The lamp on the nightstand illuminates my bedroom. The sight before me stops me in my tracks. Christian’s back is leaning against pillows propped in front of my headboard, and Leah is asleep on his chest. His strong arms are wrapped around her and they are both fast asleep.
My heart swells. This man is a true blessing. He picked my sick daughter up from daycare when I couldn’t.
“I’m here for you” Christian’s words echo in my head. Those four words changed everything. I have a great man in my life. He cares not only for me, but for my daughter.
I walk over to the bed and lean over, placing a soft kiss on Christian’s forehead. “Thank you,” I whisper.
“You’re welcome.” Christian replies.
“I didn’t realize you were awake. How was she?”
I walk around the other side of the bed, climbing up to sit next to Christian.
He leans his head on my shoulder. “I was resting my eyes. She cried for a little bit after I bathed her.”
“You gave her a bath?” I question.
“I didn’t have a choice. I don’t know where all that crap came from. Such a small body, but it was never ending. Somehow, she blew the diaper out and it was up her back. Why does it always go up the back?” He makes a gagging face. “No amount of wipes was going to clean her up. She needed to be dunked and washed.”
“Smart thinking,” I say and lift my hand up to touch my sleeping daughter’s head.
“Careful now, I just got the little monster princess to sleep.” He gives me a smile that has my pulse racing. His brandy-colored eyes reflect glimmers of light. They send me a private message. He got Leah to sleep, now he wants to his way with me.
I laugh softly. “Monster princess. That’s your nickname for my daughter.”
“Well, she is my little princess, and tonight the things that came out of her little body were something out of a sci-fi movie. Not to mention, the shrieking. The lungs on this kid.” Christian lifts his hand to his ear, sticking his finger in it. “I think my eardrums are ruptured.”
Hearing him call my daughter his little princess melts my heart. Could this work between us? Is Christian ready for this? I’m a single mother, raising my daughter on my own. Yes, I have the help of my parents, but being in a relationship with a woman with a child can have its difficulties.
“That isn’t even funny. I was treating a five-year-old for a ruptured eardrum when daycare called me at the hospital. All joking aside, how did you get her to settle down?”
“I grabbed your night shirt off the bed and laid in here with her. I was hoping she would smell your scent on the shirt and it would help calm her. She grabbed it and snuggled with it against my chest. After she fell asleep, I didn’t want to take the chance moving her.”
Smoothing his hair with my hand, “Great idea with the shirt.”
“I didn’t think of it on my own. My mom suggested it,” he divulges.
I start to climb off my bed, but Christian’s hand halts me. He stands from the bed, gently keeping Leah secured to his chest without stirring her awake.
“Where are you going?” I whisper.
His gaze is steady, “Putting her in her crib so I can have my wicked way with her mother.”
Without another word, I watch him carry my daughter to her room.
Reaching over, I grab the monitor off the nightstand and power it on. Christian’s voice fills my bedroom. He whispers ‘goodnight, I’ll see you in the morning’ to my daughter.
Christian strides back in to the bedroom, shirt missing, and grips the top of the doorframe.
“I like what I see. You lying on the bed, waiting me for. The only problem is you have entirely too much clothing on.”
“Oh really,” I purr.
“I think I’ll have to do something about that,” he growls.
He slowly moves away from the door, closing it quietly behind him.
When he reaches the side of the bed, he grabs my feet, pulling me to the end of the bed.
His hands work slowly up my legs, his fingertips tickling my thighs the higher he goes. He grabs the sides of my scrubs, pulling them ever so slowly down my legs, tossing them to the floor.
“What shall I remove next?” His expression fades from coy to serious.
Christian places kisses up my legs. “Perfect.” He hooks one finger onto each side of my thong, slowly his hands move downward, skimming either side of my body to my thighs, pulling the thin lacy material gently down my legs.
“Sit up,” he leans forward and lowers his voice. I do as he requests. He takes the bottom of my shirt and lifts it over my head, revealing the black lace bra I have on. His large hand takes my face and holds it gently. His eyes peer at me intently.
“You’re beautiful.” Christian’s lips brush against mine as he speaks. His tongue traces the soft fullness of my lips, sending shivers of desire racing through my body. The caress of his lips on my mouth and along my body set me aflame. A river of lava runs through my veins.
Every time his gaze meets mine, my heart turns over in response. This man has healed the broken pieces of my heart. He has the power to break me all over again. Christian is capable of destroying me.
Slowly and seductively, his fingertips release my breasts from my bra. The straps of my bra fall down my arms and Christian tosses the bra to the floor.
His gaze drops from my eyes to my shoulders then to my exposed breasts. I want this man. I want to be with Christian.
Burying his face in my neck, he breathes a kiss there. “Rory, I want to taste you. I bet you’d like my face between your legs.”
His bold request has me tingling in the pit of my stomach. “Say it, baby. Tell me,” he whispers, his breath hot against my ear.
Burying my face in his neck, I breathed a kiss there. “Yes, please. I need you.”
Christian’s lips recapture mine, more demanding this time. “Don’t. Hold. Back.” He kisses, nips, and sucks on my neck. “I want to hear you.” He plants kisses on my breasts. My body squirms beneath him. His hand lightly touches my hardening nipples. My breasts tingle as he sucks on my perky nipples. “Christian,” I moan.
“That’s it, baby,” he groans.
His tongue explores the rosy peaks of my breasts. The sensation arouses me. Instinctively, my body arches toward him. His talented tongue makes a path down my ribs to my stomach. His teeth scraping as he goes. He peppers my body with kisses as me makes his way to my pulsing core.
Christian’s hand lifts my right leg slightly, opening me wider to give him better access. Slowly, he works his way to my core with light kisses on the inside of my thighs. He presses his mouth to my already wet center. Squeezing my eyes shut, my hips buck, but his warm hands hold me still. Moaning, I grip the comforter.
His fingers slide through my folds and I moan. He inserts one finger, then two, stretching me a little. His fingers delve into my delicate softness, making me buck forward. He moves his fingers methodically in and out of my body. “Oh.My.God,” I moan.
“Your pussy is pulsing, baby.” Christian sucks on my clit and pushes his fingers in and out. I grab his hair, holding his face against my core. My hips grind against his face as my body pulses with need. “Oh, God…Don’t stop…You’re going to make me come…”
“Look at me,” he says, then sucks on my throbbing clit. Opening my eyes to meet his, the smoldering flame I see in his eyes is all I need.
My breath comes in long, surrendering moans as Christian licks harder. The pleasure becomes almost unbearable. I gasp his name, my hands going to his head, my fingers gripping his hair.
Two fingers slide inside me as his tongue circles my clit over and over until he drives me over the edge. The dam shatters and I break. “Christian,” I cry out.
He discards his clothes quickly and grabs a condom from the nightstand.
Taking my hand, he guides me to himself. “Touch me.”
I wrap my hand around his hot, hard skin and stroke upward. Christian moans at the conta
ct.
Unfazed, Christian tears the wrapper open, sheathing his hard erection with the condom. He nudges my legs open wider as he slips the tip of himself into my opening. I push my heels into the mattress and dig my nails into his shoulders. A delighted gasp escapes me when his erection presses against my core.
Gradually, inch by inch, Christian presses himself inside of me. I inhale sharply as my body adjusts to him.
“Ah, baby, you’re so tight. You feel so good.”
Slowly he pulls out of me, then enters me again. With each thrust of his hips, he gets deeper inside of me. My hands grip his back, pulling him against my chest. He withdraws again, and ever so slowly enters me again.
“What are you doing? I need you.”
“You got me, Rory. I’m yours.” A soft gasp escapes me. His declaration makes my heart beat rapidly.
He thrusts his hips harder, filling me. “I can’t get enough of you,” he says in between each thrust.
My body is on fire, my core is tingling with desire. As my climax ricochets through my body, a moan of ecstasy slips through my lips. My whole body floods with desire. I bury my face into his throat as my body begins to tremble from my orgasm.
Once my body stops trembling, he flips us, so I’m on top of him.
“You’re so tight. I want to stay buried deep inside of you for the rest of the night, but I don’t know how much longer I’m going to last, babe,” he growls as he continues to rock, using a bit more force.
Christian sits up, taking one tight nipple in his mouth, he sucks. “Want you so much.”
I let out a soft yelp. It only takes a few tugs on my already sensitive nipples to send me over the edge again. Christian releases my breasts and I sag against his body as I ride out my orgasm.
He places his hands on my hips guiding me on his hardened cock. Tightening his grip on my hips, he rocks harder. A few more thrusts of his hips, he sets a rhythm, moves my body just the way he needs. Every grunt and groan he makes fuels me. In return I rock my hips faster, picking up the pace. Christian thrusts harder reaching his climax. I can feel the pulse of his erection as he empties into my body.
After Christian catches his breath, he pulls out and walks to the bathroom. When he comes back into the bedroom, he crawls back into bed and pulls the covers over our naked bodies. “Goodnight.” I lean up and place a soft kiss on his lips.
“Goodnight, baby.”
The clock on the nightstand reads four thirty. My stomach doesn’t feel quite right. Not sure if it’s because Christian is sleeping soundly in my bed next to me, and I just had a dream about Keith or because there are a million butterflies taking flight. Tossing back the covers, I grab my robe from the chair in the corner of the room and wrap it tightly around my naked body.
Quietly, as to not wake Christian, I open the doors to my terrace in the master suite. The thought of Keith has me close to tears.
A few minutes pass before the sound of the French doors opening startles me. “You okay,” Christian’s sleepy voice breaks the silence. Looking over my shoulder, Christian stands with his unfastened jeans hanging low on his hips with a blanket in one hand and the baby monitor in the other. He walks over to me. “Get up.”
I stand, and he sits in the chair I just abandoned, and he pulls me down into his lap. He wraps the blanket around both of our bodies and pulls me snug against his bare chest.
“Why are you out here,” he asks.
“I needed some air.”
“I’ve heard that line before. Why do you need air? What happened?” his voice is laced with concern.
“Bad dream.”
“Keith?” he asks casually.
I nod against his chest.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that. No one deserves that, especially being pregnant.”
“It was tough, I’m not going to lie. At times I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get through it. But the moment they laid Leah on my chest, I knew I didn’t have a choice. I had to. I had to be strong for her. What example would I be if I couldn’t be a strong, independent woman.”
I turn toward his body, wrapping my arms around his neck, laying my head on his shoulder.
“You’ll never know how strong you are until it’s your only option.”
“I’ve heard that saying before. Camryn once said it to my mom and it made me realize how strong she was.”
“Did something happen to her to make her feel that way?”
Christian doesn’t respond right away. He nods. “Yeah, something fucked up, but it’s not my story to tell.” He remains quiet for a few moments. “All I will say is sometimes terrible things happen in our lives. For whatever reason, they put us directly on the path our lives need to go in order to experience some of the best things life has to offer. It may sound cliché, but I truly believe in that.”
The two of us sit in silence. I toss around what Christian said in my head.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Christian
I’m not sure what time it is, but the sunlight is sneaking through the blinds. Rory throws the covers back and her hand flies to her mouth. She runs into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. I hear her throwing up on the other side of the door.
Knocking before I walk in, I find her head in the toilet.
“Go away…please.”
Reaching out, I take hold of her hair while she throws up.
She smiles over her shoulder. “This is sexy,” she laughs.
In between Rory’s violent spasms, I reach into the vanity, grabbing a washrag. Leaning over, I turn the faucet on, holding the rag under the cold water. Squeezing the excess water out, I place the cold rag across Rory’s exposed neck, with my other hand, I rub circles on her back.
“Was it something you ate yesterday?”
“I only had a salad. Maybe I got what Leah had.” Looking over her shoulder, she asks, “Speaking of Leah, where is she?”
“She’s still sleeping. I checked on her when I got up a little bit ago to use the bathroom. Let’s get you washed up and back in bed,” I say, helping Rory stand. She walks over to the sink, brushing her teeth quickly, then heads back to bed.
“Stay here, I’ll go grab a bucket in case you feel sick and won’t make it to the bathroom.”
She nods, pulling the comforter up under her chin.
“Give me a few minutes. I need to check in with Jamie to make sure he can handle the clients today at the studio.”
“No, go. We’ll be okay. Just bring Leah in here. I’ll lay her with me and put cartoons on.
“I’m not leaving the two of you,” I respond, my voice sterner than I would like.
Rory stares at me for a long moment before she tosses the blankets back and runs for the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
With that, Leah lets me know she is awake with her cry echoing through the room from the monitor. “I’m going to grab Leah. I’ll be back in a few.” I holler over my shoulder leaving the room to grab the baby.
When I walk into Leah’s room, she is standing in her crib, rocking back and forth. “
“Look at my big girl.”
She bounces on her wobbly legs, her elephant binkie clasped firmly between her lips.
I remove the binkie and she smiles, showing me her four teeth. “Let’s get you changed, then I’ll fill that little belly of yours,” I say, pinching her sides causing her to squeal.
I’m not going to lie this shit took practice. I ordered a doll and a pack of diapers off Amazon to practice. Only difference was the damn doll didn’t move, making the task much easier.
A bead of sweat runs down the side of my face. Changing this kid is a workout. Managing to get her legs back in the sleeper, my fingers work quickly to snap her pajamas back in place.
“Let’s check on Mommy first, before I feed you. Leah lays her head in the hollow of my neck, her fingers playing with my hair around my ear.
“Can you please stay?” Rory’s voice is weak when I find her back in b
ed.
“I already told you. I’m not leaving. Get some rest.”
“Will you be okay with Leah?” she asks.
“The two of us survived yesterday for hours without you. We’ll be in the other room. How much trouble can this little princess cause?” I say, tickling Leah’s side.
Setting Leah in the highchair, I sprinkle a handful of Cheerios on the tray. “Eat these slow. I’ll be right back.”
I bring Rory a glass of ginger ale and kiss on her on head. “Love you.”
I didn’t think I’d ever have kids. At least, it wasn’t in any of my plans or dreams when I was growing up. You would think, coming from a great family, having a twin of my own by my side my entire life, I would want one. But through the years, I never really gave it any thought. Until now.
The day Rory Gormley came into my life, everything changed. Changed for the better. This woman is just…simply incredible.
Having Rory and Leah in my life makes me want a child of my own one day. A child to have Leah as a sister, Rory as their mother. Seeing how Lincoln is with Jaxson, I want to have that with a child.
“What did you do yesterday? I called a few times, you didn’t answer.” Camryn asks, sitting next to me on my couch.
Jamie eyes me from the kitchen but doesn’t say a word. He knows what I did yesterday since he handled the clients alone while I took care of Rory.
“I have to tell you something.” I avoid eye contact with my sister. “I’ve fallen in love.”
Camryn grabs my face and forces me to look at her. “Hello, you can’t just drop that on me and not look at me.”
Turning my face to the side, I unhinge from my sister’s grasp. “Do you mind?” my forehead furrows.
She rolls her eyes, “Is it the beautiful redhead from the gala?”
Unspoken Fears (The Unspoken Love Series Book 4) Page 20
