15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

June

“Where are we going?”

I rolled my eyes at Brax. “It’s a surprise.”

He huffed playfully and then squeezed my thigh. “Sweetheart, I’m kind of driving us there, so I need to at least know if I’m going left, right, or straight.”

“Shit!” I blew out the word with a laugh. “I forgot about that.” He cocked up an eyebrow at that, but was a smart enough man not to say anything. I fiddled with my phone until the voice from the GPS offered his next directions. We took a left, then drove down the block and took another left. Before long we were directed to take another left and I couldn’t hold back the giggles at Braxton’s confused expression when the GPS brought us back around the block to my condo.

“What the hell, Avi?” He chuckled. “Did you forget something?”

I ignored that last bit. “Nope. It’s not a date if you don’t pick me up and take me to the destination, right?”

Brax continued to chuckle as he parked in front of my place and got out to come around and help me from his car.

“We could have just pretended,” he suggested.

“No, then it wouldn’t have been authentic.” We both had silly grins plastered to our face by the time we got into my condo. “Surprise!” I squealed and threw my hands out to show off the transformation I had worked so hard to accomplish. The living room was one giant blanket fort.

“What is this?” He asked.

“A few nights ago, when we were talking on the phone, you mentioned that you never got to make a blanket fort as a kid because your dad made it impossible,” I stated as if that answered everything.

“So, you made me a blanket fort for our date?”

I nodded my head enthusiastically. “This is an adult-level blanket fort, but I thought you should have some experience before-” I cut myself off. Holy crap! I’d been about to say, before our baby comes and you have to learn to make one with her.

“Before Janine gets here and we have to help her make them?” He supplied.

“Yeah,” I whispered back as Brax pulled me into his embrace.

“You don’t have to be afraid to talk about our future together, Avi. It’s what I want. You and Janine are a package deal and I’m all in on that. Biologically, she might not be mine, but that’s the only distinction.” He turned and moved us toward the opening of the fort. “I wish you hadn’t done all this.”

I turned my face up to Brax in question. “You don’t like it?”

“I fucking love it. I just hate that you did all this by yourself. How about next time we work together, so you don’t wear yourself out?”

“Okay, I can do that.”

Brax helped get me comfortable on the heavily padded floor and then worked to make himself just as comfortable after he tossed our shoes out. Then, he dropped the sheet that was folded back as our doorway, and we were ensconced in our own little bubble. I had a snack tray with veggies, dips, crackers, and cheese on it inside the fort with us.

“Wow, you really went all out on this date.” Brax picked up a bottle of water, unscrewed the top, and handed it to me.

“I wanted to do something special but didn’t feel totally up to going out.”

“This is way better than going anywhere. You’re checking off a missed childhood experience for me, you have good food in here, and the best company a man could ask for. Best surprise date you could have planned, sweetheart.”

The things Brax said left me absolutely twitterpated. It was a beautiful feeling that unfortunately came with the mixed emotion of not knowing if I could trust it. The man wasn’t the problem. My heart – the one Rich had stomped all over – remembered feeling enamored of him early on, too. The difficulty was in letting go of the way Rich abused my trust. Not the easiest goal to accomplish considering I was carrying the child we made together.

“What’s going on in that beautiful brain of yours?” When I didn’t answer right away, he nodded knowingly, as if in answer to the words I couldn’t say. “Still having trouble trusting me?”

“No. I’m having trouble trusting myself to know my own feelings.”

“I can help with that.”

“How is that possible?”

“Perspective.” He grinned while setting aside the basket of food I’d made, so he could be closer. “You need to shift yours, Avi. Your emotions were never the problem. They didn’t lie to you. Everything you felt was genuine. We’ll never know if Rich was genuine in his feelings, since he can’t tell the truth to save himself here lately. The one thing you can trust is that you love deeply and it takes some time to get over the fact that the person you gave that to didn’t cherish it like the gift it was. None of that is on you. In fact, I bet if you really take a good look back, you had doubts back then, even if you didn’t want to acknowledge them.”

“I did start to wonder just how selfish he was when he wouldn’t relent about me moving and leaving my mother behind when he supposedly had no one holding him back from his end.”

“See,” Brax stated knowingly. “You knew there was something wrong. You hoped that wasn’t the case, and you loved anyway. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Except the fact that it got me hurt and made my child’s life far more complicated before she’s even been able to take her first breath.”

“There are no guarantees in life. People get hurt. The one thing I do know is that your daughter will be just fine.”

“How can you know that?”

“Because I’m a smart man and what I know of her mom means she’s going to have everything she needs to succeed in life. Love and loyalty are the language you speak, Avi. Don’t change it because Rich was an idiot and made you doubt yourself.”

“How are you still single?”

He chuckled at my question. “Mostly, because I am incredibly picky. Then there’s Mel.”

“Mel?” That sent a niggle of worry to prod at my anxiety.

“Yeah, some women I’ve dated in the past have put their foot down about me remaining friends with Mel. When they do, they’re not the person I choose.”

“That’s dumb. You have been friends almost your entire lives, right?”

“Yep. She was there standing up for me during the bullying years.”

“Aww,” I cooed. “She protected you?”

“She did.”

“I knew from the first time I met Mel that she was a good person.”

“Me too. That’s why I have always chosen her.”

“She would never force that choice, though.”

“Nope, and that’s the other reason. Anyone who would ask you to get rid of an important person in your life doesn’t deserve to be there. It might be a little different if Mel had ever been inappropriate or mean, but even my exes who made that demand could never give me a reason that Mel had to go other than they weren’t comfortable with my best friend being another woman I was close to.”

“That’s idiotic.”

“I agree.”

“You won’t have that problem with me,” I assured him. “I happen to adore Mel.”

Brax grinned at me. “Even though she might be having my baby?” The question wiped the grin off his face far too quickly for my liking.

“Even if. You can’t change what has already happened any more than I can.” I pointed to my belly. “I can’t make Rich not be the father to this little girl and you’re still here, knowing you’ll have to deal with him twice as much if he decides to pull his head out of his ass and be in his daughter’s life.”

“Yeah, but you and Rich aren’t best friends.”

“Maybe not, but I’m not worried about you and Mel. It’s weird because if you had asked me how I’d feel about this scenario a year ago, I might have told you I’d run for the hills and hide from all of you.”

Brax threw his head back and laughed. “That’s probably a fair option, Avi.”

I shrugged and then leaned my head against his shoulder. “It would have been until I met Mel and then you. Now, I can’t imagine going through this without you guys.”

Brax leaned in and took my lips in a possessive kiss that made my toes curl. His right hand propped him up so that his body hovered up and around mine. His left caressed the side of my face until that hand slid further back until he dug his fingers into my hair. It was like he couldn’t get close enough with just a kiss. I felt it down to my bones.

I grabbed hold of his shoulders and then slowly dragged my hands up, scraping my nails along the exposed skin of his neck and then threaded my fingers into the short hairs at his nape. The feel of Braxton’s shiver underneath my fingertips caused my pulse to race. I had finally given this beautiful man something back. Logically, I knew there wasn’t a competition to see who could give more to the other, but that didn’t stop my mind from wandering to dangerous places. There was always a niggling worry in the back of my mind that I wouldn’t be enough. After everything Rich put me through, I knew part of it was that. If he loved me the way he claimed, why hadn’t he stuck around and come clean, told me the truth, or tried to stay? Part of me wondered if it was because I wasn’t enough. It was absolutely insane because I wouldn’t have wanted him if the truth had come out, same as I didn’t now, but being cheated on and turned into the homewrecker in the scenario had messed with my mind a bit.

Brax pulled away, seeming to sense that my head wasn’t in the game anymore. “You okay? Was that too much?”

“No, it was perfect. Can I be honest?”

“I prefer it.”

“Well, everything that happened has my head a bit twisted and I find myself kind of going crazy with doubt and worry all the time,” I tapped the side of my head. “Up here, you know? It’s like I can’t shut the voices down that scream at me that I’m not enough to be a first choice and that all the baggage I bring to the table will…”

Brax didn’t let me finish before he slammed his lips down on mine again. That time, he pulled me closer, until I had no choice but to move into his embrace and straddle his lap. His hands wandered down my body and rested at my hips where he tugged me in close before releasing our kiss.

“Does any of that feel like I’m concerned about your baggage or like you’re my second choice?”

I shook my head.

“Nope. Avi, I get it. It pisses me off that Rich fucked with your head so bad, Mel’s too for that matter. It angers me that two beautiful women, one my best friend and the other I have high hopes for a future with, have to doubt everything good that comes their way. I don’t want you to doubt. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. Now, unless you have a problem with where this is going, we’re going to turn those thoughts off and turn your body on until you can get lost in us the same way I am.”

“No problems,” I whispered before my lips were once again claimed.

Brax left a trail of wanton desire from my lips to my jawline before he nibbled on my ear. He took his time working that talented mouth down my neck. The man stopped and paid greater attention to every area that caused me to shiver, moan, or lean in closer. It was the first time I realized in a conscious way that a man was paying such close attention to my needs and what felt good.

My past lovers had gotten me off, but Brax was making an art out of lighting up every single erogenous zone I had, some that I hadn’t been aware of before. “Oh shit!” I murmured as Brax found his way down my body to where my belly rounded out with my baby. His hands wrapped around my bump and held it in such a protective way, that I wanted to cry. It was something I’d always envisioned Rich doing when we spoke about the possibilities of me having his baby.

Brax kissed right in the center of my belly and then his eyes came up to meet mine. “Your dress is in the way, sweetheart.” His husky voice made my insides tingle.

“Maybe we should move it then?” I questioned, though it came out breathy and more like a statement. Braxton’s fingers hooked the bottom of my dress and gently pulled it up my body. He trailed his fingers along my sensitized skin while maintaining a slow and steady progression. The crazy man placed a kiss on my panty-covered pussy before leaning over me to trail kisses up my belly.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he whispered into my skin while kissing further up as he revealed more of my body. When he got back up to my bra-covered breasts he placed one gentle kiss on the skin just between them above where my bra closed everything else off. Then, he lifted the dress the rest of the way over my head before his lips crashed down on mine once more.

“Still okay?” He asked against my lips after he pulled away. I shook my head. “What’s wrong?” Immediately Brax was on alert and ready to step back. That was my cue to assure him all was well except the fact that he was still fully dressed, and I was down to my underwear.

I tugged his shirt, and the smart man took the hint and yanked it over his head. Once it was gone, he leaned in and placed our bodies close enough that we were skin-to-skin and the warmth he exuded sank right into me. My hands slowly trailed down his chest where there was a sprinkling of light brown hair, only slightly darker than what grew on his head. “These too,” I suggested as my fingers fumbled through opening the button on his jeans before managing to slowly glide the zipper down.

Brax took over after that and removed his shoes, pants, and everything else before he locked our bodies together once again. His deft fingers worked at my bra’s closure and released it quicker than I could have done myself. In the same slow-paced way he dispensed me of my dress, Braxton slid the straps down my shoulders and allowed the silky contraption to fall free of its own accord as he leaned in and worshiped each peaked tip.

“So dark and lovely,” he commented absently before moving from one to the other. I groaned as he nipped gently before suckling again. “I hope you want lots of kids, Avi.”

“What? Why?” I struggled to wrap his meaning around my sluggish brain.

His dark chuckle was followed quickly by another nip before his fingers worked under the waistband of my panties and dragged them down my legs in a movement so sensuously slow it almost felt like torture. The light brush of his fingertips against my skin as he moved the garment free of my body created more gooseflesh in their wake.

“I just unlocked a new fetish and it’s your gorgeous pregnant body with those dusky nipples, this glow on your skin…” His fingers trailed back up my body after he divested me of my panties. “This beautiful bump.” He placed a kiss there again. “The flush of your skin, and the way every inch of you is so wonderfully sensitive.”

“Brax.” His name was a whimper of needy desire on my lips until he managed to kiss it all away. No, that wasn’t quite right. He kissed it better and made the ache worse all at once.

“Need to taste all of you,” he whispered in my ear before laying me back, propped slightly on the pillows around us, so that I would be more comfortable. Then he moved until his shoulders were pushing my legs apart and my cheeks burned with both desire and embarrassment as he took in every bit of what was between my legs. Brax ran his hands through the hair I hadn’t bothered to remove since I couldn’t really see to do it anymore without trying to move my belly out of the way.

“Like this,” he groaned as he grabbed a tuft of my curls and tugged. Considering I’d kept myself mostly smooth and otherwise well-trimmed over the years, I’d never known that could be a turn on, but it was. That quick tug sent a pulse through my pussy that Braxton didn’t miss. “Yeah, baby, you like that.” His eyes came up to meet mine just as he opened his mouth and licked up my seam. I watched as his eyes closed and he moaned his delight. “Sweeter than in my dreams,” he murmured before diving back in. Braxton worked over my pussy with his tongue, gentle nips of his teeth, and the occasional tug from his fingers on the little bit of hair that had grown back in down there. Then he slipped a finger into my weeping sex and I nearly shot off like a rocket. “That’s it sweetheart, feel it all.”

I didn’t know if it was the sensual way he had taken care to undress me, the patience in seeking out each of my erogenous zones and giving them attention, the pregnancy hormones or what, but as Brax added another finger and curled them while pumping in and out of me, my body blew apart into tiny little particles of pure bliss. My baby bump tightened with the orgasm and then eased off again as Brax slid his body along mine until his cock was notched at my entrance.

“You still good?”

I nodded and he leaned in to kiss the answer from my lips. “Words, sweetheart.”

“I want you, Brax.” There was no more hesitation on his part. He slid inside me, and we both moaned our pleasure at finally coming together like that. Brax was cautious not to put his weight on my belly as he stroked in deeper. While he wasn’t as long as Rich had been, the man had him beat in girth by a longshot.

“So full,” I complained. It wasn’t really a complaint, but it felt as though it was my first time all over again minus that initial sting of pain. I grabbed hold of his hips and held him to me at his deepest point while my body relaxed around him, stretching to accommodate his size.

“Good?” He asked, though we both knew he could feel when my muscles eased their too-tight hold on his cock. I nodded and then nipped at his shoulder. My hands trailed up from his hips across his back and then gripped onto the back of his shoulders as he pulled out and stroked back in using the same languid pace he had when stripping me of my clothing.

“So good, baby,” I muttered.

“Pure fuckin’ heaven, Avi.”

He wouldn’t get any disagreement from me.