by Sosie Frost
I brushed her cheek. Rory’s eyes fluttered closed, but I knew that sigh, that tensing, that apprehension. She feared the same thing I did.
What would happen if I touched her again?
What the hell would happen to me if I didn’t?
“I’m sorry I forgot the popsicles,” I whispered.
“It’s okay.”
“I can make it up to you.”
Rory tried to pull away. I tangled my hand within hers, folding our fingers together. She met my gaze with wide, mocha eyes.
“Are you worried this will get too complicated?” Her voice softened. “After the last time…”
“I shouldn’t have let you leave my bed.”
“Jude, I’m twenty-seven weeks pregnant. Getting out of bed is becoming an accomplishment.”
She wasn’t deflecting that easily.
“You’re beautiful, Doc.”
“I’m forever pregnant.”
“And you still look amazing. Strong.”
“You really must have a head injury.”
I pulled her away from the living room. My steps led us from everything safe, rational, and familiar, but I was willing to lose myself in a dangerous world that would ensnare us both.
My concussion and the lingering side-effects aggravated me, but they suddenly make everything else so much clearer. I might have forgotten the little things, but that made the important aspects of my life much more precious.
Like Rory.
Like her touch. Her gentle kiss. The way she looked at me like it was the first time she saw me, the last time she’d ever let herself get so close, and the beginning of something beautiful.
I never thought I’d need someone as much as I needed the game, but I wasn’t complete without her. I wanted it all. Her lips. Her body.
Her laugh. Her smile. Even her chastisements.
How could something so wonderful, so meaningful, be wrong?
Rory held me tight as I edged her to the bed. I removed my shirt and ignored the sting of my bruises. Stretching a tweaked shoulder was easier than taking a pregnant woman. Still, I was willing to learn. I’d rub the pain from her back, tease the pleasure from her core, and hold her as we drifted to sleep—together—feeling the baby move.
She groaned as I tugged at her shirt. “I’m big.”
“Beautiful.”
“I’m all bump.”
No. Not all bump. She was mostly tits too. I kissed her, letting her warm skin press against my chest. My bruises looked ugly, but Rory wasn’t deterred. She gently touched the purplish and blue stains, and I let her caress me. She studied my shoulder, and I reached behind to unhook her bra.
Her breasts spilled from the cups.
My cock couldn’t get any harder.
“One perk of the pregnancy.” Rory followed my gaze to her almost-vulgar assets. “I’m definitely more…defined than I once was.”
A woman that delicious should have been illegal. Christ, I’d be blessed to forget this sight after tonight. Nothing else would ever draw my attention away from her.
I brushed a hand along her curves. She nearly jumped. Her nipples budded, hard and tempting.
“Sensitive,” she whispered. “Be careful?”
I never let myself get overwhelmed by desire before, but now was a good time to try to distract those instincts. Baseball was too boring. I ran the audible calls in my head instead, struggling against that primal, bestial urge to seize her, take her, and lose myself within her.
My urges were tamed. I had to surrender to something.
I kissed her instead. Rory gave a whimper, letting me trace a path along her neck, her shoulder.
Down.
I licked over the swell of her breast, marveling in the quiet trembling of her nipple. She held her breath as my lips passed over it. The simple brush of my tongue drove her forward.
I laughed, taking the nipple in my mouth and giving it a tug. Rory squealed, but her shock shifted to a full throated groan. I suckled, flicked it with my tongue, and released the nub with a pop.
Amazing.
I teased her again and again, suckling and tugging her sensitive bud from my mouth. Rory squirmed, but she wasn’t getting away. By my calculations, I had thirteen weeks to lay claim on her breasts before I’d have to share with Genie.
I’d make sure my time was well spent.
I rested Rory on the bed, kissing lower as my fingers twisted in her yoga pants. She offered me a trembling sigh as I stripped her bare.
Good thing I was already on my knees. A sight like this would have crashed me before her.
I needed more white comforters. White sheets. Anything that contrast how utterly beautiful her dark skin shone against the starkness. She glanced away, nervous. Her legs twisted.
“I must look like a whale,” she said.
No. She looked like…a woman. A beautiful, vibrant, perfect woman. The bump was a part of her life, a part of her. I wouldn’t have traded it.
Especially since the baby was what brought her to me.
Rory smiled as I adjusted her pillows. She nested against the softness with a giggle while she goose-bumped in anticipation. I unbuttoned my pants, but removing my cock from the denim prison would only make me more desperate. For as much as I longed to take her, Rory deserved more than a quick fuck.
Someone had to show her how lovely she was...and how damn sorry I was for forgetting all of her treats.
I crawled to her legs, letting them fall open. She giggled, casting a palm over her soft slit.
“You have no idea how hard it’s getting to use a razor,” she said. “Consider yourself a lucky man.”
“I already know how lucky I am.” My voice lowered to a growl so near her slickening petals. “I never thought I’d…”
Find a woman like her.
Hold a woman like her.
Fuck a woman like her.
Nothing sounded right.
“Have you here with me,” I said.
And now there were two pussies in the room. But Rory smiled.
And I never wanted her to stop.
I ducked my head low, putting my tongue to work before I revealed things I didn’t understand yet.
Rory thanked me.
Her hips bumped, but I was ready for that. I positioned myself more cautiously this time. I dove between her legs, licking where she was most safe and warm, sweet and waiting. Her slit overheated, and Rory gripped the blankets with trembling fists. Her words twisted like the sheets, and she whimpered against the first licks of my grazing tongue.
“There’s…increased bloodflow down there.” She shuddered.
“You sure know how to pillow talk, Doc.”
“It’s sensitive.”
“I know.”
“Really, really…”
“Perk of the pregnancy.” I teased.
“I think you’re the best perk of this pregnancy.”
Her words were lost in a whimper.
No. I wasn’t going to be just a perk. I wanted to be more than just a quick pleasure and regretted mistake. I wanted to be hers.
And that was my most dangerous desire.
I lost myself in her sweetness. Her groans encouraged me, and I suckled on her clit to hear her whisper my name.
Pure music.
Rory panted, but she struggled to pull away before she let herself crest too fast. Her heavy-lidded eyes met mine, and I knew exactly what she wanted. Needed.
I kicked my jeans off, jerking my aching cock with a quick hand. Rory stared at it, hungrily, licking her lips.
We both wanted the same thing.
But how was the best way to do this?
She giggled, but I didn’t let her up. Instead I rested at her side, turning her and cradling her warm body against mine. She sighed the instant our skin touched.
Hot. Pulsing.
I guided my cock low, testing the slickness of her pussy. She’d been ready since before I delighted her with my tongue. Now she was ravenous. Her hips bucked, and her tense whim
pers begged with a mounting impatience.
“Got a craving, Doc?” I whispered.
“Only for you.”
“Better than a popsicle?”
“Hotter than a popsicle.” She hummed as my cock rubbed her clit. She angled her hips, guiding me towards her slickness. “You wouldn’t deny a woman in my condition, would you?”
“What sort of a monster do you think I am?”
“You’re not a monster.”
“Even though I forgot your food?”
“You’re probably the greatest thing that’s happened to me, Jude.” Her breathing edged hard, gasping as my cock prodded her slit. Her tightness enveloped me in a fierce heat. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
And I didn’t know what would happen when she no longer needed me.
If I had it my way—we wouldn’t find out.
I pushed inside her. I couldn’t fit deep, but I didn’t need much. Just her. Just the heat, the tightness, her pleased cry. Her body tangled against mine. I didn’t care. I never wanted to let her go, and I clutched her hips tight, driving as deeply as I could without pushing both of us to the brink of insanity.
Rory clenched on me, and every cry of my name squeezed me tighter. I thrust against an ever-tightening core, and she warned me how soon, how quick, how unbelievably hot she felt.
Her orgasm built quickly. So did mine.
Touching this woman destroyed my willpower. The pleasure dizzied me beyond any rationality.
I’d been hit before. Concussed. Blindsided. Knocked out. I lived in a daze of headaches and fog. But now everything cleared in my head.
Just for a moment. Only while I thrusted within Rory.
This was where I was meant to be. With her. In her. Holding her.
And she belonged with me.
I knew it. I felt it in her tremor. I heard it in her whimpers. My thrusts connected me deeper to this woman until my only desire was to offer her every pleasure, every peace, every comfort I could give.
“Jude…” Rory panted. “I’ve never…”
“Me either.”
“Don’t stop.”
“Never.”
I reached for her, kissing her shoulder, savoring her tightness. Her body rolled with an endless shiver of perfection, and I ached stay buried in her velvet heat.
I whispered her name as our bodies tensed. She came first, her breath lost in a quiet whimper. I gripped her hard, reaching over her, skipping her hip to touch her tummy. She arched, her hand joining mine.
The closeness and intimacy and confusion of that single touch blinded me.
I gave into the pleasure just to escape the truth.
The orgasm flashed through me, blinding me to a blink of light and stealing my strength in a flare of raging nerves. Pleasure dueled with my body. I surrendered to the intensity because I had her to ground me.
And I lost myself in that selfish desperation.
I thrust deep, letting every jet of my seed bury within her slickness. Wave after wave of crippling, perfect agony blasted over me.
I filled her. I shouldn’t have wanted it so badly. Shouldn’t have forced myself deeper. Shouldn’t have taken such a perverse pleasure in coating her with my desire.
She came again because of it.
I needed her to stay with me. In my bed. In my arms. I had to remain inside of her, a part of her.
I didn’t know what would happen once the baby came, and the possibility of losing her was worse than any concussion, hit, or lifelong injury.
I couldn’t let her go.
Rory was the only one who could finally heal me.
16
Jude
Rory arrived at her surprise baby shower…
Dressed as a pumpkin.
I was fucked.
So much for my elaborate surprise. I’d organized the party at Jack and Leah’s. Got the food. Made the calls. Invited the guests.
And I invited Rory under the guise of a Halloween party.
Unfortunately, I forgot to tell her not to dress up.
Whoops.
And it had been such a great week of sharing a bed with her. How quickly good things came to an end.
I met Rory as she waddled to the porch.
“Hey Doc…” I gave her a smile. It was not reciprocated. “You’re a pumpkin!”
The orange suit might have been loose on a non-pregnant woman. Her tummy filled out the plastic, stretching the black triangles serving as eyes and a mouth for the jack-o'-lantern. Her sleeves and leggings were green, just like the tendrils of streamers tangled in her hair. Vines, I supposed. They twisted into her hat—a little brown stem, tilted off center.
She looked as exhausted and frustrated as she was utterly adorable.
“When I was a little girl, I always wanted to be Cinderella for Halloween.” She held her arms out. “But the store I went to didn’t make maternity Cinderella dresses because, apparently, that dream is a wish a harlot makes. The only thing I could find was this pumpkin!”
And so…she looked like a perfect pumpkin.
Also very pregnant.
I said the only thing a sane man who hoped to retain his balls might have said.
“You’re beautiful.”
Rory disagreed. “Are you crazy? I don’t look like Cinderella! I look like the magical coach!”
“It’s cute!”
She pointed at me—my sports jacket and trousers. “What’s your costume?”
Shit. “About that...”
“Jude?”
“Just remember that, no matter what, you are a doctor. You’re a beautiful, talented, insanely intelligent woman.”
“Who is dressed like a pumpkin.”
“So don’t get mad.”
“No promises.”
“You might be the only one.”
“Dressed like a pumpkin?”
“Wearing…a costume.”
“You said it was a Halloween party!”
“It is. Just come inside. You’ll see.”
“Come inside? Are you crazy? I’m a seven-month pregnant gourd!”
“It won’t matter. I should have told you not to dress up. Blame me.”
Her voice was cold enough to frost her vines. “Oh, I think I do.”
Fantastic.
I really hoped Rory would forgive me—that she’d realize it was the thought that counted.
Because I was thinking a lot about her. I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
She slept beside me. She snuck secret smiles for me at practice. She cheered for me on the field and made me feel like the greatest champion in bed.
Even when I suffered through my headaches, when I couldn’t sleep at night without the aid of prescription drugs she didn’t know I was taking, Rory’s face was the only memory that stuck in my mind.
And tonight was for her.
I took her hand. Rory protested, but her steps scuffed after mine. Jack and Leah opened the door.
Leah’s silver cocktail dress wouldn’t spare me a castration. Even with a toddler on her hip, she looked stunning. Her husband, the Jack-ass, couldn’t stop laughing.
“Oh my God.” Leah giggled. “You are too cute.”
Rory squealed and tried to escape. “I’m leaving.”
“No, no.” Leah hauled her inside. “Rory, I am so sorry. I thought Jude would have reminded you it wasn’t a costume party. Don’t worry though…” She elbowed Jack, sending him to tend to the guests as he doubled-over in laughter. “You’re going to love this. Jude’s been working so hard.”
Rory frowned at me. “Jude Owens, what did you do?”
I led her inside, following Jack and Leah as they signaled to the team awaiting the guest of honor.
“I might have arranged a baby shower,” I said.
The party cheered as Rory entered the living room.
Then laughed.
Rory froze in a quiet, but dignified, mortification. She simply adjusted her stem and took my hand.
And sq
ueezed.
Then squeezed some more.
Then nearly dropped me to my knees as she attempted to break my fingers.
Rory stared at the steamers and pink balloons, the flowers and a stack of presents in the corner all wrapped in pastel colors and pleasant pinks.
“Oh…” The embarrassment faded. Rory fanned her face and called to Leah. “This is such a surprise. A little…too much of a surprise. Thank you all, but…I have to pee. Like right now.”
Leah was on it. She took Rory’s hand and rubbed her tummy. “You are so lucky you’re pregnant.”
She was really hard up for another kid to envy Rory’s weak bladder.
Jack approached me with a frown. “I’m trying my best. Nothing wants to stick.”
“More information than I needed.”
“Just count your blessings…and your swimmers.”
“One kid at a time, Jack.”
He agreed. “The guys are holed up in the back. Want a beer?”
“Seems like you need it more.”
“You have no idea.”
Jack led me to his pool and patio. Most of the offense had joined us, and I stopped to shake the hands of the linemen clustered around the appetizers.
The weather had turned cool, and Lachlan and Cole toasted us from their seats around the fire pit. Their kids sat at their sides, impatiently waiting for the marshmallows toasting over the fire.
Lachlan bid his little brother to fetch some graham crackers. Sebastian rushed with the box, tripped, and landed on the contents. He handed his brother a bag of dust. To spare the whining, Jack found a disposable cup and spoon and instructed the a disappointed Lachlan to make a parfait.
Cole accidentally caught Rose’s marshmallow on fire. This was traumatizing to the princess, the only other party-goer dressed to the nines in a costume.
“No!” Rose burst into tears. “Hurt! He’s hurt!”
Nothing brought Cole to his knees faster than his little girl. “No, I didn’t hurt it. The marshmallow is okay. Fire just…tickles him. Tell her, guys.” He growled at us. “Tell her!”
“No, Rosie. It’s not hurt.” Lachlan fanned the smoldering marshmallow. “It’s tasty. Try it!”
Cole took a bite to show her. Rose stuck her sticky fingers into the marshmallow and gave it a lick.
“See?” Cole pulled her close. “I wouldn’t hurt it. It…likes to be set on fire…I think.”
