Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Violet
I pressed my hands against my stomach. Evander was painting the nursery. He’d asked me last night if he could paint today after he did chores. Then tomorrow, we’d go to Bismarck with his pickup and buy baby equipment.
I couldn’t say no to this man. It was a miracle I wasn’t wearing his ring in his house and counting down the days until I reached three hundred and sixty-five.
Why wasn’t I?
I walked past the bedroom for the millionth time. He had the window wide open. All the windows in the house were, while the AC was pumping at full force. He’d tried to get me to spend the day at his house, where it was paint-fume-free.
Paint these days didn’t smell that bad. And his house didn’t have an Evander with a backward-facing baseball hat, paint-splattered cargo pants, and tattered boots. His shirt hung loose off his wide shoulders and pooled around his waist. Many times, I was close to seeing a glimpse of his rippled stomach with the dark ink trailing down his torso, but that damn shirt was too long.
I liked the look of him. I liked him. But I wasn’t rushing into a relationship. He’d run me off barely over a month ago.
I also wasn’t getting into a relationship with anyone until I knew I wasn’t doing it for validation. Or because I was scared. Which I was. Each day, I worried my decrepit rental would burn down from the shady outlets and light fixtures that were wired who knew where. What if I woke up one day to no water? Every sputter sounded like the last. What if the water went out and I had a newborn?
I could call Evander.
There was the rub. I appreciated Evander. He was trying to undo his attitude from when he didn’t trust me. That didn’t mean he was sure about me. Getting together with him didn’t mean I wasn’t searching for someone to supply my dreams for me. I wasn’t going to fall into that trap again. I’d get the life I wanted on my own terms.
Was I sure those terms didn’t include a hot guy doing repairs around the house?
I backed into the doorway again, crossed my arms, and leaned against the frame. “I gave the landlord a list of all the repairs you’ve done. He gave me a hundred off rent this month. I can cut you a check.”
Evander glanced over his shoulder before reaching high with the roller. My breath suspended. Would this be when I got to see more than abs?
“Keep it.” He painted a strip from the border line he’d painted from the ceiling to the floor. His biceps mesmerized me. “Nothing more than a few screws.”
Except for the garage door opener and the supplies for the new dead bolt and doorframe repair. Evander wouldn’t budge. He didn’t like to feel like he owed anyone. After living with a guy who made sure I knew how much I owed him, I could respect that.
I lingered in the doorway. The way his ass filled out his pants should be a sin. A butt should not look that good going from jeans to cargo pants to nothing at all.
He turned and bent to dip his roller full of paint. More biceps flexing. The roll of the veins in his forearms under his skin. The man was restrained power. No wonder he was a machine in bed.
I feathered my fingers around my collarbone and lifted my gaze to his strong chin, admiring the way his lips made a manly pink bow. The wicked things he could do with that mouth. It’d been so long?—
I caught him watching me, the paint roller hovering in the air, and his eyes narrowed on me.
Oops. I was lusting after my baby’s daddy. Miss Independent, my ass.
“I need some water.” I backed up so fast I smacked into the far wall. Damn these hormones. I scurried to the kitchen.
I found my water bottle on the counter where I left it and chugged it. Water sputtered from the bathroom. Did I make him uncomfortable? Was I left to paint the rest of the room?
I didn’t think he’d leave me, but just in case, I scanned what I was wearing. I had on a loose blue maternity skirt with an equally loose blouse. I would have to change.
Evander stalked into the kitchen and pinned me against the counter. A thrill zinged through me, heading right between my legs. He planted a hand on either side of me. “Do you realize how you were looking at me? ”
Like I wanted to strip him down again? “No?”
“Like I look at you.”
“Oh.”
He spoke his words plainly, but questions muddled my brain. Did he want me? He’d seen me in basketball shorts and an old T-shirt with my hair wild. He’d seen me vomit over the side of a railing.
Yet he’d kissed me since then. He’d dreamed about me.
I was having his baby. We’d already done the deed.
Still, I had to know for sure. “And how is that?”
He crowded closer, his pupils going wide. “Like I remember how you looked with your legs spread wide open.”
A little whimper left me.
His head was next to mine, his nose buried in my hair. “Those needy little noises.”
“It’s been a long time.”
“Just as long as me,” he murmured.
Startling and acute relief washed through me, heightening the thrum in my veins and between my legs. I had never asked him, but I’d hoped I’d been the only one since that night.
He put his hands on my stomach. His long fingers were splayed over my belly. My body lit from head to toe, but a warm, fuzzy sensation also set in. He was closer to the baby than he’d ever been. I met his gaze, and he was watching me like he was waiting for my approval.
I gave him a little nod, and he flattened his hands. I knew what he felt. I did the same move at least twice a day. Firm. Sloping.
My chest rose and fell. Awe filled his face.
A line formed between his brows. “I want nothing more right now than to take each piece of clothing off you and devour you on that old fucking table.”
Oh. Wow. “The table is old.”
His brow arched ever so slightly. “I won’t if you don’t want it.”
I licked my lips, and he tracked the movement. I wanted him to do exactly as he said. My body was different, but just like that night at the motel, I didn’t care how I looked. He was primed, ready to pounce at my word. Just like before.
It was intoxicating.
What happened to Miss Independent?
Couldn’t she get laid? He hadn’t been with anyone. I hadn’t either. We each knew where we stood and our addresses were different. He wanted to have sex, and so did I. Did it have to be more complicated than that? “I mean, we’ve already done it.”
He skimmed his hands over my shirt like he was mesmerized. A shiver traced over my skin. “It doesn’t have to change anything. We’re two adults. Fucking.”
Fucking. Great minds think alike. Still, a small tendril of disappointment cooled my arousal. I was in the right place at the right time. Just like at the brewery. “Yes. Nothing needs to change.”
He put his mouth close to my ear. “Except for the orgasms.”
“It’s not like I’m going to accidentally get pregnant.”
“No.” He tucked his hands under my shirt. Once he hit the material of the skirt, he tugged it down. “What about a condom?”
Oh. My pulse kicked up. No barriers. I’d be closer to him than ever while trying to maintain my emotional distance. I could do it. I’d make sure of it. The only other option would be for him to stop. “I’ve been tested.”
“So have I. Before you.”
“Then…” I gripped the hem of his shirt and lifted it over his head. A hard exhale left me. “Finally.” I pawed at him. Unashamedly, I stroked my palms over the eagle, spanning from a hard pec down his side, then over his stomach. His abs clenched. I followed the trail of dark hair down to his waistband, then back up. His shoulders. His biceps. If part of his torso was in his reach, my hands were on his fevered skin.
“You’re a greedy one, Vi.”
“I usually hate when people call me Vi.” I bit my lower lip. “I like it when you do.”
Can you say “my beautiful wildflower” again?
He lifted my shirt over my head and set it on the counter next to his shirt. A groan left him when he cupped my breasts. Those had definitely changed since he’d last seen them. Instead of being a handful, they overflowed in his hands.
“Your tits are fucking amazing.” He claimed my mouth as he reached around me and unhooked my bra. I didn’t care where he put it.
Our tongues tangled, and I tried to twine myself around him. My body was different. I couldn’t get close like before. As if sensing my struggle, he carefully lifted me by hooking my thighs from behind. Then we were moving. Where to, I also didn’t care.
My ass hit the edge of something. The table. He leaned me back until I caught myself by bracing my hands behind me. My breasts hung free, and my maternity skirt was wedged below the swell of my belly.
His greedy gaze ate me up. “Fuck me.” He buried his head in my chest. Hands, his tongue, the scruff on his chin were everywhere. Squirming, I couldn’t get enough.
Was this an impulsive thing like before? Would he realize that I was a better one-night stand, that I wasn’t worth more than that?
He licked across my nipple, then lifted his head. “You’re getting in that beautiful head of yours.”
He’d been able to sense that before. We’d been just like this at the motel, and I had been stricken by a thought that I should be self-conscious. That I was taking too much for myself. He’d put me at ease then, one orgasm at a time.
“Is this a one-time thing?”
He traced a finger down my chest and over my stomach, his pupils wide. “It’s however many times you want.”
“In one night?”
His chuckle rumbled deep between us. “One night. Every night.” He lifted his head, certainty in his eyes. “I’m not seeing anyone. Neither are you. You’re having my baby.”
“Might as well?” More disappointment sprinkled over my arousal. I’d known I was convenient, but having confirmation left the loneliness I’d been experiencing just a little bit emptier. My body was still lit up like a Christmas tree, so I’d shut that part of my brain off to get another night with him.
His jaw was clenched, but he nodded.
I nodded. More questions piled into my brain. And after the baby? How long do we keep doing this? What if he found someone else?
He worked his way down my neck, kissing and licking, and my head tipped back.
What was the question ?
I no longer cared about the answer. The last time I lived in the moment, it cemented my decision to be on my own. And that was exactly what I needed now.
Evander
Violet went pliant in my hands. I knew the moment she shut that clever mind of hers off and gave in. She arched into me, heedless of the new curves on her body. Thank fuck.
Desire pounded through my veins, behind my temples, and in the erection that was finally free to rage around her. I’d show her how much she turned me on. I didn’t drag her skirt off. Instead, I pushed the material up to reveal her creamy thighs and the soft pink fabric of her full-coverage panties.
Okay. So the underwear was a little more to fend with than the last time we were together. They’d gotten rolled down with the waistband of the skirt and all the material bunched under her stomach like a modern-day chastity belt.
Challenge accepted.
I slid the material down, careful not to tug or rip them. “The more you cover yourself, the more I want to unwrap you.”
“I’m wearing normal clothes.”
“Nothing looks normal on you.” I slid her underwear off and shoved it in a pocket to keep from dropping the garment on the floor. “You make it better.”
Her lips parted, and her eyes took on an even more glazed effect. “How are you real?”
I wasn’t the one haunting dreams. “I just tell it like it is.” I hooked a chair with my foot and slid it behind me. My dick got pinched by my zipper, but I ignored the shot of pain. It only amped up my lust. “Now spread those pretty thighs and show me what I’ve been dreaming about for months.”
Her eyes flared like she couldn’t decide if I was serious. So I put a hand on each knee and gently shoved her legs apart.
“Evander.”
I growled. “Say it again.” Hearing her call me Evan had bothered me more than I thought. A girl like Violet wouldn’t go home with the real me. She wouldn’t move in. She wouldn’t meet my parents.
But she had. Until I chased her away.
“Evander,” she said, her gaze direct. Unflinching.
This woman had seen the worst in me. She witnessed the guy who didn’t trust. The nearly estranged son. The asshole who didn’t want to like living the life he’d been raised in as much as he did. Yet she was spread out on the table in her home. For me.
I took my time. We weren’t limited to one night. I had all fucking day.
I kissed along her thigh, loving the way a shiver racked her body. Finally, I was at her sweet center, licking and sucking and wringing all those needy little noises from her. My body was tight, nearly painful with the arousal pumping through my veins, but my pleasure was happening right here. Seeing her. Hearing her. This was all mine.
She arched her back off the table and tipped her head back. I got an eyeful of baby belly, and something about that stroked the primal bastard inside me. That was my kid in her. Mine .
She was mine.
I just had to convince her. I’d start with the first orgasm.
She was growing taut, nearing her peak. I pushed a finger inside of her, and she hitched her knees higher. I could come from the fucking sight.
“Oh my god, Evander.”
“You need this, don’t you?”
“Yes.” She was on her elbows, riding my hand. Her feet were on my shoulders, and her heels dug into my clavicle. There was nowhere else I wanted to be.
I circled her clit with my tongue. “How bad do you need it?”
“I need it,” she panted.
Fuck. So did I. I was ready to explode, and so was she. The only problem was that I knew how tight that sweet pussy of her gripped me when she climaxed. I had to be a little fucking selfish, or I’d nut in my pants.
I rose, my finger still pumping in and out of her. She wriggled against me, seeking her finale.
“Soon, wildflower. I’m going to make you come long and hard.”
I yanked my zipper down and wrestled my demanding cock free. There was no waiting. I pushed right into her, slowly to keep her from feeling any discomfort, filling her with everything I had. Her walls convulsed around me, hugging my dick so damn tight .
Every sensation was heightened. I’d fucked without protection once, and since then, I’d been covered each and every time. The squeeze of Violet on my bare skin was worth the wait.
I grunted, kicking my hips back and then forward. The slickness of her coated me even more. “Christ, Vi. You’re fucking perfect.”
She might think I was talking about her pussy, but I wasn’t. Even her flaws were as adorable as those cat sofas she crocheted. When she allowed me into the house, into her, it was because she wanted me here. I just had to keep giving her reasons to want me around.
“Evander, I need you…” She rolled her hips. I hung off a precipice, waiting for her to finish. “I need you to make me come.”
I’d do anything she wanted. She hooked her feet behind me and took everything I gave her. She was careening toward her peak, and I gritted my teeth, holding my orgasm back until she toppled off the edge.
“Oh my—” She stiffened, and her mouth dropped open. “Evander!”
There it was. I’d never tire of her calling my name like I meant everything to her. I dropped the gate damming my release, and I came. Hard. “Fuck. Violet.”
A drop of fear trickled into my blood as that first jet of release shot into her. I bent over her until her stomach pushed into my abdomen. There was nothing to worry about. She was already pregnant. It was mine. And that was no longer terrifying.
Her walls rippled and milked my cock as we climaxed together.
She ran her hands over my head and down my shoulders. My pants had fallen to my ankles during all the thrusting. Good thing the house was old and the kitchen window was small and faced the garage.
I pulled out, missing her heat immediately. Then I helped her climb off the table and handed her underwear back. I yanked my pants up while she tugged her underwear in place and smoothed her skirt down.
She glanced behind her, her cheeks flushed, then she met my gaze and smiled sheepishly. “I guess I should clean the table off and make us some dinner.”
Dinner could wait. I was still a starving man. “Grab a snack, wildflower. Because I’m not done with you.”