Page 28 of Embattled Ever After

His childhood had been less than sterling. At five he’d been dropped off at a church by his mother. He’d never known who his father was. He’d spent years in foster homes, probably learning exactly how a parent shouldnotbehave toward children, but it was all he had. None of his girlfriends had ever had kids and he’d made sure every woman he’d been with was completely protected. Shannon was the first one he’d allowed himself to be bare with. “Wait, I thought you were on something?”

She shrugged. “I was, but no preventative is one hundred percent. You know that.”

Yes, he did, and he had to admit they’d been going at it like bunnies for a long time. Once they’d committed to a physical relationship it had been full-speed ahead.

Shit, commitment. They needed to get married. “We need to get married soon.”

Shannon grinned at him and leaned forward, propping her head on her hand. “The commitment-phobe wants to get married now? My, what a change.”

He frowned. “I didn’t know you were pregnant before. No child of mine is going to grow up a bastard like his father.”

Her expression turned thoughtful. “If that’s what you want, John. You know I won’t argue. It’s what I’ve wanted all along.”

They reached out at the same time and held hands. John turned her fingers over so he could look at the ring, brushing his thumb over the stone. “Is this enough for you? It seemed like the more I looked, the more confused I got about what you might like.”

She touched the stone as well. “You did great. It’s perfect, I swear, I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

But he still felt off, like he’d royally fucked up, but he wasn’t sure how to fix it.

“Well, so what do we do first? I mean…” he waved a hand, words escaping him.

“Well, today we chill. The next couple of days, we chill. When the stores open later, we can go shopping. Maybe we can get on the net and see what we want to do, how we want to decorate. We can think about re-doing one of the rooms, too. I think we’ll use my brother’s old room, since it’s the closest to ours.”

Rocking back in his chair, John nodded. This conversation seemed so surreal. This wasn’t something he’d ever expected to deal with in his life. Babies and bottles and nappies were as foreign to him as the likelihood he would join NASA and go to Mars. It just wasn’t something he’d ever thought about. It wasn’t that he’d never planned on having kids, just that the thought had never occurred to him.

He’d never planned on getting married or even engaged, either, but after he met Shannon things changed, everything changed. Those big life milestones didn’t freak him out like they used to.

The baby freaked him out though. No lie.

“Yeah, we can look online and see what we like. And I guess it depends upon boy or girl, too, huh?”

Shannon smiled even broader. “Yes.”

John scrubbed a hand over his face. What a cluster.

The image hit him suddenly, of Shannon rocking in a chair in the corner of the bedroom, cradling a dark-haired baby. The vision didn’t shock him like he expected it to. Instead, it settled into his bones like it belonged there, it settledhimsomehow and his world righted itself again. “Okay, babe, lets go look at dressers or something on the computer and see what we come up with.”

Without giving her a chance to argue he drew her down onto his lap and pushed on the wheels of the chair, heading into the living room. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Yes,Sir!”

***

Chapter Eight

Duncan woke confused. His hip hurt like a motherfucker but the anxiety that normally plagued him seemed… diminished.

Then Alex sighed and moved her leg against him and it all came rushing back.

What the fuck had he been thinking? All of the swearing he’d done to himself had gone out of his head the minute she’d touched him. No, it wasn’t her touch. It was the attention she paid to him. Though he’d tried to warn her away, she’d traveled all the way out here for him. When he’d warned her that he wasn’t a catch, she’d taken the risk of making the first move last night. There was a small part of him that sat up in joy, amazed he meant that much to someone. Anyone. But the fact that it was Alex made it that much more special.

Alex Hartfield was a beautiful woman. There was no doubt about it. But she was so damned young… When he’d been deployed to Iraq, she’d been toddling off to school. Damn, that made him feel old. Where the hell had all the time gone? Yes, there were bad days when his hip was killing him and he just wanted to toss in the towel, but in general he’d never felt as old as his years.

He couldn’t help but smile when he thought of the look on her face last night as he pushed her into another orgasm. He certainly hadn’t felt old then, either.

Dark auburn hair fanned over the pillow beside him. Alex was curled on her side, mouth slightly open. You would think that would be an inelegant position, but not on her. She looked completely sleep-rumpled and mouth-watering.

Beside all those damn recriminations sat the need to have her again. He ached with arousal, and it was beginning to take precedence over the pain. She shifted on the mattress, as if she felt him looking at her. Then her lovely luminous eyes fluttered open. A radiant smile spread her lips and she rolled to her back to stretch.

Those lovely breasts of hers elongated, pink tips pointing in his direction. Duncan gritted his teeth, but he knew it was stupid to fight. Leaning down he captured her left breast in his mouth, sucking it into the depths. Alex cried out and burrowed her fingers into his hair, holding him to her. Sucking on her deeply, Duncan allowed his hand to wander south, to her pubic area. She’d taken a shower last night. He’d woken when she’d climbed into bed and wrapped herself around him, but he hadn’t been able to wake more than that.

---