by Alexis Anne
If I never set foot in that building again for the rest of my life it would be too soon.
29
I learned that Darcy could sing after that night in the basement. He hummed and sang until I stopped crying, then he hummed and sang some more, all while running his fingers through my hair.
“I’m not sad.”
“I know,” he said, and kept humming.
“I’m just…in shock.” Theo had been arrested but, in true fashion, he’d arranged it that way. He set it up to look like he’d simply been stuck in the crossfire of two rival gangs and would most likely be free soon.
“Your father can’t hurt you ever again.”
“It doesn’t feel real.”
He rolled on top of me, his arms beside my face, and dropped a slow, soft kiss on my lips. “Does this feel real?”
I tingled everywhere. “Yes.”
He rocked his hips against mine. “Does that feel real?”
A deep ache began to throb between my legs. “Very real.”
“The charges against Theo will be dropped. The Duncan Boys will happily break ties after your brother makes his speech. Dan Christie is dead. It’s all real, love.”
Real. “I think it’s going to take me a little while to get used to this freedom.”
He grinned. “Take all the time you need. As long as you don’t postpone the wedding.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “And why are you so excited about being married? Isn’t it enough that we’re together?”
His eyes sparkled as he shook his head. “No. It’s never enough when it comes to you. I want our relationship to be legal and eternal. And I want it all now.”
“Greedy.”
“Yes. Yes I am,” he said as kissed away my worries.
* * *
After a couple of days and a lot of chaos I found that there was really nothing for me to do except wait. And I found that after all of these years of waiting, well, I didn’t want to do it anymore. So instead I started to focus on this future I was so afraid of, and that somehow led me to pull out paper and drawing pencils.
I stared at the sketches in front of me, more than a little bit amazed that I’d put together a business plan for a company I didn’t have any stake in. But I felt alive. The combination of creativity and business had given me a natural high—and most importantly—I’d done it on my own. I didn’t need Darcy or Theo or Margaret to give it to me or hold my hand. I did it. Alone.
Me.
Not that anything would come of it. I had absolutely nothing to do with Riley Cosmetics other than Allison dating my brother. It wasn’t as if I was going to send these in to their board of directors and ask for a job.
But it was nice to know I could do this. Now that I had a focus I could turn my attention to finding the position for me. I set the sketches aside and made lunch, having zero intention of thinking about the new Riley Cosmetics brand I’d created out of thin air, when I realized my plate was empty, my belly was full, and the sketches were back out on the table.
Okay, so maybe I was a little bit obsessed.
But in all seriousness, the company was floundering when it shouldn’t. It just needed fresh blood and an update. I had a great head for business and more than enough creativity to go around. I really and truly believed my idea was a good one. A damn good one.
I picked up my phone and dialed Michael’s number.
“Hello sister dear,” he drawled a few seconds later.
“You are in a surprisingly good mood. I didn’t think you’d answer.” It was hit or miss with my oldest brother. Email was usually the best way to reach him but this was something I really wanted to ask in person. I think because I wanted to hear from someone else that wanting to take a break from painting to work in the cutthroat world of Fortune 500 businesses wasn’t insane.
“That’s because I am in a good mood. I talked to Theo last night.”
It was very sad that our father’s death made us all so happy. “Well, as much as I don’t want to ever discuss this, you should probably know that I’m in a good mood, too.”
He didn’t answer right away and the silence filled with emotions neither of us would ever voice. “Yeah, well. What’s done is done. Time for a new chapter.”
“I’m ready to move on. Finally.”
“Is this why I’m getting a phone call?” I could hear his smile in his voice. God, how I missed him. He’d been a moody, sullen kid but he was the practical one. When Theo would go missing for hours it was Michael who kept calm and held my hand. When Father would go on a bender and lock me in my room for days or weeks, it was Michael who would sneak up to my door and read me a story, just so I could hear the voice of someone else.
I guess in a way that was what I was doing now. That bedroom door was swinging open once and for all and it was his voice that I wanted to hear. “I have an idea.” I explained my proposal for Riley Cosmetics.
“It’s about time,” he laughed. “This is what you always should have been doing. You are an incredibly talented artist but you push yourself entirely too hard instead of allowing the creative process to drive your work. You run it as a business, and while that’s all well and good, it’s not been healthy for you.”
“So you think I can do this?”
“You have more talent as an artist than I do and every bit as much business genius as Theo. You were born to do this job, sweetie.”
My heart rate kicked up a notch. “Then I need a favor.”
“Anything.”
“I need some photographs…”
* * *
I took Allison to the speakeasy to distract her, but also so I could make my big proposal. We got all dressed up and watched the band from above in Darcy’s VIP lounge. Margaret joined us, but her mind was somewhere else. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find the magic combination of questions to unlock the mystery.
“How’s HDM2?”
She smiled brightly. “Better than ever. We’re so busy I have to keep hiring new people. It’s actually kind of exhausting.”
“We should do something. A weekly lunch? Or a trip to a museum?”
Again, her response was less than enthusiastic. “Of course. Sounds like a plan.”
“What’s going on?” I asked point blank.
She frowned. “Nothing is going on. That’s the whole problem.” She slammed the rest of her cocktail. “I made work my life and now I have no life outside of work.”
“And lunch with me doesn’t qualify?”
She smiled sadly. “It does. But it won’t keep me warm at night the way Darcy will with you, or Theo with Allison. I never wanted a relationship but now that I see how happy you all are I’m starting to wonder if I missed something.”
“Love is not all sunshine and roses.”
“I know,” she sighed. “Trust me I know. I’m just…having a moment.” She excused herself after that and I got the impression she truly wanted to be alone, so I didn’t follow.
Darcy pulled me away for a few kisses here and there and it was hard to say no considering he looked like sex—black suit with a white dress shirt open at the collar and the perfect amount of scruff on his chin to look manly without going hipster on me.
“Why did we leave the flat?” he whispered in my ear.
“Because I finally decided what I want to do with my life.”
He grinned. “Oh, that’s right. Go be amazing.” He pushed me back towards Allison who was sipping on a flute of champagne.
“So…I have an idea and you’re the perfect person to ask.”
“Ask away,” she said with a smile. I was grateful Theo had the wherewithal to fall in love with a woman I could be friends with.
“So Riley Cosmetics needs help.” From there I explained my entire concept and showed her the sample work I’d thrown together.
By the time I was done she was on the phone with her father arranging a meeting. “You’re perfect and you’re about to save my ass, Nicki.”
But before we could say anything else, a tall man appeared in the doorway and I knew we were done talking for the night. As if she could sense him, Allison spun on her heel, then launched herself across the room, leaping into his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist.
I looked away as they made out and only looked back when Theo cleared his throat. “I hope you don’t mind, sister dear, but I’m going to take Allison home and celebrate the end of this whole fucking ordeal. Properly.”
“Have fun you two,” I cooed.
Darcy’s arms were around me a moment later. “We’re done. It’s all fucking done. I say we follow their lead and go celebrate all night at home in bed.”
“Not in the car?”
He started walking me backwards toward the doorway. “No.”
“Not in the supply closet?”
He shook his head.
“Not in the kitchen?”
“No.” He turned me down the hallway.
“Not in front of the windows?”
He hiked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. “No.”
“Shower?”
That one made him pause. “Maybe?”
I held up my fist in victory. There was only one place Darcy considered as private as our bed, and that was the shower. “You want me wet and hot and ready for your giant cock in the shower, don’t you, Darcy Higgins?”
“Fuck,” he moaned. “Being screwed is a wonderful thing when it comes to you.”
True to his word he made me wait until we were home. Then and only then did we undress.
“Nicki, love. Gorgeous. Will you get in the shower with me?”
I threw my arms around this handsome, sweet man. “Yes. Yes I will.”
“And will you let me do dirty things to you?”
We slid under the hot water and I shivered. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
“I was thinking I would suck on that sweet clit of yours until you make my fingers all wet, and then I’d slide them inside you, stretching you, filling you up, and get you ready for my,” he leaned into whisper in my ear, “great big, giant dick.”
“I think that could be arranged,” I sighed.
He slid his hands over my bare breasts, bringing my nipples to life under his touch. He lightly pinched, then dipped down to take them into his mouth one at a time while pressing the palm of his hand against my clit.
“Yes, Darcy. More.”
He sucked harder, lightly flicking his tongue while I rode the palm of his hand. Steam filled the air around us and the water beating against the shower wall drowned out all the other sounds in the world.
Then Darcy dropped to the floor and did exactly as he promised. His mouth worked my clit and my folds, dipping inside for a taste before plunging in. I pressed my back into the tile and gave myself over to the symphony of sensations he was bringing out in my body.
I was wet. I could feel how wet he’d made me. My core was on fire and throbbing to be filled when he finally, achingly slowly, slid his index finger inside me.
“Yes,” I hissed. “More.”
He pulled out and returned with two. My body expanded to accommodate the much larger invasion. He worked me slowly, methodically, finding that bundle of nerves and using the pressure of my inner muscles contracting around his fingers to massage me straight toward orgasm. He wrapped his other hand around my thigh and held on tight, melding us together with his mouth on my clit.
He pulled back to look up at me, and when I looked down at him, and our eyes connected, I felt those first erratic pulses. But then he blew my mind when, with our eyes still locked, he sucked my clit back into his mouth.
I came hard and didn’t dare look away. He soaked in every moment, his eyes growing wild with want the longer my orgasm lasted. It didn’t seem to have an end.
When I finally stopped trembling he stood, pulled my right leg up and over his, and began the long, slow press into my body. We hadn’t decided to have kids yet, but we did decide that we were ready to be ready. I was still on birth control, but we no longer used a condom every time we had sex. Hot shower sex seemed like one of those times that called for no condom.
As usual it took him several long strokes, and with my hands on his shoulders and his hands on the wall and my leg, we moved together. Slow at first, then faster and harder as we lost control.
Epilogue
One Year Later
The wind blew the branches back and forth. I was staring up at the sky on a picnic blanket beside Darcy. We’d been married six months and this was our first weekend away since our honeymoon.
“I’m exhausted,” he moaned. “How is it possible to be this exhausted?”
I giggled, completely unable to move. “We’ve had sex for almost forty-eight straight hours. It was bound to happen.”
“No. Sex is magical and cannot drain the body. It has to be something else.”
“Pretty sure it was the nonstop cardio.”
He groaned again.
In the last year everything had changed. I took over as Riley Cosmetics London Liaison. They gave me carte blanche to revamp the entire line and create a stronger European presence. I loved my job.
And I was able to love it because of Darcy. He was patient and fully capable of manipulating his schedule to work around mine. We were busy but we were happy.
“You know what I’ve been thinking about lately?” I turned my head to look at him.
His eyes were closed. “What?”
“How there is absolutely no one else who could possibly love me the way you love me.”
He grinned. “Damn straight.”
“It was a long road to get here, but I really like it here.”
He was on top of me in a flash. “Me too.”
“I thought you were tired.”
“I am, but I’m pretty sure I could go again.”
“You’re insatiable.”
“Just for you, babe.” He rubbed his nose along mine. “Dinner?”
“Dinner,” I agreed. As much as I loved sex with Darcy, there were limits.
We walked hand in hand back up to the lake house owned by Theo and Allison. The same place we held our wedding. “So I was wondering…” He turned to walk backwards and talk. “When exactly did you want to have kids?”
I almost tripped over my feet. “Excuse me?”
He shrugged. “We’ve talked about it. We both want them. We just haven’t decided on when. Or am I missing something?”
And now I felt nauseous. He was most definitely not missing something. “Why now? Do you want kids soon?”
He spun back and pulled my arm around his waist. “Only when you’re ready. I’m on your time.”
“So if I told you I was pregnant right now, you’d be pleased?” My heart skipped a beat.
“Fuck yeah. I’d love that.”
I walked beside him silently as I let that little nugget sink in. Darcy wanted kids. Like really wanted kids.
“A boy or a girl?”
“Doesn’t matter. A girl I could dote on would be amazing. She’ll be my little sidekick and we’ll do everything together and when she’s thirteen I’ll affix a blindfold over her eyes that prevents her from falling in love with clueless men seven years her senior.”
I had to laugh at that. It was sweet even if it did pull on my heart a little.
“And if we were to have a boy?”
“Well that would be amazing, too. We’ll be best friends, too. And when he’s thirteen I’ll affix a blindfold over his eyes that prevents him from looking at tits.”
“Oh Darcy…” I pulled him to a stop. “Seriously?”
“What?” He pulled me in for a hug. “I don’t want the little bugger stage to end.”
“When you say you want kids you mean you want kids. You know they don’t have to grow up to be like us.”
“See now, that’s a double edged sword, because while we are not the ideal, we are quite awesome.”
“I’m so confused right now.”
He kissed my forehead. “Here’s the deal. The minute you’re ready I’m going to have sex with you nonstop until we get pregnant. Both because it will be fun to have nonstop sex with you and because it will then get you pregnant and give me that little bugger I want to be best friends with.”
My heart pounded in my chest. He was amazing. This man I somehow found entirely too early, fell in love with, and married. He was amazing.
“So…here’s the thing.” I couldn’t quite meet his eyes. “I’ve been a little freaked about the whole kid thing.”
“I know,” he shrugged again. “That’s why we’re on your time. No rush.”
My cheeks heated. “Um…you see…I’m not freaked about getting pregnant. I’m freaked out over the thought I might actually be pregnant right now.” I swallowed while I waited for his reaction.
He stared down at me blinking, as if my words didn’t fully register.
“I have a pregnancy test in my bag. I’ve been too scared to take it.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Scared?”
“Scared. It’s scary to grow a human being, push it out of your body, and then not fuck-up raising it.”
“Scary.”
“Exactly.”
“So,” he pulled back. “Let me get this straight. For the last two days we’ve been alone together, having sex in every possible way imaginable, and you’ve been wondering if you were pregnant the whole time?”
“Yes.”
“Wow. You’re really scared.”
“Sex is the best distraction from worries.”
“This is very true,” he agreed, then turned back toward the house again. We walked silently side by side all the way into the kitchen where he started pulling out ingredients for dinner. Chinese. “So if you are pregnant, just so you know, I will be incredibly happy.”
I watched as he moved around the kitchen, all confident and sexy. “I know.”
“And I’ll take paternity leave and bring Little Bugger with me to work.”
“You’ve named our possible child Little Bugger?”
