Racing to Love - Brody's Love (3 page)

Crawling in the bed to lay beside her
on the cold satin, Brody leaned down, pressing his lips to hers.
Breaking the kiss, he propped himself up and ran his palm over her
skin, starting at her neck, down the middle of her body to one
thigh, until he reached her knee. Bending it with his hand, he
curved over her, and with slow kisses, he made his way back up her
body with his lips.

“
Brody…please.”

Digging the heel of her other foot
into the mattress, Erin arched her pelvis upward as his mouth
inched closer. If he wasn’t so horny, he’d grin. She loved with her
whole heart and soul, and she wasn’t bashful behind closed doors.
As he completely passed over what she wanted, Erin pounded a fist
into the bed. That time, Brody couldn’t help but chuckle at her
frustration. Moving on, he placed an open mouth kiss on the flat
part of her abdomen, tickling her with the tip of his
tongue.

Erin’s chest was heaving by the time
he reached her breasts and a fine dusting of sweat had broken out
over her skin. Normally he’d spend his time licking, sucking,
biting, and tweaking, but Brody knew her body too well. She was way
beyond primed. It wouldn’t take so much as a flick of his tongue to
set her off. As much as he wanted her to feel good, they’d both
been hurting way too long today, and he wanted to be inside her
when she came.

Rolling over her, Erin instantly
spread her legs, her palms on his hips, pulling him to her. He held
back just a little longer, kissing his way up her neck and to her
lips. The hands that had been on his hips, trying to bring him to
meet her own arching hips, flew to his neck and up into his hair,
attempting to fist the short lengths. As his tongue danced with
hers, Brody finally slid into her, his mouth capturing the soft
moan of relief that drifted from her.

He lowered himself, bracketing her
head with his forearms, his own fingers in her hair, holding her
where he wanted. Rushing back to the delicate skin of her collar
bone, he licked and then sucked. Call him a fool or even childish,
but for some reason, the need to leave his mark on her was too big
to deny, for old time’s sake maybe, maybe because they were leaving
town, he didn’t know. He just made sure it was low enough for her
shirts to cover and devoured her until the deep purple was
undeniable. Erin’s head had turned, almost like she wanted his
claim on her. When his lips broke, he nipped her gently with his
teeth. The short squeak of surprise he elicited was what he’d been
after.

With much softer kisses, he found his
way back to her lips. One was all it took and she exploded around
him. Her fingers gripped his upper arms tight as he pushed her
higher and higher. Watching her face intently, Brody waited until
the last possible second, then thrust in one last time, holding
himself still as she continued to clench him. Beads of sweat rolled
down the back of his neck and down both temples. With his heart
still pounding, Brody lowered himself, none to gently, to the bed,
and wrapped himself around Erin. Laying his hand over her chest, he
felt her heart beating just as fast.

Erin lay flat on her back, unmoving.
He knew it would take her a few minutes to have the strength to be
able to move her arms and legs, but as soon as she was able, she’d
be tangled up as close as she could get to him.

Nuzzling the side of her neck, he
kissed the words into her skin. “I love you, baby.”

Her words in return were slurred.
“Love…you…Brody.”

Brody grinned, proud that he’d been
able to hold off all afternoon and evening so he could carry out
the rest of his plans. Her reaction made it worth the pain of
waiting. “Good, huh?”

“
Mmm. . .Brody. .
.don’t”—she pulled in a long breath, finally catching it—“do that
again. I might kill you.”

Laughing, Brody rolled to his back,
pulling her practically limp body with him. “Ya, think? I don’t
know, babe…I think you rather enjoyed yourself.”

She lifted her hand to swat at him,
but only made it a couple of inches, her hand falling like dead
weight. “Hurt…too…long.”

“
Trust me, I know the
feeling.” He kissed her forehead.

“
Promise me. . .” She
paused for several breaths. “It’ll still be like that
after.”

Brody grinned into her hair. “Babe,
from what I’ve read, you’ll be worse than a horny teenage boy the
whole time.”

Erin pulled in a deep breath, the air
tickling his chest as she slowly released it. He’d get them
underneath the covers in a few minutes. For now he was content to
just lay there with her in his arms for a few minutes longer.
Running his fingers over her back softly, she lay nestled in his
arms. God, he was going to miss this. All he could think about was
four months of missing this moment, the drawn out sex, being able
to make her fall apart and not having to worry about anyone walking
in the coach or having to be quiet so Molly couldn’t hear them from
the other room. Letting out a sigh, he wrapped his arms around her
and hugged her to him.

He thought she’d fallen asleep on him,
which warmed his heart when she did that, but then her palm moved
up his chest to cradle his neck.

“
Brody…I love
you.”

“
I love you, too,
Erin.”

“
You’re going to be a
really good dad, you know that?”

Hearing her faith in him
made his heart pound again, but for a different reason. He’d been a
jumble of emotions when they found out and, with the timing of the
trip, it wasn’t going to be easy on Erin. It was the fatigue and
her new best friend
the toilet
that had clued them in. But it’d been a couple of
weeks, and with one doctor’s appointment behind them, armed with
books, magazines, and a laptop, they were doing their best through
a crash course lesson like all first time parents. There was one
thing that calmed him down when he panicked—Erin.

Brody knew with absolute certainty
that she would be the best mother in the whole world. And he was
lucky to have her by his side.

Twenty six years was a long time. The
first fourteen as neighbors, then four years as best friends, and
finally when he was smart enough to realize it, eight years ago
he’d kissed her and made her his. After Molly got him over his
fear, he bought the ring, though he’d still sweated bullets as he
combed the town, searching for the perfect diamond. Looking back
now, he didn’t know why he had been so scared things would change
if they got married. It was Erin. It had always been Erin. She was
easy. Easy to love, easy to laugh with, and made his life better
with each day.

When they found out she was pregnant,
the diamond had already been purchased and hidden away while he
figured out the perfect way to ask her. The next thing he’d known,
they were sitting on the side of the tub, holding hands as the
clock ticked by.

He knew in all his years, he’d never
forget the look on her face that evening when he’d peered at the
white test, then turned back to her. Her lip was between her teeth,
half excited, half scared to death, and he knew he’d never loved
her more. She was lit up, her brown eyes dancing with excitement as
she blinked and waited him out for the answer. Brody had whispered
the word ‘congratulations’ and her arms flew around his
neck.

Every day since that first kiss eight
years ago, he’d known she was his, but that moment, sitting on the
side of the tub in the bathroom of their apartment, with tears of
joy running down her face and his—he knew. Ring or no ring, she was
his, bonded to him forever.

“
God, I love you, Erin. I
thought I was the luckiest man in the world.” He slid his palm down
to the flat part of her stomach. “But this little one, this is the
luckiest one in the world. I can’t wait.”

“
When do you want to start
telling people? You know this is killing me.” She propped herself
up on his chest to smile down at him. “I’m dying to tell
Mol.”

Brody reached up, wanting a kiss. “I
know. And our parents will kill us too once they find out we’ve
kept something this big from them, but there’s something special
about it being just our secret, ours alone to enjoy for a little
while. We’ll have to share this baby right after it’s born. Right
now, he or she is just ours.”

Easing her back to the mattress, Brody
leaned over her, placing a kiss on her stomach, where their child
was growing inside. Looking up, the smile on Erin’s face was
priceless. The happiness he saw was genuine, the love in her
glistening brown eyes for him. And for their baby.

Careful to not scratch her with the
shadow that the day had left across his jaw, Brody curled himself
around her waist, his cheek resting on her abdomen, nuzzling her
soft skin. She watched him, her head propped up on pillows. One
tear, then another slowly ran down her face as her fingers of one
hand drifted through his hair. With the other, she pressed a kiss
to her fingertips, then touched his cheek and lips.

Brody had never been more content than
at that moment. The woman he loved was in his arms, their baby safe
between them. Even with tears pooling in her eyes, the smile
reached every part of her face. In that moment, he understood why
his parents went through all that they did to have him. He
understood why they’d gone through what they did to rescue Molly.
He understood now exactly what it meant to love unconditionally. He
was holding his own family in his arms. His to
love…forever.

A First Look inside Amy
Gregory’s full length novel debut,

Racing to Love ~ Carter’s
Treasure

Chapter One

Carter stood with the guys from his team in front of
Brody Noland’s bike trailer, hoping to get the first look. They’d
all heard rumors that George Kapp, the circuit promoter, had set up
something special for the rest of the season, something
entertaining to draw crowds and even more attention to the races.
That something special had turned out to be Molly West.
The
Molly West. In all of his years of racing Motocross, he’d never had
the chance to meet her, but he knew she’d broken about every
women’s record out there. He also knew she was retired and he, like
the rest of the guys, was anxious to know why George had brought
her on.

George headed their direction. He was probably in
his fifties and kept fit by walking around the stadium and pits
week after week. “Hey guys.”

Everyone in the group grinned and said hello.

“I’ve got some people I’d like you to meet,” he
said. “I want you to make them welcome around here. They’re going
to be with us the rest of the season.” George turned his attention
to the couple who were walking their way.

“Morning,” George welcomed them when they made it up
to the group. Both waved. “Everyone…you all probably know who Brody
Noland is, and this is his girlfriend, Erin.” He turned to gesture
to the circle of racers. “This is Eli Hunter, Carter Sterling,
Jesse Frost, and one of our rookies this season, Cody Stark.”

“I saw your bike trailer over there,” Eli said to
Brody as he took his turn shaking his hand. “I wondered if you were
riding or something this weekend.”

“Oh, hell no, not me.” Brody shook his head. “Not
anymore. Got a hard enough time being stiff and sore these days.”
He shrugged his shoulder at the truth. “Just too many broken bones
over the years.”

“What, are you all doing some kind of promo then?”
Jesse jumped in to ask.

“He brought in my girl for me.” George grinned.

The guys all chuckled at the older man. It was
pretty obvious to Carter that George was just as excited that Molly
was there as the rest of them.

Carter was the first to notice the petite girl
walking their direction. He’d seen pictures of her in her riding
gear over the years, but that couldn’t have prepared him to see her
now. In riding gear she was completely covered head to toe, but not
today. Today she wore tight jeans, Nikes, and a fitted little tank
top. He could tell by her arms alone that she was ripped,
definitely athletic, but she had some curves to her, too. They were
there, barely, and he couldn’t help but imagine running his hands
over them. Long, golden hair hung down in a thick sheet past the
middle of her back, and in the sun it glinted with a hint of
red.

Carter let out a slow breath.
Damn, I wish she’d
take off those aviators so I could see her eyes.
He’d just have
to wait. Waiting was something he was used to. He’d been waiting
for the right girl for years.

Carter tried to pay attention to the conversation
happening around him, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the
absolutely gorgeous girl talking on the phone a few yards off from
them.

“There they are,” Carter heard Brody say. “That’s
Joey, our mechanic, and of course, Molly West. She rides for my
dad.” Carter was more than happy to have an excuse to continue to
stare.

“There’s your pre-race entertainment.” George’s
excitement was obvious as he clapped a hand on Brody’s shoulder. “I
can’t wait for you boys to see her ride.”

Pre-race entertainment? Holy shit. This little thing
was a trick-rider? A sudden swell of protectiveness rushed through
Carter. He tried to shake himself from it, knowing he was being
absolutely ridiculous. From what he knew, this girl had been a
rider her entire life. Who was he to say that it was too dangerous,
that she was too small, or that she was too much of any of the
other million reasons he could come up for why she shouldn’t be on
a bike? He cut an eye back toward her, watched her swaying as she
talked on the phone, her arm moving through the air animatedly.
Still he couldn’t shake the gut feeling he had that he somehow
needed to protect her.