by Alison Ryan
“You might not be able to take anything, but I know how to relax you,” I said, leaning down to take one of her swollen nipples gently into my mouth. She whimpered and writhed on the bed, and I released her right nipple and switched to the left.
“Oh yes, Atlas. Do that all night,” she gasped.
“There’s another place I need to put my mouth, but I’ll make sure your nipples get plenty of attention, Piper my love,” I replied, moving back and forth between her breasts, following her encouragement to suck harder and harder.
“I can’t take it anymore, Atlas. Make me cum, baby,” she begged, her breathing ragged.
I grinned at her and moved down, between her succulent thighs. I stared at her sex in wonderment. It was slick with her arousal, and everything was puffy and swollen from the pregnancy.
My lips closed around her labia, pulling them away from her opening before letting them fall back together to protect her treasure. She was nearly incoherent, her hands in my hair.
“I love you. But seriously, Atlas. I need to come!”
I sealed my mouth around her, giving her long, wide swaths of my tongue. Her hips churned as bolts of pure pleasure shot from between her legs to her brain and to every nerve ending in her body. She pulled a pillow over her mouth with one hand and nearly ripping my scalp off with the other, such a grip she had on my hair. Her climax sounded painful and it never seemed to end. Finally, she pushed on my forehead, easing me away. Within seconds, she demanded more.
“That was so good, baby. So good. Please do it again.”
Normally, she required several minutes between orgasms from oral, so sensitive her clit became. In her current condition, though, she was begging for it after less than a minute.
I went straight for her clit, wanting her second eruption to feed off the energy of the first one.
She protested at first, but once she became accustomed to it, she started gritting her teeth and growling like a feral animal.
“No, baby. It’s so tender, gentle, please gentle, oh you’re so cruel, oh you’re going to make me, oh fuck, oh that’s it, I fucking need it yes, yes!”
Her fluids gushed into my mouth, and only with great care did I cease my ministrations. I kissed and licked all around her quivering opening as her moans became sighs of relief.
I moved back up to her face, and she kissed me ravenously, savoring the taste of herself. She looked at me with wild eyes. “I need to get fucked, Atlas. Slow. Fuck me from behind. Slow and deep.”
An invitation was the last thing I needed. Going down on Piper always made me throb, and the intensity of her orgasms had me beyond ready.
Piper got up on all fours, pulling a pile of pillows beneath her upper body, settling in with her fantastic ass high in the air. I held my cock by its base and touched the tip to her opening, moving it up and down slowly, pushing it just barely inside and then withdrawing and tapping at her labia with it.
She was a moaning, drooling picture of raw sex. Her body writhed, her hips gently bucking, her pussy desperate to be filled.
I was happy to oblige.
I slid into her with a slow, searing thrust, fighting the urge to come instantly. It felt that good.
My hands found the small of her back, fingers fanning out to her hips, and I pulled out slowly, returning to her depths at the same glacial pace.
Her body was doing everything it could to force me to climax, but I gritted my teeth and went to war. My pace varied, from agonizingly slow to half speed for several thrusts and then back to super slow. I could feel her clutching at my shaft, her orgasms doing their utmost to be the catalyst for mine.
When I knew I’d either have to pound her ruthlessly or come, I slid into her to the hilt and stayed there. I slipped a hand around the front of her leg and found her clit, strumming it as I held her tight against me. She began to shriek, and my reward was a series of powerful spasms that ripped my own orgasm from deep in my own core.
Her insides clamped down, massaging my cock and pulling out every drop of my orgasm.
Clara had told us earlier in Piper’s pregnancy that sex was a great way to get labor started. I intended to make Pitocin irrelevant.
We collapsed onto the bed together, Piper three quarters of the way onto her back, me behind her, my arm extended beneath her neck. The view and feel of her ass had me ready to go again, but she was sleeping peacefully, and I knew how difficult sleep had been for her lately. I kissed the back of her head and let myself drift off as well.
The following morning, I had a breakfast strategy session with Raven and Nathaniel. He thought he could enlist the aid of a pair of French freelancers to help us, since we could well be facing QB’s personal army. I was grateful that Achillea would be born before I left, so that I could hold her in my arms at least for a few days. Facing QB on his home turf, even with the element of surprise, would be no mean feat.
Clara prepped Odin’s old recovery room. He was up and around, albeit moving as if he was approximately one hundred and seventy-five years old.
Raven was elected by process of elimination to be Clara’s nurse for the event, and I wanted to remain in the room throughout. Odin went off somewhere to curl up with Dostoyevsky for some light reading.
I’ve been all over the world, and despite the fact that I’ve rarely traveled for the purpose of sightseeing, I’ve watched the Northern Lights, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and visited Antarctica. Twice. Few indeed are the wonders of this world that I haven’t at least glimpsed.
The birth of my daughter dwarfed them all.
Piper struggled, sweated, screamed, cursed me, and begged Clara to make it all go away. Her labor made my time at SEAL school seem like a ten-year-old’s summer camp.
But every time I thought she couldn’t possibly fight anymore or push even one more time, Raven and I encouraged her, holding her legs and keeping her going.
The moment Achillea’s perfect head popped out, and Clara pulled the rest of her free, was the culmination of my entire life. Every moment led up to the birth of Achillea Ronny Titan. Everything I’d ever accomplished, anything anybody had ever called me, good or bad; none of it mattered.
The only thing that I cared about was that helpless little pink cherub Clara was toweling off.
I was frozen in place, listening to her wail, until Piper reached for my hand and squeezed it. She smiled more broadly than any smile I’d ever seen in my life, tears of joy rolling down her cheeks.
I dropped to one knee and embraced her. “You did it, Piper! I’ve never been more proud of anyone or anything. That was amazing!”
“Hey, let’s meet this one before you two start working on the next one, okay?” Raven’s voice teased us, and I got up and walked over to where Clara had bundled Achillea up.
“Seven pounds, eight ounces. All ten fingers and toes. Great color, lungs and heart working well. As far as I can tell, she’s perfect,” Clara said, handing me my baby.
I carefully set her on Piper’s chest, and mother and daughter shared a beautiful moment.
Clara gently reminded us that there was still work to be done. “I have to get you all cleaned up, Piper. Raven, why don’t you and Atlas go and introduce Achillea to the rest of her family. Piper needs to rest some.”
Raven kissed Piper on the forehead. “You rock. I have such a crush on you right now. Dump that big ape and run away with me and Achillea.”
Piper laughed. “Thank you for everything, Raven. You’ve been a godsend. But I think I’ll keep him.”
I winked at Piper and turned to take my daughter out to meet Uncle Odin.
24
Odin
It felt good to be back on my feet, and we needed everyone mobile and active to deal with Lea. Piper had taken to shortening her daughter’s name from Achillea to Lea, and it suited her. I’d never spent any time around a newborn, but Clara claimed I was a “natural” when it came to holding my niece, once Clara and Piper showed me how.
I’d never experienced anything
quite as peaceful as when Lea slept in my arms or against my chest. Looking down at her sweet face filled me with wonder. I couldn’t see Atlas in her at all, and even though Clara insisted she looked just like Piper, I couldn’t see that, either. She looked to me like, well, like a baby.
Her sleep was all over the place; she’d be cranking away on a bottle and suddenly start snoring. Then, when we expected her to be asleep for the night, for a long stretch, she’d be wide awake after forty-five minutes.
I’d never given much thought to having kids before, and it never crossed my mind with any woman in my past, but spending so much time in close proximity with Clara and Lea was beginning to shift my priorities.
Atlas, Raven, and Nathaniel had left for Milan and the hunt for QB was on. Atlas checked in with us via an obscure fly fishing message board. He at one end and Piper at the other posted enough innocuous comments and questions to stay active as members and arouse no suspicion, then in direct messages we could exchange information about Lea, Piper, and the hunt for QB.
It seemed the trout were really biting in Idaho.
Atlas, Nathaniel, and Raven had moved into an apartment near the San Siro, Milan’s famous stadium. They spent their days planning and doing recon. The match was less than a week away. Nathaniel, who seemed to “have a guy” everywhere, had brought in two Marseille-based mercenaries he knew, ex-French Foreign Legion guys who were motivated solely by money and would do what and when they were told, without asking any questions. Atlas didn’t relish bringing in outsiders, but Nathaniel assured him that they were professionals and could be trusted to follow orders. The net was surely closing on QB. He’d never see it coming.
I sat on the recliner in the living room, leaning back in the corner with pillows propped up all around me, Lea on her tummy on my chest, fast asleep. I tried reading a book, but my body grew attuned to the baby’s breathing and before I knew it, her weight and tiny snores had me yawning. Piper sat down at the end of the couch, smiling, and put a finger to her lips, indicating that she wanted us to sleep; she’d watch over Lea to make sure she was safe. Clara was out in the guest house taking a nap of her own, and Randall and a younger guy whose name I couldn’t recall were somewhere on the property monitoring everything.
I adjusted Lea slightly to the right to take some of the pressure off my wounded left side and I let myself drift away. I fell quickly into a semi-conscious dream. I was back in the Olympics, in the fencing part of the pentathlon, and between each of my duels I kept leaving the mat to kiss Clara. The kissing got more and more serious, and before long we were in the locker room, tearing each other’s clothes off. Someone was calling my name, to come back to the fencing competition, I guessed, but I didn’t care. I tried to ignore it, but it became more and more insistent.
“Odin!” The voice was louder than a whisper, but somewhere below conversational volume. It repeated, louder and nearer to me. “Odin!” My mind finally registered that the voice wasn’t part of a dream, it was Piper.
I opened my eyes and was face to face with Piper, clearly upset. “Something is happening outside. I heard a crash then voices, I don’t know where Randall or Danny are.”
I sat up, handing Lea to Piper. “Take her down into my room. Close the door behind you. I’ll come for you when it’s safe. Hurry!”
My legs worked again, but my body was stiff and creaky. I couldn’t go anywhere very quickly. The master bedroom was upstairs, and it afforded the best view of the lawn in front of the house and the larger yard on that side. I also knew there were weapons in the closet in that room, so I ascended the steps as rapidly as I could. When I reached the top of the stairs, I heard the front door opening and could see movement. Our security typically used the side door off the kitchen, so my stomach dropped.
I got into the bedroom and looked out into the side yard. I was greeted by the sight of a man I didn’t know dragging our security guard, Randall, behind the bushes out by Clara’s house. He wasn’t moving. This was bad.
I turned to get the assault rifle from the closet, but I was too late.
A man dressed in boots, camo pants, and a tight green t-shirt, a guy almost Atlas’s size, with dark hair and a prominent nose, stood in the doorway with a handgun pointed at me. My hand was on the closet door, just two feet from an AR-15. I thought about going for it, but in my condition I’d never have made it. He had me, dead to rights.
“What you’re wearing is just fine. No need to go in there. Toss your phone over here to me.”
I didn’t see any options. I reached in my pocket and removed my phone, bending over and pitching it to near where he stood.
“Good. Now come on downstairs, pal,” he ordered me.
He pulled a small microphone attached to his collar up to his mouth. “Odin Titan secured.”
Nausea crept up my throat. Piper was in the secret room with Lea, I hoped. Clara might have woken up and gotten into the tunnel. Maybe it was just me they’d found. Maybe it was just me they wanted. It was all too professional and clean to be a robbery. And the guy who had me at gunpoint knew me by name.
This had QB written all over it.
“What do you want with me?” I asked, as calmly as I could.
“Downstairs and sit on the couch. Unless you want some more holes,” he replied. More holes were the last thing I wanted. I returned to the ground floor, slowly, and sat on the couch.
He stood across the room, gun trained on me, for several minutes. He focused on his earpiece a moment then spoke into his mic. “Copy that. No, we still need to sweep upstairs. I only found Odin.”
He then turned his attention back to me. “Piper Kipton. Where is she?”
“Never heard of her,” I replied.
The man holding the gun crossed the room in a flash and backhanded me hard enough to send me off the couch and to the floor. I tasted blood.
“I could just kill you, you know,” he threatened.
“No. You can’t. Or you would have already,” I spit blood and tested the teeth on one side of my face for looseness with my tongue. “Who’s on the other end of that microphone?”
“That would be me,” came a voice from around the corner. A man strolled into the room, late middle age, with a thick shock of white hair. He was short but stocky and solid. His tan and clothing suggested a life of leisure. And money. He reminded me of a retired surgeon, perhaps.
I wiped blood from my chin and met his eyes with mine. I intended my expression to convey defiance.
“This is my home. What do you want?” I asked.
“I believe my associate already told you. Piper Kipton, please. You’ll find I’m a much more reasonable man than my friend here. But if we can’t come to some sort of agreement, I’m afraid I’ll have to let him convince you to cooperate. Which won’t be comfortable at all.”
“What makes you think I know this Piper Kipton person,” I asked.
The white-haired man laughed. “She was in the car with you when you were shot, Odin. As was your brother, Atlas. And Mallory Wright. According to Miss Wright, you reside here with, among others, Atlas and Piper. I know if Atlas were here, he’d have already tried to intervene. But he’s not here, is he? Piper, on the other hand, must be here. As pregnant as she was, I’m sure she didn’t go to Milan, did she?”
My blood ran cold. I could feel the color drain from my face.
“I gather from your expression that their trip to Milan was supposed to be a secret? My birthday is months away. Why in the world would Atlas Titan, Raven Conway, and Nathaniel Surrles want to surprise me in Milan? Hmm? Well, no matter, I’m here and they’re there. I arranged a welcoming committee to greet them and to ensure that they have an exciting time in Italy.”
Atlas and company were walking right into a trap. For all I knew, they’d already been captured. Or worse.
“You’re QB?” I asked.
“In the flesh.”
QB signaled to someone behind me, and I heard footsteps going up the stairs. It wouldn’t take
long to realize nobody was up there, and then they’d get serious about coercing me.
“Your father and brother are stubborn people. I hope you don’t share that annoying personality trait.”
“I’m the stubbornest Titan of all, you miserable bastard,” I spat back at him.
“And you were supposed to be the brains of the family,” QB said, shaking his head. “I’m a reasonable man. I’ll give you one more chance. Piper Kipton. Now.”
25
Clara
To give Piper a break, I’d gotten up with Lea to change and feed her the night before. I’d been able to hang in there until mid-morning, when I’d excused myself for a nap in the guest house. With Raven gone, we’d been using the house as a sanctuary since it was one place where Lea’s cries couldn’t be heard. When she was sweet, she was like cotton candy with buttercream frosting on it. When she was hungry, however, her screams could wake the dead.
I couldn’t believe how readily Odin took to his niece. He held her and just marveled, staring into her big, brown eyes with unbridled love and unvarnished awe. Watching him interact with her made my ovaries flutter.
My sleep was interrupted by a thud outside my window, like something being slammed into the wall. Groggily, I raised up onto my elbows and leaned over to the window, peeking through the Venetian blinds. I quickly sat straight up on the bed and put a hand over my mouth to silence my shriek.
Beneath my window, a fight was taking place. Randall, our security guard, was fending off two men in camo pants and green shirts. I crept back to the window and gently lifted just the corner of the blind, hoping I’d see out, but not be seen.
Randall had knocked one opponent down and turned to face the second. The two men exchanged punches when a fourth man came into view. He touched Randall with a baton and the fight was over. The way he reacted to the baton suggested to me that he’d been hit with electricity.
