The Pairing

by Katie Ashley

  Over the fabric of her bodice, he kissed down her stomach. Just as he reached the juncture between her legs, he bypassed it and began kissing and licking the exposed skin on her upper thighs. She groaned in protest.

  He gazed up at her with a teasing smile. “Did you want me to kiss you somewhere else?”

  Raising her hips, she replied, “You know where I want you—where I want all of you.”

  “Patience, my love.”

  “Oh really?” she muttered. With one quick movement, she was out from underneath him in a flash. Surprise filled his face as she flipped him over onto his back and straddled him once again. Raking her fingernails down his chest, she stopped just at the waistband of his boxers. As his breath hitched, her hands went to his thighs, scraping a trail up the exposed skin to his dick. His hips bucked up, causing her to smile. “Oh, did you want me to touch you somewhere else?”

  With a growl, he gripped her by the ass and forced her onto her knees. He slid down the mattress to where her core was right at his mouth. His tongue flicked out, sliding along the thin scrap of her panties. She gasped as he flattened his tongue and rubbed it over her clit. Even through the fabric, it lit her on fire. As he added more pressure, she began to rock her hips against his face. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the feel of tongue. When he pulled away, she whimpered. His lips came to kiss along her thighs again.

  Just as Pesh’s teeth dug into one of the bows on her stockings, Megan’s ringtone for Mason blared out over her frustrated breaths. Pesh protested the interruption with a grunt, but immediately let the stocking fall from his mouth.

  “I’m sorry. It’s his bedtime call. I have to take it,” Megan said, as she sat up in the bed.

  “It’s all right, my love. I’m the one with patience, not you,” he replied, with a smile.

  She rolled her eyes at him as she grabbed the phone off the nightstand and answered it. “Hey baby,” she said, trying to catch her breath.

  “Hi Mommy. Miss you.”

  Her heart warmed hearing his tiny voice while an ache filled her chest. “Oh, I miss you too, sweet boy. Are you being good for Grammy?”

  “Uh-huh. Pway with Noah today.”

  “Did you? Did you have fun?”

  “Uh-huh. But Caowine cwies.”

  Megan laughed at his summation of the latest Fitzgerald family member. “I bet she does. She’s a little baby, and they do like to cry. You cried a lot when you were that age.”

  “Where Daddy?”

  Glancing at Pesh, Megan smiled. “He’s right here. You want to talk to him?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Megan handed the phone to Pesh. His face lit up as he said, “Hey buddy, how are you?”

  As Mason rattled along to Pesh, Megan couldn’t help thinking of how happy Mason had been on her wedding day. He had played his part as ring bearer wonderfully. Everyone commented on how handsome he was in small tux and how much he looked like her. He was so excited to have a daddy and to be part of a real family. He didn’t even seem to mind that they were moving away from his grandparents into Pesh’s house. Of course, Pesh had sweetened the moving angst by having a black Lab puppy, just like Beau, waiting for Mason in his new room. He had squealed so loud that Megan thought her ear drums were going to burst.

  “Oh, so Beau Two pee-peed on Grammy’s rug, huh?” Pesh asked, throwing Megan an “oh shit” look. While they were away, Angie was in charge of both Mason and the puppy, who Mason had aptly named Beau Two after his first love, Beau. Megan could imagine her mother was fit to be tied with her rugs being christened by puppy piss.

  “Okay, you better go to bed now. Mommy and I miss you very, very much. We’re bringing you lots of presents home.” At Mason’s reply, tears shimmered in Pesh’s eyes. “I love you, too, buddy,” he replied, in a choked voice. “Say goodnight to Mommy,” he replied, thrusting the phone at Megan.

  A sheepish expression came over Pesh’s face as he ground the moisture from his eyes with his fists. Megan took the phone. “Night, night, Mommy!” Mason called.

  “Night, night, baby. You have sweet dreams, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  “Okay. Wuv you!”

  She smiled. “I love you, too.”

  After Megan hung up, she still cradled the phone to her ear as if by doing that, she was able to have Mason a little closer. Pesh’s hand came to rest on hers. “He’s something, isn’t he?” he asked.

  “Yes, he is,” she murmured.

  “I know it makes me a complete pansy, but every time he tells me he loves, I can’t help but cry.”

  Putting her phone back on the nightstand, Megan eased herself over onto Pesh’s lap. “Don’t you ever worry that I think you’re a pansy because of what you feel for Mason. It makes me love you even more.” Brushing her hand across his cheek, she added, “A man who isn’t afraid of showing his emotions or his vulnerability is very sexy.”

  “You think so?”

  “Mmm, I do.”

  He smiled. “I’m glad to hear you say that.”

  “Where were we?”

  Glancing down at his crotch, Pesh said, “I think we’re starting over from my perspective.”

  Megan’s hand went to cup his now deflated erection. She rubbed him over the boxers before dipping her hand inside to grip him. Pesh hissed in a breath. His head fell back against the headboard as she started stroking his growing length. Sliding down his body, she brought her hand to his lap and took him into her mouth. Her tongue teasingly flicked across the tip. Pesh’s hand came to tangle in her hair. She did leisurely strokes up and down his length before bringing him into her mouth. As she began bobbing up and down, Pesh’s groans echoed through the room.

  As she cut her gaze up to him, he glanced down at her with hooded eyes. “So good, baby. So, so good,” he murmured.

  When he started tensing up, she let him fall free of her mouth. “I want you to come inside me,” she said, as she climbed up his body. Rising up on her knees, she brought Pesh’s hands to the elastic band of her underwear. He tore them off her hips and down her thighs. Somehow she managed to get them off and toss them to the floor beside the bed.

  Leaving on the bustier, she guided his erection to her core. Slowly, she eased down on him, inch by inch. When he was balls deep inside her, she sat back on his thighs. Raising her knees, she placed both her feet flat on the mattress. From this position, she was giving Pesh quite the view as she rose on and off of him. As the pressure began building inside her, the more frantic her movements became. Harder and harder she bounced, the sound of skin slapping along with grunts and panting echoing through the room. When Pesh’s fingers came to tease her clit, she came undone, crying out and collapsing onto his chest. He continued raising his hips to pump into her until he came a few moments later.

  Brushing the hair out of her face, Pesh stared up at Megan with a satisfied expression. She brought her lips to his for a gentle kiss. “I love you, Mr. Nadeen.”

  “Do you?”

  She bobbed her head. “I love you and your talented fingers and dick, all of who give me wonderful orgasms.”

  He barked out a laugh. “I’ve married such a naughty girl, haven’t I?”

  “Yes, you have.”

  “I wouldn’t have you any other way, my love.”

  Megan smiled as he slid free of her body. Easing her onto her side, Pesh spooned up behind her, nuzzling his face in her neck. “Rest now,” he said, drowsily.

  “Yes, you need your rest. I’m going to want more of you in a little while.”

  His chuckle made her tingle with love and lust. With the feel of his arm wrapped around her, Megan let her drooping eyes close and drifted off to a contented sleep.

  As they sat outside the courtroom waiting to be called in, Megan adjusted Mason’s blue and white striped tie for the hundredth time. “Mommy, no,” he pleaded.

  She snatched her hands away. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’ll leave you alone.”

  “Tank you,” he replied, going bac
k to his game on his tablet.

  The truth was her nervous hands needed to be doing something. Sensing her need, Pesh reached over and took her hands in his. “Relax. Everything is going to be fine.”

  Megan wanted to believe him, but she couldn’t help feeling anxious. She wouldn’t be able to calm down until the ink had dried on the paperwork. Her feet, encased in black heels, tapped anxiously on the floor. The clattering noise echoed around the atrium. As she glanced between Pesh and Mason, Megan had to smile. The two men in her life looked almost identical today in their navy suits and ties. Of course Mason’s was considerably smaller than Pesh’s.

  When the door opened and a clerk poked her head out the door, Megan’s heartbeat started thrumming faster and faster. “Megan Nadeen?”

  She shot off the bench. “That’s us. I mean, I’m Megan Nadeen.”

  The clerk smiled. “You guys can come in now.”

  Taking a deep breath, Megan reached for Mason’s hand. “This is it, baby.”

  He grinned and then glanced up at Pesh. “You be my daddy now?”

  Pesh smiled. “Yes, I’m going to be your daddy for real now.”

  They walked through the massive doors of the courtroom. The judge, in his ominous black robe, gazed down at them from his bench. “Good morning,” he said, politely.

  “G-Good morning,” Megan stammered.

  “I understand that we’re here today to petition for the adoption of the minor child, Mason Patrick McKenzie?”

  “Yes,” Megan and Pesh replied.

  “First, we need to swear you all in,” the judge said.

  Megan went through the motions of the procedure, trying desperately to calm her nerves. When Pesh had first broached the subject of formally adopting Mason, she initially had been thrilled and honored. But then she had to worry about whether Davis would allow Pesh to adopt Mason or not. Although he still had nothing to do with his son, Davis hadn’t shown a lot of enthusiasm about the prospect. The closer they got to the adoption hearing, the more Megan worried that he would refuse.

  “Dr. Nadeen, I understand that you wish to adopt the minor child of your wife?”

  Pesh nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, your honor, I would.”

  “I see that you and your wife have been married less than two months, and that you’ve only known her a year.” The judge adjusted his glasses that had slid down his pointy nose. “Do you think it wise to legally bind yourself to this child after such a short time?”

  Megan fought the urge to stalk up to the bench and smack the judge. Instead, she took deep breaths and tried to reign in her temper. She glanced over at Pesh who merely smiled pleasantly at the judge. “Your honor, I realize that on paper it might seem as though I am rushing into things. However, I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life as I am about my love for Megan and in turn, my love for Mason. I’ve waited a long time to be a father, and I don’t want to have to waste another second.”

  “I see.” The judge eyed the folder open before him. “I understand the biological father has had no contact with the child.”

  “That’s correct,” Megan replied.

  “He has also waved his parental rights so that Dr. Nadeen can adopt his son.”

  Megan exhaled a relieved breath that Davis had signed the paperwork. “I’m glad to hear that, your honor,” she said.

  “Do you feel that your husband will make a good father for your son?”

  “I never would have dated, least of all married him, if I didn’t believe that Pesh would be a good and loving father to Mason.”

  “So the fact that he is a wealthy doctor had nothing to do with it?”

  “How dare you!” Megan cried. When Pesh grabbed her arm to silence her, she slung him away. “You’ve known us for two minutes and you’re making assumptions about me, my husband, and my marriage? If this were about money, I could have used his father for child support considering he is a wealthy NFL player. But I would have sacrificed everything to ensure that my son had a good father!”

  “Mrs. Nadeen, I will ask that you control yourself, or I will have to hold you in contempt,” the judge said sternly.

  Pesh wrapped his arm around her waist, drawing her against him. “Easy,” he murmured.

  Although she hated to do it, she said, “I’m sorry, your honor.”

  When he smiled at her, she gasped in surprise. “And I am sorry for rattling you, Mrs. Nadeen. I often say or do unorthodox things to see the true nature of the people who come before me.”

  “You mean, you said that to get a reaction from me?”

  “Yes, I did. And you unwaveringly rose to my challenge. I can see that you are truly concerned with the wellbeing of your son.”

  Still reeling from the judge’s behavior, Megan mumbled, “Thank you.”

  Peering down over the bench, the judge surmised Mason. “Son, do you know why you’re here today?”

  “I gettin’ ‘dopted,” Mason replied.

  The judge smiled. “Yes, you are. Do you want Pesh to be your daddy?”

  “Uh, huh.”

  “Do you want anyone else to be your daddy?”

  “No,” Mason replied quickly, shaking his head back and forth.

  “Then come up here while I sign the paperwork.”

  Mason happily ran around the side of the bench to the judge. He climbed up onto the judge’s lap. After signing several sets of papers, the judge handed Mason his gavel. “Once you bang that gavel, Pesh is officially your daddy, and you are Mason Nadeen.”

  With a broad grin, Mason brought the gavel down. Tears stung Megan’s eyes, and she gladly let Pesh pull her into his arms. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she murmured.

  “I love you,” he replied, squeezing her tight.

  “I love you, too.”

  Their attention was drawn to where Mason kept banging the gavel. The judge chuckled. “Okay, I think that is enough. Why don’t you go to your mommy and daddy now?”

  “Tell the judge thank you,” Megan instructed.

  “Tank you,” Mason replied, before he hopped off the judge’s lap and came running to them. “I ‘dopted! I ‘dopted!”

  Pesh bent down to pick him up. “That’s right, buddy. You’re my son for now and always.”

  Megan smiled and patted Mason’s back as they started out of the courtroom. “Come on. Let’s go to Papa’s. We’ve got a big party for you there.”

  Mason’s face lit up. “Ice cweam?

  “Oh yes, there’s lots of ice cream just for you.”

  “Yay!” he cried.

  When they drove up at Patrick’s, Megan did a double take at the sight of an inflatable bouncy castle out on the lawn. John, Percy, and Georgie were already making good use of it. “Emma, the Party Planning Monster has struck again,” she mused.

  Pesh chuckled as he got out of the car. He went to get Mason while she started into the house. Balloons and flowers filled the foyer and living room. Over the dining room archway, there was a giant CONGRATULATIONS MASON sign.

  When she got to the kitchen, she sucked in a breath at the sight of all the catering pans. “Emma Fitzgerald, what have you done?” she questioned.

  At the sound of Megan’s voice, Emma jumped. Clutching her chest, she whirled around. “Okay, so maybe I found a really excellent deal on the bouncy castle. Like ridiculously cheap.”

  Megan crossed her arms over her chest. “The food? I thought Mom and my aunts were cooking.”

  Holding up one hand, Emma replied, “Just Williamson Brothers BBQ. Nothing fancy.”

  “Anything else I need to know about? Live band or celebrity bursting out of a cake?”

  Emma giggled. “Nope. That’s it.”

  Megan watched Emma bustle around the kitchen, setting up the plates and cutlery. “Um, is there anything I can do? I mean, I feel pretty shitty considering this is my son’s adoption party,” Megan said, with a smile.

  Pink tinged Emma’s cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

  Megan threw her arms
around Emma and squeezed her tight. “Don’t be sorry. You’re amazing to do all of this for us.”

  Emma smiled. “You’re more than welcome. I’m so happy for you and Pesh and for Mason.”

  “Thank you.”

  When Megan pulled away, Emma said, “Oh, there is something you can do. Go tell Aidan we’re about to start. He went to get Caroline up from her nap.”

  “Sure. I’ll be happy to.” As Megan started down the familiar hallway, she stopped outside of Aidan’s boyhood bedroom. Through the crack in the door, she could see him walking around the room, bouncing Caroline in his arms. At the sound of his singing, she had to stifle a laugh. Ankle was many things, but a singer wasn’t one of them.

  “Sweet Caroline, dum, dum, dum. Good times never seemed so good,” he crooned off-key.

  When Megan pushed open the door, Aidan jumped. “Um, hey,” he said, a flush entering his cheeks.

  “I never really pictured you as a Neil Diamond fan,” she said, with a smile.

  “Yeah, well, Sweet Caroline seems like the right thing to sing to her.” He cleared his throat. “What are you doing in here?”

  “Emma wanted me to come get you.”

  “Oh,” he said. In his arms, Caroline began to whimper, her little fists flailed. “Shh, it’s okay, sweet pea. Where was I?”

  “I’ve been inclined,” Megan answered him.

  “Right,” he said, over Caroline’s cries.

  When he picked back up with the song, Megan said, “That’s really unfair to torture her like that.”

  As Aidan scowled at Megan, Caroline began to quiet. Aidan’s expression then turned triumphant. “See? She likes it when I sing to her.”

  “But you can’t sing,” Megan protested.

  Aidan shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to her.”

  Megan laughed. “She has a mother with a killer voice, yet she likes to listen to you?”

  Flashing his signature cocky grin, Aidan replied, “What can I say? All women love me.”