Freed (Bound Duet Book 2)

by Stephie Walls

  Scooting down the bed, I got between his legs in the most ungraceful manner, but he just laughed, and I rolled my eyes. The moment my tongue touched his head, the familiar saltiness sent me reeling, making me wanton for him, and his laughter ceased. I closed my eyes, and my lips surrounded his tip, licking that sensitive V on the underside. I sensed his watching me, taking me in, admiring me as I tried to take care of him. There was something supremely intimate about pleasing him, the entire act being solely for his pleasure.

  “Annie, I won’t last long that way. I want to be inside you with nothing between us.”

  My belly bumped him as I sat up like a daft elephant. My cheeks burned with embarrassment, and I clumsily tried to straddle his thighs. I was beyond ready for his touch, to be connected to him. He encouraged me to lift my hips with his hands so I could position him at my entrance. Our eyes locked, communicating silently, the love flowed between us. And I gingerly slid down, allowing him to fill me.

  “Holy shit, sweetheart. You’re so fucking tight.” Brett almost never cussed, but it lit my world on fire that being intimate caused him to lose restraint.

  The only way I was able to move was by leaning away, my hands pressed against his thighs, and rocking back as he thrust up. It certainly wouldn’t go down as a beautiful dance among lovers, but it was perfectly awkward and felt incredible. Unable to get the penetration he craved, Brett rolled me to the side, pulled my knee up under his elbow, and drove deep. He lunged slowly, repetitively, at an aching pace. I didn’t know if it was the weight of the baby or the angle he was taking me, but he hit that spot that ignited my sexual drive. My mind raced into orbit, unable to focus through the exquisite tingles that overtook my flesh. The throbbing between my legs begged for release, and he finally increased his pace.

  When he was close, he finally commanded, “Look at me, sweetheart.”

  I did as I was told and exploded with him.

  The strongest orgasm I’d ever had sent a warm rush down my leg.

  Brett pulled back, having noticed the liquid on my thigh. “Annie?” he drew my name out in question.

  In my post-orgasmic, sex-filled daze I was startled by the anguish on his chiseled face. “What’s wrong?” My heart raced, realizing something was awry.

  The bed was soaked like someone had poured a glass of water between the two of us to extinguish the flames. Holy crap. I scrambled out of bed and made a break for the shower. I knew the moment he figured out what happened my opportunity to clean up and shave my legs would be gone. It wasn’t rational, but it was where my mind went, so I seized the day—carpe diem. I jumped in a cold shower as he came barreling through the door in search of me. I hadn’t moved that fast in months.

  “Annie, what the hell is going on?”

  I held an even tone and attempted to eliminate any sign of anxiety from my words in an effort to keep him calm. “Nothing. My water broke.” I rubbed a glob of shampoo in my hair while the words sank in. He couldn’t take me out of the shower with soap in my hair, so I claimed victory.

  “Get out of the shower!” The rise in his voice scared the crap out of me. Brett was domineering with everyone in his life, except me. With me, he was alpha, but always, always loving, so I chose to ignore him. “Annie! Get. Out. Of. The. Fucking. Shower. Now!”

  “Brett, I have shampoo in my hair, and I need to shave my legs,” I whined. I wanted to slap myself listening to my voice, but I hoped it would buy me a little more time. I continued to rinse my hair as I grabbed the razor to shave as quickly as humanly possible.

  “No one gives a shit about your having hairy legs. Rinse the shampoo and get out.” He stood brooding in front of the glass door. Damn, he wasn’t going to move until I dragged my body from the confines of the shower to get dressed.

  “Could you get me some clothes and grab my bag? I’ll be out in a second.” Doing as I asked, he left the bathroom while I shaved. It was bad enough there were going to be a handful of people looking at my vajayjay while I gave this baby the old heave-ho; I refused to do it looking like a wooly mammoth.

  I knew I had used my final free pass when he came back in the shower and saw me put the razor down. He swung the door open in a huff, turned off the water without me having conditioned my mop of hair, and wrapped me in a towel.

  “Now.”

  “Bossy much? Sheesh.”

  “Annie, you’re in labor. What the hell are you thinking? You need to get to the hospital. I can’t deliver a baby.” It was cute that he was panicked, and here I stood completely calm. Although, I didn’t get the impression he saw how endearing any of this was.

  “Calm down. Babies take hours to deliver. You saw that with Alissa so stop worrying so much. Have you called Dan and Lissa to come watch the baby?” I asked as I took my time brushing out my hair after lathering my body in lotion and donning the sweats Brett brought me. When I caught him glaring at me in the mirror, I thought it better to twist my hair into a knot on top of my head instead of pushing my luck any farther—drying it was completely out of the question. “Did you grab my bag?”

  “Yes, to both,” he clipped, waiting on the litany of questions I was about to bombard him with before we made it out of the house.

  “Did you get the baby book?”

  He nodded, continuing to pull me toward the stairs. But I stopped in the nursery to kiss my sweet girl goodbye. Brett was smart enough to know not to say a word even if he didn’t let me linger. When I stepped back into the hall, I pulled the door closed behind me and started my questions again.

  “My birthing music?”

  “Baby, I don’t even know what the hell that is, but I grabbed the iPod you said the playlist was on.”

  “Did you call the doctor?”

  “Yes.”

  “Lynn, Scarlett, Jenny?” I wanted Lissa to be with me at the hospital, but she was the only one I trusted to stay with Alissa. When it came down to it, Alissa’s happiness was more important than my own, and Lissa wanted to do what was best for everyone else.

  “Yes.”

  “The car seat?” I don’t know why I asked. It had been in the car for weeks.

  “Sweetheart, I have everything we need. Anything else can be handled later. Lissa and Dan are in the living room. Please just get in the car.”

  I stopped, his arm nearly jerking mine out of the socket. “Brett, I need everything to be perfect.” The tears were threatening to fall. I would not be sad to see these damn hormones go.

  He turned, dropping everything in a pile at his feet to take my cheeks in his hands. At that moment, time stood still, and Brett peered into the windows of my soul. He reassured me in the way only he could—his eyes resonated encouragement, love, and devotion. His words promised to carry me through anything we might face. Our foreheads met, and then our eyes, just before our lips. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and re-centered. When I opened them again, I was ready to go.

  Six hours later, the doctor placed our baby in my arms. The exhaustion I’d felt minutes earlier, dissipated when I saw that sweet face. Chubby little rosy cheeks, a mat of dark brown hair, ten little fingers, ten little toes, and legs that went on forever. We had asked the doctor not to announce the sex of the baby. I had loved discovering that on my own with Alissa, and I wanted our own version of that with this child. Brett had humored me and allowed me to have my way, but I think he had enjoyed it with Alissa. There’s something so different about that level of anticipation—it was the greatest high I’d ever known. The man had a heart of gold and the patience of Job. That conversation took place the same time he asked if I had thought about names. Again, we’d agreed we couldn’t choose a name for the baby until we’d met him or her.

  The nurse encouraged me to open my gown to allow the baby to find my breast when I’d been allowed to get my bundle back. As I did, Brett joined me on the bed and kissed my sweaty cheek. My husband smoothed my tousled hair before leaning down to kiss the head of our newest family member. The doctor stitched me up while the bab
y clung to my skin. I had thought this would all be awkward, having a room full of people watching, pushing a baby out, having a man I love encouraging me through it, and my breast being on display to a room full of medical staff, but it was all oddly comfortable, like I had been designed for this moment. The last few months with Lissa had prepared me for more than I’d realized. When you were in it, you didn’t question it, nature just took over.

  The staff bustled around and finally left us alone. Just the three of us. I couldn’t wait to introduce this child to my daughter at home, and to Lissa and Dan who were as much a part of our family as our children were. The richness I’d been blessed with in the last year was a bit overwhelming.

  “So now that you’ve seen the baby, have any names come to mind?” he asked.

  “Brett, we don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl,” I laughed. Neither of us had been the slightest bit concerned with the sex, only that we were holding this tiny being safely in our world. The baby I wasn’t supposed to be able to carry was not only here, but the second one in our home. I handed our child over to my husband with a soft smile on my lips. As he took the baby in his arms, my heart flooded with warmth. This precious little life that had been bestowed upon us was sleeping in my husband’s arms, and I couldn’t be more content. I began to unfold the blanket that was tightly swaddled around the little body and looked at Brett with mounting anticipation. He returned a glance filled with hope and eyes that sparkled with excitement. Slowly opening the second, only in order of arrival, not significance, greatest gift I’d ever been given, a little chest became exposed. I carefully opened the diaper, so I didn’t disturb the umbilical cord and laughed when I saw we had a son. Never in all the years I’d known Brett had I seen his eyes shine so brightly. Tears trailed his cheeks when he leaned down to nuzzle our little boy.

  Just as I was about to open my mouth to throw out names, my crew pounded on the door, bringing every stuffed gift they could have found within a hundred-mile radius—pink, green, yellow, and blue. They hadn’t known the sex either, so they’d come prepared. I’m sure none of them would mind handing the pinks over to Alissa. They didn’t get to spend a ton of time with her because they all worked, but they were falling in love as quickly as they could.

  I’d quit working when Alissa was born. It was too much to compete at Walton’s and perform to Jack’s standards, and the only place I ever wanted to be was with my daughter and Brett. My friends were having a more difficult time adjusting to my new lifestyle, but I knew they’d come around…it might not be until they had kids of their own, but I could wait.

  Lynn, Jenny, and Scarlett were all beaming as they pushed into the room to be the first to meet the little guy. They had to have been sitting in the waiting room because we hadn’t called anyone to let them know our son had been born. Lissa and Dan didn’t even know yet.

  “So…” Scarlett initiated, “is it a boy or a girl?” She was bouncing back and forth from foot to foot in anticipation.

  Lynn cut in, “With that gorgeous hair, I’m calling girl.”

  I grinned like a jackass and proudly announced, “Boy.”

  The five of us sat there tossing out names—Jackson, Taylor, Slade. That suggestion came out of one of my friends’ mouth, and they instantly lost suggestion power. Liam, Elijah, Jeremiah, and it seemed like hundreds more. But if I liked one, Brett didn’t and vice versa.

  Jenny laughed at us. “You realize they won’t let you take him home until you put a name on the birth certificate, right?”

  “Ugh, this is a tough decision. Why don’t they give you time to get to know this new person before having to sidle them with a name they’ll carry with them forever?” The exhaustion was getting the best of me, causing me to whine unnecessarily.

  My friends noticed my energy level dropping and decided to take their leave. It had been a really long day, and I needed to sleep. They must have stopped by the nurses’ station. Within minutes, one of them had come to retrieve Baby Boy Ryann to take him to the nursery. Once he was gone, I turned to Brett. All I wanted to do was curl up in his arms. I was sore and cranky and just needed the comfort of his fortress.

  “Annie, I love him. I had no idea I could feel that amount for another creature I just met a few hours ago, but he’s a piece of us, and he’s perfect. I can’t wait to hear him call me Daddy and to spend every waking free moment I have with him. I can’t wait to see you being his mother, wandering around our house carrying him on one hip and Alissa on the other—with bare feet.”

  I ignored the bare feet comment as he stroked my hair and then pecked me on the forehead.

  “Sweetheart, I know you’re tired. Get some rest.”

  I turned on my side to attempt to get comfortable enough to sleep. Just before I fell asleep, I craned my neck over my shoulder to see him, desperately wanting him to climb in this tiny bed with me. “Brett?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I love you.”

  “I’ve always loved you. And I love our kids. You’re my heart, Annie. I’ll love you until the day I leave this Earth.”

  I woke sometime in the middle of the night to find Brett sitting on the sofa chair watching me. Wiping the haze from my eyes, I saw concern in his. I sat upright, bolting uncomfortably. “What’s wrong?” I looked around the room for my son, but he was nowhere to be seen.

  “He’s in the nursery, sweetheart. Don’t panic. Everything’s fine.”

  “Why do you look like that then?”

  “Will you let me name him?” That was random and completely unexpected. I was taken aback by the fact that he wanted to and even more so that I wanted to let him. He hadn’t so much as hesitated when I wanted to name Alissa and didn’t quip about the name I’d chosen. This was his son, he deserved this rite of passage.

  “Yes.” It would give him a forever bond that I already had. “Do you have a name in mind?”

  “Yeah, but I want to wait until right before we’re discharged to fill out the paperwork.” A hint of a mischievous smile flashed across his face.

  “Brett, that’s almost two days away! What do you want me to call him between now and then?”

  “Son.”

  Be still my heart; he took my breath away.

  “Okay,” I giggled quietly into the dimly lit room. “Son it is until we fill out the forms.”

  Two days and one circumcision later, I was ready to get the hell out of Dodge. I missed my daughter even though Lissa and Dan had brought her up to see us every day we’d been here. And I missed my bed and my husband in it. Both of our parents and friends had been to the hospital. They had all felt the need to come entertain us, and I used that term loosely. Everyone offered suggestions for names, but Brett and I just looked at each other and smiled. We had it covered—even when they wanted to argue about why we weren’t sharing our child’s name. I don’t think anyone believed me when I fell into a deep belly laugh telling them I couldn’t share something I didn’t know. Then I had encouraged each of them to get Brett to divulge the name he’d chosen, but none were successful. He finally got sick of all of them and booted them out. He closed the door in their faces after telling them to come by the house later to find out if they were that curious.

  As I dressed to go home, moving slowly to keep from making the pain between my legs worse, the nurse brought in our baby. I dressed him in little green pants and a soft white onesie and peppered his little feet with kisses before tucking them into the cutest little socks I had ever seen with bear ears on the tips of the toes. I still couldn’t believe this treasure was ours. Somehow through the pain and the heartache, all the loss over the years, I’d ended up with the one thing I’d always wanted—a family.

  She handed Brett a stack of papers to complete before we left the hospital. In order to remove the security bracelet on Baby Boy Ryann’s ankle and prevent the security alarms from sounding, the paperwork had to be turned back in.

  “Sign where it says mother, and print your name.” He was all business.


  “Brett, you have to tell me what his name is going to be.” This had become a joke.

  I was beginning to wonder if I was going to call my child son or Baby Boy Ryann for the remainder of his life.

  “I will, but I want you to sign first. Then I’ll fill out the paperwork and show you. I don’t want you to argue with me; this way I’ll know you can’t. It’ll be a done deal.”

  I raised my eyebrow at him in concern and confusion.

  “Trust me, sweetheart.”

  I signed the paperwork where the nurse had indicated and handed them back to Brett. He took them to the counter next to the sink and did the same thing before pressing the call button for the nurse. She came in as if she had been waiting outside the door.

  Brett turned toward her and said, “We’re done with these.” And he handed them to her.

  My protest lingered on my tongue when the nurse glanced at the forms and smiled. “Grayson Cole Ryann. I love it. You guys take care of that sweet little man.”

  My mind was quiet, I had no clue what to say. The tears formed and spilled onto my cheeks. I set Grayson down in the carrier Brett had brought up for him, afraid I would drop him. I reached out to my husband who had just committed the most selfless act of any human I’d ever known.

  He gave my little boy a piece of a man who’d dramatically changed my life, a piece of the son I’d never met, and a piece of himself. “Brett,” I croaked out his name as he swallowed me in his embrace. “Thank you.” I sighed in wonder, breathing the words into my husband’s chest. There couldn’t have been a more perfect choice, and I couldn’t have been the one to pick it for it to be right.

  In his choice, Brett managed to heal the last of the wounds that had pained my heart for so long. I no longer carried the weight of guilt over Will’s decisions, or Gray’s. I wasn’t being punished by God with the loss of two pregnancies. He was preparing me for the joy of a healthy marriage and the love of my family. I was exactly who I was supposed to be, and in the place that mattered the most.

  The End