Page 10 of Baby Daddy Protector

Frustrated and unsure, I grabbed a clean pair of jeans and a black T-shirt from the closet and tugged them on before pulling on a pair of socks and my sneakers. It was still surprisingly early yet, not quite nine p.m., though the day had seemed endless. Hospitals did that to a person. I remembered sitting in waiting rooms as a kid while the adults sorted the mess left after the terrorist attack that had killed my parents. I’d been too young then to understand a lot of what was happening, but I did remember the weird time-warp feeling of sitting in that sterile environment, the air smelling of antiseptic and the floors squeaking loudly under my shoes.

To this day, my gut still tightened each time I walked into a medical setting in remembrance of those old pains and sorrows. This past week, guarding Es, hadn’t been easy on either of us once the king had landed in the ICU. But at least I had my work to keep me busy. Poor Es had knitting and…well, more knitting. I’d tried to check on her when I could, bringing her snacks or tea just because I knew how easy it was to forget to eat or stay hydrated with a loved one’s life in jeopardy, but otherwise, she had no one for support.

That knowledge, as much as what loomed ahead of me this evening, made me restless.

Needing some fresh air and space to clear my head before I did my duty, I jogged downstairs and outside to take a quick walk around the block before finding Esme to consummate our deal. The night was cooler and the sky above was clear, stars twinkling down.

My mind returned to what waited for me back at the townhouse.

I’d been sexually active since I was sixteen—and I found Esme attractive, though not my usual type. Usually, I went with casual flings with women who weren’t looking for attachments. My life as a SEAL facilitated that well. Traveling all over the world gave me lots of opportunities to meet women, and less risk of growing attached afterward. Honestly, even with Esme’s promise to shorten it, this stint with the security team in Prylea would still be my longest mission to date.

I rounded the corner and began humming under my breath, an old lullaby that my mom used to sing to me when I was little. The tune was sweet and simple, and I knew it so well it was almost an unconscious thing with me. Whenever I got stressed, I found myself humming to relax myself. My footsteps echoed off the pavement in time to the lullaby and the knot of tension between my shoulder blades eased.

So, tonight. I supposed sex to make a baby was pretty much the same as sex for pleasure, but I wasn’t sure about seduction. If we were going to go through with this, we might as well make it enjoyable. But did Es expect the usual accompaniments—flowers, wine, whipped cream? No. She couldn’t, right? It wasn’t really a date. We both knew the score here and the purpose of tonight’s events.

I rounded another corner and exhaled slowly. Late summer was already starting to give way to autumn and the homes reflected that. Gone were the bright, beachy colors and decor. In their place were wreaths made of pine cones and colorful leaves and pumpkins.

By the time I turned the fourth corner and reached the front door of the townhome, I felt about as unsure as when I’d left. Should I just walk in, find Es, and sweep her off to bed or should I knock? I wasn’t a nervous guy by nature. Nerves got a man killed in combat. But this situation had me all discombobulated.

Deciding that knocking would be best—it would announce my presence and also bring Es out into the open—I raised my hand to grab the fancy gold, lion-shaped knocker. But before I had a chance to strike it against the red wood, the door opened. Es stood there in a white button down and faded jeans, her feet bare. The smile she gave me looked as nervous as I felt.

“Hey,” she said, pretty pink color staining her cheeks, and once again, I was struck by her simple beauty. She wasn’t one of those women who wore flashy clothes and tons of makeup to get attention. She was classy, elegant, her breeding evident in every graceful move and word she uttered. In her hand was a glass of red wine. Guess that answered my question. She stepped aside to let me in, then raised her glass in my direction. “Want some?”

“Uh, sure.” I followed her into a small study, the walls lined from floor to ceiling with books. I had never been much of a reader myself, preferring action instead, but I imagined Es in here spending hours poring over all these dusty old tomes. She poured me a glass of ruby-red wine, then took a seat on one end of the only settee in the room. It was an antique and much wider and longer than furniture nowadays. Perfectly big enough to accommodate two adults sitting, or lying down, or…whatever. I gulped down a large swallow of my drink, then sat on the opposite end of the dark brown leather. Yep. This was awkward as hell right now.

Neither of us said much for a while, the huge gorilla in the room huddled between us, making the air taut. Es sipped her wine then shifted slightly to face me, one bare foot tucked up beneath her. Her toenails were now painted the same light pink as her fingernails. I hadn’t noticed that before now. A familiar warmth coiled low in my belly, quickening my pulse. Before the night was over, I intended to make those cute little toes of hers curl with ecstasy.

As if sensing the direction of my thoughts, Es stared down into her wine glass, the color in her cheeks deepening. “So…”

“So,” I said, stretching one arm out across the back of the settee, not quite touching her, but close enough to feel her heat through the thin cotton of her shirt. My fingertips itched to stroke her skin and see if she felt as soft as she looked. I stopped those thoughts short. This was business, and while I wanted it to be good for us both, I’d do well to keep my libido in check. Now if someone could just send that memo to my twitching cock, we’d be all set.

Calling on my well-trained leadership skills, I did my best to maintain control. I gulped down the rest of my wine then set my empty glass on the coffee table in front of us before taking a deep breath and plunging in head first. “What are the logistics of—”

Es apparently had had the same take-charge idea. She leaned forward and blurted out at the same time, “Do we just go for it, or what?”

Unfortunately, her movements and mine didn’t quite sync and my shoulder bumped her arm, sending a spray of red wine down the front of her pristine white shirt.

“Damn. I’m so sorry,” I said, getting up to fetch a gob of tissues from the box on the desk. “I’m not usually this clumsy.”

“Me neither,” Es said, brushing off her front as best she could then setting her glass aside. “Hopefully this isn’t a harbinger of how the rest of the night will go.”

Without thinking, I knelt beside her and dabbed the front of her shirt with the tissues while she sat still and silent before me. This close, the sweet, floral scent of her perfume surrounded me—honeysuckle and roses. The backs of my fingers accidentally brushed her bare skin through the open vee of her shirt and sparks of awareness sizzled through my blood like wildfire. I purposely didn’t look up at her, afraid she’d see the enormous struggle I was having to keep from tackling her to the settee and taking her right there in the study.

It was crazy. It was totally not like me. It was the hottest experience I’d ever had with all my clothes on.

Her breath grew faster as my fingers brushed the upper curve of her breast through her shirt. I continued to dab, closer, closer, until I felt one tight little nipple through the tissues in my hand. As if drawn by an invisible cord, my gaze met hers and I recognized the same wild want inside her that raged within me.

Tonight might be a lot of things, but a problem wasn’t one of them.

All awkwardness and nerves vanishing beneath an avalanche of need, I dropped the tissues and slowly leaned forward, my eyes locked with hers. “I think I know a better way to clean you.”

With that, I licked her stiff nipple through her shirt before closing my lips around it and sucking. Her pulse thudded hard against my cheek as I nipped and licked her through the material, her soft sighs like music to my ears. It had been far too long since I’d taken a lover to bed. My hands slid to her waist and she threaded her fingers softly through my hair, holding me in place, her hazel eyes growing half-lidded and warm with desire.

Yeah, things between us would be just fine tonight.

Better than fine. Spectacular.

Finally, her eyes slipped closed and her head tipped back. I took advantage, releasing her nipple to trail kisses up her neck to her jawline. Slowly, I lay her back on the settee then stretched out above her. I’d intended on taking care of business in a bed, but this was so much more convenient, and so much hotter.

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