About That Night

by Laura Brown

  He kissed her, easing her back until she lay on the couch, with him between her legs. She lost herself in his lips, in his tongue, her body climbing so fast she would have gotten lightheaded if she wasn’t lying down.

  His hands started at her waist, trailing a slow path upward. He broke the kiss—she whimpered at the loss, didn’t matter he couldn’t hear her—and rested one hand just below her aching breast. “Let me know if yay or nay.”

  Then his other hand flittered up her breast, brushing against her nipple, and all her nerve endings fled to a happy place. Her sensitive skin took the pleasure and multiplied it, bringing her to the start of the roller coaster, ready to fly down the hill.

  When his hand stopped, she popped her eyes open, ready to scream for more.

  “You O.K.?” he asked. She realized he didn’t know he’d nearly set her off, he was too wrapped up in making sure she’d be okay, and her heart joined in on the emotional overload.

  She nodded. “Yes. Good. Better. More.” Look at her, a whole four words.

  His Cheshire grin came back, and then his lips were on hers and his hand was back on her breast and the combination detonated every enjoyable cell in her body. She clutched him, riding the wave, until she lay boneless and happy.

  But not sated.

  “So you do like that,” he signed and she was too content to fight him.

  “Yes. Thank you.”

  He grinned and shifted to give her room, adjusting himself. She blinked, her lust-filled brain taking a few moments to catch up. He thought they were finished.

  “We’re not done.”

  He paused. “We’re not?”

  She shook her head, and stood, holding out her hand. Her knees wobbled a bit, but when he placed his hand in hers, his strength traveled through, filling her up as though more than their hands touched. She led them both to his bedroom, aware of his presence behind her, where more of that delicious strength resided. The harsh lighting filled the room, emphasized the bed, and Izzy wished he had a dimmer option somewhere. Until her wound-up hormones reminded her she’d be able to see all of his glorious body.

  She closed the door, then thought better of it and left it open. Archie wasn’t climbing out of his crib just yet, and she wanted to ensure she’d hear him if he needed her.

  Nolan took in the door and a bit of the heat faded. “You sure? We seem to have created a baby last time.”

  Yes, she was well aware of that fact. “I have an IUD.”

  His eyebrows lowered. How the hell would she explain this with her limited ASL and not completely kill the mood?

  “Condom plus IUD means less chance of pregnancy.”

  “Less?”

  Izzy raised a shoulder. “Always a risk. But less than one percent.”

  He didn’t seem convinced.

  “The only other option is not to have sex.” She sucked in a breath, praying he wouldn’t take that option. Door number one, not door number two!

  His gaze was still hot on hers, the pulse in his neck begging for her lips. “You feel confident?”

  Fake it until you make it. “I want sex in my life.” Sex that involved intercourse. “And I know your name now and where you live.” She smirked.

  The hesitance faded from his face, the statue melting away as he stepped closer to her. “I want you in my life.” And before she could finish processing the signs, he yanked her in for a hard kiss, melting her bones. She clutched his shoulders, wanting to climb him like a tree and settle her aching core against him. She hardly recognized herself and the need driving her forward.

  She wrapped her legs around him, his erection rubbing against her sensitive center, and she nearly orgasmed again. All her worries and fears left her. He knew her concerns, and he still wanted her.

  Nolan walked them to the bed and lowered her down, no harsh fumbling movements like the last time. He took care and she knew it would be only about her if she didn’t do something.

  On his bed, she unwound her legs and ran a hand down his chest. Same hard muscles she remembered, same alluring man. She clutched the latch on his pants, and Nolan’s head dropped forward. Izzy flicked open the button and wrapped her hands around his hard length.

  His warm, smooth skin made her mouth water. His breaths became ragged and it filled her with power. She stroked him, fumbling at her angle, but he didn’t seem to care. She wanted more.

  Izzy tried to wiggle his pants down, but Nolan caught her arm, halting her action. He held her gaze, a world of emotion swimming in those brown eyes. And then, with no prompting, he pulled his shirt off.

  She was pretty sure she drooled. And her insecurity demon wanted to complain that her body no longer looked fit like his. She shut it down. Her body looked different because of him, and he’d given her no reason to think he’d be disappointed with this new version of her.

  Still, she held her breath when he removed her shirt, sucking in her stomach, aware of the stretch marks near her belly button. But no heat drained from his eyes. His fingers danced up her stomach, to her breasts, and all her concerns evaporated.

  Every place he touched left behind a trail of fire, nothing uncomfortable like she feared. She kissed him again, with his fingers rubbing her nipple, and her body gave another mini quake. His lips trailed down her neck, stopping at the edge of her nursing bra. He lifted his head. “Can I taste you?”

  Oh, how she wanted him to. But hands-off-the-milk-makers reared its head, and Izzy honestly didn’t know if she’d be able to continue breastfeeding if she had recent memories of Nolan sucking on her. She shook her head.

  He didn’t react, simply slipped down to her exposed skin below her bra, kissing to her navel, giving her the same adoration he had the first time.

  She wasn’t sure if she wanted to cry or orgasm again.

  Then he undid her pants, and even though more stretch marks and flab awaited him, she let him. The lights were on, but he made her feel sexy and safe, especially as his heated gaze roamed over her body; the only reaction he gave was a lick of his lips.

  She quaked again, her entire body hovering on the edge of the cliff, wanting to dive over in one grand celebration. She pointed at his pants, her hands shaking. “I want you. Now.”

  He grinned, but she caught the slight shake in his hands as he removed his pants, and then promptly forgot about it when he popped free. She rose to her knees, determined to take him in her mouth. He put up a hand.

  “If you do that I’ll come in your mouth. And I don’t want that for tonight.”

  She nodded, noting they were in similar predicaments. And it made the moment more special, more connected. He rolled on a condom, and she lay down as he crawled over her, praying this didn’t feel too different after giving birth.

  Nolan brushed a damp piece of hair off her forehead. “You O.K.?”

  She bit her lip but nodded. He arched a brow. “Little nervous.”

  He dropped his forehead to hers and they shared a breath. “Same. Let me know if I hurt you or need to stop.”

  And then he pushed inside and those little quakes soared in, building steam. No pain, no discomfort, just 100 percent pleasure. He seated himself fully inside her and stopped moving. Eyes on her, watching. She forced one hand to release its grip from his shoulder. “I’m good. More please.”

  His lips tilted in a heated smile and her body climbed higher without him doing a damn thing. Then he pulled back and pushed in, the orgasm rumbling and rolling through her, taking her over, filling and building her until nothing else in the world mattered except the two of them and how they felt.

  And when that blissful wave passed another came along, and another, until Izzy could no longer keep track, could only match Nolan’s pace and ride it out.

  She finally settled, running her hands up and down his back, body still humming. She trailed a hand down to his ass and squeezed, and N
olan pushed in one last time, grunting his release, before resting his head on her shoulder.

  Their breaths dueled for control. That had been the single best sex of her life. Nolan lifted his head, eyes dark and intense, as though seeing into her very soul. And she realized why it had been so great, because emotion had come into play.

  They weren’t strangers anymore. They had evolved into something more, something stronger. And she didn’t know what that meant beyond this moment.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Nolan held Izzy as she fell asleep, tracing the curve of her cheek, the bump on her nose, not wanting to take his eyes off her. He needed to commit her to memory, find a way to preserve all her beauty, the essence that filled him with a shocking ray of light. The urge to draw her welled inside, even if his drawing materials were in the spare bedroom where Archie slept. The sex had been mind-blowing, amazing, and he knew it had nothing to do with his year and a half of celibacy. It had to do with Izzy.

  Either he got her and her body like he got no other, or she somehow gave him a skill he lacked in other areas. In the end, it didn’t matter. Only that she matched him.

  And that held a whole other can of worms. She matched him and they had a kid sleeping in the next room. They were a family. They could either continue to match and become what he never thought he’d have—a partner and child—or they could grow to be more dysfunctional than his own parents and deal with ugly child custody fights.

  The thought made his stomach curdle, and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head, the simple motion soothing him.

  He pushed his jumbled thoughts aside as her slow, steady breaths skittered across his chest. She was asleep. He knew she’d gotten little the night before, and who knew how many nights before that. But now she was relaxed, and he wanted to do whatever the hell he could to keep her that way.

  Which led to more dangerous thoughts… He wanted to keep her. And Archie. Not like a caveman—he wasn’t a caveman, even if they both made him want to beat his chest and stomp and scare away all other suitors—but in an “I want to share my life with you because you make everything brighter” sense.

  Nolan shoved a hand through his hair. Way too deep thoughts; he was rushing things, as usual. Considering their jobs, there wasn’t anything to rush.

  That doused his fire; nothing like a reality check to realign his wayward thoughts. An unsettled vibe ran through him, and he needed to move and do something. He carefully slid out from under Izzy and held his breath as she snuggled into the pillow, staying asleep. Before now this place had been where he slept, nothing more, nothing less. Now he saw the color and vitality she added to an otherwise drab room, making it clear what everyone had pointed out. And she did that with her essence and a few colorful items of clothing scattered about. He covered her with the blankets and got dressed before leaving the room, needing to clear his head before he started envisioning how Izzy would decorate the entire place if he let her.

  Nolan slipped down the hall to Archie’s room, inching the partially closed door open to check on him. Light cascaded over the crib, where Archie had a hand shoved into his mouth and shifted back and forth.

  Not peacefully sleeping. Not for the teething baby.

  He searched for the pacifier and found it wedged into the side like last time. Only he couldn’t pop it into Archie’s mouth, not with his little hand already there. The squirming increased, head rolling side to side, fist going farther into his mouth.

  Crap, the kid was going to dislocate his jaw. Or win some records.

  Without thinking, Nolan picked him up and settled him onto his shoulder. Chest to chest, he felt the vibrations of fussing and knew he’d need to think fast in order for Izzy to remain asleep.

  Nolan popped the pacifier into Archie’s mouth, and wide dark eyes darted up to him, blinking. But thankfully not crying.

  “You should be asleep,” Nolan signed.

  Archie kicked, then the chin started quivering.

  Fuck.

  “What’s wrong?”

  More quivering. But Archie didn’t sign for milk, and Nolan figured that either meant teeth or diaper.

  He hadn’t had to do a diaper change on his own yet. “You need your diaper changed?”

  Archie kicked some more, no quivering chin. Could be coincidence. Nolan raised the baby until his butt was nose level, and immediately pulled back at the eye-watering smell.

  Double fuck.

  Time to man up, Holtzman.

  He flicked on the light and moved to the table, aware of the open ledge. He settled Archie onto his back and stared at the sack covering most of the kid. No sleeves, some sort of bean sack thing for kids.

  What happened to blankets?

  Nolan unzipped and started to take Archie’s arms out, then thought better of it and put the arm back in. The frequent pacifier sucking stopped, and Archie gave him a look. “Yes, I know. Your father is a screw-up. I don’t know what I’m doing.” That seemed to placate the baby and he resumed sucking.

  Nolan got the feet out from the sack, grateful to find only a onesie underneath. He undid the snaps and raised the fabric before eyeing the full diaper.

  Archie had spat out the pacifier and now had his toes in his mouth. No sign of distress. “You trust me with this?”

  Archie fit another toe in.

  “We really need your jaw examined.”

  He undid the diaper straps, pulled it back, and promptly turned and gagged. And he thought the smell was bad earlier. Knowing he had to deal, he sucked in a breath and went back to work, claiming the foot back from Archie to raise his bum and remove the diaper.

  Step one accomplished.

  Only now he fumbled around, having not gathered all the supplies ahead of time. The wipes were to his left, diapers just beyond, and if he stretched he could keep one hand on the baby and gather his supplies.

  Nolan shifted his stance and, reaching for the wipes, he stretched a little farther and collected them, then grabbed the fresh diaper with the tip of his fingers.

  Point Holtzman.

  He fixed himself back at Archie and pulled out a wipe, pausing as he assessed the poo-covered rear. The same rear he hadn’t kept in the air while getting the supplies, that now left streaks on the sleeping sack.

  Point lost.

  “You don’t need that to sleep, right?”

  Archie had both hands wedged at the corners of his mouth.

  Nolan used the wipe to clean him up. Then a second, and a third, trying to get all the dirty parts. Then a fourth, just because.

  Baby clean, he shifted the dirty sack aside, settled Archie down, and reached for the diapers. Something wet hit his cheek, and kept hitting, sliding down his neck.

  Nolan swallowed, not moving as the wetness continued, and continued, and he questioned every life decision he ever made. The onslaught finally stopped, but he didn’t for a moment believe it wouldn’t start up again. He used a wipe to clean himself and Archie, then quickly put a new diaper on before the kid got any more ideas. With luck, he managed to get it on securely. He removed Archie’s arms from the sack and picked the baby up.

  Archie clapped.

  “You’re just proud you marked me.”

  He tossed the dirty items in the trash and laundry, respectively, then set Archie into the crib. The baby stood and the watery eyes told Nolan this wasn’t going to end well.

  “I need to wash my hands.”

  Archie rocked against the railing, probably making noise now, and Nolan couldn’t have it. He picked up Archie, brought him to the bathroom, and set him on the floor to quickly wash his hands. And his neck. Noticing the wet spots on his shirt, he pulled it over his head and tossed it in the corner.

  By the time he looked down he managed to catch the second before Archie chomped hard on his big toe. Swallowing his pain—how the hell did Izzy breastfeed this
beast?—he picked up the kid. “No.” Then went back to the spare room, grabbed the pacifier, and popped it into the raptor’s mouth.

  Archie rested his head on Nolan’s shoulder. Nolan contemplated a beer. He wanted to put the kid down, but clearly that wasn’t happening. And even though he was now exhausted and ready for sleep, he moved into the living room, lying down on the couch, with Archie on his chest.

  No wonder Izzy was tired. He’d barely been up with this kid one night and wasn’t sure how much he could continue, and Izzy had done this nearly a year.

  Then Archie reached over to the hand Nolan had on his chest and squeezed his finger, turning something deep inside. In that moment Nolan knew he’d do anything for this kid.

  With his free hand he rubbed Archie’s little back as the baby stared up at him with wide eyes. “You want a story.” Archie continued to stare, sucking on the pacifier like it was his drug of choice. Nolan thought back to his childhood and signed The Three Little Pigs, claiming back his other hand to do so. Time for a little story time, ASL style.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Izzy woke up to morning light filtering into the room. Still in happy sleep mode, she stretched, body relaxed and loose. And then everything hit at once—she slept through the night, she had sex with Nolan, she slept through the night, where was Archie? Where was Nolan? And why was she wet?

  Izzy shifted. She wore only her nursing bra, because neither of them had managed to get it off before sex and she was too sated to care after. But now the fabric was drenched in breast milk, leaking onto the sheets, and her engorged breasts were clearly not a fan of a good night’s sleep.

  Izzy pushed herself up, worry creeping in and needing to check on Archie. She took off her bra, pulled on a shirt and pants, and even though her tender breasts hurt to hang free, headed off to Archie’s room.

  To find it empty.

  Panic welled and seized her lungs, but she steadied herself and turned to the living room. One glance had her lungs back to normal. On the couch lay Nolan, one arm above his head, the other holding Archie, who slept facedown on Nolan’s chest, one arm also above his head.