When Morning Comes: A Surprise Pregnancy Standalone Romance (Arrow Creek Book 2)

by A. M. Wilson

  A fork clatters in my direction across the counter, and Nathan flips the lid to reveal the mouthwatering concoction.

  “Bon appetite, baby.”

  “Ugh, I can’t even be mad at you for showing up unannounced when you feed me like this.” I grab the biggest, most loaded chip I can find, making sure it has a little bit of everything before shoving it into my mouth.

  He raises an eyebrow. “Why would you be mad? I’ve shown up at your house a hundred times.”

  I push away from the counter to retrieve two cold bottles of water from my fridge. After extending one to Nathan, which he accepts, I untwist my cap and take a refreshing drink.

  “Because now I’m pregnant, and I spend most my time at home looking like a toddler, wearing tee shirts that show my belly and have food dribbled across my chest, and hair I can’t bother to brush.”

  He lowers his water bottle slowly and looks at me as if I’ve sprouted an extra head.

  “You look beautiful.”

  A hunk of chip flies into the back of my throat with my snort. My body’s response is to cough to dislodge it, and I sound like I’m trying to hock a loogie as the chip flies straight out of my mouth onto the laminate countertop. I discreetly wipe it away with my forearm.

  “Stop. You don’t have to lie to keep things smooth between us. We’re good already.”

  He pops another loaded chip in his mouth and looks a million times better than I did while doing it.

  “I’m not. You’ve always turned heads. I know we aren’t involved romantically, but you carrying my baby with that little growing bump makes you even sexier.”

  My stomach instantly bottoms out and then clenches almost painfully. “Do you really think that?”

  “Would I say it if I didn’t mean it?”

  I shrug. “Maybe. We’ve had more drama in the past several months than we’ve had our entire friendship. You could definitely be trying to spare me.”

  Nathan brushes chip dust off his fingers over my sink, then leans back against it. “Fair enough. If I said I’ve been hiding a chub since I saw your ass bent over in the fridge, would you believe me then?”

  My gaze drops to his crotch. Checks out. “I guess.”

  He barks out a laugh.

  “Are you sure? You can cop a feel if you’d like.”

  My libido does acrobatic moves. “We both know that would lead to places we shouldn’t go.”

  “Shouldn’t we?” he asks in a husky, deep voice.

  Eeek! “Who are you, and what have you done with Nice Guy Nate?”

  His eyes darken with promise, and he takes a step forward. “I’m a guy.” Step. “Whose options include.” Another step. “His right hand.” The final step brings him close, toes kissing below us, and we lock eyes. “And you.”

  “You’re making me hot and bothered. But we shouldn’t.”

  From this distance, I can see his pupils dilate. “Why not?” His tongue wets his lower lip in a slow, sensual swipe.

  “Because I’m dirty. I haven’t showered today.”

  He dips his neck and speaks right beside my ear. Warm breath coasts across my skin like a tropical breeze. “I can fix that.” The husky rasp sends a shiver down my spine.

  The tips of his fingers graze the exposed skin of my baby bump and curl around the hem of my white tee. As he drags it upward, cool air hits my exposed belly, and goose bumps prickle my flesh.

  White flags billow around us. He wins. I drop my head forward, and it lands on his shoulder. My arms raise in needy surrender.

  Nathan tugs the cotton material up and over my head and arms, then tosses it aside. It flutters uselessly to the floor. The button on my jeans pops open deftly with a flick of his thumb, and the slow glide of the zipper teeth sends anticipation coursing through me.

  My belly clenches again, and I want to squeeze my thighs together, but he forces them apart by dragging my pants down and off. The sudden release of my bra clasp makes me gasp, and the cool air hits my nipples, tightening them into peaks.

  Before I can return the favor and strip him to his skivvies, I’m being lifted into Nathan’s arms. He grips my ass cheeks in each hand. My legs secure around his waist for added support.

  “The baby.” I gasp, then promptly forget my train of thought as his mouth attacks the sensitive skin below my ear.

  “It’s fine.”

  “What?”

  “Never mind,” Nathan growls in my ear. The entire way from the kitchen down the hall, I grind my body against his, trying to find friction to relieve the ache between my thighs. Holy hell. I need him inside me, or I might actually die.

  What a damn good way to go.

  “Hurry up,” I pant, clutching both his cheeks in my palms and pulling his mouth to mine. I thrust my tongue inside his mouth, desperate to feel as close to him as I can. Weeks have passed. Months of not being with another warm human. If asked, I would have vehemently denied I needed this contact, but holy hell, my panting, writhing body says otherwise. She speaks the words tangled up on my tongue.

  As he enters a darkened room, I smack the wall blindly until I hit the switch, and the lights turn on.

  “What’re we doing in the bathroom?” I mutter between kissing his perfect mouth.

  “Getting you clean,” he grunts back as he slowly lowers my feet to the cool bathroom tile.

  Dropping to one knee in front of me, Nathan hooks his fingers into the elastic of my thong and drags the sorry scrap of material down my trembling legs. His palm surrounds the small curve of my belly, running it from top to bottom.

  “God, this is sexy.” Leaning forward, he secures his mouth to my skin just below my navel. I thread my fingers into his hair for balance and drop my head against the wall to my back.

  “Mm.”

  His hand slides into the juncture of my thighs and just cups me there while he leans over the edge of my tub and turns the water on.

  “Nathan,” I groan at the torture of having his hands on me but not in me. “I need you inside.”

  “Patience.” He chuckles and rises. Palming the back of my head, he takes a moment to look in my eyes. His thumb brushes along the apple of my cheek in a lingering caress before he pulls me in for a leisurely kiss. “We have all night.”

  I nearly growl in desperation and curl my fingers into his shirt. A strong upward yank sends him off balance, and he topples into my vanity—just where I want him.

  Dropping to my knees before the man who’ll fuck me to tears, I hit the button on his jeans and yank open the fly, revealing his perfect dick tucked neatly inside.

  “Commando? You planned this, didn’t you.”

  Nathan leans back on the heels of his hands, showing his powerful pecs and abs, and flexing his hips. “Does it matter?”

  “Hell no,” I mutter as I slide both my palms inside his jeans and slip them around the back to feel his glorious ass. He groans and flexes his hips again.

  “Now who’s the impatient one?” I raise my eyebrow at him and lick my lips.

  “Take me out, Kiersten.”

  I savor the full-body tremble from his darkening gaze. Locking eyes with him, I lower my hands, snag his jeans on my wrists, and pull them down until they drop to the floor. He steps out one foot at a time, but I hardly notice because the second his jeans fall, his dick springs free.

  Hard steel bobs between us, beckoning me forward for a closer look. Heat envelops me from head to toe at the sight of the glistening tip. He’s as hot and ready for me as I am for him. This man lights me up inside like a freaking Christmas tree. I’m desperate to reacquaint myself with this part of Nathan.

  Not one to waste a second, I lean forward and brace my left hand against his muscular thigh and wrap the other one around his dick. He sucks in a sharp breath and drops his head back.

  I measure his weight in my hand with a few deliberate strokes. Leaning into him, I encircle the tip with my lips and take him straight to the back of my throat. The fact that I don’t remember doing this duri
ng our one night together might have something to do with the rush of arousal coursing through me, or it could simply be the hormones again. Whatever the reason, I feel like this is the first time, and I don’t want it to end. I want to impress him, and I don’t want to forget what it was like to take this man into my mouth and pleasure him.

  Closing my eyes, I savor the smooth texture and the warm, salty flavor of him on my tongue. I glide up and down, adding my fist to the mix, varying the speed and the pressure based on his thrusts and groans.

  “Fuck, just like that.”

  His words spur me on as if he just handed me an assignment, and the fate of the world rests in the very hands stroking his dick.

  Mission accepted.

  “Damn, keep going like that, and I’m going to come.”

  I try not to smile with a mouthful of cock and tighten my lips instead. I should get a tee shirt printed that says, “Just Call Me Hoover, Damn.” Maybe that’ll be my stocking stuffer for him this Christmas.

  Or maybe a baby onesie that says, “My mom forgot to swallow.”

  “Kiersten,” he warns on a rumbling groan that almost makes me come, and I’m not even touching myself. Doubling down for the big finish, I take him as far back in my throat as I possibly can.

  “Fuck, baby, you give the best head.” Gripping the back of my hair, he holds me in place and thrusts his hips forward as his orgasm engulfs him. I greedily drink him up, gently pulling back as he relaxes, and lave him with my tongue. Once clean, I release him slowly and grin up at him from my knees.

  His heated gaze warms me as he offers me his hand. Pulling me to my feet, he turns me to the tub and curves his torso over my back. The small spattering of hair across his pecs is abrasive against my skin. A rough palm skims down my side to my hip, hooking behind my thigh, and hitches one leg to rest on the tub.

  “Stay.” His voice vibrates in my ear.

  Anticipation coils me tight as I wait to see what’ll happen next. The next touch is his fingers swiping between my legs and plunging into my core.

  “You that wet from sucking me?” he growls, a vein of pride in his voice.

  “Yes,” I breathe. My hips rock to take him further.

  “Are you gonna get wetter for my cock?”

  My head rolls back onto his shoulder. “God, yes.”

  “Good.”

  He slips his fingers free, leaving me empty and needy, but a moment later, he replaces them with his dick. Seating himself deep, he wraps the damp digits around my front and uses them to put direct pressure on my clit.

  “Move, baby. Use me to get yourself off.”

  I quiver head to toe from the deep tenor of his voice and the implication. Self-conscious at first, I jerk my hips slowly, paying extra attention to the sounds he makes as I almost pull myself completely off him before slamming back on. My pace turns impatient, realizing that each movement I make either forces him deeper inside me or increases the pressure on my clit. Every angle brings me orgasmic bliss, and his body is mine. To use. To take. To please.

  His deep grunts resound in my ear, and I pay extra attention to what seems to make him feel good, rocking faster. Greedily, I increase my pace until we’re both panting. The sound of our breaths echoes in my bathroom. I start to tighten, unable to hold back any longer, and I whimper as my release washes over me. Moments later, Nathan takes over thrusting into my spent body, sinking his teeth into the back of my shoulder as he comes. The sharp sting of his bite increases the shocks rippling through me.

  When I float back to earth, I look down to see the tub nearly overflowing before us.

  “Good thing you turned the bath on because that was the dirtiest thing I’ve ever done.” The grin on my face carries to him in my voice.

  “I disagree. Nothing will top you riding my hand like your own personal ride at the amusement park.” His mouth hits the back of my head. “Though this was a close second.”

  The flush on my cheeks has nothing to do with the sex or the steam from the tub, and everything to do with the man who apparently makes me want to be filthy.

  12

  Kiersten

  Nathan creeps his truck in the designated spot at the start of a long row of cars stationed outside the country club. And by designated spot, I mean Cami ordered the club to put up a gaudy craft-store made sign that screams, BABY MAMA.

  This is not the type of place I’d have picked for my own baby shower, but leave it to Cami to blow things out of proportion. She’s admitted more than once her determination to give me all the things with this baby that she didn’t experience, but I find this wholly unnecessary. I don’t even know enough people to hold a gathering in this large, pretentious-looking place.

  Judgmental thoughts aside, seeing as this is exactly the type of place Nathan’s family would frequent, a bar banquet hall or my friend’s living room would have sufficed. Oh, well. We’re here now, so I better buck up and get the show on the road. I am the guest of honor after all.

  Nathan kills the engine and looks over at me with mirrored shades covering his eyes. I can’t read his emotions, but I’d guess they exist somewhere along the lines of my own thoughts. Another of Cami’s demands was a Jack and Jill baby shower so she could rope Law in, dashing any hope Nathan had of escaping this event.

  “You ready?” he asks in that low, sensual voice of his that can make even the most mundane words sound sexy. He could enunciate the word lasagna while thrusting deep inside me, and I’d probably get off on the sound alone.

  “Ready for some cake? Yes. Ready to find out if you have stronger X or Y swimmers? Definitely. Ready to be paraded around a room like a show pony? Never.”

  That smirk in my direction makes me clench. “Your choices were taken away when you gave Cami permission to handle this thing.”

  After double-checking my lipstick, I flip the visor into place and send a cool glare in his direction. “We both know we would never have heard the end of it if I didn’t let her have this.”

  “Yeah, that would have been a nightmare.” He grimaces.

  “Come on. I got all gussied up for this thing. Might as well show me off.”

  “Stay there,” he growls and unfolds from his truck.

  I watch as he prowls around the hood, masculine and powerful, and opens my door for me.

  “I’m pregnant, not an invalid.”

  Before I can step out, he moves in and blocks my path. A finger traces down my cheek, and he tucks a lock of loose hair behind my ear and grips my hand.

  “First, I won’t even describe what it’d do to me to see you take a spill out of my truck. Second, I wanted one minute alone to tell you that even though being the center of attention isn’t your gig and you’re about to be bombarded, you look incredibly stunning.”

  Shwoop. There goes my heart.

  “Stop, or you’ll make the crazy hormonal lady cry.”

  He checks that the coast is clear and dips his head into the hollow of my neck below my ear. “Sexiest pregnant woman ever.”

  Only as he pulls away and helps me out of the truck do I realize he was rubbing my very naked left ring finger. The spot tingles bereft without his touch.

  What does that even mean? Is it an involuntary action? Something he used to do with his wife when she was alive?

  Is he feeling overwhelmed or simply sentimental?

  I don’t get the chance to ask. Not that this is the right time for those questions. He slams the door, bleeps the locks, and tugs me toward the building in record time.

  “If you don’t want me to take a spill in this parking lot, you’ll slow down,” I grumble, halfway behind him with my arm outstretched and clasped in his hand.

  He cuts his gaze to me and closes his stride. “Sorry.”

  “What’s the rush anyway? I wouldn’t mind a few extra minutes in your truck.”

  “Oh, yeah? What do you want to spend those minutes doing?”

  I turn on the charm and paste on a sultry smile. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”r />
  Nathan comes to a complete halt, and I nearly run into him. Facing me, he dips his head and lifts his shades off his eyes. We lock gazes, and I see a challenge in his that I refuse to back down from. “Careful. I hear they have a pretty spacious coat closet. We could get away for a few minutes if you promise to keep quiet.”

  A full-body shiver attacks me head to toe at his threat, and he doesn’t miss it.

  “Damn, baby, you actually like that idea.”

  “It’s the hormones,” I supply weakly.

  Shades back in place over his eyes, he snags my hand and once again pulls me onward and up the front steps. “Nah, it’s one hundred percent you.”

  I open my mouth to retort or, I don’t know, beg him to sneak us to this secluded roomy closet, but I’m interrupted by the door swinging open and Cami running out.

  “You’re finally here!”

  She intercepts me from Nathan and wraps me in a strong hug. I squeeze her equally as tight. I might be bitching about today, but it’s not the ungrateful variety. “I’m not late, am I? This one drives like a grandpa.”

  We both giggle, knowing that is absolutely not true. He gets his skills from taking that rig around the county.

  “Not at all, you have perfect timing. Everyone is already here.”

  “Goodie!” I respond with slight fake enthusiasm, not sure who “everyone” is and gearing up for the possibilities.

  I smooth down my dress as I walk into the open space, proud I only spare a glance in the direction of the coat check. Nathan chuckles beside me and places his hand on the small of my back. The heat of his palm sears into me. His gentle push encourages me farther into the main room even as I’m highly tempted to steer us another direction.

  As we clear the propped open glass doors, shrieks envelop us, and I stop dead at the mouth of the room.

  Holy freaking people! Did they come with the rental space? It appears she invited all of Arrow Creek, and every person showed. My family is in the front corner, and Regina stands next to them. The sour look on her face tells me she still isn’t over our disagreement at lunch. However, I take it as her trying by the fact she showed up and with such short notice too.