by Chloe Morgan
“I know, Erin.”
“But I can’t—”
I felt so conflicted. So torn. So angry at the fact that he had to leave.
Why did all men leave?
“Let me meet Hailey,” Dane said.
“What?” I asked.
“Let me meet her so I can help her. I had the same problem with asthma when I was her age. I’ve got some things I could teach her.”
“You… want to meet my daughter?”
“I do, yes.”
I considered his words as his nose nuzzled against mine.
“Can I think about it?” I asked.
“Take all the time you need,” he murmured.
His lips fell against mine and the voices in my head ceased to exist. His hands wandered my body and slipped up my shirt. We rid each other of our clothes as the rickety bed creaked below our bodies. Our tongues intertwined. My nipples pebbled. I felt his thick cock leaking against my thigh as he kissed and caressed my body. I slid my fingers through his hair and gripped him tightly as he kissed down my neck. He nibbled on my breasts and traced his tongue down my stomach, stopping to relish the stretch marks around my belly button.
“So incredible,” he whispered.
Tears rushed my eyes as he fell between my legs and his tongue lapped up my slit. My back arched into his soft lips, and I bucked against him, ground against his tongue, and wrapped my legs around his cheeks. I dug my heels into his back as he pushed me to new heights, teasing me and edging me, backing off when I wanted to come and filling my pussy with his fingers.
“Dane. Shit. Please. So close. Don’t… let me… yes!”
He finally granted me sweet release, and my body spiraled. My eyes rolled into the back of my head, and my body shook for him. His lips puckered around my clit, and he helped me down from my high, slowly easing me down from the feverish fire churning in the pit of my gut.
“Oh, Dane,” I gasped.
“Oh, Erin.” He growled.
He raced up my body and slipped my legs over his shoulders. He folded me in half, allowing his cock to seat itself between my pussy lips. My juices coated him. They dripped down my ass crack and drenched his balls. Then, he pulled back and filled me to the brim with his thickened girth.
“Dane!”
“Fucking hell, Erin,” he grunted.
The bed rocked with our movements. The headboard smashed into the wall. He pounded into me, over and over, while our smell filled the room. It overtook the musty scent. Our moans bounced off the walls and filled every corner of the darkening room. Even though the afternoon sun hung high in the sky, to us it felt like night. Darkness. Salacious, sweet darkness. Dane slammed into me, bouncing my tits for his viewing pleasure as his cock throbbed against my walls.
“I’m gonna come, Erin. I’m gonna come.”
“Do it. Fill me up, Dane. Let me feel you,” I begged.
And he gave me exactly what I wanted.
He hips stilled against mine, and I felt him pour into me. My legs slipped off his shoulders as he collapsed against my body, pressing his chiseled muscles into the excess of my body that had come from my pregnancy. I wrapped my arms around him. I pressed kisses against his cheek, his neck, his shoulder. He shuddered against me, shooting every last ounce of arousal he had for me deep into my body.
Then, once we caught our breath, I rolled him over and straddled his lap.
Chapter 15
Dane
“Thanks for taking the time to have breakfast with me this morning,” my mother said.
“It’s not a problem. It’s nice, coming to Dad’s old hangout. Reminds me of a lot of good times we had on the weekends with him in this place,” I said.
I heard my mother’s cell phone ring, and she looked down into her purse.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I’m assuming it’s work. Is it bad that I don’t want to pick it up?”
“Well, if it’s work, then you should.”
“But I’m enjoying my Saturday-morning breakfast with my son.”
“And I’ll be right here when you’re done,” I said, chuckling.
My mother picked up the phone with a smile, but it quickly faded into a frown. Which morphed into concern. She wasn’t speaking much, which meant the person on the other end of the line was doing most of the talking. I set my fork down and leaned back. I waited for her to get off the phone.
“When you get there, ask for Dr. Hefferston. He treated Dane whenever these things happened. He’ll take care of you, okay?” my mother asked.
And the second she spoke, I knew what had happened.
My mother hung up the phone. “That was Erin. She said—”
“Hailey’s in the hospital right now, isn’t she?” I asked.
My mother nodded. “She’s headed there now. The breathing treatment she had at home didn’t work. Hailey’s still struggling to—”
“I have to go, Mom.”
I slid out of the booth and brought out my wallet before my mother held up her hand.
“I’ve got breakfast. You go. I’ll take care of this,” she said.
“Thank you. I really appreciate it,” I said.
I bent down to give my mother a quick kiss on the top of her head, then I rushed out of the diner. I slammed into the truck and floored it, weaving my way to the hospital. Hartland Medical was the only hospital in our small town, and I knew Hailey would be taken care of there. But I couldn’t imagine the fear rushing through Erin’s veins.
I had to get to her.
I had to get to them both.
I skidded into a parking space. I slammed through the hospital doors and made my way for Dr. Hefferston’s floor. He was the best pediatric doctor in the city. Hell, the damn state, as far as I was concerned. I rushed to the nurses’ desk and asked for their room number. And that was when I realized I didn’t know Erin’s last name.
“Erin and Hailey. A little girl just came in with acute asthma,” I said.
“Erin… Sims? Little daughter who looks just like her?” the nurse asked.
“Sure. Yes. Erin Sims,” I said.
“Dane?”
I whipped around at the sound of her voice. And when our eyes connected, Erin came running up to me. She threw her arms around my neck, burying her face into my shoulder. I felt her trembling. Scared. Helpless. I picked her up and walked her through the automatic double doors before they closed on us, and kissed Erin’s cheek lightly.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you. What room?” I asked.
“402,” she whispered.
I walked to the entrance of the doorway and set her down. I didn’t want to go in without her permission. But I knew I could help.
“Let me meet Hailey,” I said.
Erin looked up at me as she steadied herself on her feet.
“I can teach her ways to cope with the attacks so it doesn’t escalate like this again. I can help her get used to using that damn snout and the inhaler that comes with it. Just give me some time with her,” I said.
“Honestly? At this point, I’ll take all the help I can get,” she said breathlessly.
Erin took my hand and led me into the hospital room. And in that small bed with a mask around her face and being held by a nurse was the cutest little girl I’d ever seen. She looked just like her mother. Bright green eyes. Jet-black hair with those cute baby curls still in it. Plump cheeks red from crying and her small hands shaking from the energy it took to breathe.
I walked up to her bedside and placed my hand on Hailey’s stomach.
“Well hello there, sweet girl. My name’s Dane. I’m a friend of your mom’s,” I said.
Her eyes darted over to Erin before they came back to mine.
“If it’s okay, I’d like to show you something. Is that okay?” I asked.
And after a brief hesitation, the girl who was still struggling to breathe nodded.
Chapter 16
Erin
It took all I had to st
and back and let him do what he wanted to do. But when I finally let go of the reins, I watched Hailey gravitate to him. Dane started singing a song, this cute little jingle to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” It talked about one breath, two breaths, three breaths, four. It had something in there about breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. It taught about the diaphragm and how that was better than the lungs. Then, I watched him walk Hailey through the song as it settled and calmed her, and got her to breathe better and take in the medication coming through the mask.
It was the most incredible thing I’d ever seen.
I stood back and watched them. I watched my daughter take his hand. I watched him smile down at her, singing the song with her, like it was a secret between the two of them. After fifteen minutes, he had done what I couldn’t do in twice that time.
He got her breathing, smiling, and laughing.
After Hailey fell asleep in her hospital bed, one of the nurses came in to sit with her to monitor her and make sure her oxygen levels were good. So, I took the liberty of walking Dane out to his truck. I wanted to thank him for what he’d done for my daughter. I wanted to thank him for helping ground me during a very scary time.
But I was hit with something I didn’t expect. Something I had honestly forgotten about.
“So, I’m headed back to Pendleton next week.”
We stopped at his truck, and I looked up at him.
“That the base where you work?” I asked.
“It is, yes. I head back there next Wednesday,” Dane said.
“Well, thank you for what you did for my daughter in there. I think I got the song memorized, and I’m sure it’ll help,” I said.
“I’m glad I could help. I remember my mother being so shaken up during those moments. It’ll help calm Hailey and you in the process.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
There was an awkward pause between us before I blurted out my question.
“What about us?”
I cringed at how desperate it sounded.
“Erin, I can’t just walk away from the service. I have to report back in a week,” Dane said.
“I mean, you could come back on the weekends, though, right?” I asked.
“Depends. That’s a pretty long trek, though. A flight out Friday. A flight out Sunday. Maybe two whole days in the area.”
“So, I don’t see you for an entire week, and then you hit me with this?”
I knew how upset I sounded, and I knew I didn’t have a reason to be. I knew he was leaving soon because of our conversation in the hotel. When he told me he was leaving soon and he wasn’t sure what to do about us. But I figured we would have met up and talked about it. Figured it out together.
Not been slapped with it seven days beforehand without any input in the decision when it affected me.
“I can give you my number. I’ve got Skype. We can video and call. Figure this out together,” Dane said.
I was still frazzled with my daughter being in the hospital. With Hailey being sick. And I knew I didn’t have a right to feel like I did, but I already felt abandoned. Left out.
Used for nothing but his pleasure.
“I’m good,” I said.
“What?” Dane asked.
“I said, I’m good. We knew you were leaving, so it’s probably best if that happens now.”
“Erin, come on.”
“I can’t do another goodbye like this, Dane. I suck at them, quite frankly. And it’s fine. I’m glad you had a good vacation, so now you need to spend this time with your mother before you leave.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“I really do,” I said, snickering.
I took a step away from him and turned my back.
“Goodbye, Dane,” I said.
Then, I left him at his truck to get back to my daughter.
To the only person in my life who made sense.
Chapter 17
Dane
I sat at the kitchen table with my mother, staring into my coffee cup.
“How long has it been since you’ve seen her?” my mother asked.
“Who?” I asked.
“Don’t play dumb with me. How long?”
I sighed. “Almost a week. We haven’t talked since I went to the hospital to find her and Hailey.”
“You know, she’s been moping around work, too?”
“She has?” I asked.
My mother sat down with her coffee. “Mhm. Like a lost little puppy.”
The idea of her being so distraught made me sick.
“Is it wrong of me to feel like I’m doing the wrong thing?” I asked.
“You’ll have to specify what you’re talking about,” she said.
I took a sip of my coffee. “It feels like I’m doing the wrong thing by going back to Pendleton.”
“Why?”
I paused. “Because I want to take her with me, and I can’t.”
“Just her?”
I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean. Her and Hailey. What if Hailey goes back to the hospital? What if Erin gets another flat tire and can’t remember the steps? What if she doesn’t remember the song I tried to teach her and Hailey last week? I don’t know if I can—”
My mother put her hand on top of my wrist. “Have you tried telling her how you feel?”
“I don’t know how I feel, Mom.”
“Yes, son. You do. You don’t want to admit it, but you do.”
I slowly looked over at her and watched a smile crawl across her face.
“Go talk to her, Dane. Be honest with her, like you just were with me. And I think you’ll find that the answer you want is the answer you’ll get,” my mother said.
“You think she’ll talk to me?”
“I think out of anyone, she wants to talk to you the most.”
I took my mother’s words to heart. I finished my coffee, got ready, and listened as my mother rattled off Erin’s home address. I drove there, taking my time. Rehearsing what I’d say to her. Generally finding the courage to spit it all out in the hopes that she’d receive it well. I knocked on the door and heard Hailey giggle behind it. I listened as someone yelled out for her not to open the door for strangers.
Then, a young woman with those same bright green eyes opened the door.
“You must be Whitney,” I said.
“Dane. Right?” she asked.
“That’s me. Is Erin around?”
“She is. She’s in her room. Something wrong?”
“I was hoping she and I could talk. Before I left tomorrow.”
“I’m not really sure that’s a good idea,” she said.
“I’d really appreciate it if we could,” I said.
“Well, I wouldn’t appreciate—”
“It’s okay, Whitney.”
Erin’s voice caught my ear before she appeared behind Whitney and Hailey.
“Hi,” Hailey said, smiling.
I dipped down and offered my hand.
“Hello there, Miss Hailey. How are you feeling?”
And in response to my question, she shook my hand and started singing the song I taught her. It tugged at my heart so much I started singing along, and by the time we were done the two of us were giggling along with each other.
Then, Hailey launched herself at me and wrapped her arms around my neck.
“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” I whispered.
“Whitney, I think Hailey might want some pancakes. Don't you think?” Erin asked.
I let go of Hailey and looked up quickly enough to see Whitney roll her eyes.
“Sure. Yeah. I’ll take her for pancakes,” she said.
I stood off to the side as Erin’s sister left with Hailey, and then Erin came and sat down next to me in the rocking chairs on the porch.
“Not a fan of mine, I take it?” I asked.
“She’s protective. It happens,” Erin said.
The two of us rocked
in the chairs, gazing out over the small town.
“I have to go back tomorrow. If I don’t report, I’m MIA,” I said.
“I know. I understand,” Erin said.
“But my mother’s company opened a small branch near Pendleton so she could come visit and see me more often than I could get home.”
“I know that, too. I’m in contact with the head manager over there from time to time regarding difficult clients.”
Another beat of silence.
“I can’t leave you two here,” I said.
I looked over at Erin and found her staring at me.
“I’m sure if I spoke with my mother, she’d station you at that branch. But I want you and Hailey to come with me. Because I can’t leave you two behind,” I said.
“What?” she asked breathlessly.
“I know it’s a big move. I know it’s a massive change. But I don’t want to wait and see how this plays out. I don’t want to rely simply on phone calls or video messaging. I want us to be together. I want to be in your life. In Hailey’s life. Don’t ask me how I know this is right. I just… do.”
Erin stared at me with wide eyes as I slipped out of my seat. I took her hands within mine and pulled her from her chair. I wrapped my arms around her, drawing her close as her hands pressed into my chest.
Not pushing me away, but steadying herself against me.
“Come with me,” I said.
“But you leave—”
“I don’t mean tomorrow. I mean, soon. Let’s coordinate this. Let’s be together. Come to California with me. Move in with me. I’ll find us a house to rent. Hell, I’ll find us a house to buy. Whatever you want. Whatever you and Hailey need. You’ll have the same benefits, and we’ll find the best doctors for Hailey. Whatever it takes to get you to say yes, I’ll do it,” I said.
“Why?” she whispered.
I snickered. “Isn’t is obvious?”
She paused. “Treat the moment like it isn’t.”
I cupped the back of her head and dipped my lips to hers. I kissed her with a passion that had built up in my bones for days. I gripped her around her waist and pulled her off her feet. Her arms tightened around my neck as she wrapped around me, her legs locking behind my back.
