Chapter 13 #2
He lays me in the middle of the bed and climbs on top of me, kissing me for a long moment.
“Before you mistakenly thought I was having an affair.” His voice is steeped with remorse when he says, “I was trying to build a relationship with my nephew, which I unfortunately have to do through my ex. I was only being nice, I promise.”
“Well…stop it,” I say with a whimper, having missed Conrad’s touch and affection more than I realized, and the crushing anguish I’d been carrying in my chest slowly starts to ease.
He leans on an elbow to tuck his fingers under the waistbands of my skirt and panties, then waits.
When I don’t protest, he tugs them down to my ankles so that he can lie between my thighs.
“Your wish is my command, princess,” he says, nuzzling his nose against mine.
“I promise to be mean to her from now on.”
I squint at him as I lift my knees, my heart beating quicker. “How mean?”
“I’ll tell her that her shoes are ugly every time I see her.” I don’t stop him when he unbuttons his jeans and rolls his zipper down, sliding the underside of his huge, hard cock along my slit.
With a little hiccup and the arch of my back, I ask, “What else?”
“And that her roots are showing, and everyone knows she’s not a natural blonde.”
“Oooh, that’s really mean. I like it.”
“I have something else you’ll like,” Conrad says with a waggle of his brows, sitting up fast to pull his dirty T-shirt off, making me smile with his corny Dad joke.
I’ve seen him undressed plenty of times, but I had stuck to my guns and ignored him as much as I could to protect my heart.
As much as I had been hurting, it hadn’t stopped me from occasionally taking a peek when he worked out every afternoon before the sun set, jumping rope and doing dozens of burpees in the parking lot.
So many times, I wanted to grant myself permission to forget all about the illicit kiss for as long as it took to steal an orgasm before going back to freezing him out.
I had refused to give in to temptation, though, when he’d come back inside all sweaty and tan and ridiculously hot and would strip naked before his showers, his massive, hard cock jutting up from his pelvis.
Now, I can look my fill of the sexy, golden man who, apparently, has been faithful this whole time.
Oops.
Conrad slowly slides his hands along my sides, pushing the hem of my T-shirt up until I curl my shoulders off the bed enough that he can slip the material over my head. He sighs with longing when I lie back, his eyes on my chest as my heart beats ever faster.
“I swear they’re bigger already,” he says, slipping my bra straps off my shoulders, flipping my bra cups upside down.
He gets cozy between my thighs and drags his tongue down my neck, tracing the lines of blue veins that have become more prominent—one of the early pregnancy symptoms I also tried to ignore.
“They’re sensitive, so be careful,” I say, cupping his cheek and lightly scratching his trimmed beard when he takes my left nipple into his mouth, his hot breath making goosebumps prickle along my arms.
He looks up, licking my nipple. “Should I stop?”
I bite my bottom lip. “No.”
His lashes flutter, and he dips back down, gently sucking on my nipples until I’m writhing for more. When he grinds his cock against me, bucking his hips, making me moan with deep-seated hunger, he says, “Before we do this, we need to get on the same page.”
“After,” I gasp. “We’ll talk after you make me cum.”
He shakes his head and kisses his way back up to my lips. “This is important.”
“Fine,” I say with a little pout, pressing on his lower back while I hike my knees up higher along his ribs. “But hurry up.”
“My needy little princess,” he says with a chuckle and kisses the tip of my nose.
“You’re needy, too, your highness,” I say, bucking my hips twice.
He grips my right hip, jerking my lower half up, positioning his cockhead at my entrance. “I’ve gone mental without you, Mirabeth. Of course I need you.”
“So fuck me already.”
“Not until you promise not to shut down on me the next time you’re upset. I’d rather you scream and sic Merlin on me than stonewall me. Your silence hurt.”
I look away from the pain in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I…I’m not the kind to rage. Shutting down when I’m really upset, going quiet, is what I’ve always done.”
“Then promise to at least try,” he says, turning my face back to him, his brows pulled down. “I want open and honest communication between us, instead of me going crazy, guessing at where your mind is at.”
“Then it’s a two-way street. You can’t hide the truth from me because you think it will upset me. I deserve to know everything, regardless of how you think I’ll react, even if you don’t like the consequences.”
He smiles softly and kisses me. “Deal. Look how much happier we already are.”
I pinch his firm, muscular butt, making him jerk. “I’ll be happier once you make me cum.”
Conrad eases his large crown inside me, his thrusts thoughtfully shallow as he waits for my pussy to stretch and adjust. “Two more things we need to get on the same page about,” he says, his breath turning choppy when I roll my hips and beg him to give me more than just the tip.
“I love you, Mirabeth. And, maybe I shouldn’t, because we were strangers last month, but I hope, now that we’ve talked, that you—”
“I think I love you too.” With my hands now circling his neck, I pull him closer, ignoring the tenderness in my breasts as he lies fully atop me.
“That’s enough for…for now.” The furling of his brows when he squeezes his eyes shut and the thickness of his voice bring a sharp pang to my chest. “I’ll work on making you fall in love with me every day too.
Maybe by the time our baby is born…or…or…
maybe by our third anniversary, you’ll know for sure.
We could have a real ceremony and renew our vows, if you do. ”
I relax my inner muscles, brace my feet on the mattress, and thrust up, taking the last of his length with a strangled gasp. I comb my fingers through his thick hair. “I’d like that. Somewhere on the beach or in the mountains.”
He nods and presses his face into my neck, sliding his hands up under my shoulders, his body vibrating as he rocks in and out of me with long, smooth strokes.
My neck turns wet, and it’s not from the kisses he keeps pressing against my skin.
My pang grows exponentially when I realize he’s silently crying.
The intense connection I felt right away wasn’t one-sided. He really does love me.
I imagine a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains, standing beneath a wooden arch in a clearing in an old-growth forest. Or maybe on a crystal blue beach beneath an arch draped in sheer fabric that waves and snaps in the wind.
I’d wear a wedding dress he helped me pick out.
He’d be dressed sharply in a suit, holding my hands as he made his vows.
I’d write my own, truly willing and wanting to marry him, and not because of some trick or bizarre overcrowding problem-solving program.
I don’t know that I’ve ever wanted anything more than I do our baby, and now this. Him.
I turn my face into his, searching for his soft lips, and murmur what I hadn’t wanted to acknowledge when I was in so much pain after that horrible night three weeks ago. “I don’t just think it. I know it. I love you too, Conrad.” It wouldn’t have hurt so much if I hadn’t.