by Lindsey Hart
Teela offered a weak laugh. “I’ll be sure to remember that. Maybe I can use it on our baby one day.”
“Our baby,” Ross repeated, wonderment tinging his words. He stared at her for a minute like he was seeing her for the first time. He shook himself out of his trance a second later, grabbed the glass that was sitting on the counter, and offered her cold water. She took it gratefully.
The water made her feel a little better. She was still shaking, but the sweating thing was slowing down, and her heart rate was returning to normal. She pushed to her feet, using the wall for support.
“You’re really pale.” Ross’ voice was thick with concern. “You don’t look well at all.”
“Thanks for that. Just what a woman likes to hear. How disgusting she looks.”
He shook his head and his voice was so soft it gave her chills. “That’s not at all what I meant. My parents have a guest room. It’s right across the hall. Why don’t you lay down for a few minutes until you feel better?”
Teela wanted to protest, but honestly, her stomach was still rocky, and her bones were achy and she didn’t want to toss her cookies again, especially not in front of Ross, so she nodded weakly.
Instead of just showing her where the room was, Ross shocked her by angling around her and sweeping her off her feet. His strong arms cradled her effortlessly and swept her out of the bathroom, across the hall, and into an expansive guest bedroom with a queen-sized bed made up with a cheerful patchwork quilt, two matching nightstands and the complimentary dresser. There was a huge painting hung over the bed, just abstract purple flowers, but it was nice, even though Teela normally didn’t like art like that.
“You didn’t have to carry me,” she protested. “It was like two steps.”
“That’s fine. Your body is doing all this work, creating that baby and cooking it. The least I can do is help you out in the few ways that I can.”
Teela didn’t really know what to say so she clamped her lips together. Ross set her down gently on the bed after he’d peeled the quilt and crisp sheets back. He slipped them over her. The bed was soft and the sheets were cool and felt like heaven against her heated skin.
“I’ll bring you some water and a mint. I’m sure mom has a bag of them in the cupboard. I can’t imagine the aftertaste you have going on is very good.”
“Ugh, it’s really not.”
“When does it- you know… normally stop?”
“I hope it tapers off in a month. For some people it does. For others, they aren’t so lucky. Some women are sick throughout their whole pregnancy.”
“Are you kidding?”
“I wish I was.” Teela closed her eyes. She let her whole body relax into the bed and it was sooooo good. “I’m lucky though. I feel pretty good and then it just sneaks up on me but I’m usually fine in an hour or less. Some women feel sick all day or throw up constantly. Mine is pretty sporadic. Sometimes I go for days with just like, heartburn to complain about.”
“It sounds awful.”
“It only gets worse. I can’t wait until I’m the size of a house.” Her voice had that soft mushy tone that said that she really wouldn’t mind it too much. Really, she didn’t. She’d wanted this. She’d dreamt for years of a baby. So, pregnancy wasn’t always roses and unicorns and all that, but that was okay. Like Ross said, she was making a life and that was truly amazing. Puking was a small price to pay.
Ross’ fingers grazed down her arm gently, so gently she almost didn’t feel them. She’d closed her eyes and it was a battle to open them because they were suddenly so heavy, so she didn’t. She heard his footsteps retreat out of the room and she tried so hard not to drift off like a complete ninny, in his parent’s guest bedroom when she already had the strikes of being pretty much a stranger and a stranger who let their son eat her out on his couch while the place burned down around them, but the bed was just too darn nice. It felt like that sinkhole she’d been wishing for and she let it take her off into sweet dark oblivion.
CHAPTER 17
Teela
The craziest thing about being pregnant? The super vivid pregnancy dreams. No one warned Teela that the dreams would be so real. Or so good. Or that she’d wake up, tense and sweaty, her body craving the one thing she told herself she’d never need again.
As her breath evened out and her heart stopped racing, Teela slowly became aware that maybe the dream wasn’t just a dream.
The room was dark but she sensed immediately, even through the haze of sleep, that she wasn’t at home. She was warm and there was something solid pressed up against her. A heavy arm was draped over her waist and something uh- pokey- and uh- even more solid, was pressed into the globe of her left ass cheek.
She was still at Ross’ parent’s house. In their guest bed. She’d fallen asleep after yet another soul crushing, mortifying experience. Ross was there. With her. On a Monday night. They had to work in the morning and there was no way they could show up there together.
Teela breathed out, trying to calm the panic rising in her chest. She wriggled her hips, trying to pull away from Ross but his arm held her pinned to the bed. How could an arm be so heavy? She succeeded in moving an inch… and in wriggling just enough that the hard bulge she was trying not to think about, or feel, shifted from her cheek, over to the crack.
To sit right between her ass cheeks.
A shameful shiver swept up Teela’s spine. She slammed her eyes shut, trying not to picture what was going on behind her but it didn’t work, because she could feel it. Ross’ chest, solid and warm pressed against her shoulder and her back. He’d stripped down to his boxers, because there was no way that bulge was shaped like that through his jeans but there was also no way it wasn’t contained in something.
Her body lit up like a damn firework, thanks to the overly vivid dream she’d just had about certain parts of Ross naked and glistening, working her up until she was naked and glistening and shivering and panting and aching.
Her lady bits were doing a shivery happy dance and her nipples were hard little peaks cutting through the thin fabric of her dress. And yeah… Mr. Happy up her ass back there wasn’t helping.
“R-Ross,” Teela hissed.
Both her arms were pinned down so all she could do was wriggle like a pathetic version of a worm. The kind of worm that got left out on the sidewalk after the rain and dried out. She used to cry when she saw those as a kid. The poor bastards were just so sad. She still went out of her way to move any she saw off the sidewalk when she was walking.
Nothing happened. Ross breathed a deep breath that tickled the side of her neck and her ear and it shouldn’t have been erotic because he was sleeping but yeah. She was all shivery and wet below the belt.
“Ross!” Teela said, louder. She winced, wondering where the heck his parents were sleeping. She didn’t want to wake them up. It was probably in the middle of the night.
Ross let out a weird snort, snore thing that shouldn’t have been cute, but somehow was. He fell asleep beside me. He actually came in here and took off his clothes and got into bed with me. Did he wrap me up in his arms or did he just fall asleep and throw one over because he’s used to sleeping alone and he’s a clumsy oaf?
There wasn’t ever supposed to be a warmth in her chest again where men were concerned. Unfortunately, there was definitely a warmth starting. It spread straight to her lungs and her stomach and from there, it flooded her limbs. Suddenly she found herself blinking against the sting in her eyes, trying to silently will it not to spread to her sinuses.
I’m being ridiculous here. Thanks a lot, hormones.
“Ross!” Teela bucked her hips back hard, right into Ross’ very hard bulge.
No shit. That woke him up.
He jerked away, startled. “Wha- huh?” he gasped.
He sat halfway up, glanced around the room, turned to the side, then fell back against the pillows when he spotted her. He swiped a hand over his eyes and even in the dark, she could see that his hair was mussed,
and his lids were heavy and a few of his dark lashes were starred together in little clumps. He was adorable.
“Oh. Teela,” he breathed, suddenly a little more awake. “Are you okay? Are you feeling sick again?”
“No,” she whispered. “But if I was, I would have puked all over you because you had me pinned down to the bed so tight, I couldn’t breathe.”
“What? Oh. Uh- sorry. I- I didn’t start out that way. I promise. You looked so peaceful sleeping in here I didn’t want to wake you up to take you home. My mom said I should just let you sleep. Because she apparently thinks I can get you pregnant twice or something, she told me that I might as well spend the night in here too. They only have one guest bedroom and she made it clear the couch was not an option.”
Teela smothered a giggle, even while her heart sank a little. “So, you were actually trying to be a gentleman and stay away from me.”
“Yeah.” Ross blinked sleep from his eyes. “I guess it didn’t work.”
The heat was back, that shivery feeling in her stomach. It wasn’t just sexual heat. It was softer than that. Ross might not have started out holding her, but somehow in their sleep, they’d ended up that way, like their subconscious commanded that they be together, even though reason told them that they were better off apart.
Okay, I’m definitely overthinking this.
“My best friend told me to tell you that if you hurt me, she’d cut off your balls with a pair of pruning shears. Rusty pruning shears. Sorry. I forgot that part.”
“Jesus.” Ross stiffened, but his lips twitched, like he was fighting a smile. “I’ll have to be careful then. I don’t want to lose my nuts.”
Teela’s breath hitched as Ross shifted. He turned onto his side and all of a sudden, he was close. So close that if the light in the room had been better and not just the bit of moonlight or streetlight or whatever light drifting through the cracks in the blinds, she might have been able to count every single one of his eyelashes.
A man just freshly woken from a dead sleep in the middle of the night had no right to look so attractive. A fresh shadow of stubble lined his jaw. His eyes were hooded and shadowed, and those lashes were so long and thick and dark. She watched them swoop up and down. She realized for the first time that the bridge of his nose had the tiniest bump at the top, a genetic thing, not because it had ever been broken, and even though it detracted from his overall magazine worthy face, it somehow made him look even more attractive.
His lips. His lips were perfect. They were so close, parted slightly, softer looking than any man had a right to.
Teela was well aware that she’d tossed her cookies earlier in the evening and there was no way she was kissing those lips and forcing her gross lingering mouth germs on them.
Ross’ eyes lowered as his gaze dropped to her chin and trailed lower and too late, she realized that her dress had gapped open and since the thing had a built in bra, she’d opted to go without so she wouldn’t ruin the overall look of the dress with excess straps peeking out here and there and her breasts pushed up way too far for dinner with his parents. Even in the darkened room she could see the edge of her nipple peeking out from edge of the fabric.
Her breath changed. Ross’ breath changed. They were both breathing too loud. Too raspy.
Teela wished she had some control over her body’s reaction. She wasn’t used to this, this new feeling. She’d never felt so out of control just being close to another person. She wanted to blame it solely on her wonky hormones, but she knew she couldn’t really get away with that.
She’d sworn off this. This feeling. This vulnerability. She’d opened herself before and she’d been burned every single time. She thought she wanted to spend the rest of her life alone. She thought she knew who she was and what she wanted. Now… with Ross looking at her like that, she wasn’t sure. She didn’t know anything at all.
“We should probably go. I mean, we have to work in the morning. I don’t want to be late. We can’t show up together.”
“It’s the middle of the night.”
“I know, but-”
Ross’ finger on her lips silenced her protests. He leaned in, his face getting closer and closer and all she could do was lay there like a dummy and melt into the mattress. Because she didn’t really want to leave. It was the middle of the night. It would be cold outside. The bed was so warm. So, so warm. She trembled as Ross’ finger fell away from her lips and trailed down her chin, down her neck, down lower, between her breasts.
“W-what are you doing?” she gasped.
The rasp of Ross’ breath started a firestorm in her veins. Her blood felt like it was on fire and her nipples were hard and peaked and below the belt, she was more than ready. She blamed it on the dream. That fiery, horrible, vivid dream. Where Ross’ body had covered hers. Where she’d come alive and he’d been inside of her and the pleasure…
Her hand shot out, intending to push him away because she needed to tell him that they couldn’t and shouldn’t be doing any of this, not in his parent’s house, not in any house but instead her fingers grazed soft hair at the nape of his neck. She tried to withdraw but her hand brushed his shoulder and the muscles bunched and shifted below the skin. Instead of shoving him away, she drew him closer. He bent his head, his breath hot against the sensitive skin at the nape of her neck.
When he kissed her there, suckling her sweetly and gently, those warm lips lighting her entire body up and sending that wildfire sweeping through her veins, she was gone. She was so gone. There was no pushing Ross away.
There was no way she should want him there, but she did.
CHAPTER 18
Ross
Teela melted into the mattress below him. She was so responsive to his touch, so ridiculously responsive, it sent chills skittering up his spine. His balls clenched up and somehow those chills ended up right at his dick. Which was also incredibly responsive to Teela being responsive.
He palmed the sweet globe of her breast and she arched up on a tiny whimper, thrusting into his hand like she was aching for his touch, the exact way he was doing it. He pushed the fabric of her dress aside and rolled his index finger over her hard nipple. She sucked in her breath and when he pinched her nipple gently, she made a muffled sound low in her throat. She was obviously trying to be quiet.
“My parents’ bedroom is on the other side of the house. You don’t have to worry about them hearing anything.”
“Still… Ross, this is- wrong,” Teela panted, because like hell was letting up on her glorious breasts. He had the other one exposed- that dress she’d picked out was just about the world’s most perfect dress allowing him to slowly roll his fingers over that nipple too. Couldn’t let the first have all the fun, after all.
“There isn’t anything wrong about it,” he assured her. “The door’s shut, the house was well built. We don’t have to worry about sound travelling.”
“But it’s your parents’ house!”
“So? Didn’t you ever live at home and have a boyfriend. Never mind, don’t answer that.”
“For your information, I didn’t. My parents aren’t exactly that boy friendly. I wasn’t even allowed to date until I was eighteen and even then, I had to keep my door open at all times and there would never, ever, under any circumstances be anyone allowed to spend the night.”
“Harsh.” He rolled his fingers over her nipple before he pinched.
Her body went completely rigid and she let out a little whimper that shot straight to his groin. Damn, he loved the sounds she made. He loved everything about her, really. He loved the way she smelled. He loved her sassiness and the way she wasn’t afraid to tell him off. He loved that her body and his body, they just fit. He hadn’t experienced that with anyone before, not like he did with Teela. It was just right. Strangely right. Right in all the ways it shouldn’t have been.
Which was a real mind-trip.
“Ross…” Teela breathed, and yeah, his name on her lips did all sorts of things to his in
sides.
He shifted his hand lower, trailing it under the sheets, over her still flat belly, down to the apex of her thighs. Her dress had ridden up and she was so warm there. Her panties were soaked when he brushed his fingers over them.
“What’s that?”
“N-nothing.”
“Is this what you wanted?”
“You- you know it is.”
He glanced up at her face and the way she was looking at him was enough to nearly make him go off. For the second time in two nights. He either had a major problem with ED or it was just her. No, not ED. God, it was the opposite of ED. Unless erectile dysfunction also counted when your dick wouldn’t listen to your brain.
Teela’s lips parted when he swept his fingers over her panties. She was warm, so gloriously warm. He loved that she was soaking wet already.
“Were you dreaming about me?”
He was just bugging her, trying to coach her into dirty talk when he didn’t actually know the first thing about talking dirty because he’d always viewed that as pretty damn juvenile. He also hated unnecessary, full volume screaming. He’d experienced a bit of that over the years and it was just a big no thank you. He was a little shocked when Teela’s eyes flickered shut, those thick lashes resting on her face and even in the dark he could see the blush riding high on her cheeks.
“You were dreaming about me?”
“Yeah,” she admitted. She didn’t open her eyes. “It’s the hormones, I swear it is.”
He swept a finger underneath her panties and her legs fell open. She let out a shaky sigh as he ran his finger over her folds and teased it over her clit. “Did I do this to you in your dream?”
“I- I guess so.”
“What else? What else did I do to you?” His mouth was going dry just watching her face. She had such an expressive face, even when she was obviously trying to keep it from giving anything away.
