Twisting again, I slid to the floor, my ass hitting the ground and eliciting another groan as gravity brought Bailey down onto me and I realized I was still semi-hard. Our breathing finally started to calm, and I managed to lift her off of me, stand, and scoop her into my arms. She sighed blissfully, and I’m positive that if I’d been wearing a shirt with buttons, they would have been popping right off. We reached the bathroom, and I set her down on the sink before turning on the shower. When I went to remove the condom, the smeared blood on it reminded me that I had just fucked a virgin. Damn it! I cursed myself up one side and down the other for my lack of self-control. She was going to be sore as hell. I figuratively waved goodbye to my plan of marathon sex as it flew out the window.
Grabbing a cloth, I wet it with warm water and lifted Bailey’s skirt, so I could clean and sooth her pussy. She winced a couple of times, and I felt like scum for taking her like I had. “Stop it.”
Her voice brought me out of my thoughts as I tossed the rag into the trash. “Stop what, baby?”
“Stop regretting it.”
My brows shot up. “You think I regret fucking you?” I clarified disbelievingly.
She pursed her kiss swollen lips, her blue eyes shuttered by her long eyelashes. “Don’t you?”
I stepped between her legs and scooted her ass to the edge of the counter. With a single finger, I lifted her chin so that I could meet her gaze. “I will never, never, regret being with you, Bailey Cross. Do you understand?” My voice was firm, leaving no room for misinterpretation. She nodded, and I gave her a quick kiss. “I’m regretting the way I took you. You’re likely going to be in a lot of pain tomorrow. I should have been—”
“Wyatt, stop,” she interrupted. “It was perfect. Any pain I have to deal with tomorrow will be completely worth it.”
I grinned, I couldn’t help it. “So, it was good for you, huh?”
She smacked my chest playfully, then kissed me passionately. “Epic.”
The shower was steaming up the bathroom, so I quickly undressed and helped Bailey out of her clothes. She blushed shyly when she was naked and hopped into the shower, making me laugh. “Baby, I’ve been deep inside you, now I want to enjoy the package on the outside.”
I stepped under the hot spray and snuggled her back into my chest. Then I began a slow exploration of her curves, learning every soft inch of her delectable body, with my hands and my mouth. I discovered I was right—Bailey tasted like strawberries and cream, and her cream was the sweetest I’d ever tasted. The look of Bailey when she orgasmed? Nothing would ever compare.
The water eventually cooled and we washed up and stepped out of the glass enclosure. I wrapped a soft, emerald green towel around my waist and used another to dry Bailey before sweeping her into my arms and carrying her to my bed. Setting her down, I stood back and took in the view. Her copper hair spread out and glowing against the white pillows. Her round, large tits with their dusky nipples, small waist, plump hips, and long, long legs. Fucking gorgeous.
I crawled over her and lowered my body so we were flush, skin to skin. Damn, she felt good underneath me. Spearing a hand through her damp curls, I pulled them away from her face and placed soft kisses all over her face.
“There is something between us, baby. I can feel it tethering us together. This is more than one night. You know that, right?”
Bailey’s answer was to kiss me senseless, driving every logical thought out of my brain. The passion began to burn hot, rapidly building into a frenzy of need. I tried to stop, suggested we go to sleep, warning her that she was already going to be incredibly sore. But, she had a way of convincing me to do just about anything she wanted. After rocking her world (not cocky...confident) with two more orgasms, I lost myself inside her once more.
Sweaty and sated, I fell over onto my back, taking her with me, staying snug inside her. Her breathing slowed, beginning to even out. I wrapped my arms around her and held on. There was one thing she wouldn’t be able to get me to do. Let her go.
I gently squeezed her and a sweet little sigh fell from her lips. “I think I’ll keep you.”
***
Sunlight slashed across my face, the bright rays warm but keeping me from staying asleep. Bailey. The night before came rushing back and I smiled, then reached out to pull her soft body into mine. My hand met nothing but sun warmed sheets. I frowned and opened one eyelid, disgruntled that she’d gotten out of bed before I could wrap myself around her naked body and kiss her awake.
“Bailey?” I sighed and lifted up onto an elbow, opening both eyes and looking around the room. I didn’t hear the shower running, but I climbed out of bed and padded over to the bathroom. Her clothes were no longer on the floor and mine had been folded and placed on the marble countertop. The open box of condoms near the sink reminded me that I’d fallen asleep still buried inside her. When I pulled off the condom I noticed a big tear right at the tip. Fuck! The motherfucking condom broke! Shit. Shit. Shit. I took a deep breath and washed my hands. OK, this wasn’t so bad. She was mine, I would be marrying her and starting a family at some point. I just hadn’t counted on doing it backwards.
I wondered briefly if Bailey had noticed when she’d gotten up. Then I dismissed the thought. If she had, I’d probably be attempting to calm her down from a panic attack right now. Where was she? “Baby?” I called, grabbing my robe and walking out to the kitchen. When I didn’t find her there, I called her name again and checked every room. Something akin to dread was stabbing me in the chest, I stalked back to the bedroom, looked around and didn’t find even a note. She must have called a cab and ducked out while I was sleeping. I started pacing, I needed a plan. All I had to go on was her name and the fact that she was only in town temporarily. Fuck!
***
“Bro, are you still moping?”
I scowled at Jack as he handed me a beer and flopped down next to me on my couch.
“Shut the fuck up, Jackass,” I growled. I took a deep pull from the bottle and dropped my head back, blowing out a frustrated breath.
“No luck finding her, huh?” Jack asked, genuine sympathy in his voice this time. “You’re going to have to let mystery girl go at some point. Why don’t we go out tonight? We’ll hit the bar and pick up some buxom blondes.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“I’m done with that scene, Jack. I’m serious.” I gripped the bottle, my knuckles turning white. “She’s mine. I refuse to accept any other outcome than to find her.”
I’d practically shut down my life for the last month, working and searching. I’d exhausted most of my options. There were literally over four hundred people with the last name Cross in Nebraska. Narrowing it down by the first initial B didn’t do me any good either. Not to mention, I didn’t even know if her permanent residence was in the same state. I’d only spoken to Jack briefly, shortly after the morning Bailey had run out on me. He’d recently discovered that he had a half-sister and the family had been busy getting to know each other. Not that I was even ready to really talk about her with him anyway.
“Wow. Okay,” Jack shrugged. “I guess you were serious about that.”
I didn’t reply, just chugged down the rest of my beer. I needed to get my mind on something else for a little while.
“How are things with the new sister?”
Jack’s face softened, a look I never thought I’d see from him. “She fits right in. Honestly, I wish I’d been there to be her big brother growing up. She’s beautiful, sweet and innocent and I get the feeling that I would have broken quite a few noses, maybe a jaw or two.”
I laughed, the sound rusty and foreign to my ears. It felt good.
“Why don’t you come have dinner with the family and meet her? Dad would love to see you.” Jack rolled his eyes and chugged his beer. “And Sharon. She’d love to see you, all of you.”
I snorted. Jack’s step-mother Sharon was a unique species. She loved his dad, and was faithful, but she had no problem ogling “man candy,” and wa
sn’t shy about asking to see the “good stuff.” She’d even used a drawing class excuse to try and get me to pose naked for her. She was...interesting. Harmless.
“So?” he queried.
“Sure, why not?” I agreed. I could use a night off from refining my pining and drinking abilities. I didn’t intend to go pro, so all this practice was truly unnecessary.
“Great.” Jack slapped me on the back and stood. “Oh, and when you meet Bailey, remember broken noses and jaws.”
My eyes stopped mid-roll and I started choking on the swig of beer I’d just taken. Did he say...?
I coughed. “What’s your sister’s name?”
Jack was walking out the door but yelled back, “Bailey.”
Chapter 3
Bailey
“I’ve been here a month, don’t you think it’s time you went back to your own home? Dad told me you didn’t even spend this much time here when you were in high school.”
Dad. It was crazy weird to toss that word out there in everyday conversation when I would have given anything to have been able to talk about my dad when I was growing up. I’d loved my mom more than anything in the world, but I’d missed out on so much by not having him around. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer my senior year of high school, I let go of my yearning to know about my father and focused on taking care of her. I changed all my plans and switched to a local college, staying at home instead of in the dorms so I could care for her.
Things were looking up by the time I graduated with my bachelor’s degree and teaching license. Mom was nearing the five year anniversary of her last chemotherapy treatment, and I quickly landed a position at the elementary school I’d attended as a child. Then we got the call that changed our lives—again. The breast cancer hadn’t come back, but she was diagnosed with leukemia, a side effect of the original treatment she’d received.
It was a battle she lost this time around, and she made a deathbed confession that left me reeling. She’d never told my father about her pregnancy. When they met, he’d been a widower with a young son, and she was fresh out of a broken relationship. They found comfort in each other while they healed, but it had never been a love match. She’d discovered she was pregnant after she’d moved away and decided it was better to keep the ties severed and uncomplicated.
When she realized she wasn’t going to survive the leukemia, she hired a private investigator to locate him so I’d have the chance to meet him, if I wanted to. Less than three months later, here I was, sitting on the couch with my older brother in our dad’s home in Nebraska—still struggling with the fact that my mom had kept me from them my entire life.
“Hey.” Jack flicked my ear to gain my attention. “Do you want to get rid of me so much that you’re going to ignore me now?”
“Sorry,” I sighed. “I got lost in my head for a minute there, thinking about my mom.”
His grin quickly turned into a grimace. My mom was a topic of conversation we avoided since he and my dad pretty much hated her for the decision to keep her pregnancy a secret. But, they respected my grief and the fact that, no matter what, she was still my mother, enough to keep their opinions mostly to themselves. As much as I loved her, I couldn’t defend what she’d done. Not after what she’d cost all of us.
I needed to steer the discussion back on track because I didn’t want to ruin everyone’s dinner. “So what were you saying that was so important you needed to inflict bodily harm on me?”
He raised his hands up, palms facing me, an innocent expression on his handsome face. “Who? Me? I’d never hurt my sister.”
“Uh-huh,” I drawled, slugging him lightly on the arm. “Lucky for me, I never said anything about not hurting my brother.”
“Hey!” he protested, rubbing the spot I’d hit. “No fair. It’s a good thing I’ve got reinforcements coming.”
“Reinforcements?”
“That’s what I was trying to tell you. You finally get the chance to meet my best friend, little sis. But don’t worry, I warned him to keep his hands to himself.” He winked, and I forced a laugh.
Unless his name was Wyatt Kincaid, Jack didn’t need to worry about his best friend ever getting the chance to touch me. That man had somehow managed to worm his way into my subconscious in the hours we’d spent together my first night in town. I’d spent every night after dreaming about him and the things he’d done to my body. “You don’t need to warn all your friends away from me. I’m a grown ass woman. I can take care of myself.”
“I’m sure you can with most guys, and I have a friend or two who I might, maybe, consider not killing if you decided you liked them. But you’ll just have to trust my judgment when it comes to my friends.”
I rolled my eyes at his superior tone. “I’m sure I can resist the temptation of your best friend without your help.”
“It doesn’t mean I’m going to stop giving it,” he murmured, standing up and dropping a kiss on my head at the sound of the knock on the front door.
“Perfect timing!” Sharon called, as she and my dad carried serving platters to the dining room table. Their home had an open floor plan, with the living room flowing into the dining room. The kitchen was separated from the living space by a granite island surrounded by bar stools on three sides where we’d eaten most of our meals. Apparently the arrival of Jack’s best friend warranted a more formal meal.
I was staring at the pot roast, my stomach churning as the smell of cooked meat wafted my way when I heard my brother teasing his friend.
“Flowers? You shouldn’t have, man,” he joked. “Although I’m sure Sharon will appreciate them.”
“They’re not for Sharon.”
That voice. It couldn’t be. I stood up from the couch and swiveled my head to find him standing in the doorway staring at me with heated eyes, a bouquet of blue and burnt orange colored flowers in his hands. Jack’s best friend was Wyatt, the man I’d given my virginity to a month ago?
Holy shitballs.
“What do you mean ‘they’re not for Sharon’?” Jack scratched his head, clearly confused. “Who else would they be for?” His gaze followed Wyatt’s line of sight, straight to me.
“They’re for Bailey.”
“Why would you bring Bailey flowers?” Jack asked, his eyes darting between me and Wyatt while we stood there staring at each other.
Something seemed to click in place, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion, “What the fuck, Wyatt?” His hands were clenched so hard at his sides that I could see the whitening of his knuckles from where I stood. “I warned you before she even came into town,” Jack growled. “My sister is off limits to you. No flowers. No dates. No hookups. So stop fucking looking at her the way you are right now because I’m about thirty seconds from throwing your ass out with all of the broken bones we talked about.”
I stepped forward, intending to step between the two men—to intervene with my brother on Wyatt’s behalf. Jack didn’t know that we’d met before, and Wyatt hadn’t known I was Jack’s sister. The last thing I wanted was for them to fight over me. I didn’t make it far before my head began to swim and my stomach, which had only been slightly upset minutes earlier, heaved. I felt the blood drain from my face as chills raced along my skin.
Crap! I wasn’t sure I was going to make it to the bathroom in time.
I turned and raced from the room, heading down the hallway as quickly as I could. Throwing the door open, I fell to my knees in front of the toilet and puked up my guts. At least, that’s what it felt like I was doing. I’d never felt this badly before, not even the one time I’d had food poisoning from bad seafood when I was in college.
“Urg,” I gagged in embarrassment when I realized Jack and Wyatt were standing in the doorway staring at me. Or more accurately, my brother was staring while he held Wyatt back from entering the bathroom.
“Don’t just stand there, boys. Get out of the way unless you’re going to help.” My dad yanked on their collars like they were still little boys and dragge
d them backwards until Sharon was able to get past them.
“There’s no way I’m going in there,” Jack replied. “I don’t want to catch whatever Bailey’s got. You know how much I hate to puke.”
“It’s okay, honey,” Sharon cooed as she grabbed a washcloth and ran it under cold water.
Wyatt was still trying to push his way into the bathroom. “You’re not going to catch what she has.”
I moaned in gratitude when Sharon wiped my face with the cool washcloth, but it turned into a groan of mortification when Jack piped back up again. “How the hell do you know I won’t catch it?”
“Because she’s pregnant, you asshole.”
“Pregnant?” Jack and I repeated in unison.
My dad let go of the guys and came into the bathroom, squatting down so we were face-to-face, his eyes full of concern. “Is Wyatt right? Could you be pregnant, baby girl?”
My gaze darted over his shoulder to Wyatt, and images of our night together raced through my head. My cheeks heated at the carnal knowledge in his eyes. I dropped my head, staring at the floor while I did a quick calculation of the days in my head. Then I admitted a truth I hadn’t considered until this moment—to my dad and to myself. “Yes, it’s possible.”
“Don’t say it like being pregnant is the end of the world,” Sharon chided. “Having a baby is the beginning, silly girl.”
“How the fuck did you make the leap from her puking her guts up to a possible pregnancy?” Jack asked Wyatt. “And why did Bailey look at you the way she just did before answering the question?”
“It’s okay, Bailey,” my dad reassured me, pulling me onto his lap and wrapping his arms around me. “I promise everything’s gonna be just fine.”
“Because the baby is mine.” I felt his body stiffen at Wyatt’s response.
It was as though time stood still for a minute, and nobody knew how to react to Wyatt’s announcement. Sharon wasn’t at a loss for words long, though.
Baby, You're Mine (Yeah, Baby #1) Page 2
