Caviar and Covert Ops: Book 3 (Military Moguls) (11 page)

His little chin firmed and at that moment he looked so much like a Braxton Dane almost choked on his dinner.

“All done,” the boy said again. “Chicken is yucky. I want choclit.”

“If you don’t eat your chicken you don’t get dessert. That’s how this works.”

Only because Dane would have done the same as a child he was able to anticipate Nicky’s next move. The little boy reached out for a handful of food to throw but Dane’s hand quickly stayed the boy’s arm.

“Listen to your mother, Nicky. Eat your chicken.”

Dane put every bit of authority into his voice that he could muster and apparently it worked. Nicky’s eyes went wide but his hand dropped the food back on the plate. He didn’t eat but he stopped whining for dessert. He was currently staring at Dane with his mouth hanging open.

Lily’s eyes were just as wide with surprise and that’s when he realized he might have fucked up. “Listen, I’m sorry. It’s not my place to tell Nicky what to do. I was just trying to help.”

She shook her head and picked up her fork to continue eating. “It’s okay. Toddlers often listen to other people more than their parents. It’s a peculiar quirk. I wouldn’t want you to discipline him or anything—that’s my job. But backing me up when I tell him to do something is fine.”

“Fair enough. So are we on for this weekend?” Dane held his breath and waited for her response.

Lily smiled and he knew everything was going to be okay. She was going to say yes.

“We’re on. How can I say no to a trip to Disney? I haven’t been there for years and I know Nicky is going to be in heaven.” She pulled the toddler into her arms and tickled his tummy. “Did you hear that, Nicky? Do you want to go to Disney World and see Mickey and Donald?”

“Goofy!” Nicky grinned, banging his fork on the table to the dismay of Lily and several of the other diners sitting close by. Dane quickly slipped the utensil from the boy’s grasp and he barely noticed it was gone, too focused on the cartoon dog. “I see Goofy.”

“I’m sure we’ll see Goofy and a bunch of other characters. We can go on rides and see some shows too,” Dane assured him.

Lily cuddled her son on her lap and smiled at Dane. His heart pounded in his chest, unused to feeling this much emotion. And it was all for this one woman who had turned his world upside down in mere weeks. Failure this weekend was not an option.

Plan B was in motion.

“I can see you’re going to spoil him.” But Lily didn’t sound upset about it. She sounded thrilled. Dane had a feeling she hadn’t been able to spoil Nicky very much with her financial situation the way it was. Soon all of that would be solved. The paperwork was almost complete. Not that she’d need the trust fund now that Dane was in the picture but it would give her independence. She wouldn’t ever feel like she had to be with him.

“I plan on spoiling you too,” Dane responded, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. “Just as soon as Nicky falls asleep.”

Her face turned crimson and she didn’t meet his gaze, instead intent on wiping Nicky’s hands. “I’m afraid we’ll wake him up.”

“We’ll be very quiet,” he whispered, loving the way desire shone in her eyes even when she was embarrassed. He didn’t want her to hide her sexuality. He wanted to help her celebrate and explore it. “But very good.”

Her tongue snaked out and licked her lush lips, making his groin tighten in response and his appetite for food disappear. Bedtime couldn’t come soon enough. “This is happening so fast. I feel like we’ve known each other longer than six weeks.”

“I won’t rush you but I won’t pretend I don’t want to be with you tonight.” Dane kept his voice low especially from Nicky who was drawing on the placemat with a blue crayon. “Trust me, Lily.”

He didn’t have any right to ask. Not with the secret he carried and hadn’t yet revealed but he couldn’t stop himself from asking.

The breath was sucked from his body when she nodded in assent. “I do trust you, Dane.”

He had to make sure she never regretted that statement.

*

It wasn’t easy
to be quiet when all Dane wanted to do was toss Lily over his shoulder and carry her straight to bed. Plus the patience he had to corral while Nicky was in the bath. To distract himself Dane had offered to read Nicky a story and the little boy chose a dinosaur book. Looking angelic in his footie pajamas, Lily tucked him into his toddler bed with a teddy bear while Dane read a story about naughty dinosaurs who didn’t listen to their parents.

“I think he’s asleep,” Lily whispered as Dane closed the book he’d read three times in a row for Nicky even though the child clearly had memorized the entire tale. “He looks so sweet when he’s sleeping.”

“He’s a good kid,” Dane whispered back. “Unless he wants dessert.”

Lily answered his smile with one of her own. “Never get between an Emery and their chocolate.”

“He’s–” Dane broke off and then tried again. “He looks like you.”

Actually he had been about to say that Nicky was a Braxton but had stopped himself at the last minute. Tonight wasn’t the time for that discussion.

Lily gazed at her son, her expression so full of love and adoration that it made Dane’s own heart ache. What must it be like to be loved like that?

“He has my hair and maybe my nose. When they’re young they change so much it’s hard to tell.”

“I like your nose.” Dane leaned down and pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose and then brushed her lips very softly.

“Dane.” The word came out so softly but it spoke of the need between them loud and clear. Dane stood and then pulled her to her feet, tugging her toward the door.

“We’ll be quiet,” he promised, his cock already pressing urgently against his zipper. He’d been thinking about this for the last hour and a half. He wanted to strip the clothes from Lily’s gorgeous body and make her scream with pleasure.

Well, maybe not scream.

This parenting thing was something he would have to get used to. Keeping the noise down, bath toys, and story time weren’t unpleasant in the least. It felt…warm and close. It felt like a family. Even when Nicky had thrown his tantrum about dessert it still felt good to be with the two of them. Dane was a part of something bigger than just himself.

The entered Lily’s darkened bedroom and he reached for the hem of her t-shirt, telling himself to not to rush. She deserved better than that after a long day at work. At the restaurant he could see the dark circles under her eyes and the fatigue she tried to hide.

Pulling the shirt over her head he reached behind her for the fastener of her bra, her skin satiny soft under his fingers.

“How about a back rub?” he asked, leaning down to drop a kiss on her shoulder and then higher up on her neck. She pressed her curves against him and sighed, making his heart trip in his chest. So fucking beautiful. He wanted to worship her all night long.

“Are you kidding? I’d love one.” She let her bra fall to the floor and stripped off her jeans and panties. Bare to his gaze, she laid down on her belly and he straddled her thighs and brushed her long, dark hair to the side. He spied some hand cream on the bedside table and squeezed a dollop into his palm, rubbing it between his hands to warm it up.

“Let me know if the pressure isn’t right.” Starting at her lower back, he ran his hands up and down her spine to spread out the lotion before concentrating on her shoulders and neck. Groaning and moaning as his fingers hit sensitive spots, she moved restlessly underneath him, her bottom brushing his already aching cock.

“That feels so good,” she said softly as he kneaded her biceps and then let his palms glide down her arms to massage her hands and fingers. By the time he worked his way back to where he started she was soft and pliant, sighing with pleasure.

Unable to deny the pressure that was building in his balls, he traced her delicate spine with his lips, kissing a path to the curve of her bottom, nipping at the pillowy flesh. She wriggled her hips provocatively and he pushed her legs apart, her pussy already puffy and pink, glistening with honey.

“I think someone wants more than a backrub,” he said close to her ear while pressing a finger into her warm and welcoming pussy. The tight muscles hugged the digit and he couldn’t wait to be as deep inside of her as he could possibly get.

“Yes,” she sighed. “More.”

He’d give her the world if she’d let him. He added a second finger and moved them in and out, hooking them so they rubbed her G-spot with every stroke. Her eyelids fluttered and her breathing became ragged as she gushed cream on his hand.

“Dane.”

No one said his name the way Lily did. It never ceased to turn him on and he began shedding his own clothes as quickly as he could, impatience making his fingers clumsy as he unbuttoned his pants. He managed to kick them away along with his shirt and boxers. He fished a condom from the pocket of his pants and rolled it on before covering her delicate body with his own larger one.

He nipped and kissed her neck, loving her breathless giggles as he slid his hands between her and the mattress to cup her breasts. Pinching the nipples, he ran his tongue around the swirls in her shell-like ear until she quivered underneath him.

Pulling them both to their knees, he pressed between her shoulder blades until she was on all fours while he braced his hands on her hips. With one thrust he was in to the hilt, his balls already pulled up close to his body. The pressure built in his lower back as he pulled out and then powered back in, biting his lip to keep from making noise.

Lily appeared to be having similar issues, her face buried in the covers, her fists wound around the bedclothes in a death grip. His fingers bit into the soft flesh as he built up speed, Lily’s breathing becoming more labored and ragged and her skin taking a rosy hue of arousal.

Her velvety pussy gripped him tightly, pumping his cock with each stroke. Higher and higher they flew until the pressure was too much. He reached around, his fingers finding her swollen clit. Her frame stiffened and she quietly keened into the mattress as she fell over the cliff even as he found his own release. So intense, the pleasure was almost like pain flowing over him like water on the shore. Sucking air into his lungs, he held her close to his body as they collapsed on the mattress, their skin sticky from sweat and honey. He stroked her soft skin while his heart rate returned to normal, pressing kisses everywhere his mouth could reach.

There was so much he wanted to say and yet he had no idea how to say it. His heart was so full of emotion but it was too new and unfamiliar. If he tried to express it, he didn’t want to get it wrong or scare her off. At this point it was better to be silent. Safer.

He levered to a sitting position and her hand came out to halt his movements.

“Will you stay? Will Ace be okay?”

“I will. A neighbor is watching Ace and trust me, that dog is being spoiled rotten. Just give me a minute.”

Dane padded to the bathroom, his mind whirling with conflicting thoughts and his heart focused on one thing.

He loved Lily. Anything else took a backseat. He didn’t know how to love anyone or even if she wanted him to love her. They had some things to work out before they decided to live happily ever after.

She still didn’t know the truth. And that fact was slowly killing Dane inside. He didn’t want to hurt this amazing woman. He just wanted to love her.

‡

N
icky was having
the time of his life at Disney World. They’d spent the better part of Saturday at the Magic Kingdom riding Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, and It’s a Small World, among others. When they’d seen the dog with the key in Pirates of the Caribbean, Nicky had wanted to climb out of the little boat and carry the dog back to the hotel with them. They’d had to physically restrain him to keep him from jumping out of the boat.

Now back at the hotel at the end of the long day, Nicky was having a hard time keeping his eyes open and Dane was anxious for the little boy to drift off to dream land. It had been hard to wait all week and then all day today, but the time had come to tell Lily who he was.

And hope for the best.

“Let’s just put him to bed,” Dane suggested. “He’s already almost completely asleep.”