“Sweet Alex, what I wanted to say and was afraid to tell you was, I’m pregnant.”
Chapter 28
‡
Alex couldn’t believe what she’d just said. Sirens were going off as the rescue squads arrived. Zak and the other two Team guys had backed away, giving them the privacy they obviously needed. With a tornado of activity going on all around them, her tear-streaked face still smiled back at him. And yes, she looked a tiny bit worried about his reaction. So he’d have to tell her something.
He didn’t have to dig very far. He knew it just as soon as she said it. He was overjoyed with her news.
“Baby, that’s the best thing I’ve heard all day, honest to God.”
He felt her knees buckle. Her eyes closed as she collapsed into him.
“Sweetheart, are you okay?”
A heavyset, graying female paramedic rushed into the destroyed office, surveyed the scene, saw Sydney’s weakened state, and ordered Alex to put her down on the gurney brought in by her skinny male partner behind her.
“She’s—she’s pregnant,” he told the paramedic.
“Gotcha. Hon, you get hurt anywhere? They do anything to you or you fall, sweetheart?”
Sydney tried to sit up and was gently restrained.
“Hold on there. We just want to check you out.” She glanced up at Alex. “You got some water so I don’t have to get it?”
As he maneuvered around the gurney, Zak threw him a fresh bottle. He heard Sydney say, “There’s some—oh wait, my bag is over there on the pile.”
“No, he’s already got you some fresh water, sugar. You just relax and let this nice-looking young man take care of you. It looks like he’s the right kinda medicine for you!”
Sydney smiled, and then began to laugh. “He sure is,” she said after she gave him a bashful expression. Alex lifted her head up and placed the cold water to her mouth. A bit spilled down her neck, and he dabbed it with the blanket. He set the water down on the desk nearby, and then grasped her right hand between both of his, kissing her knuckles. He had never been more proud.
“God, I can’t wait until you get fat. I don’t even care about the volleyball anymore. I just want to see that belly get huge, Sydney.”
The paramedic’s eyes sprung to mock alarm right in the middle of extracting Sydney’s arm from under the soft blanket. “You hear that?” she barked.
Sydney was streaming tears, her lower lip quivering. She could barely say his name. “Alex—”
“Right here, baby.” He leaned over to kiss her and she grabbed his neck, hooking it with her right arm. “Whoa! I’m not going anywhere, Sydney.”
“All I can say—” the paramedic began as she pushed up Sydney’s workout top, wrapped the blood pressure cuff around her left arm and began pumping. Alex glanced upward for the result. After a few seconds, she added in a whisper, “She’s fine, blood pressure amazingly normal.” Placing her very large hand gently against his chest, she added, “Give me a little room, sugar. There will no doubt be time for that later.” She followed it up with a wink.
Alex stood straight and let the woman check Sydney’s cheek, her eyes, and then she moved her head back and forth gently on the white cover. She removed her hands and adjusted the blanket. “You getting more comfortable now?”
Sydney nodded.
“Like I was sayin’, this one here—he’s a keeper! Any man who says something like that, you keep that man around. Don’t you dare let him stray, you hear?”
Carly, Zak and the two other SEALs were chatting in the doorway but stopped when they heard this.
“Carly!” Sydney shouted out, extending her arms wide. Her friend bolted past everyone and wrapped her arms around Sydney’s upper torso.
“Oh, Sydney, you put yourself at too much risk for all of us. I don’t know how you managed to get these guys here to show up, but I’m damn glad you did.” She glanced between the SEALs. “Thank you all.”
“So good to see you well, and the girls?” Sydney asked.
“Oh. My. God. They’re going to have stories. I think the tweets have already started, once they got their cell phones back.” She gave Sydney one last hug. “I need to go check on the girls.” And then she left the office.
“Show’s over folks,” the paramedic said. None of them moved. “Oh, you must be with him.” She crooked her thumb over her shoulder. “All these guys looking all kind of wonderful. Give her some space, let her catch up. Now I gotta go check on some skinny butt, anorexic teenagers. I’ll be back. Don’t leave with my cart, okay, darlin’?” She winked at Alex in an unabashed flirt.
She parted the wall at the doorway and then stopped, turning around, “Young lady, you remember what I told you about him. Keep him around, and I hope you have a beautiful baby. Oh, and I don’t think anything busted up here,” she pointed to her own cheek, “but best get an xray soon anyhow. You rest for a couple of days. Take it easy. Let this guy get all nekked and wait on you hand and foot. You make him shake that fine ass—oh yes, I saw it. You didn’t think old Muriel here would notice such things, but I still do!”
When she left, the room seemed empty.
“She’s right about the rest, you know,” said Alex. He brought his arms around her, scooping her waist so she could feel how badly he wanted to hold her.
“The rest of what?” Sydney whispered, arching backward, her arms above her head.
“The rest. Bed rest.”
“Well then that means you’re gonna get lots too, Alex. I’m going to need an awful lot of tender loving care. Your very best.”
“You’ll have it. You’ll always have it, Sydney. Forever.”
He loved that her softness was coming back. The panic in her eyes was gone, the distraction, masking the hurt and pain. Girls started walking by, and he had to share her with several of them.
“Oh my God, Miss Robinson, we saw you down there, and were like, ‘Oh no!! Leave her alone.’ We were ready to just bust out and take over those guys, but then they started shooting!” With her braces, the enthusiastic teen was slurring her words and spitting all over everyone. She glanced over at Alex. “Is he your boyfriend?”
“No, he’s my fiancé, Janine.”
The girls screamed. Several jumped up and down. “Oh, that is so cool. You were saved by your fiancé. Oh my God. That is just so romantic!”
Several others had similar things to say. Zak and Kurt and Eric stood near the wall, sucking in their waists and expanding their pecs, their arms crossed, exposing a lot of ink.
After the bevy of well-wishers and mothers were gone, Alex lifted the blanket. “Come on, sweetheart. Time to get home, get showered up, and get your butt in the bed where it belongs.”
She placed her arm around his shoulder and neck, and he lifted her in his arms. Out in the main gym area, several white sheets covered the bodies of the kidnappers. Two were still alive, being escorted by police. Sydney waved to one of them as they passed by. A news crew was trying to gain entry and was barred at the doorway.
“Does the investigator need to speak to me?” he asked Zak.
“Not today. I filled him in. He knows you have to take her home. You sure she doesn’t need to go to the hospital?”
He turned and spat out his answer at the same time Sydney did. “No!” Then he softened. “We’ll do that after she’s rested up.”
Back at her apartment, he insisted on carrying her up the stairs. They’d retrieved her wallet at the gym along with the bag, which he’d slung over his shoulder. He unlocked the door and carried her over the threshold.
“I guess I better enjoy this while I can. I won’t be able to carry you much longer, will I?”
“Oh stop it, Alex. I’m not going to get that big.”
“Oh, but sweetheart, you get as big as you want. I honestly don’t care.”
“I’m pregnant, not fat. I won’t get fat.”
He set her down but couldn’t keep his hands off her. “And I believe you, I honestly do! Just want you
to know, Sydney, it’s okay with me. We want a healthy baby. That’s all that matters.”
“So I guess that means skydiving tomorrow is out?”
“Absolutely it’s out. After what you just went through today?”
“Well then, whatever can we do?”
“Well,”—he scratched the back of his neck—“I’m thinking of a few things we could do, once you’re settled.” He added, “You should take that warmup stuff off, to begin with.”
“Okay. Why don’t you sit right there?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said as he fell back into the easy chair.
She unzipped her top, slowly. Too slowly. She carefully revealed the yellow top he’d seen on those darned magazines. He licked his lips, suddenly parched for the taste of her. That brought a smile to her lips.
She let the top drop to the ground, then stepped out of her shoes. Next she pushed her pants down those gorgeous thighs, and then stepped out of them all together.
Her little yellow uniform was on parade as she slowly turned. The woman didn’t have an extra ounce of fat anywhere. Her calves were well defined, even her toes looked sexy. She angled her hips as she presented her backside to him, the thong not covering one damn thing. Her butt cheeks were tight and compact like ripe fruit.
He was glad he never saw her play on the beach in the flesh. He’d have been so jealous, he’d have gotten into trouble. But she wore her outfit with complete confidence. Not an ounce of self-consciousness in her. She was a lean, mean spike and jumping machine. Her long muscled arms hung down gracefully at her sides, her wrists small, her cherry-red fingernails splayed out.
When she was facing him again, she slipped one strap of her top over her shoulder, then the other. The little halter top was pulled up and over her head. Her arms crossed, revealing her washboard abs. She stood with her right knee bent, her hips at an angle, her awesome form now naked from below her navel up. She threw the top at him. Hard.
That got to him. He was on his feet, pursuing her as she screamed and scampered into the bathroom, trying to close the door. He forced it open, enjoying the chase, enjoying her strength and her defiance of him. She had him wrapped around her little finger.
She turned on the shower, stepping inside with her little thong still intact. Her eyes taunted him, as if she thought the shower would make her safe. He kicked off his shoes and stepped into the stall fully clothed. Warm water drizzled down his back, soaking his shirt. He fell to his knees, almost in a beg, as he reached over with both hands and gripped the thong pulling it down her backside. As it fell to her knees, he buried his head in her crotch.
She was sweaty and salty tasting. But once he got his tongue inside, her moistness was sweet. He sucked her bud and heard her moan.
“Are you for real, Sydney? Is this all for real?”
She was backed into the corner, one foot balancing on the tiled ledge, exposing herself to him intimately. His forefinger rubbed the wet length of her slit, before he gently inserted two fingers and watched for signs this was not allowed. He bit the delicate folds of her labia and swirled his tongue over her little nub.
Quickly, she was on him, her long legs wrapped around his waist. She ripped apart his shirt, the buttons popping on the floor of the shower. She bit his nipple and then kissed up his neck. At last their mouths connected while she pulled his shirt off one shoulder and then the other.
He sat her on the ledge and removed the rest of his shirt, throwing it over the glass enclosure. He began to unbutton his wet pants, but she was suddenly on her knees, hungrily doing it for him, shedding the wet jeans to his ankles. He felt her hands inside his shorts and then they slid the elastic waistband down his thighs.
She pulled herself up on him, her powerful thigh muscles hugging his waist, as she angled and then found him at her opening.
They were face to face, the water splashing from his shoulder into her eyes. While the large droplets sluiced down between them both, she forced herself down on him as he held her buttocks, squeezing hard and pressing her deeper.
He knew he couldn’t hold out long at all especially as she began riding him up and down. She increased the frequency until he could hold on no longer. She didn’t stop while he pumped her full until he felt her internal twitching. She pressed herself hard against him, holding on to him with her incredibly strong arms, nearly squeezing the air right out of him.
They began the slow descent together, touching and kissing, rubbing gel on each other. She kneeled at his feet and helped him step out of his wet boxers and jeans, depositing them outside the shower door. Still on her knees, she poured the lemon-scented shower gel over his legs, smoothing his calves, knees and thighs with her delicate fingers. She washed his cock, squeezing his balls before moving up to rub gel all over his chest, down his arms, and up his neck. Then she turned him around and did the same to his back.
He turned back to face her, “I’m supposed to wait on you,” he whispered to her wet hair.
“I know,” she said, outlining his lips with her forefinger, “but I couldn’t stop myself. Somehow, I’m always out of control around you.”
“Me too, sweetheart.”
“Promise me something.”
“I promise.”
“Promise me you won’t be gone when our baby is born.”
“Sweetheart, I can’t promise that, but I’ll try.” He didn’t want to ask, but he had to. “Are you saying you want me to get out?”
“No, Alex. That’s who you are. I just want you to be there. Not on a monitor somewhere else. Don’t let them take that away from us.”
“It really does depend on what we get. But I won’t volunteer for anything if there’s a chance it will interfere. That’s the best I can do. I’ll work miracles to see to it that I’m there. I do promise that.”
“That’s good enough for me. I want you here for all the big events in my life, in our lives. In our baby’s life.”
“We’ll find a way, Sydney. Maybe I won’t re-up. Maybe I’ll stay here and we’ll do the winery. You can continue to coach, if you want. Or go for the AVP tour after the baby’s here. Anything you want, sweetheart. What do you say?”
“If you’re by my side, anything is possible, Alex. Anything.”
It was his time to kneel. He kissed her firm belly, rubbing his palm over the flat, toned flesh, and whispered, “I’m your daddy. And I’ll love you both forever.”
* * *
About the Author
Sharon Hamilton
NYT and USA Today best-selling author Sharon Hamilton’s award-winning Navy SEAL Brotherhood series have been a fan favorite from the day the first one was released. They’ve earned her the coveted Amazon author ranking of #1 in Romantic Suspense, Military Romance and Contemporary Romance categories, as well as in Gothic Romance for her Vampires of Tuscany and Guardian Angels. Her characters follow a sometimes rocky road to redemption through passion and true love.
Her Golden Vampires of Tuscany are not like any vamps you’ve read about before, since they don’t go to ground and can walk around in the full light of the sun.
Her Guardian Angels struggle with the human charges they are sent to save, often escaping their vanilla world of Heaven for the brief human one. You won’t find any of these beings in any Sunday school class.
She lives in Sonoma County, California with her husband and two Dobermans. A lifelong organic gardener, when she’s not writing, she’s getting verra verra dirty in the mud, or wandering Farmers Markets looking for new Heirloom varieties of vegetables and flowers.
She loves hearing from her fans:
[email protected]
Her website is:
www.authorsharonhamilton.com
Find out more about Sharon, her upcoming releases, appearances and news from her newsletter.
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Life is one fool thing after another.
Love is two fool things after each other.
Series Overview
SEAL BROTHERHOOD SERIES OVERVIEW
SEAL Encounter (Novella #.5)
Accidental SEAL (Book #1)
SEAL Endeavor (Novella #1.5)
Fallen SEAL Legacy (Book #2)
SEAL Under Covers (Book #3)
SEAL The Deal (Book #4)
Cruisin’ For A SEAL (Book #5)
SEAL My Destiny (Book #6)
SEAL Of My Heart (Book #7)
Fredo’s Secret (Novella)
BAD BOYS OF SEAL TEAM 3 SERIES OVERVIEW
SEAL’s Promise (Book #1)
SEAL My Home (Book #2)
SEAL’s Code (Book #3)
BAND OF BACHELORS SERIES OVERVIEW
Lucas (Book #1)
Alex (Book #2)
TRUE BLUE SEALS SERIES OVERVIEW
True Navy Blue (Novella #.5)
Zak (Book #1)
NASHVILLE SEALS SERIES OVERVIEW
Nashville SEAL (Novella #1)
Jameson (Book #2) – Coming 2016
GOLDEN VAMPIRES OF TUSCANY SERIES OVERVIEW
Honeymoon Bite (Book #1)
Mortal Bite (Book #2)
THE GUARDIANS SERIES OVERVIEW
Heavenly Lover (Book #1)
Underworld Lover (Book #2)
Underworld Queen (Book #3)
Box Sets
SEAL Brotherhood Series Prequel Novella, SEAL Encounter, and Book 1, Accidental SEAL, are available in a convenient digital box set format
SEAL Brotherhood Box Set 1
SEAL Brotherhood Series Prequel Novella, SEAL Endeavor, and Book 2, Fallen SEAL Legacy, are available in a convenient digital box set format
SEAL Brotherhood Box Set 2
SEAL Brotherhood Series Books 1-4 (plus 2 prequel novellas) are available in a convenient digital box set format
Ultimate SEAL Collection 1
SEAL Brotherhood Series Books 5-7 are available in a convenient digital box set format
Ultimate SEAL Collection 2
Golden Vampires of Tuscany Series Books 1-2 and The Guardians Series Books 1-3 are available in a convenient digital box set format
Band of Bachelors: Alex, Book 2 Page 20
