Chapter Thirteen

Cam

S tepping back, Jake and I eyed the crib critically. He grasped the railing and shook it violently, but the crib didn’t move an inch.

“I think it’s good,” I said.

“What do you think?” Jake asked a sleepy Cora in that singsong voice he reserved strictly for her.

It always made me smile. Granted, it had only been just over a week, so maybe I’d get tired of it.

I didn’t think so.

Picking Cora up from her car seat on the floor, Jake lowered her into the crib as I adjusted the video monitor. Receiver in hand, I crossed the hall to the principal bedroom.

There was no furniture yet, and since it was New Year’s Eve, there wouldn’t be any for days. The overhead light fixture was black iron in a swirling pattern made by a local craftsman. It cast shadows on the warm, white walls. Everything felt too clean and big and echoey, but I knew we’d fill the space soon and scuff it up.

I set the receiver on a cardboard box by the big, dark window, and the crib filled the screen.

“It works!” I called.

On the screen, Jake straightened from where he’d leaned over Cora, tucking her into new sheets and a blanket. “Yeah?”

He disappeared on the monitor and reappeared in the doorway a few moments later. Crouching beside me, he peered at the screen. “The Wi-Fi signal’s great.”

It hadn’t been easy, but I’d made sure the phone line and internet were installed on time. It didn’t matter to me, but it mattered to Jake.

He smiled at the screen. “She seems out for the count. Going to miss midnight.”

“Join the club.” I checked my watch to find it was just after nine. “I haven’t stayed up for New Year’s Eve since I was a kid.”

Jake yawned. “Last year, I was at a club in downtown Toronto getting drunk. Feels like someone else’s life.”

I’d only seen nightclubs in movies. “Miss it?” Why was I holding my breath? He’d lived in the city for years. This was a hell of a change.

He smiled at Cora on the monitor, then leaned in and kissed me. “Nope,” he murmured against my lips.

Exhaling, I slid my tongue into his welcoming mouth, reaching up to cup his head. Every kiss brought a rush of blood, the excitement more than physical. I still couldn’t believe I was kissing anyone, let alone Jake . I reckoned the thrill would wear off eventually, but I hoped not.

Pulling back, Jake said, “Although I wouldn’t mind a drink. Guess we don’t have any bubbly on hand.”

“Sorry. I have the odd beer in summer, but that’s about it. I can call over to the big house. I’m sure Shelby has something she wouldn’t mind parting with.”

“Nah. Not worth having to deal with Hal Jr. Besides, I haven’t had anything in months. If I start drinking now, it’ll go straight to my head and we’ll never get that mattress upstairs.”

I’d rile Hal Jr. all day if it meant making Jake happy. “I can handle the mattress on my own.”

“Oh, can you?” A teasing smile lit up Jake’s face. “Okay, let’s see you try.”

Fine, wrestling the king-sized mattress around the bend in the stairs was easier said than done.

“Pivot!” Jake yelled from a few stairs below. “Pivot!”

He whistled and clapped, and I strained to bend the firm mattress just enough to squeeze it around the bend.

“Want a hand yet, big man?” Jake asked.

With a laugh, I surrendered.

My socks slipped a bit on the shiny new hardwood as I tugged and Jake pushed, and I made a mental note to buy one of those carpets that went down the middle of a staircase. Before we knew it, Cora would be walking, and I had to make sure she didn’t fall.

A voice in my head piped up and said that I was getting ahead of myself, but I shushed it.

Sure, maybe it wouldn’t work out with me and Jake. But as we dropped the mattress onto the floor in the bedroom and Jake toppled me onto it, being with him felt right . A truth in my bones I couldn’t deny.

The plastic wrap on the mattress crinkled under us as we flopped out. “Good thing the box spring’s not here yet,” I said. “That’s enough of going up and down those stairs.” It had been a long day of tending my herd and moving bits and pieces from the cabin on the ATV.

“I hate to break it to you that the truck’s not empty yet.”

“It can wait ’til next year.”

With the plastic rustling, Jake rolled into me, one leg over mine. “Guess we can have an early night.” He spread his hand over my plaid shirt, his fingers sneaking in between buttons to tease my skin. “ Although … We could christen your new mattress first.”

“Our mattress.”

Jake’s face flushed as he grinned, and I pulled him down for a long, slow kiss. As it deepened, I rolled him under me, the squeaking plastic loud in the empty room.

We laughed, and Jake said, “Guess we should get the sheets out of the dryer. Who knows where this plastic’s been.”

Groaning, I nodded, and we hurried downstairs for the necessities. Toby was still outside, and I made sure his dog door was clear of snow. I grabbed my toiletries and rooted around for the lube while Jake wrestled the new fitted sheet onto the mattress.

I’d gone with a simple navy sheet set and duvet cover in the highest thread count since Shelby had told me the higher the better. I’d picked out sheets and blankets for the crib as well after Jake had stood in the linen aisle at the home store in Lethbridge reading packages for almost half an hour, getting more and more tense.

We stripped off, and then Jake examined the monitor, bending over and giving me a great view of his ass. I knew he was anxious about sleeping in a different room and transitioning Cora to a crib, but he’d talked about healthy boundaries and parenting studies and statistics.

I pushed the mattress against the wall and spread out on it. We’d grabbed the pillows downstairs, and I propped my head up, watching him. “She okay?” I asked quietly.

Jake straightened and stepped back. “Yep. Fast asleep.” He bent again and turned the box so the screen angled away. “Just gonna…” He stepped back. “I’ll still hear her if she cries.”

“Yep.”

“The volume’s up, right?” He bent and pressed buttons and waited. “I don’t hear anything.”

With a grunt, I rolled to my feet and padded naked down the hall to the half-dark nursery. A mushroom nightlight glowed near the crib. “Hear me?” I whispered before going back to our room.

Jake nodded and slipped his arms around my waist. “Thank you. Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” I leaned our foreheads together.

“Now, where were we?” Jake nudged me toward the mattress, and I walked backward.

Stretched out on my back, I inhaled sharply with a bolt of desire as Jake straddled my hips. Then he glanced to the huge window, his eyes widening.

“Wait, we need curtains!”

“No one around for miles, city slicker.”

“Oh, right. Duh.” He grinned down at me. “Well?”

“Well, what?”

The corners of Jake’s eyes crinkled as he spoke slowly and surely. “Tell me what to do.”

“Hmm.” I rubbed my hands over his strong, hairy thighs. “Dunno where to start.” Tugging him closer, I reached around to caress the crack of his ass. “Did you like it when I put my fingers inside you?”

Jake nodded eagerly.

“Think you can take my cock?”

Eyes widening, his breath caught. He nodded again.

I traced my fingertips up and down his crack, skimming his hole. On one hand, I wanted to watch him ride me. See him flex and work to take me inch by inch while his prick hardened…

But as the seconds passed, his expression flickered, some of the excited confidence evaporating. I could practically see him start to overthink, his gaze flicking to the monitor, his hands fidgeting on my waist.

In one powerful movement, I rolled Jake under me. “Spread your legs.”

Moaning, his eyes closing, Jake did.

I took my time lubing his ass, finger-fucking him in long, steady strokes until he was quivering.

“Please, Cam. Fuck me.”

Some kind of animal instinct swelled in me. “Say it again.”

“Fuck me,” he moaned, sweat beading on his forehead and dampening his wavy hair.

“My name.”

“Oh!” Jake smiled. “Cam. Cam. ”

As I pushed my cock inside, I could tell he was holding his breath—along with squeezing his eyes shut so tightly I worried for his eyeballs. I stilled and nuzzled his cheek.

“It’s okay. I’m here with you.”

“Kind of hard to forget,” Jake gritted out. He opened his eyes, and we laughed. “Dude, that really was a hell of a growth spurt you had after high school.”

I could feel him relaxing, and I pushed in another inch with a smile. “Haven’t had any complaints ’til now.”

“Not complaining, just—” Jake gasped, his back arching. “Oh, f—”

“Fiddlesticks? Fudge? Fooey?” I retreated a few inches back and then in farther.

“ Fuck ,” Jake breathed, his Adam’s apple bobbing and head tipped back.

“Mmm.” I leaned down to kiss his stubbly throat, licking at the fresh, salty drops of sweat gathered in the hollow.

“Haven’t done this in a long time,” Jake rasped. Our eyes met, and he sucked in a breath, hands clutching my back around my ribs. “Feels like the first time.”

As I pushed another inch inside, I captured his mouth in a wet, messy kiss. “You’re mine,” I practically growled.

Jake made soft, desperate little noises in the back of his throat. Even though he wasn’t that much smaller, a flood of protectiveness filled me, rushing through my veins like blood.

I’d fucked men over the years, but not like this. This was… more , and suddenly it was me tensing and short of breath. I’d definitely never fucked raw before, and Christ, the incredible heat of being inside him with nothing between us had my balls tightening.

I didn’t give a shit if it was too fast. We trusted each other. And that it was Jake Gregson of all people that my heart and soul and bones had decided to trust didn’t feel surprising anymore.

Right was right, and I wasn’t going to waste my breath arguing with it.

When I was all the way inside, I reached down and touched Jake’s stretched hole. “You’re taking all of me.”

“I love it.”

With a teasing smile, I rocked gently. “You sure?”

“Uh-huh.”

Jake’s teeth flashed white, his laugh a little strained.

“Too much?” He was tight as hell around me, and I had to be heavy on top of him.

“No!” He grabbed at my hip and shoulder. “Stay. I love how big you are. It feels so good, like, like the rest of the world’s gone. It’s just you and me.” His expression creased, and he turned his head toward the monitor. “I don’t mean—I—”

“It’s okay.” I turned his face back to me, gazing into his eyes. “Right now, it’s only you and me, and that’s okay. You’re allowed. You’re safe. We’re all safe.”

Eyes filling with tears, Jake nodded and pulled me down for a long, desperate kiss.

“Now take my cock the way you’re meant to.”

Groaning, Jake nodded and raked his blunt nails over my arms, his legs wide as I fucked him. The slapping of our flesh echoed in the empty room, and my muscles strained.

Jake was hard between us, his back arching and cock red and glistening. He gasped as I wrapped a slick hand around him.

I didn’t have to tell him to come for me.

As Jake shook and squeezed around me, I thrust harder. Panting, he watched me fuck him, lips parted, nodding. When he reached up and circled my nipples, I came inside him, my whole body on fire.

We stayed wet and tangled together until our breathing returned to normal. I tugged the new duvet over us, my eyes heavy…

When I woke after a doze, the room was dark aside from the low light of the baby monitor. I sat up and rubbed my face. “Jake?”

Still naked, he kneeled in front of the monitor with a sheet around him. “Sorry. I can’t sleep with her in another room. I know I have to get used to it. She does too. But…” His gaze returned to the screen.

“S’okay. Next year.”

Still naked, we hauled the mattress into Cora’s room, shushing each other and trying not to laugh too loudly before we settled under the duvet. Cora didn’t stir even as Toby bounded in, and we were all fast asleep before twelve.

At least until Cora woke us.

As she fussed in Jake’s arms, midnight came and went, and our future began.