His Best Man's Baby

by Lockwood, Tressie

  “Bend over and put your wrists next to your ankles on the inside. You can rest your head on the bed if you like.”

  Goose bumps broke out on Tae’s arms and legs. Jax’s hair brushed the back of her leg as he locked the cuffs onto her wrists and ankles. When he was done, she couldn’t raise her hands or straighten. A sliver of fear raced down her spine. If she said potato, would he release her? Just as she considered this, Jax’s hands came up to her waist, and he leaned around so she could see his face. He stilled, looking into her eyes. The gentlest of expressions came over his features. This was her man, and he had never done anything she didn’t like. If he did, he was quick to make it right. She trusted him, or she never would have allowed him to cuff her.

  “Good?” he whispered. The man read her like a book.

  “Yes, Jax.” Her voice came out breathy and sexy. Jax grinned. He kissed her lips and smacked her ass with the flat of his hand before stroking her stinging skin. His fingers crept between her crack and lower to skim her pussy. All he had to do was part her opening and he’d glide right in she was so wet, but he held her nether lips apart and gave her a long lick. Tae shuddered, moaning. She clamped her teeth together to keep from begging him for more. He pushed his tongue into her pussy and wiggled it around. The cry of pleasure escaped before she could catch it. Jax squeezed her cheeks and dragged her backward to his hungry mouth. When he moved to her clit and teased it with the tip of his tongue, her knees buckled. He drew away. No!

  “Straighten up,” he commanded.

  Tae did as he asked and received the reward of being thoroughly eaten until her muscles quivered, and her breath hitched. She screamed his name, and when she begged him not to stop, he spanked her good. Jax lapped her dripping juices and moved to her cheeks. He nipped her skin, making her whimper. Running his hands up and down her thighs, he kissed her all over the backs of her legs, her hips her butt and worked his way up until he stood behind her.

  Tae’s legs shook, and Jax grasped her hips in a strong hold. He dragged her backward and impaled her on his hard shaft. He thrust, and his entry forced her walls to stretch, accommodating him. The ache made her hotter. She arched her back as well as she could from the awkward position, straining at the bonds. Jax swatted her ass and jerked her back again. He plunged his cock deeper. Her mouth fell open, and she sucked in great gulps of air.

  “You made me wait a long time, Tae,” he scolded.

  “I’m sorry.”

  He pulled out and thrust in again, harder and faster. Her pussy pulsed and clenched internally to squeeze his cock. Jax howled his pleasure.

  “You’re going to pay for making me wait, baby.”

  “Yes,” she pleaded.

  Jax started out slow and then pounded into her pussy, grinding deep as he held her around the waist like a vise. The slap of their flesh coming together over and over hypnotized her. The sensations mounted until she couldn’t think straight. Jax’s angry grunts filled the room, but he kept strong control over himself and her body. She shouted through another release, and Jax pulled out of her. He fought with the lock on her ankles and wrists, desperate to get them off. When he did, he tossed her on the bed like she weighed nothing and followed her.

  “Arms above your head!”

  She raised them and clutched the sheets in her fingers. Jax leaned on one hand and put a knee on the bed. He guided his throbbing cock to her pussy and plunged inside. A curse dropped from his lips as he’d pounded into her sore snatch only three times before he came. He sagged down against her and kissed the back of her neck.

  “You’re so beautiful. I can’t get enough of your body.”

  He rolled to the side, and she turned over to settle into his embrace. “Did I please you, Daddy?”

  He groaned. “Oh so well, baby.”

  Tae raised her knee and ran her toes up and down his leg. She wrapped her arms around his neck and nibbled his bottom lip. Jax breathed hard. She felt moisture beneath her fingertips on his skin, and when she leaned back she enjoyed the sight of his chest rising and falling and his flat, hard belly sinking in and out.

  She grazed the delicious flesh, loving the feel of her fiancé. He wasn’t the only one who couldn’t get enough. How did she end up with a man like him? Either way, she’d do all she could to keep him and spend her life showing him what he meant to her.

  “Jax?”

  “Hm?” He’d shut his eyes and yawned.

  “I uh…I need to tell you something.”

  “What’s that, baby?”

  “Jax.” She shook him as he drifted off. “Wake up. I have to tell you something.”

  He seemed to force his eyes open. “I’m awake. Is it my turn to get the baby?”

  She laughed. “You know before I got pregnant we went all night long.”

  He grinned. “You mean in the hotel. Mm, yes. Remembering gets me hard.”

  He wasn’t lying by the nudging at her belly.

  “When Little Jaxon sleeps all night, we’ll have to reenact that night.”

  She purred. Jax squeezed the back of her thigh and headed up toward her pussy, but she covered his hand. “Wait, I need to tell you.”

  He paused.

  “I invited Daniel to dinner tomorrow night.”

  Jax shot to the side of the bed. “You did what?”

  She sat up. “I didn’t think it would do any harm. You two were friends for years before I came along. I want you to talk.”

  He stood and walked around the bed to the dresser. When he brought shorts from a drawer, he stuffed his feet into them and jerked them up his legs. Tae half worried about his anger and half enjoyed the view.

  “What were you doing seeing him?”

  She forgot about his legs. “I was not ‘seeing’ him as you put it. I ran into him while I was out. I invited him. He’s coming, and if you want to continue to act like a butthead, you can while I enjoy my dinner and talk to your best friend.”

  Jax glared at her. “I thought this was a night for us to be together alone, and you bring him into our bed.”

  She stood and moved toward the bathroom. “Dramatic much?”

  “Oh, damn!”

  She turned around. “What?”

  He held something he’d picked up from the dresser. “We didn’t use a condom.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  The clink of forks hitting plates, and throats swallowing wine were the only sounds in the dining room. Every now and then, Little Jaxon cooed as he kicked his tiny feet in his chair. Tae peeked beneath her lashes at Jax and then at Daniel. Neither man had spoken more than two words to the other.

  “How do you like the steak?” she dared to ask Daniel.

  He smiled and raised his fork. “Delicious. You’re a good cook.”

  Jax flared his nostrils. “I cooked it.”

  Tae suppressed a chuckle, and Daniel reddened.

  He set his fork down. “Then I guess it’s not as good as I thought.”

  “Really?” Jax sneered.

  “Don’t start, you two,” Tae warned. The tension mounted, and she wanted to scream that they both needed to stop acting like children.

  The argument broke out full scale. Both men jumped to their feet, fists raised.

  “You know you’re pretty insecure for a man about to get married,” Daniel taunted.

  Jax bared his teeth. “You’ve never been able to get over that she preferred me.”

  Daniel looked at her and then back at Jax. “Her pussy—”

  Jax’s fist smashed into Daniel’s face, and Daniel went down hard. His entire plate of food landed on his chest, and blood gushed from his nose. Jax leaped after him and grabbed his shirtfront, raising his fist a second time. Daniel seemed too stunned to react. Little Jaxon wailed, and Jax froze.

  “You see what you did?” Tae rushed to take the baby from his seat, but Jax appeared at her side and brushed her hands away to do it himself. He had their son against his chest in a heartbeat, crooning to him and walking the floor. Daniel
brushed food from his chest, wincing, and then stemmed the flow of blood as he rose from the floor. He flopped into his seat and watched as Jax walked back and forth. Tae grabbed a napkin and handed it to Daniel, and he looked at her.

  “All this time, I assumed I would be better,” he whispered.

  Tae glanced at her fiancé, but Jax paid them no mind. She doubted he had heard Daniel. “Jax adores that little boy. He’s a great daddy. We both love him so much.”

  Daniel said nothing. He stared down at the mess on the floor, his expression unreadable. When the baby calmed, Jax returned to the table, but he kept Little Jaxon in the crook of his arm. Tae resisted running to get her cell phone to take a picture. Jax claimed she had a thousand already. She’d called him dramatic again.

  “Hey,” Daniel said, capturing Jax’s attention. He ran his hands through his hair, and Taw saw how Jax frowned at it. He too must have noticed the change in Daniel, and she sensed no malice in her fiancé. Daniel looked at his friend. “I want us to go back to being friends. I know she’s yours now. I accept it. I’m not saying I don’t feel anything, but I won’t make waves.”

  Tae crushed her napkin beneath the table, staring at Jax. Talk about a quick about-face. Would Jax accept it?

  Jax looked away from both of them. “Yeah, whatever. Sure, bro.”

  Tae beamed. “See? I knew you could patch things up. Now, give me the baby, Jax. You and Daniel can clean up my floor!”

  Her fiancé frowned, but she whisked the baby away. The next item on her agenda was to get Jax to invite Daniel to the wedding.

  * * * *

  Tae stood at the back of the chapel, her stomach tied so tight in knots, she didn’t know if she wanted to pass out or throw up. For some reason, all she could think about was the last wedding she attended and how everything went to pieces afterward. Daniel’s marriage hadn’t lasted five minutes, and there’d been so much between her, him, and Jax, how could she believe it would be okay this time around? Hadn’t she started the relationship wrong with Jax? Shouldn’t she still feel guilty?

  The problem was, she didn’t. The lack of guilt made her question herself now that she stood here. She shut her eyes and pressed a hand to her forehead, willing the emotions to die down. Her mother and Sasha had spent forever getting her face just right. No way would she cry before Jax saw her and mess it all up. On some level, she heard the violin, which they’d arranged to play during the ceremony, and recognized the “Wedding March.” The beautiful melody flowed through her, reached the end, and started over again, and still she didn’t move. A light hand at her back made her start.

  “Tae, sweetie, we really should go in.”

  “I know, but what if he leaves me tomorrow?” The corners of her eyes moistened. She sucked in deep breaths. Her dad took both her hands and held them while he captured her gaze.

  “Jaxon Hart loves you. That’s why we’re here. Besides that, you’re a strong black woman. If he doesn’t appreciate what he has in my little girl, he doesn’t deserve you.” Her dad released her hands and held up a finger. “And your mother will have his head for ruining what she calls her perfect work of art.”

  Tae laughed. “Of course. It’s all Ma’s planning. Thanks, Daddy. I feel much better.”

  He gave her a hug, and she kissed his cheek, and then she nodded to the attendant to open the chapel doors. Tae stepped into the long, narrow chapel with wooden, cushion-covered benches on both sides of the aisle. Her mother had arranged the decorations so that white streamers were pinned at each bench with a white bow. Sunlight shone through the stained glass windows, casting the scene of her husband to be, his best man, and the backdrop of the minister and bouquets of flowers into a warm and inviting cocoon.

  Almost every seat in the chapel was filled, giving evidence to how her mother had ignored her wishes to have a small ceremony, but Tae looked beyond all the eyes observing her to meet the gaze of the one who mattered most. She knew Jax, and from the way he offered her that crooked smile with his shoulders too high and his hands fisted at his sides, she knew he was nervous, too. When she smiled back, something seemed to come over him. He relaxed, and unless she missed her guess, the man seemed love-struck.

  As she moved along the aisle, she caught her mother’s slightly raised voice telling the person next to her how she had picked out Tae’s dress. That was true. Sasha and her mother both convinced her to buy the white dress with backline all the way down to her butt. Ruching extended over her butt to gather into a big white bow, sitting just beneath the curve of her rear. She loved the daring design, but it meant she’d had to exercise hard to get off the last few pounds, and she’d done it. If she did say so herself, she looked good, and Jax’s response confirmed it.

  Her mind a whirl, she went through the motions, lighting a candle, saying a prayer, but when he slipped the ring onto her finger and recited his vows, her attention was all on him.

  “Octavia,” he said softly. Jax never called her that. Her heart raced at the name from his lips. “When I met you, I fell in love.”

  Gasps broke out nearby, and a “knew that” from one of her family members. She couldn’t take them anywhere.

  “When I met you, you turned my life around. No other woman would ever satisfy me or make me happy.”

  She ducked her head at his candor, embarrassed and pleased. Jax sharing such deep feelings was a challenge, and she’d better remember the words forever. Wait, she had a man filming this. She’d have evidence.

  “I knew you were the one, but…” For a millisecond, his gaze slipped to the side and then back on her. “The timing wasn’t right.” All of a sudden, Tae realized Jax was speaking of not when they had sex in the hotel but before that, long before that. He loved her from the first when she was with Daniel. Now he’d gone and done it. She started to cry.

  The love of her life brushed her tears away, and the minister continued with the ceremony. Tae said her vows with all the honesty and love she had, gazing into Jax’s eyes so he knew she meant it. Just as he had said to her, no other man could take his place or be the one like she knew he was. She hadn’t loved Jax from the beginning, but that didn’t matter. She would love him until the end of time.

  The minister pronounced them man and wife, and Jax swept her off her feet into his arms. He kissed her so thoroughly, her veil slipped, and she smacked his shoulder. With cheers going up all around them, he set her on her feet, and they turned to face their guests. Tae caught Daniel’s eye, and he offered a sad smile, applauding with everyone else. Between the two of them, he and Jax had agreed that they didn’t feel comfortable for Daniel to act as Jax’s best man, so Jax chose another friend, but Daniel had promised to be there. She was glad he’d kept his word.

  Tae took in the sight of family and friends. With her husband by her side, she felt much more accepting of her mother’s attitude and Janita’s selfishness. Not that she intended to give in to it. She and Jax had enjoyed a few dinners with his dad, and she’d met his siblings. They were all nice and accepting of her. Tae had never thought being surrounded by family could mean so much, but she gave the credit to Little Jaxon and to his daddy.

  “Ready?” Jax asked, bringing her hand to his lips.

  She nodded. They worked their way through the guests, chatting, hugging, and kissing. When the crush was over, she and Jax took the baby to a room they had reserved at The Duke Mansion where they had arranged to have the reception. Tae laid the baby on the bed and kissed his sweet little cheek. Her baby cooed and kicked his feet. She breathed in the wonderful baby smell.

  “Tae, let me help you with your dress.”

  She eyed Jax over her shoulder. “You know we have to go back downstairs for pictures, Jax. I’m not getting naked before that. I just came up here to freshen my makeup, and my mother is coming to get the baby.”

  He looked crestfallen. “But your back is driving me crazy.”

  She laughed. “It’s called skin, sir.”

  He smacked her ass. “What about this
?”

  Tae darted away. “Stop, you’re going to mess up my bow.”

  Jax snapped his fingers. “What do you say we go bowling later?”

  “You’re nuts.”

  “I can see you bowling in that dress. The shoes will match.”

  “Still crazy.”

  His hand came out of nowhere and landed on her waist to jerk her into his arms. “You love it.”

  Her breath caught in her throat as she looked up at him. Damn, getting manhandled could be hot. If she didn’t get away from him, they really would be naked, and she could just see her mother knocking on the door while they scrambled to get something on. She wriggled in Jax’s hold and bumped against his crotch. Resistance waned.

  “You’re hard,” she accused.

  He shrugged. “You’re rubbing your pussy on it. How can I help it?”

  “I am not rubbing anything on you, dirty-minded man.”

  “I wouldn’t mind if you did.”

  “I bet. You’ve done enough damage. Now let me go.”

  Jax grinned, a self-satisfied look in his eyes. “Shall we tell them at the reception?”

  She glared at him. “That we’re going to have stepladder children? No! Well, maybe my mother and your dad to avoid the nonsense, but that’s it. I hope I can handle this craziness.”

  He captured a tendril of hair that escaped her coiffure and brushed it to the side. “We will enjoy our children together. I’m your husband now, and you’re my wife. I’ll never leave you, Tae.”

  Her heart swelled, and she felt a tide of emotion she put down to being pregnant again so soon after having her first child. Jax knew her. The truth was, she didn’t mind it at all. She adored Little Jaxon, more than she could have imagined, and she and Jax were pretty damn good at caring for him so far. They had learned a lot over the months of her pregnancy and worked to do better each day. She loved him, and he loved her. That’s what was most important.

  “I know,” she said. “I’m happier than I’ve ever been, and I don’t regret a thing.”

  He grinned. “Good. Now let me help you with your dress.” His fingers slipped below the lining at her butt, and she smacked his hand. He frowned. “Tae.”