Stony Creek Hero [Stony Creek 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (21 page)

“Why, sweetling, it’s just fried okra with a side of beef gravy that is to be smothered on…” Lillian didn’t even get to finish her unusually descriptive account of the source of the odor. Billie bolted for the upstairs, only to be immediately followed by the three other women.

The television in the den was again muted as several of the men came to assess the sound of stampeding women up the stairs.

Donny O’Doyle, Florence’s gentleman, called after her in concern. “Florence, is everything okay up there?”

Florence’s voice drifted back down to the congregated men. “Yes, dear. It’s just some vomiting going on, nothing to worry yourselves about.”

Lizzie heard rustling and gagging sounds from the bottom of the stairway as the assembled men obviously didn’t care for that much information.

She rushed herself to kneel at Billie’s side and wipe her forehead when she was finished. The cool tile of the bathroom floor was apparently quite comforting to Billie as she had laid herself across it to alleviate the nausea.

“Billie, there is a pregnancy test under the sink. I suggest, Doctor, that you use it,” Lillian demanded.

“How funny, I have it right here for her to use. I picked it up just in case, you understand!” Florence added.

Lizzie looked at her poor friend lying pathetically across the lovely black and white checkered tile in Lillian’s immaculate guest bath. She let out her own chuckle as she lifted her own purse and pulled out her own offering for Billie.

“Great minds think alike,” Lizzie said sheepishly, thrusting the box into Billie’s clammy hands. “Get going, Doctor, or we will have to do it for you. You have been barfing for weeks, tired, pale, irritable, and weepy. Uh hello? Can you say fertile? I love you but you are very clueless when it comes to yourself.”

Lillian and Florence laughed as they walked out the bathroom door followed by Lizzie who shut it.

They waited in a hushed, almost reverent silence as they heard Billie obviously go about doing the testing. All three of the women, smiling at each other, held hands as they waited expectantly for some communication from behind the closed door.

“Lillian, I want you to know that Ben didn’t hurt me. I know he never would. He is being so kind to me, so unexpectedly generous to me. I, well, I am embarrassed to admit this to you but I didn’t mind his, um, discipline. I hope this doesn’t change your opinion of me but I thought I should reassure you that your son is the gentleman that you raised him to be. I didn’t want you to wonder.” Lizzie blushed after sharing that bit of personal information.

Lillian tilted her head to Lizzie and whispered to her, “I am so glad to hear you say that, sweetheart. Allow him to be generous with you. It’s the only way he doesn’t feel out of control as he muddles trying to figure out his way with you. He has never been in love before.”

Florence nodded her affirmation as they heard a gasp from inside the bathroom. Ignoring any possible preference from Billie for privacy, the women threw open the door and rushed in. There Lizzie spied Billie sitting on the closed commode with the most adorable grin on her face, as though in disbelief. She was hugging the box to her chest as though try to cuddle it and give it love.

Lizzie couldn’t stand it anymore. “Well? Don’t leave us in suspense here, Billie! Are you trying to rock that box to sleep for a reason or have you just lost your mind as well as your lunch?”

Billie looked up at Lillian and softly answered, “You are going to be a grandma!” With that, it was Billie’s turn to dissolve into tears as they all squished in to hug and kiss her.

More squealing and sounds of crying interrupted the game going on downstairs as the men looked at each other again in disbelief and disgust. “What the hell is wrong with them today, Dad? First they are crying, then someone is vomiting, and now they are screaming like loons,” Jackson muttered out. “They are acting like they are crazy. Do something! You are the head of the family. There is no way I am going up there!”

“Women are crazy,” Brody offered in support.

“Blech, I don’t care who is puking, I am so not going to look,” Cole stated firmly. “Besides, Billie is up there and she is trained to handle such things. She is brilliant.”

“Yes, yes, we all know how you hate sickness, Cole, and have a healthy admiration for your future sister-in-law but as the youngest, I am volunteering you! I am too old to see anything scary like that. Here, take some liquid courage and go be a man!” Donny shoved him and a beer toward the stairs.

Ben simply smiled in memory of just how crazy Lizzie could be and what he had to do to her to rein it in. He felt his cock twitch in response as the memory of her bound on his lap, sliding over his heat, filled his vision. His lip pulled up as he felt the surge of arousal sweep through his body when he relived the feeling of branding her as he bathed her insides with his seed. That had certainly calmed not only his savage response to her irresponsibility but cured her “crazies” for several hours after.

“Will someone please just go and check on them? Maybe I yelled at Lizzie too harshly earlier? I am going to feel like complete shit if I really hurt her feelings, Ben.” Hunter stood in concern.

Ben stood, wondering if something really was wrong with Lizzie. Who was vomiting up there and why the hell were they crying now? Wasn’t there an operating manual or something on these women?

“Ben, sit down. You cannot go upstairs for a quickie right now! There are crying women for Pete’s sake!” Troy said as he looked at his brother in disgust.

“What the hell are you talking about, moron? Is their craziness contagious because you are making no sense whatsoever! Ben yelled while looking down at his younger brother.

He was met with silence as the men all appeared to glance down below his chest and then raise their eyebrows in question. Ben glanced down and felt himself flush. His monster erection was obvious to everyone and straining against his pressed jeans. He quickly shifted himself and sat immediately back down.

“Uh, Dad, maybe you should be the one to go upstairs,” Ben said while looking down at the floor, uncomfortable at being caught while being intensely aroused from his thoughts.

Bill let out another sigh and stood. “You are all big cowards, the whole lot of you. Fine, I will go be man enough to go check on our women. How the hell you were brave enough and smart enough to lasso Lizzie out of that creek, I just don’t understand with the way you are acting now, Ben. Better get a firm foothold on her from the very beginning, Ben, or you will be ‘correcting’ Lizzie for the rest of your lives.” Bill began to stride from the room like a man on a mission. He suddenly stopped and turned, looking at Ben slyly.

“Just one more question that has been on my mind, Ben. You weren’t working the day you rescued Lizzie. What the hell were you doing with that much thin rope in your truck anyway?” Bill laughed as he turned away, knowing that Ben was about to be roasted to a crisp by the other men. He listened as he made his way up the stairs.

“Hey, that’s true! Just thought you might need to ‘tie up’ some loose ends, Ben?” Troy taunted his brother.

“Have you ever seen Ben without some sort of restraining device?” Jackson chortled out.

“Or blindfold?” Cole added.

Everyone turned to focus on Cole at that moment and the room grew quiet. “What?” Cole asked the amused looks.

Hunter answered him, “That is the big fat pot calling the huge kettle black, dummy.”

“Yeah, cuz, you know the phrase about glass houses and stones. You should be careful. Payback is a bitch.” Ben found his amusement at Cole’s expense.

Cole flushed but was undeterred. “Well, right back at you, Ben. I may be a pot but I am not fat! As for you, would you like to hammer in some posts with that thing you got going on over there? What the hell is it about Sunday dinners and you guys getting hard-ons? It’s gross. Whatever you are thinking about, knock it off until you are alone. Won’t see me like that in here, that’s for sure.”

“That’s because you don’t get any, you idiot,” Brody insulted his brother.

“I get plenty, dumbass, and yes, Ben, we may share interests in some things but I can control my body a bit better than yours. What are you, like twelve?” Cole taunted his cousin.

The sounds of sobbing were again heard from the upstairs. “Donny, they must have done something to Dad. You are the next oldest, go check what the hell is happening!” Ben said with frustration.

“Hell no! Women and crying is not my specialty. Troy, you go, you always know what to say to the ladies.” Donny had shivered as though frightened of what lay in wait for them up there.

“I feel like I never understand women, either. First they were mad, then crying, then vomiting, then squealing. How do they deal with so many emotions without exhausting themselves? That is why I always give them something to do, preferably with their mouth. It tends to keep them occupied,” Brody said, garnering laughs from all the men present.

“I say send Hunter up there. He is so big, they can vomit, cry, and do pretty much anything they want to him without him even noticing! He doesn’t talk much anyway. Perhaps they will tell him what’s going on because they will think he is actually listening.” Troy threw his best friend to the dogs, earning what Ben noticed as a nasty look.

Ben was still mad and wanted to smack down Cole for his earlier comments. He couldn’t help it if Lizzie gave him an erection. She was a fucking goddess and just the scent of her was enough to set his blood to boiling. She was just going to have to take care of it later. Well, that was his hope anyway.

Their arguing was cut short with the sound of their father actually yelling out. The men all shoved at each other as they tried to get up the stairs at the same time, knowing something was definitely not right. Not if the ever-calm and sensible Bill was actually yelling.

Jackson led the pack and skidded to a halt outside the bathroom. Bill had all the women in his huge embrace, looking suspiciously close to tears himself.

“Will someone tell me what the heck is going on already?” Jackson yelled so loudly that the pictures on the wall shook.

“Stop that yelling immediately, Jackson!” Bill thundered back at his eldest son. “There will be no more yelling for nine months!”

Jackson put his meaty hand up against the wall for support, looking at his father in confusion. Billie stepped up to Jackson and whispered something in his ear. Ben watched as his brother stood straight up, shot her the biggest look of surprise, and then grinned, leaning to enfold her in his arms tenderly.

Ben was getting annoyed himself. “Will someone just say something, anything that is useful here?”

Jackson turned with Billie in his arms, softly swaying with her. “You are going to be an uncle, my brother!”

Ben’s eyebrows shot straight up as his eyes bulged out of his head. He met Lizzie’s gaze as she nodded at him looking very misty eyed. He extended his hand to her and pulled her against his body as he joined the others in offering congratulations to the expectant parents and grandparents. He stroked his hands up and down her back, savoring the feel of her silky curves under her soft cotton dress, almost forgetting where he was and running them over her rear. She didn’t seem to care and was snuggling in as far as she could against his secure, muscular form for comfort.

“Isn’t it amazing, Ben?” she whispered up to him.

Ben tightened his hold on her and whispered back, “Unbelievable. Jackson is going to be a father. I can’t wrap my head around it, holy cow.”

He tugged her away from the revelry a few feet and looked down at her in concern at a thought that just ran through his head.

Lizzie looked like she had read his mind and had quickly moved to answer him. “No, Ben, don’t worry. I am not pregnant from the last week. I told you it was the wrong timing.”

He felt himself relax not only at her words but in amazement that she could always tell what he was thinking, even though he rarely said a word. Would it really be a bad thing, having a sweet baby with this woman? Would it really be the end of him if he gave in to his feelings for her? This one woman had turned him inside out like no other had ever done before and shockingly, he wasn’t minding it one bit. In the past, any woman who tried to wrangle him into a relationship had just given him a reason to run and to run away quickly. Why fight it? He found himself pulling her lovingly against his hard body, his woman. He really was getting used to the idea and actually starting to crave it. The sudden need to be inside of her right now shot heat through his groin. Ugh, he hated using a condom with her. How soon was that damn birth control going to take anyway?

He smiled as everyone began to drift downstairs for dinner, offering all sorts of useful information like how Jackson was going to have to learn how to change diapers and clean his daughter’s rear end. He could hear Jackson sounding appalled and mentioning something about extra insurance that would definitely make the baby a boy.

Ben leaned down and slid his lips along Lizzie’s after they were left alone upstairs. He had been aroused since she had arrived with her damned chocolate whatever those things were. Now he was going to be an uncle and it overwhelmed him with joy. Why the hell a baby would make him so happy, he had no idea. It was almost unnerving, but he was really glad she was here in his arms. It was almost comforting.

Besides, Lizzie didn’t seem to mind his current level of attention. His brain was causing his body to go into hyperdrive as his mouth watered while taking in how her breasts looked in her green dress. The sweet vision that she presented was bringing him close to pain as his thickness strained at his jeans. Ben cocked his head to the side to continue his lazy perusal of her now focused on her shapely thighs in her strappy little sandals. A surge of possessiveness rushed through him as he thought that she was so fucking gorgeous and he was the luckiest son of a bitch that she was his. More importantly, she made him feel so ridiculously happy when he saw her. What the hell was that all about? Lizzie had a singular wit to go along with her saucy mouth that kept him in stitches every moment they were together.