrying, calling and texting, and the whole time he'd been drinking and laughing away with his friends.
It was almost two a.m. before I heard James finally stumble home.