Gavin (Members From Money Book 24)

by Katie Dowe

  *****

  “That was some vow,” Simon told his daughter as they danced together. The ceremony was being held at the same hotel the engagement party had been held and after the endless picture taking and the various speeches from her colleagues and his business associates and friends she was ready to go and lie down and be with her husband. Their first dance as husband and wife had been interrupted various times much to his frustration but she had reminded him that very soon they would be leaving whether the ceremony was over or not.

  “Thank you,” she said as she smiled up at him. “I think you should make an honest woman out of Carissa.”

  “You think so, huh?” he asked her gruffly.

  “I do. She loves you, Dad, and I know she is not Mom, but she really wants to be in your life.”

  “You don’t mind?” he asked her.

  “I don’t, not anymore.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You are welcome,” she said, planting a kiss on his weathered cheek.

  “You really do love him.”

  “I do.” She turned her head to see her husband dancing with his niece. “He somehow came into my life and put down roots and I can never see myself without him.”

  “I am happy for you.”

  *****

  Savannah squealed a little as he picked her up and carried her across the threshold of the penthouse suite of the hotel that he had reserved for the night for them. She stared up at him as he marched right through the huge bedroom and out to the balcony where there was a table laid with a sumptuous fare and slices of the pink champagne cake that she had only tasted a bite of. A bottle of champagne rested into a bucket and rose petals were strewn all around the enclosed balcony. He placed her on one of the padded chairs and took off her shoes and stockings. It was almost eight in the night but the night was balmy and calm with a slight breeze touching their skins. “You planned all this?”

  “Leesa and some of the wives helped.” He knelt at her feet and passed his hands over her bare flesh. “You poleaxed me in the chapel with that declaration of love. Was that deliberate?”

  “I had no clue I was going to say something like that until I heard what you said.” Her fingers wandered into his dark hair and tousled the strands. He had taken off his cream jacket and vest and also his tie. “You have a way with words.”

  “I meant all of it.” He pushed her dress up and peeled off her panties, dropping it to the floor.

  “Gavin, what are you doing?” Her voice was thin as she struggled for breath.

  “What I have been dreaming of doing since I saw you stepped into the chapel.” He opened her legs and reached for the already opened bottle of champagne. He dipped a finger in the bubbly and worked it up inside her. Savannah gasped and shuddered as she felt the coldness of his finger inside her. He bent his head and replaced his finger with his tongue, going in and licking at her slowly as if he was savoring the taste of the champagne. He took his time as if enjoying a particularly delectable meal, one that he had no intention of finishing. He lifted her feet and placed them onto his broad shoulders to give him better access. His teeth grazed her mound and sent her into a spasm of desire that had her digging her fingers into his rich dark hair. She came inside his mouth, her body shaking uncontrollably as the orgasm swamped her. He cleaned her out slowly at the same time pulling the zipper down and taking out his straining erection. He pulled her down onto him and pushed into her, his fingers pulling the dress over her head. She bent her head and took his lips with hers as she dug her fingers into his shoulders. She was by no means recovered and as he started to thrust into her rapidly she returned the thrusts with so much frenzy that it had them bursting out of control!

  *****

  There was a very large welcome back banner in the front of the hospital the day she got back to work two days later. She had told Gavin that they should put off their honeymoon trip until a later date and he had reluctantly agreed. They had spent the two days at the apartment with their phones turned off and had stayed in bed most of the time only getting up to get something to eat and take a dip in his private pool.

  “Welcome back, honey,” Pamela said with a broad smile. “I must say you look rested and well loved.”

  “Don’t start,” Savannah warned.

  “I won’t.” She handed Savannah her device. “I am sorry to take you off your high but remember the little girl who came in some months ago with bruises and you suspected abuse?”

  “What happened?”

  “She is back and this time the bruises include brain trauma. They are prepping her for surgery, honey.”

  “Thanks, Pamela.” She started to turn away. “And the mother?”

  “She has been detained.”

  Savannah ignored the stares as she hurried up to the gallery to watch.

  “Welcome back,” Administrator Laughlin commented as Savannah sat next to her. “I am sorry you had to come back to this and it appears that you were right.”

  “Is there any chance?”

  “They are trying to save her, but there is bleeding in the brain so we have to wait and see.”

  “Why would she do this to her own child?” Savannah asked, unconsciously placing her hands on her belly.

  “Frustration. She is a single parent and the child was the product of her mother’s boyfriend raping her in the first place.”

  “She could have given her up for adoption.”

  “She could have.”

  *****

  He found her in the darkened room when he came home that night. He had called her and told her that he was detained at a meeting and she should eat without him and she had told him she would wait. He had heard something in her voice and had asked her if she was okay and she had told him she was just tired.

  “Savannah?” He walked over to the bed where she laid curled up onto her side. He turned on the bedside lamp and was alarmed when he saw the tears. “Baby, are you okay?”

  To his horror, she burst into fresh tears! He kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the bed and pulled her into his arms rocking her back and forth as she cried into his shirt. He stroked her hair as she sobbed and waited until she was spent. He eased her away from him and reaching for some napkins he wiped her cheeks tenderly. “Want to talk about it?” he asked her quietly, wondering at the extreme grief on her face.

  She told him, her hands reaching for his. “I suspected and told the administrator about it and she said she would check it out. That little girl died because we did not follow up on her, Gavin, and I am so angry! She died on the operating table, but she did not stand a chance.”

  He framed her face and kissed her softly on the lips. “You face these horrible things every single day and I understand that as a doctor you want to be able to save every single person that comes to you. You can’t and when I see you like this all broken up with grief I want to tell you to stop practicing medicine and stay home. This is the third time I have seen you like this, Savannah, and it breaks my heart! People are predictable and when they are hurting they are going to take it out on the ones closest to them. I am sorry, baby, but you are carrying a life of your own and you are going to have to learn to deal with the stress and grief better than you are doing now. I never want to see you cry like that again. I am sorry if I sound callous but you are my wife and when you hurt so do I.”

  She sniffed and looked up at him, giving him a watery smile. “Thanks,” she whispered.

  “You are not going to bite my head off?”

  “No, because you are right. I am going to have to start thinking about our baby.” She took his hand and placed it on her belly, smiling at the look on his face as their son moved.

  “I cannot wait to see our baby,” he whispered as he bent his head to kiss her belly and rest his head there.

  “Neither can I,” she said softly as she stroked his hair.

  That night she slept soundly after he had made love to her with her head on his chest and one leg thrown over his and a smi
le on her lips!

  *****

  “You should be taking it easy not decorating a Christmas tree,” Gavin complained as he handed her an angel. He smiled whimsically as he remembered that last year this time he had seen her at the tree lot when he had gone there with his sister and niece. Now she was his wife and they were looking forward to having their son any time now.

  “I have a week until that happens and I am decorating.” She turned to look at him. “And since you forced me to stop working I have nothing to do.”

  “Baby, you are about to pop!”

  “And I work in a hospital so what better place to pop as you so indelicately put it.”

  “It might happen when you are on your way there or coming home,” he reminded her.

  “I cannot believe my due date is Christmas Day,” she said with a smile.

  “And you have redecorated the nursery several times already.” He pulled her into his arms as they stared at the towering tree. The living room was cozy with an electronic fire warming the room. They had chosen the name of Nathaniel Simon Parker after they had found out they were having a boy and would be calling him Nate. Savannah found herself wandering around the large beautifully decorated room with the ocean blue wall paper and the murals depicting different animals coexisting in a beautiful park complete with a lake. The large tan cot stood in the center with the mobile suspended above it. She had packed and repacked the numerous amount of clothes that had been sent over from the baby section of Romano’s admiring how tiny they were and she and Gavin had read up on everything there was to know about the needs of the small human being. His housekeeper came in and did the work quietly while she dozed or watch something on television and both Gail and Greta came by to visit bringing Gabby with them. Her father and Carissa had been by as well. They had gotten married in a quiet ceremony last month and the woman could not be happier.

  “I know the housekeeper made lasagna but I have a sudden craving for Italian,” she said as she turned to face him.

  “Italian it is,” he said softly as he bent to kiss her.

  *****

  “Shouldn’t you be resting?” Gavin asked his wife as she walked slowly back and forth dragging her mobile drip with her. She had been asked to come in a day early so that they could monitor her.

  “My walking helps to keep the blood flowing and besides I am only four centimeters dilated. I have time. It’s going to be a very long night, darling,” she told him with a smile.

  “I am here for the long haul.” He held her hand as he walked with her. “I am staying right here because I have been told that you have been looking at patients’ charts. That is not going to happen anymore, Savannah, I am keeping an eye on you.”

  “Pamela told you,” she said wryly. “I was just checking-”

  “Enough,” he said firmly. “You are a patient here, baby, and I need you to remember that.”

  “In case you did not know, Gavin, doctors make the worst patients,” Doctor Stapleton said with a cheery smile on her round plain face as she came into the room. Savannah told herself that it was because of her being a doctor at the hospital why she was being treated like royalty, but it had a lot to do with her being Gavin Parker’s wife. But this time it did not matter to her. She loved being his wife!

  “My mother and your dad as well as Carissa are calling every few seconds,” he told her in exasperation. “I finally had to turn off my phone.”

  “Then they are going to start calling the hospital and knowing my dad he is not going to stop until he get answers or come here himself.” She leaned onto him. “It’s his first grandchild and he is breaking out the cigars and the champagne.”

  “I know.” He wrapped his hands around her. “Let’s get you back to bed.”

  *****

  Nathaniel Simon Parker was born at eleven forty-five that night which just made his Christmas Day birthday barely official! He weighed in at seven pounds five ounces and had dark brown curls and his mother’s dark brown eyes. The private waiting room adjoining Savannah’s bedroom was filled with family and hospital personnel as they come to congratulate the parents and to admire the beautiful baby.

  The proud father refused to put his son down even when he had fallen asleep later the next morning. The office was closed for the holidays until January but even if it had not been he would not have gone in.

  “Okay, you need rest,” he said firmly as he shooed everyone out at noon.

  “So do you,” she murmured as she snuggled into his arms. “I cannot believe I am a mother,” she whispered, curling her fingers into his thick sweater.

  “You are going to be the best mother,” he told her softly as he stroked her back. He had watched her in labor for almost twenty-four hours and wondered if he could put her through that again. It had been as scary as hell! But seeing his son at the end of it made it all worthwhile.

  “And you are going to be the most indulgent father ever.” She lifted her head to look at him. “Next time I want a daughter who looks like you and have your eyes.”

  “Next time?” His thick black brow lifted. “I am here wondering if there is going to be a next time. Baby, you just went through a hell of a lot and I am so humbled and scared that I am not sure there will be a next time.”

  “You have a sibling, I never did and Nate is not going to be an only child,” she told him firmly. “We were made for childbearing, baby, and no matter how trying it is we can bear it. There will be a next time.”

  “You convinced me,” he told her huskily as he bent to kiss her lips. “You are amazing, do you know that?”

  “I married an amazing man,” she whispered softly as she snuggled against him.

  She fell asleep in his arms shortly after with a smile on her lips and a song in her heart!

  The end

  The Billionaire's Diamond Baby

  A BWWM Pregnancy Romance

  A complete and exciting romance, brought to you by best selling author Alia Thomas.

  Just months ago, Natalie Johnson's life couldn't have been more different.

  She's dating the dashing billionaire Brett Haughton, has her own jewelry business and is pregnant with Brett's child.

  Coming from a relationship with an abusive and unsupportive ex, her current life feels like karma is making up for some serious lost time!

  But karma hasn't finished with it's wicked game.

  With vicious potential in-laws on the horizon, mysterious sex tapes, and a will which could change everything, drama is a lot closer to Natalie's perfect life than she ever thought.

  Can she fight through all the B.S, do what's right for her baby and get the man?

  Find out in this fun and sexy new romance by best selling author Alia Thomas.

  Suitable for over 18s only due to sex scenes so hot, you'll want to make your own diamond baby.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 1

  “Who the hell do you think you are? Tell me just what you think you are doing here? Put on your clothes and leave this property… NOW!” The young woman sat on the bed deciding if she should tell this old hag the truth. Her vigorous tone and rigid back suggested that she wasn’t in the mood for banter, so Natalie decided to stay put on the bed. After all, Brett had left her there and it was there he would find her when he returned.

  The old woman’s jowl quivered in anger as her paper white and very thin finger pointed, stabbing the air in Natalie’s direction. “I am not going anywhere Mrs. Haughton, but I would like to put on some clothes if you don’t mind. So if you would… please excuse me.”

  As if possible, the color from her face drained even more and she blended into the lily white wall behind her. Marilyn Haughton’s face was white, her h
air was white, and Natalie was sleeping with her very white son. The old bat was on the verge of a heart attack, but this scene wouldn’t do her in just yet. The upcoming blow of Natalie’s pregnancy would be sure to send her straight to the grave, and then to the pit of hell where demons like her vacationed.

  Natalie cheekily reclined into the soft pillows and ran her fingertips over the brown satin sheets, while exhaling as though very tired. It took immense self control to appear unruffled. To be honest, six months ago Natalie didn’t have the gumption to stand up to anyone or anything. Her spirit had been broken so many times that the strongest glue would never hold it back together again. But thank heavens for self redemption.

  After much soul searching and self reflection, she realized the state of her life was as much to blame on herself, as it was her ex husbands. She allowed it. She had allowed him to reign supreme over their household and it was only when the bill collectors came knocking, did she understand just how deep the twisted rabbit hole of mental abuse really ran. But again, self inspection was a beautiful thing, revealing raw emotions and telling secrets that would never be shared with anyone. Forcing herself to take a long hard look in the mirror, naked and exposed, Natalie brought herself healing. It also brought Natalie to this white man’s bed, where she was now involved in a standoff with his very vocal, and obviously disapproving mother.

  Glancing at the antique grandfather clock on the wall, Natalie noted that it had been exactly twenty minutes since Brett had left to speak to the gardeners. He would be back, he said. He wanted to make love to her again, he said. But then, in came Marilyn and her prejudices to upset the apple cart. Not the best way to start a Saturday filled with sex and passion.

  His footsteps were loud on the staircase and Marilyn lowered her still pointed finger just a tad. Natalie smiled and waited. This should be good. Not that she wanted any man to disrespect his mother, it wasn’t that at all. It was the fact that he told her repeatedly of his frustration with the woman’s inappropriate behavior. Natalie was sure this would push him past his limit.