Caden
The confirmation that Rose is carrying my baby is almost sweeter than hearing my girl tell me that she loves me. Almost.
I don’t like that she’s crying, though. This isn’t a sad moment. This is one of joy, one to be celebrated. Somehow Rose found it in her heart to forgive me and we’re going to have a baby together. We’re going to be a family.
Holy. Shit.
“Caden?” Her sweet, slightly worried voice knocks me from my thoughts. “Did you hear me?”
“Yeah, baby. I heard you.” I catch one of her tears with my thumb, then lean in and catch another one with my lips. “Don’t cry,” I whisper against her cheek. “You’re going to have my baby. I’m the happiest man alive right now.”
Her crying kicks back into gear and I pull her into my arms, holding her close, pressing kisses against her forehead and telling her again and again how much I love her. My shirt is soaked with her tears but I don’t care. She’s in my arms. I got her back.
She’s mine.
Once Cash told me about seeing Rose, everything slowly fell into place. I didn’t rush into trying to find Rose. I made sure I knew what I wanted to tell her before I went to Cash and told him I was ready. I didn’t want to blow it. If I came after her and told her I knew she was pregnant, she’d think I wanted to be with her only because of the baby, not because I’m madly in love with her.
And I am madly in love with her—the baby is just a bonus. Yeah, it’s scary. I can’t lie and I bet she’s scared too, but together we can handle this. We’re going to be a family and I refuse to walk out on my family like my father did. Like Rose’s mother did to her family. We’ve got each other’s backs. We’ll be strong together. We belong together.
She knows it. And I know it too.
Cash spoke with Lily, who came up with the idea to have Rose over for a dinner party at which we’d be the only attendees. There wouldn’t be any dinner, either, though now that I consider it, she’s probably hungry. She needs to eat since she’s doing it for two.
“Rose.” I whisper her name against her forehead and she shudders in my arms. “Are you hungry? We need to get you something to eat.”
Laughing, she tilts her head back to stare up at me. “I am a little hungry,” she admits, then frowns. “I’ve had the worst morning sickness, Caden. You wouldn’t believe how bad it’s been.”
“Yeah?” I smooth my hand over her hair. That about kills me, knowing she’s been suffering and I haven’t been with her to take care of her. “Are you okay? You’re healthy? The, uh, baby is okay too?” I hesitate over my questions, which is dumb, but it’s so weird, knowing she’s going to have my baby.
I never once thought I would get married, have a baby, have a family, have a real, normal life. I didn’t think it was in the cards for me. My parents were fucked and I learned all I knew about relationships and life from them. Meaning I learned jack shit.
I figured I would be alone. I would belong nowhere and to no one, and I believed that was the way I preferred it.
What a fool I was.
Instead I met this woman in my arms. She taught me how to be a friend and how to love. She’s offering me a new life where I can stand on my own two feet, where I can work and have someone to come home to and a family to love. A child to bear my name and carry it on and give my mom a new purpose in life.
I’m truly the luckiest damn man in the world.
“I’m good. The first two months were hard.” She offers me a strained smile. “But it’s getting better and the baby is healthy, so no worries there.”
“Do you know what it is yet?” What do I want? A boy or a girl? I have no clue. I just want the baby to be healthy and to look like its mama.
She smiles and shakes her head. “It’s too early. I did hear the baby’s heartbeat, though.”
“Really?” I’m amazed. That must have made it seem so real, that she’s carrying a fragile little life inside her body.
“Yeah, it was pretty awesome.” She lifts her gaze to mine. “Let’s get out of here, Caden. I want to go back to my place.”
Lily left me a key to give to the security guard if I got so lucky that Rose wanted to leave with me. “How close is your apartment?”
“I walked over.”
Relief floods me. If we go back to her place, I’m assuming—after I get her fed and taken care of—that I can take her to bed.
“Let’s go, then,” I say, trying to restrain my anxiousness. But it’s damn hard. Especially when she flashes me that beautiful smile I haven’t seen in far too long and hooks her hand around the back of my neck, bringing my mouth down to hers. The kiss is hot and wet and deep, and I haul her in close. I will never let her go again. That she forgave my stupid ass …
I don’t know what I did to deserve her.
Hours later we’re lying naked in Rose’s bed, her leg slung over both of mine, and she’s rubbing her foot up and down my calves, driving me insane with just her freaking foot. I squeeze her waist and roll her over, my cock already hard—again—and pressing against her belly. She smiles up at me, her cheeks rosy from hours of lovemaking. We have a lot of time to make up for.
But first, I want to make sure she’s okay. That she’s feeling well and isn’t too tired.
“You all right? Are you tired? It’s safe to have sex like this, right? What with the baby and all …” My voice trails off and she laughs.
“Now you ask. After you’ve had me every which way.” She arches against me slightly, her breasts, her hard nipples, teasing my chest. “Yes, it’s safe to have sex while I’m pregnant,” she says softly. “I’m not high risk or anything.”
Relief floods me. “Good.” I should have asked her that sooner, I know I should have, but I was so eager to get her naked and beneath me I could hardly think. The moment we walked into her bedroom I was stripping her naked. Helped that her dress was so easy. Just one tug and it was falling down around her waist and she wasn’t wearing a bra. I was downright disappointed to see her wearing panties.
Jesus, I am a complete pervert. But only for Rose.
Rose sighs and runs her hands along my shoulders, down my chest. “It feels good being back in your arms.”
“Yeah.” I swallow hard against the swell of emotion that threatens to take over me. I worried that I wouldn’t get this second chance. That she was so willing to give it to me … I can’t get over how much I love her. How much I need her. “You’re different, you know.”
“I am?” She frowns. “How?”
I move down, my face in direct line with her breasts. “They’re fuller,” I murmur against her abundant flesh, just before I draw a hard nipple into my mouth and suck.
Her hands dive into my hair, holding me close.
“And your stomach.” I slide down lower, nuzzling my cheek against the gentle swell of her belly. “It sticks out a little bit.”
“It’s always stuck out a little bit.” She settles her hand on her stomach, almost as if she wants to hide it, but I swat her fingers away, blazing a trail of kisses across her skin.
“No, it didn’t. But now it does.” I breathe deep her fragrant skin, kissing her belly some more, letting my lips linger. “I can’t wait until you really start to show.”
“I’ll be fat,” she mumbles.
“You’ll be gorgeous,” I correct. “All big and full of my baby.”
“So possessive,” she whispers, but I know she likes it. The full-body shiver at my words is a dead giveaway.
I shift lower still and brace my hands on the inside of her thighs, spreading her legs. “And here,” I say, staring at her glistening pink flesh. “You taste different.”
“I do not,” she starts, then lets out a strangled sound when I lay my tongue flat against her folds and lick her from bottom to top.
“Yeah, you do,” I whisper against her, darting out my tongue to tease and search, playing with her clit, circling it again and again before I draw it into my mouth.
“God, Caden,” she moans. “I missed your mouth so much.”
Her confession makes me pull away from her so I can laugh. She’s glowering at me, frustration etched all over her pretty features. I lean back in, my gaze never leaving hers as I flick her clit with the tip of my tongue. “Well, I missed your sweet pussy, baby. More than you’ll ever know.”
“I missed those dirty words of yours, too,” she whispers. Her legs tremble. Her body shakes. She tosses her head back, her eyes sliding closed as I slip a finger inside her body and work her clit with my lips and tongue. She’s coming in minutes, a gush of wetness flooding her pussy, and I lick her clean, marveling at how responsive she is.
And yes, how different she tastes.
I move back up her body, trailing kisses along the way, until I’m sliding inside of her, pushing all the way in until I feel like I could touch every part of her. “Am I too deep?” I ask just before I kiss her.
She breaks the kiss first, panting against my lips. “No. You feel amazing.”
I agree and I would have said something, but she does some little trick with her hips, shifting beneath me and sending my cock even deeper, and I groan, the sound feeling as if it’s being ripped from my chest. She wraps her arms around me, her legs going around my hips, her mouth at my ear as she begins to chant dirty, loving things that drive me crazy.
“Don’t stop,” she whispers. “Deeper, Caden. Please. I need you. I love you. I love your cock. Your hands. Fuck me, Caden. Make me yours.”
She doesn’t let up and her words drive me on. I increase my speed, fucking her relentlessly until I feel that magical moment where her inner walls twitch and clench rhythmically around my cock and she’s coming. I’m coming too, with a shout, spilling everything I’ve got inside of her welcoming body as I strain against her.
Fuck. We’ve already done this three times. It’s like I can’t get enough.
Pulling out of her, I collapse on my side, careful not to crush her. I pull her into me, holding her close, my hand smoothing over her belly again and again, marveling that a tiny little life is growing inside of her. That we created that life.
Together.
“Caden?”
“Yeah?” I’m drawing little circles on her skin, my eyes drifting closed.
“How do you know Cash? Through your mom?” She pauses. “They make a cute couple. He seems to really care about her.”
“You think so, huh?” I haven’t been around them since they started seeing each other. It’s so weird, like my two worlds colliding … again. But this time, in a good way. “They’ve only been seeing each other for a couple of months. He’s kept an eye on her since they both live in Miami, and Cash has said more than once that he was interested in her. He finally made his move, I guess.”
“Your mom is very sweet,” she says softly. “You look like her.”
“It’s weird that you two met the way you did.” I shake my head, marveling at the chance. “Small world, right?”
“Yes. I can’t wait to meet her formally.” She lifts her head to stare at me. “I want her to be a part of our baby’s life. She’s going to be a grandma, after all.”
“She’ll want to be a part of the baby’s life. I know she will,” I say. “She’ll be excited. Probably turn into the overbearing, spoil-the-child-rotten grandma.”
“That sounds nice.” Rose snuggles closer. “How about Cash?”
Oh yeah. She asked how I know him. “He’s part of my … old life. He’s sort of a con man.”
“Really?” She doesn’t sound fazed in the least, thank God. “Hmm.”
“You’re not going to hold it against him, are you? He’s the one who helped me find my job. He’s wanted me to go straight for years, but I kept blowing him off. Until I met you. Then I knew …”
She lifts her head to look at me again. “You knew what?”
“That I would do anything to keep you safe and keep you with me. And in order to do that, I needed to find a legitimate job.”
“So you gave it up for me.” Her voice is so soft I almost can’t hear her. “Though I hope you also did it for yourself.”
“I did, baby. I did it for us.” I press my hand against her belly as I press a kiss to her lips. “All three of us,” I murmur against her lips.
She smiles and I feel her tears slide down her face. I lick one, the salty taste dissolving on my tongue. “Now you’re killing me with all those romantic words, Caden.”
“I mean every one of them. I love you.” I kiss her again, this time deeper, with plenty of tongue. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too.” She tilts her head back, so I kiss her neck. “You’re going to make an honest woman out of me, right?”
I chuckle against her throat, then nip her skin. “Absolutely. I want everyone to know you belong to me. Because you do, you know.”
“I know.” She breathes deep and holds me close as I rain kisses along the tops of her breasts. “I definitely know.”