by Toni Aleo
Piper’s eyes were closed tight as she felt his hands move from her thighs up her body to her exposed breast. He took her sensitive nipple between his thumb and index finger, squeezing it hard. She gasped, holding on to him as she rocked her body toward his mouth. It was mind-blowing, Piper could hardly breathe, but then he stopped, turned her around, and bent her over.
“Oh my God,” she panted as he started to lick her from behind. His nose was tickling her slick opening as his tongue continued its assault on her extended nub. Piper held on to the back of the couch, her legs shaking under Erik’s attentive hands. She was almost there, her body was tensing up, her heart rate was through the roof, and she swore her legs were numb. Finally, her release came, and she screamed out, her body shaking with the intensity of her orgasm. She collapsed into the back of the couch, her face buried in the cushions as her heart rate started to slow. She had never had such an intense orgasm in her life. Her body was still tingling, the spot between her legs was aching in the most fulfilling way, and when she felt Erik’s body pressing into her, his thick length resting between her legs, Piper was on the verge of tears.
“I’m so glad I grew the lady balls to do this.”
“The lady balls?” Erik chuckled against her neck. “Sweetheart, there are no balls between your glorious legs.”
Piper let out a breathless giggle. “Oh hush, you know what I mean.”
“Sure, and I’m glad, too, even though this was going to happen even if you grew them or not.”
Piper turned her head, glancing up at him. “Oh really?”
“Yes,” he said, nipping at her lip. “I couldn’t wait another second before getting inside of you.”
Piper knew from that moment on that no one would ever make her feel the way Erik did. Her only regret: that she didn’t know she would never see him again after he left the next morning. Her eyes pooled with tears at the thought. If only she had known. Maybe then she wouldn’t have been so heartbroken. Maybe she could have prepared herself better and would have known more of how to handle this situation. Things were so messed up and she hated that she had waited so long to tell Erik, her family, everyone, about the baby. Why couldn’t she get her shit together? Why couldn’t she ever do anything right?
“Piper?”
Piper wiped away a tear. “Yeah, fine, whatever. What did you need?”
“I need to see you,” he said quickly. “Can you meet me somewhere?”
“What? Why?”
“ ’Cause I think we need to talk, face-to-face. We have a lot of details to work out.”
He was right. With a sigh, she said, “Okay, when?”
“Now. Where are you?”
“Now? I’m at home, working.”
“Working? At home?” Why that surprised him he didn’t know.
“Yes.”
Erik paused. “Okay, where do you live?”
“Why?”
Surely he wasn’t coming over now?
“I’m coming over. I told you we need to talk. My mom and dad are coming into town Friday.”
Piper looked down at the crappy clothes she was wearing, and knew her hair looked equally as bad. It would take him at least forty-five minutes to get there; that should give her enough time to get ready. “Fine,” she said, and gave him Elli’s address.
“I’m leaving now.”
“Yay,” she mumbled unenthusiastically before she hung up the phone. She sat for a moment and had no clue what they were going to tell Alla and Cooper when they got into town. Hell, she didn’t even know what she was going to tell her own parents.
Blah, this was such a mess.
Realizing that time was ticking, she hopped up and ran back to her room. After a quick shower she threw on her comfortable Pink knit shorts and matching top. Walking back to the living room she admired Elli’s decorating skill. Elli had done her living room in a bright yellow and Piper loved it. It matched her gray furniture perfectly. That’s why she had set up one of her work desks in here, because this room made her feel good.
There were a lot of things she’d like to do with the house, and once she was sure she wanted to buy it she would make those changes. For now, though, she was just a renter, although … she did need to get the baby’s room set up. She was waiting on her next appointment when she’d find out if the baby was a boy or a girl, and she hoped that once she knew its gender she would come up with some ideas for how to decorate the nursery. Gah, that was another thing she needed to do, make the doctor’s appointment. She had held off scheduling it, thinking that after she told Erik of the pregnancy he would want to go with her and find out if the baby was a boy or girl. But she now knew that was of no interest to him.
How sad was that?
With a sigh, Piper had moved to the kitchen to pour herself some sweet tea when a knock sounded at the front door. Placing the glass back down on the counter, Piper made her way down the hall that held pictures of her and her family and friends. When she came to the foyer, she thought about how she’d like to redecorate this, too—yep, she needed to let Elli know she definitely was ready to buy this place. The entryway was still black and purple from when Elli had her Assassins shrine. Yeah, Piper definitely needed to change that.
Opening the door, she found Erik on the other side, looking down at his phone.
And of course, he looked freaking scrumptious.
His hair was combed to the side and he was wearing preppy shorts and a shirt with a hot pair of black sunglasses that covered his sexy eyes. When he glanced up at her, he smiled, sending happy little tingles to the spot between her thighs.
God, he was sexy.
“Hey,” he said.
Piper hesitated, then smiled and moved out of the way for him to enter.
“Hey, come on in.”
“This is a nice place. Really secluded, though,” he said as he walked past her and into the house. Piper shut the door.
“Yeah, I like it that way. Let’s go into the kitchen, which is straight ahead, then right,” she said, then followed him down the hall, watching his butt move as he walked. He had such a fine ass. Solid with muscle, and man, her mouth was starting to water.
Look away, Piper, look away!
Piper shook her head as she glanced up at the ceiling.
“Would you like something to drink?”
“Sure, beer?”
She met his eyes and glared. “I’m pregnant. Why would I have beer?”
Erik looked around awkwardly. “So, no beer?”
She wanted to scream, but instead she said, “No, would you like some tea?”
“Sweet?”
She blinked a few times before saying, “I’m southern. Is there any other kind?”
“I was just making sure you weren’t a weirdo that drank unsweetened tea,” Erik said, laughing, “but yeah, can I get some of that?”
Piper made her way to the refrigerator and got out the pitcher of fresh sweet sun tea. It was her favorite, and she hated that she had to watch her caffeine intake during the pregnancy since too much would not be good for the baby. Pouring a glass for him and topping her glass off, she suggested they go out on the patio to talk. The living room was too confining and it wasn’t good to be too close to him. She had too many memories of being on her couch with Mr. Titov.
Turning with the glasses in her hands, she found Erik watching her with a nervous look on his face. She paused as their eyes met. It blew her mind that she still had the same insane feelings for him. Her heart was beating at an erratic pace while her palms felt sweaty. Her mouth felt dry, but the spot between her thighs was slick and wet. The worst part about it all was that she swore he could see everything she was feeling. His eyes were dark with lust as he held her gaze. He was looking at her like it was a hundred degrees out and she was the sweet sun tea and he was dying of thirst. She felt like throwing their glasses of tea over her shoulders and attacking him. Not good.
Suddenly his eyes brightened with knowing, and his lips curved in a mischie
vous little grin before he said, “I think we should get married.”
What the …?
* * *
Piper was only blinking at him, and it was making him nervous.
Erik had a whole speech planned. It was going to be amazing and he knew he was going to be able to convince her to marry him with no problem. But that all changed when she opened the door to her house. There she stood in superhot shorts that looked like underwear and a sexy shirt that was falling off her shoulders, giving him a good enough view to know there was no bra underneath. Her hair was wet and was dripping down the back of her shirt. She looked playful and gorgeous, and he liked that combination. He also liked that she was being so spunky.
Their night together all those months ago was hot, hot, soooo fucking hot his dick was stiff just thinking about it. Or maybe it was seeing her gray couch. They had done the naughtiest things on that couch and seeing it again reminded him of that night. He got so lost on that couch with Piper that he had even thought he could be a different man when he was in her arms.
But then he went back on the road and slept with three different women just to bleach his brain of any thoughts of Piper. He knew that he couldn’t be the man that she needed, and he struggled to get her out of his mind. No sense thinking about something you could never have. He knew he had hurt her, and he did regret the pain he’d caused her, but it was for the best. She and that couch needed to be out of his life. Things weren’t safe when he was wrapped in her arms. Words came out of his mouth that he’d never uttered to anyone. Thoughts of being the man that Cooper was came to mind, and God knows that would never happen with Piper or anyone. How could it, with the godawful childhood he had had?
Erik had accepted he would never know what a woman’s love would feel like. He had the love of his brother, his mom and dad, and he was fine with just that. He had to be because he would never allow himself to have anything more. When he had first met Piper he knew she was a “love you forever” kind of girl. When she pinned him with those baby blues, he was taken in. He had never felt such a jolt and he knew then she could be trouble, because she could be someone he could love, forever—if only he would have been wired to be able to do that. It wasn’t as though she had a perfect smile, with the gap between her teeth and all. He usually liked his women very made-up, in virtual physical perfection, but something about Piper was different. She could walk into a room wearing a brown paper bag and he would still think she was the hottest thing next to the sun.
Now here he was, asking her to marry him.
And all she was doing was blinking at him like her brain had totally short-circuited.
“Excuse me?”
Erik cleared his throat and looked down as he dug into his pocket, pulling out the small ring he had picked up before coming to her house. It was nothing spectacular, just a small diamond. He didn’t want her to get the wrong idea, like he cared or something … even though he sort of did.
Swallowing loudly, he held the ring out to her and said, “I think we should get married.”
Never in his life did he think he would ever utter those words.
Erik expected her to start yelling, but the next thing he knew, the glasses she held busted at their feet. He looked down in surprise at the shattered glass scattered everywhere before glancing back up at her. She just stood there, her eyes wide as quarters as her chest rose and fell in rhythm with his heart. She reached out to hold on to the counter as she took in a big gulp of air.
“Surely, I am hearing you wrong,” she finally blurted. “Because I swear you just asked me to marry you.”
Erik nodded. Feeling the need to do something, he bent over to pick up the shards of glass. “I did.”
“Why?” she squeaked. “You don’t love me.”
“I know that,” he said as he stood, throwing the glass in a nearby trash can. “But I’m in trouble and you put me there. So I need your help.”
Erik glanced over his shoulder to catch the hurt look on Piper’s face.
“You told Elli about us, and in doing so, you fucked me. Elli is threatening to kick me off the team because she considers me a man-whore and I am tainting the image of the team.”
Piper could not believe what he was saying. Elli wouldn’t do that. Could he be serious?
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope, and since I’ve had quite a few women blame their recent pregnancies on me, it has really pissed Elli off.”
“So why marry me? Marry one of them.”
Erik gave her a deadpan look.
“Well, first of all, none of those other pregnancies were mine; DNA proved that. The rest is obvious, don’t you think? Elli knows your baby is mine, and I know she is watching my every move. I have to show her that I am not the guy she thinks I am.”
“But you are,” she interjected. “A man-whore, that is.”
“Just because I like having sex with multiple women, that does not mean I’m a whore,” he said with a glare. “And at least I’m not a liar,” he added, receiving one hell of a death look.
“I am—not—a—liar.”
“I think you are. You lied to me for six months about our baby. In those six months we could have worked something out.”
What that something could have been, he had no clue, but she didn’t need to know that. “I was protecting myself,” she argued.
“While fucking me in the process. I am walking on eggshells right now on the team, and when this hits the media and I don’t deny that the baby is mine, I’d better be ready to fix things or I’ll be off the team—Elli is not kidding around. I need your help, Piper.”
“I just don’t understand how marrying me is going to help you,” she said, still flabbergasted that he would even consider marriage as an option.
“It will make me look like a stand-up guy. Everyone knows how I am,” he stressed. “They know I like the ladies, but if I can show that I can be a family man, then maybe I have a chance to stay on this team. Or any team for that matter; word does get around.”
Piper only shook her head, and Erik knew she was still unconvinced. “Plus, we have the issue of our families. My parents will freak when they find out. Yours will, too. It doesn’t matter that we are adults and that not everyone gets married when a woman gets pregnant today. Not everyone’s families are tangled up the way ours are.”
Letting out a sound of distress, Piper looked up at him.
“You don’t want this. I’m not so sure I do, either.”
“Of course I don’t. None of it. I like my life, but you threw a wrench in it. That’s why you gotta help me.”
She looked away and he could see her eyes filling with tears.
“So, what, we’ll be married and then get divorced in a month?”
Erik shook his head.
“No, we would wait until after the baby is born. We’ll be like most couples that marry because of a kid—no one is going to expect us to succeed. We just need to make Elli believe that we tried. So we act like this is real for a few months to a year, and then end it after we both get what we want.”
When Piper turned her head to look at him, a tear had escaped her right eye. That sign of emotion affected him; it was like taking a puck to his chest. Erik hated when girls cried; that was one of the reasons he didn’t get emotionally involved.
“Why do you need to stay on this team? Go somewhere else.”
“No,” he said without even thinking. Not only did he not want to leave his brother, but Jakob’s words played hard on his mind.
What kind of man does that to their child?
It bothered him, and as much as he would love the chance to leave and never see Piper again, he knew he couldn’t do that if he wanted to play on the Assassins and, ultimately, be able to live life the way he wanted to—that is, once all this was over with.
Instead of admitting that, he said, “I don’t have those options now—like I said, word gets around. I’ve fucked up, and this pregnancy is only going to make it worse.”
She bit down on her lip and shook her head.
“No one will believe that we wanted to get married. We hate each other. Neither of us is that good at playacting.”
Erik was a little taken aback by her comment.
“I don’t hate you, Piper. Not at all. I just hate how you have handled things.”
“Like you’ve given me a choice. It’s not like you were being the doting boyfriend; you were off fucking anything with legs—”
“I’m done with that conversation,” Erik said, interrupting her. He paused for a moment as she crossed her arms, her beautiful mouth set in a straight line. “The main thing is our future. We have to stop with the blame and the fighting about what I should have done or what you should have done. I need your help, okay, and I think marrying me is the least you could do.”
“Really? Are you fucking kidding me?! The least you could have done was not fucking break my heart! You don’t get to come into someone’s life and then check out. Only to later expect them to help you!”
Her eyes were clouded with tears and he could see that she was doing everything to hold them in. He didn’t want to yell at her, but he had no choice. She had to do this.
“I never meant to hurt you and I told you that! You kept this from me, giving me no time to figure things out! You owe me this!”
“I owe you nothing!” she screeched. “Nothing!”
Shaking his head, feeling like this was going nowhere, Erik closed his eyes and turned his face up toward the ceiling. When he glanced down, Piper was leaning against the counter, her forehead on the surface, her breathing labored.
“Okay, maybe you don’t owe me, Piper, but I need your help. I love my life here, and I don’t want to leave my brother and Ally. And now our baby.” Not a total lie, but definitely another approach he was hoping would convince her.
