“You’re going to Hawaii with the love of your life and you want to spend the beginning of your trip learning about another one of your best friend’s …” she lowers her voice to a whisper as the girls lead Noah away, “Tequila-induced nights.”
“Oooh perfect. Lillian’s sibling will have someone to play with someone who will be their age. That’s great.”
“Get out. I so hate you. Just get out right now.”
Laughing, “I’m going. You two will make beautiful babies.”
“Not if we always use condoms,” she sings. “Now, go enjoy your celebrating-baby-moon.”
Giggling, her friend leaves.
“We have three girls this week?” When she lifts her brow in question, he continues. “The little girl, Lillian, just said she was staying here this week. This will be fun.”
“Um … the quizzical brow had everything to do with the ‘we’ in your statement and not the extra little person I have this week.”
“We’ve discussed this.”
“Oh, we have? Was I two shades to the wind when we did? If so, I’m going to need a refresher or some kind of update from last night.”
“I assure you that wasn’t the case. You weren’t drunk when we had that discussion.”
“I don’t recall …”
It hit her then. The memory comes back hard and fast to the forefront of her mind.
“Oh no!”
What have I repeated like a mantra over the last four years?
“Tequila leads to Lowered Inhibitions Juncture. Dang it!”
“Lowered Inhibitions Juncture? I suddenly want to know more, but there are three little fillies who want flapjacks and berries? Along with eggs this morning. Jojo says you make character shaped cakes and I was sent to request your presence so that you could.”
Shaking herself, she tightens her robe. Sapphire remembers the discussion that escalated to a heated debate then a full-blown argument. His suggestion to move to New York as a transitional thing for Hayden was ludicrous when he’d first mentioned it. By the time the two of them had reached her front door, it sounded like the best idea in the world.
“Damn tequila,” she mutters under her breath as she joins the crew in the kitchen.
Making breakfast together was fun and very domestic. His repeated and continuous brushes and squeezes had her about to combust by the time they sent the girls to the den to hang out while they cleaned up.
Indigo feels a giddiness she never expected to feel at doing such menial tasks with a man at her side. Noah notices her smile and offers one of his own.
“I am overjoyed when I get the honor of seeing either of your dimples.”
Her eyebrows rise in confusion.
“Either of my dimples?”
“There’s one here.” He kisses the only dimple she has on one side—her left facial cheek. Before she can speak, he grabs hold to her right ass cheek. “There’s one here that I love nibbling on as well.”
“That’s why you give that one so much attention?”
Noah smiles a boyish grin and she is over the moon happy when she sees it.
“You feel the way I feel about my dimples as I do when you lay that sheepish grin of yours on me. Now that the girls are occupied, would you care to help me with that much needed clarification?”
“I thought you remembered all by your lonesome.”
“I just want to make sure I understand this new arrangement.”
“In a nutshell, my cousin told me to get the hell out of the office, pack a bag, and go get my damn family back. She said she couldn’t deal with my tall, mopey ass any longer. It didn’t take me long to realize she was right. It may not have been long. I don’t give a shit that it wasn’t but about a week, it was enough to know that I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to you, Hayden, or Jodie.”
“Even though you did?”
“Yeah. I may as well call that what it was. It was a Hail Mary moment for me. If I could say goodbye to you then I could let go of the idealistic moment I had when we sat down together as a family.”
“Is it weird that I felt it too? I mean it was odd and my heart broke when you said goodbye.”
“I’m a grade ‘A’ ass at times. That’s what I’ve been told.”
“Louisa?”
“That’s right. You agreed to give this a chance. You still want to clear up the mess with Mitchell?”
“That’s right. I still have to contend with that.”
“I don’t want you meeting him alone when he returns next month.”
“I don’t think it should …” his growling protest shuts down any arguments she would’ve spoken and has her quickly acquiescing. “All right. If I’m not going by myself, I wonder who I should take with me.”
“Hmm … maybe, the father of your child?”
Looking up into his eyes with shock written all over her face, she shakes her head.
“No, I’m not pregnant. There’s no chance of it. You said we used condoms last night.”
“No, I said we had some. I didn’t say we used them last night.”
“Damn you. Damn tequila! If I’m having another child, I’m going to be so pissed at you. You’re going to put a ring on it the day I get a positive test. I’m going to be somebody’s missus with this next one.”
Noah simply chuckles and kisses her forehead.
“Stop being Mr. Charming, Dr. Burke. I’m serious. If you knocked me up then I want a ring.”
“All right, Dancing Queen. You’ve got yourself a deal.”
11
Eruption
Two months later
Sapphire
Sapphire sits in a chair in the coffee shop and tries her best not to fidget. Something doesn’t feel right about this meeting. It is the reason she made it her point to meet somewhere public with Mitchell. All of the mess started because he didn’t want to be honest about his relationship with some other woman. She was pissed to learn that she was being used as his scapegoat. His claim was he wanted to meet with her to discuss how he was going to get rid of this festering parasite that didn’t want to quit eating away at Sapphire’s former career as Indigo Crystalline.
Mitchell takes the seat nearest her and her discomfort level skyrockets.
Relax. He sat there because he didn’t want to have his face or profile to the window.
Yes. That is all it is, nothing more.
“I’m here. What have you come up with?”
“The truth,” Mitchell says and the look he shoots her way makes her nervous all over again.
“Okay. That’s a good thing, right? I mean … are you all right?”
He turns his body to face her and she wants to leap over the table to the other chair because this doesn’t look good at all.
“I’m great, fantastic even because I am finally telling the truth. I am being true to myself and it’s very freeing.”
He suddenly leans forward and takes hold of her face. His lips land on hers as she attempts to backpedal away from this crazed man. She is just as suddenly lifted by her underarms out of her seat and placed behind the only man whose lips she wants touching her from now on. Sapphire’s view is blocked because she’s petite and her guy is massive. The connection of a fist and crunch of bone cannot be mistaken or missed. Another blow lands and she places her palm on Noah’s back. Noah immediately stops and steps back. He turns, sweeps her off her feet and snatches something from a chair. She only hears the chair collapse before his long strides are carrying them from the shop. Sapphire’s eyes never leave his as he makes his way up the street to the truck he purchased for the time he is in New York with her and the girls.
At the truck, he sets her on her feet and takes ownership of her lips at the same time he takes possession of her ass. Her responsive body is gearing up for whatever he is ready to dish out when he pulls back.
“You okay?” he asks her and it takes her a beat to comprehend his question.
“Mmm, hmm. Yes. I’m good.”
“Good. Drive the beas
t home, Saph. I’ll be there soon.”
Nodding, she takes the keys that he holds out, walks around the truck, then climbs—literally climbs—into the cab. Once inside, she starts the thing then executes a quick turn to head home. She sees him watching her drive away.
After she makes it a few blocks, she feels something wet drop to her chest. At the light, she looks up to see if there is some moisture on the sunroof, but there isn’t any. When she feels it again, she looks around as a car honks at her causing her to look up in the rearview mirror. It is then that she notices her red-rimmed, moisture-filled eyes.
“I don’t know why I’m crying. I mean, I’ve heard that dang name most of my life. My family calls me that name all the time. Why is it his saying it means more?”
It doesn’t take her long to come up with the answer.
“It’s because he is your guy and he accepts all of you. He’s willing to fight for you without question.”
It’s not long after she leaves the coffee shop that she is pulling up into her driveway. The sitter is with the girls and that brings on a fresh bout of tears. Sapphire stops and takes in the realization of her thoughts. There are two little beauties, precious gifts in that house who are hers and waiting for her to come back to them. She needs to pull herself together.
Lindsay meets her at the door with a smile until she takes in Sapphire’s face. Tilting her head, she gives her a curious look then pulls her into the house and up the hall to the bathroom on that floor.
“Sit,” the teen states before pulling out a cloth and dampening it.
“It’s that bad?”
Giving her a look that lets Sapphire know that was an idiotic question, the teen continues to dab. After a few minutes of wiping and primping, Lindsay nods.
“Now, you can go greet those silly willies that have been counting down to the moment their mother and father came home. Where’s Dr. Burke?”
“He should be here soon. Wait. Did they both call him … refer to him as their father?”
Lindsay beams and nods then grabs hold of Indigo’s shoulders.
“No. You cannot fall apart again. I just fixed you up and in record time, I might add. If you fall apart again, then I won’t be able to fix you up again before they start to search …”
“Ms. Lindsay?” A singsong child’s voice calls out and the teen’s look says, “See what I mean?”
“Where is she?” Another voice calls out from nearby.
“Mommy!”
Jojo jumps into Sapphire’s awaiting arms. Hayden isn’t far behind her and Sapphire relishes the feeling of having both of her girls linked in her hold.
“Thank you for everything, Lindsay. I’ll post the money after I put the girls to sleep. Is that all right?”
“That’s perfectly fine, Mrs. Burke. I mean Ms. Crystalline. I’ll be here at the usual time next Friday.”
“Yes. Thank you again.”
“Goodnight girls. See you next week.”
They both lift only their hands to wave goodnight to Lindsay. Hayden lifts her head and grabs hold to Sapphire’s face then tilts her little head. She places a kiss on both of Sapphire’s cheeks then nuzzles her nose. When Hayden lets go of her face, Jojo grabs hold and repeats the actions her big sister did before letting go.
“Where’s Daddy, Mommy?” Jojo asks around a yawn and Hayden mirrors the action.
Sapphire has to choke back the tears that threaten before answering her littlest baby, “He’ll be back soon, sweetie. Let’s get you two upstairs. It’s been a long day and a late night. You have to be tired.”
“Nooo. Not …” Hayden yawns before continuing. “Tired, Mommy. Is it okay for Jojo to sleep with me?”
“I don’t mind if you don’t, Hay Belle. You want your baby sister in the bed with you?”
Hayden nods and Jojo yawns.
“I wanna … I want to sleep in big sister’s bed and …” she yawns again and snuggles closer. “Read Mommy?”
Sapphire chuckles as she pulls the cover back on the bed before tucking both of her girls underneath it. She pulls out Hayden’s Tangled book and lies down next to them. She begins to read to them and not long after she starts, she drifts to sleep with her girls curled into her side.
Hours later, Sapphire jolts awake, barely catching herself before she falls off the edge of the day bed Hayden picked out for herself. Looking at the Disney Princess clock on the dresser, Indigo sees that it’s midnight. She slept four hours with her girls. As she looks around, she realizes the lamp is still on and she hasn’t been carried to the bed to be ravished by the insatiable Dr. Noah Burke.
Switching the light off, she makes her way down the stairs and goes in search of him. After searching the entire downstairs, she begins a new search for her purse and phone. As she moves to the bathroom, she hears a car pull into the driveway. Indigo doubles back and heads to the freezer. She quickly pulls out the ice pack and grabs a beer from the fridge then waits. Pacing from the fridge to the doorway to look up the hall, she returns to the fridge. She continues to pace until she hears the key in the door. The instant it’s open, she’s in motion. Indigo launches herself at Noah and he doesn’t miss a beat. His arms open wide to catch her.
After thoroughly kissing her man, she pulls back.
“What took you so long? You scared the crap out of me.”
“Sorry, Beautiful. I didn’t mean to.” He kicks the door closed then locks it while carrying her to the kitchen. “I needed to take a breather to calm down. I’ve never reacted that way over anyone, not even when I dated this woman, Karen. I’ve never been that …”
“Possessive? Aggressive? Slightly barbaric and hot as hell?” She offers as he sets her down on the counter.
“Saph, did that turn you on? Did you miss me for those few hours?”
“In every way, but the way that you may be thinking.”
She grabs hold of his face and kisses him again. Sapphire relishes in the beauty of knowing that she has someone so wonderful in her life.
“You. You are my Siren’s song. I feel things for you that I never thought I’d ever feel. I ache for you and I didn’t believe that was even a possibility for me. You’ve given me so much, but the greatest gifts are upstairs. It scared the piss out of me to know how urgent my reaction was to protect you. I wanted to take you and mark you in some way right outside of that coffee shop. I knew I had to back off. It took everything in me to walk away from you and not plant my seed in you while placing a ring on your finger. I’ve never wanted something as much as I wanted that.”
They both fight off unwanted tears. He closes his eyes and leans in. She immediately does the same. As she does, she feels him pull on her hand. Tears drop on their hands but she doesn’t care. He slides a ring on her finger. She repeatedly blinks to take in the white gold with sapphires and diamonds engagement ring. The diamond in the center round set on prongs. The sapphires and diamonds weave in a criss-cross pattern down the side almost looking like an infinity symbol before becoming one solid band of diamonds.
“I know we’ve already said we were going all in and doing what’s best for our girls, but …”
“You needed to have this as official as I needed it to be. Thank you for being the very thing I didn’t even know I needed. Thank you for seeing me, knowing me, and accepting all of me. Thank you …”
His head tilts down. He lays claim to her lips with the kiss he plants on her.
“No more talking, Siren. I need to be inside my woman like I need air to breathe.”
With that, he begins to strip her, bottom first. As soon as she is bare, he is deep within her and she revels in the feel of their bare connection. The first time is hard and fast. There is a point where she believes she might have blacked out, it is so damn good. As the two of them climax together, he whispers to her how much he loves her. The full on adoration that she feels in that moment makes her want to cry. No one has ever spoken to her with such reverence and love. She can’t contain the joy she feels. It is s
o deep and so strong that she has to express it. There is an overwhelming need to claim him as he had her. Locking her legs, she flips and takes her position on top of him. His words spurs her on.
“My Siren filly needs to ride her cowboy and mark him as hers, make him feel owned?”
“Yes. Lord … YES!”
That is all it takes to kick her motions into high gear before sending her mind into the stratosphere.
As she comes down, he twists them so that he is on top again. Sapphire feels as if she has taken on the form of a light bulb her wattage is so fierce. Noah’s expression reflects her own.
Leaning down, he kisses her then whispers in her ear.
“I kept my promise, Siren.”
Furrowing her brow, she looks at him and tries to figure out what he means. Trailing kisses down her body, he stops at her belly.
“What are you doing, Dr. Burke?”
“I’m saying hello to the newest member of our family, soon-to-be Mrs. Burke.”
Sapphire gapes at him for a moment before she begins to squeal.
“I’m pregnant!”
“Yes, Saph, we’re pregnant. I was going to propose anyway. Your doctor calling me because he couldn’t reach you with the news was an added bonus.”
“I guess going back to Sapphire Falls was the best thing for me.”
“I couldn’t agree more. It was the best thing for the both of us.”
“I love you, Dr. Noah Burke. Thank you for giving me a family again.”
“I love you, too, Mrs. Sapphire Indigo Warren-Burke. Thank you for allowing me to love you and share in those precious girls’ lives.”
Sapphire’s laugh fills the room as she pulls Noah closer to her.
“I’m not completely yours yet.”
“The hell you’re not, Woman. Seed planted and ring on finger say differently. All we need is that piece of paper.”
“Nah. You’re right. I’m yours.”
“Damn straight and don’t you ever forget it.”
Sapphire knows she never will. Who would’ve thought her greatest loss would lead to her greatest love? Definitely not her. Hello to Sapphire Burke and the life of love she plans to lead.
Sapphire Falls_Going After Indigo Page 8
