Chapter Sixteen
They were back in one of the most uncomfortable rooms Brooks had ever been in, only this time Leah was fully clothed. He tried to talk her into one of those flimsy paper gowns, but apparently one wasn’t necessary. And she couldn’t be talked into doing it anyway just for fun…or easy access. She also nixed the idea of him wearing one. Which was totally unfair. He’d rock the shit out of it.
She sat on the table lightly swinging her feet. A small thing, really, that she probably didn’t even notice, but it had to be one of the most adorable things he’d ever seen in his life. Of course there was nothing adorable about the metal arms that were attached to the table. Those looked ominous.
“What the hell are those things?” he asked, pointing at them. “It looks like some weird alien dissection lab.”
“You aren’t too far off. Those are the stirrups.”
“You mean like giddy-up-horsey stirrups?”
“Kind of. I put my feet in those and they hold my legs up so the doctor can examine me.”
Brooks looked at how far apart they were and envisioned the position that would put her in. Under normal circumstances, it might intrigue him. In the sterile medical environment they were in, it was nothing short of terrifying.
“Does it hurt?”
“Well, it’s not the most comfortable thing I’ve ever done, but it’s not that bad.”
He stared at them a moment longer. “Nope, gotta try it. Scootch.”
“What?” she asked.
But he was already nudging her off the table. He hopped up, put his feet in the stirrups, and stared at the ceiling.
“Okay, this is brutal.”
“Well, I do try to be gentle,” a voice said.
Brooks craned his neck up. “Oh, hey, doc.” He gave him a little wave.
“I’ve found I usually get the best results when I examine the mother in these cases.”
Total deadpan. Nice. “Sorry,” he said, disentangling his legs from the weird metal torture devices and jumping down.
Dr. Petrosky waited while Leah climbed back on the table. “How are we feeling today?”
“Pretty good,” Brooks said. “Had a bit of a big lunch so my stomach is hurting a little.”
The doctor laughed. “I meant Mrs. Larson.”
“Ah, right. I’ll let her answer.”
Leah shook her head, though she had that smile on her lips that she had when she thought he was being adorable.
“I’m doing fine, doctor.”
“Good, good. No more spotting? A small amount after intercourse should be fine, but remember if it’s bright red or you’re bleeding through a pad, you need to come in right away.”
“No,” she said, her cheeks flashing crimson. “No problems.”
She avoided his gaze. As well she should. They were cleared for sex? Oh, they so needed to have a talk when they got home.
“Well, let’s take a look here.” He got out the bottle of gel and pulled her shirt up enough to expose her belly. Brooks looked at it in fascination. He’d seen pregnant bellies before of course, but none up so close or as personal to him. Leah had been doing a good job of keeping covered up when he was near. For apparently no reason, at least not a medical one.
The doctor squirted the goo all over her belly and brought the little mouse-looking thing over. Brooks had been in the room the first time they’d done this, but he had been so stressed over the situation that he hadn’t really paid attention to what was going on. The doctor moved the mouse over her belly and flipped a switch on the machine next to him. A weird whomping sound filled the room.
“Wow. Is that…” Brooks said in wonder.
Leah smiled and took his hand, drawing him closer to the bed so he could see the screen.
“That’s the baby’s heartbeat,” the doctor said. “Nice and strong.”
Brooks watched in awe for a moment as the doctor took various pictures of the baby, measuring its length, head circumference, and pointed out all the various body parts that they could see.
“And it looks like the baby is in a great position if you want to know the sex,” the doctor said.
Brooks looked at Leah who stared back at him. He was dying of curiosity. He was the type who opened his Christmas presents early and then put them back under the tree, and who read the last page of a book first. He hated waiting, but it wasn’t his decision to make. He shrugged at her with a smile.
She turned to the doctor. “Yes, I think I do want to know.”
“It looks like you’re going to have a little girl,” the doctor said.
Brooks’s heart punched through his chest. The rational part of his brain told him that this baby wasn’t his. Leah wasn’t really his wife. And in a few months, the whole charade would be over, but the rest of him wasn’t really listening. It was listening to the magical whomp whomp whomp sound of the baby’s heartbeat. It was watching the way Leah stared at the screen as if she could make out every feature of her baby. It was watching the intent way she absorbed everything the doctor said, soaking up every bit of information that she could.
It didn’t matter if it wasn’t really real because at that moment there was nothing else in the world that was more real to him.
The doctor gave them a few more instructions that Brooks didn’t really hear, but before he left there was one thing he wanted to make triple sure of.
“So, we are fine to resume marital relations, correct?”
“Of course,” the doctor said.
“You’re sure it won’t hurt the baby? She’ll be okay?” Brooks was taking no chances of a repeat of last time.
“She’ll be just fine. The baby is strong and healthy and so is her mother.”
Brooks grabbed the doctor’s hand and shook it on the doctor’s way out. “That’s wonderful news, thanks, doc.”
Leah snorted from the table as she sat up and wiped a bit more goo off her belly. “Well that perked you right up,” she said.
Brooks grinned and leaned over her with one hand on each side of the table so she couldn’t escape. She looked up at him.
“Oh, you have no idea,” he said. “Any particular reason you didn’t tell me you had been cleared already?”
She chewed her lip. “I was nervous.”
“Of hurting the baby?”
“Yes. A little. The doctor assured me all was fine, but still.”
“And? Something else? Nervous about getting attached to me?”
He said it jokingly, though he found he meant it more than he’d intended.
“Yes,” she said, raising her chin in the air. “This is supposed to be temporary and we agreed no sex for a reason. It complicates the hell out of everything. And we’ve already done it once. And it was…” Her cheeks flushed. “It was more than I expected. Doing it again…”
Would be incredible. Trying to keep from carrying her off right then and there took a lot more willpower than he thought he had. He got a grip and focused on Leah.
“I get it, really. But this relationship is already beyond complicated. Sex is kind of the major perk of being married, or so I’ve always been told. So why not make the most of it?”
She sighed. “Because.”
“The only question that matters is whether or not you want me. Do you?”
Her eyes locked with his. “You know I do.”
That look was like a sucker punch right to the gut. God, he wanted her. “Well, all right then. Let the rest work itself out on its own.”
He leaned down to kiss her, but she backed off. “So, what, you want to go at it right here on the table?” she asked.
“Oh, yes, please.” He trailed his hand up her skirt and over her thigh. She laughed and pushed against his chest.
“We’re not having sex right here on the table. So move, you crazy giant. I need to get my shoes on.”
He gave an exasperated sigh. Not that he had expected her to say yes, but it sure as hell would have been nice.
“Come on,” she said. “The baby and I need some lunch.”
He captured her before she could leave and gave her a tender kiss. “Your wish is my command. And then we go home for some dessert.”
She just laughed. “You have a one-track mind.”
“Hey, you knew this when you met me.”
“Yeah, yeah. Now let’s go eat.”
He laughed and gathered her to him again, kissing her neck and holding her to him for a few moments. She could laugh all she wanted but if he promised her dessert, she was going to get dessert. Maybe twice.
A knock sounded and the door opened before they could say anything.
Marcus marched in, stopping short when he saw them. “Whoa, sorry there. Didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Leah gently disentangled herself, though Brooks wanted to hold on even tighter. Just to make a point, in case Marcus had missed it.
“You must have gotten the times mixed up,” Brooks said, placing his hand on Leah’s back to guide her out the door. “We were on the way out.”
“I know, I’m so sorry,” he said to Leah, ignoring Brooks entirely. “Here.” He handed a large canvas shopping bag to her. “I’ve been reading up and the books all say that folic acid is important for expectant mothers, so I got you spinach and oranges and a bunch of avocadoes. And a few other things. I didn’t know what you’d like so I grabbed it all. It’s all organic, nothing but the best.”
“Thank you, Marcus. That’s sweet,” she said, handing the bag to Brooks. She reached up and gave Marcus a kiss on the cheek.
“No problem at all. Nothing is too good for the mother of my baby. If there’s anything you need—”
“I’ve got it covered,” Brooks said, his fist clenching around the straps of the bag. He didn’t know what the fuck Marcus was up to, but having to deal with the guy day in and day out was going to get ugly.
It had been bad enough in college, but at least after Marcus had screwed him and Cole over, he’d disappeared. That wasn’t going to happen in this situation, and Brooks didn’t have a clue what to do about it.
The doctor came back in with a disk in his hand and looked between the three of them, obviously confused. That made two of them.
“I just wanted to give you the recording of your daughter,” the doctor said, handing the disk to Leah.
“Daughter? It’s a girl?”
“Yes,” Leah said, beaming that bright smile that warmed Brooks to his soul. At least when it was aimed at him. “Sorry, I didn’t know if you wanted to know, but…”
“We wanted to know,” Brooks said.
“I would have preferred to keep it a surprise, I think, but no matter now.”
Brooks shrugged. “Well, maybe if you showed up on time for the appointments…”
Marcus’s eyes narrowed. “It couldn’t be helped.” Then he turned with that grin that Brooks was beginning to loathe and gave Leah another kiss on the cheek. “I hope she’s as beautiful as her mother.” Then he turned back to the doctor. “Can I get a copy of that?”
The doctor looked at Leah and she nodded. “Dr. Petrosky, this is Marcus Cassidy. He’s…the baby’s father.” Her face turned the deepest shade of red Brooks had ever seen and he immediately drew her back to him, staring at the doctor and daring him to make some judgmental remark.
But to the doctor’s credit, all he did was shake Marcus’s hand. “Nice to meet you. Just stop by the front desk on your way out and I’ll have my staff make you another copy.”
“Thank you, doctor, I appreciate it.”
The doctor waved at them and stepped back out, leaving the three of them to stare awkwardly at each other.
“We were on our way home so…” Brooks said, taking a step toward the door.
“I’ll walk you to the car.”
“I think we can manage on our own,” Brooks said, but Leah shushed him.
“We can all walk together.”
“One big, happy family,” Marcus said with a grin.
Leah smiled back. Brooks rolled his eyes and started praying for the ground to open up and swallow Marcus whole.
…
Leah expected Brooks to pounce on her the moment they got home. Instead, he pulled her down to the couch, propped her feet up on his lap, and massaged them until she was limp and languid.
“Hmm,” she said, trying to stifle a yawn. “If you were trying to relax me to get me in the mood, you might have overshot your goal just a bit.”
“Seeing as how you spent the entire car ride home playing the head bob game, and not in a fun way, I figured you might need your rest first.”
“I’m fine,” she said, though her eyes closed before she could finish saying it.
He chuckled. “Get some rest, wifey. You’re going to need it.”
She woke a few hours later feeling a thousand percent better. He was right—she had needed that. She went in search of him. She had a stack of papers to grade and a lesson on Shakespeare to prepare but those would have to wait. Now that she’d rested up, an entirely different kind of need was making itself very evident. One it would be much wiser to ignore seeing as how it would do nothing but complicate the hell out of things. But that wasn’t going to happen. It had to be the hormones, because she had never felt quite so…horny, for lack of a better word, in her life.
She found Brooks upstairs in the bedroom suite, at the corner desk where he had his computer set up. The chair was one of those cushioned rolling ones with no arms. Perfect.
“Hey there,” he said, turning his chair around. “How was your nap?”
“Fabulous,” she said, walking straight to him and straddling his lap.
His eyes widened, but he didn’t object. Not that she’d expected him to. “Um, so it appears. Have any good dreams?”
She pulled his shirt over his head. “Not that I remember, no.”
His forehead crinkled in a confused frown, but his hands came up to grasp her waist. She pulled off her own shirt.
“Whatcha doin’ there?” he asked with his usual attempt at humor.
“I’m fucking my husband.”
His grip tightened, and he sucked in a deep breath like he suddenly couldn’t draw in enough air. She’d never been a huge dirty talker. Even if the thoughts were running through her head, embarrassment did a nice job of keeping it locked away. She had no clue what hormone combo had managed to amp up both her libido and confidence, but she liked it. And judging from the new, rock-hard bulge she straddled, so did Brooks.
He fisted a hand in her hair and dragged her forward to meet his lips.
That had probably been the first time he’d ever heard her really swear. She liked to save those words for when they were truly needed. Like now. When she needed him inside her so badly she could sob from sheer frustration.
He pulled away and she groaned. “Are you sure about this?”
She reached between them and fumbled with the button on his jeans, freeing him from the confines so she could wrap her hand around him.
“All right then,” he managed to say while he liberated her breasts from her bra. He hesitated before touching them, obviously remembering how sore they’d been the first time. But along with everything else, the pain seemed to have eased up for the time being. And she wanted his hands on her.
She took one of his hands and pressed it to her breast, squeezing it to show him what she wanted. He didn’t need to be asked twice. He took over, his thumbs rubbing across the sensitive peaks. Each touch sent a riot of electricity shooting straight through her.
For a brief moment, her self-consciousness about her growing belly nearly put out the flames. The last time he’d seen her naked, her stomach had only just begun to fill out. Now it was large and in charge. And yes, he’d seen the belly before, but not in a context like this.
But holding him in her hand as she was, she had all the evidence she needed that he still wanted her. And she needed him with an intensity she’d never felt before. She wanted to stretch it out, savor every second, but her body ached for him.
She scooted closer to him, angling her hips so his head rubbed over her entrance through the thin material she still wore. Her movements shifted her panties out of the way and he slipped inside.
“Wait,” he said. “What about…”
“I’m already pregnant and you have regular physicals. I think we’re fine.”
She pressed against him, bringing him deeper inside and he groaned, grasping her hips.
He let her set the rhythm. She gripped the back of the chair and kept her mouth fused to his as she rode him. He kept one hand on her ass, griping her flesh, while the other tangled in her hair to angle her mouth so he could delve deeper.
Within minutes, that piercing pressure built to a crest that couldn’t be contained. It crashed over her, dragging him with it. She slumped against him, her head resting on his shoulder, while she continued to shudder around him.
He stood, scooping her up in his arms so he could carry her to the bed. He set her down and stripped away the rest of his clothes, then leaned over to tug off her skirt and panties.
“This time, we take our time,” he said, claiming her lips once again.
He made gentle, exquisite love to her until she begged him for mercy.
And then he did it again.