The Best Friend Problem

by Mariah Ankenman

  The reasons were obvious. They were friends, she was pregnant—with his kids—and she knew he didn’t want to pile more onto her already full plate. Finn never pushed his wants on others. He was always the one who took care of everyone else, regardless of what he desired.

  That was changing. Right now.

  Stepping back, she tugged her sweatshirt over her head, letting it drop to the floor. She stood there in nothing but her leggings, delighting in the ravenous heat burning in Finn’s eyes as he stared at her unfettered breasts.

  “You’re topless.”

  “Thanks for the update.” She glanced pointedly at his naked chest. “Thought I’d join the club.”

  He grinned at her joke. “You’re making it awfully hard to be a gentleman, Pru.”

  “I didn’t come here for a gentleman. I came here for sex.”

  His hands reached out, grasping her hips and tugging her to him until their naked skin pressed together. She let out a needy moan as the sensitive tips of her nipples collided with his hard, warm chest. His head bent down, lips caressing hers in a barely-there kiss.

  “Do you want to talk about this first?”

  She reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck as she spoke against his mouth, “Sex first. Talk later.”

  And being the amazing best friend he was, Finn catered to her demand by using those lips for something other than words as, finally, he gave her the deep and thorough kiss she’d been craving.

  Yes! Her box full of fun had nothing on Finn.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Pru was right. Talk was overrated. Actions were better.

  Much, much better, he mused as his hands slipped from her hips to curve around her backside and cup the firm, round globes of her ass. A slight squeak escaped her lips, and he swallowed the sound, thrusting his tongue against hers, reveling in her eagerness as she lifted her legs, attempting to climb his body like a flagpole.

  A sharp, high-pitched bark caused him to leave the heaven of Pru’s mouth. Finn turned his head to stare down at Bruiser. They must have woken the poor pup, who tilted her head, looking slightly confused.

  “It’s okay, Bru Baby. Go back to sleep.”

  Bruiser made a soft whine, head tilting in the opposite direction.

  “I’m fine, Bruiser. Your daddy is just…helping me with a problem.”

  “Horniness is a problem?”

  “It is when it keeps me up at night.”

  He couldn’t stop the smug satisfaction from turning his lips up. “Aw, thinking about my sexy bod kept you up?”

  With a mulish expression, she said nothing, simply pointed to his TV still playing the ocean documentary he had in no way been watching but had turned on because he’d needed a distraction himself. He shrugged, the move made slightly more difficult by the fact that he had his sexy, pregnant best friend in his arms.

  “Okay, you got me. I thought the dulcet voice of Attenborough would soothe my unsatisfied body to sleep.”

  She grinned. “Let’s take this over to the bed, and I’ll make sure we’re both so satisfied we sleep for days.”

  He raised a brow. “Quite the boast.”

  She leaned forward, gently nipping his earlobe before soothing the tiny sting with a soft kiss. Raw heat shot straight down his spine to the hardening spot between his legs, where he swore he could feel that tempting kiss.

  “Not a boast if it’s true.” Her lips nuzzled his neck, kissing, sucking, taking small love bites as she drove him out of his freaking mind. “Go to sleep, Bruiser.”

  His dog, too tired from her earlier trip to the park—way to go, Past-Finn, for that excursion—followed Pru’s orders, turning around in her little doggy bed three times before lying down. Her soft puppy snores melted in with the sounds of the city at night filtering through his apartment windows. He walked Pru the few steps it took to get to his bed. Never before had he been so grateful for his tiny living accommodations. As primed as he was, he didn’t think he could make it across a huge apartment to a bedroom. How convenient to be only feet away from heaven.

  Scratch that.

  Heaven was in his arms.

  They reached the bed, Pru’s tongue working magic on him, making it near impossible for him to move, but he did. He had to, or he was going to lose control. Gently, he leaned down and placed her on the bed, grabbing her leggings and stripping them off, leaving her gloriously naked. Her shoes had fallen off…somewhere in the short trip across his studio. He didn’t know or care where at the moment. The only thing filling his vision was the goddess lying below him.

  “Your turn,” she said.

  She reached up to grasp the button of his jeans, but he placed a hand over hers. “Wait.”

  “Why?”

  Because if she got her hands on him, they’d both be very disappointed in the next two minutes. He hadn’t been with anyone since Pru. At first he thought it was just the weirdness he had to get over from sleeping with his best friend, then he assumed it was the emotions he was dealing with, realizing he was going to be a father, but truthfully, if he really looked deep down inside, there was another reason he hadn’t taken anyone else to his bed.

  Since that night with Pru, he’d found himself burning with need, but for only one woman. The one lying beneath him. He craved her, but he’d be damned if he didn’t make her go out of her mind with pleasure before he sated his own desires.

  “I need to taste you first. Please, Pru.”

  Her gaze turned hazy, filling with need. That small pink tongue darted out, rasping along her bottom lip. “Where?”

  “Everywhere.”

  She shifted on the bed, stretching out, arms above her head, legs parting slightly, back arching to press those sweet, full breasts into the air like an offering. An offering he was desperate to accept.

  “Since you asked so nicely.”

  The sly grin on her face was the first thing he craved, an appetizer as he worked his way down her body to the main course. He leaned over, capturing the clever mouth that could bring him to his knees with nothing but a touch or a word. She moaned deep in her throat, pressing up against him, wrapping one bare leg around his denim-clad one. Damn! The sexy minx was going to make him lose his focus. His focus being her. Her pleasure first. Everything else could come after.

  Releasing her lips, he gently pried the silky-smooth leg from around him, placing it back on the soft mattress. His hands moved over her skin, trembling a bit at the heat emanating from her, the sparks, the connection. Yes! This…this was what he’d been aching for. The sharp bolt of rightness he felt when touching her. The strange duality of electricity and absolute comfort in pleasuring Prudence Carlson.

  “Finn!”

  She cried out his name as he moved down her body, sampling the sweet pulse point rapidly beating at the base of her neck before going lower to capture one perfect, stiff, dusty-rose–colored nipple between his lips. He bit down softly, wrenching another loud moan from her. Her hips moved against him in a silent plea.

  He’d get there. In time. He didn’t want to rush this. Sure, she’d come to him tonight, but what about tomorrow? If tonight was all he got of Pru, he was damn sure going to make it last.

  “Like that?” He blew against her breast, glossy and wet from his kiss, moving to the other with a chuckle when she lightly smacked his shoulder.

  “Don’t fish for compliments. You know I— Oh!”

  Her words died off as he lavished the same attention on her other nipple. He continued down her body, loving the salty, sweet taste of skin that smelled of nothing more than Pru because he knew she preferred fragrance-free soaps. She didn’t need them. Pru had a scent all her own. A natural, wild scent that reminded him of the clean, crisp Colorado air after a rain. Pure Pru.

  When he reached her stomach, he paused at the slight swell of her belly, the reality of the moment crashing down around him. But an odd thing happened. It didn’t frighten him. Quite the opposite.

  Hovering there, poised above Pru, stari
ng down at her magnificent naked body and knowing that small bump held two precious lives—two lives he helped create—caused something deep within him to settle. To click into place. An overwhelming sense of rightness lodged within in his chest. His protective streak had always run a mile wide. Probably why he’d become a firefighter. But he knew, in that moment, he would do anything, anything, to ensure the health and happiness of these three souls.

  His hand reached out to gently brush over her stomach, lips reverently kissing the tiny baby bump.

  “Hey, you two. Mommy and Daddy are going to enjoy a little adult time right now, so you be good and, uh, go to sleep or whatever.”

  “Did you just tell our unborn babies to go to sleep so we can have sex?”

  He smiled, not mentioning her use of the word our.

  “I don’t even think they’ve developed ears yet, Finn.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know what they’re capable of deciphering from the womb. People say playing Mozart to the stomach makes them smarter and shit. Maybe they can hear sex noises, too.”

  “You really know how to set the mood. No wonder you never go past a first date.”

  He cut off her complaints with a soft stroke of his tongue between her legs. Her head dropped back, a low, keening cry escaping her lips.

  “What was that again?”

  “Nothing,” she panted. “I said nothing. Continue on.”

  He chuckled, keeping his lips close enough for her to enjoy the vibrations. And she did enjoy them, if the hand currently grasping his hair and tugging him closer was any indication. Far be it from him to deny a lady’s request.

  He pressed closer, listening to her every sound as he added just the right amount of pressure with his mouth and hands to send her muscles tightening and her voice crying out moments later with her release. He stayed where he was, gentling her down from the explosive orgasm until she shifted beneath him.

  “My turn.”

  “Your—” But that was all he got out before she twisted, pushing down on his shoulder until he toppled back on the bed with her rising above him, a move she could only execute because he allowed it. And why wouldn’t he? He was all for letting this sexy, feisty woman have her way with him.

  …

  Pru stared down at Finn and the smug, crooked grin on his face. Okay, so the man had a reason to be smug. Holy hell, but that had been one amazing orgasm. Too bad it hadn’t sated her need.

  No, she wanted more. Guess she’d just have to continue their little game of touchy feely. Only now she got to do the touching and tasting. Her mouth salivated as she let her gaze wander over the sharp planes and honed muscles covered in a smattering of dark ink.

  Who would have thought the bad-boy look would turn her on?

  “You gonna stare all night or what?”

  She answered by reaching back and cupping a very hard part of his anatomy, earning her a very creative four-letter curse, which she fully intended to fulfill before the night was over. But first she wanted to take a tour of naked Finn flesh. Fair was fair, after all.

  She followed his pattern, paying less attention to his nipples and focusing instead on those scrumptious, rock-hard abs. There was a reason those annual firefighter charity calendars raised so much money, and those mouthwatering reasons were currently under her tongue.

  Her hands moved down, unfastening the button of his jeans, lowering the zipper—slowly, because she enjoyed the tormented, needy expression in his eyes. He lifted his hips when she tugged, helping her pull the pants down his legs and tossing them off. No underwear for Finn. Lucky her.

  She glanced down at the present she’d unwrapped. Lucky her, indeed. Taking him in her hand, she stroked, fascinated by the feel of something so soft and yet so hard.

  “Pru,” he groaned out a warning, but she’d never been very good at listening to others. She had her own mind. Her own plans. And her current plan was to drive Finn out of his mind the way he’d done to her.

  “Oh, hell!” He swore as she took him in her mouth, gifting him with the same mind-blowing pleasure he’d bestowed on her.

  “Precious, stop. I won’t last.”

  That was okay. She was thoroughly enjoying herself, and they had all night.

  “Pru, seriously. I need to be inside you.”

  Since she needed the exact same thing, she released him, rising to her knees and positioning herself above him. She paused, a thought flying thorough her mind that made her giggle.

  “What?”

  “Nothing, I was just thinking, um, guess we don’t really need to worry about the condom anymore.”

  His grin widened as his hand came up to cover her belly in a protective gesture. “Nope.”

  His thumb stroked, his eyes filling with serene happiness she’d never witnessed from her best friend before as he gazed at her small baby bump. Emotions clogged her throat, moisture gathering in her eyes, but she blinked back the tears. Baby hormones. That’s all it was. This wasn’t about emotions or feelings; it was just sex. Okay, some feelings, but the tingly-in-your-pants kind, not the flutter-in-your-heart kind.

  She pressed down, taking him inside her inch by delicious inch. His hands flew out to grasp her hips as she fully settled, rocking against him.

  “Pru.”

  Her name on his lips, uttered with such stark need, had her moving. Placing her hands on his chest, she set a slow rhythm that didn’t last. With each thrust she became desperate, needy, hungry. They moved together, racing for that ultimate moment when pleasure would overwhelm to the point of pure ecstatic bliss.

  She could sense the impending nirvana, just out of reach, the tiny buzz of fulfillment growing with each shift of their bodies until it exploded. Her entire body tensed as the wave crashed over her, her mouth falling open on a scream Finn silenced as he pulled her to him, capturing her lips, finding his own release.

  They lay together, Pru sprawled on top of Finn as their frantic breathing evened out. His hands cradled her, holding her so protectively she wanted to cry.

  No.

  That was just the release of oxytocin from the amazing orgasm—orgasms—she’d just had.

  “Stay?” Finn asked in the darkness. “Stay the night?”

  Her bones were mush. She couldn’t leave even if she wanted, and she found she didn’t want.

  “Okay, but I demand doughnuts in the morning.”

  He chuckled, his warm breath stirring the fine hairs at her brow. “Anything you want, Precious.”

  For right now, she wanted him.

  “Finn?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “Can we… Do you want to…”

  “Keep doing this?”

  Thank God he seemed to be on the same wavelength.

  “I’ve read that libido can increase in pregnant women. I don’t want to go trolling for creepy dudes who get off on doing pregnant women, and my solo efforts don’t seem to be as effective at getting the job done, so…”

  Silence filled the dark room. The distant sounds of police sirens filtered in from the window, but the only light came from cars passing along the busy city roads underneath Finn’s dark curtains.

  Finally, his deep voice filled her ear. “You want to keep having sex because of the baby hormones?”

  Did he sound a little…hurt? No, that was crazy. Finn didn’t let emotions into his bed. Emotions led to permanence, and he’d made it very clear over the years how he felt about permanent relationships.

  “Only if you want to. I mean, we certainly have chemistry.”

  “We’re a five-alarm fire, Precious.”

  The dark words rumbled in her ear, sending a shiver of need down her spine even though she would have sworn she couldn’t be aroused any more tonight.

  “So, you’re in? For more sex? With me, I mean?”

  He laughed softly, the vibrations hitting her directly between her legs, though his lips caressed her neck.

  “For you, Pru? I’d do damn near anything.”

  She chose to
ignore the wealth of possibility in that statement and focused on the part she wanted. The more sex part. They were already having twins together. Finn wanted to be a part of the babies’ lives. Why couldn’t they add hot, wild sex to the equation, too?

  “So that’s a yes?”

  “That’s a hell yes. Under one condition.”

  Damn him. What guy put conditions on hot sex? Her best friend, apparently.

  “What?”

  She couldn’t exactly see his face in the dark, but when he cupped her cheek, thumb stroking along her jaw, she knew he must have his serious face on. She could hear it in his tone as he made his request.

  “No one else. It’s only you and me, Pru. Until…until we go back to being just friends.”

  Could they ever go back to being just friends when they were having kids together? She hoped so, because the one thing in her life she couldn’t lose was Finn. He’d been a part of her since she lost her parents, through the loss of Aunt Rose, through every heartbreak and struggle. She couldn’t lose him because of a little sex, and she wouldn’t. They could be friends and co-parents and sex buddies. And she would ignore that inner voice laughing its head off at her naivete right now.

  “I already told you I’m not trolling for weird fetish dudes. The question is, can you give up the ladies?”

  He lightly smacked her ass, swallowing her shriek as he pressed his lips against hers.

  “There’s only one lady I want at the moment, and she’s right here, being a smartass.”

  Took one to know one. “Okay, then.”

  “Good. Then, we’re agreed.”

  “Agreed. Now, should we get some rest?”

  She felt his smile against her lips as his hand moved down to cup her right between her thighs.

  “I find I’m still not sleepy. You?”

  She sucked in a gasp as one long finger pressed inside. “N-no. Not sleepy.”

  “Good.” The word rumbled in her ear. “Then let’s see if I can make you scream again.”

  “I did not scream!”

  But she had, and true to his word, Finn made her scream a few more times before they both slipped into exhausted, happy slumber.