"But you didn't, and it's in the past." I slid my hand up her back, falling in love with her far more than I thought possible as she watched me with worry on her beautiful face. "It's alright. Just don't close me out again."
"I want to see where we can take our relationship." She cupped the sides of my face. "I don't want to be alone." She closed her eyes and shook her head, letting down her guard. "No, I don't want to be without you. Period."
"Good girl." I pulled her down and turned us as I covered her body with mine. "We'll work through the details later. Let's make dinner and take a long bath together. I've never done that before. I want to share it with you."
"Cooking dinner or taking a bath?" She laughed, and the world seemed right.
How the hell had we messed up something that we both knew could be so damn good?
I wasn't sure, but I was willing to work hard at not letting it happen again.
I laughed. "Taking a bath with someone, woman." I kissed her before getting up and pulling her up with me. "Do we need to go out and pick something up for dinner?"
"No. I laid out chicken. I've been trying to do better about eating for the baby." She ran her hand down her stomach and my cock twitched to life again. Fuck me. I wasn't going to have a bit of rest around her if I let my body run the show.
"Go put something on before I take advantage of how good you look." I smiled and picked up my pants.
"Thank you for coming up here after me." She reached for me as love filled her eyes. It melted me like nothing had ever before.
I wrapped my arms around her and leaned down, kissing her softly until she took it up a notch. My pulse spiked and my heart raced. This is what love feels like.
She pulled back from the kiss as I ran my hands down her back and gripped her ass, kneading it roughly.
"I didn't come up here after you." I smiled. "I came for fresh fish for dinner. You were just on the way, so I thought, fuck it, why not?"
She laughed and pulled out of my arms. "Oh yeah? Well, you can leave now then. Go get your fish."
"Fuck that. I'm not going anywhere." I stood there, holding my pants in my hands like a goof as I watched her walk down the hall. It was hard to breathe, and I knew what my father had felt for my mother. It was a fearless, reckless feeling. It forced me forward to dance along the edge of the fire and not consider getting burned. No matter what happened. I wanted this time with her, and every day she would give me.
I wanted to raise our son together and try out this fucked up crazy thing called love.
"I get it," I whispered to the emptiness around me. "I see what you meant, and I agree."
My father's voice echoed in my ears from memories past. "I would rather limp across the finish line up above, broken, battered, destroyed by love than dance across never knowing the deepest depths of passion it can provide."
Finally. I agreed.
Ansley and my son were worth it.
Love was worth it.
Epilogue
Ansley
Eight Months Later
"Push, baby. Push." Parks leaned over the top of me, his voice loud and commanding.
"Hush for shit's sake!" I barked at him and glanced down to Jena, my gyno at New York's St. Marks hospital. "Make him get out of here."
"He's always this bossy." She smiled up at both of us and gripped my knees. "Alright. Let's try this again, Ansley. The baby's head is pretty big."
"I wonder why." I panted loudly and gripped Parks’ hand with all of my strength. We hadn't had the baby tested for anything because I didn't want to know if he would have anything wrong until we had him in our arms. I didn't need the stress of worrying that I'd been selfish in wanting him. Nolan's words rolled over me as I squeezed my eyes shut and pushed.
"He's going to be perfect," Parks whispered in my ear as he clung to me. It was as if he knew my deepest fears, but then again of course he did. I'd shared them with him. I shared everything with him. He was my best friend, my partner, my lover.
"I hope so." I clenched my teeth and pushed hard as Jena let out a holler.
"That's it, Ansley. One more. Alright. Push hard for me and we'll have a baby."
I ground down and pushed as pain laced through every part of my body. I collapsed against the bed as the sound of crying filled up the air.
"It's a boy." Jena stood up and held up the little guy as he screamed and thrashed.
"Oh my God." Parks leaned over me, his eyes filled with tears. "A son. You gave us a boy, baby." He kissed me softly several times as his tears ran down his face.
The moment was surreal. We both needed each other so damn bad, but we needed a child as well. A new life to replace some of the old ones we'd lost. A new connector to pull our family together and breathe life into us from then on.
"Come cut the cord, Doctor Parks." Jena smiled over at me. "He's beautiful."
"Looks like his daddy?" I asked and turned a little as Parks moved in to cut the cord. His voice was soft, loving. It wormed its way into my heart and stamped the memory deep inside me forever.
"Hey, little guy. It's your daddy." He turned and laughed as tears rolled down his cheeks. "He fucking looks like Aiden, Ans. We're never going to live this down."
Parks leaned over and kissed the baby's head before walking him over to me and handing him to me. The sweet little thing cooed as I held him in my arms and kissed his face a few times. I cried softly at first and then a little harder.
Jena stepped up and took him from us. "Let me get him weighed and measured. We'll bring him into your recovery room. Good job, mom."
"Thanks." I turned my face toward Parks and reached for him as they finished cleaning me up.
"It's okay, baby." He wrapped his strong arms around me and held me tightly against him.
"I never thought this day would come." I cried against the crook of his neck, feeling so far beyond blessed that I was having trouble comprehending that this was my life.
"You deserve this day and a million more like it, Ans." He moved back a little and kissed my cheeks, collecting my tears on his lips. "I love you so much."
"I love you too." I pulled him back down and held on tightly. My life would be forever changed, and it wasn't because of anything I'd done to deserve it.
It was all thanks to the strong man above me that didn't give up.
Didn't give up on hope, or a second chance.
He didn't give up on me.
"Hey, buddy. Did your momma tell you that we're going to name you after my dad? Hmm?" Parks' voice was soft as he walked around my hospital room with our son tucked against his chest.
I'd been nodding off and on all afternoon, my body sore, my mind tattered from the high emotions.
"That's right," he cooed and kissed the baby a few times. "Dillon Raymond Parker. You look like a Dillon. They're always troublemakers. You gonna give the ladies hell when you get older, little man?"
The baby made a few sounds, and I couldn't help but smile. I turned over on my side, and Parks glanced back at me, a smile lifting his lips.
"Hey, baby. How are you feeling?" He walked over and put Dillon in his bed before moving over to me. "Scoot over."
I smiled and moved back, making room for him. "I'm okay. Just really tired."
"You did so good." He got on the bed and pulled me close to him before wrapping his arm around me and kissing me a few times.
"I look like hell, I'm sure."
"You look like my woman. So hot and sexy that I'm getting a hard-on in the fucking recovery room." He smiled and looked like the devil in disguise. "Don't talk about my girl that way."
"Or I'll get a spanking?" I reached up and ran my fingers down the side of his impossibly handsome face.
"You want one, don't you?" He ran his hand down my side and patted my ass. "There. I'll give you a good one once you're healed and ready to start on the next baby."
"What? No way. One is all I need."
"Alright, but we should practice a lot in case you change you
r mind." He kissed me again in between my giggles.
"You're corrupted." I rested against him and closed my eyes. "We should have gotten married before having Dillon."
"Naw. Too much to squeeze into our lives, but let's do it now?"
I glanced up at the shift in his tone. He smiled and offered me a ring, the large diamond pinched between his thumb and forefinger.
"Jacob." I sat up, almost knocking him off the bed. "You're asking me to marry you?"
"I'm trying to." He laughed and sat up with me. "I want you beside me for the rest of my life, Ans. You were made for me; we just took a long damn time trying to find each other."
I smiled as tears blurred my vision. "I don't want anyone but you."
"Good, cause you are stuck, lady." He reached for my hand. "That a yes on being my wife?"
"Yes." I glanced down to watch him slide the ring on.
He reached for me, and wrapped me in a tight hug, pulling me down to the bed. I growled in pain, but rolled on top of him and kissed him hard. He was everything I wanted in my life, and finally... he was mine.
The door opened, and we both glanced over to see Gwen, Aiden, and Elizabeth stop short of coming in.
"Really?" Aiden shook his head. "Didn't she just give birth? Good God."
"They don't call me Doctor Feelgood for nothing." Parks laughed alongside all of us. He turned and looked up at me, holding me in place. "I love you, Ansley Crawford, and I will forever."
"Yeah, you will." I leaned down and sealed the deal with a kiss.
I had a family that loved me and would support me, but there were missing pieces in the puzzle, holes that left me questioning everything.
Love had a way of overcoming and forcing me to step out into the unknown. And though it was scary as hell, in that place of insecurity and unsureness, I was made complete.
The End…
Stealing First
She’s saving herself for marriage.
Not if I have anything to do with it!
I steal bases for a living. Now watch me steal her v-card.
I’ll take it all, over and over, and she’ll beg me not to stop.
You don’t get in the batting cage with me and expect to leave unscathed.
The minute Terra Harmon walks back into my life, I’m hard for her.
She’s always had that effect on me.
She’s sweet, she’s innocent, and she’s my best friend’s little sister.
She thinks she’s going to take over our pro-league baseball team. But she’s going to be so busy trying to keep her virginity intact, she won’t have time to deal with anything else.
One mistake, and I’ll slide into first.
One little slip up, and I’m going deep. Balls deep.
She wants to save herself for marriage?
She’s in the wrong game.
1
Daniel
Seattle, Washington
"You like it like this, baby?" The petite blond I'd picked up the night before at the bar was ready to fuck the minute she woke up that morning. Normally I'd be all for it, but my dreams the night before had me a little off.
"That's good. Just roll your hips, girl. Fuck me harder." I squeezed her ass as I laid back in my bed. Her reverse cowgirl position should have lit me on fire, and it normally did, but she was too thin, too small. I liked thick thighs and a lot of ass on my girls.
Because of Terra. I pushed the thought away and lifted my hips to fuck the little minx harder. Her ass didn't even bounce. Shit.
Her moans filled the air as I glanced down to watch her pussy suck at my thick shaft. I pressed my thumb to her ass and closed my eyes, letting myself go back to a time where being turned on was easy, a time when not giving in was fucking hard.
I missed it beyond belief. But then again, I'd become what the public wanted me to become. A playboy pitcher for Seattle with a million women chasing him and none of them deep enough to care about anything more than Benjamin's and dick. Good thing I loved baseball and Washington State so fucking much.
It was the life most players would dream of. Fucking good for them.
"I’m gonna come," she grunted out and gripped my thighs, digging her nails into my flesh.
I gritted my teeth and opened my eyes, reaching out and taking hold of her narrow hips. Why the fuck did I end up with someone like her the night before? Right... too many beers and a TV screen showing the owner’s box at the fucking Oakland game.
Terra couldn't have been more beautiful as she stood there, her lips in a tight line, her dark red hair pulled in a tight bun. I groaned at the thought of her and rolled the girl bobbing on my cock over on the bed. I pressed my hand to her back and mounted her, fucking hard and fast as my heart raced. Was my girl with someone now? Rumors had gone around that she was dating Paul Thompson, the shortstop for Oakland, but I doubted that shit. He was a bastard and a half, and everyone knew it. Just the thought of him touching Terra had me gripping the girl beneath me a little too roughly. To think he played and she GM’d my rival team left me ill.
"Danny. Too much," she mumbled.
"Sorry." I tried to pull myself back to the present, but it was impossible. Seeing Terra on TV almost undid me. I rolled my hips and tried to finish the girl off beneath me. Her asshole winked at me as she came hard, wetting me and the bed beneath me. Normally it would have been fucking hot, but not that morning. I was a bit disgusted with myself.
"Fuck," she screamed and gripped the sheets, bucking against me.
I let her finish and pulled out, moving off the bed. "Thanks for last night. And this morning." I pulled the condom off and walked to the bathroom, ignoring her bitching behind me. I wasn't a bad guy, or I didn't think I was.
Fuck me. Maybe I was the worst, but I couldn't muster the desire to give a damn. The little blond had been a cock-tease all night, and after losing my will to push her away for the hundredth time, I finally gave in.
After closing the door behind me, I started up the water and turned on the radio I had built into the large three person shower. It was built with the idea of having a ménage every Friday night, but I'd quickly grown tired of that shit. Where I loved sex, it was getting old. Not having any emotion to it was draining me. Eight years of being a slut for Major League Baseball. It was the persona they expected and earned up more media points than anyone might imagine.
Sadly enough, it left me cold, hard, and alone.
I moved into the hot spray and let my thoughts go back to the night before. My cock jerked back up, twitching for attention. My girl had grown colder, more mature, and less spontaneous from what I knew. I never asked about her, but her brother and father gave up bits of information in passing conversations where she was mentioned.
A laugh bubbled out of me as I reached for the soap. There was no way in hell her father, Martin, was ever going to let me near Terra. We'd dated in high school and he'd hated me then. Now that I was one of the players on his team? He loved me to death but would kill me if anything became of us.
I gripped my dick and jerked on the tip, pinching hard and bringing a few moans out of myself. I wanted to punish myself for fucking things up with her all those years ago, but it was stupid. Eight years and I was still thinking about her. I craved her virginity like nothing else in my life.
It was sick, but the idea of taking her first wouldn't leave me.
"She's probably already fucked a million guys. Idiot." I turned and pressed my forearm to the shower wall as I fucked myself hard and fast. My eyes fluttered closed and I imagined her in the shower with me, her body slick with water and soap, her ass huge and hips thick like honey.
My balls tightened as every wicked fantasy I had came roaring to life. Her alabaster skin went on for miles and her dark red hair was wet and splayed out across her back.
"Fuck, I love you, girl." I slowed my thrusts and dove deeper into the image of my one and only spread out before me. Why the hell had I ever denied her back then? She wanted me to take her, to open her up
and move her from being a girl to a woman.
My woman.
I wanted to wait, to spend our wedding night together wrapped up and figuring things out together, but it hadn't turned out that way.
Forcing myself away from the painful memories that quickly followed me losing her, I dove back into a fantasy I'd had since the day we met. Her long legs wrapped around me, her body bare as she clung to me, begging for me to own her.
I nodded as my body reacted violently to her cries in my head. Her heavy tits bouncing, her eyes focused on me, her body milking the fuck out of mine. A moan left me as I tensed and covered the shower wall with my release.
"Terra. Terra. Terra. Fuck, baby." I pressed my head against the shower wall as the room spun. I needed her so goddamn bad, and I always had. After years of ignoring her on TV and avoiding her when our two teams played against each other, I was ready for another chance. Another encounter.
She didn't like the virginal sweet guy I tried to be back in high school, which was good. That fucker was lost to the past.
The guy I was now wouldn't relent until I had her crying for more, and she would.
I had no doubt.
"About damn time, Danny. Shit. You trying to get yourself fined?" Jeremy glanced up from the bench in the bullpen as I walked in. The younger pitcher was one of my favorite guys on the team and felt like the younger brother I'd always wanted. He needed a good kick in the balls from time to time, and I enjoyed that part of our relationship more than I probably should.
"Fuck you too, Denning." I dropped down beside him and glanced up to see Styles warming up. He'd be pitching that night, and I was all about cheering him on. The last game I'd pitched, something had popped in my right arm, forcing me to come out of the game. The media had a fucking field day with it and were still asking if I was a goner. Assholes.
Captain Hotness: A Single Father Bad Boy Novel Page 31
