Brand Me (Imagine Ink Book 2) (30 page)

Several minutes later, he slipped wetly from her body and they shifted to a spoon position. It hit him like a lead balloon. “I want us to get pregnant as soon as possible. Tell me you want kids with
me
.”

She turned to him with a look he couldn’t define, and in a small voice asked. “Do you mean it?”

He caught her chin in his hand and kissed her quick and possessively. “Yep, as soon as I’m in the clear, we can start trying. Wanna practice some more?”

She flipped around and threw herself into his arms and kissed him repeatedly, “Oh, Michael, yes, yes, yes. I should cancel my Friday appointment then.”

Puzzled, he raised an eyebrow.

“The fertility clinic, I was going for in-vitro, with a donor.”

“Oh, Hell no,” he said as he threw her on her back and rose above her. “If you’re getting pregnant, it won’t be by anyone but me, babe.”

They made love again, but as they lay spent, Michael knew it was time to spring the rest on her, both the good and the bad. With her head on his chest, he lazily stroked her shoulder with his free hand. “Tori, I have some things I need to tell you. I wasn’t hiding them or anything, I just wanted to clear the air about Tonya, and then you had to go and look like you do.”

Twirling his chest hair, he felt her stiffen and stutter in her pattern. He knew he had to lay it all out there.

“There’s a possibility that Wendy…could be pregnant. And if she is, and it’s mine, I want the kid in my life, which means, it would be in your life, too. You okay with that?” Her quick response eased his mind.

“Of course I am, Michael, any child that’s a part of you is welcome in our home. Now, what’s the other news?”

God, she is perfect.

“I want us to go back to the cabin. I don’t have to, the cabin was mine the minute Richard spilled the beans, that was in the papers you found. But, I do have to go to file the charges, and I figured it’s an excuse to have you all to myself. I know it’s a lot to ask, but once you launch the business, it might be a while before we have this opportunity again. What do you say?”

Tori snatched another condom from the bedside table. She reached between them and urged him to turn so could roll it on and bring him into her body, setting a gentle pace. “I say, alone in the woods without distractions has its advantages. One being, we can be as loud as we want.”

“Umm, you do like to scream, Princess.”

Baiting him with a smile on her lips, she admonished with no heat at all. “I was thinking about you, tiger.”

Snapping his teeth at her nose, he went from gentle to rough in no time.

J
ohn flew
them back to Tennessee the next day. Tori got to meet his sister, Stacy, and instantly fell head-over-heels for her. She was feisty and fierce, totally her new girl-crush. And, she was not going to let Michael down, that was crystal clear.

The first week or so was a lot of back and forth on the Bobcat to the car, to the courthouse, or police station. There wasn’t a whole lot of alone time, but they still managed to make love every night at least once, and run around the lake in the mornings.

This was not an easy path they were walking, going public and trying to prove Michael was raped, but Stacy and John were the most amazing people to have at a time like this.

Wendy agreed to the DNA test in exchange for dropping the civil suit. They opted for a non-invasive test to minimize risks. The sad part was, Wendy still didn’t realize she did anything wrong. She seemed truly horrified at being called a rapist. But then again, before date rape was established as a valid sexual assault, that’s how date rapists felt, like they were just persuasive, not rapey.

They all hoped that Michael being the charismatic person he was would, at the very least, bring awareness to the reality of male rape. Finally, the active part of their challenge, for now, was over. Waiting was the next order of business.

And waiting.

And waiting.

One morning on their run, they rested at the other side of the lake. Tori spoke first, “I think we should keep the cabins, don’t you?”

Michael pulled her onto his lap facing him and rocked gently against her through their running clothes. “I was thinking the same thing all along, just rent them out. But unlike before, I’m thinking we will actually visit. I did sell the other two, to buy Tonya out, but kept the ones that we’d use.” Kissing along her neck raised fleshy bumps on both of them.

“Then it’s settled. We keep the cabins, and when we have kids, we bring them to vacation here, but we make sure they have happier memories than you.” Tori freed his cock and moved her shorts to the side; he sank into her with a sigh.

Michael had finally received his clean bill of health and Tori, at last, got to experience him skin to skin. It was fitting that this “first” come on the heels of a run, in nature. It felt so right, so natural…and so damn good.

“Yes, but right now, less talking, more fucking.”

T
heir cabin routine
was just that, routine, but not in a boring way. They enjoyed the time alone. Even though Tori missed bonding with Willow and helping Erika and Walker, her mother had been right all along, this is where she needed to be. That’s another relationship that would need some TLC after the fallout of all this mess.

But the waiting was wearing on her nerves. She needed to know if her first child would be Michael’s, too. Not that she was pregnant yet, because she wasn’t. Though they weren’t exactly trying to prevent it at this point. Deep down, she wanted to share that first child experience with him.

Tori meant what she said, any child of his was welcomed in their home, but could she love it the way she should? She prayed about pregnancy, constantly it seemed. Prayed she soon would be and prayed Wendy wouldn’t, but that ship had sailed. Wendy was, in fact, pregnant, and Tori was, in fact, not. Now her prayer could only consist of paternity.
Does it make me a bad person to wish that the baby had another father?

That track of thought always sent her down the path of what if there’s another victim. Sure, that freed Michael, but possibly condemned another to be silent in his pain. Even though Wendy didn’t strike her as a serial rapist, just an ignorant person, she wouldn’t wish for another to go through what Michael or Troy went through.

Wanting to tell Michael her fears, but not wanting to give him reason to doubt her commitment to him and any children of his, she kept it inside, and it was slowly poisoning her.
When will this nightmare end?
No sooner had the question tiptoed through her mind, than she heard the hum of the Bobcat. She stepped onto the porch with Michael at her back. She had her answer.

In about two minutes.

Just a few ticks of the clock and this part of the nightmare would be over, but would a new one begin? It was the longest two minutes of her life, and she was sure it was Michael’s, too, if the set of his jaw was an indicator. It was like slow motion as she watched the Bobcat approach. Finally shutting down the vehicle, Stacy and John exited from their respective sides and walked toward the cabin.

Tori shifted her gaze down and chuckled. Even in the snow, Stacy forsake practical boots for spike-heeled sex kitten ones. Somehow, she still managed to look professional. How the Hell she didn’t look like a hooker in those was beyond Tori’s comprehension. She had a pair herself, almost identical in brown and she looked slutted-up when she wore them, but then again, Stacy had a classy air about her, even when she was snorting at a joke Tori told. Yep, she snort-laughed, too. Still, there was something regal about Stacy. Maybe it was her carriage or the powerful confidence that emanated from her. Whatever it was, Tori liked it. Even she could admit it was sexy as Hell.

Tori realized she’d let her mind wander down the yellow brick road just to avoid the nerves bubbling up in her stomach about what the next few minutes would bring. One thing was sure, it would change everything.

The men clapped each other on the shoulder once John reached the porch. Tori grabbed Stacy and clung to her for dear life. She was afraid to let go, but also afraid not to. It was Michael’s voice that brought her out of Stacy’s embrace.

“Well, what’s the word? You got my mail?” Tori didn’t miss the hitch there, nor did she fail to notice his trembling hand interlaced with hers. She brought the other around to wrap around the back of his in an attempt to steady his nerves, or hers. It was hard to tell who was shaking more.

Stacy shifted toward Michael and extended an envelope. He released Tori’s hand to capture it in both of his. The manila fluttered as a direct result of his motions. It was tough to watch on many levels, but to see Michael this off-kilter was one of the worst.

The pleading look in Michael’s eyes as he turned to Tori tore her up inside. “You’re mine, Tori, and I’m yours. No matter what, right? No matter what.” The look may have torn her up, but the words; the words filleted her very essence.

Cradling his cheeks, lips to lips, she stated emphatically, “You are mine and I am yours, no matter what.”

Tears sprang to
his
eyes and ran down
her
cheek. She realized that she had never shared the depth of someone else’s pain or liberation of their relief until Michael’s emotions slid in hot droplets down her own face. It was as close as she’d come to crying someone else’s tears.

Without breaking eye contact, Michael thrust the envelope to John. “Please? I can’t.” As soon as John relieved him of his burden, his arms flew around Tori, but their faces never left each other.

The sound of the seal being broken was intensely loud; the paper rasping out of the package, painfully slow. John’s voice mumbling to himself was torture. It was only when John spoke to them that the Earth ceased its rotation.

“It’s not your child, man. Less than one percent chance.” His voice rose. “It’s not yours, oh, my God, Michael, it’s not yours.”

If felt like hours, an eternity before the sound waves settled in her ears and the information relayed to her brain.
Michael’s not the father. Michael’s NOT the father.
As soon as it registered to Tori what that meant, she was swinging around in a circle, John and Stacy nothing more than colorful blurs on a white background with each rotation.

Finally, she was on her feet again, and she looked up at the most devastating smile she had ever seen. “Oh, babe, it’s not mine. That means you’ll give me my first kid, and that? That fucking slays me.”

“Oh, Michael, me too. I didn’t say anything, but it wasn’t going to be easy and…”

Effectively cutting her off with his most talented tongue, she lost herself in the velvet feel of him invading her mouth. He broke the kiss to pepper smaller ones on her lips, nose, and eyes. “I know, Princess, I know, but you were standing by me anyway and I can’t tell you what that means to me. I love you, and I can’t wait to start a family with you, but first, we need to get hitched. What do you say, courthouse tomorrow morning?”

“My mother would have a coronary, she’s had my wedding planned since before I hit puberty, a big southern affair outdoors under the magnolia trees. It would absolutely kill her if we denied her that.”

“Didn’t she make an exception for your bother and Erika? They got married in the hospital and they are giving her the dream wedding after the fact. Why can’t we do the same, even horn in on theirs? Wouldn’t she love that, both her kids getting married, together under the magnolia trees?”

Staring into his eyes, Tori knew she was lost, she could deny him nothing, plus he was right, Francis Reid would eat that shit up with a spoon. He was so excited and happy. She would move Heaven and Earth to keep him that way.

“I can never say no to you Michael Illanipi Brande.” Michael’s eyes sparkled with mischief. She turned her attention toward John and Stacy and announced, “What do you say, folks, want to go to a last minute wedding tomorrow?”

Laughing and nodding in the affirmative, Stacy and John said their goodbyes and made their way back to the vehicle. Michael held her from behind, resting his chin on her head as they watched until the Bobcat was out of sight.

Tori broke away and headed for the door. Michael caught the handle and held it open for her and as she made her way past him, he caught her by the wrist, pulling her closer.

He rasped in her ear in that sex and whisky voice of his, “I won’t forget you said that later.” When she looked at him trying to connect the dots, he added. “Never telling me no? I’m going to hold you to that, Princess.”

Tweaking his nose playfully, she added. “I was hoping you’d catch that, Wingman.”

With a wink, she sashayed into the cabin and Michael smacked her ass and entered close on her heels.

Once inside, he had her prisoner in his arms, and posed a question while feeling her up. “Tori, I’ve been curious since your note, why did you sign it
happily melted
?” His hands and lips were wreaking havoc on the part of her brain that did her thinking. Kissing the crisp hair that teased her through the vee of his shirt, she spoke to his chest.

“Ever see
Frozen
? You, Michael, are worth melting for.”