by Leah Brooke
He had to do something about his wife soon.
Before she drove him mad.
Chapter Eight
A week later, still frustrated, Kelly lay back against the pillows, waiting for Blade to get out of the shower.
Since the night she’d begged him to take her, he’d been loving and solicitous, and so sweet she wanted to smack him.
She knew he loved her. She knew he was scared, but she had the feeling that if she let this go on too long, it would become permanent, and she didn’t think either one of them could live with that.
She’d flirted and thrown herself at him all week, and although the tension between them got stronger by the day, he still hadn’t made love to her.
Deciding that he was afraid to get her pregnant again, she’d gone to see the doctor and gotten a prescription for birth control pills.
She’d gotten it filled, but hadn’t taken any yet. The doctor had advised her not to take them while nursing Hawke, and she didn’t want to give up nursing just yet.
Still, she wanted her husband back.
She stiffened as the bathroom door open, her stomach clenching at the picture Blade made as he walked into the bedroom, a cloud of steam behind him.
With a towel wrapped around his waist, he used another to rub his hair dry, the dampness from the shower still gleaming on his dark chest.
Pausing when he saw her, he smiled and tossed the towel over his shoulder. “Hey, baby. Is everything okay?”
Kelly shrugged, letting her eyes feast on him. “I need to talk to you about something.”
Pushing his hair back with his fingers, he moved to stand at the foot of the bed, once again keeping distance between them. “What is it? Is something wrong? I know you went back to the doctor’s today. What did he say?”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Kelly leaned back and smiled. “I realized that you weren’t making love to me because you’re scared I’ll get pregnant again. I asked him for some pills.”
Blade’s features hardened. “No. I told you that you’re not taking any pills.”
“Blade, listen. If I start taking the pills, I’ll have to put Hawke on formula, but—”
“No!” Shaking his head, Blade came around the bed and sat next to her. Blowing out a breath, he took her hand in his and smiled, a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “No, baby. I don’t want you taking pills and I want you to keep nursing Hawke for as long as you want to.”
Wrapping an arm around her, he hugged her. “I love watching you with him.”
Gripping her jaw, he tilted her head back over his arm and touched his lips to hers. “I love both of you so damned much.”
Kelly froze as his hand slid to her breast, not daring to believe that he was finally going to make love to her again.
Lifting his head, Blade smiled. “You’re so lush, that sometimes I just want to take a bite out of you.”
Loving the feel of her husband’s touch, Kelly turned toward him, lifting her hands to thread her fingers through his damp hair. “Be my guest.”
Blade’s smile held a hint of devious intention that she hadn’t seen in a long time. Fisting his hand in her hair, he pulled her head back for a long, lingering kiss, one that had a possessiveness and demand for her surrender that had been absent for a long time.
Her body and mind responded immediately—having already been trained to know the pleasure that would follow.
The feel of his hand sliding into her nightgown and over her breast sent a sharp stab of pleasure to her clit and pussy, a pleasure she’d waited months for. “Yes. Oh, God, Blade. Touch me the way you used to. I miss it so much.”
Stilling at the demanding cry from the bassinette in the corner, Kelly moaned in frustration. “Damn it, Blade. You’d better not forget where we left off.”
Blade’s soft chuckle against her neck sent a shiver of delight through her. “Not a chance. I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to feed my son tonight.”
Kelly giggled. “That would be a neat trick.”
With a quick jerk, he yanked her nightgown to her waist, cupping her swollen breasts and lifting them. “These are mine—or have you forgotten?”
Trembling with hunger at the steel in his tone, Kelly watched him with their son.
His soft, deep tone caught her son’s attention at once and cut off his cries.
Smiling as he changed Hawke’s diaper as if he’d done it for years, Kelly brought her knees to her chest and wound her arms around them. “He always stops crying when you speak to him.”
Blade lifted a brow and turned toward her, the faint smile playing at his lips filled with pride. “He knows who his father is, and he’s smart enough to know who’s in charge.”
After dressing Hawke again and washing his hands, Blade gathered his son against his chest and strode toward her.
Kelly opened her arms for Hawke, smiling at him as Blade moved to sit behind her. Unsurprised when Hawke started crying again, she started to cup her breast, startled when Blade drew her hand away.
“I told you that I would feed him. You just hold Hawke.”
Cradling Hawke with one arm, he cupped her breast with the other, lifting her nipple to her son’s mouth, chuckling when he latched on. “He’s really hungry, isn’t he?”
Leaning back against Blade, Kelly closed her eyes, loving the feel of her husband’s arms around her.
Loving his possessiveness.
“Yes, your darling son is becoming a little pig.” She opened her eyes and stared down at Hawke, smiling to find him watching her. Love for him gripped her by the throat. “The doctor is thrilled with how well he’s doing. He said that he doesn’t look like any preemie he’s ever seen.”
Blade’s arms tightened around her. “I know. I called him to check on both of you. He wants you to continue breast feeding as long as possible.”
“Yes.” Kelly looked up at him over her shoulder, reaching up to cup his jaw. “I’m sorry. I know that you’re worried about making love to me because you don’t want me to get pregnant again—”
“There’s no risk of that.”
Struck by something in his tone, Kelly frowned, an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. “What do you mean by that?”
Stroking a finger over Hawke’s cheek, he stiffened against her. “I had a vasectomy.”
“What?” Whipping her head around, she stiffened, hardly able to believe she’d heard him right.
Blade’s arms tightened around her, his voice taking on that steely firmness she knew so well. “You heard me. I’m not taking the chance of losing you again.”
“Blade! I can’t believe you would do that. We wanted more children. We talked about having two or three.” Sad, angry, and hurt, she shook her head, looking away. “I can’t believe you would do something like that without talking to me first. Don’t you want any more children?”
“No. Not if having them is going to put your life in jeopardy.” Kissing her hair, he held her close. “Look at what you’ve been through. I love you too much to risk it. The doctor told you it would be a risk to have another child, didn’t he?”
Kelly sighed. She hadn’t told him that because she hadn’t wanted him to worry. “He said that it might be dangerous.”
“And you weren’t even going to tell me?”
“Okay, I should have told you, but you should have told me before you made a decision that affected both of us.”
“I’m telling you now, and it’s already done.”
Pressing a finger against Hawke’s lips to break the suction, Blade turned him and transferred his attention to her other breast. “I did it without telling you because you were still weak and I didn’t want to upset you. You wouldn’t have changed my mind anyway. It’s not up for discussion. It’s done, and you’re not getting pregnant again. We’re very lucky to have the child we have. No more, Kelly. You’re everything to me, and I can’t go through the nightmare of almost losing you again.”
“I don’t wa
nt to hear it’s not up for discussion. I’m not done discussing it yet. How dare you make that kind of decision without talking to me about it first?” Kelly’s stomach knotted as the distance between them became wider than ever.
Blade stiffened behind her. “I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you.”
Struggling to keep a relaxed hold on Hawke, Kelly gritted her teeth. “Blade, I’m so mad at you, I could scream. When the hell did you have this done?”
“A couple of weeks ago.”
“Who went with you?” Kelly blinked back tears at the thought of him going through that without her at his side. “Apparently, you’d rather keep it a secret and go without me than telling me so that I could go with you.”
Blade’s hands tightened on her waist. “King took me, and I went to lie down at the club afterward.”
“I should have been with you.” She winced at the whine in her voice, but the hurt proved too strong to hide.
“You have enough to worry about. You’re supposed to be resting, and Hawke needed you here.”
Turning her head, she looked up at him over her shoulder. “I had the right to be there, Blade, and you know it. You should have talked to me about this before making a decision that affected both of us. I want more children.”
Blade nuzzled her neck. “You’ve been through enough, both physically and emotionally. We have a beautiful, healthy son. It’s a lot more than some people have. I’m just grateful every day to have both of you.”
“Damn it, Blade, I’m grateful, too, but how would you feel if I went to have my tubes tied and didn’t tell you about it until afterward?”
A pregnant silence followed, Blade tensing even more. “Fuck.”
With a sigh, some of the tension left his body. “I would have understood that you were scared to get pregnant again, but I would have been very hurt—devastated—that you didn’t talk to me about it. I get it, baby, and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I swear.”
Burying his face against her neck, he sucked in a breath as though absorbing her scent. “My only excuse is that I was so damned scared of losing you. Terrified. I realize now that I should have talked to you. I just didn’t want to worry you.”
He brushed his lips over her shoulder in a loving gesture that warmed her all the way through. “I was wrong not to talk to you about it first. I didn’t mean to hurt you, baby. I wouldn’t hurt you for the world.”
Tilting her head to give him better access, she moaned at the incredible feel of his lips and warm breath against her neck. “I’ll forgive you if you promise to never keep anything from me again. I’m still mad because you did it behind my back.” She’d been nervous about the possibility of getting pregnant again, but she wouldn’t have told him.
Surprised at the sense of relief she felt, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I want my husband back.”
Gripping her chin, Blade turned her to face him, his eyes hooded. “You never lost me. I’m right here, and have no plans to go anywhere. You’re stuck with me for life, my love.”
“I want to make love again, the way we used to.”
Blade smiled. “We used to make love in a lot of different ways. Was there anything wrong with any of them?”
Kelly narrowed her eyes, knowing damned well that he was backing her into a corner. “Of course not.”
“There you go. As soon as my son goes back to sleep, I’m going to make love to you. I’m going to sink my cock into that sweet pussy and wring orgasm after orgasm out of you.”
Just the thought of it made her stomach muscles tighten and her pussy spasm. “Yes. Oh, God, Blade. It’s been so long.”
Blade smiled and took Hawke, settling the sleeping baby against his bare shoulder. “Take that gown off. I want to reacquaint myself with that gorgeous body.”
Eager to please him, and to make love again, Kelly worked the nightgown off and waited.
After settling Hawke in the bassinette, he rid himself of the towel and walked slowly back to the bed.
“Lie back. Arms above your head. Hold on to the headboard.”
Kelly grinned, shivering at the steel and erotic intent in his voice. “God, I’ve missed this.”
Standing over her, Blade fisted his cock. “Be quiet. Not a sound. Bend those legs and spread them.”
Her breath caught at the demand in his voice, her body tightening at the heat in his dark eyes. Staring up at him, she bit her lip to hold back a moan as she bent her knees, flattening her feet on the mattress as she spread her thighs wide.
Staring down at her, Blade ran his fingertips up and down her inner thighs, making them tremble. “Not a sound.”
Biting her lip to hold back a cry, and trembling even harder at the command in his low, whispered voice, Kelly nodded and tightened her grip on the headboard.
Her body burned under his heated gaze, every muscle quivering beneath the slow slide of his fingertips. Jolting when he tapped her inner thigh, Kelly obediently spread them even wider, her breathing becoming more ragged by the second.
Holding her gaze, Blade ran his fingertips over her bare mound before continuing upward. He ran them over her abdomen from side to side, moving higher with every pass. Bracing a hand on the mattress by the pillow, he leaned over her, watching her face as his fingers continued their upward journey.
Closing her eyes at the feel of his light touch skimming back and forth over the underside of her left breast, Kelly struggled to keep her trembling thighs parted against the rush of tingling heat that centered at her slit.
“Open those beautiful eyes.”
Obeying him, Kelly lifted her gaze to his, her pulse tripping when he ran the tip of his finger over her nipple, digging her heels into the mattress at the sharp tingling in her clit. She needed to close her thighs against the ache that settled there, but she knew that Blade wouldn’t allow it.
She knew her husband’s moves well, and knew that if she closed her thighs, he’d purposely avoid giving her the attention she needed there.
It had been too long, and she wanted him too much to take the risk.
A fine sheen of perspiration coated her skin as he moved his attention from one nipple to the other, her ragged breathing the only sound in the room.
His dark eyes glittered hotly, flaring when she arched into his caress and bit her lip to hold back a cry.
“Very good, baby.” The satisfaction in his faint smile and the pride and possessiveness in his nearly black eyes thrilled her, his entire demeanor and aura of power surrounding him sharper than it had been in months.
His fingers closed over her nipple, tightening just enough to create an intense pressure that bordered on pain, and sent another sharp tug to her clit and pussy. “Very good.” He cupped her breast, massaging gently. “Did you think that just because I’ve been gentle with you that I’ve forgotten that all of this is mine?”
Sliding a hand down her body again, he parted her folds. “All of this is mine, and it’s my responsibility to take good care of it. To take good care of you. I can caress you, spank you, whip you, or restrain you as I see fit. It’s not up to you. It’s up to me. Never forget that.”
Kelly blinked back tears, the relief of having her dominant lover back so intense it nearly overwhelmed her. She opened her mouth to tell him, snapping it closed again when Blade’s eyes narrowed and he shook his head.
Applying more pressure to her nipple, Blade leaned closer. “Not one fucking word.” Staring into her eyes, he smiled when she bit her lip again to hold back her cry of pain and pleasure. “You want to tempt me? You want to dare me? You’re going to have to accept the consequences. Understood?”
Nodding frantically, Kelly gulped in air, desperate to do as he demanded. Her gaze kept sliding to his cock, her pussy clenching at the evidence of his arousal.
Releasing her nipple, Blade straightened again. “Very good. Now pull those knees back to your chest.”
Sucking in another deep breath, Kelly rushed to obey him, her movem
ents clumsier than she would have liked due to her shaking.
The knowledge of what she felt shone in his eyes as he slid his hand down her body again. “Spread them wider, Kelly. You know better than that. That’s it. Now, keep them there. Don’t you dare lose your grip.”
Kelly nodded again, knowing that he expected her to acknowledge everything he said to her even if he didn’t permit her to speak, her breathing becoming shallow and more ragged as his hand continued lower. Her breath caught again at the slow trace of his fingers over her folds, the tingling in her clit becoming unbearable.
She fought to remain still—fought to remain silent—her toes curling with the effort it cost her. Every nerve ending in her body danced with the sexual awareness he’d created, the sizzling heat just below the surface screaming for his attention.
And he’d barely touched her.
Using her eyes to plead with him to end the torment, Kelly tightened her hold on the backs of her knees to keep her legs held wide the way he wanted.
The way he’d demanded.
She sucked in another breath when he pressed a knee to the mattress and settled between her spread thighs, shaking even harder.
Leaning back on one hand, he ran the backs of the other up and down her thigh, his gaze following the movement of his hand. “You’re more beautiful than ever.”
Kelly smiled and wiggled her hips, pleased that she’d lost so much weight.
Blade shook his head. “No, it doesn’t have anything to do with the weight you’ve lost.”
Kelly frowned, wanting to ask him what he was talking about, sucking in another breath when his fingers worked their way to her inner thigh, closer and closer to her slit.
“It’s not your weight. It’s your confidence.” He tapped her clit, his eyes flaring when she sucked in a breath and stiffened. “Very good. I don’t know if it’s losing weight that’s made you more confident, becoming a mother, or realizing exactly what you are to me—something you should have known long ago.”
With a nonchalance that made his dominance over her even more pronounced, he circled the opening of her pussy with a firm finger, his gaze holding hers. “I’m delighted with your confidence, and think it’s sexy as hell, but don’t think for one minute that I won’t demand submission from you.”
