Happily Ever All-Star: A Secret Baby Romance (21 page)

Down.

I licked over the swell of her breast, marveling in the quiet trembling of her nipple. She held her breath as my lips passed over it. The simple brush of my tongue drove her forward.

I laughed, taking the nipple in my mouth and giving it a tug. Rory squealed, but her shock shifted to a full throated groan. I suckled, flicked it with my tongue, and released the nub with a pop.

Amazing
.

I teased her again and again, suckling and
tugging
her sensitive bud from my mouth. Rory squirmed, but she wasn’t getting away. By my calculations, I had thirteen weeks to lay claim on her breasts before I’d have to share with Genie.

I’d make sure my time was
well
spent.

I rested Rory on the bed, kissing lower as my fingers twisted in her yoga pants. She offered me a trembling sigh as I stripped her bare.

Good thing I was already on my knees. A sight like this would have crashed me before her.

I needed more white comforters. White sheets. Anything that contrast how utterly beautiful her dark skin shone against the starkness. She glanced away, nervous. Her legs twisted.

“I must look like a whale,” she said.

No. She looked like…a
woman
. A beautiful, vibrant, perfect woman. The bump was a part of her life, a part of
her
. I wouldn’t have traded it.

Especially since the baby was what brought her to me.

Rory smiled as I adjusted her pillows. She nested against the softness with a giggle while she goose-bumped in anticipation. I unbuttoned my pants, but removing my cock from the denim prison would only make me more desperate. For as much as I longed to take her, Rory deserved more than a quick fuck.

Someone had to show her how lovely she was...and how damn sorry I was for forgetting all of her treats.

I crawled to her legs, letting them fall open. She giggled, casting a palm over her soft slit.

“You have no idea how hard it’s getting to use a razor,” she said. “Consider yourself a lucky man.”

“I already know how lucky I am.” My voice lowered to a growl so near her slickening petals. “I never thought I’d…”

Find a woman like her.

Hold a woman like her.

Fuck a woman like her.

Nothing sounded right.

“Have you here with me,” I said.

And now there were two pussies in the room. But Rory smiled.

And I never wanted her to stop.

I ducked my head low, putting my tongue to work before I revealed things I didn’t understand yet.

Rory thanked me.

Her hips bumped, but I was ready for that. I positioned myself more cautiously this time. I dove between her legs, licking where she was most safe and warm, sweet and waiting. Her slit overheated, and Rory gripped the blankets with trembling fists. Her words twisted like the sheets, and she whimpered against the first licks of my grazing tongue.

“There’s…increased bloodflow down there.” She shuddered.

“You sure know how to pillow talk, Doc.”

“It’s
sensitive
.”

“I know.”

“Really, really…”

“Perk of the pregnancy.” I teased.

“I think you’re the best perk of this pregnancy.”

Her words were lost in a whimper.

No. I wasn’t going to be just a
perk.
I wanted to be more than just a quick pleasure and regretted mistake. I wanted to be
hers
.

And that was my most dangerous desire.

I lost myself in her sweetness. Her groans encouraged me, and I suckled on her clit to hear her whisper my name.

Pure music.

Rory panted, but she struggled to pull away before she let herself crest too fast. Her heavy-lidded eyes met mine, and I knew exactly what she wanted. Needed.

I kicked my jeans off, jerking my aching cock with a quick hand. Rory stared at it, hungrily, licking her lips.

We both wanted the same thing.

But how was the best way to do this?

She giggled, but I didn’t let her up. Instead I rested at her side, turning her and cradling her warm body against mine. She sighed the instant our skin touched.

Hot. Pulsing.

I guided my cock low, testing the slickness of her pussy. She’d been ready since before I delighted her with my tongue. Now she was ravenous. Her hips bucked, and her tense whimpers begged with a mounting impatience.

“Got a craving, Doc?” I whispered.

“Only for you.”

“Better than a popsicle?”

“
Hotter
than a popsicle.” She hummed as my cock rubbed her clit. She angled her hips, guiding me towards her slickness. “You wouldn’t deny a woman in my condition, would you?”

“What sort of a monster do you think I am?”

“You’re not a monster.”

“Even though I forgot your food?”

“You’re probably the greatest thing that’s happened to me, Jude.” Her breathing edged hard, gasping as my cock prodded her slit. Her tightness enveloped me in a fierce heat. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

And I didn’t know what would happen when she no longer needed me.

If I had it my way—we wouldn’t find out.

I pushed inside her. I couldn’t fit deep, but I didn’t need much. Just her. Just the heat, the tightness, her pleased cry. Her body tangled against mine. I didn’t care. I never wanted to let her go, and I clutched her hips tight, driving as deeply as I could without pushing both of us to the brink of insanity.

Rory clenched on me, and every cry of my name squeezed me tighter. I thrust against an ever-tightening core, and she warned me how soon, how quick, how unbelievably hot she felt.

Her orgasm built quickly. So did mine.

Touching this woman destroyed my willpower. The pleasure dizzied me beyond any rationality.

I’d been hit before. Concussed. Blindsided. Knocked out. I lived in a daze of headaches and fog. But now everything cleared in my head.

Just for a moment. Only while I thrusted within Rory.

This was where I was meant to be. With her. In her. Holding her.

And she belonged with me.

I knew it. I felt it in her tremor. I heard it in her whimpers. My thrusts connected me deeper to this woman until my only desire was to offer her every pleasure, every peace, every comfort I could give.

“Jude…” Rory panted. “I’ve never…”

“Me either.”

“Don’t stop.”

“Never.”

I reached for her, kissing her shoulder, savoring her tightness. Her body rolled with an endless shiver of perfection, and I ached stay buried in her velvet heat.

I whispered her name as our bodies tensed. She came first, her breath lost in a quiet whimper. I gripped her hard, reaching over her, skipping her hip to touch her tummy. She arched, her hand joining mine.

The closeness and intimacy and
confusion
of that single touch blinded me.

I gave into the pleasure just to escape the truth.

The orgasm flashed through me, blinding me to a blink of light and stealing my strength in a flare of raging nerves. Pleasure dueled with my body. I surrendered to the intensity because I had her to ground me.

And I lost myself in that selfish desperation.

I thrust deep, letting every jet of my seed bury within her slickness. Wave after wave of crippling, perfect agony blasted over me.

I filled her. I shouldn’t have wanted it so badly. Shouldn’t have forced myself deeper. Shouldn’t have taken such a perverse pleasure in coating her with my desire.

She came again because of it.

I needed her to stay with me. In my bed. In my arms. I had to remain inside of her, a part of her.

I didn’t know what would happen once the baby came, and the possibility of losing her was worse than any concussion, hit, or lifelong injury.

I couldn’t let her go.

Rory was the only one who could finally heal me.

R
ory arrived
at her surprise baby shower…

Dressed as a pumpkin.

I was
fucked
.

So much for my elaborate surprise. I’d organized the party at Jack and Leah’s. Got the food. Made the calls. Invited the guests.

And I invited Rory under the guise of a
Halloween party
.

Unfortunately, I forgot to tell her
not
to dress up.

Whoops.

And it had been such a great week of sharing a bed with her. How quickly good things came to an end.

I met Rory as she waddled to the porch.

“Hey Doc…” I gave her a smile. It was not reciprocated. “You’re a pumpkin!”

The orange suit might have been loose on a non-pregnant woman. Her tummy filled out the plastic, stretching the black triangles serving as eyes and a mouth for the jack-o'-lantern. Her sleeves and leggings were green, just like the tendrils of streamers tangled in her hair. Vines, I supposed. They twisted into her hat—a little brown stem, tilted off center.

She looked as exhausted and frustrated as she was utterly adorable.

“When I was a little girl, I always wanted to be
Cinderella
for Halloween.” She held her arms out. “But the store I went to didn’t make maternity Cinderella dresses because, apparently,
that dream is a wish a
harlot
makes. The only thing I could find was this pumpkin!”

And so…she looked like a perfect pumpkin.

Also very pregnant.

I said the only thing a sane man who hoped to retain his balls might have said.

“You’re beautiful.”

Rory disagreed. “Are you crazy? I don’t look like Cinderella! I look like the magical
coach!
”

“It’s cute!”

She pointed at me—my sports jacket and trousers. “What’s your costume?”

Shit. “About that...”

“Jude?”

“Just remember that, no matter what, you are a doctor. You’re a beautiful, talented, insanely intelligent woman.”

“Who is dressed like a
pumpkin
.”

“So don’t get mad.”

“No promises.”

“You might be the only one.”

“Dressed like a pumpkin?”

“Wearing…a
costume
.”

“You said it was a Halloween party!”

“It is. Just come inside. You’ll see.”

“
Come inside?
Are you crazy? I’m a seven-month pregnant
gourd
!”

“It won’t matter. I should have told you not to dress up. Blame me.”

Her voice was cold enough to frost her vines. “Oh, I think I do.”

Fantastic.

I really hoped Rory would forgive me—that she’d realize it was the thought that counted.

Because I was thinking a lot about her. I couldn’t
stop
thinking about her.

She slept beside me. She snuck secret smiles for me at practice. She cheered for me on the field and made me feel like the greatest champion in bed.

Even when I suffered through my headaches, when I couldn’t sleep at night without the aid of prescription drugs she didn’t know I was taking, Rory’s face was the only memory that stuck in my mind.

And tonight was for her.

I took her hand. Rory protested, but her steps scuffed after mine. Jack and Leah opened the door.

Leah’s silver cocktail dress wouldn’t spare me a castration. Even with a toddler on her hip, she looked stunning. Her husband, the Jack-ass, couldn’t stop laughing.

“Oh my God.” Leah giggled. “You are too cute.”

Rory squealed and tried to escape. “
I’m leaving
.”

“No, no.” Leah hauled her inside. “Rory, I am so sorry. I thought Jude would have reminded you it wasn’t a costume party. Don’t worry though…” She elbowed Jack, sending him to tend to the guests as he doubled-over in laughter. “You’re going to love this. Jude’s been working so hard.”

Rory frowned at me. “Jude Owens, what did you do?”

I led her inside, following Jack and Leah as they signaled to the team awaiting the guest of honor.

“I might have arranged a baby shower,” I said.

The party cheered as Rory entered the living room.

Then laughed.

Rory froze in a quiet, but dignified, mortification. She simply adjusted her stem and took my hand.

And squeezed.

Then squeezed some more.

Then nearly dropped me to my knees as she attempted to break my fingers.

Rory stared at the steamers and pink balloons, the flowers and a stack of presents in the corner all wrapped in pastel colors and pleasant pinks.

“
Oh
…” The embarrassment faded. Rory fanned her face and called to Leah. “This is such a surprise. A little…too much of a surprise. Thank you all, but…I have to pee. Like
right
now.”

Leah was on it. She took Rory’s hand and rubbed her tummy. “You are
so
lucky you’re pregnant.”

She was really hard up for another kid to envy Rory’s weak bladder.

Jack approached me with a frown. “I’m trying my best. Nothing wants to stick.”

“More information than I needed.”

“Just count your blessings…and your swimmers.”

“One kid at a time, Jack.”

He agreed. “The guys are holed up in the back. Want a beer?”

“Seems like you need it more.”

“You have no idea.”

Jack led me to his pool and patio. Most of the offense had joined us, and I stopped to shake the hands of the linemen clustered around the appetizers.

The weather had turned cool, and Lachlan and Cole toasted us from their seats around the fire pit. Their kids sat at their sides, impatiently waiting for the marshmallows toasting over the fire.

Lachlan bid his little brother to fetch some graham crackers. Sebastian rushed with the box, tripped, and landed on the contents. He handed his brother a bag of dust. To spare the whining, Jack found a disposable cup and spoon and instructed the a disappointed Lachlan to make a parfait.

Cole accidentally caught Rose’s marshmallow on fire. This was traumatizing to the princess, the only other party-goer dressed to the nines in a costume.

“
No
!” Rose burst into tears. “Hurt! He’s hurt!”

Nothing brought Cole to his knees faster than his little girl. “No, I didn’t hurt it. The marshmallow is okay. Fire just…tickles him. Tell her, guys.” He growled at us. “Tell her!”

“No, Rosie. It’s not hurt.” Lachlan fanned the smoldering marshmallow. “It’s tasty. Try it!”

Cole took a bite to show her. Rose stuck her sticky fingers into the marshmallow and gave it a lick.

“See?” Cole pulled her close. “I wouldn’t hurt it. It…
likes
to be set on fire…I think.”

“
Black
.” Rose pointed to the outside then touched her dark cheek. Her finger poked at Cole. “
White
.”

“Someone please tell me they teach sociology on Sesame Street?” Cole groaned. “Meatball, just eat this and don’t tell Momma.”

He soothed her with a kiss and tickle and reset her crown between her puff-ball pigtails. Rose squealed and danced, then raced to play with Sammy.

The kids, soothed by their treats, were soon gathered by Elle. She enlisted Sebastian’s help in arranging the teams’ kids for a group picture. She carefully set her baby in his carrier before posing him with his protective, pint-sized uncle.

Elle had lofty goals. Lofty,
impossible
goals. Fortunately, Piper—in a sparkling golden dress—lent a hand wrestling the kids before cataloging the mountain of presents intended for Rory.

“Jude.” Lachlan clinked his beer against mine. “You okay? You’re paler than that light shit you’re drinking.”

I glanced at the bottle. Anything stronger than this fucked with my meds. “I hadn’t realized how many kids we had.”

Jack groaned. “Jesus, shout it louder. Leah’s ovaries didn’t hear you.”

“Everyone’s got a family.”

Cole hadn’t looked me in the eyes all season. He didn’t start now. “Name of the game.”

“I love kids,” Lachlan said.

I snorted. “You
are
a goddamned kid.”

“Sorry old man.” He took a swig of his beer. “I started my family young.
Really
young.”

And I hadn’t started one at all.

Twelve seasons in the league.

A hundred million dollars invested from my contracts.

I was a future Hall of Fame inductee and lifelong bachelor.

But I had no relationships. No family.

Nothing.

“And now it’s your turn.” Jack winked. “You think you’re panicked now? Wait until that doctor puts your newborn kid in your arms.”

Cole sighed. “Thought I was going to crush Ethan.”

Lachlan agreed. “Thought I was going to drop Nick. Almost did. Elle didn’t let me hold him for a
week
.”

“Yeah.” My chest tightened. “That’ll be…something.”

“It’s cool of you to organize the party though.” Lachlan poked six marshmallows onto a skewer and aimed for the hottest part of the fire. They charred to ash before he hauled them out. “It’ll score you some points with Momma.”

“Cash them in
now
.” Jack warned. “Once the baby gets here? Hell. You won’t have a minute alone…
ever
.”

Lachlan agreed. “You might not have the tits, but you’ll be up for the midnight feedings with her.”

Cole shook his head. “That’s not so bad. It’s the diapers that suck. We
just
got Rosie potty-trained, and there’s Ethan. All he does is poop. Laugh and shit. That’s his life.”

Jack shrugged. “Hell of a life.”

“I do my best for him.”

“It can’t all be bad,” I said.

Lachlan burned his tongue on a molten marshmallow and swore. “It’s hard work. There’s no sleep.”

“And your wildest, craziest nights are spent watching Elmo or Cars,” Jack said.

“It’s loud.” Cole heaved a breath. “
Really
loud.”

The guys glanced at their wives. Each smiled. They’d never admit it.

“Worth it,” Jack said. “I’d do it again. Hell, I’m trying every goddamned night. But you’ll understand. Once you have your kid—your
daughter
.”

I nodded, though I didn’t know what to say.

“She’s gonna be your everything,” Cole said. “Fair warning. A little girl? Best kind of trouble.”

“They’re all trouble,” Lachlan said. “Still the greatest thing. You’ll be forever changed, man.”

I toasted to them because I could do nothing else.

I wasn’t going to have
that
moment.

I wasn’t going to hold
my little girl
.

Wasn’t going to be there for feedings or diaper changes, first smiles or steps.

I had no idea how my life would change…

Because it wasn’t changing at all.

Once the baby came, once Rory and I ended whatever insane plan this was, I’d be done. Back to a life of chronic bachelorhood. Retired from football. No plans for the future. No family.

No one to help when the concussions finally took their toll.

I’d be
alone
.

And only now did I realize how
sad
it was.

Leah called for us once the presents were opened, and I returned to a misty-eyed Rory, holding a pink onesie over her belly. Christ only knew how I’d get all the bouncers and strollers, clothes and toys, bottles and various equipment designated for bodily functions packed into the Jeep.

But at least she was set now. The baby officially had more clothes and furniture than I did. I wasn’t letting Rory go until I was certain she would need absolutely nothing but time and cuddles with the baby.

It was the one thing I couldn’t give.

Rory opened one last bag, pulling out two bottles of expensive tequila. She didn’t seem surprised.

“Oh…this is from Grandma Mildred,” she said. “These are for the party.”

“Say no more.” Lachlan swooped in and took the booze.

She unwrapped the tissue paper beneath, pulling out a beautifully knitted baby blanket. Rory held it close reading the card aloud.

“
If your mother asks…I knitted this myself. In actuality, I bet Ruthie McDonald I could keep a tablet of Polident in my mouth longer than she could. I’m the reigning champion…Ruthie is an excellent knitter
.
The check is in the mail. I love you.”

Sounded like Grandma Mildred. Rory laughed and tucked the blanket into the bag.

Leah handed Rory another envelope. “I’m sorry we couldn’t get your mom here. But she sent this.”

I snuck to her side, offering a hand as she opened the envelope. Rory read the card aloud to everyone listening.

“
Wishing you all the happiness in the world. Love
Grandma
.” Rory tucked the card away. “That’s so sweet. Thank you everyone. Really. This is amazing.”

Her hand trembled. I took the envelope as Leah helped her from the chair with the promise of cake. She said nothing. I read what Regan actually had sent.

U
nbelievable
.

What the hell was Rory supposed to do?

Sure, she had gotten pregnant, but she did everything she could for the baby and her career. She was going to need help. The baby deserved a family. Regan should have stepped up.

Someone had to. Even if it was me.

But I couldn’t just
insert
myself into her life—into her
child’s
life.

Could I?

Leah whistled for everyone to gather around the patio as they unveiled what was supposed to be the pinnacle of cakes. Elle helped Lachlan lowered the oversized box onto the table.

“I found this bakery…” Elle breathed deep as if remembering the smell of the place. “Sweet Nibbles. The owner is also the baker, and I have never tasted anything so fantastic in my life. Rory, your baby is going to thank me.”

She flicked her nails under the tape and flashed the box open.

Rory covered her mouth. Elle screeched.

The lid slammed back down. Lachlan expertly dodged Elle’s swiping hand.

“
Charming!
” Elle guarded the box and shoo’ed away Sebastian before he peeked inside. “I thought you checked the cake!”