The Key West Anthology (30 page)

Chapter Thirty

Easton

Her moans filled the room and bounced off the walls. We hadn’t even made it to the bed. I took her against the wall the moment the door closed behind us. The thump of her hips against the wall as I drove into her over and over was the only other sound besides our satisfied grunts and her whispering my name as the pleasure built within her.

Yes, I was jealous. I hated the idea of my girl enjoying any other man but me, even if it was just with her eyes. She was mine fully, mine only, and I planned on reminding her of that fact. Even if that meant not allowing her to leave this room until she got it through her head.

“Oh yes, Easton, yes.” She ground her hips down as I drove upward. “So close.” She grunted as her eyes rolled back in her head.

“Let go, baby,” I said against her neck. “Give me what I need. Show me how good I make you feel.”

Harper’s thighs squeezed my hips as she began to pulsate around me. She screamed my name and gripped my hair as she rode me faster and faster. I had no hope of holding out after the display of pure erotic pleasure Harper just exhibited. I groaned long and deep as I emptied myself inside her.

When we had both come back down from what felt like space, I chuckled against her neck. Lowering her to the ground, I then kissed her deeply. “I am sure everyone in this suite knows exactly what you just felt.”

She snorted in laughter and looked up at me. “Or at least they will know just how well I can fake it.”

I’d show her faking it. She was in for one hell of a ride.

Harper and I didn’t leave that room for the remainder of the night. I made sure she knew just how her body and all its pleasure belonged to me.

The next morning when we exited the room, we found Kade sandwiched between Callie and Avery. All three were fast asleep on the couch.

The sound of bare feet slapping the floor caught my attention. I turned around to find Quinn emerging from the second bedroom. Her hair was sticking up in every direction, and she looked exhausted. She forced a smile, scratched her head, and walked right past us to the nearest coffeepot.

“You doing okay, Quinn?” Harper asked. She grunted in response and I laughed. “Sweetheart, you look like you got rode hard and put away wet.”

I shook my head at Harper’s bluntness.

“Your brother is ridiculous,” Quinn said. “I spent the last six hours on my back without even a fifteen minute break to pee. I’m pretty sure I’ll be walking funny for days.” She turned around and glared at Harper. “I’m pretty sure me and my hoo-hah have you to thank for the friction burn.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle, because Quinn had obviously spent entirely too much time around my girl.

Jett was the next one to appear, and I recognized that gleam in his eyes and the testosterone rolling off him in waves. He looked over at Quinn, winked, and squared his shoulders.

I laughed when Quinn rolled her eyes and turned her back to him. “Don’t even think about it, Jett, you’re cut off. At least for the next couple days. I need time to recover.”

“Hey, how did you all find us anyway?” Harper asked.

“Quinn texted Jett while you were at dinner last night,” I replied, and Harper looked over at Quinn immediately.

“You and your overused hoo-hah only have yourself to blame. You knew he would show up,” she said.

Quinn hung her head in shame, and Jett still wore an accomplished grin.

It was true that the moment he got the message from Quinn, he gathered Kade and me up and we hit the road. One night without our girls was enough; we were both barely hanging on.

***

“I have my next appointment on Thursday. Are you going to come?” Sarah asked as I held the phone to my ear.

I was sitting on my back patio watching Harper slowly submerge her body in the pool. Brutus sat at my feet, snoring. She and I had spent the last few days and nights here at my place, and Brutus had made himself at home. I had even bought him his own bed to keep here, along with enough treats to last a year.

“Did you hear me?” Sarah sounded whiny and needy. “I think you should be there. You haven’t involved yourself, and this baby isn’t just going to go away, Easton.”

“You think I don’t already know that? I heard you. I meant what I said about proof, Sarah.” I took a deep breath and my stomach tightened. “I’ll be there,” I assured her.

Harper looked up at me as she emerged from under the water. Her blonde hair was slicked back, and her blue eyes glowed in the sunlight. I forced a smile, and I could see her immediately picking up on my tension.

“It’s at one o’clock. Please try to be there early. Maybe you should pick me up at my place.” Yeah, nice try, but hell fucking no.

“Text the address and I’ll meet you there,” I told her and hung up before she had the chance to argue. I stood up and pulled my shirt up over my head. Harper’s eyes locked on mine as I lowered myself into the pool and treaded water toward her.

“You okay?” she asked as she wrapped her arms around my neck.

I gripped her waist, pulled her close, and kissed her deeply.

“I am now,” I assured her.

“Wanna talk about it?” She curled her legs around my waist, and I allowed my hands to slide over her ass.

“I have to go to Miami on Thursday,” I told her. “I want you to go with me. Just for the day. She has an appointment at one.”

“Okay,” she replied before kissing my jaw. “I’ll be there for you.”

“I love you, Harp,” I said, looking up into her eyes. “We’ll get through this, right?” It was my biggest fear that in the end we wouldn’t be strong enough, and I would lose the one person who made me feel whole.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she said. “I promised you and I meant it. I love you too.”

I lowered the hem of my shorts and worked myself free. I untied the sides of her bikini, and it fell away as I slowly sunk inside her. I craved the intimacy; I needed her as close as possible right now.

We began to move together, our eyes locked. Never had I felt so complete. Harper was a challenge. Every day was a new experience, but one I wouldn’t give up for anything. She consumed me, she was the best thing in my world, and nothing would ever compare.

Chapter Thirty-One

Harper

“Are you sure you don’t want to go?”

I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me. He smiled in return and leaned across the table to me. “I owe this girl for making sure that you made it home safe after your drinking binge, and I think I should pay up,” I said.

Whitney grinned at Easton and tossed a wadded paper towel in his direction.

“I love you,” he whispered before kissing me once more. “I’ll call you after it’s over.”

I watched as he walked out of the café, and yes, I felt nauseous. I tried to fight it when he was around, but I hated the idea of him having a child with another woman. I hated that she was taking him from me, and in the end I may lose him to her. After the baby came things would change. Sarah and his child would need him, and in turn he and I would grow apart.

I hoped I was wrong, but I had to be realistic; it was a very strong possibility.

“I still can’t believe he’s being this reasonable. Sarah has really gotten herself into a mess,” Whitney said as she lifted her coffee to her lips.

“What do you mean? Easton isn’t the kind of man to walk away from responsibility,” I said. “No, he isn’t happy about it, but he wants to do what’s right.”

“Oh yeah, I know, believe me. It’s just that Leo and Ross have shown no interest. It just isn’t fair that Easton put his life on hold when the chances of him being the father are slim to none.”

I choked on my coffee the moment the words left her. “Excuse me?” I croaked between coughs.

She patted my back, and when I could breathe again, she sat back in her chair. “Sarah is sort of the club skank. I mean, she hooks up more than anyone else, so her surprise pregnancy isn’t much of a surprise.”

“That’s not what I meant. Who are Leo and Ross?” I demanded.

“Two guys she’s been going back and forth between for the last three to four months.” Whitney’s eyebrows were scrunched in confusion like she thought I already knew. “Easton knew that, right?”

I shook my head as anger boiled in my gut. I picked up my phone and dialed his number. The clinic he was meeting Sarah at was right down the road, so I wanted to catch him before they went inside.

“Hey, baby,” he answered after the second ring. “We’re getting ready to walk into the doctor’s office. Is everything okay?”

“No, Easton, it’s not. She wasn’t honest with you.” The words rushed out of me. My heart was racing, and I couldn’t control my anger. She had been stringing him along, and that was enough to make me want to beat her ass. She’d better thank her lucky stars she was pregnant. That was the only thing that would keep her safe from me.

“What do you mean, Harper?” he asked, lowering his voice.

“She’s been sleeping with two different guys from the club. Leo and Ross. Whitney thought you knew already.”

He made a noise that sounded like a growl. “I’ll see you in a little bit. Why don’t you girls go back to my place? I’ll meet you there.” I could tell from his voice that he was barely hanging on. I couldn’t blame him, and for a split second I felt bad for Sarah. It passed quickly when I remembered all the stress she’d caused Easton and the lies she’d told over the years. I was sure this specific one would be the last straw.

“I’ll see you soon,” I said in return.

“Yes, you will.” And then the dial tone was the only sound I heard.

“I am so sorry,” Whitney said, and my gaze shifted to meet hers. “I thought he knew already. I would have said something if I’d known otherwise. We just don’t normally talk about personal things, and to tell you the truth, other than that night I brought Easton home, we have barely ever talked. I mean, business issues, sure, but we always kept it simple.”

“She told him he was the only one who had a chance of being the father.” I stood up, gathered my purse, and walked off to throw my trash in the garbage. Whitney followed closely behind. “She’s been holding it over his head for the last couple months, playing on his compassion. She knew if she told him the baby was his, he wouldn’t walk away without knowing for sure.”

“What a bitch,” Whitney whispered.

I nodded in agreement. “Yes, a self-centered, conniving bitch.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Easton

“Why are you so fidgety? It’s just a normal checkup. You don’t even have to go in the room if it makes you that uncomfortable,” Sarah soothed me as she took a seat next to me in the waiting room.

I was barely keeping myself together. All I wanted to do was tell her what a selfish piece of shit I truly thought she was. But I had to get inside that room. I had to be able to ask the doctor things I knew Sarah would only drag her feet about telling me.

“I’m fine. Let’s just get this over with,” I said without even looking in her direction.

“Wow, Easton, show a little excitement. We’ll hear our baby’s heartbeat today.” Her whiny voice got on my nerves and agitated me even more. I chose to ignore her as I watched the door, waiting for her name to be called.

It was the longest fifteen minutes of my life, but the moment the nurse emerged holding Sarah’s file, I leaped from the chair. I was next to the nurse waiting to go in before Sarah had even gotten up from her chair. Both of them looked at me like I had lost my mind.

Once we were in the room and Sarah had slipped off everything from the waist down, she stepped out from behind the curtain. She wore a shirt that barely covered her lower half, and I averted my eyes to the diagrams on the walls.

“Don’t get all shy on me now, Easton. It’s not like you haven’t seen what I’ve got a hundred times before.” Oh yeah, she was eating this up. Obviously she enjoyed the fact that I was completely uncomfortable.

Sarah climbed up onto the table and draped a blanket across her lap. I was boiling inside, finding that my control was harder to hang on to with each passing minute.

Once the doctor entered, an uncontrollable rush of heat ran through me. “I need to discuss our options of finding the paternity of this child as soon as possible,” I said.

Sarah gasped, but I no longer cared what she had to say.

The doctor looked like I’d caught her off guard. “Well, Mr.—?”

“Easton Black. I’m sorry to throw this at you, but some information has recently come to my attention, and I need to know my options,” I clarified.

“What information?” Sarah asked, and for the first time since the doctor entered the room, I looked over at her.

“It appears that me being the only possible father was just another lie you told. It seems Leo and Ross have a higher chance than I do, yet you chose to leave out that important detail. Now I’m checking my options.” I turned back to face the doctor. “What I need to know is how soon I can find out if this child is mine.”

The doctor looked between Sarah and me, probably feeling as if she’d stepped onto the set of some crazy talk show. “Well, Mr. Black, nowadays we have noninvasive options of finding out the paternity of a child prior to birth. Sarah is at a stage in her pregnancy that would allow us to perform this test and get an accurate result.”

“Well, whatever we need to do, I would like to take care of that today, please,” I said.

Sarah looked on like she wanted to bolt from the room, which in my eyes was a sure sign that she doubted I was the father just as much as I had all along.

***

When I arrived at my house, I found both Whitney and Harper lounging by the pool. Rather than wearing bathing suits they wore what they’d been wearing earlier today, but they were enjoying the sunlight all the same.

I stopped by the fridge and grabbed myself a beer before joining them. They both stopped mid-conversation when they saw me exit the back doors. Harper looked concerned and Whitney just appeared nervous.

“I am so sorry, Easton, I honestly thought you knew,” Whitney said. “I mean, it’s Sarah we’re talking about. She’s never been able to be with just one man, not in the whole time I’ve known her. I feel horrible that I didn’t say something sooner.” She squeezed the stem of the wineglass in her hand.

I sat down on the lounger next to Harper and smiled back at her. “Stop worrying, you had no way of knowing. The only thing we’ve talked about lately is the club.”

Harper lightly rubbed my back as she slid closer. “How did it go?”

“I let it play out long enough to get myself inside the examination room so I could communicate directly with the doctor. Once she entered, the poor woman had no idea what hit her.” I chuckled to myself, remembering the surprised expression of the doctor’s face. “I bombarded her immediately, wanting to know my options.”

Whitney smiled. “I’m sure Sarah loved that. Here she thought you were there to hear the heartbeat of your baby, and bam, total one-eighty.”

“So what were your options?” Harper asked. Her voice was calm and supportive, but I could see the worry in her eyes. She had told me she would stand by me, but I had never stopped fearing that once the baby was born, things between us would change.

I lifted my hand toward her face and lightly traced the line of her jaw. Hooking my hand around the back of her neck, I then pulled her toward me for a kiss. After leaning back, I rested my forehead against hers and breathed her in. “In five to seven days we’ll know for sure. It’s up to Leo and Ross to deal with this if I’m not the father.”

Harper continued to rub my back in a soothing manner. “Whichever way it goes, we’ll make it work.”

Yes, we would, because there was no way in hell I was letting her go.