“Dinner was nice,” Amy says, staring out the window as we head toward her place.
“It was. Didn’t I tell you my parents would love you?”
“You did. I’m glad you were right.”
“Me too,” I add with a chuckle. The car goes quiet again, Brody having fallen asleep in my arms shortly after dinner had ended and remained out still.
“Can I ask you something?” Amy says, a few minutes later.
“Anything . . .”
“Why haven’t you told me you were adopted?”
“I honestly don’t know. I don’t see them as my adoptive parents. To me, they’ve always been Mom and Dad. They’re the two people who saw something in me where others didn’t and gave me the home I always wanted and needed.”
“Do you . . . actually, never mind.”
I squeeze her knee gently. “You can ask me anything, Amz. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
Again, she falls quiet and I swear I can hear her brain ticking over.
“Do you feel close to Brody because you know what it’s like not to have a biological parent?” I don’t even have to think twice before answering.
“He doesn’t need a father, he has you. But to answer your question, no.” I take a slow calming breath, wondering why her thinking that pisses me off a little bit.
“I didn’t mean—”
“I’m close to Brody because I helped bring him into the world and in getting to know you, I got to know him. You and him are a package deal but I can tell you right now that what I have with you two has nothing—not one thing—to do with me being adopted or not knowing my birth parents.”
“Do you wish you had known them? Remembered your birth parents?” I think on that one. It’s something I have thought about a lot over the years.
“Sean looked them up for me a while ago. My birth mother died of an overdose a few years after I was adopted, my birth father was never listed.”
Thankfully, I’ve pulled into Amy’s parking garage by the time I finish speaking, bring my car to a stop and turned the car off.
I don’t get to say anything else because it’s then that Amy leans over the center console and rubs her hand up my leg, dragging her fingers over my thigh then her palm over my groin. My grip on the steering wheel tightens as I try to remember all of the most unsexy sights I can imagine.
My mother. No, not my mother, not right now.
Petri dishes. Fourth quarter market results. Audit recommendations. Anything.
She runs her tongue up the side of my neck, her other arm wrapped around my shoulder as she sucks my earlobe between her lips. She’s upped the ante and I’m so unprepared. I’ve been fighting my own battle, trying to resist the urge to forget all plans to make our first time together memorable and just taking her up on the many offered opportunities she’s availed to me.
The first time I make love to Amy I want it to be done right . . . and slow . . . very slow. Not in the front seat in a parking garage.
“Let’s get Brody upstairs and then we can talk,” I rush out, failing to quell my aching need to take her here and now. This isn’t how I wanted our first time to be. It has to be perfect.
“It’s okay. Just forget it,” she says sharply. Opening her door, she jumps out of the car, even grabbing Brody and his car seat before I can round the trunk.
Taking the baby seat from her hands, I carry Brody on one arm and entwine my fingers with Amy’s, leading her toward the elevator and not letting go until we’re all safely enclosed in her apartment.
She lifts Brody out of the seat and looks to me. “I’m just going to put him down and then I’ll be back.” Her voice is tight but she doesn’t linger, turning on her heels and walking down the hall toward the bedrooms.
I may be a hapless male at times but I’ve spent enough time with Amy to know when something is up with her, and one of those times is now.
I’m almost certain Abi would know what’s wrong but I’m not sure I’m prepared to text her with my figurative tail between my legs, asking for her help.
I’ve turned the TV on, opened a bottle of wine and poured two glasses for us by the time she walks back into the room ten minutes later, her eyes widening and—if I’m not mistaken—her jaw tensing the moment she sees what I’ve done.
“I think we need to talk,” she says, stopping a few feet away from me.
Narrowing my eyes at her, I tilt my head and turn to face her. “Sit down, relax.”
“I think it’s probably better if I stand for this.” Now that gets my attention. My spidey senses are tingling, telling me that something’s definitely not right here.
She studies me, her eyes roaming over my chest, dropping to my hips, my legs, then returning back to my face. It’s then I notice her teeth sinking into her bottom lip—and not in that sexy way I love either.
“Sweetness, what’s wr—”
“You don’t have to do this anymore.”
“What?” I ask, jerking my head back.
“This,” she says, waving one hand between us. “If you’re here because of some misconceived belief that Brody needs a father, then I think it’s better that we end this now. I have real feelings for you and if I’m more invested in this than you are, I think it’s better to protect myself now than let myself be the desperate horny single mom that scratches an itch.”
One minute we’re in the living room having a silent stand-off. The next, I’ve hoisted Amy over my shoulder and I’m carrying her down the hallway in the direction of her bedroom.
Fuck waiting any longer. My patience has been misconstrued as disinterest and there’s no way I’m letting the woman I’m going to spend the rest of my life with think I don’t want her when nothing could be further from the truth.
“Put me down,” she gasps.
“Not gonna happen,” I growl.
“Put. Me. Down. Thomas,” she stage whispers angrily, almost shrieking.
“Give it up, sweetness. I needed to shut you up.”
“I what?”
“You heard me.”
“You’re a Neanderthal. You just . . . carried me.”
“And you’re clueless.”
“What?” she splutters before I send her flying through the air, landing on her back on the mattress.
She lifts up, quickly bracing herself on her elbows, glaring at me. If looks could kill, I’d be in mortal danger right now.
“I’m not fucking clueless.”
My lips twitch, and I tilt my head, my eyes soft and lazy on her. “Sweetness, you think I’m here because I’m so desperate to get laid that I’ve targeted the . . . what did you call yourself? The ‘desperate horny single mom’ who’ll take whatever she can get.’ And I’m with you because of some deep-seated abandonment issues? Am I right?”
“Yes,” she shouts. “Why else would you be here when you’ve known me for years and never—not once—given me a second look. In fact, you shot me straight to the friend-zone back in the bar all those months ago and until recently, showed no interest at all.”
I grit my teeth in frustration because she should know exactly why I didn’t try anything back then.
I remember the night vividly. How we talked for over two hours after Michelle threw her drink at me, how Amy kept pouring the drinks so I could drown my sorrows after two weeks of telling women I’d been with that I might have given them an STD—or worse still—that they might’ve given it to me. Then how she drove me home after closing and even walked my stumbling frame to the front door where Cade was waiting to take over.
“You think I’ve been waiting because I’m not interested?”
“I don’t know,” she says, her anger disappearing. She stares at me and I swear I can see her processing my words. “I thought we were moving forward a few weeks ago but then we never get further than second base. You said the next woman you slept with would be the one, so I kinda thought that maybe . . .” She averts her eyes and I watch her chest rise and fall as if she’s bracing herself for whatever she’s about to say next. “I may have just had a baby but I’ve been physically ready since my six-week post-natal checkup. I’ve been emotionally ready for at least a month.”
A month. A fucking month.
“I wanted things to be perfect,” I say, meaning every word but definitely feeling like a prized idiot. “I’d organized a sleepover for Brody with Gareth and Kristy next week. We were going to have twenty-four hours of uninterrupted adult time at my apartment.”
Her eyes widen and the room goes deathly quiet before she suddenly bursts out laughing, like rolling around on the bed kind of laughing. When she calms down she lifts herself on her elbows again to look at me. “All the while, I’ve been going through batteries like a hooker goes through condoms, and biding my time, hoping like hell you’ll make a move so I don’t have to invest in sex toy stock options.” My mouth drops open and it crosses my mind that I might be dreaming. Surely this amazing woman in front of me can’t be real.
Then again, if this is a dream, I don’t ever want to wake up.
“Life isn’t perfect, Thomas. It has moments where it comes really freaking close but we both know—from experience—there are times when it’s so far from ideal it’s ridiculous. I had a drunken one-night stand and ended up pregnant. You got an STD and don’t know who from.” She gets off the mattress and closes the distance between us. I open my mouth but snap it shut when she puts her hands on my abs and glides them up my chest, over my neck, and only stopping to cup my jaw. It takes every ounce of control I have just to hold on to her hips and not throw her back on the bed. “I love that you wanted our first time to be perfect but in waiting to give me that, it allowed all of my hidden insecurities and perceived inadequacies as a woman to come rushing to the surface and spew out of my mouth.” She pulls my face down to brush her lips against mine. “Us girls have our moments of crazy, the measure of a man is how well he copes with them.”
“If that was your crazy, baby, I know exactly how I’m gonna handle you. Case in point. I’m about to lay you down, strip you naked and take my time making sure you have no doubt whatsoever just how much I want you.”
Her breath hitches and her body trembles against mine. She’s with me in this moment. She’s totally fucking on board with everything that’s about to happen.
Halle-fucking-lujah.
I walk her backward, pushing on her hips at the same time I’m dropping my mouth to hers and kissing her like there’s no tomorrow.
I don’t want to ever stop kissing this woman. And tonight I’m going to take her to bed and make her mine in every way possible, reiterating the truth of my words as I touch, taste, and feel every single inch of her body.
Her knees hit the bed just as I delve my tongue between her lips, waging a war both of us want to win.
I throw my arm out to brace myself on the mattress, pressing my body into hers so she can feel how much I want her.
I’m desperate with the need to bury myself inside her but I know I need to take my time with her first. It’s been a while for both of us. I want it to be good for her because she’s going to be the first and last woman I make love to. It’s not something I can fuck up.
Just the thought has me sporting the world’s first granite erection. I’m harder than I’ve ever been and know that I’m a hair’s breadth away from ending the party before it’s even begun, something that would not be cool.
“Touch me,” she says, murmuring against my lips as her hands start to roam, running over my back, my shoulders, my arms, and everywhere else she can reach.
So I do. I pour everything I feel for her into that kiss. I run my hand down her chest to cup her breast, loving the way she arches her back to press further into me.
Drifting my lips down her jaw, I drag my tongue along her skin as I dip my fingers beneath her top and lift it up, exposing her white lace bra.
She grabs the fabric and rips it off over her head, throwing it to the floor then bringing her hands around my waist to pull my shirt up. I follow her lead and toss it aside, my mind solely focused on getting my mouth back where I really want it to be.
Her fingers tangle in my hair, tightening when I tug her bra down and wrap my lips around her nipple, sucking it into my mouth and laving it with my tongue.
I shift my weight to the side, easing the pressure on my dick as I try to fight the urge to grind against her. Moving my hand down her body, I rub the palm of my hand against her clit, cursing the layers between us.
She pulls my head back up to hers, moaning into my mouth with every stroke of my hand.
“Too many clothes,” she groans, grinding her pelvis into my hand.
I release her nipple and move back to kiss her, my lips smashing against hers. It’s not a gentle coaxing kiss. It’s an ‘I need to swallow you whole’ kind of kiss.
Requiring oxygen, I rest my forehead against hers, breathing her in and trying to calm down so this party doesn’t end prematurely. I brace my hands on the mattress and lean my body over, pressing into her.
I lift up and look down, loving her flushed cheeks, hooded eyes and swollen mouth.
“How are you doing, sweetness?” I ask as I thrust my hips against her.
“God, that feels good.”
“You want more of that?”
“Yes, but minus the pants and underwear,” she says with a sexy grin.
“Deal.” I push off the bed and stand in front of her, my hands going to my belt. I must say it’s fucking hot watching her eyes roam over me, especially my waist and everything that’s going on below it.
“Are you gonna give me a show?” she asks with a sly smile.
“Do you want a show?”
“I think you want to give me a show.”
“If I’m getting naked, so are you.”
“I seem to recall you telling me you were going to strip me down . . .” She lifts a hand to her mouth, mindlessly rubbing her thumb along her bottom lip.
“Jesus,” I groan, shucking my pants and boxers off in one swift tug before moving over her again and brushing my lips against hers, needing another taste.
Actually, I need more than just a taste. I need to drown in her, lose myself completely in her.
I run a hand behind her back, thankful when she arches up to give me room as I unclasp her bra—well, it takes a few goes because hello, out of practice here—and toss it to the floor with the rest of our clothes.
Her breasts are beautiful, so full and round and fucking perfect, so much so I can’t drag my eyes off them. Voodoo boobs. If ever a thing existed, then Amy would be their master and keeper.
“I’ll warn you now, the girls might leak a bit if I . . . you know . . .”
That breaks the spell. I lift my chin to her face, meeting her dancing eyes with no doubt wide ones.
“Are you serious?”
“Yep,” she says with a wicked grin.
“And you’d know this how?” She covers her face with her arm but I don’t miss her bright red cheeks.
Chuckling, I gently grab her wrist and move her arm away and lower my mouth to her ear. “Sweetness, with what we’re about to do, and everything we’re hopefully going to do, there’s going to be nothing between us.”
I move back when she turns toward me, our gazes meeting again. “I want to know what turns you on . . .” Dipping my head, I brush my lips against her. “I need to know what makes you so hot you can barely breathe . . .” I nip the corner of her mouth then soothe the sting with a swipe of the tip of my tongue. “And I definitely need to know it was me you were thinking about when you touched yourself and made yourself leak.”
I lose every train of thought when she grabs hold of my shoulders, hooks her leg around my calf and flips me over onto my back before attacking my mouth with renewed hunger.
There’s something to be said about a woman taking control to get what she wants, and there’s no doubt in my mind that Amy wants me.
I stop holding back, I give as good as I get, kissing, nipping, licking, sucking, everything and everywhere, all of me and all of her, switching positions so she’s on her back again with my body against hers.
When her hands leave me to get her jeans off, I shift back and straddle her thighs, helping her wiggle out of her pants while taking the availed opportunity to let my hands roam over her skin.
The moment we’re both naked, there’s absolutely nothing that can stop us. I smash my mouth against hers, our teeth clashing as the hunger between us reaches a breaking point.
I run my mouth down her body again, this time with only one goal in mind, to drive her absolutely insane and get that taste of her I’ve been craving for months on my tongue.
The moment I sweep my tongue against her clit, she cries out. I lift my eyes to watch her, grinning against her skin when she grabs a pillow and shoves it over her face to muffle the sounds she has no control over.
It’s then I lose myself in her, one hand gripping her hip, the fingers of the other delving inside her, feeling her clamp around me the more I work her up.
She clasps my shoulders, pulling me away. When I move over her again she grabs hold of my face and kisses me, the smell and taste of her surrounding us.
“Condom, top drawer,” she mutters, the words caressing my lips with every breath.
I lift my head and quirk a brow, a sly grin playing at my mouth. “Need I ask?”
She shakes her head, smiling back at me. “They’re from BB, before Brody.”
I kiss her hard and fast before lifting up and reaching over to her bedside table, jerking the handle and rummaging inside, pulling my hand out when I find purchase on a welcome foil packet.
Standing up in front of her, I quickly rip the packaging, rolling the rubber down just as Amy’s fingers join mine to finish the job.
“Any more of that, and this party will be over before we’ve even begun.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” she says with a laugh. “I think we’re both going to be quick triggers first time around.” She winks and lies back down, holding her arms open for me to join her.
I stand there and peruse her naked form laid out before me, a vision I’ve fantasized about for months and months.
“You’re beautiful.”
“And you’re wasting time,” she says huskily. Four words that spur me on as she no doubt intended.
I move onto the bed, cupping her breasts in my hands on my way down, pushing them together and rolling my tongue over one nipple and then the other.
Bracing my forearms on either side of her, I grind my hips against hers, running my cock between her legs and groaning at the feeling.
She tangles her fingers in my hair and again holds her lips to mine. “I need you inside me, Thomas. Make me your last.”
And I’m done for. I pull back and with our eyes locked, I slowly push inside her, loving the way her eyelids flutter closed the moment I’m all the way in.
Fuck, there’s nothing like the feel of her. Absolutely fucking nothing like having my cock inside of Amy.
I already feel the tell-tale pressure at the base of my spine and I know there’s no way I’m going to last as long as Amy deserves. That doesn’t mean I can’t make it good for her first though.
Bringing a hand between us, I rub my thumb over her clit just as our mouths meet in a frenzied kiss, her grip on my head tightening as she thrusts her hips up against mine as if to urge me on.
In what feels like moments later, but I’m sure is at least a few minutes—I hope anyway—Amy clenches around my cock, her movements becoming frantic as she claws at my hair, her mouth devouring me whole as I hammer into her harder and faster, wanting to come with her.
When she whimpers against my lips I lose hold of the last scrap of control I have and let go, thrusting into her twice more as I empty myself into her, knowing that there’s no way I can ever let this woman go.
I brush my lips against hers, our breaths coming in hard and fast pants as we come down from the high of climax. “This is it now, sweetness. Us against the world.”
She smiles against my skin, her eyes locked with mine. “I love you.”
“That’s good because I fucking love you too.”
She giggles and runs her hands up my arms, curling over my neck to cup my jaw before she kisses me soft and slow, as if to seal our words and commemorate the moment.
She shifts beneath me, her gaze turning hooded once more.
“So when do I get round two . . .”
I pin her with a heated stare, my dick twitching in anticipation at a repeat performance just as the room is filled with the crackle of static and a quiet cry from the other important person in both our lives over the baby monitor.
“Let’s table that for future reference,” I say with a grin, kissing her quickly before rolling over and swinging my legs over the side of the bed.
“I can get him,” she says, the covers rustling behind my back. I shake my head and look over my shoulder at her. “I just need to get a towel to clean up since my boobs decided to give us a milk bath.” I chuckle at that, not caring one bit that she leaked. In fact, the taste I got when I was paying close attention to her gorgeous breasts is not something I’ll forget in a hurry.
“You stay there, I’ll get him.” The expression on her face is one I won’t forget anytime soon.
Something tells me I earned brownie points with that one.
“Okay,” she whispers.
It’s not until I’m dressed and almost in the hall that she speaks again.
“Thomas?” I stop in the doorway and turn toward her.
“Yeah, sweetness.”
“I’m glad I’m your last because that means you’re mine too. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.”