Rhett
Waking with AJ in my arms after the fear of losing her was the best feeling. It was like I was complete again, I was whole. Her naked ass pressed against me, my arms snaked around her front, feeling her bare chest against my hand. It may sound lame, but my heart was full.
Careful not to wake her, I moved my hand lower, resting my palm on her stomach. In the silence of the room, only the sounds of her soft breathing echoing throughout, I was amazed by what lay beneath my hand. We’d made a baby together, and though it wasn’t something we tried for, I felt it happened for a reason. Like it was the confirmation of the fact that she and I belonged together. The connection I’d already felt to her was now cemented and unbreakable.
I kissed her shoulder and nuzzled her hair, her body moving back, trying to seek comfort. “You’re so cozy,” she added in a sleepy tone, and I smiled against her shoulder.
“Cozy?” I whispered, nipping at her earlobe playfully. “I was hoping for something a little more masculine. Sexy, hot, or even godly.” Instantly I felt her body shake against mine. “Are you laughing at me?”
“Never.” Her word oozed sarcasm. “You are the god, Rhett Jackson, not just godly.”
“I detect a little smartass tone.” I rose up on my elbow and looked over to get a view of her face just in time to catch her roll her eyes. Before she got the chance to give me any more shit, I climbed over her and wiggled my way in between her thighs. The second she felt me hard against her, she gasped. “What was that you were saying?” I asked while shifting my hips against her, sliding over her clit before pulling back once again to repeat it all over again.
“Sexy,” she whispered, “hot.”
I smiled, knowing she was repeating my words from moments ago. With each stroke, I could feel her growing wetter.
“You don’t play fair.” She tried to keep her breath even but failed. “Stop teasing.”
“What are you talking about?”
I chuckled when she widened her eyes, and the surprised look shifted quickly to a scowl. “Don’t play games, Rhett.”
I lifted my hips, and I knew by the look on her face she thought I was getting up. But before she had the chance to mouth off or give me even more hassle, I thrust forward and was met with nothing but acceptance. AJ was completely worked up; her legs wrapped around my waist, she hooked her ankles behind me and used them to her advantage. She was hungry, and it showed in the way her own hips lifted to meet each thrust of my own.
AJ and I never had a problem getting so lost in one another, completely overtaken by the way each made the other feel. It was never just a physical connection with her; I swear I felt like we became one each time we were intimate. Almost like she’d managed to climb inside of me and overtake the nerves within me. It was so hard to explain the things she made me feel. I just knew I had never in my life felt so many things at once. I was also never so lost that even thinking straight was impossible.
“Yes,” she moaned as her back arched up off the bed, and her hips continued to shift only faster as she was desperately seeking her release. The way she began to tighten around me, her mouth falling slack as her fingernails dug into my back—it was the best kind of hurt I’d ever felt. “I’m so close.” And she was. She pulsated around me, making it next to impossible for me to hold back.
The second I felt her grip my cock, I was done. My thighs tensed, and I drove into her with one hard thrust after the other. Fuck, I felt like my head was going to explode from the pleasure I felt.
When I thought back to the time I wasted avoiding what AJ felt, the times I would see her around, and all the places I’d gone or the games—when I would catch her watching and choose to say nothing—I could kick myself. It was time I could’ve had with her, time I couldn’t get back. This woman had managed to piece me back together, showing me what that deep, indestructible kind of love felt like.
“I love you,” I said breathlessly into the crook of her neck.
We remained in the same position, me poised between her thighs, still buried inside of her. Her legs hooked around my waist, my face tucked perfectly against her shoulders. The two of us taking one calming breath after another as she mindlessly combed her fingers through the hair at the back of my neck.
Nothing had ever been more perfect.
“I love you too,” she finally added, her voice a hoarse whisper.
I couldn’t even tell you how much time had passed as we lay there simply holding on to one another. I’d started to doze off, feeling more relaxed than I had in days, but with AJ, that was always so easy. She wasn’t just the woman I loved, the one carrying my child, she was my best friend too. She always managed to make everything feel better, and on most occasions, she didn’t have to say anything in order to do so. It was her just being with me, curled up at my side or sleeping in my arms, and that alone made everything feel right.
“Not that I don’t love how we are right now,” she whispered near my ear, “it's just that my legs are numb, and I think they may actually be stuck in the position they’re in.”
I chuckled at the thought and lifted my head from her shoulder to look at her. “It would definitely be difficult to function with you wrapped around my waist, not to mention a little embarrassing in front of the older folk in our lives.”
She rolled her eyes and I tickled her side, feeling her body instantly tense around my dick. “You keep moving around like that, we’ll be going for round two real soon.” And what did she do? She bit her fucking lip and shifted her hips.
“Now who’s teasing?”
“Who says I’m teasing?” She arched her brow in a challenging manner, and that alone was all I needed.
“You better hold on tight.” I gripped her waist and sat back just enough to turn her around. “Legs apart,” I told her, using my knee to nudge hers wider. I think I may have actually whimpered when not only did she part her legs wide, but she arched her ass up and everything came into view. And I do mean everything.
“Fuck, you are gonna kill me.”
She giggled into the pillow and I moved forward, sliding inside of her slow and deep. When she moaned, the muffled sound pleased me. I was the luckiest damn guy, I swear it.
***
I came home and walked down the hall, hearing the sound of the shower running and the soft hums of AJ. It was always the same, the radio on the vanity playing her favorite country station, and she sang along to the words, humming the tune in between.
Without a second thought, I started to strip in the hallway, dropping clothes onto a pile on the floor. I had a whole new respect for my girl after last night. We sat down with our families, all of them gathered in my Gran’s kitchen, and shared the news of our pregnancy. There were a few concerned looks, but quickly the congratulations were shared, mixed with tears too. The women in my family were emotionally chaotic whenever babies were involved, and marriage too. You could practically see the wedding bells and baby bottles dancing in their eyes.
But AJ took the reins, and I fell in love with her even more. I didn’t even know that was possible because I already felt consumed by her.
I reached out and moved the shower curtain aside just enough to peek inside. Her back was to me, her hands massaging the soap into her hair. She was gorgeous, every little curve of her body, her long, flowing brown hair. The girl was such a weakness to me; she floored me and knocked me on my ass almost daily. A heart of epic proportions—there really wasn’t a thing she wouldn’t do. The compassion and kindness inside her amazed me.
“You are so beautiful.” I thought she’d jump in surprise, but instead, she turned her head slowly, her eyes still closed, and smiled at me. “Thank you.”
“Can I help?” I asked, stepping closer as she turned and faced me. Her head tilted back, her hands now lowered and resting at her side. It was the only yes I needed. Lifting my hands to her hair, I took over her movements.
“I made our first doctor’s appointment,” she whispered, her eyes still closed. “It’s next Tuesday at two. I thought that would work best since finals end on Friday.”
I used my hand on her shoulder to guide her backward, her head now positioned under the spray of the shower head. “I want you to move in.” I was looking at her hair as the soap began to wash away and trailed over her shoulders and down her back. But even though I wasn’t looking directly at her, I could see in my peripheral vision that her eyes were open as she looked up at me. “You’re here almost every night, but that’s not good enough.”
“How is that not good enough?”
“Because I want you here permanently. I want all your stuff here, not just a few articles scattered here and there,” I explained. “I already talked to my mom and my dad. They expected it and pretty much asked why it took me this long to bring it up.” AJ smiled. “I also talked to Uncle Colt about helping me convert the space above the stairs into a nursery. It’s not huge, but big enough. Especially if we use the space like I hope. It’s just storage now, but the stuff can be moved. The room will be around a seven by ten space.”
AJ was just watching me, an unreadable expression on her face.
“I want you here,” I repeated, “and when the baby comes, the last thing I want is us shifting him back and forth between two different spaces.”
“Him?” she asked with a smile.
“Yeah.” I continued to massage the soap from her hair.
“It could be a her, ya know?”
“Nah,” I shook my head just slightly, “believe me when I say him. I just know.”
“And how is it you know?” She was trying to hold back her smile.
“I can just feel it. If I told you how, you’d think I was crazy.” Hell, even I thought I was crazy.”
“Tell me,” AJ said as she placed her hands on my chest. “Please.”
“I told you about my biological father.” She nodded, still looking up at me with that look of hers that made me feel like I was a god. She had this way about her that left me feeling as if I was some type of superman. “I’ve only ever saw him in photographs and videos that my grandparents sent to us from when he was younger. I’ve never dreamt of him, never had a full-on conversation with him, until last night.”
I had to look away from her for a second, because I could feel that huge knot I’d felt earlier when I told this same story to mother slowly returning. It had left me feeling so raw from the moment I opened my eyes and looked up at the ceiling to realize it was all just a dream. A dream that felt more real than any other dream I’ve ever had in my life.
“What did you talk about?” AJ slowly moved her fingers over my chest in a soothing manner. “I wanna hear everything.”
I took in a deep breath and allowed it to escape me slowly. But the second I looked back into her eyes, my own clouded once more. The thing was, falling apart in front of her didn’t worry me.
“We talked about you.” I gripped the back of her neck, almost as if she was the foundation I needed to hold myself together. “He told me I’d found the one I was meant to share my life with.” AJ’s lower lip trembled, and because I couldn’t stand to see her cry, I leaned in and attempted to kiss the emotions away. “He said that our son was going be a mixture of the best parts of the both of us. And that he was proud of the man I’d become.”
I kept my head pressed to hers. Even when she attempted to pull away, I held her close. Feeling the tears trail along my cheek and drip to my chest, I knew I just needed a minute before I pushed on.
One deep breath in, and a slow release.
“I’ve always wondered if he’d be proud, and I feel like in some weird way this was his attempt to assure me that he was.”
“You’re an amazing man, Rhett. Of course he’d be proud.” AJ’s shaky voice was a mirrored image of exactly how I felt. “I think whether we have a boy or girl, we should name them Blake.”
That alone broke me and healed me as I reached out and pulled the girl that held my soul in the palm of her hand closer. I held her tighter than I should have, but, my god, she was the most beautiful person I’d ever met. AJ was a dream, a gift, and again I let myself believe that it was my father who led her to me.