The words all spilled out of her in a stream I could barely understand, and when she looked at me, her expression seemed exhausted, like all that had drained her.
“Wow,” I said. “You’ve really put a lot of thought into that.”
She shrugged. “I haven’t really been thinking about much else recently but the way you and your family were going to deal with this. But that one just kind of hit me. I don’t want to hurt her feelings or anything.”
“Merry is a lot tougher than that. At least, she usually is. Pregnancy has done some weird things to her. But I promise, she’s not going to be angry because she finds out she isn’t the first one to give a baby to one of the Freeman boys. She’ll probably be excited that there will be a built-in cousin already prepared for her baby when its born,” I told her.
Finally, Kelly nodded.
“Okay,” she said.
“Okay?” I asked, feeling a little boost of happiness. “Okay, you’ll come?”
She nodded again. “Yes. Okay, I’ll come. It’s a lot. Like, a whole lot. But I really appreciate you letting me go through each step of this on my own terms. I don’t want your family feeling like I’m trying to keep them shut out or that I don’t want them to be a part of Willa’s life. Of our life.”
“But you’ve wanted to do it on our own time,” I told her. “I understand that. It’s what I want, too. And I think this is the perfect time.”
“Then it’s the perfect time,” Kelly agreed. “I’m pretty much ready to follow you anywhere. I didn’t think I was going to get all of this, that this could really be my life. It’s still a shock, but I want all of it. I’m nervous, but I’m ready.”
34
Kelly
“Are you sure you have to go?” I asked Kira as she finished folding the last of her clothes and tucking them in her suitcase.
Just watching her pack back up was breaking my heart. I’d gotten so used to having her here with me and enjoyed it so much, having to come to terms with her leaving was much harder than I expected. Mostly because I didn’t let myself think about her ever going back to Canada, so I didn’t expect anything. I wanted to believe my twin was always going to be here with me. Of course, that wasn’t realistic. She still had a life back in Quebec. She’d managed to upheave it entirely for a while to come rescue me from myself, but I really couldn’t expect her to just abandon it all together so she could stay with me.
“You know I do,” she told me. “I came here because you were having a hard time and to support you while you told Darren about Willa. Everything is working out really well for you now—Darren knows, things are going great. So, now it’s time for me to get back to my life. I have to get back to work before they decided I’ve gone MIA and give my job to someone else.”
“You can’t stay for just a couple more days? Even just until tomorrow?” I asked.
Kira went to the dresser and emptied the top drawer of her jewelry, perfume, and other small items. She gave me a look.
“That doesn’t possibly have anything to do with the family grill out at Quentin’s house this evening, does it?” she asked.
I sighed.
“I’m just so nervous. I really want you to come with me. You always make me feel calmer and more put together. And in this situation, I’m going to need all the calm and put-together feelings I can possibly manage.”
“You’re going to be fine. I promise. They already know you, so it’s not like you’re walking in and meeting a brand-new family for the very first time. And they already know about Willa, so you aren’t dropping a bomb on them or anything. You’re just going over there to hang out and let your little girl get to know the rest of her family. You should look forward to it,” Kira told me.
“I will miss you so much,” I said softly, feeling like the emotions were building up and going to erupt any second. “I don’t know what I’m going to do here without you.”
“You’re going to be just fine. I promise. Everything is going the way you want it to now, and things are just going to keep working out for you. We’ll see each other again soon,” she told me.
I hugged her tight, wanting to get as much of that feeling as I could so I could hold on to it when she was gone. She left and I got myself together to get ready for the gathering at Quentin’s house. I changed my outfit at least six times, wanting to find one that would look good without seeming like I was trying too hard. It felt silly to be doing so much to go see these people I already know. But even though I knew the Freemans, this was a totally different context. It wasn’t just me going to their house to spend time with them. Not like eating lunch at the compound or going to the races or even hanging out at the bar after a victory.
This was me bringing my daughter so they could meet their grandchild and their niece, so Willa could meet her father’s side of the family. It was Darren introducing me in a new light, showing our relationship… whatever that might be. We hadn’t talked about it yet. We hadn’t chosen words for it or decided what exactly we were. I was fine with that. As long as he was in my life now, there was plenty of time to come up with the specifics and technicalities later. Darren wanted to pick us up, but that made me uncomfortable. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be near him or that I didn’t want them seeing us arrive together. I just wanted to have the control of leaving whenever I wanted to without having to inconvenience him. If things started getting tense or Willa got upset, I needed to be able to get back in the car and just head home.
He texted me the address, so I typed it into my GPS and followed the directions across town. The landscape got more beautiful and the houses bigger as I traveled. Soon they started getting farther apart, and there was more of the lush greenery surrounding me. Finally, I turned onto the street that brought me to a long driveway. My heart pounded as the massive house rose up over the horizon and I saw a series of cars parked with a familiar bike at the back. Parking next to Darren’s bike, I called him.
“I’m here,” I told him when he answered.
“Come on back. Just go to the end of the driveway and follow the path to the back of the house. There’s a big gate—go through it and you’ll find us,” he said.
I wanted to ask him to come get me, but I resisted. It didn’t take many steps down the driveway for me to hear the laughter and voices coming from behind the house. It sounded like far more than just the family, and my stomach started twisting around. By the time I got to the back of the house, I felt sick and shaky. I gripped Willa tightly on my hip and kept a smile on my face so she wouldn’t feel afraid.
When I stepped through the gate, my eyes widened. Darren had described the yard for me, but it was even more incredible than I thought it was going to be. It was stunningly beautiful, with a massive multilevel deck coming down from the back of the huge house, an outdoor kitchen, a firepit surrounded by seating, and grass into the distance where it met with woods. I saw all four of the Freeman boys, Gus and Minnie, Greg and his mother, and a couple of others who I assumed were the friends Darren mentioned. He noticed me and smiled widely, setting down his drink and rushing toward me.
Darren settled his hand on my lower back and gave me a soft kiss. He touched another kiss to Willa’s head, and my little girl giggled happily. I was surprised at the gestures. It was so open, no hesitation. He wanted everyone to see us and to know about the little family we were working on having together.
“Can I hold you?” Darren asked Willa.
She giggled again and shyly tucked her face into the curve of my neck, but then reached one chubby little hand toward him. I’d talked to her about Darren, but I wasn’t sure how much of it she understood. He took her into his arms and brought her over to the family. They immediately started gushing all over her, thrilled to meet her and telling her how pretty she was. I slipped into the background, content to just kind of hover there without anyone really noticing me for now.
The rest of the day went by in a state of steady, simmering anxiety. No one was mean to me, and I en
joyed talking with Merry, but Minnie was different. She was polite, but in the distant way she would be to a stranger. I deserved that, but that didn’t mean I didn’t hate it. I enjoyed watching Willa thrive among her new family, playing with the puppies and running around in the grass. Darren did an exceptional job watching after her. He made sure she didn’t get too close to the fire and patiently held her hands while she walked up and down the steps of the deck.
I stayed as long as I thought Willa could handle it, then started to ease us out. Darren wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close to kiss me on the side of the head.
“Let’s go,” he said.
“Let’s?” I asked.
He nodded.
“I’m coming with you,” he said.
We piled into my Jeep with Darren driving. Willa was already nearly asleep when we got home, and I invited him inside. While he waited in the living room, I gave her a bath and carried her into her room. Darren came in and sat with me as I read to her, watching as she fell asleep, then took me by the hand and brought me into the living room. We sat on the couch in silence, aware of everything we needed to say to each other, but not knowing where to start. Right as I was feeling so lost and uncertain about everything I didn’t know what to do next, Darren leaned in to kiss me.
The kiss was soft and sweet, but there was an unavoidable hunger behind it. It was controlled, but desperate, and I knew he was holding back. But I didn’t want to hold back. Not anymore. I leaned into the kiss and he responded, crushing his mouth against mine, his tongue sliding languidly to play with my own. I stood up and he came with me. He reached for me, pulling me close to him, so tight I could feel his breath getting faster and his cock hardening beneath the zipper of his pants. Heat flushed through my core and up my neck, and I pulled him with me so that my back hit the wall. I didn’t care. The force of the smack of my back against the wall only awoke more senses, and I clawed at his shirt.
His lips moved to my neck, and I closed my eyes to focus on the sensation of his full soft lips and five-o’clock shadow brushing my collarbone as he moved down. He pulled up on my shirt, and quickly his hands were underneath, sliding up my sides until they reached the cups of my bra. Fingers worked their way underneath them and played with my heavy breasts, causing me to moan gently into his ear. His cock twitched in his pants at the sound, and I reached down to clasp him on either side of the face, bringing him up to look me in the eye. A smile spread across my face.
“I think this would be better in my bedroom,” I whispered.
The smile spread across his face, too, and he grabbed me by the ass and lifted me in the air. I wrapped my legs around his waist and began kissing his neck as he walked, carrying me as if I was weightless, to my room. As we got inside the dark room, I shut the door, reaching out behind him, and he carried me directly to the bed. Laying me down gently and crouching over me, he pulled the shirt over my head and tossed it away. I was still clasping him around the waist with my legs and felt the bulge in his pants grow even thicker as I unbuttoned the front clasp of the bra and he pushed the cups away.
My heavy breasts spilled out into his hands, and he took them eagerly into his mouth, first one, then the other. His tongue swirled around my perky, erect nipples, and I curled my fingers in his hair. His hips ground into me, and I reveled in the anticipation of his cock inside me. When he stood up, pulling at his own shirt until it was over his head, I sat up and unzipped his zipper. He groaned as I reached inside and wrapped my fingers around the base of his long, thick member and pulled it out.
I didn’t hesitate before putting it into my mouth, my tongue sliding around the head and taking him deeply into my throat. His body locked stock-still, and I took pleasure in the knowledge that I had stopped his will to move in response to my attention. Grasping him at his base, I stroked him as I bobbed my head and lavished him with my focus. It was only a few moments before he pulled away from me and then crushed a kiss into my lips. I lay back and he finished taking off his pants, tossing them away with his boxers still inside them.
I expected him to lift my legs and to ravage me, but he seemed to have collected himself, and wanted to take his time. Kneeling at the edge of the bed, he lifted my legs and placed them on his shoulders. In a long, slow lick, he let his tongue wander from one thigh to the center of my core. As he went through the folds and found my sensitive pearl, I cried out in pleasure. A finger slid inside me, and I crossed my ankles on his neck and filled one hand with his hair. I pulled on the thick luscious locks as he brought me closer to the edge of an orgasm, and my body shook as I was driven over it. Heat flushed through me as I rode the wave of the climax.
When I opened my eyes and took a deep breath in, he was already standing, using his thumb to rub my clit as he stroked himself, wetting himself with my juices. He pulled my legs toward him and then folded them back, and my ass hung just off the bed as he plunged into me. I gasped as his massive cock filled me, and I instinctively clenched at the sheets. He did not rock gently into me, but fucked me hard, thrusting into me and bringing me to the brink of another orgasm almost immediately. His mouth clamped over one of my breasts, and I let myself spill into another powerful climax, relishing in the fullness of his cock in my soaking pussy.
I was out of breath and light-headed when he lifted me up and brought me farther onto the bed. Rolling onto his back, he pulled me down onto his cock so our hips ground into one another, and I gasped at the sensation of the new position. His hands rose to cup my breasts as I began to rock on him, taking my time to rebuild my energy and ability to breathe. One of my hands rested on his hard abdomen and trailed through the muscles while the other reached behind and cupped his full, round balls. I massaged them as I rocked and let my head fall back so my long hair brushed against his legs.
His groans grew louder, and I knew he was approaching a climax of his own. I sat up, putting both hands on his chest, and let myself rise up so only the tip of his cock was inside me before sliding back down again. After a few of those motions, he couldn’t take it anymore, and he grasped my hips to guide me in hard, fast, bouncing motions. A grumble from deep in his chest was followed by him sitting up and pushing me back down on the bed. I giggled at the way he moved me, seemingly without effort, and turned me over so I was on my knees. Facing away from him, I pushed my hips back and felt the tip of his cock at my opening.
One hand grasped my hip, and the other filled with my hair as he slammed his cock into me. I cried out in pleasure as he rocked into me, faster and harder until he was fucking me with everything he had. My voice mixed with his in staccato yelps, and he pulled me harder and tighter into him with every thrust. Yet again, I felt a wave of pleasure roiling through me, and I leaned hard into the pain and pleasure of his intensity, and my body responded by exploding into an earth-shattering orgasm. As it washed over me, he thrust one last time and roared as he came deeply inside my body. We stayed there for a moment, my body milking him as he emptied himself before he thrust into me again a few more times, finishing himself and collapsing into me. We curled into the bed, him spooning me as our hearts slowed and our breathing returned to normal.
35
Darren
I never noticed just how much of a rhythm and routine I had to my mornings until that Monday. Obviously, I had my pattern. I figure everybody did. Mine usually involved getting up, downing some coffee, and heading for a workout with Colby before breakfast on the way to the compound. On mornings when I got up early enough, I would eat before I went to the gym or warm up with a quick jog around the block. On mornings when I needed some extra sleep, the coffee was a reward for surviving the workout. But the rhythm was basically the same. That Monday morning, I discovered there was little predictability in waking up in a house with a toddler.
Before I even fully processed that I was still stretched out in Kelly’s bed rather than being home in my own, I heard a bright, cheerful giggle and felt something jump on my back. My grunt woke Kelly up, and when she
moved over slightly, Willa dropped down into the space between us and cuddled up, stuffing her legs under the blankets. I looked over at Kelly, who gave me a sleepy smile.
“I didn’t realize two-year-olds got themselves out of bed,” I grumbled.
She laughed. “This is the first time she’s done it.”
Wrapping my arm around Willa, I gave her a kiss on top of her head.
“She just got out of sleeping in her crib a few months ago,” Kelly explained. “I wanted to keep her in longer, but she has been eager to have a big-girl bed. When I started planning to move here, I figured it would be easier to transition her over into a toddler bed then, rather than have so much change. Usually she is still asleep when I wake up, but I guess she is too excited to have you here this morning.”
The thought made my heart warm, and I was glad Kelly and I at least put basic clothes back on sometime in the middle of the night.
“Why don’t I let Quentin know we’ll be a little late getting to work this morning?” I asked. “Then we can make some breakfast.”
Kelly smiled and nodded. We had to go to work eventually, but I wanted to steal a little bit of extra time with her and my daughter. When I ended the call after leaving Quentin a message, Kelly and I got out of bed and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. Willa sat in her highchair with little pieces of sliced strawberries on a plate in front of her, happily nibbling away while Kelly and I worked on finding a new rhythm together. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be. Apparently, we did great in bed, but in the kitchen, there were a lot of bumped elbows and shoulders. But we laughed our way through it, and I knew I would happily deal with the awkwardness for a while if it meant plenty more mornings spent together like this.
I stood at the stove making eggs while Kelly worked on cinnamon rolls. They were just the ones from a can, but when they were baking, the whole apartment smelled cozy and warm. While the food finished, I poured Kelly a cup of coffee, and we leaned against the counter together sipping it contentedly. I was surprised when the front door of the apartment opened. Kelly was in the middle of a sip and quickly pulled the mug away from her mouth just as an older woman came into the kitchen.
The Freeman Brothers: A Secret Baby Romance Collection Page 40
