CHAPTER NINETEEN

I t wasn’t until nearly noon that Chloe felt well enough to put on anything besides sweatpants, and head downstairs. Up until today, she had been feeling off but never equated it to being pregnant. Just overworked and exhausted.

Now, it all made sense.

She was pregnant. She was pregnant with Dom’s baby. And now, she was with Dom. She was living in his freaking house, and as shocked as they both were about all of it, deep down, she could tell he was excited.

She refused to let herself feel the same though.

Too many times she got excited when those two little lines appeared, only to find blood when she went to the bathroom a few weeks later. She wasn’t going to do that to herself again. She was already worried about how this might affect Silas if they did lose the baby. Not to mention what would happen to her and Dom. Was he only with her because of the pregnancy?

No, you twit. He pounded on your door last night, kissed you and told you how he felt about you, ALL before you told him you were pregnant. He wants you.

She did her best to believe the voice in her head, but it was still tough.

Dom was unloading the dishwasher when she joined him downstairs. “Can I make you something for lunch?” he asked, unloading the cutlery rack into the drawer. “Anything you’re not feeling?”

She went to the sink to rinse out her mug. “Anything fried has made my stomach flip and revolt all week. I honestly thought I was coming down with something, or just overworked. Pregnancy didn’t even cross my mind until my boobs started to hurt and I realized I was late.”

“So, no fish and chips then?” he asked with a cute little smirk.

“No fish and chips.”

He angled his head toward the fridge. “Well, have a peek in there and let me know what strikes your fancy.”

Setting the mug in the drying rack, she went to the fridge and opened it. It felt weird going into his fridge. Like she was snooping. Yes, he insisted she move in with him, but they’d only just decided to give all of this a try last night. She hadn’t even been to his house until now. And already, they were living together and having a baby. They seriously got the order of things mixed up.

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” he asked, putting a stack of plates away in the cupboard. “That this is the first time you’ve been in the house, looked in my fridge, and yet we’re living together and having a baby.”

Exhaling and shutting the fridge door, she spun to face him. “Right? Okay, good. I thought it was just me. I was like, ‘Why is he acting so normal? This is not normal.’”

He went to her, resting his hands on her hips which put them so close she had to crane her neck to look him in the eye. “No, it’s not normal, but it’s our normal. It’s our story.”

“You’re not worried we’re rushing everything? I mean, we can’t really take a step back on the baby thing, but the moving in together part we can.”

He shook his head. “I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you and I wasn’t right here, or one of my brothers or their partners weren’t within shouting distance to help you. Chances are you’re going to be a high-risk pregnancy, right?”

She nodded. “I’m thirty-eight years old. A geriatric pregnancy, technically. And because of all my previous losses and my ‘basically barren’ diagnosis, they’re going to be watching me closely.”

“Then we need to take all the precautions, and that includes you letting me take care of you. Of you and the baby.” Then he took her chin between his thumb and finger and brought his mouth down to hers. She wrapped her arms around his waist and their gentle kiss became much more heated. Before she knew it, she found herself with her legs wrapped around his waist and her ass on the counter.

Frantically, she reached for the hem of his Henley and yanked it over his head, then he went to go dramatically rip open her button down, but smiled with wide-eyed shock when the buttons didn’t go flying.

“It’s snaps,” she said, all proud of herself.

“Nice.” Peeling her long-sleeve chambray over her arms, he peppered kisses across her shoulders, up her neck, over her jaw, and down the other side. With the other hand, he cupped her breast, but when she winced and whimpered from the ache, he backed off and pulled away. “You okay?”

Nodding, she grimaced. “Yeah, just … sore boobs and all. I mean, sometimes they feel fine. Other times, not so much.”

“Should I ignore them?”

Shaking her head, she reached behind and unclasped her red lace bra. “Maybe focus on the nipples more. They’re not sore.” Then she shucked her bra to the floor, and he dropped his head, taking one tight bud into his mouth and sucking. She arched her spine, leaning back against her hands on the counter as he sucked, nibbled, and licked at her sensitive peaks.

Trailing his teeth and tongue back up over her collarbone and the side of her neck, he took her mouth again as their hands went to work. She had to lift up a little to scoot her leggings out from under her, taking her underwear with her. Dom unzipped his jeans and she reached into the waistband of his boxers to free him. Suddenly, the urge to taste him overcame her need for an orgasm and she placed her hand in the center of his chest and pushed him away.

Confusion swam in the blue-hazel of his eyes, but when she dropped to her knees, he leaned back against the counter. “You want a pillow or something?”

She shook her head and reached for him.

But his hand on her head made her pause. “Hang on.” Then he stepped around the counter and came back with a small two-step step stool. “Sit on this.”

Smiling at his gallantry, she grabbed her leggings, placed them over the hard, plastic ridges of the step stool and sat down, reaching for him again.

“You gonna suck my cock like a good girl?” he murmured, guiding her onto his shaft with a gentle push at the back of her head.

She flicked her gaze up to his and kept it there as she stuck her tongue out and slowly slid him into her mouth, gripping him at the base.

“Fuck, that’s so hot,” he murmured, watching her with hooded eyes. “You take that so well.” He gave her another gentle nudge with his hand at the back of her head to encourage her to go deeper.

She did, supressing her gag reflex and taking him as far back to her tonsils as she could.

His groan made her giddy, and when his hips started to thrust forward, her core pooled with heat, and her pussy fluttered.

“No hand,” he grunted, leaning forward and cupping her jaw so he could feel her taking him in her mouth.

Resting both hands on his bare thighs, she developed a solid rhythm moving her head and neck back and forth in tandem with his hip thrusts. He went a little deeper than she was prepared for a few times, but she didn’t mind. And he seemed to enjoy the sound of her gagging. She did it a few more times until taking him that deep no longer made her gag.

Salty precum coated her tongue and when she pulled all the way back, releasing his crown with a wet pop, she gripped him again with her fist and flicked the tip with her tongue, lapping up the bead seeping from the slit.

“Just a couple more,” he said, cupping her by the back of the head. “Then I’ll fuck my good girl.”

Dom and the dirty talk. Who’d have thought?

Nodding, she gripped the base with one hand and wedged him back between her lips while her other hand cupped his hairless balls beneath and gently rolled them around. Brazenly, she released his cock again with her mouth, but kept stroking him, dipping her head lower and taking one ball at a time into her mouth, sucking on them ever-so-gently.

His, “Fucking Christ,” made her smile as she released his sac and went back to his cock. But he only allowed her two head dips before he let go of her head and brought her back to standing with two hands under her arms, taking her mouth like he owned it.

“Fuck,” he growled, trailing one hand down her side, across her belly and between her legs where he found her sopping wet and throbbing for him. “You give great fucking head. Such a good girl.”

Until Dom, Chloe had no idea how much of a praise kink she had. But every time he called her a good girl, her whole body erupted into flames of desire. And she wanted to do whatever she could to earn that praise, and to get it again.

Flipping her around so she faced away from him, he spread her legs with a nudge of his knees. His mouth was right next to her ear when he murmured, “Does my good girl want to get fucked or eaten first?”

Choices, choices.

“Fuck me,” she panted, trembling when he swept a hand up between her legs from behind, then plunged two fingers inside of her. “Please, Dom. Fuck me. I need it.”

“What do you need?”

“Your cock.”

She didn’t have to see him to know he was smiling.

“Then my cock you shall have.” She made to hinge at the hips, to bend herself over more, but he stopped her, wrapping his hand delicately around her throat from the front and making her stand up, he squeezed only slightly. “Do you like this?”

A trickle of longing dripped down her inner thigh, and she clenched her pussy, then squeezed her legs together.

“Does my good girl like my hand on her throat?” he asked, his mouth, and warm breath once again right next to her ear.

She whimpered and nodded. “Yes.”

“Does it make you wet?”

Boy, did it ever.

Not only did she not know about her own praise kink, and sudden obsession with being called a good girl, but she was all over Dom’s hand around her throat and giving it a squeeze. She was absolutely dripping with need for him.

“Please,” she whispered, the thrum of all-consuming carnal desperation making her brain short-circuit. She’d never wanted anything so badly. Never needed or craved to have a man inside her as badly as she craved Dom at that moment.

“Good girl.” He released her throat, put his big, strong hand in the center of her bare back and made her bend at the hips. He kneed her legs apart again, then he gripped his cock, angled it at her drenched center and thrust forward, taking her completely, all the way to the hilt.

“Oh god,” she cried, nearly ready to come just from that final bit of friction, of being full at long last.

“Don’t come yet,” he ordered, holding onto her hip with one hand while bending over her and wedging his hand between her legs with the other. He began to rub little circles over her clit, and thank god for that arm around her, because if he wasn’t holding her up, she’d have crumpled to the ground. Her whole body shook with each plunge of his cock, and rub of his fingers. She was a maelstrom of sensations, and yet, he knew exactly what to do to not let her come. He kept her riding that edge. Teetering like she was drunk and about to tumble face-first off a skyscraper.

To be honest, she was kind of drunk.

Drunk on lust.

On pregnancy hormones that made everything in her body a hundred times more sensitive, and her libido a hundred times stronger. She’d felt all of these things before today, but dismissed them. Now, she was embracing them. If she was going to be pregnant, even if it didn’t go to term, she was going to take the good with the bad. The insatiable sex drive with the morning sickness. The glossy hair, with the cramps and bloating.

Pressing her cheek to the cool counter, she let her aching breasts hang heavy beneath her, swaying with every drive of Dom’s hips, the familiar slap-slap of flesh on flesh the only sound in the house, save for his grunts, and her moans.

It was a melody of their own making, and if she wasn’t so caught up with how good everything felt and how badly she wanted to come, she’d be inclined to start humming to the tune.

“You ready to come for me, Chloe?” he asked, his voice raw grit and pure sex behind her. “You ready to soak my cock?”

“Oh god … I’m so close.”

“You want me to pinch your swollen clit?”

Did she? Nobody had ever pinched her clit.

“Yes?”

“Is that a question?”

He was still rubbing his fingers over her pulsing clit hood, and she could tell it was swollen, more sensitive than ever. Even if he did pinch it, she’d probably still explode. “Yes, pinch it. Pinch it, please!”

His lips pressed against her shoulder in the gentlest of kisses, then he pinched her clit, drove home hard and she fell face-first off the cliff.

Only, she didn’t fall.

She flew.

The throbbing, the pulsing, the crashing of wave after wave of absolute perfection, rippling through her body from her core outward was more than she could bare, and a sob escaped her lips as she gripped the edge of the counter and let the climax ransack her soul.

A low, guttural grunt behind her a moment later, and Dom pausing with his cock as deep as it could go, signified that he found his own release. She squeezed her muscles around him as he pulsed inside of her, filled her up, claimed her.

When her orgasm began to wane and her muscles relaxed, that’s when the aftershocks came and she began to tremble. Her legs were nothing more than Jell-O on bone and she could barely stand up. Even her hands quivered as she stood up and spun around to face him.

He must have recognized how utterly shredded she was, because he quickly scooped her up in his arms, gathered her clothes, and carried her upstairs. “You okay?” he asked, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

She nodded. “Th-that was intense.”

Lying her down on the bed, he grabbed the chenille throw draped over one corner and pulled it over her. “You sure you’re okay?”

Glancing up at him, suddenly exhausted, she smiled a stupid, sleepy smile. “You’re a Dom.”

His brows bunched. “I am Dom.”

“No, you’re like a Dom. Like a dominant. You’re a top.”

Dismissively, he shook his head. “No. I don’t do that kinky play stuff.”

Her eyes went wide. “You sure do. The whole ‘good girl’ thing. And the choking and breath play. Making me beg for your cock. That’s all Dom stuff.”

“No,” he shook his head, then pointed at his chest, “that’s Dom stuff.”

She snickered and snorted a laugh. “Okay, Mr. Funny.”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You feel okay though?”

She nodded. “Just sleepy.”

“Not hungry?”

At the mention of food, her belly rumbled. “Okay, maybe hungry too.”

He nodded and stood, giving her another perfect view of the beautiful tree tattoo taking up a good portion of his torso. “I’ll go fix you something and bring your clothes. It’s your day off. You are allowed to just sleep the day away. Especially since you’re also pregnant.” His smile was sweet, but small. “I’ll be right back.” Then he disappeared down the hallway while she snuggled deeper under the blanket. But then she remembered that they’d just had sex and she needed to pee.

Grumbling, and cold, she scurried naked to the bathroom.

She’d never be able to go pee without checking the toilet paper with her heart in her throat, at least now for the next hopefully nine months. The idea of finding blood would no longer be a sign of her period. It would be the sign of the end. The end of another pregnancy. Of another baby.

Once she finished peeing, she wiped and glanced back at the paper in her hand.

Nothing.

This time.

After she washed her hands, she returned to the bed and back under the blankets, her hand resting protectively over her stomach until Dom returned with her leggings, shirt, and a plate of cheese, crackers, and fruit, as well as a glass of apple juice and a small square of milk chocolate.

“For a non -Dom, you’re pretty good at this aftercare thing,” she said, sitting up and accepting the plate of food.”

“I’m not a non-Dom. I am Dom.” Fully dressed again, he sat down on the edge of the bed. “I, uh … I get a little intense during sex if you haven’t noticed.” Averting his gaze, he glanced out the window and the beautiful post-storm day outside, complete with blue sky, puffy white clouds and a blazing yellow sun.

“Oh, I noticed,” she murmured around a mouthful of Swiss and cracker. “And I’m fine with it.”

He focused his gaze back on her. “You’re sure?”

“You mostly ask for permission and consent throughout. And I know you well enough to know that if I said stop, you would stop. I’m not afraid to be with you, Dom. And I’m also not afraid to tell you when I don’t like something.” She popped a grape in her mouth and lifted one shoulder. “I’m a big girl. And life’s too short for bad sex.”

The smile that followed damn near made her choke on her grape it was so big and beautiful, not to mention the twin bright spots that blossomed high on his cheekbones. “Life is definitely too short for bad sex.”

“Good thing we haven’t had any yet, hmm?”

He reached for her free hand. “You’ll let me know if I’m pushing too hard for anything—sex or otherwise?”

Rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand, she nodded. “I will. But for now, I think we’re in a good place. Sex and otherwise.”

He stared down at the plate on her lap. “Is there, uh … is there anything you like that I haven’t done? That you’d like to try?”

That made her smile. The way this dominant, controlling, sexy-as-hell man turned almost shy when asking her about her likes in the bedroom. “I was pretty vanilla before I met you. The craziest place I’d ever had sex was in a tent while camping. Other than that, it was a bed or couch. And I’d never had anything in my butt. Or been choked. Or called a ‘good girl.’ You’re the one bringing all the spicy to this vanilla girl.”

Even the tips of his ears were pink now. He lifted his gaze. “You’re not vanilla.”

She shrugged and popped a grape into her mouth. “Vanilla is a great flavor. I’m not saying it’s bad. But I’m also not against trying new flavors.” She swallowed. “Is there something else you’d like to try? Another flavor ?”

His nostrils flared and his eyes turned heated. “I’d like to spank you.”

Her clit throbbed and she squeezed her thighs together.

“I’d also like to maybe tie you up … one day, if you’re interested?”

Her pulse picked up tempo and her temperature went from normal to the goddamned Death Valley in the peak of summer. With no saliva in her mouth, she reached for her apple juice and took a quick sip, hoping that her voice didn’t crack when she finally spoke. “I, um … I would like to try those things with you too.”

“Yeah?” Excitement made his pupils dilate, and he ran his thumb over the back of her hand. Why was that simple touch turning her on so freaking much?

Her nod was tiny. “Yeah.”

Downstairs the front door opened, then slammed shut. “Dad!” Silas called out.

Already, they were being cockblocked by kids.

All she could do—and thankfully, Dom did too—was chuckle.

“Second time today the little dude has come home and you’ve been naked in my bed,” he said, releasing her hand and standing up. “I’m up here, bud.” He shot her a wink that made her belly flutter. “Just relax. I’ll tell him you’re resting.” Then he closed the door, leaving Chloe alone with her thoughts, her lunch, and the baby in her belly.

She rested her free hand back on her stomach and a tear slid down her cheek as she spoke to the bundle of cells rapidly multiplying inside of her. “Please hang on tight, little one. I promise to take the very best care of you, inside and out. Please just hang in there.” Then she glanced at the door and the sounds coming from downstairs. “For all of our sakes. We can’t take anymore losses. We just can’t.”