“It’s my turn to take care of you. Will you let me?” Hope whispered, before clamping his lobe between her teeth and biting down.
He trembled under her. When she pulled away to face him, he searched her eyes before nodding slowly. She placed her fingers in the center of his chest and pushed until he fell back. The mattress springs squeaked under his weight. Using her index finger, she circled his nipple flicking the nub with her nail. His digits dug into her thighs. The roughness of his palms added another dimension of sensation as he slid his hands up her legs to grip her hips. She continued to create a trail over his torso, using her finger to travel farther south. Hope eased back as she traversed the six-pack that was his stomach and combed her fingers through a dense patch of hair. Taking his dick in hand, she curled her hand around his rigid member.
She shifted forward to set his cock at her pussy’s opening. He controlled her descent down his member by clasping the delicate skin of her ass as she lowered her body until his shaft filled her. She looked down at him, surprised to find him staring at her with an emotion roiling in his eyes that she wasn’t ready to name yet. Fully seated, she rolled her hips to get accustomed to the girth of his cock. Taking her time, she eased up on him, waited, and slid down again. His grip, a reminder he controlled the rhythm. She brushed his hands away and placed her palms flat on his belly. Leaning forward, she boosted up her lower body again. Swiveling her hips, she stroked his dick with the soft folds of her pussy at every downward plunge. She moved faster, meeting his thrusts as he lifted his pelvis.
They developed a rhythm and she started to bounce on him in cadence with the motion of his hips. The sounds of their bodies slapping against each other echoed through the room. She glanced down to find his eyes closed and his neck muscles straining in stark relief against his skin. His grunts became deep moans. She clung to his shoulders, her nails digging into his skin as she rode his cock. The slide of his shaft pressing deep into her canal on his last drive to completion had her shuddering above him. Lucas locked her wrists within his grip and drove up into her body with piston-like quickness. The same electrical current that she felt on the road to ecstasy earlier returned and whipped through her leaving her panting for a breath. She chewed the insides of her cheek, closed her eyes, dropped her head, and let the waves take her, as she screamed out. Lucas moved his hands from her arms to her ass and held her groin fused to his as he continued to lunge into her, shouting her name as he erupted into her body.
Somewhere there was a knocking in her apartment. She lifted her head and opened her eyes to find Lucas staring at her with a silly grin on his face. He cupped her face, brushing her hair back.
“Now what’s going on in that cynical mind of yours?” she asked in a throaty rasp.
“I think your neighbors know my name.” He laughed out loud, a joyful, boisterous sound.
“Huh. Oh.” Realization dawned that the banging was her neighbor hitting the wall and shouting for them to keep it down. She felt the heat rising in her cheeks.
“You are beautiful.” Lucas helped her off his body.
“I’ll never be able to face my neighbors.” She laid flat next to him.
“Screw them, they should be so lucky.” He reached down to grab the sheets that had bunched at the foot of the bed, pulling them up to cover them.
“Before you get comfortable, you forgot something.” She turned to face him.
“Really, what’s that?”
“Someone has to turn off the lights.”
“I wasn’t the one who wanted to keep them on.”
“And…come on, I’m tired and it would be nice to see those buns as I drift off to sleep. I mean really…I want to make sure the back matches the front.”
“You are so lucky this is a small room.” He narrowed his eyes as he flipped the sheets.
“I’ll make it worth your while. I think I got some dollar bills around somewhere.” She clasped her hands under her cheek and waited.
Chapter Six
Lucas’s phone buzzed in his pocket, making his pants vibrate. Hope lifted her gaze from the array of ornaments on display and turned her big eyes on him. He checked his phone and groaned to himself.
“Somebody wants you pretty bad,” she murmured.
“It nobody of importance. What’d you think of this one?” He held up an ornament of a tiny ballerina dressed in pink with the words Baby’s First Christmas scrolled across the bottom in ornate gold letters.
“Cute but I like this one.” She held up a kid in fatigues that were too big holding a sign that read “Army Strong”.
“I like it…throw it in the basket.” He tossed in a package of silver icicles in the shopping cart. Hope had moved ahead of him in the aisle. It felt like she was slowly distancing herself. It had been a week since Thanksgiving, that night they made love and almost every night since then. But today she was aloof, since this morning when he was in the bathroom and he heard his phone buzz.
“This is fun and all but I need to get home to get dressed for work. I don’t want to miss the bus.”
“Wha…I was going to take you to work.” He turned his head to stare at her.
“You don’t have to.”
“I know that. I want to and I have a therapy session later today.” Frustration had him tightening his grasp on the cart’s handle bars.
“That reminds me. I need to sign off on your release form. Listen, aren’t you tired of hanging out with me? We’ve been together since Thanksgiving. Surely your family is worried that you haven’t been home.”
“On my last birthday, I turned thirty-six. I don’t think my folks are too worried about me. A better question would be why are you trying to get rid of me?” He’d asked the question, put the ball in her court. Ideas chased themselves around in his head. Was she regretting their time together, already?
“Never mind.” She walked ahead of the cart.
“I’m not a mind reader, Hope. What’s wrong?”
She whirled around, her hand on her belly. “You’re too good.”
“Okay and that’s a bad thing.” Relief swamped him. Not as bad as he thought; maybe a few choice words would clear up her anxiety quickly.
“Forget it you wouldn’t understand.” She turned to walk farther down the aisle.
He caught up with her. “I get that you’re scared. This is new to me too. I have never been in a relationship that developed so quickly, but I told you, try as you might, you will not run me away. I’m in this for the long haul so get used to it.” He reined in his temper, telling himself it was her hormones.
“We’ll see. I have learned to expect nothing then disappointment isn’t so hard to swallow.” She moved toward an empty register.
That one statement spoke louder than any words she’d ever said. He pushed the cart to the side, walked up to her, and called her name quietly. When she looked up, he snaked an arm around her waist and yanked her close. Using his other hand, he cupped the back of her head and pressed his lips to hers. The sweetness of the teas she’d drunk that morning exploded over his tongue as he invaded her mouth. He licked the inside of her lip, soothing the delicate skin she like to bite. Hope wrapped her arms around him and he felt the baby shift against his stomach.
Someone cleared their throat and he raised his head. “Listen, go to the car, get off your feet. I’ll pay for the stuff and be there in a minute.” He dug in his pockets and handed her his phone and keys.
“Okay.” She took the items from his hands and headed for the exit. She glanced over her shoulder at him and pressed her lips together as if debating with herself before walking through the automatic glass doors.
The customer behind him tapped him on the elbow. Lucas looked down into the clear hazel eyes of a middle aged woman. “Yes, ma’am?”
“Is this your first baby?”
“Yeah.” He stared at the exit Hope had gone through.
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Lucas dropped his selections on the conveyor belt.
“A word of advice though. Be patient, it’s the holidays and she is probably hormonal.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded as he pulled a few bills from his wallet and handed them to the cashier. Hefting up the bags, he moved to walk away.
The woman behind him called out. “Merry Christmas.”
“You too.” Lucas wondered how crazy he looked, walking out of the store. Elation lightened his steps for the first time since being home. He decided it was going to be a fantastic Christmas.
§ § §
Hope clutched Lucas’s keys and phone, pressing the button on the key fob, and watched the silent flash that let her know the doors were now unlocked. She lifted the lever with one hand when his cell buzzed in her other. She dropped into the seat and stared at the screen. The eerie screams of his phone’s tones flashed in time with the name and Hope pursed her lips. She peered around the car and leaned back in the seat.
“I’m probably going to regret this,” she mumbled as she pressed the green accept button. Then again she’d been wanting to talk to the woman ever since she noticed who was calling that morning.
“Hello…hello, Lucas?” A harsh feminine voice called out.
Hope placed the phone against her ear. “No, sorry, Lucas isn’t available at the moment.”
“Who is this?”
“Doesn’t matter. Would you like to leave a message?” Hope shrugged at the phone before she realized the person on the other end couldn’t see her.
“Are you the bitch that got pregnant on purpose?”
“Wow, I didn’t know you knew me so well. Are you a psychic? Will Lucas and I be having twins?” She chuckled, teasing the obnoxious woman was fun. Of course, Lucas would probably be pissed but…She decided not to worry about the repercussions.
“Twins!” The woman on the other end of the line shrieked.
“Really! Oh this is great, Lucas will be so happy.”
The driver’s side door opened and Lucas threw the bags in the back. He dropped into the front seat and gave Hope a perplexed look.
“Who are you talking to, babe?”
“A clairvoyant and she would like to speak with you.” Hope held out the phone. “Wait.” She brought the cell to her face again. “Madame Michelle, one more question. Will we have boys?” She burst out laughing at the sputtering woman as she placed the phone in Lucas’s hand.
He narrowed his eyes as he lifted the device to his face. “Hello.”
Hope heard Michelle screaming from her seat and schooled her features into what she thought would be a look of innocence.
“Michelle, you have truly lost your fucking mind. There is no us. I can’t cheat on you. I lost my leg, not my memory, and if I
remember
correctly, you left me. Go back to the doctor that gave you the boobs and get the hell over yourself.” He tapped the screen and turned to face Hope. “Care to tell me why you answered the phone?”
“I’m not allowed to answer your phone?” Hope tilted her head and raised a brow.
“I don’t care if you answer my phone.” He snorted. “But it’s really not good to indulge the crazy lady that keeps calling me.”
“Well someone needed to address her issues.”
“You’re right and that person would be a psychologist. Do you have another degree I’m not aware of?” Lucas started the car.
“Well, no.” She chewed on her bottom lip and released it when he glanced at her.
“Baby, you take care of Kira and let me handle everything else.”
“I don’t need a daddy.” She huffed as she turned to face the windshield.
“I’m not applying for the position. I do consider myself your man though. Are you telling me I’m wrong?
“No.” She crossed her arms, her high from teasing his ex-fiancée quickly deflating.
His laugh had her baby doing somersaults and she absently stroked her belly. She glanced out the window at the passing scenery and noted all the holiday decorations that had gone up over the last couple of days. Huge, bright signs with different Christmas motifs hung from lamp posts. Today the tree was going up in the therapy center. Lucas made a turn onto her street and stopped at the light. A familiar walk caught her eye and she swiveled in her seat following the figure walking down the street. Hope rubbed her eyes. It couldn’t be. She pulled her hands away and twisted her head to glance at the sidewalk as Lucas pulled off. No one was there.