“I’m sorry, Piper,” Cole said. “I shouldn’t have hidden that from you, but I was worried. I didn’t want to make you have to think about one more stupid thing.”

I was a little annoyed with Cole, but I wasn’t terribly angry. I understood where he was coming from, even though he did screw up. “I know that you were just trying to protect me, but I need to know about this type of stuff. I thought we were in this together, Cole,” I said.

Cole looked up at me with love in his eyes. He took both of my hands and squeezed three times. “We are in this together,” he said. “I promise you. I should have told you about this.”

“It’s okay. I obviously forgive you,” I said. “I know you wouldn’t do anything to intentionally hurt me. It was just a shock is all.”

“Well, brace for more shock, I guess,” Cole said, releasing my hands.

“Oh, great. What is it now?” I asked.

“Jacob. I saw him in the subway station. He’s here,” Cole said with anger in his eyes. “I nearly punched his lights out.”

My heart started to beat irregularly. I clutched against the table and sat down slowly. “Wait. He’s here? In the city?” I asked.

“Yeah. Jacob basically threatened me. Well, I also threatened him, but he mentioned the baby,” Cole said.

I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. Clutching at the center of my chest, I said, “Maybe you were right. This is a lot to handle right now.” I suddenly regretted knowing any of this.

“He can’t do anything though. His only ammo is vague threats,” Cole argued.

“Don’t underestimate men like him, Cole. He’s an abuser. A real abusive piece of crap. He’s been violent in the past, and he’ll be violent in the future if he has to be,” I said.

“But our baby? He wouldn’t dare try to take him away,” Cole said.

I knew Jacob better. Maybe the community was different when we were growing up, but it had changed in the last decade. “I bet he would do anything to get me back,” I said.

“Then, we will call our lawyers. Dylan and Kinnat will work the whole thing out. It’ll be okay,” Cole said.

I thought about all we had gone through. It was the craziest season of my life, and one I never wanted to relive. But there were outside forces that were trying to pull me back to that lifestyle. I was about to say the craziest thing I had ever said in my life.

“Cole, I think we should go back,” I said. “To our town, I mean. I think we need to stop hiding.”

Cole’s eyes widened with intense emotion. “What? Our old town? No, we can’t go back. We’ve come so far, Piper,” Cole said.

I sighed and held my head. It was throbbing with pain. I was exhausted beyond belief, but I had made a decision. Cole needed to honor that. “I’m serious. I think it’s the only way,” I said.

Cole sat down in front of me. He placed his hands against my legs and pleaded with me. “We can’t go there, darling. Please. Think of the baby,” he said.

I nodded and looked into his beautiful, warm eyes. For a second, I simply admired him. He was so brave. Now, it was time for me to be brave. “I know you think I’m crazy, but this whole thing just needs to end,” I said.

Cole stood up and kissed the center of my forehead. “I’ll never think you’re crazy, Piper,” he said. “I’m just worried now. I don’t want to lose you. I can’t lose you. Not now.”

I was so pregnant that it was difficult for me to stand, but I stood with Cole after a careful balancing act. “Look at me. Do you see this belly? Everything I’m doing now is for us,” I said. “I’m pregnant as hell, and I probably look like I can’t achieve much. But I know I can do this. I can reason with them. I’ll go after the pregnancy. Don’t worry.”

“Okay,” Cole said. “I believe in you. But if you’re going, I’m coming with you. You’re not doing this alone.”

I took Cole into my arms. We embraced for minutes, merely feeling the warmth of our bodies. Our baby Peter was moving against my stomach, pushing toward Cole. Soon, he’d be in our arms. That’s all I was looking forward to. “This is for Peter,” Cole whispered.

Honestly, I was proud of myself at this moment. I had learned how to control my emotions at the height of my pregnancy. And even though times were still tough, I felt like I was strong enough to take charge of my life.

This was a new side of me, one that steered away from sleeping all day and resting on the couch. There was so much to do in this life, and I wanted to do it all. I walked over to the kitchen sink. It was full of dirty dishes. I began cleaning all of them with haste.

“Baby, what on earth are you doing?” Cole asked, laughing.

“I’m conquering the world!” I yelled with a wild cackle. Okay, maybe my emotions were still going a little haywire, but I at least felt good today.

“I love this side of you, Piper. But you should be resting,” Cole said in a calm tone.

I frowned. “Why? What’s the point of that? You’ve shown me a whole new world, and now I want to do everything,” I said. “Remember when I was too scared to go into the park? Do you remember how stupid that was?”

“Yeah, but now you’re like… super pregnant. The doctor said no heavy duty workouts,” Cole said.

“Pfft. The doctor doesn’t know anything. Plus, this is kind of fun. It gives me something to do,” I said.

Cole laughed and came up from behind me. He slivered his hands around my waist and kissed the back of my neck. “You’re so fucking cute, baby,” Cole said.

I smiled and closed my eyes. “So does that mean I can keep cleaning?” I asked.

“You can do anything you want,” Cole said. “At this point, I’m just here to serve you.”

“Damn straight,” I joked.

As I cleaned each dish, Cole’s hands moved up toward my shoulders. He began massaging me, tenderly pressing against each knot below the surface. “Fuck,” I whispered with pleasure. “I wasn’t expecting the full-service today.”

“The full-service includes my cock,” Cole said. I could sense his grin from behind me. A warm sensation struck me between my legs. I felt my cock spring into action, and I quickly grew dizzy with a strange type of lust.

“Stop,” I panted. “I’m hornier than ever these days.”

“I know you are. You’re so active. So strong. So full of desire,” Cole whispered against my ear. He was taunting me, and he knew it.

I bit my lower lip. Cole’s hand traveled down, moving between my legs. He grabbed ahold of my incredibly hard cock and starting rocking his wrist back and forth. With his other hand, he massaged my shoulders and back.

“How’s that?” Cole asked, kissing my shoulder.

“It’s perfect, Cole,” I whispered back. “A little too perfect.”

I pushed my ass against his jeans. “There are so many dishes to be done,” I said.

“Keep washing them,” Cole whispered. “We can be quick.”

I was already so close to blowing that my thighs were shaking. I clutched against the sink as the water ran on full blast. “Pull down your pants,” I said. “Let me feel you.”

Both of us quickly took off our clothes. I started to clean each dish carefully while glancing back at Cole seductively. He pressed his warm cock in between my cheeks. Pushing up and down against my rim, he moaned loud and deep. I did the same as he worked my cock in his palm.

“Fuck me,” I whispered. “Fuck me hard and fast.”

I felt wild today. I wanted to be dirty with Cole before the baby came because I knew our time would be short for a while after the pregnancy.

Cole didn’t waste time with me. He spat downward and carefully opened me up. It didn’t take much these days as I naturally fit with him lately. As soon as his head fit inside, I let out a shocked gasp.

“Holy fucking shit,” I said. “Cole, wait. I’m going to cum if you keep going.”

“Good,” Cole said, pressing in deeper. He rocked his wrist back, tightly clutching onto my shaft.

My eyes jerked open, wide and full of satisfaction. My jaw fell open. “No, Cole. I’m—”

Cole began thrusting faster. With one hand on my shoulder, he kept me in his grasp, pumping me full of himself. My cock started to bounce in his palm. I felt the hot load shoot out of my shaft. I stopped breathing for a moment, only to take in my next breath with exasperation.

Cole let out a deep cry of emotional fulfillment. I felt him burst inside of me. His hands gripped me tightly. His body lurched forward. Together, we pressed against the sink, faucet still running. Slowly, he bobbed inside of me, until finally, he slid out.

I cocked my head to the side and kissed him, my tongue sliding against his. I moaned and suctioned his lip, pushing my head back for air. “That was a nice cleaning session,” I said with a grin.

Cole slapped my butt and gripped one cheek. “There are still so many dishes for you to do,” he joked.

I turned off the water, laughing loudly. “On second thought, I think I’m going to take a nap,” I said.