36. Brodie

brODIE

B rodie went upstairs with Peyton and found Alex already packing her stuff.

"I need to grab what's in the bathroom, and you'll be set to go."

"Thanks, Alex. I'm so tired," Peyton told her.

"I know you are. You'll feel much better, sleeping in your own bed. Plus, no stairs at your place. That'll be better too."

"Brodie, can you ask the boys?—"

Alex held up a hand. "The boys have plans tonight."

"They do?"

"Yep. Slumber party with Uncle Maddox and Aunt Alex."

Peyton and Brodie both raised their eyebrows.

"We'll talk about that tomorrow. You need to get our girl home," Alex said to Brodie. "We'll bring the boys over tomorrow afternoon, and I'll call you in the morning."

Peyton sat on the bed.

"I'll bring all this down. You get her in the car," said Alex.

Rather than wait for further direction, Brodie picked Peyton up and carried her down the stairs. When they got to the bottom, she wriggled.

"Put me down, Brodie. I'm heavy."

He ignored her and held her still. "I need to get my girl home. We'll see all of you soon," he said once they were downstairs.

"You're making too much of this," Peyton said, but when she rested her head on his shoulder, he knew he was right about how exhausted she was.

Alex closed the door after Brodie helped Peyton inside the car, and rested her arm on the bottom of the open window. "You're in good hands, or I wouldn't let you leave," she teased before her eyes filled with tears. "I'm so happy for you both."

"Thanks, Alex." Peyton rested against the seat and closed her eyes.

"Get her home, Brode." Alex stepped away from the truck and into Maddox, who wrapped his arms around her waist. They both waved as Brodie drove off.

"What else can I get you?"

"Seriously, Brodie, nothing. I've already told you that ten times." Peyton patted the mattress. "Would you please get in bed?"

When he rubbed his neck, Peyton threw a pillow at him. "I'm done sleeping without you next to me, Brodie. Get. In. Bed! "

"Are you sure it's okay?"

She smirked. "I asked my parents before we left, and they're fine with it."

"That isn't what I meant, smartass. What about the baby?"

"It's okay with her too."

"Peyton…"

"If you don't get in bed by the time I count to three, I'll get out and make you."

"Okay, but if you're at all uncomfortable, say so, and I'll sleep on the sofa." He toed off his boots and lay next to her.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting in bed. Isn't that what you told me to do?"

"No clothes allowed, Brodie."

"Oh, yeah?" Brodie lifted the blanket covering Peyton up to her shoulders. "You're naked. Have I told you that's my favorite?"

She smiled. "It's my favorite too. Now, lose the clothes."

He rolled out of bed and pulled his shirt over his head.

She gasped when she saw the bruises and scars on his torso. "Brodie!"

"It looks worse than it feels, sweetheart." He rested his body next to hers and wiped her tears away. "All I need to heal is you next to me."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You aren't going to. I'm more worried about hurting you and the baby."

Peyton moved into his arms and rested her head near his heart. "I'm sorry I'm so tired." She sighed.

"Sleep, sweetheart." He closed his eyes and felt her breathing even out. He couldn't control his body's natural reaction to having her naked and pressed against him, but within minutes, he felt himself drifting off to sleep too.

When Brodie woke, Peyton was kissing the soft area between his neck and shoulder. He gripped her hair and brought her mouth to his. "I don't want to hurt you." He groaned. "But, God, Peyton, I can't hold back."

"You won't hurt me." She pressed her mouth to his, kissing him harder.

Brodie gently moved her off him and pushed her down on the mattress. "Let me look at you. Are you cold?"

Peyton shook her head.

He started at her shoulder and kissed his way across her body, then lifted one of her breasts and closed his mouth over its pebbled nipple, nipping at it. When Peyton gasped, Brodie lifted his head.

"They're very sensitive. Part of pregnancy," she explained.

"I'll be gentle, then." He laved her with his tongue, rather than nipping.

"Don't stop," she pleaded.

"Never, sweetheart." His lips trailed down her body to where her tummy protruded, then shifted farther, not stopping until he came to the apex between her legs.

"Can I kiss you here, Peyton?" He ran his fingers over her swollen sex.

"God, yes," she said.

Brodie tried to be gentle, running his tongue softly through her delicate folds, but couldn't ignore Peyton's pleas for him to go deeper, harder. He settled between her legs and brought his mouth down to her again while his hands slid up her body, each grasping her full breasts. Her hands, which had been holding him so tightly to her, moved up to cover his. When he carefully kneaded her fullness, her fingers urged him to be rougher. Brodie heard her cry out and felt the wetness of her climax at the same time.

She reached for him. "Brodie."

"Peyton?"

Instead of answering, she took him in her mouth.

"Peyton—" He groaned, trying to stop her, but she refused to cease her torment.

Moments later his body jerked against her, but she still wouldn't relent and only stilled when he came.

"Jesus, that was good, sweetheart."

Brodie let his eyes drift closed, but woke when he felt her shudder against him. "Everything okay?" he asked before realizing she was crying. He gently eased both of them, so he was sitting against the headboard and could see her face. "What is it, Peyton?"

She shook her head and tried again to hide herself from his view. When he leaned forward and kissed her forehead, his fingers came under her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"Did I hurt you?"

She shook her head.

"You're killin' me, Peyton. Please tell me what's wrong."

She wriggled away but didn't get up. Instead, she turned her body around so she was facing him. Brodie held his breath and waited.

"I never thought…I mean I never realized I could feel this way."

"What way, Peyton?"

"I thought I loved Lang, and I thought I loved Kade, but…I don't think I ever really did."

He nodded, although he had no idea where she was going with this.

She took a deep breath, drawing so much air into her lungs that her naked breasts rose with it. It was all he could do not to pull her close to him and ravish her body. Instead, he closed his fists and kept them tucked next to his.

"Brodie…"

"Yes, sweetheart? Please, whatever it is, please say it."

"I love you. I love you more than I've ever loved anybody, except my kids, of course. I didn't even know I could love someone as much as I love you."

He felt the same way. He had no idea emotions like these were possible. "I do know, because I love you, Peyton."

The worry he saw etched on her forehead fell away, replaced by the smile he loved so much.

Peyton rolled off the bed and took a robe from the hook on her bedroom door. She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of bed.

"Whoa, slow down, there, cowgirl. Where're we going?"

"I'm starving. Here, put this on. And don't worry; he never wore it."

"Who, Kade?"

"Yeah. Sorry, I probably shouldn't have told you that."

"Don't care, honestly." Brodie tightened the sash on the terry-cloth robe. "Wouldn't have cared if he had." He was here, and Kade wasn't. And if it had bothered him in the slightest, knowing that Peyton loved him was all that mattered.

She was halfway down the hallway when Brodie caught up to her. "You're supposed to be waiting for me to bring you breakfast, sweetheart."

"I can walk around, Brodie. I just can't overdo it."

He reached around her and lifted her into his arms. "Not on my watch. You need to go somewhere, I'll be the one taking you there."

"Oh!" She gasped. "I almost forgot. I have an appointment today with the obstetrician."

"What time?"

"Uh, eleven." Peyton laughed when she looked at the clock. They had twenty minutes to get to the office, which was a few minutes away.

Brodie carried her back down the hallway, where they both threw on the clothes they wore the day before, not that he had any choice. Last night, he hadn't given any thought to stopping at his house to pick up his stuff.

"Mind a drive to my place after your appointment?"

"Only if you promise to feed me first."

Brodie thought his heart would explode. What had his sister said yesterday? That Peyton was glowing? She was. She was beaming, and happy, and it was in part because of him.

"I love you." She smiled, standing on her toes to reach up and kiss him. "We better go. You aren't going to believe this, Brodie."

He sat in stunned silence, watching the screen and seeing their baby, his baby, move inside Peyton.

"She's thriving," the doctor told them both. "Growing right on schedule."

"Can he hear her heartbeat?" Peyton asked once the doctor finished the ultrasound.

"Of course." He smiled. "I'll be right back."

Brodie came over to where Peyton rested on the gurney, still too stunned to speak. He took both her hands in his and stared into her eyes.

"What?"

He shook his head, smiling, but unable to find the words to describe how he felt, seeing their baby.

"I know." Peyton smiled too. "I told you, didn't I? Unbelievable, right?"

Brodie tried to blink his tears away before she realized he was crying.

"Wait until you hear her heartbeat."

When he returned, the doctor showed Brodie how the fetal Doppler worked.

"It'll sound like whooshing," she added. "It's the best sound ever. Right, doc?"

"Especially the first time you hear it."

Peyton pulled her shirt up, and he closed his eyes, wanting to focus only on sound. His eyes flooded again, as she'd predicted, when he heard what she'd described.

They held hands tightly in hers. "I think I know how you felt when you were rescued."

"You do?" He was having a hard time speaking.

"I dreamed this. You and me, seeing our baby, hearing her heartbeat. Never, for one minute, did I think it would happen. Now that it is, I keep hoping I'm not dreaming. I don't want this to be a dream, Brodie. I want it to be real."

"Me too, sweetheart. And you're right, it's exactly how I felt. Even now, I pray I'm not dreaming."

The doctor asked Brodie to step out while he examined Peyton, but she asked if he could stay. "I want you to hold my hand," she told him.

At the end of the appointment, the obstetrician told her she could go back to work but no more than one or two days a week and, even then, to take it easy.