Selene stared at him puzzled. “What?”
He laughed. He took her hand and put it under the covers on his cock.
“Ethan!” she screamed, half laughing. “It’s too soon. You’re still recovering.”
“I’m fully recovered.” His cock was hard in her hand. She began to stroke it slowly.
“I’m awful, I know,” he said.
“No,” she leaned over and kissed him. “Does that feel good?” she asked.
He closed his eyes and moaned. She stroked his cock faster. The deeply defined muscles of his abdomen tensed and he began to move his hips.
“I want inside you.” It was more of a command than a request. Under different
circumstances Selene would be more than eager to comply, but she was worried she would hurt him.
His hand drifted between her legs and began to stroke the inside of her thighs. Reading her thoughts, he said, “Go on. I’m stronger than I look.”
Selene took off her underwear and lifted her skirt up. As gingerly as a woman in her advanced state of pregnancy is capable, she climbed on top of him.
She watched him for any sign of pain or discomfort, but he actually seemed to glow. His features looked more alive; his eyes shined brilliantly. His face twisted in pleasure as she eased onto his cock.
Selene paused, enjoying the moment.
A few days ago it had been hard to believe they would ever find peace or solace in each other’s arms, but here they were.
Selene moved her hips in slow concentric circles.
Ethan groaned, sending shivers up and down her spine. She began to move faster.
She smiled to herself. This was how it was meant to be, she thought.
His hands were suddenly on her hips guiding her on, faster and deeper. She couldn’t help remarking on the stamina of a man in his condition. When Ethan wanted something nothing got in his way.
Selene cried out. Her body had a life of its own as she moved forcefully against him. It was as if she was animated by some wild spirit.
All thoughts of his discomfort had abandoned her. She needed him now.
She reached behind her and gripped Ethan’s legs for balance, digging her nails into his muscular thighs. Arching her back, she rode him hard. With a final animalistic cry, she came. In that exact instance, she felt Ethan go soft inside her.
Selene laid in the bed beside him. She put her hand over his heart and felt its strong pulse.
Ethan rubbed her belly.
“Oh!” he said. “There’s something I forgot.”
He tried to sit up, but the pain was too great. “In that top drawer,” he said motioning for Selene to open it. “There’s an envelope. It’s for you.”
Selene crawled over him and looked inside the dresser. A blank white envelope waited for her inside. A small amount of dread filled her. So much had gone wrong lately she couldn’t help worrying.
Ethan laughed. “Open it.”
Selene peeled back the fold of the envelope slowly as if a spider was hiding inside. She pulled out two slips of paper and studied them. Her eyes lit up. “Oh, Ethan,” she threw her arms around him, unable to contain her excitement.
9
Ethan winced in pain. Selene’s arms were around his neck squeezing him tight. She had completely forgotten about his shoulder. She was too excited by what she found in the envelope.
“Oh! I’m sorry,” she said giggling.
“I take it you like your present?”
Selene bounced up and down on the bed like a little kid. She peeked inside the envelope again. She was afraid in her excitement she had mistaken its contents. But, no there they were: two tickets to Spain. The Mediterranean, she thought, she would finally get to see it.
“Will we go before or after?” she asked.
“Before or after what?”
Selene hit Ethan on the top of his head with the envelope. “The baby’s born!”
“Well, I thought we’d go now. Would you really miss not delivering the baby here?”
“No,” she said automatically. It wasn’t a question she had to think about. She was haunted by bad memories everywhere she looked. When she passed the door to the room where the doctor had drugged her, it gave her the chills. The whole house felt cursed.
“What about Kat?”
“I had something special in mind for her.”
Selene raised her eyebrows expectantly. “She won’t be coming with us, will she?”
Selene had grown to care for Kat, but the idea of dealing with a newborn baby, plus a mentally unstable woman was a bit more than she could take right now.
“No,” he rubbed her belly. “I’ve decided to give her the Victorian house. I think she’s earned it. I was scared to leave her on her own, but I think she’s proven she can take care of herself.”
“And then some,” Selene added.
Though, she wasn’t sure about Kat being safe on her own. She’d proven deadly when necessary. Selene shuddered at the thought of having her as an enemy. “Good thing she’s on our side.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Just make sure she’s taken care of. She saved all of us, including this one.” She placed her hand over Ethan’s, as the baby kicked inside her.
Selene looked out over the balcony. The brilliant blue water caught the sunlight; blinding, refracted light played across Selene’s face, making her squint. She put on her sunglasses.
From their rented home on the cliff side, she could see out over the small Spanish town and her coveted Mediterranean waters.
The sound of someone slowly approaching from behind couldn’t draw her eyes away.
There was a time when the sound of someone advancing on her would have made her jump. She would have been on alert, ready for an attack. But now, she spread her hands out wide along the balcony and smiled. She knew it was Ethan and when his arms wrapped around her wide waist, she knew for the first time in months that she was safe.
Selene lifted her face to the sky. The sun was warm on her skin.
“Well, it’s official,” Ethan said.
“Hmm?”
“I can’t get my arms around you.”
Selene looked down. Her stomach protruded so far in front of her that when she sat down her stomach rested on her legs. She’d been startled the night before when she’d actually felt the movement of the baby against her thighs.
“Won’t be long now. I’m about to pop.”
“He’ll be big. You know I was ten pounds when I was born.”
The thought of a giving birth to a ten pound baby made Selene dizzy. There had been so much to stress over in the past months that she hadn’t had time to feel nervous about the delivery. Nerves hit her now, as butterflies danced in her stomach.
Sensing her anxiety Ethan tried to distract her. “Have you thought about names?”
The question took her by surprise. For some reason she hadn’t even considered the baby’s name. She’d heard people talk about “pregnancy brain,” but this was too much. What else had she forgotten? She wondered.
“I was thinking about John- after my father,” Ethan continued.
“John Cole,” Selene whispered the name. “I like it.”
Ethan kissed her neck and smelled her hair, breathing in her scent deeply.
Selene leaned into him. “Is this my life now?” she asked.
She remembered asking herself this question before. In the past, she had feared the answer. It was a question loaded with gloom and dread of an unknown future. Her future was still cryptic: an amorphous puzzle, swirling and changing, but she felt good. When the baby was born her life would be whole and her heart full.
“Yes,” Ethan said. “Let’s pray it lasts.”
Selene’s mouth twisted, deep in thought. The image of Ethan’s tattoo sprang to mind. She could see the bizarre figure coiling enigmatically.
A cloud passed over the sun, casting dark shadows over the ocean.
“Will other men come?” she asked.
“What other men?”
“Men who share that same tattoo.”
She felt Ethan stiffen behind her. “No one is going to hurt you or the baby.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
He spun her around to face him. Selene took off her sunglasses. Ethan’s expression was dead serious. His eyes drilled in to hers.
“There are men out there who share my markings. I can’t say that I’ll never hear from them again, but the men who are left aren’t like Max. I do have debts, but the trust fund will pay them off and then some. We’re safe now.”
“That’s a lot of ‘buts’” Selene murmured. “What does the tattoo mean?”
Ethan grimaced. His eyes drifted out over the ocean searching for an explanation. “It’s a sort of identification. There was a group of us- we met in the Marines… we got involved with some people we shouldn’t have. The money laundering, the girls- the businesses all bore the mark of our fraternity. In certain social circles, the symbol carries weight. We had a lot of fun in the beginning…” He stared at the ocean without really seeing it. He looked lost in the past. For a moment the expression on Ethan’s face reminded Selene of Kat.
Selene cleared her throat.
“It was meant to be a sign of loyalty and secrecy. We were brothers; we could count on each other…”
A look of sadness so profound crossed Ethan’s face that Selene felt like drawing him into her arms and telling him it would all be okay as if he were a child.
His eyes met hers. “The others- those that are left, they’re scattered around the world: broke, defeated, powerless.” Grief flowed through his words.
Selene was puzzled by how broken he seemed by the collapse of his fraternity. As if reading her thoughts he said, “They really were my brothers.”
It was an explanation only Ethan could fully understand or appreciate. Selene shuffled on her feet nervously. Ethan ran his hands down her arms and over her belly reassuringly.
“It’s over now.” He put his forehead against hers. “Oh!” he said perking up. “I have a surprise for you. Cover your eyes.”
Ethan led Selene into the spare bedroom. “Okay open them.”
Selene opened her eyes and gasped. The room had been converted into a nursery. An oak antique crib stood against one wall; stuffed animals and baby clothes were lined up along the floor. Selene walked to the cradle and ran her hands along wood. She picked up the small cashmere baby blanket inside and held it to her chest.
“It’s just the beginning,” Ethan said. “You can decorate it however you like.”
Suddenly, Selene thought of the trust fund. Since getting Ethan back she hadn’t considered the money and they were about to come into a lot of it.
“The money…” She wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. It had been the cause of so much pain in their lives.
Ethan helped her. “The money will be more than enough for the three of us and any more children that come along.”
Selene smiled at the thought of a big family. Hopefully, in the future it wouldn’t be as difficult as this pregnancy, she thought.
“Most of the money is in real estate and other investments,” Ethan continued. “There are debts that must be honored. And I would like to own my family’s company clear and free.”
“Of course,” Selene was quick to agree.
“The rest is ours to enjoy. Of course, technically, the money will belong to the baby, but I don’t think he’d object to his folks having a little fun.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. It was almost too good to believe: things were finally going smoothly. The money, the baby, everything was falling in line.
“Hey,” Ethan said, wiping a tear from her cheek. “Don’t cry.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just happy for the first time…ever, maybe.”
“Selene,” Ethan’s face twisted with grief. “I know it’s my fault- all of the hardships of the past months. Your stress and grief. I’m sorry-”
“Don’t. I don’t blame you for anything that’s happened. I love you and the baby- that’s what’s important now.”
“I promise to spend the rest of my life making up for the pain of the last few months. I…”
Ethan fumbled in his pocket. “I’m not very good at this.”
He pulled out a ring. Selene felt her heart skip a beat. Ethan took her hand. “Will you be my wife?”
Selene threw her arms around his neck, nearly knocking him to the ground. “Of course! A thousand times yes.”
She kissed his face and lips over and over, then pulled him to the floor. Ethan laughed and tried to talk only to be cut short by Selene’s lips.
She pulled her dress over her head and tossed it aside.
Every inch of her body from her hair to her toes cried out for his touch. Pregnancy left her hormone crazy, but it also had its benefits. Ethan had barely touched her and she already felt like she was halfway home.
She bit her bottom lip trying to suppress a moan.
Selene grabbed his hand and placed it between her legs; she wanted him to feel how wet she was. Ethan began to play with her clit while Selene ripped his clothes off. He couldn’t contain his laughter as she frantically pulled and clawed at his clothes.
“You’re a savage woman,” he growled at her playfully.
Selene tore his shirt sending buttons flying through the air. “You have no idea.”
She pushed him down on to his back. Pulling off his belt and shorts, Selene was pleased to find his cock was hard and ready.
She removed his shorts throwing them across the room dramatically. Ethan put one hand behind his head and laughed.
Selene bent over and began to suck him off. She ran her tongue around the tip of his cock, while rubbing his taint and balls.
Ethan inhaled sharply. He groaned deeply as Selene pleasured him. She flicked her tongue along the most sensitive part on the head of his cock, then began sucking. She moved her head lower, taking him in deeper and deeper, until she gagged.
She pulled away and licked her lips, then began again. This time she focused on sucking rhythmically on the head of his penis while jacking him off with her free hand.
Her hand glided up and down his thick straight shaft in time with her bobbing head. She could hear Ethan’s moans and see his muscles strain and flex.
Not wanting to be left out, she stopped sucking him off and rose to her knees. She was so big, it was difficult for her to maneuver easily, but she managed to climb on top of Ethan quickly.
Despite his large girth, he slid inside her easily.
She moved against him faster and faster. Ethan matched her pace, fucking hard.
Selene rose and fell, her large breasts bouncing on her chest. She began squeezing her breasts. They were large and full of milk, too big for her small hands. She clutched them tight, massaging her sensitive nipples, all the while crashing into Ethan.
Their bodies flowed together in a harsh, satisfying clash of naked desire. Selene cried out she rode him.
She could sense that Ethan was reaching his breaking point; he was struggling to hold out for her to finish. He didn’t have to wait long.
Selene arched her back and with a final cry came. Her whole body went limp as she fell beside him on the floor. She felt exhausted and exhilarated and peaceful all at once.
She stared at the side of Ethan’s face. His high cheek bones and strong jaw cut a striking profile.
She twirled his hair around her fingers. Ethan put his arm around her drawing her in close. His chest still heaved as he fought to catch his breath.
Selene took his cock in hand and began to stroke it protectively.
“Look,” Ethan said. He held up his fist. When he opened it, her ring rested on the palm of his hand. “You didn’t let me put it on you.”
Selene giggled and held out her hand. The ring slid on, but not without a bit of force. Her fingers were swollen and it was a snug fit, but once she had the baby it would fit perfectly.
Selene held her hand up in the air and admired the ring. The diamond sparkled and shone, catching every ray of light in the room. A prism of reflected colors covered Ethan’s face and chest.
She watched him in the mirrored light and thought about everything they had been through together. Their bizarre introduction, something they could probably never tell anyone about without getting a lot of strange looks, Selene thought amused.
The kidnapping and their captivity at the Victorian mansion; the strange sex party and her good fortune to meet someone like Bree.
As much as the house creeped Selene out, it made her smile to think Kat would live there now. She would fill it full of laughter and her fantasies, bringing light to the dreary place.
Maybe some day Selene would be able to visit it without feeling dread.
“What about Kat?” Selene asked. “You’re still married, right?”
“Yes and no.”
Selene raised her eyebrows. “Yes and no?”
Ethan smiled. “Kat and I were never legally married. When she started to… lose touch with reality, she asked me to marry her. I loved her. I really did, but at that point she was slipping further and further into her dream world. I knew I had lost the girl I’d fallen in love with, but, I did it for her. I wanted her to be happy.”
“Do you think it will upset her? When we’re married?”
“No. She’s come to love you. She wouldn’t have taken you through the tunnels and protected you if she didn’t. Besides, she’s regressed so much… it’s like she’s a child in some ways. Anyway, I think she’s excited about the baby. She sees him like a new little brother.”
Selene wondered what Kat was like before her breakdown. What had she been through?
Selene thought sadly. Then she realized the awful truth: if Kat hadn’t suffered a mental breakdown she and Ethan would still be together.
The confluence of events that brought Selene and Ethan together left a bittersweet taste in her mouth.
Selene wiggled her fingers and watched the light dance around the room. Where would she be now, if not for Kat? Back in her old life, alone; the same routine every day.
“What are you thinking about?” Ethan asked. “You look far away.”
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