Her eyes went wide.
He came to.
“Wait!” He strode forward and reached in, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her into his arms. As she melted into his embrace a smattering of applause broke out among the elevator riders and the doors shushed closed.
He couldn’t believe it! Was this for real?
Was the warm, living bundle of woman in his arms really Macy?
She tipped her head back and smiled up at him, tears spilling down her cheeks. His own eyes prickled, his throat felt tight.
“Hello, Jerrod,” she said.
“Macy?”
He lowered his head and kissed her. Softly at first, their breaths mingling as they drew away and then kissed again. And then, as it began to sink in that it really was Macy he held in his arms, and not some crazy replay of the fantasies he’d been having these last four months, he groaned and gathered her closer, deepening the kiss. Who knows how long they might have stood there, locked in each other’s arms, if a crowd of would-be passengers hadn’t surged toward the elevator?
Jerrod lifted his head and chuckled. “I guess we better get out of the way before we get mowed down.”
She smiled and nodded, wiping her face.
Five minutes later they had settled across from each other in a back booth of the coffee shop on the second floor. Mid-afternoon, the place was a tomb. He reached over and took her hand, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles.
“What are you doing here, Macy?”
“I got your Christmas card. It—it made me want to see you.” She shrugged. “Leticia let me borrow her car and here I am. I may do some shopping while I’m in town.”
“Does your father know you’re here?”
“Are you kidding?” She giggled and he found himself laughing along. Maybe what Chuck didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. It wasn’t like they were going to end up in bed this time. He would hold his libido firmly in check. But God, it was good to see her.
“You look wonderful. I’ve missed you,” he said.
Her gray eyes studied him for a long moment, light from the window hitting her face just right so that the gold flecks in them looked like Christmas stars.
“I’ve missed you too.”
“Peter has missed you as well. He went into a two-week depression after you left.”
“Poor little guy.”
“And poor me. I’ve been in very sad shape myself,” he admitted, trying to keep a teasing tone in his voice.
She frowned briefly, toying with her spoon, and then pierced him with her gaze. “Don’t kid around, okay?”
“Okay.” His heart began to pound roughly.
She hesitated, measuring him against some unknown criteria before she finally spoke. “I want to come home, Jerrod.”
“Home?” He honestly wasn’t sure what she meant.
“Yes. Here. Your house. Home.” She was staring at him, waiting for his response.
What could he say?
“Oh, Macy, honey. That sounds so good to me. But baby, what about school, and your dad and your friends, and having a life with people your own age?”
“It’s not what I want,” she said somberly. “I’ve been trying to do that since August, because that’s what you and my dad both kept telling me I should want. But I’ve just been going through the motions. Don’t make me keep doing that. Please.”
Jerrod sat back and stared at her.
A new and stunning idea bloomed in his head.
What if he was wrong?
Maybe, just because he had twenty some years on the girl it didn’t mean he knew what was better for her. For them. It was true he made his living with his mind. Knowing what was right and just and good made him excellent at his job. But what if mastery in his profession didn’t necessarily apply to his personal life? It was an exhilarating idea.
Maybe Macy knows best this time.
Cautiously, he let his heart crack open just a sliver. He let himself imagine what it might be like to have Macy back with him every day. To start over again with her without the complications of their attorney-client relationship, her virginity, her father’s looming presence. There wasn’t much Chuck could do about their relationship if Macy no longer lived at home.
As Jerrod let the imaginings take hold and become real, he was suffused with feelings of vast relief and simple joy. The list of considerations that he had always used to keep her at arm’s length crumbled to dust. And then there was only Macy herself, sitting opposite him in the café, looking uncertain but determined in her little knit cap.
It was worth the risk! Maybe someday she would leave him and go away with someone younger and more virile. He could see now that that was his deepest fear. But between now and then he would take her love for him and savor every golden moment they had together.
“Stay with me, Macy.” He heard his voice shake with passion and unshed tears. As soon as he spoke, his chest seemed to fill with light.
“Are you sure?” Her expression hadn’t changed yet; she seemed uncertain about whether to believe him.
“I’m sure.” More light poured in. He was sure. This is what he wanted, to spend the rest of his life with Macy. Smart, funny, beautiful, sexy Macy.
A happy smile broke across her face.
* * * *
Later that night he took her hand and led her up the stairs to his bedroom. To their bedroom, he corrected himself, grinning broadly. They’d bought a Christmas tree that afternoon and decorated it, and now the whole house smelled of evergreens and the jars of cinnamon candles she’d lit and placed along the fireplace mantle. There hadn’t been a Christmas in this house last year, but today Macy’s child-like enthusiasm had brought the holidays fully back to life.
He turned on the bedside lamp and pulled her close. She came into his arms with a sigh and lifted her lips. He tasted her, and his need rose hard and rigid against her belly.
Without breaking the kiss, he found the buttons of her blouse and opened them, filling his palms with her naked breasts. They seemed fuller and heavier than he remembered, and his cock twitched in anticipation.
“Jerrod?”
“Hmm?” He thumbed her nipples and she squirmed, her tummy brushing his erection provocatively.
“Jerrod, there’s something I want you to feel.”
He drew back. What had she just said? He grinned. “I’m game.”
She unzipped her jeans and pushed them down. Then she took both his hands in hers and placed them on her abdomen. Beneath her silky skin, her belly was firm and slightly rounded.
She stared up into his face.
“This is your baby.”
Stunned, he jerked his hands away.
“What? You’re pregnant?”
His mind reeled. How could there be a baby? They’d used condoms every time they’d fucked. Of course that was no guarantee; condoms could break. But he’d always assumed that happened to other people, not to him. He took two steps back and shoved his hands through his hair, struggling to process this piece of news. Macy waited silently, her eyes steady and dark as she watched him.
A baby! Without question, the child must be his. The slight curve of her little belly told him she was several months along, and he knew there had been no one before him.
No wonder she wanted to “come home.” No doubt Chuck had been livid when he found out his little girl was pregnant. He’d probably booted her out. What better way to solve her problems than to show up on his doorstep and beg him to take her in?
Uneasy sensations unfurled in his gut. Did she really care about him? Or was she only using him—again—to help her out of a jam?
* * * *
Macy watched the parade of expressions cross Jerrod’s face. Fear fluttered through her for a moment, but she pushed it down, clinging to her resolve.
Give him time. She’d had weeks and weeks to get used to the idea of the baby growing inside her. Jerrod had only just found out he was going to be a daddy. But he was a good man. A loving man. H
e would stand by her.
Sure of whom she knew her man to be, she closed the distance between them and went down on her knees before him.
“What are you doing?” His voice was harsh. She ignored his protests.
Her fingers worked his zipper and pulled his slacks down. She reached for the waistband of his boxers.
“Macy! Baby! What the hell?”
She slid his boxers down, releasing his cock. It bobbed eagerly, already thick and hard, and she guided it into her mouth.
Jerrod let out a groan.
“No...”
Despite his protest, he didn’t try to pull out of her mouth. He stood with his legs braced, his head down, watching her as she sucked him deep into her throat. His cock filled her mouth, vital and straining. Macy stroked down his length and cupped his sack, massaging his balls and squeezing at the top the way he liked. He groaned again.
She tongued his glans, playing with the sensitive rim, tasting his excitement leaking from the tip like salty liqueur. His fingers tangled in her hair and he bit out her name between ragged breaths. His hips began to move as he pumped hard into her mouth. Recognizing that he was close to coming, Macy circled her lips and used her hands in concert for maximum effect. She felt his balls draw up, and then he braced himself and pulled free of her mouth, spraying her breasts with hot cum.
Letting the sticky fluid drip unheeded down her breasts and belly, Macy reached up and brought his flaccid cock back to her mouth. She kissed him there and then held him to her cheek and looked up.
“I love you, Jerrod, baby or no. I always did. I just never had the courage to tell you.”
* * * *
Jerrod’s head began to clear, his pulse slowing as a swell of raw emotion surged through him. What was wrong with him? The mother of his unborn child knelt at his feet, her face shining with pure love for him. Could he look into those beautiful gray eyes and doubt what he saw there?
Of course she wants to come home to you, fool. This is where Macy belongs. Macy, and the baby too. Our baby.
The truth was so simple, wasn’t it?
He reached down and lifted her up to her feet, his arms going tight around her. His heart was pounding at the idea of what stretched ahead for them. A whole new beginning, on their own terms this time. A loving partnership.
A family.
He kissed her, his tongue finding its way into the warm, welcoming home of her mouth. She moaned, her hands climbing his back to bring him closer. They stood that way for several minutes, locked in the kiss.
Finally he drew back.
“I love you, Macy. I really do. And our baby too. Welcome home.”
Epilogue
Jerrod dozed, his stocking feet angled toward the fireplace, where a cheery fire crackled. In the warm room, the fir boughs on the mantle gave off their sweet woodsy scent, filling the air with the smell of Christmas. He drifted in and out of sleep, his dreams flowing and tearing into gauzy fragments.
In one dream, Macy laughed and ran along the beach with a bundle of some kind in her arms. Was it a coat? A kite? Was it Peter-the-cat wrapped up in a blanket? He couldn’t be sure.
Now the dream shifted and he could see Macy far in the distance, walking along the edge of the water, holding the hand of a small child. The toddler looked up and saw him.
“Daddy!” she cried. Macy laughed and let go of Malea’s hand. The child ran toward him on her short, chubby legs, blonde curls catching in the breeze. “Daddy! Daddy!”
Something soft and wet smacked him in the face. He jerked his eyes open.
“Daddy!” Malea stood next to the couch, peering into his face from just inches away. Her warm breath feathered over her face, smelling of bubblegum toothpaste. She was dressed in yellow pajamas. In her hand she clutched her favorite bath toy, a stuffed terrycloth dolphin. “Took a baff, Daddy.”
“I can see that.” He grinned at her, his nose filling with the smell of baby powder and shampoo. Over Malea’s shoulder, he caught sight of Macy standing in the doorway, watching them fondly. Her sleeves were wet up to the elbow and the front of her sweater was soaking wet as well. “Looks like Mommy had a bath too.”
Macy laughed. “Feels like it too. Can you take over now, Jerrod? I promised her a story, but I still have two chapters to read for my final tomorrow.”
“Of course. Sorry. I didn’t mean to nap so long.” He sat up and stretched, then gathered Malea into his arms. She gave a happy squeal and wrapped her little arms around his neck.
He started down the hall toward his daughter’s bedroom, stopping briefly at the gallery wall where their wedding portrait hung, surrounded by smaller framed photos of baby Malea, and several of Grandpa Chuck or big sister Allie holding the little girl. He shook his head in wonder. The last three years had disappeared like snowflakes on a sun-warmed stone. Where had the time gone?
“So you want a story, huh?”
He flicked on the light in Malea’s room and headed for the well-stocked bookshelf.
“Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Moon,” she crowed.
“But we just read that last night.” He chuckled as he picked up her favorite book and settled into the overstuffed chair beside the window. Outside, fat white flakes drifted through the dark in lazy swirls.
“Goodnight Moon,” she insisted.
He kissed the top of her head, opened the book, and began to read.
Twenty minutes later, Jerrod turned off Malea’s light and padded down the hallway toward the master bedroom. In one corner, Macy sat in a puddle of lamplight, legs crossed beneath her and head bent over her textbook. She looked much the same as the first time he’d seen her, but her new, more practical short hairstyle had taken some getting used to. He’d decided it gave her a sexy, pixieish air.
She looked up, smiling lazy and slow.
“Let me guess. Goodnight Moon?”
They laughed together. He came around the back of her chair and let his hands rest on her slender shoulders, massaging lightly. Absently, she lifted one hand and touched his fingers. He reached lower, covering the swell of her breasts. That got her attention. She leaned her head back and smiled up at him.
“I’m not going to graduate this spring if you don’t let me get this reading done.”
“I still don’t know if the Preston family really needs two lawyers in it.”
“I do.” She grinned at him with that air of self-assurance he had come to treasure.
He smiled back, loving her so much it was almost like pain. He shrugged.
She’s been right all along about everything else. Macy no doubt knows best about this too.
About Pepper Anthony
Like most writers, Pepper has done a lot of other things along the way to being published—voice actor, artist, bookkeeper, retail sales—but her first, best love has always been writing. Her first erotic short story was released in an anthology in early 2011, followed by a novella and two other shorts. Now she is working to make writing the full time career of her dreams.
Pepper has two grown sons. She lives in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains near Portland, Oregon with her very supportive husband and a small menagerie of furry writing assistants. A firm believer in the Law of Attraction, she likes to remind her friends: we create in our lives that which we choose to focus most upon. So fill your head with positive—sexy!—thoughts.
Pepper’s Website:
www.pepperanthony.com
Reader eMail:
[email protected]
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
hank you for reading books on Archive.
Macy's Awakening Page 10
