Forever Bonded (BWWM Pregnancy Romance)

Forever Bonded

By Cleo Jones

Copyright © Cleo
Jones 2015

Amazing Grace Publications

First Edition

Amazing Grace Publications is giving away two
$25 Amazon gift cards
this month in
light of the success of our previous contests.

Send us an email with the answer to a question at the end of the
book for a chance at winning!

This book is a work of fiction. Any
similarities to real people, places, or events are strictly coincidental. All
rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced or distributed in any format
without the permission of the author.

The author acknowledges the
trademarked status of products referred to in this book and acknowledges that
trademarks have been used without permission.

This BWWM pregnancy romance contains
mature content, including graphic sex. Please do not continue reading if you
are under the age of 18 or if this type of content offends you.

NOTE:
 
All
characters in this book are 18+ of age, non-blood related, and all sexual acts
are consensual.

Table of Contents

Chapter
One

Chapter
Two

Chapter
Three

Chapter
Four

Chapter
Five

Chapter
Six

Chapter
Seven

Chapter
Eight

Chapter
Nine

Chapter
Ten

Chapter
Eleven

Chapter
Twelve

Chapter
Thirteen

Chapter
Fourteen

Chapter
Fifteen

Chapter
Sixteen

Chapter
Seventeen

Chapter
Eighteen

Chapter
Nineteen

Epilogue

Contest

Mailing
List

Contact
Me

About
the Author

BONUS
STORY

Chapter one

Zoë
arrived at the bistro just as the appetizers were being placed on the table, which
in her mind was right on time. “Sorry I'm late,” she remarked, casting a
fleeting glance at Nate and Aniyah before picking up the drink menu and waving
down a waitress to order her usual poison: an overflowing glass of the most
expensive Moscato.

Aniyah
waved off Zoë's excuse about traffic being terrible on the way into the French
Quarter and took a small bite of her caprese salad. Being perpetually late for
things wasn't all that unusual for Zoë. It was just one of many undesirable
habits she'd picked up in her youth that had carried on well into adulthood.

Drinking
like a fish was a close second, but it wasn't like Aniyah didn't have her best
friend matched in that respect. Both women had come to look at adulthood as a
rapidly spreading disease, and a strong drink after a long week was as good an
antidote as any.

After a
few more drinks and some lighthearted conversation, the trio got to reminiscing
on their pasts the way they always tended to.

“Oh
man…you remember that time we went skinny dipping up by Dauphin Island and got
our clothes stolen by that crazy girl Nate dumped?” Aniyah questioned between
bites of her Bananas Foster, exchanging an amused look with Zoë.

“Don't
even remind me,” Nate said with a grimace. “I came this close to catching something
venereal from her. Which reminds me...why didn't either one of you bother
letting me in on the fact that she was screwing half the guys in our graduating
class?” He stared at the two women in front of him pointedly. “Some friends you
are.”

“Tuh, please,”
Zoë said with a laugh. “It was hardly a secret. You were just too blinded by
her booty to notice.”

Nate
opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off before he could.

“And
before you go trying to deny it, I know it's true, because the last person you
were with before her was me.” Zoë smiled and raised her glass to her lips. “Now
I've got a lot of strengths, but let's face it, my struggle booty isn't one of
them. It's really no surprise you went for someone like her after we broke up.”

“Uh-huh,”
Nate shot back, rolling his eyes. He couldn't stand when she got all
self-depreciating for the sake of a joke—especially one that was at his
expense.

“Can
you believe how long ago that was?” Aniyah said, twirling a piece of hair
around her pointer finger in silent reflection. “We were just babies.”

“It
wasn't that long ago,” Nate countered.

“Yeah,
but it sure feels like it was. I just…I miss how relaxed everything felt back
then,” Aniyah said, slipping into her Cajun accent the way she always tended to
when she was feeling sentimental.

“Alright,
boo. I think it's time you lay off the wine,” Zoë joked, reaching over to pry
the glass from her friend's hand.

It was
a known fact that Aniyah Berly was the very definition of a lightweight. All it
took was a couple glasses of Merlot to turn her into a weepy mess, and she was
already narrowing in on her third or fourth.

“I'm
fine,” Aniyah objected, letting out a hiccupy laugh. “I just can't believe
we're almost 40. Where does the time go?”

“Uh...since
when is 29 almost 40?” Zoë interjected. “I got a good 10 years left on my
engine, thank you very much.”

“Yeah,
but everything's already so different. I'm engaged. Nate's got Audrey. And
let's be real here, you're practically already married to—”

“Don't,”
Zoë warned, cutting her off. “Evan and I aren't practically anything. We're
just having fun together. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Aniyah
rolled her eyes. “Let's see,” she said, holding out her fingers to count each
indiscretion. “Y’all spend all your time together, you fuck like rabbits, and
you can't come to an agreement to save your lives...that sure sounds like a
marriage to me.”

Zoë
sucked her teeth and went to object, but Aniyah wouldn’t let her.

“How
many times you spent the night by his place in the past week?” she pressed,
giving her a look that said she already knew.

Zoë
stared down at the dark liquid in her glass and swished it around distractedly.

“Uh-huh,”
Aniyah replied, flashing her a satisfied smile.

“Alright,
fine. So I occasionally spend the night with him. Big deal. We're sleeping
together, not exchanging vows.”

“Did he
make room in his closet for you?”

Zoë
remained quiet. It was obvious that Aniyah had gotten her there.

“Yup,” Aniyah
said in a singsong voice. “Next thing you know he'll be getting down on one
knee.”

Zoë
sighed and fidgeted in her chair. She knew well enough that she and Evan were
entering more serious territory, but she didn't relish in admitting it. All
that would do was make it official, and making things official made her feel
trapped. Aniyah might have been ready to dive head first into the next phase of
her life, six-carat engagement ring and all, but Zoë most certainly wasn't.

Zoë was
pulled away from her thoughts by the sound of Nate's beer bottle making hard
contact with the table. She glanced over at him as he rushed to clean up the
spill, immediately recognizing the strained look of annoyance on his face.

“Smooth.”

“Haha,”
Nate muttered, making a point of avoiding her gaze.

Zoë
gave him a perplexed look as Aniyah spoke up again.

“And
Nate, don’t think you ain’t in the same boat as little miss anti-commitment
here,” she said, waving a finger in his direction. “It’s only a matter of time
before Audrey starts expecting you to pop the question.”

Zoë
tensed as an uncomfortable feeling settled into the pit of her stomach. She’d
never liked Audrey. She was the kind of brain dead white girl she made a point
of avoiding in her day-to-day interactions: a slender 25-year-old who came from
old money and spent a large portion of her time milking her father for all he
was worth.

Like
many beautiful young women before her, Audrey was a seasoned model who spent
the bulk of her time in New York for work, but that small trait of interest
didn't make her any less annoying. Of her vast array of aggravating qualities,
the one that grated at Zoë the most was her tendency of laughing at every word
that left Nate’s mouth.

This
wouldn’t have been a problem in and of itself, expect that it had always been a
well-established fact that Nathaniel Cross wasn’t funny. In fact, he was the
exact opposite of funny. He couldn’t take a joke to save his life.

Nate
cleared his throat and wiped at his mouth with a napkin before fishing around
in his pocket for his wallet. “Uh, speaking of which, I should probably head
home. Audrey's flying in pretty early tomorrow and I’m on duty to pick her up.”

“How
long she staying this time?” Aniyah questioned.

“Bout a
week. She would stay longer but—”

“But
thank heavens she can't,” Zoë finished for him, tossing back the last of her
drink.

Nate
gave her a dirty look. “Would it kill you to be a little nicer to her?” he
questioned. “If you’d just give her a chance, you’d see she isn’t half bad. I don’t
understand why you don’t like her. You’re not jealous, are you?”

Zoë
scoffed and feigned offense. “Don’t flatter yourself,” she fired back. “Been
there, done that. Three times, actually, since you appear to have lost count.”

Zoë was
referring to the previous times she and Nate had attempted to make it work
within the confines of a relationship. The first time had been for a couple
months during their sophomore year of high school. The second had been the
summer after they graduated, in the midst of her parent’s messy divorce. And
the third, if it could even really be counted, lasted for precisely three weeks
when she first started working at his mother’s catering company.

All
three times, they’d ended things mutually and on decent enough terms, but that
wasn't to say they didn't continue hooking up and partaking in undefined
flings. However, it was the sudden inclusion of their respective significant
others that caused them to lay that chapter of their lives to rest once and for
all.

“I’m
not jealous,” Zoë clarified, speaking more firmly. “On the contrary, I don’t
like Audrey because she’s a spoiled daddy's girl who hangs on to your every
word like she gets some kind of sustenance out it. Which makes sense, I guess,
considering I’ve never really seen her eat. I mean…the girl lives in a city
with some of the best food in the world, yet she chews on ice when she gets
hungry. How am I the only one who finds that suspect?”

“For
the thousandth time,” Nate said with a deep sigh. “She’s trying to walk in Fashion
Week. Watching her weight is just another part of the job. See...that right
there is the exact kind of thing I don't want you saying while she's here.”

“Relax,”
Aniyah spoke up for the first time in minutes, giving Zoë a stern look. “I'll
make sure Evel Knievel here plays nice. There won't be any repeats of the
Christmas incident.”

Ah, the
Christmas incident. Zoë smiled as it replayed in vivid detail in her head.

“It
took her two weeks to realize those 'candy bars' you gifted her were actually
weight gaining aids,” Nate remarked, reading her mind. “
Hilarious.
”

“Please,
I was doing the Lord's work,” Zoë replied. “That girl could use a little meat
on her bones. She’s gotta be 100 pounds at the most.”

Nate
rolled his eyes. “Anyways, she has a go-see with some big designer next week,
so if you could avoid those kind of antics this time around, that would be
great.”

Zoë
started to say something smart, no doubt, but Aniyah cut her off before she
could.

“I
should probably get going too,” she spoke up, grabbing for her purse. “Caleb
and I are meeting with our wedding planner in the morning. Which reminds
me...we're going out to Tropical Isle for drinks with a few of his co-workers
tomorrow night. Boring, I know, but they just moved here, so they're still pretty
wooed by the whole tourist trap thing. Anyways, y'all should come. Bring Evan
and Audrey.”

Nate
was silent for a moment before responding. “Only if Zoë promises to lay down the
hatchet,” he said once he’d a chance to consider it, briefly meeting eyes with
her.

The
look he was giving her managed to soften Zoë’s resolve within seconds.

It
always had.

“Alright,”
she agreed, keeping her dark eyes steadied on his. “I’m in.”

Chapter two

Zoë had
been at Tropical Isle for precisely five minutes and she was already ready to
call it a night. She hated all the kitschy tourist traps that had sprouted up
along Bourbon Street post-Katrina, and this was most certainly one of them.
However, it was Audrey’s presence across the table that annoyed Zoë more than
anything. Her fizzy-sweet personality was anything but authentic.

“I’ll
admit, if Nate and I weren’t so secure, I'd probably be a little worried about
this one,” Audrey spoke up in response to something Zoë hadn't heard, forcing a
smile and pointing a bare fingernail at her.

Nate,
who had been distracted by his phone up until then, looked up and shot Audrey a
surprised look before giving Zoë an uncomfortably apologetic one.

Zoë stared
back at Audrey just as intensely as she was staring at her. Worried? Now just
why in the hell would she be worried? There was nothing for her to be worried
about. Zoë no longer had any horse in this race.

Zoë
could see Aniyah eyeing the situation with a hint of curiosity from where she
was standing near the bar. The look on her face was one that screamed, “don’t
do it”, so Zoë pushed aside her irritation and opted on remaining quiet
instead. Beside her, Evan awkwardly cleared his throat, bringing her attention
back to him.

“Oh my,
how rude of me!” Zoë spoke up, placing her hand on his bicep for emphasis.
“This is Evan.”