Lexi, Baby (9 page)

“This is my place; I own it.”

“Oh,” I replied in a low voice and glanced
around the room. “It’s nice. What’s BOQ stand for?”

“Bachelor Office Quarters, living quarters
for single Marines. Now, get to the point of this meeting, Lexi.
How are you going to arrange for me to see my daughter?”

I looked down at my lap while I flicked at
my nails. I wasn’t ready to start talking about Layla. “You were in
the Marines?”

“Alexis Sky,” he growled my name
impatiently.

“Oh alright, I had an idea,” I said feeling
very uncomfortable and frustrated myself. “Layla actually gave me
the idea. I know you saw her on Friday, and she saw you.” I looked
up into his eyes and swallowed so hard it hurt. “She asked me to
ask you to teach her how to play football. So I was thinking that
maybe you could start out doing little things like that and get to
know each other before I tell her who you are.”

“No,” he replied.

No, what
?

“You won’t teach her to play football?” I
asked worriedly. “I know it might seem a little strange and she’s
not the boy you always dreamed having Landyn, and I can only
imagine what you thought when you saw the way she was dressed. But
I promise you, she loves to get down and dirty and act like one of
the boys just as much as she loves the princess routine.”

He scowled at me. “The only thing I felt
when I saw Layla, was pain. Pain that I have an unbelievably
beautiful, precious, outgoing little angel who doesn’t even know
who I am. Do not presume to know anything I’m feeling.”

I nodded. I refused to cry so I swallowed
hard a few more times to battle the tears. “You’re right, I’m
sorry. I’m just nervous. I’ll tell Layla you’re her father, but
just not right away. I don’t want to confuse her Landyn. She’s only
five. I don’t want to shock her the next time you two meet and tell
her you’re her father. I won’t do that to her. I have no idea what
kind of person you are now. I don’t know where you live, how you
live or who you live with.”

I was freaking myself out. “I’m sorry; I
don’t think can do this.” I stood up and walked around the chair to
leave. I almost had the door opened, when he pulled me to a stop.
Landyn put his mouth against my ear and I heard him take a deep
breath, smelling my hair. I knew that’s what he was doing because
he used to do that all the time when we were together.

“You’re not leaving, Lexi. I hate to break
it to you, but if you would have told me about Layla when you first
found out you were pregnant, none of those questions would be
flying around in your head like they are right now. The way I see
it, you don’t deserve answers anymore. All you need to know is that
I’d lay down my life for her.” He quickly released me, but I
remained immobile.

“We’re not done with this conversation so
please sit back down,” he said.

“You’re so annoying,” I told him.

As soon as my ass hit the chair he went on.
“The last thing I want to do is confuse her. When I told you ‘no’ I
meant no to
you
telling Layla who I was. I want us both to
sit down and tell her together, but I do want to tell her soon;
within the week.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he didn’t let
me. “I want us to do it together so she’ll feel more comfortable
around me, but I will do it myself if I have to. Have you told her
anything about me at all?”

Uh oh
!

I looked everywhere but at him because I
really
didn’t want to talk about this. “Tell me,” he
demanded.

“I’ve never really said anything about you.
She didn’t really start asking about her daddy until she started
preschool and saw all the other dads involved with their daughters.
I try my best not to lie to her so whenever she asked me, I... I
sort of told her that her daddy left me before I could tell him I
was pregnant and I didn’t know where he was or how to find him,” I
whispered the last words quickly, hopeful he wouldn’t hear.

“You did lie to her!
You! Left! Me!
”
he shouted in response. I snapped my head up to look at him him. He
had some
nerve!

Everything from the past, the memories, hit
me all at once.

“Have you lost your memory because I sure as
hell haven’t?” I asked belligerently. “You left me! What you did to
me...
God
! How dare you blame me! You forced me to leave you.
I never would have left you. They would have had to drag me away by
my hair kicking and screaming before I
EVER
would have left
you! You fucked a slut in a bathroom while I was standing outside
the door listening! You made me leave!” I suddenly became conscious
of the fact that I was now shouting and shaking uncontrollably.

I closed my eyes. I couldn’t even look at
Landyn’s face. I had to get it together.

“Look, there’s no point in us talking about
the past. What we had was too good to be true. I won’t fight about
what happened between us, and I’m sorry for my outburst because it
doesn’t matter now.”

“You really think it doesn’t matter?” he
asked in a surprisingly calm tone considering the turn in subject
matter.

My eyes opened. “No. It doesn’t matter. I’ve
moved on so there’s nothing to discuss.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “You’ve moved
on?” he asked through clenched teeth.

“Yes”

“With who?”

“Just like you told me a few seconds ago,
it’s none of your business.” I watched as he leapt out of his chair
and rounded the desk. He came to stand right in front of me so I
had to look up at him; way up. His arms crossed over his chest.

“Who is he?” he asked dangerously.

I licked my lips out of nervous habit.
“Don’t do that!” he snapped at me. “Who is he? Does Layla know
him?”

See
! I
knew
this would
happen.

“You’re scaring me.”

“Good! Who is he?” He repeated.

“Ryan. His name is Ryan. I’ve been seeing
him for two years and yes, Layla knows him.” Even though Ryan and I
were on the fence at the moment, he was still in my life. Landyn
didn’t need to know that though.

“Does Layla think of
Ryan
as her
father?” How was I supposed to answer that? “Ummm... No, I don’t
think so. Ryan’s good to her, but...” I stopped myself.

“Landyn, this is really none of your
business.”

He uncrossed his arms, placed a hand on each
arm of the chair and bellowed in my face. “You’re fucking some guy
that you’ve been with for two years and you’re telling me you don’t
think Layla thinks of him as a
father, and it’s none of my
business
?” he roared the last part.

Oh no he did not just say that!

I put my palms to his chest and pushed
upward. “Get out of my face!” He lifted easily and I rose from my
chair, lifted to the balls of my feet and shouted back in his face.
“No! She doesn’t think Ryan’s her father! He’s good to her, but he
works a lot and I’ve been too busy trying to finish school and keep
Layla
fed
to start my life with him! He’s never even spent
the night with us!”

Oh Shit!

What in hell just possessed me to say that?
When I saw Landyn’s face relax I leaned away from him quickly, but
with lightning speed, Landyn’s hands came up to cup my face and his
lips slammed down on mine. I felt his tongue trying to find access,
but I didn’t move.

“Lexi, baby, I need you to kiss me.” Hearing
him call me ‘Lexi, baby’ hurt, but at the same time I missed it. He
was lightly brushing his lips against mine and I knew it was a bad
idea, but I needed the kiss too; desperately.

Maybe I just needed some closure. “Please
Lexi,” he whispered.

I lifted just enough to bring our lips
together fully and opened my mouth for his tongue to slip inside. I
never forgot how erotic his kisses alone could be. His mouth was
hungry for mine. His hand slid from face to my breast where he
lifted and kneaded me gently through my shirt. The arm around my
waist pulled me closer.

When I whimpered against his lips, his arm
tightened. Effortlessly, he lifted me, twisted our bodies and sat
me on his desk, never breaking the kiss.

I opened my legs so his body would remain
flush with mine and he ground against me hard. I wrapped my hands
around his biceps to hold on and I could feel how much he needed
me; everywhere. I moaned, my grip tighted and I rubbed my clothed
sweet spot against his erection.

His hands met at my sides and he lifted my
baby doll shirt up over my breasts, and pulled down the cups of my
bra. His fingers paid close attention to my hard, sensitive
nipples. “Oh God,” I breathed into his mouth and he ground harder
me. He broke the kiss only for a second to remove my shirt
completely.

He wasted no time before his mouth came back
to mine.

From behind me, I felt him viciously swip an
arm across the top of the desk to clear it. When items finished
crashing to the floor, his body lowered me to the desk and he
lifted his head to gaze into my eyes.

“I missed you,” he whispered as he lowered
his head to trail kisses from my shoulder to my collarbone, then
down the side of my breast. He massaged me thoroughly as he worked
his kisses to the other side. He took turns teasing both breasts;
licking and sucking and flicking the hard tips.

Finally, I felt his hands unbuttoning my
jeans. “I need to touch more of you baby. I need to be inside you
now.” His voice sounded strangled.

He lifted up suddenly, pulled me off the
desk and undressed me completely.

When I was back in my original position,
back flat on the desk, his eyes found my sweet spot and he stared
at it longingly. His hands snaked up my thighs and he spread them
wide as he pulled me to the very edge of the desk.

“Are you wet for me?” he asked hoarsely,
just before reaching up with his hand to check for himself.

“Dripping. You were always so fucking wet
for me.” His voice was rough and so damn sexy.

“Yes,” I whispered. He dropped between my
legs and before I knew what he was doing, he took one long lick to
my clit.

My hands flew to his head. I closed my eyes,
arched my back and gasped his name. His fingers dug into my hips
and I felt cold when I suddenly lost his mouth. “Look at me while I
eat you, baby.” My eyes flew open and locked on his. His eyes held
mine while he went back to performing magic with his tongue.

“Lan,” I moaned. He groaned. “I want you
inside me, Lan,” I whispered.

I heard the rustling of a zipper and watched
as Lan slowly backed away me and stood up. I watched as his jeans
fell off his hips, but not completely down his legs. He grabbed my
ankles, placed my feet on the desk and was just about to crawl on
top of me, before I stopped him.

“Please take your shirt off. I want to see
you.” I said softly and watched as he swiftly ripped off his shirt
and threw it down.

He was a beast; muscles bulging all over.
His stomach was so chiseled it was like a work of art, just like I
remembered.

What was new were the large Chinese symbols
tattooed vertically, from pec to hip bone, on his left ribcage. It
was so damn sexy I wanted to lick it. I wanted to lick it so badly
that I lifted up and did just that.

His abs tensed when my tongue touched his
skin, but he didn’t stop me. He gently placed a hand to the side of
my face; thumb caressing the apple of cheek.

“What do the symbols mean?” I asked quietly
as I trailed it with my fingers.

“It doesn’t matter,” he answered cuttingly.
When I looked at him, he had an odd expression on his face, but I
wasn’t in the mood to analyze; especially when I felt movement
below. My gaze slide down his body and I caught him stroking
himself.

“You’re beautiful,” I whispered my thoughts
out loud and met his eyes. He was so beautiful it made me feel
uncomfortable. I wasn’t in the same shape as he would remember. I
started to cover myself.

“Don’t,” he threatened harshly.

He lowered me, climbed over me quickly and
claimed my mouth. I felt the tip of his erection at my core.

“You’re so beautiful it hurts to look at you
Lexi. Any marks our daughter left on your body only make you that
much sexier to me. I never thought I’d have another chance with
you.” He sounded so wistful; I grabbed his face with my hands to
kiss him. Now was not the time to rehash the past.

“I need you now,” I said into his mouth and
he wasted no time slamming home.

“Lan,” I called out breathlessly.

He grunted into my mouth and slowly started
moving in and out. “You feel so fucking good baby.” My inner walls
clenched around him and I lifted my hips to meet his. He found an
insanely slow and steady rhythm and I wrapped my legs around his
waist to hang on.

His hand slid between us to rub my clit and
I licked my lips. “I’ve missed you so fucking much. I need to feel
you come around me, baby.”

“I’m so close,” I whispered before licking
my lips again.

“That’s it baby; lick your lips for me. I
know what that means.” His words and the ache between my legs had
me lifting off the desk as I cried out came. “
Lan! Oh
God!
”

Nothing could feel better.

In between my moans I heard Lan breath my
name against my ear and vicious noises tore from deep in his throat
as he filled me.

Landyn fell on top of me as I was slowly
coming down from my sex-dazed high. Of their own accord, my fingers
slowly drew up and down his back, but when I felt his muscles tense
and I froze.

He lifted his head to stare down at me and
he didn’t look happy; he looked smug. I knew at that moment he
expected this to happen.

What have I done
?

Oh God. Ryan! The only time I thought about
him was when I tried to use him as a verbal weapon against Landyn
that evidently backfired because here I was, laid out like a slut
on his desk.