All for This (15 page)

T
HE NIGHT
is gorgeous. The stars twinkle on the river and the moon bathes Asher’s backyard in a soft glow. Maggie and Asher have been in New York together the last week, and they’ve invited us all here for an early Thanksgiving gathering.

Nate’s been gone for nearly four weeks, and I keep finding myself wandering around the party, looking for his face. I know he’s coming back to town soon because he said he’d be back in time for my ultrasound next week, but every time I scan the faces in the crowd, I come up empty.

“We want to thank you all for coming,” Asher announces to his guests. “We’re thrilled that you could come on such short notice. You see, this isn’t just any party. We wanted you to celebrate with us.”

“Go ahead,” Mom calls. She’s practically bouncing in her seat. “Tell them your news.”

Asher and Maggie exchange looks, and Liz says, “Holy shit. You’re pregnant too?”

Maggie laughs. “No. That’s not it. But”—she sticks out her left hand toward the small crowd—“we’re married.”

“No way,” Liz breathes, and then, suddenly, everyone is clapping and cheering, and Liz and I are rushing toward Maggie to hug her.

When I get my turn, I squeeze her tight. “Congratulations. You deserve this.”

Maggie returns my hug. “I’m so happy. I never thought I’d get to be this happy.”

“We want details,” Liz demands.

Maggie beams. “We were in New York visiting Zoe, and Asher took me to this gorgeous little vineyard upstate. He had everything arranged—the flowers, the location, the photographer. He said he knew I was afraid of weddings because of…well, you know…but he didn’t need a big crowd. He just needed me. If I would have him.”

Tears spill from my eyes because I can picture everything she described, and as much as I would have loved to be there, I also know that Asher gave Maggie exactly what she needed.

“What did you say?” Liz asks.

Maggie looks at Asher. “I said, ‘I do.’”

Before long, music is playing, drinks are flowing, mounds of food cover the buffet tables at the back of the house, and Liz and I have found our spots near the dance floor in the basement where she has access to the bar and I can more easily do my pathetic crowd-scanning thing without being obvious.

“Hey, Liz,” Sam says, running his eyes over her in her black dress. “That dress looks terrible on you. Want me to help you out of it?”

“You wish,” she grumbles.

He grins and dips his head to her ear to whisper something I can’t hear. Whatever it was makes her smile despite herself, but she shoves him softly and says, “Go hang out with your boys. I’m talking to my sister.”

When he’s gone, I raise an eyebrow at Liz. “So, are you going to tell me what’s going on there?”

She crosses her arms and frowns. “Nothing. It’s
Sam.
”

I sigh. “Well, if you aren’t going to use what he’s offering, can I borrow it?”

“No,” she snaps. Her eyes track Sam across the room.

Holy crap.
I think Liz has a thing for
Sam.
And not just an “I’d fuck him” thing. An
emotional
thing. Where have I been?

Some emotion I don’t recognize flicks over her face before she pastes on a smile that would probably fool anyone but me. “I mean, I think you could do better, but go for it.”

Not a chance. Not when my twin is giving him the hot-and-needy eyes. I don’t need Sam anyway. Just sex.

I sigh. “I’ll find someone else. Why did no one ever tell me how horny being pregnant makes you? Because this is ridiculous.”

“Seriously?” Liz snorts. “You’ve got two sexy guys who’d kill to climb into bed with you and you’re going to complain to
me
about being horny?”

I wave away her objection. “Too complicated. I just want sex. A lot of it. As often as possible.”

“You called?” a deep voice says behind us.

I turn and find myself staring into Nate Crane’s intense, brown eyes. Holy cow, he’s sexy, and the way he drags his eyes over my body makes me want to strip off his clothes, crawl on top of him, and take exactly what he’s offering. What was I saying about complicated?

Nate nods toward the dance floor and offers me his hand. “You owe me a dance, angel.”

Mute with longing, I follow him and let him pull me into his arms. He’s warm and his chest is solid against my cheek. He smells so good it makes the muscles between my legs clench.

“God, I missed you,” he murmurs in my ear.

My stomach flip-flops. “You shouldn’t say that.”

“What? I can’t miss my
friend
? Are you going to tell me you didn’t miss me at all?”

Only every other second and the ones in between.
“A little, I guess.”

“How are you feeling?” he asks against my ear. Then I can feel his lips curve into a smile as he adds, “Other than painfully horny, that is.”

My cheeks burn. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.”

“Maybe I’m glad I did. Maybe I wanted an excuse to talk my way into your bed.”

I bite my lower lip. Hard. Because I would gladly take him up on that—even if I know I shouldn’t. And it’s not just because pregnancy has left me as horny as a teenage boy at prom. It’s because it’s Nate, and I know a little bit about what would happen if I let him talk his way into my bed. But I’d like to know more.

“We can’t,” I protest lamely, because apparently my brain has conquered my girly bits in the battle for control of my speech. “You know that.”

W
HEN
I walked into the party tonight, she was the first thing I saw. In a black dress and bright red heels, she’d catch any man’s eye. With her belly rounding with my babies, I could hardly see anything else.

I brush a lock of hair behind her ear. “All I know is that we’re two consenting adults who want and love each other. All I know is that you’re having my babies, and I’m going to be part of your life from here on out, whether you want me or not.” It’s one thing if she doesn’t want to be with me, but I’ll be fucking damned before I let her fantasize about screwing some other man just to get off. “Come with me,” I say, taking her hand in mine. “I need to show you something.”

She narrows her eyes. “What?”

I don’t answer, but she doesn’t argue as I lead her away from the party and up two flights of stairs from the basement to Asher’s second floor.

“Nate,” she says, the warning apparent in her voice as I lead her into my bedroom.

“The balcony,” I say, pushing the doors open.

The night is balmy and the cool air nips at my cheeks, but I needed to get her away from everyone else. I needed to get her alone.

Her shoulders relax a bit as she walks to the rail and settles against it. “It’s beautiful tonight,” she murmurs.

There she stands. Gorgeous and framed by moonlight that shimmers on the water and stars that spread out across the black sky.

“Stunning,” I whisper. Coming up behind her, I place my hands on the railing on either side of her. “And so are you.” She stiffens slightly, and I graze the side of her neck with my lips—not kissing exactly, but definitely pushing the limits of her “friendship” rules. Damn, she smells good. Like vanilla and lavender. But I want her to smell like sex and me.

She’s so fucking beautiful in that dress—a black thing that shows off her curves and ties above her rounding belly. It’s grown in the weeks that I’ve been gone, and since I walked into the party half an hour ago, all I could think about was getting her alone and tugging on that bow, getting my hands on what waits beneath.

“What are you doing, Nate?” she asks, but even as she says it, she’s tilting her head to the side and giving me better access to her neck.
Hell yes.

“I’m trying to help a friend,” I whisper against her ear, my hand finding the tie in the front of her dress. “You said we’re friends, right?”

She stiffens slightly.

“Don’t overthink this, Hanna. Just relax.” I tug on the tie, and she gasps. The dress loosens and opens.

“We shouldn’t,” she says as my hand closes over her breast.

“Are you asking me to stop?” I pinch her nipple, and she moans, arches into me. I release her breast and trail my hand down her body, circling her navel.

“Didn’t you say you weren’t going to do this unless I asked?”

“I said I wouldn’t
kiss
you unless you asked. I didn’t say anything about putting my hands on your body.”

“You don’t play fair.”

“Fuck fair. For you, angel, I’ll play downright dirty.”

She places her hand over mine and guides it farther south until my fingertips are brushing the satin band at the top of her panties. It’s all the permission I need.

Sliding my hand into her panties, I find her wet and swollen. “Is this what you need?”

I roll her clit between two fingers, and she gasps. “Please.”

“I’m the only man for this job. Do you understand?” I release her clit and cup her softly.

“Nate, please.”

“Please
what
, angel? Tell me.”

“Touch me,” she whimpers.

“I don’t want anyone else touching this body,” I growl, sounding and feeling more possessive than I ever have in my life. The idea of her fucking Max, the idea of him inside her, his hands on her body—it’s enough to make me crazy. “No one but me.”

“I don’t want anyone at all,” she objects, but her body betrays her and she rocks into my hand, begging for more.

“But I think you do.” I run a finger along her clit, my touch light, more a tease than a gift. “I think you want me very much.” Then I slide my fingers inside her, and she’s so wet and so tight that my cock aches.

She lets her head fall to the side. I kiss her neck and play with her breasts as I fuck her with my fingers, making her mine in this simple way.

“Tell me you don’t think about me when you’re alone in your bed,” I whisper. “Tell me you don’t imagine my cock inside you when you’re getting yourself off.”

With a soft moan, she rocks her ass back, grinding against my hard-on.

“I’ll tell you what I think about. I think about my face between your legs. Your clit under my tongue.” Taking her earlobe between my teeth, I suck hard, showing her exactly what I’d like to be doing to her clit, and she comes, her pussy pulsing tight and hard against my fingers.

She turns in my arms, and the movement pulls my hand from her panties. Her teeth are sinking into her bottom lip and her eyes are still dark with lust. “Thanks, I think.”

I raise a brow. “You
think
?”

She bites back a smile. “I don’t want to encourage you.”

“I don’t need any encouragement to get you off, angel.” I slide my hands down her back to cup her ass. “Just permission. Let me take you home. Let me…” I stop the words before they can leave my tongue.
Let me make love to you.
“Let me fuck you, Hanna.”

She draws in a ragged breath. “I need to get back downstairs before…”

I wait for her to finish.
Before someone realizes we’re both gone.
The words hang between us unsaid.