CHAPTER 12 #2
I move over to where she’s sitting on the floor by Ria and tilt her chin up to look at me. “Andi, I want you to come back to Eastport. I want us to raise Ria together.” I rub my hand against her body where our child grows. “I want us to raise this baby together.” I watch tears form in her eyes.
“I told you I loved you. I do. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you are safe and that everyone knows where we stand in the future, even you.
I’m sorry you were hurt and felt like running.
But know this, I will chase you down every fucking time.
If it weren’t for me fighting for Ria, I would have come for you as soon as I realized you were gone. ”
“Ria needs to be your focus.” She puts her hand over mine on her belly. “Just like this one.”
I slide my hand from her chin along her face until it’s buried in her long hair. I’m about to lean in and kiss her. I can’t wait to feel her lips on mine. Then Ria lets out a loud burp, startling her. We both chuckle, and I pull back.
“Guess my little girl needs some attention.” I start to move, but Andi puts a hand to my chest.
“Please let me. I missed so much while I was gone.”
I nod and offer her my hand to help her up.
As Andi reaches down to pick up Ria, I can almost see my future with her in this moment.
I watch them move out of the room and head toward Ria’s.
My eyes drift around the place that has become her home.
She has a small desk set up in the corner, and I see a picture of us she took our last night together.
We’re cuddled, both smiling up at her phone as she snapped the shot.
Next to it is a photo of a man I know is her father. He’s holding her in his arms, and they’re smiling. A horse stands behind them. In the same frame is another picture of the same man on a horse, with a very young Andi sitting in front of him.
But it’s the final picture in the trio that makes me pause. It’s of the two of them again. Their smiles are almost mysterious as they look at each other. She looks so much like him in the eyes. They were close, and it shows.
“That’s my father. He would have liked you.” Her voice breaks me from my perusal.
“Are you sure? I knocked up his baby girl before putting a ring on her finger. I also let her run from me because of a misunderstanding.”
She chuckles and shakes her head. “I was conceived before my parents got married. My father was a man who believed in tying my mother to him in every way, just like you.”
She looks at the picture for a moment, then her eyes move to the bookshelf, where a worn leather book catches her attention.
“What’s that?” I point at it.
“My father’s journal.” Her eyes briefly mist over. “He loved the ranch so much. I hate that it’s because of that ranch he’s dead.”
“Do you want to go back there?” I worry about her answer.
“Oh no. I hate that place. Between what happened to my father and how my mother is, I don’t ever want to go back except to visit.”
“He wouldn’t be disappointed in you not wanting to be there?”
She sits on the sofa, and I sit down beside her as she gently rocks Ria, helping her calm before we put her to bed.
“No.” She points to the book. “He journaled every day of my life until his death. Letters to me. Things he wanted me to know but couldn’t tell me then because I was so young. He told me to find my own path, that the ranch would survive without me.”
“He knew you didn’t want to stay on the ranch?”
“He knew I didn’t want to be a part of the ranch in that capacity.
I think he thought I would get my vet degree and come back to take care of the horses.
But what he really wanted was for me to not live my mother’s life.
He didn’t want me to barrel race. They fought the night before he died.
It was about me racing. I’d already started in the young kid’s circuit, and he didn’t want me in it. ”
“But she told you that’s what your father had wanted, didn’t she? That he wanted you to race.”
“She did. I found that journal before I left for Eastport. I know where the others are, and I know where my sister’s is. My mother lied to me. But in her defense, I overheard part of the argument. I know he didn’t want me to race, but I still kept doing it, thinking he did.”
“Why?”
“Why didn’t he want me to? Or why did I keep doing it?”
Wrapping my arm around her shoulder, I pull her into my body. This is the most in-depth conversation we’ve had about her family. I want her to continue.
She bites her upper lip before answering. “He didn’t want me to bear my mother’s dreams. He told her she could go back and race, but Linda had convinced her she shouldn’t. Something about that’s what Dad was saying behind her back. They fought about Linda’s influence that night.”
“Before you continue, who’s Linda?” I ask her, genuinely confused. She’s never mentioned her.
“She murdered my father. She was the ranch secretary and wanted revenge or some shit like that. She killed my father to get my uncle to come home so she could marry him and get the ranch.”
I shake my head. “What the fuck? That’s crazy.”
“Oh yeah, it gets worse. But that’s my uncle and aunt’s story. Hailey barely survived Linda.”
“Dang, so she’s in jail now? Could she be the one after you?”
“Oh no, she’s dead. Let’s just say she pissed off the wrong horse.” She lets out a dark chuckle, and I pull her close.
“What do you want to do?”
She tips her head back to look up at me. “Be with you. Finish school. Raise our babies.” Her eyes drop to Ria before looking up at me again. “I do love you, Callum. I was just scared and freaked out. I worried Ria would get hurt or you if I stayed. So when I heard you say that, I ran.”
“Why here?”
“Oklahoma is in my blood. I like it here, but I don’t love it. I want to be where you are, and that’s Eastport.”
“Then we’ll do it.”
“Not until it’s safe.”
“I’ll agree to disagree.” I chuckle before leaning down to kiss her forehead. “She’s asleep. I’ll tuck her in if you want to get ready for bed.”
“Okay.”
Carefully, I slip Ria from her arms and stand up to take her to bed. Before I cross the threshold into her room, I turn back and see my woman cleaning up and heading for the kitchen.
By the time I get Ria relaxed and asleep again in her crib, I notice how quiet the small cabin is. Even though it’s attached to the side where Butcher lives, this place is calming, and I can see why she came here to think.
I step out of Ria’s room and move around the cabin, checking doors and windows to protect my small family.
When I reach the doorway of Andi’s room, I pause and just watch her.
Leaning against the door frame, I stare, entranced, as she brushes out her long, wavy chestnut hair while sitting in profile to me.
It shines in the overhead light, and it takes me a moment to notice what she’s wearing.
I’m distracted by how ethereal she looks.
The pink-and-white lace nightgown has a matching robe that slips off her shoulders as she moves her arm. The gown underneath is spaghetti-streapped and hugs her fuller tits. My eyes trace her figure down to where her body cradles our growing child.
I’m not surprised she’s pregnant. After all, I made sure it would happen. What frustrates me is how much I’ve missed. I won’t miss any more, but I need to convince her to come back to Eastport with me. She’s so positive that if she does, her stalker will hurt Ria or myself.
“When’s your next doctor’s appointment?” I ask, breaking the tension building in my body from my need for her.
She turns toward me, and her nipples harden as she looks at me. My cock is hard and heavy behind my fly. I want to just take her right now. One thing we’ve never lacked is sexual attraction. It’s been there since the beginning. But I need to show her she means more to me than that.
“Tomorrow. I was hoping you’d want to come. Ty’s sister-in-law offered to babysit Ria if you want her to.”
“Ty told me she offered if we needed time. I’d love to go with you.”
“It’s an ultrasound appointment. We can find out what we’re having.”
Walking across the room, I stop in front of her. She looks up at me, and I can’t stop the dirty thought of her on her knees in front of me, taking my cock. The image is so vivid, my cock jumps, and I almost come right there. She slowly stands from the side of the bed, and I drag her body into mine.
“Andi, I’m trying to show you that you mean more to me. I love you. If you just want to cuddle and sleep tonight, I’m okay with that. But don’t push me. I’m a man on the edge of a cliff.”
She leans up as she cups my cock through my jeans. “Fall off the cliff. I’ve got pregnancy hormones raging through my body right now.”
I dive off that proverbial cliff and take her lips in a deep, searing kiss. She opens up, and I groan as her tongue slides against mine. Her flavor bursts across my taste buds, and it’s not enough. I need her essence on my tongue too.
Lifting her up, I carefully place her onto the bed and pull my mouth away. I watch as she writhes, rubbing her thighs together, trying to find relief.
“Do you need me, baby?” I ask, my voice husky from desire.
“Please.” She reaches for me.
I shake my head and quickly strip, leaving on my boxers. My cock is leaking, needing to be inside her tight pussy.
Settling on the bed, I hold out a hand. “Hand me a pillow, baby.”
She grabs the pillow beside her and hands it to me. I lift her hips and slip it under her to lift her pelvis up. I know it will be easier with how big she is with the baby.
I slide my hands up and down her smooth legs, avoiding the area she wants me to touch most, ramping up her desire.
She’s moaning and moving her head back and forth as I just touch her.
I wrap my hands around the band of her panties and slide them down her legs.
Holding them to my nose, I inhale her sweet vanilla scent and musk.
I throw them behind me before kissing from her ankle, up the inside of her leg, to her core.
I tweak her clit with my nose, and she jumps from the contact.
The little bud is erect and begging for attention.
It takes everything in me to continue with my seduction. I want her begging and out of her mind with need when I take her. Part of it is punishment for taking herself away from me, the other is I want her to enjoy every second of what I’m doing to her.
When I kiss up her other leg, I finally settle on my belly, wrapping my arms under her legs and opening her up to me.
I take her higher and shove my tongue into her pussy, licking her from the source.
She cries out, and I pray she doesn’t wake up my daughter, because I don’t think I could stop right now.
“Quiet, baby, or you’ll wake Ria, and we’ll have to stop,” I order her.
I blow on her clit, and when I finally suck it deep, she grabs the other pillow and screams into it. I build her up until she’s coming hard. Then I do it again, needing to have more of her before I bury myself deep inside her.
When I finally pull away from her pussy, she’s lying on the bed, panting and sweating. I help her remove her nightgown, then look down at my woman. I kiss where our child is and tell them how much I love them and can’t wait to meet them.
Andi gasps, and I look up her body to see tears in her eyes.
“Hold on to the headboard.”
I line my cock up with her tilted pelvis and slide into her wet channel in a long thrust. When I’m fully inside her, the heat and still pulsing walls almost set me off, but I’m not ready.
Pulling out, I thrust back in, firm but not too rough. I do this over and over until both of us are on the edge.
Andi’s hands are sliding up and down my chest, her little nails dragging across my skin. My body is jazzed up and ready to burst.
“Please let me come, Callum. I need it harder,” Andi begs.
It’s all I can take. I start rutting into her, giving her what she asked for. When my balls pull up and I feel the tingle in my spine, I tweak her clit. She screams into the pillow as she tightens down on my cock, making it hard for me to pull out.
I move only a couple more times before I plant myself deep and explode inside her body. I fall over the top of her, but I don’t put any pressure on the baby.
The baby kicks, and we both look down at her belly and chuckle.
“Guess they like orgasms too.” I joke, and Andi smacks my chest playfully.
As I pull from her body, I groan at losing our contact. I head to her bathroom for a cloth to clean her up. When I return, my little nymph is already asleep.
After I get her cleaned and settled back into bed, I climb in next to her and pull her body against mine. My hands settle on our child, who is kicking and rolling around in her stomach. A piece of me settles, and for the first time in my life, I know where I want to be and who I want to be with.
I’m not running anymore, and I’m not letting her run from me either.