Bliss
BLISS
I lowered myself into a fold-up camping chair and rested a hand over the swell of my belly. I tried to ignore the way my muscles all felt overwound, and my skin complained my clothes were too tight, even though they were plenty baggy. Every touch of the fabric was torturous.
Only hours earlier I’d lain happily naked, sweaty, and sated in War’s bed, completely blissed out and relaxed. Last night Vincent’s head had been between my legs for hours, and he hadn’t come up until he’d delivered three orgasms, all in quick succession.
And yet here I was, not even twenty-four hours later, wondering why I was crawling out of my skin with need.
This was not normal. It was going to be real embarrassing if I had to go to the doctor and admit that yes, I was taking my pre-natal vitamins but had she also dropped an aphrodisiac in them?
“How long left to go?” Lacey asked from two chairs down, while rubbing another coat of sun cream all over her son’s arms.
I shifted on my seat, finding a comfortable position where my belly didn’t get in the way. “Ages. Not that you’d know it, by the size of this bump. Why am I so huge already?”
Rebel leaned over and rubbed a hand across my tummy with the sort of aggressive love and familiarity that only a best friend could. “Remember how big I was with Lavender? I swear, when it’s your third pregnancy your body is just like, oh, an egg has been fertilized a single nano second ago. Here’s a belly for you! They come out of nowhere and so early on.”
That was the truth. I felt like the pregnancy test had barely even turned positive before I was reaching for the maternity pants. Not that I’d ever been a slim woman, nor did I want to be. But there was definitely a difference between my regular belly and pregnancy. “At least I’m not puking anymore.”
Lacey sent her son off to go join in the fishing fun. “Second trimester is so much nicer than first, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely.”
Mae, in the seat to my left, pulled her hat down a touch farther to protect her eyes from the sinking sun. “Second trimester is the best. All the morning sickness is gone, and you get all those lovely baby kicks. But they aren’t big enough yet to be painful…” A grin tugged at her mouth. “And then there’s all the sex you get to have because you suddenly feel great after being sick for months.”
I grabbed her arm, squeezing it a bit too tightly. “Is that a thing? It’s not just me then? Oh my God, I thought I was losing my mind. I do not remember being this…randy…with the other two.”
Rebel snorted, a drink halfway to her lips. “Randy, Dis? Really? Just say you’re a horny bitch.”
Mae and Lacey chuckled.
I swatted my best friend’s arm, glad all the kids were preoccupied with their dads and out of earshot. “Stop it. I’m not a horny bitch…I just…”
Rebel side-eyed me with a snigger. “Want the cock all day, every day?”
I shrugged. “Honestly? Kind of!”
Lacey leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. “However will you scratch that itch? It’s not like you have three gorgeous men, waiting to fulfil your every need. Sexual or otherwise.”
I sighed, glancing over at War who was trying to get together enough wood for a bonfire, and then at Nash swaying back and forth on the riverbank with Mila in his arms, Vincent at his side helping Luna with her cast. “More like two men.”
All three of my friends looked over at me, their faces morphing into identical expressions of concern.
“What do you mean two men?” Rebel asked, forever the nosiest of the group.
Not that I minded. She was my best friend and I told her everything. I just hadn’t had a chance to spill this particular detail between all the things the two of us had going on.
“Nash won’t touch me.” I lowered my voice so none of the men would overhear our girl chat.
Mae’s mouth dropped open. “Like, at all?”
I shrugged. “I mean, he rubs my feet every night, and he hugs me more than he ever has. We’ve taken up watching all these Australian wildlife documentaries in the evenings while cuddled on the couch. Which is nice, I guess, but…”
“But that’s not the sort of touch you want from him right now.” Mae gave a sympathetic grimace.
Frustration, most of it sexual, bubbled up inside me. “Yes! Exactly. War and Scythe and Vincent are fine. And don’t get me wrong, I am a very, very satisfied woman when I’m with them. But…”
“You miss Nash in your bed,” Lacey said quietly.
I stared at the broad-shouldered man who hadn’t made his way to my room in months. Our daughter was asleep on his shoulder, and my heart swelled with love for the partner and father he was. He was so hands-on with our girls, and I knew he was excited for a third child. I just had no idea why he’d suddenly gone off me.
“He looks so good in those jeans, too,” I said wistfully, staring at my man’s ass clad in perfectly fitting denim. “It really doesn’t help the situation when he wears those.”
Rebel raised her sunglasses and cocked her head to one side, studying Nash’s ass. “Don’t see the appeal personally. It’s like perving on my brother and it’s all just a big nope from me.”
I elbowed her. “Not helpful!”
“Did you talk to him?” Mae asked.
I bobbed my head yes. “He says it’s not me. He’s just noticed how tired and sick I was during first trimester. It was hard, you know? With the girls and all their activities as well. The guys all help out so much, but I’m their only mom. And sometimes they just want me.” I sighed. “Anyway, I tried to explain to him that I was so much better now, but he’s worried about me feeling like I need to keep three men satisfied.”
Rebel frowned. “So the dumbass just took himself out of the equation entirely?”
I nodded. “I think so. Either that or he just isn’t attracted to me anymore.”
All three of my friends shot that idea down so quick.
“Not a chance.” Mae pointed toward the lake. “When we were swimming earlier and you whipped off your shirt to show us your new bikini top, I thought his eyes were going to pop right out of his head. That was not the look of a man who doesn’t want you.”
Lacey stared over at Nash. “His balls must be so blue right now.”
Rebel snorted on a laugh, and the rest of us joined in, but after a minute, I flapped my hands at them.
“Seriously! Tell me what to do! His intentions are honorable and all. I know they come from a place of care and protection. I appreciate him. I do! I just…”
“Want him to tie you up and lick every inch of your body until you scream?” Mae suggested.
“Need some of that bow chicka wow wow.” Lacey giggled.
“Want to shove him up against a wall, grab your strap-on, and pound him into next week?”
We all stared at Rebel.
She shrugged. “What? It’s one way of getting your frustrations out.”
I shook my head. “You’ve been hanging out with Scythe too much. Neither of you have a brain to mouth filter.” But I loved both of them for the way they never failed to make me laugh.
Nash crossed the clearing to put Mila in her stroller, out of the way of the rest of the kids. Just the sway of his hips and ass as he moved had me clenching my fingers into the armrests. I pressed my thighs together, trying to dull the ache building there that came from just watching him. “Help me, please? This has to end before I self-combust.”
Rebel’s gaze landed on Nash’s flannel shirt, discarded on the grass, and then she gave me a wicked grin. “I have an idea that’s going to blow his mind. And his….”
Mae wriggled her eyebrows. “Load?”
All three of my friends laughed, but Nash was in the middle of tossing Lexa into the air, and every reach of his arms had his t-shirt sliding up his torso, revealing his too-perfect abs that he worked on daily.
My mouth watered. I stared at Rebel. “Tell me. Whatever it is, tell me fast.”