Baby Fever

by Landish, Lauren

  Now, with her question about what’s next, the conversation comes back to me full blast, and I swallow. Wes wasn’t trying be a dick. He’s legitimately concerned, and that’s the tough part about it. He’s trying to be cool, and I can see he wants to keep me and my skills in the company. But in a single mention, he sent chills down my spine. My salary is base plus a commission on sales over my target.

  Granted, my base salary is more than my team since I manage them all, and the VP title comes with some sweet stock options, but I’ve got a daughter on the way . . . one who’ll need diapers, baby food, and braces, and violin lessons. I have to keep the money flowing in somehow, and that worries me.

  “Nic?”

  A momentary flash goes through my mind to lie to Rose, that my space out was just jetlag, and not to worry. To tell some placating story, because I want to keep her happy . . . and also, right now, my cock wants a little attention too. But instead, the stronger part of me speaks up to tell the truth. “Rose, I’d like to have an easy answer for you. But really, I don’t. But I’m working on it and I’m doing my best here. I’ve always traveled for work, and I can’t change that at the drop of a hat.”

  Rose’s eyes fall, but she nods in understanding. “Be honest with me. Do you even want to? I get it, Nic. You’ve always been a nomad, chasing the next adventure. Mixed in with work stuff, of course, and that’s what makes you good at your job. Your passion. Hell, it’s part of what makes you sexy as hell. You’re the sexy wanderer who lives life by his own rules. But this isn’t about hookups anymore. It’s about Amelia and me, and you, if you want it to be. I need to know if you’re going to be in and out forever. Or are you ever going to settle down? Because I’ll admit that I’m getting caught up here in what could be. We could be a family, a real one, but I don’t want to get my hopes up if that’s not what you want.”

  I stand up, pacing the floor for a little as I try to form the words that have been burning in my heart for the past week. “I want to. I don’t know just how the hell it’s all going to work out yet, but I want to. Boss is trying to help me, but he’s got expectations and is worried. I’m worried too. God, if I don’t get out there, how is Amelia ever going to afford Harvard, or to learn to play piano or—”

  Rose laughs, making me stop. “Slow down, Nic. She’s not even born yet. Let’s get her to walking before we book her future, let alone Harvard. I mean, it’s cute as hell and answers some of my questions, but chill.”

  I swallow, shaking my head as I realize what she’s saying. “Rose, I’m gonna sound stupid, but from the moment I first saw you almost six months ago, I felt deep inside that my life was going to somehow change at the fundamental level. I think you feel the same way, or else you would’ve told me to get the fuck out that second night I came back to the boutique.”

  “Maybe,” Rose admits. “But what if I just wanted another dose of Grade-A dick?”

  I snort, laughing lightly. “Something tells me that’s not your style. But what if I just wanted some of your Grade-A pussy?”

  Rose laughs, and I continue. “Rose, you’re right. I’m an adrenaline junkie and I love my job. Hell, the name of it fits me perfectly. But the way I see it . . . this is my next adventure, here with you and Amelia.” I gesture to the house around us with its simple, practical things, and I smile. “You planned to do this alone, but you don’t have to. I want to be here.”

  Rose blinks, and I can see the tears shining in the corners of her eyes, and as they begin to roll down her face, I’m lost.

  “Isn’t that what you want too?” I ask, coming back over and kneeling in front of her. “I mean, you’ve had months to adjust to this, and I’ve only had a couple of weeks, but I’m doing the best I can. I’m trying to get to know you. Hell, I’m falling for you and having all these thoughts, picturing us showing Amelia the woods, teaching her how to swim and ride and explore, and being a family. My search for another place to stay here in town hasn’t gone so well because . . . well, I keep wanting to share your bed. Isn’t that what you want too?”

  Rose nods her head, sniffling loudly. “It is. I just didn’t know if you did. I’m falling for you too.” She tries to wipe her cheeks, and I reach up to help her, sweeping the droplets away with my thumbs. She laughs at my attempt, finally using the neckline of her shirt to wipe the rushing tears as her smile gets larger. “God, I’m sure I look horrible.” She swipes under her eyes, smearing her makeup more than wiping it off.

  “Well,” I admit, trying not to laugh out loud, “you do kinda look like a raccoon right now, but not a rabid mean one, just like one of those cute big-eyed stuffed animal ones you want to snuggle. Hold on, let me get you something better.”

  She laughs at my attempt at humor, finally using a tissue I quickly grab to wipe the rushing tears, and her smile gets larger. “Sorry, these hormones are like whiplash. The other day, I cried at a dog food commercial.”

  Smiling, I run my hands over her arms, marveling at the texture of her skin. Hormones might make Rose cry at dog food, but it also leaves her with skin that’s smoother than silk. “It’s all right, baby. I’ll just call it practice for when Amelia cries and I have no idea why. Just rock and shush and hope for the best . . . it seems to work on you, and hopefully, it’ll work on her too.”

  To show her that it works, that’s exactly what I do, pulling her to stand with me and swaying her body with mine as we dance to imaginary music. She wraps her arms around my waist, and I gently run my hand through her hair, inhaling the heavenly scent that is undeniably Rose. “It’s gonna be okay. We can do this. You and I are gonna figure this out, and we’re gonna be a family.”

  She relaxes in my arms, the tears replaced with soft scratches as she runs her nails up and down my back. Our bodies press closer together, and my cock, which has behaved itself long enough, says it’s ready to take over.

  Rose feels it too and hums in appreciation. “God, I missed you.”

  She tilts her head up to look at me, and I see her eyes zero in on my lips. Taking her cue, I move to kiss her, soft butterfly kisses at first but quickly, the fire we’ve been stoking with our Skype chats for the last week flares. I sweep her into my arms, moving toward her bedroom and setting her down gently on the edge of the bed.

  “I see you missed me too.” Rose laughs softly as I reach for the tie at the back of her neck. Her dress is sexy but simple and is thankfully easy to remove. Sliding it down her legs, I take a moment to watch as she lies back on the bed, her ‘angel’s wings’ hair spreading behind her and down over the swells of her breasts. It’s breathtaking, and I admire her changing body until Rose squirms a little. “What is it?”

  “You look gorgeous, glowing and round as you grow our little girl,” I reply, my throat thick with desire and emotion. I take off my shirt, letting her get an eyeful before I move down to kiss her belly. After a soft kiss on her tight little bump, I slide to my knees in front of her, running my hands over her knees and easing them apart. “Seems like I promised a little something more than belly kisses earlier.”

  Rose smirks down at me, getting to her elbows to watch me. “It does seem like you did, but—”

  Before she can finish her sentence, I pull her panties down and off, diving in to lick and suck her. I’m voracious. After watching her play with herself in HD for the past week, I’ve thirsted deep in my soul for her, and as my tongue laps her juices into my mouth, Rose moans my name deeply, running a hand through my hair. “Fuck, yes . . . I’ve so dreamed of your tongue.”

  “Hopefully, not just that,” I tease before I start sucking on her clit. Rose makes a squeak that’s half gasp, half scream of pleasure as I nibble and let my tongue flutter over the tip of her clit, cupping her ass and not letting her squirm away at all.

  It doesn’t take long. Rose has been on edge as much as I have despite our nightly masturbation marathons, and soon, she’s trembling, grinding her pussy into my mouth as she starts to come, bathing my lips in her honey.

  The drink
of her precious sweetness only ignites another hunger deep inside me, and I get to my feet, undoing my belt and stripping off my pants and boxers. “How do you want it?”

  Rose bites her lip, licking once as she thinks, then gets onto her hands and knees. “We can do it this way almost until the delivery, I found out,” she teases me. “And if you’re good . . . well, you used fingers there once. Maybe you can do more.”

  “And if I’m bad?” I tease, running my hand over the curve of her ass. Her offer is amazing, but right now, I need a little distraction or else I’m going to be a two-pump chump as turned on as I am.

  “If you’re bad . . . then you can definitely do more,” Rose purrs, looking back over her shoulder.

  So not fucking helping. I don’t care, though, and I take my cock in hand, lining up and filling Rose in one long stroke. It’s like completion, coming home, whatever you want to call it, and we both moan deeply. “Fuck, you’re perfect for me.”

  “Keep telling me that,” Rose moans, pushing back until my cock is all the way inside her. We pause, both of us breathing deeply as the moment stretches out. Finally, Rose wiggles her ass, telling me without words what to do next.

  Every movement is natural as I start stroking in and out, swirling my hips and pumping deep into her. There are no words needed, nothing beyond the gasps and moans that come from deep within our bodies, so deep I swear they’re coming from our very souls.

  This isn’t fucking . . . this is something more. My cock is squeezed and massaged inside her with each inch I thrust, and I can feel her body electrified as I return the pleasure. It’s amazing. I’ve never felt this close to someone before, even Rose herself during our hot encounters.

  We speed up, my cock pumping fast and deep inside her before switching to shorter strokes that draw out our pleasure, making sure we don’t rush. Reaching underneath her, I cup her breasts, pulling her up to nibble at her neck while my cock stays buried inside her, stroking her body and memorizing every curve with my fingertips.

  “Nic . . .” Rose finally moans as I pinch her nipple lightly while sliding my other hand down to stroke her clit. I can feel her heart thundering under my fingertips, and I let go, lowering her carefully to the bed before taking her waist in my hands. My fingers sink into the soft curve there, and I take hold, stroking fast and deep inside her. Faster and faster I go, not hammering her but driving deep with every pump, giving her what we both need and making my eyes roll back in my skull it feels so fucking good.

  Our orgasms hit us like a lightning bolt, simultaneous and massive. Her pussy flutters and squeezes me tightly, and I explode, filling her with everything I have. Sure, I know I can’t get her pregnant again right now . . . but there’s nothing like filling her and claiming her as mine just as she claims me as hers.

  We collapse into the bed, and I gather Rose in my arms, holding her close as she’s not the only one on the verge of tears after how intense that just was. “You okay?” I whisper, and she hugs me tightly. “Rose . . . thank you. For everything.”

  “Tell you what. You’re paying for half of the electricity, at least,” she says, turning to look me in the eye. “And the food. Do that and you can stay as long as you want.”

  I smile and kiss her little button nose. “I plan on doing a lot more than that. But let’s start there and with breakfast in the morning. I want to take my girl out for pancakes.”

  Rose shakes her head, sighing. “No good pancake restaurants in the area. How about waffles?”

  “Deal.”

  Rose

  Opening the front door after a long day at the boutique, I’m greeted by the tangy smell of tomatoes and garlic with an undercurrent of porky deliciousness that tells me it’s the good stuff. It smells divine and my now almost eight-months-pregnant stomach immediately rumbles to be fed.

  Amazingly, only a few months ago, this smell would’ve sent me running for the hills to toss my cookies since I couldn’t enjoy my favorite pasta, even if I could cook it, which I can’t. I’m a lot of things, but a gourmet cook isn’t one of them, and the smell of cooking in my kitchen was a warning for the neighbors to call the fire department. But now . . . it smells like heaven.

  And it’s all due to one man. “Nic? Whatever you made for dinner smells amazing. It’s my new favorite.”

  There’s a laugh from around the corner and Nic steps out of the kitchen with a smile, waving to me. “Yeah guys, that’s Rose. No, I haven’t been hiding her from you Mom. Here.”

  Nic turns his phone around, and I see two people on his screen. One of them is definitely Nic’s father, so I can only assume that the smiling woman with him is Nic’s mother. “Hi. . . uh, I’m Rose.”

  “Yes, Nicolas has been telling us about you for the past half hour,” his mom says, smiling. “We’re so excited to meet you and our granddaughter!” Her voice goes high and a little wild as she says ‘granddaughter’ and I’m glad she seems excited, not upset at the situation. “Welcome to the family, honey. I’m glad to see I raised my son right.”

  “You’ve done more than that,” I assure her. We start talking about Nic as a boy, their myriad of adventures, and how she worried he’d never settle down. All in all, it’s a wonderful first meeting with Nic’s parents, if all too short.

  “Okay, well one of the drawbacks of our lifestyle is limited internet, but unlimited minutes,” Nic’s dad says. “And we’ve got a date with a meteor shower tonight at dusk, so we need to run. You look famished, so we’ll cut this short for now so that boy of mine can feed you dinner. Rose, it was such a pleasure to meet you.”

  “You guys too,” I say, grinning as Nic starts plating dinner in the background. “By the way, whoever taught him to cook, thank you.”

  The call ends with them promising to see us soon. I set the phone down with a smile, glad that went so well, and turn to admire my man. He’s still in his gym clothes, probably relishing the slightly unseasonal warmth, but to me I just like seeing his arms and chest rippling with muscle in his tank top.

  And he can cook, how perfect is that? “So, you’ve got two plates of heaven for me?”

  Nic laughs. “You haven’t even tasted it yet, how could you know it’s heaven?”

  “If it tastes half as good as it smells, it’s got to be close,” I tell him, finally undoing my jacket to hang it up on the coat rack. “How was your day, besides the talk with your folks?”

  Walking over, he plants a big kiss on me, tongue and all, definitely not bad for a pre-dinner appetizer. “Much better now. Not that it was bad before, but… well, seeing you makes the day near perfect. So, you up for some linguini with my secret tomato sauce?”

  “Can’t wait,” I reply, feeling Amelia turn in my tummy. She’s so big we’ve actually been able to watch her squirm now, it’s sort of weird and wonderful at the same time. “Just give me time to get to the table.”

  Nic shakes his head and guides me towards the living room. “Have a seat on the couch, I’ll bring yours to you. There’s dessert too, chocolate pudding.”

  Not needing to be told twice, I plop down and perch my feet on the edge of the coffee table. “You’re a figment of my imagination, aren’t you?” I call out, earning another laugh. “Nope, no way are you this good. I’ve got to be imagining that you worked all day and made dinner and are serving me. I’ve officially gone off the deep end.”

  Nic calls out from the kitchen, a playful note in his voice. “Nope, not imagining things. I’m just buttering you up.”

  Oh, shit, what’s he got up his sleeve now? I was teasing about his working all day and still handling dinner, since really, in the last few months, that’s become our standard operating procedure.

  It’s been two months of bliss in a lot of ways. After he got back from Maine and we had our ‘Come to Jesus’ talk, along with mind-blowing sex afterward, Nic has been with me every step of the way. He’s cut way back on his travel and has spent the majority of the last few weeks permanently delegating his accounts over to his sales guy
s and taking on a more managerial role versus his usual more hands-on approach.

  I know it’s been tough on him, mostly because he’s put himself under a lot of pressure. I don’t know what the deal is with his boss, but Nic hasn’t complained. Still, he’s trying to please everyone when all I want him to be is . . . him.

  There have been two overnight trips where he went almost as much to teach as to be the salesman, from what he told me. He’s shown the ropes to his newer associates, introducing the new agents around and making sure the right people are getting to know each other. Mostly, though, he’s spent the past two months working out of the house, remote officing everything possible while I run the Mountain Rose.

  At the end of the day, we meet for dinner. Sometimes, he brings takeout, but most nights are like tonight where he cooks. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised he’s an amazing cook and an even better griller. Nic’s joked that his skills come from all the campfire cooking he’s done. “When the only thing you’ve got is a survival knife, two sheets of tinfoil, and some stuff you dug up in the woods . . . you get creative.”

  Creative, indeed, and so far, no ‘mystery mushrooms’ from the nearby woods. Bringing in the plates, he sets them on the coffee table and sits down beside me, handing me a wineglass of sparkling water. “My lady.”

  “Ooh, fancy,” I reply, sipping my Perrier. “You’re pulling out all the stops here, mister. What’s up?”

  There’s a tiny piece of me that’s worried because as awesome as Nic has been lately, I know that he’s still a bit of a wanderer and I sometimes feel like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, especially after hearing his parents talk about going here and there and the magic of meteor showers. And here in Great Falls, it’s just. . . me. The stress of his job and, from what I understand, the loss of his sales commissions, have to be weighing on him. But I’m putting my faith in him, and so far, we’ve done awesomely. If anything, I’ve told him numerous times that we’re a team. The Mountain Rose is continuing to do well, and we’ll be fine. I think my reassurances have helped. At least, they seem to.