TENSE - Volume Two (The TENSE Duet Book 2)

by Deborah Bladon

  She pats the couch next to where she's sitting. "Sit with me. We need to talk about this."

  "Talk about what?" I cross my legs and drape my arm around her shoulders.

  She's been busy working on a new design since I brought her here from the hospital. I asked the Uber driver to stop so I could buy us each a burger and fries. Sophia laughed when I asked him to stop again at a candy store. She slapped my arm and told me she was kidding about the cravings. They'll come one day if this is all meant to be.

  "I can't move in with you right now." She leans her head back against the cushion of the couch. "I have too much going on. The Ella Kara Collection is going to launch soon and this is where I do my best work. I can't change my life at a moment's notice."

  "You better get used to doing just that." I tug on the corner of her sketchpad. "You're going to be a mom. A baby changes everything whenever the hell it wants to."

  "The doctor said I was only a few weeks along." She pulls the sketchpad back into her lap. "That means I have months to get everything organized."

  "You can organize from my place," I point out. "I'll rearrange some furniture and I'll make room in my office for your sewing machine."

  "That leaves zero room for a nursery." She forms a circle with her fingers. "We can't have a baby there."

  "I'll buy a new place."

  "Not yet." Her voice is laced with exasperation. "We just found out a few hours ago that we're going to be parents. We don't need to rush into anything."

  "I want to rush. I want to live with you. I want us to get married. I want our baby to have a beautiful life."

  Her eyes wash with tears. "Don’t ask me to marry you today. I can't hear that. Don't do it like that."

  "Why not?" I get to my feet so I can stand in front of her. "I'll drop to my knee right here and now. Marry me, Sophia. Be my wife so we can be a family."

  "No." She rises to her feet. "I won't marry you."

  "What?" I push my hands in the front pockets of my jeans, my fingers skimming over the cold metal of my grandfather's ring. "Tell me why you won't."

  Her eyes follow the path of my hands. "You're touching the ring you were going to give to Briella. You asked her to marry you the day you found out she was pregnant."

  I stop and stare at her. "This is different, Sophia. This is us."

  "I know you love me." She perches on her bare tiptoes to kiss my jaw. "Let me have my own story. Let my experience be my own."

  "This is your experience." I embrace her tightly. "This is our experience."

  "I'm not going anywhere. I want to stay here while I finish preparing for the launch of the line. I want you to work on your book and before this baby is born, everything will fall into place the way it's supposed to."

  Chapter 36

  Sophia

  "These are all the stores that we're partnering with?" My gaze volleys between Gabriel and Sasha. "Is this for real?"

  They laugh in unison.

  "It's for real, Sophia." Sasha moves to stand next to me. "Early interest in the line is high. The pictures of the pieces that were leaked online went viral. Our sales department was inundated with calls from the get-go."

  Leaked is a subjective term for what happened. Gabriel and I were at Axel NY sharing lunch when I threw an idea out at him. He was skeptical at first. He's old school which means you keep everything tightly under wraps until press day. I wanted to do something out of the box, and when I finally got him to agree to it, I took pictures of two of my most favorite pieces and uploaded them to a brand new Instagram account with every fashion related hashtag imaginable.

  I tagged the stores I know are a good fit for the Ella Kara Collection and then I started following as many fashion bloggers as I could find. It only took three days before the post had more than ten thousand likes and by a week later that had grown to more than one hundred thousand. It didn't hurt that Claudia Stefano was one of the first to repost the picture with a caption that she wished she could showcase the collection in her boutiques. I remind myself to send her a bouquet of flowers to thank her for fulfilling my request.

  "I'm stunned." I stare at the screen of Sasha's tablet. "We're still showing the line at Fashion Week?"

  "We'll incorporate it into the Arilia show," Gabriel pipes up. "You'll present it and we want your full input on the models, accessories, everything related to the show."

  "I can't wait for that." I push the tablet back to Sasha. "You'll come to the show, right?"

  She decided last week that she'd start the long and winding trail to retirement. She's already cut down to two days a week and by the time Fashion Week is in full swing, she'll be making an appearance here once a month or less.

  "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

  I won't either. I'll be showing by then and everyone here will know that I'm having a baby. I'm not that far along now and although I can't see a difference in my body yet, I can feel it.

  Our baby is still a secret that Nicholas and I cherish.

  "Nick said you two could do dinner on Thursday, "Gabriel says smoothly. "It'll be good for the four of us to catch up."

  It will be. Everyone has been treating me with kid gloves since the ordeal with Franco. I haven't talked a lot about what happened, but I have kept in close touch with Elroy's family. He's doing well, thriving and enjoying life in Arizona with his aunt and his mom.

  Franco didn't bother to fight the charges brought against him. He has a court date approaching. He'll plead guilty which will mean he'll spend the rest of his life in prison.

  "You feel up to having dinner, don't you, Sophia?"

  I look at Sasha. It's not surprising that she'd be the one to ask me. She's kept watch over me since I came back to work. We didn’t discuss what happened, but she hugged me tightly that first day. I've watched her navigate the press effortlessly when they've called in search of an interview and she even loaned me her company-supplied car and driver so I could sneak out each day to avoid the reporters who hung out in the lobby for more than a week.

  Things have calmed. Life has returned to normal except for the issue that I have to discuss with Nicholas tonight.

  "I would love to have dinner." I turn to Gabriel. "There's an open invitation for Sasha to join us, isn't there?"

  "I've asked Sasha to have dinner with Isla and me for years, but," he's interrupted by a chime from his phone. He drops his gaze to it. "I need to go. Sasha knows she's always welcome at my home for dinner."

  "I'll never show up." Sasha gives a curt nod to us both. "I like our relationship the way it is. Breaking bread together will change it."

  "Once you're fully retired then?" Gabriel's eyes dance with humor. "That excuse will cease to exist once you're off the payroll."

  "Good point. I suppose once I'm a free woman I'll have a change of heart."

  I know she will. I see the affection between her and Gabriel. Even when she walks out of this design studio for the last time, Sasha will always be part of the Foster family.

  ***

  "Who knew that your body would be even more beautiful when you're pregnant?" Nicholas runs his hands over my breasts. "Your tits have swollen up."

  Not by much. They're not much bigger than they've always been. My nipples are a hell of a lot more sensitive now. He bites them when he's fucking me and I feel it instantly in my core. "They're still small."

  "They're perfect." He plants a kiss on the side of my breasts. "Are you ready for round two?"

  Round one lasted more than an hour. I was hungry for his cock when I got to his place, so I took him right inside the door. I pushed his jeans down along with his boxers and sucked him without abandon.

  I almost got off myself just from the sounds he was making and the way he pulled my hair. He wasn't gentle when he came down my throat, heated words hissed from his lips and by the time he pulled me to my feet, I was wetter than I'd ever been.

  He didn't waste any of it. He took me to bed, stripped me and ate my pussy until I rocked against
his mouth. I could smell my arousal on his beard when he finally stopped the lashings and climbed on top of me.

  "I love being pregnant." I push up so I can kiss him. "I like that we don't have to use a condom anymore."

  We had a brief discussion after I found out I was pregnant about risk. I'd been tested in the hospital during the blood screen they ran after I was admitted. He was tested right before we met. It was a conversation that seemed unnecessary yet important to us both.

  "That first night when I sank my cock into you without a condom, I thought I'd died," he repeats the words he's said at least a dozen times since I was in the hospital. "You can't possibly understand what it feels like, Sophia."

  "I do." I wink at him. "I feel the same things you do."

  "You can't." He grabs hold of his erection. "You feel what you feel and I feel this being gripped by you."

  "You need to calm down or your penis is going to explode." I look down. "I can jack you off."

  "You can talk dirty to me all day but I'm going to fuck you."

  "Now?"

  He slides his cock over my core, parting the seams of my pussy with the crown. "Now and then again tomorrow morning and then…"

  "I get the picture." I moan as he slides the tip in. "Be gentle. Everything feels so sensitive right now."

  "I'll be as gentle as I can be, but a man only has so much willpower when he's fucking the love of his life."

  Chapter 37

  Nicholas

  "A book?" I straddle her. We fucked and then not two minutes later she whispered in my ear that she's considering an offer for a book deal from my publisher. "You're not serious?"

  She pushes against my chest, a motion meant to urge me to roll to my side. I do. I prop my head up on one hand and stare down at her.

  Jesus, she's beautiful. Her hair is a mess, her lips swollen from my teeth and tongue. She looks well fucked and loved.

  "I haven't given them an answer." Her eyes take on a warm gleam. "I was honored that they even approached me. I'm a fashion designer, not a writer."

  That's a lie. She's been writing to our baby in a journal. It's something she picked up from Cadence, although she hasn't yet told her best friend we're expecting. I've read her words and fuck me; they're filled with everything my heart wants to say.

  She encouraged me to fill in pages of the journal with my own words, but I can't. I tried. I can write the hell out of a novel about murder and intrigue but I can't lay down a sentence for the child I can't wait to meet.

  "When did they make the offer?" I'm curious. I've been on a book tour the last two weeks. I dialed it back after what happened to Sophia, but I've spent more than a few hours with my contact from the publishing house. He hasn't said a word about this although that's not surprising. I doubt like hell Sophia was offered a deal from the same imprint as my books.

  "Yesterday." She blinks. "I told them I needed to talk to the man I love."

  I'm glad. I would have been pissed if she would have given them an answer without my input. This is my wheelhouse. I'm the expert in this arena.

  "I take it they want you to write about what happened with Franco?"

  A smile ghosts her mouth. "That's the conclusion anyone would jump to in a situation like this."

  "That's not an answer, Sophia." I rub my hand over her bare stomach. "What's the book about?"

  "Love."

  I press my hand to her breast. "Love? As in your love for me?"

  She nods. "I might have done something right after we met."

  I quirk both brows. "What might you have done?"

  "This is embarrassing." She shields her eyes with both hands. "I started a blog."

  "You what?"

  "I started a blog about falling in love." She peeks out from between her splayed fingers. "All these women had these dating blogs and I'd read them. They were filled with so much doom and gloom."

  "So you wanted to rewrite their stories?" I ask, mild confusion etching my words.

  "No." She drops her hands. "I wanted to write my story. It was cathartic and helpful, and every night after I worked on my designs, I'd log on and write a post about that day.

  "About us that day?"

  "Sometimes." Her gaze drops to her stomach. "The blog has two parts. Past and present."

  "Your past relationships and your present one?" I tap my forehead. "I think I'm catching on."

  "The past was mostly about growing up and the dreams I had about falling in love. That's my past. The experiences I had pre-him."

  "Him? Me?"

  "Yes." She smiles. "My present is our story now. I've written about my heart on that blog. Finding you, loving you, discovering forever."

  "You'll show it to me?"

  "It was meant for only you." She reaches to the side table to grab her phone. "I was going to show it to you on our wedding night. I thought it was set to private, but I was wrong. A woman posted excerpts of it on her Pinterest account."

  "Seriously?" His grin flashes.

  "She linked back to my blog and traffic went through the roof. I've made it private since the publisher contacted me. They don't know it's me, by the way. I've never used my real name on the blog, or your name."

  My eyes scan her phone's screen and the simple pink blog filled with words written from her heart. "They want to publish the content of this blog?"

  "They do." She laughs. "When they sent me an email through the blog they said it was inspirational and a testament to a modern love story."

  Our love story. "I'm going to read every word of this."

  "For now, I want you to read the last post. I did that one earlier today."

  I hand her the phone so that she can pull up the post. I start reading the moment she hands it back to me.

  Him. He's the dream we all have at night when our heart is still empty. I wanted a forever love and always imagined when I found it that it would mirror what I saw in the kitchen of my parents' home when they were making Sunday dinners for the family. I thought I saw true love in my granddad's tears when he kissed my grandma's coffin before they lowered her into the ground.

  Love with him is different.

  It's grilled cheese sandwiches and piano sonnets.

  It's broad shoulders, black hair, and an incredible mind.

  It's trust, broken and then rebuilt.

  It's tomorrow and a new life.

  I'm going to ask him to marry me today. I don't have a ring. I have a heart. I gave it to him months ago and it's his forever.

  P.S. I think he'll say yes.

  "Yes," I whisper as I drop the phone on the bed between us. "Yes, Sophia. I will marry you."

  Epilogue

  Six Months Later

  Sophia

  "You're staring at your wedding ring again, Sophia."

  I don’t turn to look at him even though he's naked. "I love my ring, Nicholas. I don't think you could have picked a more perfect ring."

  It's true. It's simple but elegant. It's a thin band of diamonds that represents our eternity. It's the only ring I can wear right now. I'm less than a month away from giving birth to our daughter. My oval cut diamond engagement ring is in the safe here in our new apartment, right next to a flash drive that contains every post from my blog.

  I turned the publisher down. The posts were meant for my husband and even before he read them all, I knew that there would ever only be one author in our family. He's riding high on the success of Action's Cause.

  "Gabriel told me that Ella Kara was just picked up by a big chain store in London."

  I love how invested he is in my work. He was there when the collection launched and he held my hand as I navigated the many interviews and podcasts that followed. He coached me on how to handle the inevitable questions about the ordeal I went through with Elroy. I don't discuss it anymore. There's no need. Elroy is happy and I spent two months seeing a therapist Liam recommended. It helped.

  "I'll need to fly there in a few months." I open the calendar app on my phone.
"Gabriel sent me an email about the trip but I haven't looked it over yet."

  "I'll handle it." He tips his chin toward my phone. "Forward that to me and I'll make all the arrangements. It will be Winter's first trip abroad."

  Winter.

  When we met.

  When we fell in love and now, the name of our daughter.

  Winter Rose Wolf.

  "Maybe we can go to Paris too?" I shoot a pointed glance at his body. "I want to make love to my husband there."

  "We'll bring your parents with us and get them a room on another floor." He laughs. "It will be a honeymoon for us and bonding time for them with Winter Rose."

  "I can't wait." I clap my hands together. "I'm hungry. I should make something to eat."

  "After what you just did for me, the least I can do is cook dinner for you."

  Before his shower, I'd taken him in my mouth. I stroked my tongue along every ridge and vein of his cock. I lapped at the wide crown until he came hard and fast, the moan that escaped him sent shivers through my body.

  "That's a deal."

  "Then we'll take off for your surprise baby shower." He pulls on a pair of black boxers. "You're going to act surprised, Sophia."

  "I will." I have to. Cadence went to a lot of trouble to plan this. She started the day I told her I was pregnant. I did it the day after she gave birth to Firi. He's a beautiful boy with a full head of blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes.

  Den and I have joked since that Firi and Kara Foster will get married one day. I held her in my arms last week, a prelude to my own baby who I'll meet in just a few weeks.

  "Put your hand here, Nicholas." I reach out for him. "She's dancing again."

  He rushes to my side and drops to his knees. His hand darts to my belly. "I feel it. I feel my girl."

  "She's the luckiest girl in the world."

  "To have you as a mom," he interrupts me before he presses his lips to my skin. "I love you, Winter Rose. You, your mommy and I are going to have the most incredible adventure together."