Wicked Flower (28 page)

He moaned louder. She responded
by bobbing her head in rhythm to his thrusts and breaths. So full of him, she
felt when his cock expanded several times. His body had to be preparing to pump
his semen out and she prayed she’d be able to stay for him, drinking him in and
not pull away.

He didn’t say her name again,
just breathed loudly like he might be doing it through gritted teeth. Finally
she heard a thud near where his head would be, like he’d thrown it back against
the ground and one final grunt then the back of her throat was bathed in hot
spurts of his cum. For a second she tried to stay calm and loose enough to
swallow it down but she had to come off of him and breathe. Had to stop and
forget and find her control.

She hadn’t realized until now
that her heart was racing.

Long, deep and
slow breaths.
That’s what she needed.

“I don’t know what to say,
sweetheart.” His voice so tender and low surprised her as he wiped at her chin
where some of him had spilled. “I want to be inside you, so fucking badly right
now.”

She
swallowed,
his saltiness still on her, splashed on the sides of her mouth, under her
tongue. She was about to remind him why he couldn’t but that she appreciated
the sentiment when he reached out with one long arm and scooped her to his
chest. He kissed her in the next second. His tongue nudged her lips to open,
not taking no for an answer, and then he devoured her mouth. She shouldn’t but
he wasn’t having it any other way. Only for a few moments, she told herself.
Without her needing to interfere and remind, he slowed and then placed one
final closing kiss over her lips.

If he hadn’t have stopped when he
did just now, she’d have
orgasmed
.
That
quickly, simply from that kiss
. “Don’t go,” he whispered into her ear.

“I have to,” she said hurriedly
to him. “Back inside. Your mom, she shouldn’t find us together.” Dani grabbed her
forehead and was just about up on her feet when she realized something else she
needed to do for him. “Stefan, there is one promise I want you to make me.”

“What?”

“Take your mom to Nashville.” She
wanted him to have his mom, knowing his soul would never be whole until he felt
he’d done right by Gina. She wanted this man’s heart to heal, at any cost, so
he’d be capable of giving it to someone someday. Dani would make her own way,
somehow. “I’ve decided to go back to school. But I can’t do that knowing your
mom needs me here. Take her, Stefan. You’ll be doing me a favor taking her with
you.” She wanted to walk back and cup his jaw but had to get to her own bed and
talk herself down from this crazy ride. She felt the tingles with each step she
took over the cool, solid ground. A tear leaked down her cheek.

 
Please
let that have worked.

****

Stars.

That’s what he’d seen just now.
Felt them too. He laid his hand over his chest where it burned from the inside
out at what she’d just said and done for him.

He hoped like hell it was true
that she wanted to go back to school. He’d get Benny to help him keep tabs on
her and her tuition would be paid for in full, secretly of course because she
was a stubborn pain in the ass about that shit.

The problem was
,
he knew what Dani was really doing.
Sacrificing her
livelihood to make taking his mom away easier for him.
In a way, it’s
what Dad had done to get Mom to finish school. Hell, maybe it’s what Mom had
done, kicking Stefan out, to get him away from a town that would always see him
in a bad light. Sacrifice.

Stefan took a deep breath and
rubbed between his legs with the blanket in hand. He then rolled over onto his
side. Dog tired, he couldn’t sleep now. Not after that.

He wanted inside her.
All the way, everywhere.
Fuck, in her heart, where he didn’t
belong. He couldn’t fuck with her that way. She was
gonna
be a mom soon. But he couldn’t stay away.

He doubled his pillow and cranked
his neck until it fit comfortably enough that he could close his eyes and hope
for sleep.

In the morning, he told himself.
Dani had her appointment. She’d get her answers and that would resolve her
worries about being with him.
Just once before he left.
He wanted to give himself to this woman, all the way, no stops, no holding
back. He’d ring every last ounce out of her and fill her back up. She’d never
forget. He’d never forget.

He pulled his lips in tight,
holding his breath for as long as he could until a yawn forced the air out.

He also had his own phone call to
make. He’d always trusted Trista and she’d be able to tell him how to be with
Dani and not hurt her baby.
Because after tonight, Stefan
knew one thing for certain.
He wanted to make love to Dani. He also knew
she could now claim something no other woman had. She was his first love.

Chapter Twenty

At some point today, Dani was
going to need a moment alone, when she wasn’t driving and needing to pay
attention to the road, or sitting at the pancake house stuffing her mouth with
Will, Stefan and Gina, to look at her little black and white photo of
him.

No matter how hard she tried, she
couldn’t contain the smile. Her little guy, he was so tiny. She was bursting to
share the news from her checkup and she hadn’t felt happy and bursting at the
same time in a long time.

The four of them stood inside
Moonlight’s official rose gardens, talking about how the pancakes had tasted as
good as they remembered and how fragrant the air always was here this time of
year. Will, gracious as always, agreed, going on today’s experience alone. Gina
looked wonderful. Her color was healthy, rivaling the peach of one of their
favorite rose bushes. Dani noted that she stood near Stefan but not on his arm.
Her balance had held through the first two thirds of the gardens today.
 

“So everything went well at your
appointment?” Dani asked Mrs. C, smiling. She’d been too hungry at brunch and
too busy smelling all the new blooms to talk. “I’m sorry I couldn’t go with you
guys.” Dani didn’t make up a lie, but didn’t share that she’d been at her own
doctor’s visit either.
Stefan knew, that was enough.

Gina smiled back. The sun fell
perfectly over her white blonde hair, adding shine to the short strands. But
Dani knew what really stood behind Mrs. C’s bright outlook. Her son, who gleamed
like a brilliant knight standing amongst the green hills filled with rows of
oranges, reds and lavenders, with his white button down cargo shirt, sexy dark
jeans and flip-flops.

Dani realized then that he was
the one other person she could share her first baby picture with.

Her chin dipped because she also
had another bit of news he’d be interested in. That bit warmed her right
alongside the straight shot of sunshine and the sweet smell of roses. Doctor
Zuniga had reassured Dani that the spasms she’d felt from her orgasms were not
the same as labor contractions. And since Dani appeared to be having a normal
pregnancy, she’d been given the okay to have sex. The whole drive over to the
pancake house, Dani had repeated Doctor Z’s
words, that
sex was a natural and normal part of pregnancy and that intercourse wouldn’t
harm the baby who was protected inside her womb.

Should she have been rehearsing
so fervently?
Probably not.
Stefan was leaving in a
few days now and hopefully, taking his mom with him. She knew that. But
connecting with him each day had brought her further away from all the issues
she had about being with him and closer to wanting—no, needing—to continue what
they’d started. She didn’t want to live her life never having had that intimacy
with him. It shouldn’t have turned out this way, but together, they made sense.
In a perfect world, she’d let herself want a relationship with Stefan.

How wickedly would he grin when
she told him they could make love without a condom? The excitement at being
able to gift him with that one small thing before he left rivaled the
hummingbirds flitting around in the perennial garden. The scent of the
honeysuckle dipped into her happy space again.

She stole a quick look at him,
aware she couldn’t stare long with his mom standing so close. She’d bet he was
pretending not to notice her eyeing him but the tiniest
uptilt
at the corner of his mouth peeked through. Somehow, she’d get him alone today.

She was about to say they should
all check out the new composting exhibit before wrapping up today’s visit when
Stefan’s fingers brushed against hers.
 

He pinned her with a stare and
she watched his eyes focus solely on her, blocking the rest of the rose garden
visitors out. He then turned to face Gina.

“Mom, can we sit for a minute?
The three of us need to talk. There’s a bench right over there.”

Gina’s skin crinkled at the
corners of her eyes so she shaded them with her hand. “Okay, yes, that’s fine,”
she said, looking as surprised as Dani felt.

What was going on and why hadn’t
this come up while they sat inside at a table? Or once they’d returned home? In
the brief second that she could manage it while Gina said hello to a family
who’d recognized her, Dani whispered at Stefan. “What are you doing,
Hon
?”

“Something I should have already
done.”

Why did that make her so nervous
for him? Gina continued talking to a family who Dani recognized as the Franks,
giving her more time to understand Stefan and what he was doing.

“Okay. I get that. But are you
sure you want me involved?” Didn’t he remember she’d given him an easy out when
it came to relocating his mom? All he had to do was explain that Dani was
returning to school and couldn’t care for Mrs. C at the same time. Surely Mrs.
C would understand, be supportive even, and go with him.
Just
because Dani hadn’t as much as looked at a class catalogue in five years.

“What I have to say to Mom
affects you too.”

Bull shit. His face said there
was more.

“Stefan.”

He scratched the side of his face
like he missed his whiskers all of a sudden. “It’s no big deal. Stop freaking
out. I would have done this during brunch but I forgot how much the good people
of Moonlight love their pancakes.”

“So there were too many people
inside Pop’s?” But that made no sense. The man had to have lived half his life
amongst crowds. Hadn’t the magazine article listed Sin Pointe’s first leg tour
dates and how many shows already had SOLD OUT listed in all caps? She saw his
glance cut to his foot as he shuffled it across the pavement. “Did someone recognize
you at Pop’s, Stefan?”

“Yeah,” was all he
said.

She wouldn’t push. Especially not
now that Gina had said her final goodbyes to the Frank family and walked back
toward her, Stefan and a very quiet Will. It was amazing how such a petite,
unassuming little woman like Gina Calderon could turn a grown man into a statue
of himself.

Gina’s face crumpled again as she
re-took her place in their group but this time she stood near
Will
, facing Dani and Stefan. Dani could tell herself Gina
was squinting because of the sun but she’d be lying. Shit. Well, looked like it
was time to put on her big girl panties again and act like she was about to be
a mom. Gina would understand. Wouldn’t she?

****

“It’s a beautiful day, huh Mrs. C?” Will
said
when his mom rejoined them. “Before we leave
you’ll have to help me pick out my first rose bush seeds.”

 
“It is and I’m happy to, Will. Son, before we
all chat, can I speak with you for a moment alone?”

Uh-oh.
Stefan’s gut
tightened at the way Mom’s hands were folded too perfectly, her fingers laced
just so, like she was praying for him or something.

“Sure, Mom,” he said and began to lead
her to a shady area near some of the reddest roses he’d ever seen. He’d wanted
to have Dani present so that when he laid out his plan to his mom, Dani would
be held to the sly promise she’d made him of going back to school.

“Mrs. C?”
Dani’s voice
stopped Stefan and he and his mom turned together.

“Yes dear?” said Mom.

Poor girl.
All eyes were
on her and he knew right away she’d never make it up on stage. You had to be
able to turn that shit off and Dani clearly was wired to fidget in situations
like this. What was she doing, anyway?

It hurt Stefan to watch her squirm like
that. “Will, here.” Stefan tossed him his old wallet. “Pick something out for
Tris
? I need to talk to Mom for a second.” He looked to
Dani and tried to reassure her that he’d do his best not to blow her cover.
Nothing about her being pregnant or the fact she was messing around with him.
Clearly Dani still wasn’t ready for his mom to know.