CHAPTER SEVEN
CALDER
I can’t believe that after everything that’s happened today, Lily is still being so damned stubborn. She gave me the scare of my life earlier, and while it turned out to be nothing this time, that doesn’t mean we can just ignore what happened. Her mother upset her, then she experienced pain in her stomach. That’s not just a coincidence. When we finally retreat to our room for the night, I tell Lily exactly how I feel.
“That woman needs to go,” I tell her plainly. Her mother had some nerve showing up here in the first place, but for her to continue to put Lily through emotional turmoil is beyond acceptable.
“I’m fine,” Lily tells me calmly—though how she can be the least bit calm after today absolutely confounds me. “I promise, Calder.”
“It’s not fine,” I insist. “Lily, you have to be careful—”
“And that doesn’t mean I have to avoid all difficult situations.” She props her hands on her hips. “I never thought reconnecting with her was going to be easy. But if you’re going to freak out every time things are a little difficult with her, then maybe—”
“I’m not freaking out,” I tell her. “I believe I’m having a very understandable reaction regarding the emotional health of my pregnant wife.” I move toward her, looming over her but not touching. “When I saw you out there in the garden…”
“Bubble was just feeling a little cramped, that’s all,” she says. “I’m okay now. I feel perfectly fine.” She leans slightly toward me, but she doesn’t touch me, either—we both hover right against the other without making contact. Her beautiful eyes shine with a challenge. She’s not going to back down.
“You mean everything to me,” I tell her. “You and this baby.”
“I know,” she whispers.
“It’s driving me mad, not being able to protect you from this. If I had my way—”
“I’d spend all day in bed. And she’d be back out on the street. I know.”
“Not on the street. But out of our lives until the baby is here.”
“We don’t always get to choose these things.” She takes a step back, her hands resting on the round swell of her body. “While you were on the phone with the doctor, she talked to me a little more about why she came here. The man she was living with—he was awful. He literally took everything she had of value. All of her savings. Basically everything she had on this earth but the clothes on her back. She didn’t have a lot of friends in her life—and those she did have were more loyal to him than to her. She couldn’t turn to them. So she came here. She saw this as her chance to reconnect.”
Has she forgotten that she’s already told me what she and her mother were discussing in the garden? “So she decided that the best way to go about reconnecting was to explain that she didn’t love you or your father enough to stay?”
“She didn’t say it quite like that,” Lily insists, but I can read the pain in her eyes, and I’m almost sorry to have repeated the words at all.
“I don’t want you to get hurt,” I say. God, she has no idea how helpless I feel. Every day I see the fatigue on her face, the strain in her eyes—and though I’m more than delighted by many of her body’s changes, there’s a part of me that aches every time I see how hard this pregnancy is on her. I did this to her. And I’ll be damned if I don’t do everything in my power to offer her comfort and protection, to guard her from harm.
But how can I do that if she’s going to reject my help? If she’s going to embrace the risks and turmoil even against her own better judgment?
She’s stepped close to me again, and in her eyes I see a look I know too well—the look she gives me when she thinks I am the one being especially stubborn.
“I know you’re just looking out for me,” she says. “But I’m strong enough for this, I promise. You know why? Because of you.” She reaches out and touches my face.
It’s all I can do not to tug her into my arms. But this is a conversation we need to have—and I’m not about to let her slither out of it with gentle touches or that fluttery-lashed look. Oh, no. Not even this little minx can make me budge this time.
“You are the reason I can face her,” she continues, pressing closer until her warm, round belly is right against me. “You’ve given me so much strength, so much support. I know that you love me and that you’ll be here for me no matter what.”
“I will be here for you,” I begrudgingly agree, frowning slightly when I hear how rough my voice is. Even when I’m angry, this woman has complete power over me. “I love you more than anything, Lily.”
“So you can see why I’m not worried about her. Yes, she brings up some complicated feelings. But at the end of the day, whatever happens with my mom, I know that you’ll be here for me.” She leans closer still, standing on her toes and tilting her face toward my ear. “You’ll be there to take me in your arms and make everything all right again. You’ll be there to kiss me until I forget about any of the pain, to torture me with your fingers and lips until I know nothing but pleasure again. Until there’s no doubt that I am the most desired, most loved woman in all the world.”
Her hands skim up my sides and then across my chest, finally coming to the buttons of my shirt. My body is responding even before she undoes the first button—sometimes even the simplest, barest touch from this woman can bring me to the edge of my restraint—but I grab her hands, stilling her fingers before she can go any further.
“Lily, we’re in the middle of a conversation.”
Her lashes drop slightly. “Then let’s talk.”
Her tone suggests that the kind of talking she has in mind is very different from what I’d like to do, and her fingers wiggle in my grip, trying to break free.
“We need to settle the issue of your mother,” I say slowly, carefully. Because now she’s biting her lip, teasing me, and my cock is trying very much to misbehave.
“Convince me,” she says.
“There will be no convincing you in this mood, you stubborn little minx.”
“Not with words, maybe.”
Now her eyes are gleaming, and I know the cause is truly lost—at least tonight. But she doesn’t get to win that easily.
“I’m not playing this game, Lily,” I say.
“It’s too late,” she says, her lips curling up in a way that makes me throb against the fabric of my pants. “From where I’m standing, you’re already playing.”
She pulls her hands out of my grip, but rather than going for my buttons again, she takes a step back. She reaches up and pulls the tie out of her hair, letting the strands fall down around her shoulders.
“This isn’t going to work,” I tell her.
“Then we’re just exactly where we started,” she replies. “No harm done.” She pulls her shirt up over her head, revealing her bare stomach and the large, swollen curves of her breasts spilling over the edge of her bra.
Even on the days when she’s wearing simpler maternity clothes—things she can easily take off herself—I still consider it my duty and my pleasure to undress her. Which makes her current striptease all the more tantalizing—and she knows it.
She’s already started sliding her skirt down. She does a little wiggle side to side as she shimmies the fabric over her hips—God, that shimmy is enough to make a man’s cock explode—and then pushes it down her thighs.
Stay strong, I tell myself. She’s tormenting you on purpose.
But then she reaches behind her back to undo her bra, a motion that makes those full, enormous breasts of hers swell and threaten to pop right out of their binding.
Who the fuck am I kidding?
In two strides I’m in front of her and her face is in my hands. My lips come down on hers and my tongue slips deep into her mouth.
Her hands slide up around my neck, which is exactly what I’d hoped might happen—no one but me is allowed to peel that far-too-tiny bra off of those intoxicating breasts. I reach around and undo the clasp with one hand.
I feel her smile against my lips, but she’s a fool if she thinks she’s won. I press my hands against her back, pulling her snugly against my body. As much as I love her current round shape, though, I’d prefer a little more contact for my hungry cock. But I’m nothing if not resourceful.
I twist her around, turning her in my arms until her back is pressed to my chest. It’s a shame that it’s nearly impossible to reach her lips from this angle, but there are still plenty of things to do with my mouth. I suck her earlobe between my teeth as I slide her panties down over her hips, leaving her completely bare in my arms.
“You’ve forgotten who gets to undress you,” I growl into her ear. “That pleasure belongs to me and me alone.”
She lets her head roll back onto my shoulder as she releases a throaty laugh. “I’m yours to undress whenever you like.”
“Don’t think you’ve weaseled your way out of our discussion.” I slide my hands up to her breasts—God, I can’t get enough of these breasts—and weigh them against my palms. “We’re going to have a nice long chat about your well-being.”
“If you’re so concerned with my well-being, then maybe we should stop,” she says, her voice cracking slightly when I squeeze one of her nipples. “Unless you plan to be exceedingly gentle with me tonight.”
Maybe I should. After last night, I promised myself I’d be more careful. But gentle isn’t possible with Lily, not when she’s getting me worked up like this. The temptress knows exactly what she’s doing with me. God, my cock is throbbing in pain right now, and I still have my fucking pants on.
It takes all of my strength to peel my hands away from those luscious breasts, but I do—if I don’t get these pants off now, terrible things are going to happen. I nip at Lily’s neck as I undo my belt, and my arousal grows with every gasp of breath from her lips.
My pants are off. My shirt goes next. Then I wrap my arms around her and instead of moving us both toward the bed, I nudge her forward toward the wall.
Lily puts her hands out in front of her, catching herself against the wall as I press up behind her. This is another position that we’ve been playing with quite often since Lily started growing—and having her round ass pressed right against me never fails to make me ache. She leans forward, her loose hair falling down over her shoulders, and I position myself behind her, sliding one of my hands up her body as the other guides my cock between her legs.
My body is tense, already aching for relief, but I take my time sliding into her. She makes a sound of pleasure, and it pleases me to know that no matter how stubborn she might be, no matter how much we might argue, there is one thing that will always bring the same sweet sounds from her lips. One thing on which we will both always agree.
After that first slow stroke, the need overtakes me. She’s just as eager, my dear sweet Lily—at least if the way she pushes back against me is any indication. Her cries are getting louder and throatier with my every thrust.
I suppose she is right, I think with a hint of amusement. I can’t be worried so very much over her well-being if I can’t keep myself from taking her like an animal against the wall. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned during my time with this woman, it’s that she can take the entire strength of my pleasure and my need—and give both back just as fully.
My hands tighten on her hips, and I grind against her until I’m nearly delirious with desire. When I feel her start to come, when her warm, soft passage begins to contract around my cock, I can’t hold back any longer. I give one more hard thrust and fill her with my release.
Afterward, for a long while, we both just lean against the wall, trying to catch our breath. Our arms are tangled around each other and I can feel her heart racing beneath her breast.
“What were we arguing about?” she says dazedly.
I know—from her tone, if nothing else—that she has truly forgotten our argument in the haze of her pleasure, if only for the moment. And even if I believed she actually expected an answer, I wouldn’t give one.
Because I haven’t forgotten. No matter how many times she teases and seduces me, no matter what distractions fall in my path, nothing will ever make me forget the danger she’s in—or keep me from putting everything on the line to protect her.