Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Hayden
W ho knew that a little old startup security company could have so much intrigue swirling around it?
Mace was incredibly tense for the rest of the day after losing the Harvey contract and being served with a lawsuit by Victory Holdings. Everyone in the office was very much on edge, myself included. No one wanted to think that the company they’d just started working for might go under because someone was trying to sabotage it, which was the rumor that flew through the cubes before we all left for the weekend at five, but I liked it even less, since apparently I could pop any second.
“I guess I understand why we haven’t come out to the rest of the office yet,” I said on Saturday afternoon, as Mace and I sat on the living room floor in my apartment, assembling a changing table for the baby. Well, Mace assembled, I splayed, rubbed my itchy belly and sore boobs, and felt extraordinarily sorry for myself.
“I’m trying to keep you out of things,” Mace said, eyes zeroed in on the joint between two sides of the table as he turned the screw with an allen wrench. “Colin is working with some dangerous people and?—”
“And you don’t want me or the baby to get hurt,” I finished for him, trying not to be annoyed.
I was annoyed, though. I couldn’t help it. Against all odds, I’d been reunited with the most amazing alpha I’d ever known, who was also my baby’s sire. He wanted to take care of me. He cared about me more than anyone who wasn’t family had ever cared. I should have been over the moon and looking forward to our life together.
I was annoyed.
“I think you’re doing it wrong,” I told him, waving vaguely at the table, even though I knew he was putting it together perfectly.
Mace lowered his hand and just stared at me over the edge of the table.
I stared right back at him with exaggerated intensity.
Mace sighed and reached for another screw. “I know it’s not an ideal situation,” he said. “I know you want to let everyone at the office, everyone in the world, know that we’re together and you’re carrying my child.”
My brow shot up. “Are we together?” I asked, my heart picking up speed.
Mace had just positioned the next screw, but he lowered his arms. An alluring flush painted his cheeks that made me want to forget every objection I had and to jump him and ride him into next Tuesday. Not that I was capable of jumping or hopping or even rolling much of anywhere in my condition.
“We are together, if you’d like to be,” Mace said, returning to his work.
I grinned, enjoying how awkward the conversation had suddenly become. “Do you mean it?” I asked, shifting my leg so that I could poke Mace’s thigh with my sock-covered toe. “Are we an item? A couple?”
Mace swatted at my foot with pretend disinterest, but his smile grew. “You’re having my baby,” he said. “We’ve been living together for almost a week.”
“You knocked me up by accident during a kinky fetish play scene,” I corrected him, grinning wider. “And I have very generously allowed you to stay in my humble abode after yours was trashed.”
“It’s back to normal now,” Mace said, finishing with his screw and rocking to his knees, then standing. He righted the table as well and tested its stability. “I could move back whenever I wanted.”
I lost my smile as a twist of dread curled through me. I didn’t want Mace to leave. I’d felt safer and more secure in the last week, with him there to keep me from turning into a hotter mess than I already was, and with him in my bed at night, than I’d felt since leaving my parents’ house.
No, since leaving Mace in his play apartment when my heat ended and I stupidly flew back to Barrington. I never should have left him that first time, although I couldn’t have known that back then. I didn’t want him to leave me now, even if it was only to go upstairs.
I avoided my feelings by asking, “Hey, what happened to that kinky apartment of yours anyhow?” I asked, using the couch to push myself up to standing. I only made it as far as moving from sitting on the floor to sitting on the couch. “You owned the whole building, right?”
“Still do,” Mace said, lifting the entire table and carrying it to the space I’d cleared out against one wall. “I had all the apartments renovated, and I hired a building manager. All of the units are rented out right now. I kept the rent low and put out feelers for young families who needed a hand up in the world. I even got a license to operate a daycare in one of the units so the single parents who are renting from me can work.”
“Fuck,” I said breathlessly, rubbing my belly as Junior squirmed and moved around inside. “You’re one of the most noble people I’ve ever met.”
“Yeah,” Mace said morosely. “So noble that I won’t let on to anyone that I’m together with the omega carrying my child.”
“But it’s because you don’t want me to get hurt,” I said, fully aware that in the last five minutes, we’d switched positions emotionally on the awkward state of our relationship.
Mace noticed. He sent me a lopsided grin and came over to flop onto the couch with me.
“I know you want to be open about everything,” he said, shifting so he could slide an arm around me. “I also know you want to crow about bagging the boss to everyone you work with.”
“I do not,” I snorted, elbowing his side.
I kind of did. Canton Enterprises was a fantastic office community. Rachel had done an amazing job of hiring good people who got along with each other. Everyone was so concerned about me being single and pregnant that it was almost cute. A couple of them had tried to set me up with their alpha relatives just so I wouldn’t be alone. It would be nice to let them know I was taken care of.
“As soon as the Colin situation is sorted, I promise you, we’ll let everyone know,” Mace said, leaning closer to me and looking me in the eyes. “I promise.”
“You’d damn well better,” I said, smiling and leaning into him.
I liked being close to Mace. It was probably the bond, but being around him gave me a sense of ease, despite everything happening with Colin and Victory Holdings. Touching him deepened that feeling, adding the spice of desire to the ease. And kissing him….
My gaze focused in on his mouth, and my smile widened. We’d been trying so hard, being so good, and denying what we really wanted from each other for the last two days, but it was getting harder and harder for me to resist. Pregnancy hormones had me horny, or maybe that was just Mace.
I drew in a breath, enjoying his scent as I did, then leaned closer, lips parted gently.
Mace seemed to feel what I was feeling and want what I wanted. He felt warmer as I pressed against him, and the way his eyes went heavy-lidded as our mouths drew closer and closer together was?—
A knock at the door, followed by, “Hey, Hayden, it’s me. Mind if I come in?” in Simon’s voice had me nearly jumping out of my skin.
A second later, the electronic lock whirred and Simon stepped into the apartment, a grocery bag in one arm. Simon immediately jumped and a small pack of my favorite, flavored chips spilled out of the bag onto the floor.
“Oh!” Simon said, flushing as he shut the door behind him. “I didn’t realize you had company.”
I’d forgotten to tell Simon Mace was temporarily living with me. I’d definitely forgotten to tell him that I was thinking of taking up Mace’s not so temporary offer to live in the penthouse with him.
“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Simon asked, carrying the bag to the kitchen counter.
“No, not at all,” I said, pushing to sit upright, though it was more of an effort than I wanted it to be. And not because of Junior. “Mace and I were just about to have crazy, kinky, pregnancy sex.”
My words had exactly the effect I’d wanted. Simon turned bright pink and looked mortified. Mace rubbed a hand across his face, like he was trying to hide his mortification. Simon and Mace were a lot alike that way. They both got embarrassed easily.
It actually didn’t surprise me all that much that I’d found a mate who was a lot like my older brother.
Whoa. It did surprise me that I casually assumed Mace was my mate without even batting an eyelash.
I covered my excited reaction by scooting forward and, after a little rocking, pushed myself to stand. “What did you bring me?” I asked, wandering over to see what Simon was unloading from the bag.
Mace got up and moved to test the changing table again, but I had the feeling he was only doing it so he could face away from Simon until a little something in his jeans calmed down. Well, a not so little something.
“Just a few supplies,” Simon said, doing his best to pretend everything was normal. “And some information.”
“Information?” I brightened as I picked up a canister of the kind of cocoa I liked.
“About the lawsuit,” Simon said.
“What lawsuit?” Mace asked, twisting to face us with a look of alarm.
I was willing to bet he thought Simon knew something about the mess he was facing, but Simon said, “I’ve been trying to convince Hayden to file a wrongful termination lawsuit against his former employers, the Goulding Group.”
“I told him I don’t want to, but Simon works for our parents’ law firm, and you know how people get when they’re in that sort of environment for too long.”
“Your parents are lawyers? What sort of law firm is it?” Mace asked, walking over to the counter to join us.
I didn’t know if he was just making casual conversation, but before Simon could answer, inspiration struck and I blurted, “What do you know about breech of contract lawsuits when two corporate entities part ways?”
“Hayden,” Mace warned me.
It was too late, though. Simon was the sharpest person I knew, and he immediately guessed something was going on. “Are you having trouble with your former business partner?” he asked, then added, “Hayden tells me everything. Well, almost everything.” He arched one eyebrow at me, eyeing Mace sideways.
Mace stood where he was, visibly hesitating for a moment. He had absolutely no obligation to share any of his business with my brother. At the same time, I felt a sliver of hope from him, like he wanted a fresh perspective on the situation, and like he wanted to be honest with someone he knew was important to me.
The fact that I could sense all that was pretty heady.
“I don’t know if it’s so much a legal matter as it is personal,” he said at last. “Colin, my ex business partner, thinks I pulled the rug out from under him when I dissolved our partnership. Now he’s out for revenge, and he’s teamed up with some pretty shady people to get it.”
“Victory Holdings,” I blurted. Mace frowned at me, but I continued with, “You ever heard of them?”
Simon’s eyes had gone wide, and he said, “Yes,” emphatically. “They’re a shell corporation for a family of investors who don’t have a scruple between them.”
Both Mace and I reacted with shock, gaping at Simon.
“How do you know?” I asked.
Simon turned serious. “Dad defended a client who they sued last year.”
“Dad did?” I blinked in surprise. Our dad only dealt with the firm’s most prestigious clients.
“Yep,” Simon nodded. “Obviously, I can’t say anything more about it.”
“Obviously,” I said, wishing Simon wasn’t such a goody-goody.
“Can you tell me who won the case?” Mace asked.
Simon winced and rubbed the back of his neck, then said, “I guess it’s public record. Our client won. The judge said—” He paused. “No, I don’t think I can get into all that. Just…our client won.”
“That’s all I need to know,” Mace said, way more energized by Simon’s unhelpful statement than I was. In fact, I was annoyed that Simon refused to say more.
Then again, I was annoyed with everything, my belly itched, my feet hurt, and I wanted my body back.
Mace evidently thought my grouchy expression was meant for him. “It means that Victory can be defeated,” he said. “It means there is a legal way to fight back against Colin. Nobody will get hurt.”
Things clicked for me. This whole time, Mace hadn’t been certain he would be able to win against Colin, not now that he had his new friends. Simon’s tiny little statement had given him hope that things would work out after all. And if they worked out for the company, they might work out for us.
“What if you got our family’s law firm to defend you in this case?” I asked, glancing between my brother and my alpha. “Can you do that? Dad and Papa have experience with Victory Holdings. Would that be of any help to you?”
“It might,” Mace said.
“I’m just a paralegal way far down the ladder, and Dad and Papa aren’t taking new clients, but I can put you in touch with one of the other partners,” Simon said. “I know the whole firm absolutely hates Victory Holdings, so they might be eager to take another bite out of them.”
Simon and Mace exchanged information. I loved it on several levels. Not only did it mean Mace might be able to fight back against the people trying to mess with him, I loved seeing my brother and my alpha getting along. It boded well for the future.
It even boded well when Simon left after only half an hour, deliberately not sticking around when I was certain he’d come over to hang out.
“I think he likes you,” I told Mace, leaning against the changing table he’d just finished.
“I like him,” Mace said, a look of buzzing excitement in his eyes.
I smirked. “Should I be jealous? Are you planning to knock up both of us and start a harem of omegas and babies?”
“Absolutely not,” Mace said, though the way he stalked closer to me and ended up pinning me against the changing table said otherwise when it came to the whole making babies thing. “I already have an omega. I don’t need another.”
“Oh, you have me, do you?” I teased, my libido already jumping up and volunteering for sex duty.
“I do,” Mace said.
He planted his hands on the edge of the table on either side of me and leaned in to slam a kiss over my lips. He had to stand at a slightly awkward angle to kiss me with my belly in the way, but he managed the whole thing nicely.
Even better, he didn’t seem to want to stop after one kiss. The sexual tension we’d been fighting all week combined with the sudden promise of being able to beat Colin at his own game had clearly made him as horny as I’d been for longer than I could count.
“Okay, part of me wants to be all smooth and suave and coy about this,” I said breathlessly, looping my arms over his shoulders, “but the rest of me is boiling with hormones and hasn’t been fucked for nearly nine months now, so I’m just going to come out with it.”
“Yes, I want to fuck you,” Mace said, tugging me away from the changing table and steering me toward the bedroom. “No, I don’t care if you’re almost nine months pregnant and as big as a house. I think your enormous body is sexy as hell, and I want my hands and mouth all over it.”
“Fine by me,” I panted, already tugging at the hem of my T-shirt.
Clothes came off in a hurry. I wasn’t particularly nimble and I didn’t think there was much I could do to help, but Mace evidently didn’t need my help. He definitely wanted to do it all himself, and that included figuring out how to work the clasp of the pregnancy bra I wore to contain my burgeoning chest.
Once he popped the clasp and tugged off the bra, I had a half second of embarrassment as my nipples began to leak. It was only half a second, because before I knew it, Mace had me pressed against the side of the crib for balance while he crouched just so and closed his mouth over one of my breasts.
I practically howled in response to the burst of pleasure that filled me. I’d never cared much one way or another about growing breasts. It was just something that happened to pregnant, male omegas. I knew they’d go away once the baby was weened, so I’d never really integrated them into my body image.
But now, with Mace’s tongue laving one nipple and the suction his mouth created as he swallowed, I prayed that they’d stay right where they were so I could feel this amazing pleasure over and over.
It didn’t stop there. Mace paused for breath and to peel his shirt off over his head. As he did, I fumbled to shove my elastic- waist jeans down and to kick them aside so that I was completely naked for him.
Mace growled at the sight of me, all wide and stretched, my nipples leaking milk that dampened my skin, and mirrored my gesture by unzipping then ditching his jeans and boxers. His already hard cock leapt up, like it approved of the verdant state I was in.
“If I wasn’t already incredibly pregnant,” I panted, unable to tear my eyes off Mace’s cock, “I think I’d go into heat right now.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Mace growled, trapping me against the crib again, skin touching skin. “I sent you into heat with my amazing, alpha virility once before.”
I laughed, or at least tried to, but it turned into a silly, sexy, overwhelmed sigh as slick trickled between my legs. Not nearly as much as I produced during heat, but some at all was a testament to how badly I wanted Mace.
He kissed me again, and it was so good I closed my eyes and just reveled in it. My head was spinning and my body throbbed with the need to surrender completely to him.
It turned out that part of the reason my head was spinning was because Mace had pulled me away from the crib and spun me around toward the bed.
“I don’t know how you’re going to get around my enormous body,” I gasped between kisses as Mace carefully levered me down to lie on my back. “I’ve never been fucked while pregnant before.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” Mace said, his grin downright wicked.
I thought I’d have to turn over and be on all fours so he could get where he needed to be, but with an incredibly horny look, he grabbed my slightly swollen ankles and lifted my legs while pulling me toward the edge of the bed. I was too busy laughing at the ridiculousness of my round belly and his incredibly flat and muscled one in relation to each other to prepare myself.
I might not have known what I was doing, but Mace moved like an expert, bringing himself right to my slippery hole and thrusting in with care and deliberateness. I let out a cry at the unexpectedly amazing pleasure of my alpha penetrating me outside of heat. I didn’t know if it was the hormones or the fact that it was his baby inside me, but everything about the way he sunk deeper and deeper in me was glorious.
Mace evidently thought so, too. He made a tight, desperate sound of pleasure as he set a moderate rhythm at first, then as his need burst into full force and he pounded into me like he could breed me again. I could feel the pleasure reverberating in him as it throbbed so acutely through me that I started to come with a cry.
I didn’t just come, though. Completely unexpectedly, the milk that had just been dribbling from my nipples before squirted out in twin streams that shot inches into the air. Better still, the intensity of the milk shot in time to Mace’s thrusts. I didn’t just moan with all the pleasure Mace was giving me, I laughed, too.
I felt beautifully ridiculous, but it must have driven Mace wild. He thrust hard a few more times, then made the deepest, sexiest sound of pleasure and possession as he came. It was so perfect I half expected him to knot, despite me not being in heat.
The moment blossomed and hovered between us for a few, wonderful seconds before it subsided, leaving both of us messy and sated. Mace pulled back, then shifted my loose, spent body around so that he could climb onto the bed behind me and spoon me as we caught our breaths.
“If I say I love you now, does it count?” I panted. “Or does the sex make it not count.”
“It doesn’t count,” Mace said, gasping for breath and nuzzling against my neck. “Okay, half points,” he said, reaching around to rub my belly.
“Fine,” I huffed, pretending to be put out.
I wasn’t put out at all, especially when Mace laughed against me, the vibrations filling me with joy. We were together, and we might just have a way forward. Colin wouldn’t stand a chance against us, and bright and early on Monday morning, I would convince Mace to let everyone in the office know the truth, that we were together, we were about to become a family, and we were in love.