His Best Man's Baby

by Lockwood, Tressie

  Zerita and Daniel must have gasped, but her friend said nothing while Daniel spoke up. “We can discuss this another time.”

  “We definitely will,” Jax said, his tone a dark warning.

  Tae didn’t realize she’d moaned, but it couldn’t have been very loud. Jax appeared at her bedside. His rough hand raised her chin, and thick fingers caught the teardrop at the corner of her eye. “I’m here,” was all he said. Her throat closed. She couldn’t form words. Over his shoulder, she spotted Daniel and Zerita, both worried. Daniel appeared devastated, and knowing it hurt her to her core. He’d wanted to be her baby’s father even if he wasn’t the biological one. She knew he’d kept her secret for selfish reasons, but now with her lies, she had made things worse with him and Jax.

  The tension between the two men wasn’t the only problem though. As Jax shifted his position so he blocked her view of his best friend, she came to an awareness she never saw coming. She loved Jax. He had been by her side from day one and worked his way into her heart. He cared. That much was obvious, but it didn’t mean he was in love with her or that he would commit himself to only her.

  “Tae, get some rest, and I’ll come by tonight to see you, after work,” Daniel said. His familiar voice rolled over her, bringing memories of his intimate touch to the foreground of her mind again. Feelings for him had never died, and she knew even without Jax reaffirming it Daniel still loved her.

  “Okay,” she said, lowering her gaze so Jax wouldn’t read the emotion in her eyes. “Thanks for coming by.” Her words sounded too formal, but she had no idea how else to be.

  Zerita nudged Jax aside, and he moved now that Daniel had left. She bent down to kiss Tae’s cheek. “Hey, girl. I know you and that little fighter are going to be okay. I’ve already spoken to the boss lady and let her know you need a few days. When and only when you’re up to it, give her a call about how long you will be out. Got it?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Tae grinned and smirked. “You’re bossy.”

  “I love you. Between all of us, we’re going to make sure you get stronger, and if I have to later, I will beat yo’ ass.”

  Tae snickered. Zerita almost never fell into what the woman called “lazy speak.”

  “Okay, Mama. I got you.”

  “You better.”

  Zerita left, and Jax saw her out. When he returned, he brought a tray with food and a glass of grape juice, Tae’s favorite. She went to sit up, but he tsked frowning and shaking his head. “Lay still until I get you.”

  “I’m not an invalid, Jax.”

  “I thought we agreed you would obey me.”

  “Doesn’t sound familiar.”

  “You’ve been warned.”

  She laughed as he set the tray down on foldable legs and sat beside her. His strong hands gripped her waist, and he hoisted her to a sitting position, then fluffed pillows behind her back.

  “If you try to feed me, we’re going to fight,” she told him.

  He grinned but placed the tray on her lap and let her help herself. Tae tucked into the bacon and eggs and toast, a treat since she’d been eating oatmeal and fruit for a while in an effort to be healthy.

  “Are we off my diet?” she asked him.

  He fingered a bit of honey from the side of her mouth and licked it from his finger. Her thighs should have caught on fire she rubbed together so hard.

  “No, I thought the bacon would put you in your happy place.”

  She grinned. “You know me well.”

  The smoldering look threw her off balance, but he left the room before she begged him to forget everything and just make love to her. While she finished her food, the phone at her bedside buzzed, and she reached for it. A text message. She slid her finger across the surface of the phone to unlock it and retrieved the messages. Her heart stuttered in her chest at Daniel’s name.

  “I’ll do everything I can for you, Tae. Just please, don’t write me off. I love you, and I’ll see you soon.”

  Jax returned and nabbed her phone from her fingers. She tensed thinking he would see the message from Daniel, but he simply laid it on the nightstand and cleared up the tray. “Lay back. Get some sleep. I’ll be here all day.”

  He started out of the room.

  “Jax?”

  He stopped.

  “Are you mad at me?” She hated how she sounded—like a child looking for validation.

  He faced her and approached to sit on the bed. “I’m not saying I’m not mad, but… I feel like if this didn’t happen you never would have told me about the baby. Tae, he or she is mine. Mine. Thinking you were going to let Daniel raise him and let my child call him daddy… That kills me.”

  Pain glimmered in his eyes, and she hated herself. She touched his face, and he covered her hand to kiss her fingers. Why didn’t he tell her to go fuck herself? She deserved it.

  “I wouldn’t have done that. I know it’s easy to say now, but I intended to tell you. There’s no way I would let the baby call Daniel daddy and leave you out in the cold.”

  His disbelief radiated off of him. “I get it. Daniel is successful, the vice president of his company. He’s got money on top of money, and while I don’t do so bad, I can’t touch his bank account.”

  “You know I don’t care about money. I’m not asking either of you for anything.”

  “Well you’re going to get it!” He blew out a heavy breath. “If it makes you feel better, I will get a nine to five.”

  Her eyes widened. “Jax.” That’s not what I want. What do I want?

  “Your job is dangerous, and it scares me to think of you getting killed on an assignment, but you love investigations, and I don’t want to take that away from you. My dishonesty had nothing to do with how much money you make or your business.”

  “It has to do with how much you love Daniel.”

  She opened her mouth to deny it, but he patted her hand and stood up.

  “We’re not going to argue. I’m Daddy.” His brows hung low, and his mouth was drawn into a straight line. She grinned and nodded. “Now rest. I’m going to take care of a few quick errands, including packing a bag.”

  “A-A bag?”

  “Yes, you have me as a roommate.” He kissed her. “Later.”

  He disappeared out the door, leaving her rattled to her core.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Tae stood in front of the mirror and stared at her protruding belly. The thing was massive at six months, but she loved it. She loved her baby, and funny enough, she didn’t mind her body one bit. Even her heavy breasts pleased her for some reason. Okay, that might be because Jax looked at them like they were lunch, but still, they were nice, and they didn’t leak too much.

  She heard a noise at the front of the apartment and went to investigate. Jax stood with his back to her, grocery bags at his feet, and she crept up behind him intending to scare him. Maybe being stuck in the apartment was getting to her. Just before she shouted boo, she noticed him frowning down at the stack of mail in his hand. One letter addressed to him read “Past Due” at the bottom of the envelope. He’d spent way too much time looking after her rather than working, and she knew for a fact from overhearing him on the phone that he hadn’t taken the higher-paying jobs because they were also more dangerous.

  Instead of trying to scare him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her face against his back. “I’m sorry, Jax. I feel like I’m keeping you from what you need to do.”

  He tossed the mail aside and turned to take her into his arms. “Never mind. Our budget is fine. I just forgot to pay that bill.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  He kissed her. “Your job is to incubate our son, and mine is to look after you.”

  “I’m no longer on bed rest, you know.” She hadn’t been for three weeks, and in all that time she hadn’t seen Daniel more than once. He never called or texted. Jax had told her Daniel asked after her but nothing more. So did he take back the declaration he made on her phone? She didn’t
contact him because she wasn’t sure if he and Alise were back together. Then again, she figured if they were, Jax would be only too happy to tell her.

  He released her and walked into the kitchen with the bags. Jax cooked at her place and stayed the night more often than not. They were practically roommates, but he slept on the couch. He’d told her he wouldn’t join her in bed unless she invited him. That didn’t stop the man from walking around the apartment in nothing but boxers, showing off his tight body. What made him more impressive was he’d learned to cook well.

  “What’s with the whipped cream?” she asked when he brought it out. “Mm, and strawberries.”

  He wiggled his eyebrows at her, and she laughed. “Nothing dirty…unless you want it.” His gaze lowered to her breasts, and she chewed the inside of her cheek. If he only knew. “I’m making strawberry shortcake. I found the recipe the other day, and it’s simple. Plus, my dad is coming on Friday.”

  “Say what?”

  He shrugged. “We agreed we would finally inform our families, and you’re the one that reneged on the decision.”

  “I didn’t renege. I just haven’t gotten around to it.”

  “Hm.” He guided her into a chair with no arguments. “Well, my dad is coming to see you.”

  “You didn’t tell him…” She let her words fade away, and he eyed her. The napkin holder in the center of the table seemed much more interesting to examine.

  “I didn’t say you’re mine, although I wanted to.”

  Her heart did a wild tattoo. She changed the subject. “I’ve been wanting to take a bath to soak out some of my aches and pains, but I’m kind of scared of getting stuck in there.”

  “You should have told me. We’ll get you in the bath after dinner.”

  Too late she realized that meant he had to see her naked. Not that she was shy about her body now, funny enough, but being naked in front of Jax tempted her beyond reason. The doctor gave her the go-ahead for sex, and Jax knew it. He would probably try to seduce her.

  “Okay.”

  All through dinner, Tae squirmed. The more she thought of enjoying a bubble bath, she added Jax to it in her mind, and their antics led to other things. She shook her head to dislodge the thoughts, but that did nothing. When she finished eating, Jax sent her off to gather the toiletries she needed and to run the bath water while he cleaned up the kitchen. She stripped off her clothing and put on a bathrobe and slippers. Neither was sexy. The terry cloth robe made her hips look wider, and the footwear swallowed her feet but did not minimize the thick ankles. She stood in the bathroom laughing at herself.

  “What’s funny?”

  She started at the sound of his deep voice and glanced up. The tent in his pants caught her off guard, and she followed his gaze to where she’d let the robe gape and show off her cleavage. “Nothing. What are you looking at?”

  “Something,” he teased.

  She dropped the robe on the floor and stepped out of the slippers. Jax let out an agonized moan. “Get under those bubbles before I forget my vow.”

  She let him take her arm and guide her over to the side of the tub. “What vow?”

  “Don’t play dumb, Tae. You know what you’re doing to me.”

  Settling in the water, she ran her hands over her breasts and then cupped her palms to rain water on the swollen mounds. As liquid dripped from her rather large nipples, Jax hissed between his teeth.

  “Call me when you’re ready to get out.”

  “Wait, I…” She swung her arm wide, slinging water all over his kaki slacks, right at the crotch. “Oops.”

  “You’re going to pay for that.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “How? I’m preggo. You can’t spank me.”

  His eyes narrowed. “No, not yet.”

  She shivered and then squeaked in alarm when he began stripping off his clothes. “What are you doing?”

  “You’ve wet my clothes. I can’t stand around in these. I might catch a cold.”

  “Yeah, right. That’s your reason.”

  “Yup.”

  He unbelted his buckle, and she licked her lips and swallowed. Muscular legs with a dusting of dark hair over them came into view. The wet pants hit the floor, and he heeled off his shoes. When he raised his arms over his head to pull off his shirt, her gaze locked on his chest. No man should be that delicious-looking. Then again they all should but not in her bathroom when she meant to keep her hands to herself. Okay, who was she kidding? She’d hoped to provoke him, and it had worked.

  Leaning back, she ran her hands over her breasts once again and closed her eyes sighing. The tiny moan evoked a groan from him, and she yelped to find him climbing into the tub. “There’s not enough room. You’re too big,” she complained.

  Water sloshed over the sides and wet the floor.

  “You’re going to sit on my lap and help me with a little problem I have.”

  “What problem is that?” She glanced over to the pile of clothes on the floor and spotted his boxers topping the heap. All kinds of visions popped into her head of his erection.

  “This one.” He raised her as if she weighed nothing and positioned himself behind her. When he brought her down on his lap, his hard dick slipped between her legs and grazed her pussy. Another moan escaped her lips.

  “Jax.”

  His hands came around and settled on her swollen belly. “You know you want it.”

  She panted. “Jax, the last time we had sex, it was so rough. I—”

  “You can’t take it like that now, but after you have our son, I will give you time to heal, and then I’m going to take you like you need to be taken.”

  Her pussy clenched, and she squeezed her legs together, forgetting she’d trapped his cock between them. That served to heighten her lust. No turning back now. “But I have needs right now.”

  “And I will not leave you burning.” His hands came up to cup her breasts. She gasped and arched into his touch. At his thumbs scraping across her sensitive nipples, she shivered and covered his hands, guiding him in the way she wanted it. He already knew, of course, by the way he pinched the pebbled buds and rolled them with gentle care. They ached but felt so good, and a bit of milk leaked out onto his fingers. Jax moaned, watching. He raised his coated thumb to his mouth and licked it. “Good.”

  “You’re dirty.” Her voice came out raspy.

  “I’m hungry.”

  “For more milk?”

  “For your pussy. Right here.” He squeezed the head of his dick and pressed it to her thigh. “Hold onto the sides of the tub. I’m going to lift you onto it.”

  “How do you know I’m ready?”

  “Aren’t you?”

  She first touched the head of his cock, loving its warmth and the smooth, rubbery skin. Forcing herself past it, she reached farther down between her legs, and her fingers dipped below water level. They sank without hindrance into her as she was so wet from seeing him naked and having him under her. She bought her hand up, and Jax captured it, touching his fingers to hers. He nuzzled her neck, his voice a low rumble.

  “What you do to me, Tae. I’ve been patient.”

  “I know.”

  “I won’t be now.”

  Her breath was a shudder as she drew it in.

  He grasped her hips and lifted her. She held onto the sides of the tub, and he arched his hips. As if her pussy gave off a homing beacon, his shaft found her entrance and sank wonderfully inside, stretching her walls, so long without a man’s use. Her mouth fell open, and even before he’d filled her to capacity, she wriggled her hips, grinding on him. Air hissed between Jax’s teeth, and his fingers dug into her sides. He tightened his hold to slow her down. They moved as one, coming together and her arching up so his cock slid out, then back together again.

  “Do you have any idea how bad I’ve wanted you, woman, and how good it feels to be inside you?”

  More water splashed over the side of the tub as she grabbed his hands to try to push them away. She wanted to
bounce hard until she lost her mind. Even with Jax controlling the speed at which they moved, the noises she made escalated. Her pussy throbbed, and her clit surely couldn’t swell any more. He grazed it each time he drove into her, and she couldn’t take it.

  “I know,” she moaned. “Let go, Jax. I want it hard, please.”

  “Easy, honey. I can’t let go, but I’m going to give you what you want.” He slid his hands from her waist to her legs and raised them. One of her heels on the tub’s edge, she felt a scream bubbling in her throat and fell onto Jax’s chest. He withdrew until just the head of his cock penetrated her pussy and then drove up, slow and gentle. At the same time, he slid a hand up her inner thigh until he reached her clit and ran the pad of a thumb over it.

  The pitch to her whine rose a few decibels. How did he always make her scream? What was it about his touch? She lost track of that train of thought when her apex began to tingle and her core muscles contracted. “I’m…going…to…come…” She panted and pushed at his hand on her clit. Jax massaged her bud faster. “Jax, stop I can’t take it. Too good.”

  “Never,” he growled in her ear. “You’re going to come for me right now. That’s your punishment.”

  She screamed his name and found herself riding both his cock and his fingers. Her breasts bounced heavy on her protruding belly, and her nipples hurt, but the pain didn’t detract from the pleasure. She rocked her hips faster. Jax kept a thumb on her clit and pushed two fingers atop his cock as it impaled her.

  “Come on, baby, give me your sweet come. You know how I like to eat your pussy, don’t you? Ride my cock.”

  The dirty talk and the pumping inside her did it. She screamed over and over as an orgasm exploded through her being, but before her climax could die down, a pounding started on the front door. She squealed in fear, and Jax slapped a hand over her mouth.

  Tae froze. Her eyes widened, and she looked at the sodden floor. Had the water leaked into the downstairs apartment? The pounding started up again, and Jax raised her up out of the tub and set her on her feet. He didn’t release her until he stepped out of the tub as well and marched the two of them out of the bathroom onto the safer surface of the carpet.