Chapter 47 – Remington
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
What. The. Fuck?
Remington
“I enjoyed tonight,” my girl says, running her fingers along the tattoo on my ribs. I kiss her head and drag my hand up and down her back as we lay on my bed with her draped half over me.
“The dinner or the monkey sex?” I ask. We’d eaten as a group tonight with the Bouviers, my mom, and Antonio. It was fun, and it was nice to see Mindy and Gianna getting along so well. Then we came back to the room and defiled each other. I’ve never felt so relaxed and sated in my life.
“Both,” she replies, pressing her lips to my nipple.
“But which did you like best?” I prod.
“Hmmm,” she muses, and I can hear the tease in her hum. “Well, there were tacos and margaritas with dinner.”
“And?”
“And I really love tacos and margaritas,” she taunts, and I narrow my eyes.
“Better than my cock?” I ask, sliding my hand down to cup one firm ass cheek.
“Are you fishing for a compliment, Mr. Hale?”
Before she knows what’s happening, I flip her luscious naked body until she’s on her stomach, and I straddle her thighs with mine. She squeals, but it’s a sound of pure delight.
“Tell me my dick is better than tacos.”
“Never!” she cries out, giggling into the mattress. “It’s blasphemy.”
I spank her ass. “Say it, woman.”
Her body shakes with laughter, and I’m grinning like a goddamn idiot. “Tacos rule. Boys drool,” she announces defiantly.
I swat her other round globe, and my dick hardens against her soft flesh at the sight of the gentle jiggle. Bending down, I gobble at her side with loud munching noises.
“Say it.” She squirms, but I hold her down with a firm forearm braced on her upper back and continue tickling her with my mouth. “Say Remi’s astounding cock is superior to tacos.”
She giggles, still trying to get away. “Remi’s cock is indeed astounding…” I wait, pausing my torture until she says, “But it doesn’t have guacamole and cheese.”
A screech emits from her as I redouble my efforts, giving her a little bite, and our bodies writhe against each other on the soft sheets. My erection grows longer and harder as she flounders.
Finally, I back off and straighten, giving my cock a couple firm tugs while my other hand soothes the red handprint blooming so prettily on her skin. “I’m about to teach you some manners, Ms. Espinoza.”
Mindy swipes hair from her face and peers at me over her shoulders. “I look forward to your lesson, sir. Would you like my ass in the air for you?”
Goddamn.
I open my mouth to speak when my phone plays the theme song from The Big Bang Theory. We both glance at the nightstand. That’s Helix’s custom ringtone.
Mindy grabs it from the charger and rolls beneath me, her eyes wide. “It’s late. You have to answer.”
She’s right. My brother wouldn’t call at this hour if it weren’t important. I quickly swipe to answer with a sharp, “Helix, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Nicolette.” The break in his voice almost halts my heartbeat until he adds, “But she’s okay, and the baby is okay.”
I unstraddle Mindy and seat myself on the edge of the bed, massaging my forehead. She immediately sits behind me, wrapping her arms around me and resting her cheek on my back. Her warmth soothes me from the inside out, and I drop my hand to grasp hers, so damn grateful to have her.
“Tell me what happened.”
“She passed out at home. She wasn’t hurt because I caught her, and she came around quickly, so I drove her to the hospital.”
I breathe out a tiny bit of relief. “I’ll call the pilot and see if we can fly out tonight.”
“No, no,” he protests. “I promise she and baby Nicholas are okay. At the ER, I insisted they call her obstetrician, and luckily the doc was already in the hospital and was able to come directly over. She said Nic’s blood pressure was low due to the blood vessels expanding to support the pregnancy.”
Then he rattles off some facts about hormones that only a biochemist or medical doctor could understand, and I nod like I know what the hell he’s talking about.
“So what’s the treatment plan?”
“Hydration, eating more often, even if it’s just small snacks, and increasing her salt intake.”
Then I hear my sister-in-law’s voice. “I’m fine, and I’m going back to work on Monday.”
“Baby,” Helix says, his voice cajoling.
“The doctor said walking and exercising is good for this condition. So I’ll be walking into work on Monday like a normal person,” she argues.
“Let me talk to her,” I request.
A second later, I hear my sister-in-law’s voice. “Don’t start with me, Remi.”
“I’m not,” I say, smiling at this strong, stubborn woman. “I just wanted to hear your sweet voice.”
She chuckles. “You mean you couldn’t hear me yelling at my husband?”
“Oh, was that you? I thought he was being attacked by a banshee.” She snorts as I continue. “He loves you and this baby more than anything.”
Nicolette’s voice softens. “I know.”
“And I know you also are aware that not every parent is a good one.” She’s silent, and I think she’s starting to see where I’m going.
Nicolette’s mother is a piece of crap, and I wouldn’t piss on her if she were on fire.
“This baby is so lucky to have two parents who love him. If Helix is a little overprotective, let him be. It only means he cares.”
“And I’m more grateful than you know for him, but I don’t want to be treated like a sick person. I’m not sick. I’m pregnant.”
“And you also have a condition that makes your pregnancy a bit more complicated. It’s okay to alter things a little to accommodate that. What if you fainted and fell down a flight of stairs?”
I can literally hear her frowning. “That would be… not good. So what are you suggesting? That I just sit around the house like some kind of princess?”
Jesus, she’s bull-headed. “Not at all. How about a compromise? You can take Monday off work just to relax. That wouldn't kill you, and it would make your husband happy. I could book you two a couple’s massage as a gift from me.” Before she can comment, I add, “With one of them being fully trained in pregnancy massage.”
Nicolette makes a little grumbling sound. “What else?”
“After that, you go to work as usual, but I’ll order you a stool with a back and arms on it for the lab. That will give you a little more protection and make it less likely that you fall off your seat and go splat.”
She thinks about it for a few seconds. “Okay, fine. I’ll take a day off but only because you offered a free massage.
My back aches all the time now because your brother put a behemoth child inside me.
” Nicolette lowers her voice like she’s tattling on her husband.
“Helix also wants to walk with me every time I have to go to the bathroom.”
“So? It’s not like he’s asking to carry you in a gold-gilded chariot. He just wants to walk with his wife. And might I remind you, it worked out well tonight that he was close enough to prevent the aforementioned splat.”
Her noise of frustration lets me know I’ve won. “I hate when other people are right.”
A laugh rumbles out of me. “I’ll take that win since it never happens. You’re the smartest person I know, sis.”
It sounds like she pulls the phone away from her mouth. “Babe, your brother said I’m smarter than you.” She returns to our conversation. “He said he’s aware.”
“Good. We all settled now?”
“No, we didn’t actually call to get impromptu mediation. We called about Mom. She said she would be there in the same hotel as you, right?”
Nicolette has no contact with her biological mother anymore. Since meeting Nic, our mother has taken her under her welcoming wing and treated her like a daughter instead of simply a daughter-in-law. Nicolette calls her Mom now.
“You’re worried about her freaking out so you want me to tell her in person about your hospital visit,” I surmise.
“Do you mind? I don’t want to hide it from her, but I know she’s going to be worried. If she sees that you’re calm about it, we thought that might help.”
“I don’t mind a bit. She’s only one floor down from me, and she should be up since she’s a night owl.”
“Thanks, Rem,” she says. “And thanks for helping me see things more clearly.”
“Try not to give my brother too much shit,” I encourage, overwhelmed with affection for my brilliant sister-in-law. “You have a real family now, so get used to us and our sometimes overzealous support.”
“I appreciate you.” I hear a door open on her end, and she quickly says, “The doctor is coming in to bust me out of this joint. Tell Mom we’ll be home in about an hour if she wants to call. Thanks again, brother dearest.”
And the line goes dead. I fill in Mindy on what happened tonight, and she jumps into action, pushing me off the bed and standing as well.
“We smell like sex, so we need a quick shower before we go talk to your mom. You turn the water on, and I’ll get us some clothes set out.” She swats me on my bare ass, and I head to the bathroom with a grin. I guess my girl is going with me.
We exit the elevator on Mom’s floor and turn right, passing three doors before stopping. My mother loves her kids and grandkids more than anything, and I’ve been rehearsing the right words to say so I don’t cause her any panic.
I knock and wait for her to answer.
“That’s probably the room service,” I hear in a muffled voice.
Confusion sets in, and I look up and down the hallway. Where did that come from?
“Okay, darlin’,” I hear, snapping my head back to the wooden door in front of me. Those words definitely came from this room.
Only that wasn’t my mother's voice.
It was a man’s. One with a distinct Irish accent. One I recognize because he’s…
The door swings open, and my eyes narrow when a man appears, shirt unbuttoned. In. My. Mother’s. Room.
I can barely form the word around the dryness in my mouth.
“Antonio?”