by Sosie Frost
“I do what I can.”
“You’ve picked me up when my car has broken down. Helped me repair a broken pipe outside of my shop in the middle of a blizzard. You’re the kind of guy I can sit and watch a movie with and not worry if I have to dig a popcorn kernel out of my bra.”
“And that makes me baby daddy material?”
“That makes you the perfect guy.” She tilted her head as she stared me down. “Which makes me wonder why no one else has realized it yet.”
Many of them did.
But none of them were worth a damn compared to Déjà.
She wagged her finger at me. “I bet there’s a good reason you aren’t dating anyone.”
“Haven’t found a girl as sweet as you.”
“You’re such a charmer.”
I’d never been charming, only honest.
But her hesitation returned. She studied me, as if trying to figure out my hidden motives, as if my feelings weren’t written on my face.
“Are you sure you want a baby?” she asked.
That wasn’t quite like asking a guy if he wanted a second helping of mashed potatoes at dinner, but the question was easy enough.
“Doesn’t everyone?” I opened a beer from her fridge and took a swig. “I just never thought it’d be now.”
“I’m surprised you agreed.”
“Why?”
“Usually you talk me out of my craziness.”
“The plan isn’t that crazy.” The words stuck in my gut. Christ. Why was this so goddamned hard? “Look, we both want the same things. Family. Kids. Someone we can trust. It’s crazy to do it this way, but this is just one way to do it. Who knows? Maybe this is our right way.”
Her voice softened. “Do you really think so?”
Like she had to convince me to take her to bed, create a baby, and ensure we’d have a perfect life together.
“I can’t imagine doing this with anyone else,” I said. “And I wouldn’t want to. We’ve shared so much already, from when we played together as kids, through high school when I scared off any creep who got near you—”
“There was more than one?”
“—When you went to college…it was the longest four years of my life. I spent every day waiting for summer, when you’d come home and I could see you. When you graduated, it was like you brought back…fuck. Rainbows and sunshine.”
“Really?”
“I lost so much time with you. You went to school and experienced so much shit that we should’ve done together. Those are experiences I can’t get back—and so the thought of you doing this with someone else?” My voice hardened. “It doesn’t sit well with me.”
It wasn’t what I wanted to say.
Or anywhere near how I wanted to say it.
But something about this woman jumbled everything in my head. Rendered me useless, babbling like a fucking idiot who’d mumble every word except the ones I needed to say.
I pulled her to her feet and forced her to look up at me. All she had to do was listen. Help me out. Meet me halfway.
“You’re more than my best friend, Déjà.”
That, she believed, but her hesitance still killed me.
“What if you find someone better?” she asked.
“That person doesn’t exist. There’s no one in this world as beautiful or funny or sweet as you.”
I wrapped her in my arms. Her lips plumped, puffy and wanting. Would’ve been easy to silence myself with her kiss and ignore all the bullshit and trouble of this impossible confession.
But I had to make her realize.
“I’ve never met a woman as beautiful,” I said. “Or generous. Or kind. Or innocent. Dedicated too. When you wanted to open a bookstore, I thought you were crazy. No one reads in Butterpond. But you didn’t quit. I’ve never known anyone who actually followed their dreams, but you showed me it was possible. It was inspiring in that corny, after-school-special, don’t-ever-tell-anybody-I-told-you-that way.”
Déjà’s eyes widened. “Hunter…”
“What I’m trying to say is…fuck. Words aren’t gonna do it justice. I’m not good at this part.” I tightened my grip on her, as if she’d pull away now and I’d never get her back. “You should already know this, Vu. I just have a shit way of explaining myself. But there’s gotta be a part of you that realizes…”
I didn’t get to say it.
Déjà leapt at me. Kissed me.
Wrapped her arms around me so tightly she must’ve feared I’d be the one to leave.
So much for the confession, but if this were the consequence, maybe I’d avoid the truth for a while longer.
Her lips were soft, already parting for the flick of my tongue. I didn’t give it to her, not until she responded first. Tentatively. Innocently. As if she weren’t allowed to slip her tongue against mine.
The first taste of her ignited my blood.
Fuck the words.
So what if I was too chickenshit to tell her the truth?
Her body was soft, her lips hot, and her kiss begging with need.
Maybe I couldn’t say the words. But I could show her what I felt. I’d prove it. Tonight. The next night. Every night after.
I’d give her everything she’d ever wanted. The best sex of her life. The most toe-curling orgasms. Experiences she’d never forget.
And in return?
She’d give me a baby.
6
Déja
We didn’t make it to the bed.
His sweet words and wonderful reassurances were all I needed to rid myself of my fears.
And my clothing.
Why had I even worried? The only consequences from our passion would be the right ones. I didn’t need to figure out what his promises had meant or why they fluttered so perfectly in my chest.
It was time to surrender—to give in and allow those primal, amazing urges to take hold of me.
Hunter was strong enough to pick me up, but our steps were twisted, a wild, shambling mess of clumsy excitement. He kissed me as we crashed into the den—my once tranquil and serene reading room crowded with stacks of books and as much whimsey as I could buy from Pier 1. The books towered over us, thick paperbacks stacked a dozen or more high. Hunter crashed into a bookshelf. An entire collection of Shakespeare landed on his toe. He swore. Tussled. Rammed into my forest-green wingback chair and stubbed the same toe. One twist of our bodies later, and my pile of to-be-sorted 19th Century female-written literature crumpled to the ground…revealing my hardbound Harry Potter collection I’d tried to hide behind the classics.
He lowered me to my feet before destroying any more of my library. Within seconds, he ripped the cushions off the loveseat and tossed them to the floor. My robe was next. His hands furiously tore at my belt, giving it one good tug before the material fell away.
No ceremony. No extravagance.
Just me…naked and ready for his every delight.
I didn’t bother covering myself. Hunter had been right. All I needed was to be comfortable with him to ensure this would be the greatest night of our lives. For the past two days, he’d pampered me, worshiped me, and delighted me.
But I’d longed for one thing he had yet to give me.
Hunter read my mind—as always. He parted from me only long enough to rip his shirt from his muscular chest. His biceps, abs, pecs tensed taut as he stretched the material over his head and tossed it to the floor.
He grabbed me once more, pressing my chest to his. Skin against skin.
I wrapped my arms over his shoulders, welcoming his kiss. His flesh seared against me. Hot. Sweating. Every muscle rock hard beneath my fingertips.
He wrestled with his jeans. Never thought the tinkling of a metal belt clasp could be such a masculine, aggressive sound. It resonated deep in my core, tightening with a newfound excitement as his jeans cast aside.
Suddenly, it was just me and him.
All of him.
The sight of him stole my breath first and my rationality ne
xt.
How the heck would a man that endowed fit inside of me?
And how long did I need to wait to try?
He caressed my cheek with a soft touch. “Are you uncomfortable?”
What a ridiculous question. “No.”
“Are you afraid?”
“Never with you.”
“Are you ready for this?”
I’d been ready for this moment with him for longer than these past two days that we’d spent in constant ecstasy.
And that was a scarier thought than preparing to make a baby.
But my pounding heart didn’t fear this moment. Deep down, I knew this was how it was always meant to be. Hunter was the only man I could imagine taking me to bed, spreading my legs.
Creating a life with me.
Maybe that was why I could suddenly admit that it had always been Hunter. He’d been in my dreams, my fantasies. I’d never wanted to face that truth…
And I couldn’t now.
I already had one monumentally life-changing experience to face before I could decipher all those hidden mysteries.
Hunter lowered me onto the cushions—the soft pink that he’d always hated. Somehow, I doubted he’d have any complaints after this, especially as he eagerly dove over the cushions to claim my lips once more.
His touch sizzled sparks over my bare skin. I shamelessly arched to caress more of my skin against his. My breasts against his broad, rock-hard chest. My pebbled nipples teased his skin, delighting me with shivers and goosebumps.
How was it this man had the power to turn me from hesitant virgin to voracious vixen with a single touch?
I didn’t know what I begged for, and yet I pleaded for more.
His kisses drifted lower, casting a molten path along my body. The heat pooled between my legs. His favorite spot. His flicking tongue soon found the secret within my petals, and he lashed me with delight.
Was this how sex always was?
A barrage of pleasure and perfection that bathed me in his attentions?
A girl could get used to such excitement…
And still demand more.
I twisted beneath him. My hips arched in an unceremonious begging which reduced me to whimpers. I wanted more than his tongue, but I wasn’t yet ready to lose his perfect expertise against my softness.
But, even when I didn’t understand my own desires, Hunter knew what I needed.
And that’s why he went slow. Why he teased and tormented, licked and suckled, and prepared me for the ultimate experience with gentle encouragement and secret kisses.
And just as I threatened to tumble over that delirious edge once more, Hunter pulled away. Grinned. Studied my trembling, aching body with a hungry stare and wolfish intentions.
I went still as he tugged my hips toward him, wrapping my legs around his waist.
No hesitation. No games.
His was a new determination, and one meaningful movement had placed me exactly where he wanted me.
Beneath him.
Our bodies touched. I swallowed. His cock, so hard it throbbed with an almost angry desire, smacked against my stomach.
I had no idea that part of him would be so heavy.
Or big.
The curiosity suffocated me. What would it feel like? How much could I take?
Could I last long enough without exploding so I’d savor the moment when he finally claimed me?
Hunter admired my desperate squirming. He stared at me, at my wetness.
“If you want to come, Vu, you’re gonna do it with me inside of you.”
Such terrible, foul language…and yet it awakened everything inside of me. Those weren’t the words I’d read in my dark romances. That prose whispered of members, helmeted warriors, and love’s sweet arrow.
But Hunter possessed a cock. Thick, wild, and huge.
He stroked it with his hand, staring at my slit with a newfound possession.
And urgency.
He needed to bury himself inside me almost as badly as I needed to feel how deeply I could be embedded upon him.
“No going back now…” Hunter whispered.
Who’d want to go back?
“I’m ready,” I said.
To prove it, I relaxed against the cushions and allowed my legs to fall open. I bit my lip as he stared at my dripping slit, desperate and waiting for more of his attentions.
He had to understand what I felt now. Had to see it, hear it in my panted breaths.
My every instinct demanded that I be taken, mounted, and completed by him.
“Take me?” I whimpered.
His fist tightened over his cock. “Bare?”
“That’s the only way.”
“You want me to take your virginity?”
“It’s always been yours.”
If I revealed too much, Hunter didn’t object. But, then again, he realized the truth as much as I did.
My body belonged to him. My first time would be his. My pleasure his to enjoy.
My baby…his.
His voice lowered, a primal growl of conquest and desire. “I’m going to take you, Déjà. In every way you’ve imagined…and every way you couldn’t begin to believe…”
He stroked his cock before guiding the head between my folds.
I’d never felt such a sensation before. My velvet slickness welcomed his hardened shaft. He wove circles around my clit. Dizzying me. Teasing me. I arched as his cock lowered to my entrance.
All he needed to do was push. Just a little motion. A flex of his hips to claim all parts of me.
But he waited.
He let my body squirm with heated expectation as he leisurely stroked himself and rubbed his pre-cum into my own wetness.
Risky.
Dangerous.
Everything I ever wanted.
“This is going to prove you’re mine,” Hunter said. “I’ll take you. Fill you. Seed you.”
I never thought the possibilities would be so unabashedly desirable. I had no words to rival his deliciously naughty promises, and so I arched. Squirmed. Offered him everything he could possibly demand from a woman.
“I’m gonna come inside you…” His warning thrilled me with shivers. “And you’re gonna take it all. You’re gonna keep it safe, tucked deep in your womb. You’re gonna make me a baby, Déjà. I don’t care how many times it takes or how much cum I’ve gotta bury inside you. I’m going to enjoy your beautiful pussy, hold you tight, and make sure you realize that you have always belonged to me.”
My words failed as his cock rubbed indecent circles over the wettest part of me. He leaned down, guiding his hardness to that slickened secret. Sweat prickled over my skin, and the crushing anticipation nearly suffocated me with sweet delight.
Hunter moved slowly, but I was too eager. I bumped my hips. Gripped the cushions. Begged with soft whispers. The tension coiled me too tight, and I gasped for any sort of reprieve from his relentless teasing.
And when I threatened to unravel, he thrust.
My body welcomed him, submitted to him, like he’d always been my perfect lover.
His bare cock took what he wanted. He pressed hard.
No condom. No birth control.
Just…us.
Me and him and the first of many strokes which would lead us to that final, mind-bending moment when he’d fill me with his heat.
This was how sex was supposed to be—how a man and woman were supposed to surrender to each other. This passion was every reason my body craved his, and why he desired me above all else for this moment.
I seized a shaking breath and took as much of him as I could handle. One inch. Two. I moaned against the intrusion.
But his words calmed me. His touch soothed me.
His fingers brushed my cheek.
He seized me with a single thrust, claiming me with the entirety of his length.
The pinch shocked me, and I cried out for him, more in surprise than of any pain. The sting faded as I realized he’d sheathed within me
. Every inch of his hardened cock embedded inside my clenching secret.
My body tensed, fighting against the thickness stretching me from the inside out…
Yet wanting so much more.
I’d never felt so complete before. So connected to this man.
I stared at him in amazement. His eyes widened, and the beautiful ice in his gaze melted for me.
Hunter filled me, hardening as he stole inch after inch of my conquered body.
A cascade of shivers and breathless shudders overwhelmed me. I drew my hands up, but I didn’t know what to hold or if I could even move. Hunter pinned my body against the cushions, his weight heavy over me. I tossed my head back and groaned questions and fears and encouragement.
But Hunter’s kiss was all I needed to permit him to take him ever deeper. He seized what he wanted and yet ensured that every drag of his thick length struck a sensitive spot inside me.
He didn’t stop until we pressed together flesh against flesh. I shook. Whimpered. Had no protection against his hungry possession.
But Hunter’s whisper was everything I needed to stay grounded in the world.
“You’re burning me alive…” He rasped in my ear with a grunt of masculine satisfaction. “You’re so tight. Made for me.”
At least he realized it too.
Did he also feel the same fluttery confusion which crippled my thoughts and stilled my heart?
“You’re so big…” I arched with a gasp. “So big.”
“Can you take it?”
“Don’t you dare stop.”
Hunter gripped me tighter. “I’ve thought about this every minute of every day for so goddamned long.”
“Never meant to tease you.”
“Not talking about this week, Déjà. Talking about forever. Never thought I’d make you mine. Never thought I’d be so lucky.”
His body tensed through spine-breaking shudders. Hunter hissed a satisfied profanity as his hips ground hard against mine, desperate to drive himself ever deeper.
“Never thought I’d get to be this close to you…” He nipped my neck. “That I could prove it to you…”
