Becoming Faith

by Joy Eileen

  “Come on.” He grabbed my hand and led me to the room across the hallway. “Now where were we?” he asked when he opened the room that was obviously ours.

  A large bed sat against the wall. It was decorated in a deep burgundy comforter, but other than that the room was bare like the rest of the house.

  “A bed. How convenient.” I smirked at him while he pulled me toward the bed.

  “A guy can dream,” Kill responded.

  When we reached the bed, he turned, and we went right back to where we were. The frantic lust urged us on. His lips branded my skin. The heat only Kill elicited ran through me, making my blood burn with need.

  “It’s been too long, Slick,” he murmured, his hands pushing my shirt up and over my head.

  “We were together this morning,” I panted. My head fell back to give him greater access.

  Kill’s lips attacked the skin, licking and sucking until he reached my breasts. The pregnancy made my already large breasts even bigger, and Kill couldn’t get enough of them. Their sensitivity was out of this world, and from teasing them alone my body was quivering. Kill’s lips found my nipple, and I cried out. Kill held me to him as we tumbled to the bed.

  “It’s been too long just being us,” he explained.

  I agreed.

  We knew touring would be hard to find privacy, and we weren’t wasting the alone time we were granted.

  Kill’s hands pushed my pants down, kicking his jeans off at the same time. Once his skin was bared, we became more frantic to get to each other. I yanked Kill’s shirt off and my hands traced his abdomen, making the muscles tremble. The scruff of his beard scraped against my skin, goosebumps erupting all over my body.

  “You are so gorgeous,” Kill murmured, his eyes roaming all over me.

  My belly strained between us. I felt like a whale, but the look on Kill’s face clearly showed he meant what he said.

  He licked my nipple, making my back arch off the bed. His gaze roamed over my body, burning wherever his eyes touched. In a frenzied movement, Kill slid into me. We both groaned, the connection ratcheting up our lust. His hands grabbed my breasts as he thrust in and out of me in a hurried pace.

  My sensitive skin came alive as his calloused hands grazed me. We could have been together a million times, and Kill would always act as if he was memorizing my body for the first time. I lifted my hands to get him to come to me.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, sweat beading on his forehead. He tried to arch around my rounded stomach, but it was too big.

  “I have an idea,” I said, flipping around.

  “Shit, Slick,” he groaned, watching intently when I pushed onto my hands and knees.

  I glanced over my shoulder and winked. Kill smirked. He entered me from behind, our eyes still locked on each other. His large hands grasped my hips, moving against me. My smile melted off my face. In this position Kill hit exactly where I wanted him.

  I clenched the comforter in my hands, pushing back against him. Our sweat slicked bodies slapped together as we unleashed the love and pent-up lust between us. I urged Kill to go faster. The buildup was close to bursting, and I was eager to let go.

  Kill leaned over me, his hands finding my aching nipples. He pinched them, his teeth grazing the back of my neck. A scream wrenched from me. My arms shuddered and I nearly collapsed from the intensity of my release. My body pulsed around him, milking his shaft as he continued to move. Kill’s teeth sank in a little further as I felt the beginning of his release. He jerked inside of me, throbbing against my walls. My name was a cry on his lips as he curled against me.

  When I regained the ability to move, I rolled over, and Kill nestled in behind me. His hand roamed over my stomach, my eyes growing sleepy.

  “You did a good job picking out the bed,” I told him, pushing further into his warmth.

  “I don’t know. I think we’re going to have to test it at least a hundred more times to see if I like it.”

  I giggled before a yawn escaped me.

  “We need to get back. I’m sure your parents are going insane wanting to know what you think of the compound.”

  “Why can’t we stay here?”

  “The water’s not running yet, and there really isn’t much in here. Besides, I know Martha and your dad want to visit with you before we have to leave again. Martha has our old room ready for us.”

  “How weird is it that I’ve never been in your old room.”

  “It was never my room. And I like ours better. It was always just us. It’s where we had our first kiss.”

  A smile fluttered on my lips, remembering his mouth slamming into mine when I finally admitted I trusted him.

  “You’re right. It is our room, but I have to admit this one’s growing on me.”

  He was right that we couldn’t stay here, yet the longer I lay in bed the harder it was to see his point.

  “Come on, Slick. I’ll get you a decaf coffee.”

  “You play hardball, Killer. Add a scone and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

  Kill laughed, gathering our clothes and helping me get dressed. I made him take me on one more walk through of the house. We talked about decorating ideas, holding hands and enjoying the time we had.

  True to his word, I had a large coffee and a scone in my hand when we walked into the chaos of my parents’ new home.

  Thanksgiving went by in a blur of reminiscing, planning, food, and love. When the plane pulled onto the runway, Kill’s shirt was soaked.

  It was silly. I was being so emotional. My book tour would be over in a couple of weeks, and I would be back for good.

  With the due date in January, I would be staying home after the boys’ show in Portland on New Year’s Eve.

  Even though Dr. Dacky assured us the baby seemed to be in no hurry to arrive, Lissa was put on standby. It was ridiculous when she tried to argue with the boys about the importance of making every concert. The boys countered, explaining the importance of their baby coming into the world.

  It was Van who finally got her to at least pretend to understand. The moment I went into labor all the boys were going to be there and nothing was going to stop them. Not even a label rep with a bad attitude and a severe bun.

  Lissa was somewhat appeased when she realized how popular the JackholeS’ rockstar baby was to their fans. She told Van she was surprised how well the concert venues and goers took the news that there might be a need to reschedule concerts at some point in the near future.

  She still didn’t get it, and I was certain she never would.

  “Tilly, can you hand me another pen, please?” I asked as the one I held sacrificed its last ounce of ink.

  Tilly handed me another pen without looking up from her phone. I sighed a thank you and smiled, taking the next book in front of me.

  Not sure how I survived, I was at the last book signing on the tour. It had been three weeks since Thanksgiving and time rushed by.

  Now that Martha and my dad’s moving secret was out, I was able to see them when I went to my check-ups. The baby was doing fantastic, and the little stinker finally opened up those legs. A secret I was keeping from Kill. I’d recruited D and Jet to help me reveal the news to Kill.

  I couldn’t wait until New Year’s.

  After the line of readers trickled out, my lower back was throbbing. I was more than ready to hang up my pen for a while. Not that I didn’t love meeting the readers and hearing their stories, but it had been a long tour. Down time sounded like heaven.

  Catcher sat next to me and performed the end of signing duties. He’d unofficially taken over the most aspects of the signings after we both realized Tilly wasn’t capable of handling it.

  “Emily said she could make it.” Catcher beamed. His arms flexed as he texted on his phone.

  Catcher asked Emily if she wanted to join us for the New Year’s Eve concert. After he sent the text an hour ago, he had been holding his breath, waiting for an answer. Scared he’d pushed her too fast, the
relief on his face was adorable.

  “That’s great. What about you, Tilly? Are you going to be able to make it?”

  Tilly rubbed her shoulder through her thick sweater. She had been moving slow the whole time, and I figured the stress of the signings had gotten to her too. “Yeah, I’ll be there,” she answered, still rubbing her shoulder.

  “What about your boyfriend?”

  “No, he has to work. But he said thank you for the invite.”

  “Well, maybe next time,” I told her.

  I tried to push out of the chair, but my back wasn’t having it. Catcher came over and helped me. His eyes filled with amusement.

  “I have a couple of projects I want to work on after New Year’s for the next book release. I promise I won’t bother you until then. Take this time to relax. You worked hard, and you deserve a break.”

  Tilly frowned, pushing her glasses up. “Haven’t you had enough? Don’t you want to relax with your baby? Maybe you should wait to publish until the baby’s at least one.”

  I laughed at her absurd suggestion. “I don’t see a reason to push the book release back. It’s already done and on its second round of edits. The hard part’s done, but let’s not worry about that now. We’ll talk about it later. I’ll see you on New Year’s. Go relax.”

  I leaned down and gave my clumsy tornado a hug before latching onto Catcher’s arm and letting him lead me to the car.

  Chapter 20

  “Right there,” I moaned as Kill worked his wonderful fingers into the arch of my swollen foot.

  My eyes rolled back in my head when he continued massaging me, paying attention to my directions.

  “Slick, you’re going to have to stop that. Remember what those moans do to me,” he hissed and grabbed my other foot to start working on it.

  We were in our old bedroom at my parents’ house. I wanted to stay in our house, but according to Martha it wasn’t ready to be lived in yet. I think she just liked having me in the house.

  It was early New Year’s Eve day. I mean, super early, like four in the morning early. And the exact time my legs decided it was a great time to cramp up. I was jerked awake, screaming while my traitorous legs bunched into little balls. Kill sprung to action, kneading away the knots until he convinced my calves to unlock.

  “Are you falling asleep on me, Slick?” Kill asked, his hands working up my leg.

  “No, I’m wide awake now. I was going to get up and make breakfast for everyone.”

  “Why don’t we go get donuts?”

  My eyes slit open at the mention of donuts. “I already look like a whale,” I moaned, rolling off the bed, with donuts on my mind.

  “You’re gorgeous. Even Doctor Dacky said your weight’s perfect. Come on, you know you want donuts. Let’s go feed our tiny bun.”

  “Why are you trying to convince me?” I asked, already pulling my clothes on. “You had me at donuts.”

  With a box of Voodoo donuts in hand, I was surprised to see everyone already up when we walked in. Martha marched up to me and grabbed the donuts out of my hand, handing them off to Jet.

  Her hair and makeup was done up.

  “Did I miss a memo?” I asked.

  “Where have you two been?” Her hands were on her hips, glaring at Kill.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, frustrated that I was being ignored.

  “We went to get you breakfast,” Kill answered.

  “Well, that was nice, but we have a lot to do.” She took my hand and hauled me away from Kill.

  “Sorry, Martha, I wanted to have her for a little bit before the craziness started,” Kill answered while she continued to drag me away.

  “Wait, what’s going on?” I asked, waddling behind a very determined Martha.

  “You’ll see,” my dad answered, stuffing a donut in his mouth.

  “Don’t eat that whole thing,” Martha scolded him when we walked by him.

  I snatched his half-eaten donut out of his hand and winked. “Thanks, Daddy.”

  “You’re lucky I love you,” he said.

  Martha didn’t stop until we were up the stairs and in her room.

  It was weird that it was the first time I’d been in the master bedroom at Kill’s old house. The room itself was a huge room with a window overlooking the backyard. I tried to picture Kill living in here, but I couldn’t get a clear image. Martha had decorated it so it looked like my parents’ room anyway, wiping any residual Kill out of it.

  “What has gotten into you?” I asked Martha when she led me to the en suite.

  “Sit,” she ordered, pointing to the chair in front of the mirror.

  “Why?”

  Before Martha could answer, there was a knock at the door.

  “That better be more donuts,” I muttered.

  “Just me,” Amy said, walking in with a half-eaten donut.

  I grabbed that one and finished if off too.

  “You’re lucky you’re feeding my baby, or I would have to beat you for that,” Amy said.

  “Okay, we don’t have much time. Let’s get her ready. I have the curling iron hot,” Martha interrupted.

  I stuck my tongue out at Amy, and she made a face back.

  “Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” I pouted, crossing my arms over my chest.

  “Surprise! It’s your wedding day,” Amy cried, clapping her hands.

  “What?” Even though I asked the question, it all made sense. Kill had been begging me to marry him before the baby arrived. I told him if he found the time, I would. It seemed Kill had found the time.

  “It’s your wedding day. Now sit still,” Martha commanded before leaning down and kissing me on the cheek.

  I was thoroughly pampered by the time Martha and Amy declared me done.

  “What am I going to wear?” I panicked, mentally going through the measly maternity wardrobe I had.

  “This,” Martha replied, pulling out a dress from her closet.

  “It’s perfect,” I whispered.

  The dress was ivory, with an empire waist that laced up in the back. The bottom was adorned with red crystals that matched the stone in my ring. The long sleeves had more crystals cascading around my wrists. It was perfect.

  “Sorry I’m late.” Ryan exploded into the room. “Hot momma,” she whistled.

  I twirled around to give her the full view of my makeup and hair.

  Martha, Ryan, and Amy helped me into my dress. Martha turned me to the same mirror we’d surveyed her in at her wedding. Amy sniffled next to me, and I smacked her on the shoulder.

  I heard Ryan sniffle and threw her the evil eye.

  “I have something in my eyes.”

  “Both of them?” I countered, trying to reach her.

  “Yes, both of them. Stop being violent. It’s your wedding day.”

  “Absolutely no crying,” I scolded them, trying to follow my own order.

  Martha was no help. She wiped up big fat tears on her cheek, not bothering to hide them. Martha, Ryan, and Amy changed into their full-length red bridesmaids dresses. A pang of sadness hit me in the chest, wondering what Jessie was up to. Victoria marched in before I could take that trip down memory lane.

  “Faith, you look beautiful,” she said, surveying my dress.

  My eyes immediately locked on the shoe box in her hands. It bore the name of one of my favorite designers.

  “Are those for me?” I purred, putting my hands behind my back so I wouldn’t snatch them from her.

  Victoria smirked, handing me the box. We all gasped when I took the lid off, and the sparkliest pair of red shoes twinkled back at us.

  “Now I understand why the wicked witch wanted them so bad.” Amy sighed, her finger dancing over the shoes.

  “No time to stare. Let’s get you married.” Victoria’s stern voice cut into our appreciation time.

  Ryan helped me with my shoes. A quick knock sounded before my dad came in. My sappy mood vanished when I noticed his knotted tie around his neck.


  “You look stunning,” he said, kissing me on the cheek.

  My eyes couldn’t move from the mess around his neck.

  “I wish I could say the same to you.” I undid the chaos and fixed it quickly. “Now you look perfect.”

  “Thanks, baby girl.” He winked, bending over and planting a kiss on my belly. “You look amazing too.”

  Martha giggled at my dad’s attention.

  “What about me?” Amy pouted.

  “He didn’t recognize you without candy in your mouth,” Ryan teased, smacking her on the ass.

  Amy lunged to smack her back. Victoria snaked her arms around her, stopping her attack.

  “All right, it’s time,” Victoria said, still holding on to Amy.

  Martha, Ryan, and Amy took their places.

  “See you downstairs, sexy,” Ryan said over her shoulder before following Amy.

  “Ready, baby girl?”

  My arm wound around my dad’s. “Keep me upright. My balance isn’t very good with this thing,” I said, patting my belly. A series of kicks answered me.

  “My grandbaby is not a thing,” he replied, his strong hand over mine. “Is this what you want? If you have any doubt, I can have you out of here in a second.” His eyes studied me.

  “I’ve never wanted anything more.” I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Well, let’s get you married.” He cleared his throat and blinked before taking the first step.

  The walk down the stairs and to the covered patio was a blur. Everything faded away when I saw Kill standing at the end of a makeshift aisle.

  Kill’s hair was in his messy style, giving him the air of bad boy that accompanied his five o’clock shadow. His suit hugged him like a lover, and he was hot as hell. My heart skipped a beat when I took in his muscular body. The red handkerchief folded in his pocket made him the sexiest rockstar ever, and he was mine.

  His shiny blue eyes locked on mine. It was just the two of us. Nothing else existed. My legs wobbled when his gaze roamed over my body, taking in the transformation Martha and Amy had done to me.

  In the chilly air, heat bloomed over my skin. Kill’s dimples sank into his cheek, and he wore a half-smile. My dad’s hold tightened on me, stopping me from sprinting down the aisle.