Chapter 14 #2
“I’m offering to help make your place more of a home. It’s a mutually beneficial outing.”
“How does it benefit you?”
“It’s one of my hobbies.” I lift my chin, and our eyes hold. “I like helping people find things they like.”
His expression changes from playful to serious, and his voice lowers. “What if I’ve already found something I like?”
The heat in my cheeks wins. I look down, exhaling a laugh. “Have you?”
He stands directly in front of me, taking both of my hands in his large ones. “I was hitting a wall when you showed up at my door tonight. You’re the one person I never expected to come here and help me.”
The air around us thickens. “I didn’t actually come here to help you.”
“But you did.” He reaches up and traces his thumb across the top of my cheek, moving it higher to trace the hair behind my ear. “And you stayed.”
“I couldn’t leave you that way.” I lift my hand, placing it in the center of his chest and lifting my chin. “You were pretty desperate.”
We step closer. I’m ready for him to lift me off my feet, consume my mouth in a ravenous, mind-altering kiss, like he always does. Maybe pull me onto his lap and fuck me hard while he slaps my ass…
Instead he cups my face in both his hands, leaning down and sliding his mouth along the line of my upper lip, pulling and nibbling. Moving to my lower lip, tugging, biting. It’s somehow even hotter than when he’s rough.
He traces his tongue against mine, and a whimper slips from my throat. I hold his wrists so I don’t melt into a puddle. My eyes are closed, and while I only smell peppermint, I feel the want and the need rolling off him in waves.
This isn’t like anything we’ve ever done. We’re changing into something not based on anger or dominance. This is special.
“Knox,” I whisper.
“Melody,” he whispers back, before another, firmer kiss. “Nothing would feel better than fucking you right now.”
“Yes…” Our lips seal, and the pressure is so strong.
I want him inside me. I want to sit on his lap and ride his gorgeous, thick cock. The ache in my core is demanding and real and undeniable.
My hands are on his waist, and I pull up his shirt, touching my fingers to his flat stomach, sliding my palm over the erection in his jeans.
His muscles jump in response, and he groans. His hands go beneath my shirt to cup my bare breasts. He twists my hardened nipples between his fingers.
My chin drops back, and I moan. His lips touch my neck, and we’re ready to go… when a shrill cry cuts through our heated moment like a record scratch.
We jump apart so fast, both breathing heavily, a little off-balance.
Another, louder cry comes from the bed, and we turn to see Cricket is wailing, waving her arms over her head with her little eyes half-closed. Her tiny face is scrunched, and she sounds so sad, like something is really wrong.
“Why is she crying like that?” Knox’s whisper breaks.
“I don’t know.”
We changed her diaper, she’s been fed, she had a bath, she pooped twice…
We both go to the sides of the bed, leaning into her little nest. We both put our hands on her. She doesn’t feel hot.
She rolls onto her stomach, and her little dark head pops up. She looks from me to him with real tears in her big blue eyes.
Knox lifts her into his arms, holding her more like a pro than ever before. He cradles her against his chest and even does the baby bounce.
It doesn’t make a difference. She only cries harder.
“Hush, baby girl.” Even his voice has changed. “It’s okay, don’t cry.”
She scrubs her head against his shoulder, chewing on her fist and whining in response. I go around to stand beside him, placing my hand on her back.
His eyes meet mine. “Should we call a doctor?”
I whip out my phone, clenching my teeth briefly before holding the button. “Siri, why is my baby crying?”
“You hate Siri.”
“We don’t have a choice,” I mutter, watching the gray dots floating, going from transparent to solid, then the computer answers.
I silence her dumb voice, reading the responses quickly.
“Your baby could be crying for many reasons… hungry, dirty diaper, sleepy… Oh! I hop over to him. Is she teething?”
He gives me a look. “How the hell would I know?”
My chin lifts, and I repeat the process. “Siri, how do we know if a baby is teething?”
I wait as the dots float, and the robot tells us to check her gums for redness and swelling, see if she’s drooling, and if she tries to chew on things.
“She has been sucking on her fingers a lot.” he says. “I don’t know if that counts, but it’s like chewing on things.”
“Works for me.” We go through all the steps, doing our best to determine if she’s teething.
At first Cricket doesn’t mind us poking and prodding her gums, inspecting her drool, monitoring her chew habits. Then she gets annoyed, pushing her little fists at us and fussing and straining in Knox’s arms.
We decide she’s teething, and the annoyingly friendly robot tells us we need to massage her gums, give her cold cloths, and… Bingo!
“Baby ibuprofen!” I look up at him. “Screw all that other stuff. The only thing that relieves pain is a pain reliever.” Knox’s brow furrows, and I hesitate.
“I mean, if that’s what you want to do. If you’re not comfortable giving her ibuprofen, we can try all those other things. I was just thinking of sleep and…”
“No… Yes!” He nods, carrying her to the kitchen. “I was just wondering if we even had all those things. Throw one of those cloths in the freezer. See if there’s any baby ibuprofen in these bags. We might have to go to the store, only…”
“I can go. Don’t worry, it won’t take any time.”
“Or I can order and have it delivered here tonight?”
“Let’s start with these.” I walk with him into the kitchen where the bags of baby supplies are standing, still unpacked. “You said your cousin ordered this stuff? Does she know a lot about babies?”
“She’s really close to giving birth, so she’s done a lot of research.”
“We really should unpack all this and see what’s here and sort it all.”
His lips tighten, and he hesitates again. “I was going to wait until I knew for sure if she was staying.”
“Oh.” I quickly change directions. “Well, it’s not like Cricket cares if we unpack it all. She doesn’t even understand what we’re saying right now.”
“That’s what I told my mom. She thinks I need to start a swear jar, so I’ll stop dropping F-bombs all over the place.”
“You really shouldn’t swear in front of a baby.”
“I didn’t have time to practice, and hell, this whole situation is seriously fucked up.”
My nose wrinkles, and I lean forward, placing my hand on his chest again. “I won’t tell her if you don’t.”
Cricket exhales a tired cry, and she’s so adorably pitiful. We both get back to searching the bags, looking for anything shaped like a box of pain reliever.
“Ha-ha! It’s here!” I hold the box up like I’ve found the holy grail.
“It’s like when Baker reached out and grabbed that pass and ran it in for the final touchdown against Texas.”