Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
The week in Seattle had cemented a bond between her and Alec that had been unexpected.
In the last six weeks or so since they’d returned, she had balanced between Cole’s Hill and trying to get to know Alec and his family and her commitments in New York.
She was still having some morning sickness but it had started to settle down.
She’d tried to make sure she was in Cole’s Hill for the “book club” on Friday nights with Hadley and Helena and their friends.
She’d taken Lulu for walks around the neighborhood and enjoyed how quiet it was. A part of her sort of liked it here.
Now she was sitting by his pool under the shade of an umbrella on a lazy Saturday afternoon.
Lulu was sleeping in the sun on a cushion that Alec had set up on the patio close to a bowl of water.
Music was already blaring from the speakers.
She noticed that Alec liked Drake and Childish Gambino but occasionally something from Pitbull would pop up.
His family was coming over later for a cookout and tomorrow they were going to a baby shower for his sister, Bianca.
Lying on the sun lounger with her shades on, she felt like she could be a woman who would fit in here.
Her baby was growing, and she had a doctor’s appointment next week in Cole’s Hill just to make sure things were still on track.
She’d flown her doctor in from New York for her last monthly checkup, but Alec had suggested she see someone local just to be on record as a patient.
She stretched her legs out and placed her hand on her abdomen. The baby wasn’t big enough for her to feel it move yet, but she knew it was in there.
Alec’s shadow covered her, and she glanced up. “Do you mind if I sit down here?”
She shifted her legs to give him room to sit next to her on the chair.
He handed her the bowl of strawberries that he’d gone to get for her.
To be honest, Alec spoiled her and she liked it.
All she had to do was mention she was hungry or that the strawberries they’d picked up at the market looked good and he was off making her a bowl.
He put his hand on her thigh and that familiar buzz of desire and lust started humming through her body. He caressed her inner thigh and then she noticed him watching her.
“What is it?” she asked. “Thanks for the strawberries by the way.”
“No problem. Do you mind if I touch your stomach?” he asked. “It’s hard to believe our child is in there.”
She set the bowl aside and took his hand in hers, placing it on her stomach.
She had a slight pooch there now, but really it wasn’t easy to tell from just looking at her that she was pregnant.
Alec, being the superefficient man he was, had researched the different stages of pregnancy and had sent her a pdf containing all the information.
It had made her smile when she’d received the text.
Other men might send flowers or expensive gifts, but Alec Velasquez was too practical for that.
“Yes, it is. Now that the morning sickness is over, I’m not really that affected by the child...except for these,” she said, gesturing to her boobs, which were already half a cup size larger than usual.
“I noticed that,” he admitted.
“Given that you couldn’t keep your hands off me last night, I’m not surprised,” she said with a smile. “I have a doctor’s appointment this week. Do you want to come with me?”
Each step in her pregnancy, she was starting to see how good Alec was at adapting to the situation. There were moments that had clearly taken him by surprise but there were also many that seemed to show he was in his element.
“I’d like that. Do you have the details?”
“I’ll text them to you later,” she said.
He leaned over and kissed her before standing up and moving back to his own chair. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. I’m still trying to adjust to you being pregnant and I’m not sure I’m doing the right thing. I mean I want you but I’m not sure that I should... I mean you’re pregnant.”
“Dude, I was pregnant on the jet and in Seattle and last night and that didn’t stop you,” she said.
“Maybe it should have,” he said. “I mean pretty much we’re still strangers and you’re having my baby.
..which makes me think of my abuela’s favorite show, I Love Lucy, and that episode where Ricky sings.
.. I’m losing it. I don’t know how to act anymore.
I mean I can’t be the guy I was because I’m going to be a dad. I don’t know if I’m ready.”
She swung her legs to the side of the chair and leaned forward to touch his hand. “Hey. I’m not ready. That pdf you sent said that the nine months of pregnancy are supposed to help you prepare for the child.”
“I don’t know if nine months is going to be enough,” he admitted.
“Me, either,” she said. It was the first time they’d really talked about the baby.
She felt like that was partially her fault because she’d been trying to make things between herself and Alec just feel normal instead of.
..like this. “I’ve never had a relationship with a guy before that’s lasted this long. ”
“We’ve barely been seeing each other six weeks,” he said.
“I know. It’s just the way I normally am. I don’t know how to do this,” she admitted.
“Well, the sex seems to be good between us,” he said, smiling and tangling their fingers together.
“It does... But is that all there is to a relationship?” she asked, moving over to sit on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she cupped his jaw.
“No. We also have to get to know things about each other,” he said.
“Like what?”
“Well, I know you like strawberries,” he said.
“And you like Lone Star beer,” she said.
“We should probably learn a few more things about each other before we call it a relationship,” he joked.
“You like Drake...a lot.”
“I do,” he admitted. “What about you?”
“Well, of course I like Siobahn’s songs but my comfort listen is jazz standards from the thirties and forties.”
“What? The brand influencer likes old-timey music?” he teased.
“I do,” she admitted. “And you’re the only one who knows.”
“I’m honored,” he said.
“You should be,” she said, stretching up to kiss him as she put her arms around his shoulders.
She pressed herself against his naked chest and in this moment she didn’t let herself worry over what she was going to do when the nine months were up and her baby was here.
Instead she just enjoyed the afternoon in the sun with her lover.
Alec shifted on the sun lounger made for two so that they were lying side by side and he was cuddling her from behind.
Their bodies fit together perfectly, her curves settling against his angles.
His hand was warm on her hip as he caressed her.
His head rested on her shoulder as he continued to ask her questions about things she liked and didn’t like.
This was like nothing she’d ever experienced before and a part of her wished that it wasn’t happening. She had that weird feeling again. It was warm and almost comforting. She associated it with Alec but she couldn’t say for sure what it was. She thought she might be starting to care for him.
She didn’t want that.
Sex was one thing. But if she let herself start caring.
.. She admitted to herself she was afraid that she might not be able to control herself with Alec if she cared.
She was trying to get to know him without allowing herself to need him.
She couldn’t need him except as a father for her baby.
She knew that she wasn’t facing the fact that she was going to have make a decision about the baby’s future and she was starting to care for Alec.
But she couldn’t allow herself to feel anything other than lust for him.
She turned in his arms. His hands stayed at her waist and when she faced him, seeing the stubble on his jaw and the intensity of his gaze, she knew that lust was definitely a big draw for both of them.
He leaned down to kiss her and she caught his bottom lip between her teeth, sucking on it.
Then he shifted his head and his mouth was on hers, his lips firm as he slowly kissed her.
He moved his head back and forth, until her lips parted and she felt the exhalation of his breath into her mouth.
He tasted of lime and tequila and something that she associated only with Alec.
She opened her mouth to invite him deeper.
She shivered as she wrapped her arms around him and draped one thigh over his hips, trying to get closer to him. The taste of him always made her hungry for more.
“I’m having another craving,” she whispered against his jaw.
“What is it for?” he asked, his hands moving up and down her body.
“You,” she admitted.
She squeezed his shoulders, then moved her hands up his neck to cup the back of his head. His hair was thick and silky under her fingers. God, she wanted him. And it was okay to admit it because sex was safe. Not like hearing him talk about her having his baby. This made sense. This she understood.
He caressed her back, his fingers tracing a delicate pattern down her spine. Then he pushed one of his hands beneath her bikini bottom to cup her naked flesh. She rubbed her backside against his hand, liking the feel of it.
He ran his other hand up the curve of her waist and around to her chest. She shifted back and their eyes met as he moved his hand up to her breasts, which were almost too big for her bikini top now that her pregnancy was advancing.
He traced his finger around the triangles of fabric, then slowly dipped one under it to brush over her already aroused nipple.
Delicate tremors went through her entire body. He kept one hand on her butt and one fingertip idly circling her nipple. She shifted in his arms, trying to get closer to him.
He lowered his head, his lips gliding down the column of her neck.
Then she felt his teeth on the bikini tie at the back of her neck.
He twisted his head and the bow came undone, then he caught one strap between his lips and drew it forward until one of her breasts was exposed.
..the one he wasn’t caressing with his finger.
“Oh, hello,” he said, lowering his head and circling that nipple with his tongue. Her head fell back, and she clutched at his shoulders as he took her into his mouth and sucked eagerly. Every nerve in her body seemed to constrict with desire and her center was damp and aching for him.
He shifted her suddenly so that she was lying on her back underneath him as he knelt over her. His mouth continued to drive her mad and all she was aware of was the delicious feelings he was pulling from her.
His muscled thigh pushed between her legs, nudging them apart, and she felt the ridge of his erection rubbing against her. She lifted her hips, moving her body under his until he rubbed her in just the right spot.
She ran her hands down his back, reaching the point in the small of his back that made his hips jerk forward against him. He eased down her body, kissing her from her midriff down to her belly button. He eased even lower, nibbling at the skin of her belly where he’d touched her earlier.
He kissed her there and whispered something against her stomach that she couldn’t hear before he dipped his tongue into the indentation left by her belly button. She felt an answering pulse between her legs. She gyrated underneath him and he pushed back, his erection thrusting against her leg.
His mouth went lower on her, his hands roaming to the waistband of her bikini bottoms and slowly drawing them down to her thighs. She wanted to push them lower, but she felt his moist breath against her stomach and then the scratchiness of his stubble as he rubbed his jaw against her.
“Lift up,” he said.
She planted her feet on the sun lounger and did as he asked.
He shoved her bikini bottoms the rest of the way down her legs.
Their eyes met and he held her gaze as he put his hand on her feminine center.
Her skin felt too sensitive and her blood felt like it was boiling in her veins.
She was on fire for him. She had never expected to still want him just as badly over so much time.
She thought that their lovemaking wouldn’t be as intense after all these weeks.
She was wrong.
He spoke against her skin, telling her what he was going to do to her, how much he loved the feel of her naked body under his.
Then he lowered his head again, his chin brushing her center as he twisted his head back and forth.
The movement put pressure on her, causing her clit to swell and become more sensitive.
He parted her using both of his hands and she felt the brush of the cold air against her most intimate flesh. Then he warmed her with his mouth, breathing over her. She squirmed against him hungrily.
She felt the rasp of his teeth against her and everything inside her clenched, almost making her come. But Alec lifted his head at the last minute, leaving her yearning for more.
“I want to make this last,” he admitted.
She put her hands on the back of his head and directed him back to her clit. “Later we can make it last. I need you now.”
She felt one of his hands go lower, tracing her opening.
Those large knowing hands of his made her push up against him with need.
Everything in her body was on the edge. He pushed his finger—just the tip—inside her and she felt the first ripples of her orgasm rushing through her.
He pulled back, lifting his head to watch her as she undulated beneath him.
“Alec...”
“Yes?” he asked.
“I need you inside me.”
“Perfect. That’s what I need, too,” he said, lowering his body over hers so the warm flesh of his chest rubbed against her breasts. Then his thigh was between her legs brushing against her engorged flesh, and she wanted to scream as everything in her tightened just a little bit more.
“Alec!”
She twisted underneath him, clawing at his shoulders as he thrust up and inside her.
He drove into her again and again until she was crying out his name, and he shouted hers against her shoulder.
They came long and hard and then afterward he held her in his arms, shifting to his side to hold her. She looked up at him.
And that funny feeling was back, even more intense this time. Oh, God. She wasn’t sure she was ready to admit that she liked him this much.
“I guess we know something else about each other.”
“What’s that?” he asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
“We both don’t have a problem getting naked in the great outdoors.”
He started laughing and then shook his head. “Very true.”