Home > Surprise Delivery(38)

Surprise Delivery(38)
Author: R.R. Banks

When the movie ends, we clean up all the dishes and he loads the plates into the dishwasher for me. With everything cleaned up, he sits back down on the sofa and looks at me. I can see the wheels in his mind spinning and I want to know what he's thinking. But he remains silent, just looking at me with an inscrutable expression on his face.

“So, when are you going back to work?” he asks.

And just like that, the bubble of bliss I've been rolling around in pops. I sigh and feel my stomach churning at the mere thought of it.

“You okay?” he asks.

“I'm not sure I'll have a job to go back to, once my maternity leave is up,” I answer honestly.

He cocks his head. “Why would you say that?”

I don't mean to spill my entire sob story to him, but once I get talking, it's like I can't find the brakes on my mouth and everything just comes tumbling out – and I mean everything. Through it all, Duncan sits there listening to me, no trace of judgment on his face. In his eyes, I see nothing but sympathy and compassion. When I'm finished, I sink back against the couch and pull a pillow into my lap, covering my stomach protectively.

“I'm pretty sure none of that is legal,” he says, a wry chuckle following the words out of his mouth.

“Yeah, but what can I do?” I ask. “I'm a nobody. I don't have much and there's no way I can hire a top-flight lawyer to fight them if they decide to get rid of me.”

“The better question here is, why would you want to go back?”

I purse my lips, feeling a sudden flash of irritation flow through me. He doesn't get it. He grew up so privileged, he doesn't seem to understand that not everybody has the choices he has. It's not like I have a rich family I can fall back on if things get tight. I can't afford to be out of a job – even one as shitty as that law firm.

“Because I don't have many options, Duncan,” I tell him, doing my best to keep the heat out of my voice. “I don't have a college education, not a lot of skills, and I don't have a family worth billions to help me through the lean times.”

He looks away, hiding his eyes from me. And in that moment, I get the sense that he's almost embarrassed by his family's wealth. But it's a simple truth. He may be embarrassed by it, and that's all well and good, but the point holds – if he found himself out of a job tomorrow, he'd still be well taken care of and would want for nothing.

Hell, he doesn't even have to work now if he doesn't want to. That he chooses to work – and in the job he does – is a credit to him as a human being. But he doesn't understand what it's like to be in my position and he never will, because of who he is and the family he comes from.

“Listen, I know some really great attorneys and –”

I shake my head. “I can't afford an attorney, Duncan.”

“Good thing I know some guys who love doing pro bono work,” he replies.

“And I'm not really into handouts,” I add. “Listen, I appreciate the offer, but this is my mess to clean up. I'll handle it.”

“You don't always need to be so stubborn and independent, you know,” he says gently.

I shrug. “It's the only way I know how to be.”

There's a long minute of silence between us. It's not an uncomfortable silence though. I'd actually call it more – companionable. We just sit there, on opposite ends of the couch, gazing into one another's eyes. It just feels like there's so much for us to talk about. So much for us to say to each other. But, neither one of us can seem to find the words at the moment.

“You know,” Duncan says, finally breaking the silence. “Brad paid me a visit at the hospital the other day.”

I feel my face blanch as my eyes grow wide. I can't even begin to imagine the things Brad told him and the fear of Duncan knowing Aurora is his daughter rises up within me again. I feel my hands trembling and bury them in my lap to keep Duncan from seeing them. On the off chance he doesn't know, I don't want to give it away.

“Please tell me you're kidding,” I say.

“Wish I was.”

“What did he want?” I ask, my voice betraying me by trembling.

Duncan chuckles. “He was simply warning me to stay away from you,” he says.

I groan, though inside, I'm jumping for joy, relieved that's all it was. “You have got to be joking.”

Duncan shakes his head. “Nope,” he says. “And honestly, at the time, I understood it. When I saw you two on the street that night, I thought the two of you were together.”

“Not in a million years,” I say. “He was supposed to be my friend. Turns out he wanted a lot more than I was willing to give him.”

“Clearly, he didn't get that memo.”

“Clearly,” I say. “I can't believe he threatened you.”

Duncan shrugs. “I didn't take it all that seriously,” he says. “It's not like I can't handle myself.”

“I'm sure you can,” I say, feeling a little bit better, though I'm not completely at ease just yet. “Did he say anything else to you?”

He shakes his head. “No, when things started to get tense between us, he backed off and left.”

“Sounds like him.”

Duncan chuckles. “Yeah, he strikes me as the kind of guy who's more bark than bite.”

“That would be correct.”

We both laugh, and I feel the tension that's been gripping my body since Duncan walked through the door start evaporating. He doesn't know. That's a good thing. I mean, it's a shitty thing, but it's a good thing. I just can't predict what he's going to do, so I need to make sure my own backside is covered. Which means protecting my daughter at all costs.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” Duncan asks, his eyes boring into mine.

“Sure.”

“Who is Aurora's father?” he asks. “I mean, at the gala where we met, I was under the impression that you weren't seeing anybody. Or that –”

I feel the heat flaring in my cheeks. “I don't mean to be rude, but I really don't want to talk about that right now.”

He looks at me for a beat, then nods. “Okay. I'm sorry, I won't pry.”

I expected the mood between us to sour after I shut him down, but it doesn't. Instead, things stay surprisingly light and the conversation between us flows freely. We talk about everything, sharing stories about our lives, and I find that I'm really enjoying learning so much about this man. He's got so many different facets and things he keeps hidden from most people – things about him I find incredibly attractive. It makes me a little sad for him that he feels he has to hide these pieces of himself from the world. Why he does it, I don't know. But, the fact that he does it at all, is very sad.

Duncan glances at his watch and frowns. “It's getting late,” he says as he gets to his feet. “I should probably get going.”

I stand up to see him out, disappointment rolling through me. “Yeah, I guess so.”

We stand there, separated by just a couple of feet, but the longing between us makes it feel even further. But then Duncan closes that gap and pulls me to him. Before I even have a chance to think, he leans down and presses his lips to mine. Our tongues meet, and it literally steals my breath away.

The last thought I can register before surrendering myself to the passion rising up within me like an ocean tide is that I've wanted this – and have waited for it – for a long, long time.

Twenty-Three

Duncan

I told myself that this isn't why I came here tonight. My intention was most definitely not to sleep with her. But the moment our lips meet, all of my intentions fly straight out the window. As our kiss deepens, a familiar fire fills my veins, driving all thought from my head and urging me onward.

Alexis melts into me, her soft, warm body pressed close. I run my hands through her long, fiery hair, relishing the silky feel of it – something I've been imagining doing for months. She pulls back, her glittering green eyes fixed on mine, a playful smile on her lips. She leans forward again and starts planting kisses on my neck, then slides the tip of her tongue from my jawline to my collar bone, her hands pulling at my shirt and kneading the flesh of my chest.

I gently take her hair and pull her head back. She lets out a soft moan as I nip at her neck. I kiss my way up to her cheeks, then to her lips, pressing my mouth to hers and forcing my tongue into her mouth. She gasps as I grab her around the waist, grinding my stiffening cock against her.

“I've wanted this for so long,” she whispers.

“That makes two of us.”

Alexis reaches down and starts to grip and stroke my cock through my slacks, drawing a moan from my lips. Throughout my entire time over in Syria and every day since I've been back, I've fantasized about this very moment. About the very sensations coursing through me right now. My body has ached for her touch for so long.

She raises her arms, and I lift her shirt up and pull it off of her. I toss it to the side and then make quick work of her bra. It joins her shirt on the floor – and is quickly followed by my own shirt after Alexis gets it unbuttoned and off of me. She's working on my belt and pants when I pull her hands away. She looks up at me, questions on her face. I smile and shake my head.

“Not yet,” I say.

I push her yoga pants down to the middle of her thighs. Pulling her closer to me, I slide my hand up between her legs and run the tips of my fingers along her wet, swollen lips. Alexis' lips part as she moans, and her eyes flutter as she trembles beneath my touch. Feeling the way she shudders and hearing her whimpers of pleasure as I dip my fingers into her fuels my desire.

She pushes her pants all the way down and steps out of them, and I lay her back on the couch. She casts a quick look back toward her bedroom, then at the baby monitor, reminding me that we're not really alone and need to be a little discreet, but neither one of us seem willing or able to pull the brakes on this train.

   
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