AVERY (The Corbin Brothers Book 2)

by Lexie Ray

  I’d always been quick to adapt, but it was Dan who shaped his life around me. We’d walk to the firm together briskly each morning, both of us carrying bags and travel mugs of tea. Once there, I’d sit in on whatever client meetings he wanted me to and help develop ideas for campaigns. When I wasn’t doing that, I was learning design programs from Thor or Jemima, sitting behind them and taking copious notes in my sketchbook. I loved the time I spent at the firm.

  But I loved the time I spent away from the firm, too. Dan loved to walk places, telling me that all great creators went on walks.

  “Walks help soothe the soul,” he said as we drifted through Central Park, looking at the milieu lounging in the sun, exercising, and simply walking, like we were.

  “They keep you from getting fat by sitting at a desk all day,” I offered, my belly at a robust six months.

  Dan laughed at that. “They help you find inspiration out of everything,” he said. “You see things you wouldn’t otherwise see.”

  Dan was all about inspiration, which I loved. I was filling sketchbook after sketchbook, drawing like I hadn’t done since I’d first gotten to New York. We went to museums and galleries, each place giving me new material, ideas of how to shape things in ways I’d never thought of before.

  It was all the education I could’ve asked for without going to college.

  “You can go to college, you know,” Dan said as we ate dinner at a place that had just recently opened near the condo.

  “I’ve been saving money,” I said. My rate as a freelancer was a dream. I was adding more and more money to my savings with each completed project and every consultation.

  “I could help you,” he continued. “We could work on a portfolio and see if you qualified for any grants or scholarships. If all else fails, I wouldn’t mind fronting the tuition.”

  “Do you ever stop giving?” I asked, looking at me. “Don’t you get tired of it? All you do is give, give, give, and all I do is take, take, take.”

  “You give me more than you know,” Dan said.

  “My consultation?” I asked drily. “You pay me for that.”

  Dan shrugged. “I really like having someone with me at the condo,” he admitted. “You brighten my life, Blue. I like going places and seeing things because you’re going and seeing with me.”

  I flushed with pleasure. “I’m happy to tag along.”

  “I mean it,” Dan persisted. “I’ve missed having a companion.”

  “I’m your companion?” I teased.

  “My very best friend.”

  That touched me, warming me from the inside out. I covered his big hand with my small one and smiled at him. I couldn’t believe that this special man had found me. There was no one sweeter in the world.

  With Dan’s help, I quickly started amassing baby products. The marketing firm threw me a baby shower, which gave me more things than I thought I’d ever use. We had to get a second chest of drawers for my room to contain it all.

  And it was Dan who was by my side when I went for my first prenatal doctor’s appointment.

  “I’m guessing this is long overdue,” I said, adjusting my blouse. I’d had to buy practically a whole new wardrobe with my belly getting bigger by the day.

  “It is,” Dan said, taking my hand to help me from the bus, “but if you’ve been feeling fine, I’m sure everything will be okay.”

  We’d taken public transportation across town to an obstetrician that someone from the firm had recommended to us. When my feet finally found the pavement from the step down, we didn’t let go of each other’s hands. It was kind of nice, holding his. It gave me comfort, especially since I didn’t really know what to expect from the doctor’s appointment. Doctors weren’t my favorite things in the world.

  Once inside, I was seen almost immediately. I thought I’d at least have some time in the waiting room with Dan, but they were running ahead of schedule, the receptionist said cheerfully.

  “I’ll be right out here,” Dan promised, standing up with me. I hadn’t released his hand, yet, and squeezed it even tighter.

  “What if something’s wrong with the baby?” I asked, staring at the smiling nurse who was holding the door open for me. “It’ll be my fault, for not going sooner.”

  “Blue, enough,” Dan said, stroking his thumb over my fingers. “Everything’s going to be fine. Do you want me to come with you?”

  I expelled a breath that I’d been holding, hoping that I wouldn’t have to ask him.

  “That would be really nice,” I said, and we walked hand in hand into the labyrinth of hallways and rooms until we got to one with an ultrasound.

  “I need you to undress from the waist down,” the nurse told me. “You can put this sheet around yourself and wait for the doctor.”

  She left me and I stared at Dan. “Why do I have to take my clothes off?” I asked, certain that my face was betraying how terrified I was.

  “It’s part of the procedure,” Dan said. “Here. I’ll even turn around and give you some privacy.”

  He gave me his back and I turned, too, to face away from him. How humiliating. First, I couldn’t muster the courage to go alone to my own doctor’s appointment. Second, I had to undress in front of Dan.

  Sighing, I slipped out of my maternity jeans and folded them over my arm. I chanced a glance over my shoulder and saw Dan doing the exact same thing—peeking over his shoulder.

  “Dan!” I shrieked, whirling around. Something about his little peek tickled my funny bone, and I started laughing. “You pervert!”

  “I’m sorry!” he exclaimed, laughing, too. “I thought you might need something—I didn’t know what I was doing, Blue!”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I said. “I know you couldn’t resist.”

  “You got me there,” he said, his voice making me think that he was a little serious.

  I blushed. “Will you hand me that sheet?”

  “Of course,” Dan said, reaching toward the table. He kept his eyes averted, handing it back to me.

  I put the jeans on an adjacent chair and wrapped the sheet around me before pulling my panties off and dropping them with my jeans. I turned back to Dan, but he had his back firmly to me.

  “I’m really sorry, Blue,” he said as he helped me sit on the table. “That was a violation of your trust.”

  “Oh, stop,” I said, waving him off. “It was funny. And besides,” I bit my lip, feeling racy, “I don’t mind.”

  Dan looked at me, his eyes staring directly into my soul, but was kept from responding by the obstetrician entering.

  More agonizingly embarrassing things followed, but I was comfortable soon enough, swaddled in the sheet and staring at the screen.

  “Okay,” the doctor said. “We’re looking right at your baby, sweetie. See that little arm, there? The baby’s waving at his mama and papa.”

  I glanced away from the screen for a moment to look at Dan. Would it be awkward to correct the doctor and tell her that Dan wasn’t the father? He smiled so kindly at me that I bit my tongue and looked back at the screen.

  There it was. There was the life that I’d helped create, right on the screen in front of me. My baby.

  I inhaled sharply as I felt tears sting my eyes. So many emotions were coursing through my veins—love of my child, appreciation for Dan, despair at Jake, everything. Dan took my hand in both of his and squeezed it.

  “It’s a beautiful baby, Blue,” he said, his voice suspiciously husky.

  I looked over at him in astonishment. When I saw his wet eyes, I absolutely lost it and started sobbing. Here was this beautiful man, touched by something inside him that he didn’t have any part in except for what was becoming the most important thing—supporting me throughout it physically and emotionally.

  Like a bolt out of the blue, I realized that I was falling in love with Dan—now more than ever. He was so loving, so kind, and so handsome that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t realized I loved him from the very start—that night in Mama’s ni
ghtclub. Then, he’d made me feel so special, like I was worth something in spite of everything.

  “I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone for a minute,” the doctor said, smiling. “This can be a deeply emotional, meaningful time for most new parents.”

  She shut the door and Dan cradled my head to his chest as I cried. How did I get so lucky? He was everything to me, even if I was only just beginning to realize it.

  “Can I tell you something?” I asked, my voice muffled by his shirt. “I hope you don’t think it’s weird.”

  “Anything,” he said, pulling away a little to look at my face.

  My dripping blue eyes rose to meet his incredibly dark and beautiful brown eyes. They’d been making me melt for months, even if I didn’t realize it at the time.

  “I wish you were the father of my baby.”

  Dan pressed his lips together and smiled as a tear ran down his cheek.

  “Can I tell you something?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “I wish I were the father of your baby.”

  When our lips touched, softly at first, and then harder, deeper, more frenzied, it was like it was meant to be. The doctor had printed out a picture of the baby, its miniscule arm raised in greeting as if it already knew who its real parents were. I clutched the printout in my hand and kissed Dan powerfully, his lips easing away all of my doubts about the future.

  “Can we go home?” I asked, resting my forehead against his.

  “There’s no place I’d rather go with you,” he said.

  We held hands on the bus the whole way back and started kissing again once we were in the elevator. We laughed at my belly getting in the way of our holding each other. When we got to the condo, it was quiet, warm, dark, and full of promise. I was filled with pleasant butterflies at the thought of what was going to happen next—then butterflies of anxiety as he started undressing me in his room.

  “Wait. Would you mind turning off the lights?” I asked. “I look like a whale, Dan.”

  “You do not look like a whale,” he admonished. “Remember? I saw you at the doctor’s office. You look great.”

  “Please.”

  “I can’t deny you anything,” he said, flicking off the light. “But I hope you know that I think you’re beautiful.”

  The curtains of his bedroom kept the light from the setting sun, and the lights of the slowly illuminating Big Apple, on the outside, making it hard to see each other. I felt relieved—my belly had been feeling bigger than ever lately. As much as I wanted to sleep with Dan, I couldn’t bear to shock him with my enormous baby bump.

  But turning the lights off had unexpected consequences, I quickly discovered. We had to rely on touch—and sound—to do anything. Not being able to see Dan’s hands made their caressing of my face and neck even sweeter. I was able to let go of my hang-ups over my appearance and enjoy what we were offering to each other—a night of pleasure.

  We undressed each other in that quiet darkness, our breathing quickening with each slip of material to the floor. My hands “saw” Dan’s smooth chest, defined pectorals, fit abs, and trim waist. His hands explored my bare shoulders, palmed my full breasts, traversed the curve of my belly.

  Every sense was heightened by the darkness. When our lips touched in the barest of kisses, it felt like Dan was my only lifeline. I latched onto him, kissing him powerfully, wondering where he had been all my life.

  However, deep down, I knew that Dan was right for me at this point in my life. If I’d come across him when I first got to New York, maybe he’d just be another casualty of my free love stage. No, I was wise enough to know that the perfect man had come into the perfect juncture of my life.

  I’d never let him go, not for anything.

  When we stood naked in front of each other, still seeing with our hands, I trailed my fingers all the way down his torso until I reached his stiff shaft. I pumped it up and down once, gratified by his sigh of appreciation, and then we found the bed.

  “I don’t know how this works,” I whispered in between kisses. “How should we do this?”

  “Love will find a way,” Dan said, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

  His fingers slipped in between my labia and probed the wetness he found there. I groaned softly. I hadn’t had sex since Jake—for months and months. This was too sweet, too good, too intense as he slid his fingers around my clitoris. He knew just how to touch me, just when to pull back, to keep me right on the edge of a dangerous, dangerous cliff.

  “I need you inside me,” I moaned. “Please, Dan. Anything, anything. Just take me.”

  I barely knew what I was saying, but he rolled me on my side and drew my leg up to accommodate him. I cried out hotly as he positioned his cock against my body, ready to push into me in a moment’s notice. When the head slipped into my too-wet pussy, it was a revelation. I gasped at the sweet filling, craving even more.

  “I need it, Dan,” I said, sobbing as he stroked my breasts from his position behind me.

  “I know you do, baby,” he said. “I’m going to give you everything you want. Everything.”

  He plunged into me, his cock fire encased in steel, and I gave a long, loud moan. Dan stilled when he was fully encased in my body, and we rested there, enjoying the feeling of joining our bodies together. I was incredibly aroused, but more than anything, I was emotionally filled. Many men had been inside my body, but only Dan had touched me so deeply.

  He started moving, thrusting against me, holding me to him as he pumped in and out. With the angle of our bodies, he struck my sweet spot every single time.

  It had been too long. Within a few minutes, I was coming, a sweet, sweet orgasm rolling over my body. I clenched every muscle I had, riding out the wave and sobbing with relief.

  “You’re so tight,” Dan said, his voice sounding labored, and he grabbed my hips, groaning.

  His wetness filled me pleasantly, making his cock slip in and out even easier.

  He pulled out of my body and held me there until I turned around so I could hug him. I didn’t know what words would be sufficient, so I didn’t say anything. Instead, I held his hand and held him, hoping I could convey what I felt for him.

  I don’t know if it was the hormones or what, but resting there with Dan, my head on his chest, his hand casually playing with my hair, I was ready to go again.

  “Dan?”

  “Hm?”

  I hesitated.

  “What is it, baby?” he asked.

  “I’m horny again,” I said, cringing before bursting out into laughter.

  Dan’s deep, merry laugh joined mine immediately.

  “Well, we can’t have that,” he said. “We’ll have to do something.”

  He pulled me up until I sat astride him. I was glad the lights were off, even if I wanted to look him in the eyes. He would’ve been getting a face full of baby bump.

  His hard cock pressed up against me, in front of my pubic mound.

  “You, too, huh?” I asked, my voice full of joking sympathy.

  “I’ll help you if you help me?” he asked innocently.

  “Of course,” I teased. “It’s only fair.”

  I shrieked as Dan tickled me, rising to a kneeling position to get away from his deadly fingers. When I sank down again, it was to impale myself on his dick.

  I panted as I did the same move again, rising until he was completely outside my body and sinking again until he was completely sheathed.

  “There’s nothing better than this,” I moaned, doing it again. Once he had filled me again, Dan grabbed my hips, keeping me there. He started thrusting upward, the movement making me see stars even in the dark room. I leaned back, allowing him access to my swollen, tender breasts. It felt so good when he plucked at my nipples, sending shockwaves down to my crotch.

  His thrusts were doing more and more to me, rubbing against my sweet spot again. When he added a thumb pressing firmly against my clitoris, I lost it, coming over and over again, one orgasm layered
on top of the other. I’d never experienced anything like it, just a constant pulse of pleasure. I felt like I was going crazy as I screamed, unable to give words to the ecstasy I was going through.

  “That’s my good girl,” Dan said, and his answering groan told me all I needed to know. He was coming with me.

  I fell asleep with his arms around me, my breathing gradually slowing, and realized I had never felt safer.

  Morning came too soon after our night of lovemaking.

  I awoke to light filtering through the curtains, troubled by the empty bed. I relaxed as I heard the shower running, and rose to join him.

  “Good morning,” he said, covered with soap as I slipped under the stream of steaming water with me. “I didn’t want to wake you up.”

  “You should’ve,” I said. “I could wash your back for you.”

  “I would never deny you that pleasure,” Dan joked, turning around.

  The water ran down my body, easing my muscles as I explored Dan’s back. He wasn’t overly muscular, but he was extremely fit, I noticed as I ran my hands down his back. His ass was a peach, just right. I gave it a squeeze as if I were judging its ripeness.

  “Perfect,” I said into his ear.

  He turned around to rinse the rest of the soap off of him while grabbing the bar to help me wash up, and my eyes fell on his pectoral. I stopped breathing, staring at the tattoo there. An eagle. Right over his heart.

  Just like Jake.

  “So I was thinking that we could skip work today,” Dan was saying, not paying attention to what held my rapt attention as he worked the soap over my shoulders and back, hugging me to him. “We could go see an opera or something. It’s been a while for me. You wouldn’t believe the sets and costumes for these kinds of things. Or I heard there was a new exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. I know we’ve been twice already, but I can’t get enough of it.”

  When Dan pushed me gently away from him to soap up my front, he realized I hadn’t been listening, still staring at that tattoo like it was going to fly off his chest and claw my eyes out.

  “Everything okay?” he asked, his voice soft.

  I looked into his eyes. “What does your tattoo mean?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light and failing miserably.