The Fighting Series (Books 1-5)

by Nikki Ash

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Hayley

  Caleb picks me up and carries me to the bed. I try to tell him about the baby, but he isn’t having it.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” he whispers into my ear. “Whatever you need to tell me can wait until after I worship your beautiful body.”

  He lays me down on the bed and kisses me. The kiss start off affectionately. It’s slow and sweet and he tastes so good. But after a few minutes, it gets rougher and more intense, causing my sex to clench, wanting and needing more. He sits up on my legs and unbuttons my blouse one button at a time, until my shirt falls to each side, leaving my bra exposed.

  “I never imagined ever wanting to willingly be with a woman. I didn’t trust women. Now I can’t imagine not being with you. I trust you with everything I am, Hayles. But most importantly, I trust you with my heart. ”

  He takes my bra cups and pulls them down, and taking both nipples in between his fingers, pinches and pulls at them just enough to send shivers straight to my core. My legs tighten at his touch, seeking relief.

  “I want to spend the rest of my life touching you.” He pinches my nipples again. “Kissing you.” He leans down and gives each nipple a soft, wet kiss. He moves up, and kisses my lips, then trails kisses down my neck. My breathing goes erratic at his touch.

  “I want to spend every day tasting you.” He slides down the bed, taking my skirt and panties with him. He throws them to the side and plants a single kiss on top of my mound. Then his tongue hits my clit and he licks it with such expertise I almost come on the spot.

  “Oh my God, Caleb!” I yell, grabbing his hair so I have something to hold on to. He doesn’t back off, though. He licks my clit until my orgasm hits, causing my ass and pelvis to lift off the bed, as I come all over his tongue. “Fuck, baby, you taste so good.”

  He climbs back up my body and crashes his mouth against mine. His tongue plunges past my parted lips, and I taste myself on him, and holy hell, if that doesn’t turn me on even more.

  “I want to spend the rest of my life making love to you,” he whispers against my lips as he pushes himself into me, slow and deep.

  I wrap my hands around his neck as he makes love to me with his mouth and cock simultaneously. Kissing me passionately, while continuing to thrust in and out of me. I have never felt so loved and cherished before. Within minutes, we both find our release and I know without a doubt I don’t want to spend another day without this man. When we both come down from our orgasms, Caleb looks into my eyes and says, “ Baby, I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” and then kisses me one more time before pulling out. I want to believe him so badly, but I’m scared.

  He must sense my fear because he takes my chin between his thumb and forefinger and kisses me softly. “I meant what I said, Hayles. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I’m not running anywhere. I know it’s going to take time for you to believe me, but I will prove it to you. I love you, baby.”

  Tears spring to my eyes, hearing him tell me for the first time he loves me.

  “I love you too.” And it’s the truth. I love him more than life itself.

  We both clean up, and when I think we’re going to get into bed to relax, he says, “Oh, no. Tonight has just begun. Get dressed. We have somewhere to be in”—he looks down at his watch—“thirty minutes.”

  I want to tell him about the baby but figure it can wait until after we go wherever he’s so excited to take me. After we’re both dressed, we head down the elevator. He stops at the concierge desk for a couple minutes and speaks to the man in charge. He won’t let me listen in, which causes me to pout.

  “It will ruin the surprise.”

  Once they’re done chatting, he takes my hand in his and walks us back to the elevator and back to our room. When we walk in, I notice the curtains are no longer covering the back doors and at the table is chocolate-covered strawberries. Rose petals are littering the floor and bed.

  He walks us out to the balcony and that’s when Celine Dion starts singing My Heart Will Go On. Not even a second later, the fountains and lights begin to dance beautifully in tune. Caleb reserved a room where we can watch the Bellagio Fountain show right from our room! I watch the entire fountain show in amazement. It’s one of the most beautiful shows I’ve ever seen, the way the music and water dance in synchronization. I’m glad my first time seeing the show is with the man I love. It’s simply magical. Caleb stands behind me holding me close while we sway to the music playing. I can’t keep the smile off my face. I’m blown away that he not only remembered I’ve never seen the show but put forth so much effort for us to watch it.

  The show ends, and Caleb’s body leaves from behind me. I twirl around to tell him thank you, but he’s gone. That’s when I notice he’s down one knee with the most exquisite pink diamond engagement ring in his hand.

  “Hayles, the moment I spilled coffee all over your blouse I knew you were the one.” I laugh. “I knew you before that day but didn’t take the time to see you. When I felt you up on accident and heard you giggle, I was done for. And then when you offered to foster and adopt Marco I saw what a selfless person you truly are and you won my heart over. When I made the mistake of thinking you would be better off without me and went to find my own place… I looked at those places and knew no matter what house or apartment I picked it would never be a home without you and Marco in it. I love you, baby, and I don’t want to spend a single day not sleeping in the same bed as you. I know we have a long way to go, but you’re the only woman I want to be on this journey with. Hayley Roberts, will you marry me?”

  “I’m pregnant, Caleb.” I can’t believe I just blurted that out. Clearly my conscience is getting the best of me. This man is down on one knee proposing and I’m the worst person in the world for keeping this from him.

  Caleb stands and, taking my hand, walks us inside the room to the couch. “You’re pregnant, Hayles?”

  “Yes, I found out in the hospital. I’m seven weeks along. I should have told you.”

  I put my face in my hands and start crying. God, these damn hormones are going to be the death of me. Caleb lifts my face and wipes my tears away. “Don’t cry, baby. It’s okay. You were going through a lot. Is that what you were trying to tell me earlier?”

  “Yeah,” I sob out.

  “Do you want to marry me?”

  Oh my God! I forgot to answer him. I felt so guilty for hiding my pregnancy I didn’t even give the man an answer to his question.

  “Yes, I want to marry you.”

  He slides the ring onto my finger and kisses me like his life depends on it. He picks me up and moves me to the bed where for the rest of the night my fiancé makes love to me until we both fall asleep in each other’s arms.

  * * *

  The next morning, after eating breakfast in bed, Caleb takes me down to the casinos to gamble. He said he planned to take me later tonight, but with me being pregnant, he doesn’t want me around the cigarette smoke. He also said we would be skipping the strip club portion of the weekend as well because he’s not going to bring his pregnant fiancée into a club. I laugh, remembering when he told me he would take me gambling, to a strip club, and to see the fountains in one night. Two out of three are okay with me. We spend half of the day gambling and the other half lounging by the pool at the resort while we spend the night making love to each other.

  * * *

  It’s Sunday morning and we’re packing up our stuff to go back home. When we arrive, I see all of our friends cars parked along the road.

  “Did you do this?” I ask. Caleb just shrugs. “I told them you said yes.”

  We spend our day hanging by the pool with our friends and family. The guys grill burgers and when we all sit down to eat we tell them our other news.

  “So, it’s still early but we wanted you guys to know. I’m seven weeks pregnant. We are having a baby.” Everybody cheers and gives us their congratulations. Marco comes over and gives me a big hug.
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  “I hope it’s a boy! We can’t let all these girls outnumber us!” Then he jumps back into the pool to splash Bella.

  My mom comes over and wraps me up in one of her motherly embraces. “I am so happy for you, Hayley. I can’t believe both my daughters will be giving me two more grandchildren in the next year.”

  I love that she uses the word more. I love that everybody accepts that Marco is just as much mine as this baby I’m carrying. I look around and am so thankful for everybody in my life. Last year I felt so alone and now my life is so full of love.

  Caleb comes over to sit next to me. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I just feel so blessed.”

  “Baby, I have told you this so many times. You deserve this life and so much more. I’ll never be able to thank you for fighting for me when I wasn’t ready to even fight for myself. I’m sorry it took me so long.”

  “No, Caleb. It just wasn’t our time yet. I believe everything happens for a reason, you moving here, meeting Marco, bringing him into our lives. It was all meant to happen just how it did. Marco has brought us so many blessings. He brought us together. He even brought Chloe into Kayla and Bentley’s lives. We owe him more than he will ever know.”

  He wraps me up in his arms, rubbing his hands on my belly, as we watch everyone around us laugh and smile happily. I’m not naïve to believe life will always be this perfect, but for right now it definitely feels pretty damn perfect.

  Epilogue

  Caleb

  Three Months Later

  “Would you like to know the gender?” the ultrasound technician asks.

  “Yes!” Marco says, before Hayley and I can even answer.

  “I guess so.” Hayley laughs.

  The technician moves the device over Hayley’s belly and then hits a button to freeze the screen.

  “Congratulations! You’re having a baby girl!”

  “Noooo!” Marco sighs in defeat.

  “Hey! You’re going to be an amazing big brother to this little girl. Just like you are to Chloe,” Hayley says.

  “I know, but do you think after you have this baby, you can try one more time to give me a brother? There needs to be more boys than girls. Girls are too powerful.”

  I can’t help but laugh at this kid’s logic. “Why don’t we get through this pregnancy first and then we’ll discuss trying for a boy in a couple years.”

  “Okay.”

  After the technician prints out pictures, we head out to our vehicles.

  “I need to run by the club for a last minute interview and then I’ll meet you guys at home,” I tell Hayley, giving her a kiss.

  “Okay, babe. I have a couple errands to run as well.” She gives me a knowing wink. Marco has no idea what is happening tomorrow.

  I head to the club thinking about everything I need to get done so I can spend the weekend with my family. I wasn’t sure how Hayley would feel about me working so closely to strippers all day, but she’s actually really cool about it. She was more concerned with how I would feel working with women all day. It probably helps that I’ve hired Liz to manage all the books so she splits her time between the gym and Assets. I’m working on hiring a manager for the club soon since I was given the go ahead by the doctor to fight again.

  Hayley’s going to work until her eighth month and then she’ll be quitting to stay home fulltime with Marco and the baby. When she told me it was her dream to be a stay-at-home mom I was absolutely thrilled.

  I pull up to the rear of club and walk in through the back door.

  After I took it over, I learned that Gloria actually did a good job running it—once you remove the illegal shit from the equation. It’s now an upscale strip club with a no-touching policy. I renovated it completely and it now has a high-class restaurant where people can watch the dancers while dining or go to the second floor where there is a bar and tables to just watch the dancing going on. There are VIP booths that line the walls and have their own mini dance floor and pole, and in the back, there are several smaller rooms for private parties. Even those have a strict no-touching policy. I added more bouncers and have them making sure to enforce my rules. I was lucky to have found an amazing chef as well. Several people have told me they come here for the food just as much as they do the entertainment.

  Once I get situated I text Liz to let me know when the girl coming in to interview arrives. Helping me definitely isn’t in Liz’s job description, but she is doing me a huge favor by screening through the resumes and weeding out the ones who wouldn’t be a good fit here.

  “Hey Caleb… Someone is here to see you.” Liz pokes her head in my door, looking extremely uncomfortable. “For an interview?” I ask. I glance at my watch and see she’s early.

  “No. How about I just send her in.”

  “Okay.”

  A few minutes later, there’s a knock on my door.

  “Come in.”

  I look up to see Ashley standing in the doorway. I stand to greet her and ask her to have a seat.

  “Is everything okay?”

  She closes her eyes and swallows slowly before opening them back up again. I’ve never seen Ashley look so nervous.

  “I need your help, Caleb. Please. I’m begging you.”

  * * *

  I’m trying to concentrate on whatever Bentley is saying, but I’ve been watching Hayley all day and the sight of my beautiful, pregnant wife has me losing my ability to think. Walking around in her bikini with some see-through thing that ties around her waist has my cock constantly hard. Her swollen breasts are perfect, her swollen belly even more perfect. Even seeing her mingling with people, smiling and laughing and touching her belly is turning me on.

  I can’t take it anymore, so while she’s saying goodbye to the last of Marco’s school friends and parents, I excuse myself from Bentley and join her. I angle myself against her side, sliding my arm around her back and shoulder. Then I pull her close, so she feels my hard-on pressing against her. She gives me a mischievous smile as she returns my embrace and we wave goodbye to the departing guest. As we lose sight of them, I turn her into me and whisper five simple words to sum up the thoughts of how irresistible she has been today. “You look so fucking hot.” I want to say more. Shit, I want to do more, but I have to remind myself this is an important day for Marco on so many levels, so my dick is just going to have to wait until later.

  Now that all of Marco’s friends from school have left and it’s just our close friends and family, Hayley and I go inside to grab the last but definitely not the least of his birthday presents. I swear I’m just as excited if not more excited than Marco is about today. We gather everyone around the outdoor table by the pool. Kayla already knows what this last present is, so she has her camera ready. We watch in anticipation and excitement as Marco rips open the wrapping paper and briefly reads his new-framed official birth certificate and reads aloud “Marco Alejandro Michaels.” His reaction of surprise and happiness has us all crying. I pull him and Hayley into a three-way hug and declare, “We are now officially the Michaels family!” and my heart swells.

  While Hayley was able to adopt Marco a few months ago, I had to wait until we were married. The day our marriage certificate came in we went down to the courthouse to file the adoption and name-change paperwork. I thought being a husband and father would be scary, but it’s honestly the best decision I’ve ever made. I can’t wait to add our little princess to the mix. All in all today has been the best half-year birthday-Fourth of July-official adoption ever.

  After the full day we’ve had I can tell Hayley is getting tired, so I tell her to go inside and relax while Marco and I clean up. He talks my ear off about the most exciting parts of his first birthday party and all the presents he received. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kid so grateful. After we’re done cleaning, I tell him to grab a shower and then he can play one of his new videogames for thirty minutes before bed.

  While he’s content in his world, I head to take a shower myself. I stop as I
enter the room. Hayley is napping on the bed and I contemplate backing out of the room and taking a shower down the hall so I don’t disturb her. She looks so gorgeous lying there, her face slightly pink from the sun and the hint of a smile on her lips. I wonder if she’s dreaming. Before I can decide whether or not to wake her up, she stirs awake on her own.

  “Hey,” she says sleepily.

  “Hey yourself. You feel rested?”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  “The house is clean and Marco is showered and playing a video game… I was going to take a shower. Do you want to join me?”

  “You know it.”

  I help her up and then lead the way into the bathroom, stripping my board shorts as I go. She playfully slaps my ass in the process and picks up my shorts to throw them in the hamper. I turn on the shower to let the water heat up, while she undresses. When I turn back around, my cock grazes her protruding stomach. Framing her face, kiss her softly. Her mouth is sweet and warm, just like her pussy.

  We step into the shower, and my eyes stay trained on her the entire time she soaps up her body—caressing her breasts and rubbing her hand over her mound. I don't know if she’s purposely doing it, but she is so damn sexy. I ignore my desire for her and fill her in on what Marco told me about his party.

  As soon as we’re done drying off, I throw on my boxers and sweats, and then peek into Marco’s room. “Hey bud, it’s time for bed. Mom and I will be in to say goodnight in a minute.”

  Hayley is smiling at me as I come back into our room to get her.

  “What?” I ask playfully.

  “Nothing, it’s just that I’m so happy.”

  “Ditto,” I reply as we both head back out to say goodnight to our son. I don’t think I will ever get tired of saying those words. Our son.

  After we say goodnight, we both head back to the bedroom to relax. I’m just going to be real, everyone expects you to love every minute of pregnancy but honestly Hayley’s first trimester kind of sucked. She constantly had morning sickness, thought she looked fat and not pregnant despite me telling her every day how beautiful she is, and she didn't want to be touched much less have sex most days.