by Aria Grace
And I refused to examine the emotions that bubbled to the surface. Back off! Do not F this up.
I deliberately arrived at the restaurant later than the agreed time. There wouldn’t be any butt-gawking tonight. But Percy was waiting outside. He never did that. Was he cancelling?
“Hi.” His tentative greeting reminded me of our first meal together. So different from his take-charge attitude when we had sex. Forget the sex, Marve. There’ll be no more sex.
“Hey. What are you doing out here?”
He shuffled his feet and stared across the road as though he was scared to meet my gaze. “You didn’t reply to my message.” He held up one hand. “And that’s fine. If you don’t feel the same way, we can go back to what we were. I wasn’t thinking.”
“That’s a lot of words and… and… ummm… I didn’t get any message.” I waved my phone in his face hoping I was convincing. I was a terrible liar, and I was sure Percy could see right through my deception, but my stomach grumbled and saved me. “Can we eat?”
“Of course,” he said and led me inside to our regular table. He pulled out my chair and signaled to the waiter. “Your usual?”
I nodded. Checking out the menu was a great way of avoiding discussing something important, and he’d taken that away. And I was pissed. But those big blue eyes were gazing at me through a fringe of dark lashes. Stop it! Right now! Don’t do that! Oh my God, they’re like a love laser.
The L word flitting through my head was a wake-up call. “Was… was it important? Y-Your text?” I stuttered.
He sighed. “I guess not. Don’t worry about it.”
As Percy chatted about nothing in particular and I pushed food around on my plate to make him think I was eating, I took notice of the way his eyes crinkled at the corners, the slight wave in his hair, the small scar on his chin, and the way he used his hands when he was talking.
And as we paused outside, ready to say our goodbyes because we were heading in different directions, a couple strolled past squabbling.
“Ever since the baby arrived, you don’t pay me any attention.”
“Well, I’m so sorry that giving birth and looking after our child, plus working a full-time job, leaves me exhausted.” Their voices faded as they disappeared around a corner.
“Marve. Marve?”
“Huh?”
“You okay?” Percy’s face hovered in front of mine, his brow furrowed.
“Yeah.”
He jerked in head in the direction of the arguing couple. “Guess we don’t have to worry about that... as we’re not together and just…”
I shut him up by slamming my mouth on his and relished the taste of beer on his lips. I inhaled his scent that reminded me of a forest on a wintry morning, all crisp and brittle. And I silently begged him to put his arms around me.
44
Percy
Marve kissed me right there, out of nowhere.
I’d thought he’d been fibbing about my message, but let it go. I mean, if he didn’t feel the same way, why push it. His white lie would give him a way out and we wouldn’t have to address all that went along with it, but then...the couple was arguing and I was jealous of them. Jealous that they were together enough to miss each other, and what did Marve do about that?
He. Kissed. Me.
And not a sweet little brush of the lips. No, that man owned my mouth, his body pressed against mine, his belly the only thing keeping him from feeling just how much he turned me on.
And then just as quickly as it started, he broke away, mumbled goodnight, and off he went, leaving me with more questions than answers but also hope.
I grabbed my car keys and headed back to Value Mart where we had left some items unpurchased. Our baby still needed a crib and a carseat and I was sure a thousand other things. I didn’t have the means to buy them all, and really, that wasn’t what today was about. I was there to show him I was in this not just for our child but for both of us, and one of the best ways I could think to do it was with carseats. At least to start.
I found the one he’d been looking at telling me we could just get a second base for if there were times I would want to bring the baby somewhere. He didn’t say as much, but there was an undertone of unsureness in his voice as he mentioned it, and I half wondered if he thought I was going to constantly have one foot out the door. In my mind, doing this would show him otherwise.
Or make me look like a dumbass. One of the two.
I gathered up my purchases and drove the short distance to Marve’s place. He’d allowed me to pick him up for our regular dinner date—or at least I was calling it a date. After that kiss, how could I not.
I rapped on his door and he opened it wide, only half paying attention as he talked on the phone, something about a special order at Café Om. He waved me in, not even noticing the box I had beside me, the one I was half worried wouldn’t fit through the door. I managed to get it in just as he was finishing his call, and the smile he gave as he took it in was everything.
“What’s this?” He pointed to the huge wrapped gift.
“I thought maybe—it’s—open it.” Suave as ever.
“I don’t need presents,” he said as he ripped open the paper and opened the box.
“You bought me a carseat? Thank you.”
“I bought our baby the carseat. Open the second box inside.” I held my breath. This was it.
He pulled out the card and started to read it, looking up at me every now and then, slid it in the envelope, and unwrapped the little things I had packed inside of the box within a box. There were silly things like socks that said world’s best dad and peppermint tea, the kind he seemed to be living on lately, and little things like that—things that said I paid attention and I cared.
Or at least I hoped they did. He didn’t say a word. Not. One.
“I thought we could have pizza today, but I’m up for the diner if you want.” I gave him a way out. Maybe it was too much...too soon?
“You give me a card telling me how much our baby means to you with a picture of your car sporting a carseat months before they are due, and then spoil me rotten, and you want to talk pizza?” His eyes met mine, glistening with unshed tears.
“I didn’t want to pressure you.”
“I think I maybe need you to. I am so scared of messing everything up and…” He threw himself in my arms. “Thank you.”
I hugged him back, loving the feel of him against me and the scent of him surrounding me so completely, so of course his stomach decided to rumble and ruin the moment.
“So, pizza?” I teased, kissing him on the head as we stepped apart.
“Pizza.”
We walked down the street to a little pizza dive and devoured the greasy goodness as we chatted about our work, a movie we both wanted to see, and the rain that was coming. It was a date. A real one. The feeling of awkward what ifs from before no longer clouded our time together. And true enough, we hadn’t made any decisions regarding us, but yet it felt like we had, and when he took my hand as we exited the pizza place, my belly as full as my heart, I felt on top of the world.
“I had fun today.” I gave his hand a squeeze as we stopped outside his place. I wasn’t ready to let him go, but unlike the other times we’d been here, this time was different. It wasn’t me going home kicking myself for not letting him know how I felt or wondering if it were okay to hug him good-bye or to give him a kiss on the cheek.
“I did too, and your card and the gift—it was everything.”
I leaned in, brushing my lips against his for a sweet kiss. That sweetness didn’t last long as he immediately opened up to me and our kiss deepened as I poured all of my emotions into each movement of my lips, dance of my tongue, and nibble of my teeth until we were both left there catching our breath.
“Wow!” I whispered against his throat.
“Yeah. Wow.”
45
Marve
That was some kiss!
I pulled away from Percy
, but rested my head on his chest, unsure my trembling legs—which had turned to jelly—could keep me upright. A reddish stain around his mouth had me brushing my fingers over my own bruised lips.
“Marve, I…”
I placed a finger on his mouth and shushed him. “It’s okay.” It was way more than that, but I was trying to put my emotions into words and failing. “No need to explain.”
“But there is. The kiss wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision.”
“Like fucking in a nightclub bathroom?”
“You’re right. That wasn’t my… our finest moment. But this…” he waved his hand between us, “…is different. I’ve been wanting to kiss you, could think of nothing else. I almost ran a red light today.”
I dragged him inside and slammed the door. A sliver of yellowing light from the street slipped through a gap in the curtains and spilled onto Percy’s face. I wanted to stroke away the worry lines on his brow and release the tension in his clenched jaw.
There was a dull ache in my chest as doubt niggled at me. “When I woke up at the nightclub, I dismissed you as a playboy.”
He angled his head to the side and scoffed at my suggestion. “They have way more money than I do.”
“Don’t interrupt.”
A flicker of amusement crossed his face, and he saluted. “Yes, sir.”
Taking a deep breath, I explained, “We’re doing great as friends and we’ve come a long way from sex in a club, but…”
With his fingers drumming on the wall behind me, Percy leaned forward. “Keep going.” His gravelly voice made me weak at the knees, and I whimpered.
I’ll never get through this. “And I think we’ll do okay at the co-parenting arrangement.”
“Uh huh.”
I gulped as he drew closer, and when I snuck a glance at his face, those baby-blue eyes were locked on mine. “But what’s in here.” I placed a hand over my heart as my cock reacted to his nearness. His scent filled my nostrils while I mumbled, “is something more than friendship.”
His lips grazed my ear, and I arched my back and stifled a moan. I pushed my hips forward and ground against the bulge in his pants as he whispered, “Me too.” He dragged his mouth over my jaw to my throat, nipping the delicate skin as he moaned.
“Percy.”
“Mmmm.” Our foreheads were touching while he rubbed his arousal against me.
“I need you.”
“I’m right here. Not going anywhere,” he mumbled as he pulled my shirt to the side and kissed my shoulder, sending shivers up and down my spine.
“Stop.”
He drew back, uncertainty clouding his eyes. “Did I do something wrong? I thought… sorry.”
“Nope. Inside me, Percy. I want you to fuck me.” His eyes widened and he gasped. “Oh, don’t pretend to be shocked. We did it in a public toilet.” I pointed at his crotch. “And your cock is swollen and ready to go while my ass is coated in slick.”
He was silent while his eyes darted around the room. He bowed. “Lead the way, unless you think we should do it right here. Or if that’s too private, we could do it on the sidewalk. Give the neighbors a thrill.”
I giggled at his saucy grin. “Didn’t you hear me say stop?” I jerked my head toward the bedroom door. “That way.”
“Aren’t you coming?”
“Soon, I hope,” and I slapped his ass, “but I want to watch your walk.”
He strutted toward the bed, shedding clothes as he went. He was naked in seconds. Has he had a lot of practice? I took my time admiring him as I was struck by his aroma which brought back memories of that first night.
I craved him, his mouth, hands, hips, and cock. I wanted to own every part of him and have him explore my body with his eyes and hands.
My trembling fingers went to undo the buttons on my shirt, but he pushed them away. “Let me do that, Marve.” After helping me out of my paternity gear, he froze as his eyes roamed over my naked body. What’s he thinking? Is he examining the stretch marks?
“This is the first time I’ve seen you naked and pregnant. You’re amazing.” With his mouth on the bump, he murmured, “Time for a nap, little one.”
Percy led me to the bed. “I’m scared of hurting you.”
“You won’t. But we need to take it easier than the first time.”
He growled. “I’ll never forget that night.”
Me neither. “On your back.” This time I was in control. He hesitated. “Just do it.” I held out my hand, and he clasped it as I straddled him, my slippery wet ass grazing his arousal. Percy bent his knees, allowing me to lean back on them. “I’ll need your help. Can’t see much,” I told him as I cupped my belly.
Putting my weight on my knees I lifted myself up, and Percy probed my hole with the tip of his length. “You’re so tight, Marve. And wet. I can’t wait to be in you.”
“I’m wet for you. You make my insides all mushy, and all I can think about is you.”
“Jesus, I’m gonna come if you keep talking like that,”
“Don’t you dare,” I snarled. “I want you inside me.”
“I like you taking charge,” he panted as he rested his cock against me.
The knot of anticipation inside me expanded as I took a deep breath and I sank onto him, my channel swallowing his length up to the hilt. “Oh! God, yes!” I shouted.
Percy's hands rested on my thighs. “You okay?”
I wriggled my ass and clenched around him. “Think so.”
His smoldering eyes narrowed, “Oh really. Let me make it easier for you.” With his hands under my butt, he heaved me up, the muscles in his forearms bulging. But his eyes weren’t on my face or my cock. “My dick’s covered in slick.”
“Tell me more,” I said as I lowered myself onto him again and his moans matched my own. I closed my eyes and pictured his stiff length.
“It’s glistening and slick is dripping over the shaft. If I wasn’t fucking you right now, I’d lick every bit of it off and suck your cock until you come.”
Holy shit! My dick twitched as his length impaled me, and I felt every inch as it was buried in my depths. His throbbing length was working the same magic it had that first night. “I love your cock, Percy.” My mind hardly registered that I’d used the L word.
Percy lifted his hands with the fingers splayed. “Put your weight on me. It’ll help your knees.”
I hoisted myself up and I took his dick into my channel. All of it. Each inch. He was huge but we fit together perfectly. His heady scent captivated me as though I was a deer caught in the headlights. The hint of spice snaked its way from him to my nose, making my body tingle.
Memories of the night we met trickled through my thoughts as he lifted his hips and matched my rhythm. As sweat dripped into my eyes, I squinted at Percy’s skin that was smudged with pink. His eyes narrowed to half-mast, and he yelled my name. This alpha. I want him in my life.
Each time I sank onto him and his cock filled me, slick and sweat mingled. My quivery thighs gripped his torso as his fingers reached for and curled around my dick.
“Percy! Yes, pump my cock,” I yelled. “Tug it hard.”
Heat sizzled through my body, threatening to overwhelm me. With one of his hands hoisting me into the air and the other jerking my length, I surrendered to a savage lust that was coursing through my veins.
My body hummed as our bodies slapped and slammed against one another. Our groans, grunts, pants, and whispered, “That’s so good,” “Don’t stop,” and “I’ve wanted this for so long,” punctuated the silence while the scent of sex swirled around us.
A fast-moving current caught me and tossed me around as my body spasmed and I yelled, “Percy!” Thick ropes of cum sprayed over him. He pumped into me, his teeth gritted and his eyes squeezed shut as he lifted his head, groaned, and released into me. His knot filled me so completely and we became one.
46
Percy
“Are you nervous?” I asked, because I sure as shit was. We wer
e going to see our baby, and not because it was the regular time when everyone did—I’d missed that one having not found Marve yet. No, this one was because the baby was measuring too big and they wanted to make sure everything was okay.
Everything had to be okay. I may not have met our little one, but I already loved them more than I thought possible to love another human being.
“Of course I am, but at the same time I’m not.” He shrugged, pulling on his paternity t-shirt that was already a bit snug. Why does he have to wear a shirt? “The baby is fine—I can feel it.”
I prayed that he was right, not loving that the doctor sent him home from his appointment the day before with an ultrasound scheduled for the next day. Don’t those things usually take a week?
“Let’s get you there before I take that shirt back off.” I winked. And really, under any other circumstances, it wouldn’t be in jest. My desire for him grew with every minute we spent together. But today, we had more important things to do—like see that our sweet baby was alright.
We arrived at the office early and took a seat by the fishtank.
“They put this here to calm people,” Marve noted. “But all it does is make me think about how awful of a job it must be to clean the thing.” He leaned in a little closer and turned his head, nestling it onto my shoulder. “Plus they die.” I squinted to see what had him so upset, and sure enough, there was a dead fish at the bottom of the tank being nipped at by another. I instinctively wrapped my arm around my omega.
“Everything will be fine,” I promised. He nodded into my chest. It was going to be so much better after the test when we knew everything was alright or in the worst case, we could at least know what we were dealing with.
The tech called us back a few minutes later, and we headed straight back to the ultrasound room and got settled in as she prepared whatever it was she was doing on the computer and explained what she planned to be doing.
