Branding the Virgin (4 page)

I
wake
to a warm body melded around me, and a face buried in my neck. Ty’s slow, even breathing lets me know he’s still asleep. His earthy smell wraps around me, and I find myself pushing into him further, soaking up the comfort of him.

I can’t remember a time when I’ve lain in a bed and been cuddled. I should be mad that he snuck into my room, but I was sad when we parted last night. I’d wanted to lie down in bed with him, to fall asleep in his arms. Yesterday was more perfect than I could have imagined. The change in him was crazy, and I still don’t know what to make of it. He’d still seemed grumpy with others, but not with me. I oddly like that only I get that side of him. His words are always soft and low when he talks to me. Almost like I’m something precious he could startle. He’s handling me with care to avoid spooking me.

I’m falling for him and I’m not sure I can stop it. I can still feel his lips against mine. After I’d gotten out of the shower last night, I’d stared in the mirror for a long moment.

My lips were still swollen from his kisses, my belly was swollen with his child, and I looked how I’d always dreamed—happy after finding a man who loved me and excited to create a family with him. But it isn’t real. I have to be careful not to get carried away. Things haven’t gone as planned, and I’m scared to pop this little bubble. I’m wondering how things will change when Ty finds out. I wonder if he even wants children. He’s already spent a good chunk of his life helping raise his brothers and sister. His sister is barely out of the house, and to have a baby dropped on him might be an unwelcome shock.

I feel his lips start to move against my neck. The stubble on his face brushes against my skin, making goosebumps break out all over my body. The softness of his lips paired with the roughness of his beard feels perfect. Even his kisses are like him. First you feel his roughness, then the softness he hides in there comes out. He lazily presses his kisses against my neck. I tilt my head a little bit, wanting him to keep doing what he’s doing. Wanting those kisses everywhere.

“I could wake up like this every morning,” he mumbles, and I just let out a little moan. I feel him smile against me. “Sorry, I tried to stay away. I don’t know why, but I just can’t seem to.”

I feel one of his hands start to rise up my thigh, his rough palm feeling good against my skin. My legs part just a little of their own accord. He takes the opening to slide between my thighs, cupping me. I gasp at the contact and my body comes awake. Any remaining sleepiness is washed away as I feel my pulse start to pick up.

My hips rise, wanting what he’s doing. His finger drifts back and forth, slowly teasing me, and I hear myself whimper.

“You want me to keep going, darlin’?” he asks, a gruffness to his voice, and I wonder if he’s as turned on as I am. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this before. Every part of me aches.

“Please,” I say so softly I’m not sure he can hear me. My shyness is taking over. But then his hand slips under my panties from the side. One of his legs wraps around mine, pulling me open for him.

“I’d do anything to hear that little moan you just made again. I should be the one saying please. Not you.”

My eyes fall closed as his fingers start to move.

“I didn’t know something could feel so soft,” he whispers against me. “Feels so perfect.” Another kiss lands, this time his tongue sweeps out to taste me. “Feels so mine,” he growls as one finger pushes into me. I can feel how wet I am, how easily his finger slides into me.

“Fuck, darlin’. You’re so goddamn tight.” His finger starts to move in and out of me. The heel of his hand rubs my clit, and I feel myself clench around him. “Move with me. Show me how much you like this.”

My body does as he commands as my hips start to thrust, mimicking sex. “Ty,” I moan.

“Jesus, that’s the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard in my fucking life.”

I can’t seem to stop. His name pours from my mouth over and over again until my body locks and I explode. I feel wetness leak out of the corner of my eyes, and I lie there, unable to feel a muscle in my body. It’s like all the tension and worry I had drained away and the only thing left is a sweet, warm feeling that settles over me like a warm blanket.

My eyes fly open, tearing me from my afterglow, when I feel Ty’s body move between my legs. I have no idea how he moved without my noticing.

He looks down at me. “I want to see all of you. Taste you.” I go to grab his hand, but he slips my shirt up and my whole body freezes when his eyes lock on my stomach. I feel like the whole world stops. My perfect moment shatters. The bubble I wanted to stay in for just a little bit long is gone.

The tears of pleasure I shed moments ago freeze on my cheeks. Ty’s hand drops to my stomach like he can’t believe what he’s seeing. Then his eyes slowly travel up to mine.

“Whose is it?”

I can’t seem to find the words, and then he saves me from the trouble.

“Don’t answer that.” I see his breathing pick up. His hand moves over my belly. “You’re mine now,” he says to my stomach, and I don’t know if he’s talking to me or the baby.

L
ooking up into her eyes
, I see there’s something there. It’s a hint of what looks like guilt, and I assume it’s because she was keeping it from me. There’s nothing she could tell me that would make me not want her, and a baby isn’t going to do it. I’ve always wanted a family, but I kept putting it on the back burner. I thought that at some point it would just happen, and then I thought it never would, especially after my accident with the bull. I was ornery and set in my ways, and I knew this kind of life wasn’t for everyone. But from what Mary-Jane and I have shared, this is right. I know it deep in my soul that she’s the one for me, and she was meant to be here. She’s brought me back to life, and I’m talking about more than just my dick. She makes me want to be someone softer for her.

“Just let me love you for a little bit, darlin’.”

I pull her panties off and move between her legs. I want to kiss every inch of her, and I want to start right here.

“Ty. There’s um…” Mary-Jane stammers as I lean forward and give her one long lick. “We should talk.” Her words end on a moan as I put my open mouth on her pussy and start to suck.

Her flavor fills my mouth, and I’m a goner. I move two fingers up to her opening and slip them inside her. She’s so fucking tight I don’t know how I’m going to get my cock in her, but I will. I don’t care how long it takes, I want to make sweet love to this little thing.

“I’m clean, baby. I had an accident a few years ago, and I had every test under the sun done on my dick. I’m gonna take you bareback.” I almost groan at my own words as I think about taking her with nothing between us. Something like that would have freaked me out before. It would have been too intimate. But not with her.

Sliding my fingers in and out, I try to stretch her a bit more with each thrust. I put my mouth back on her clit and try to give her pleasure while I’m getting her ready to take me. She moans and shivers under me, and I can feel her juices soaking my fingers. She’s so close to cumming, and I feel like I’m about to explode myself. I haven’t so much as touched my cock and he’s throbbing with need like I’ve never felt before. It’s been years since I’ve had an orgasm, and I’m a little terrified of the amount of cum that I’m going to put inside her. I’d say if she wasn’t already pregnant, it’s likely she would be after this first time.

Her hands come up to grip my short hair, and although I think she’s going to pull me off of her, she just holds me still as I suck her pussy. The goddamn sounds she’s making are driving me insane, and I need to get her off more than I need my next breath. Feeling her legs tremble on either side of my head, I reach my free hand up and slide it to one of her breasts, pinching the hard nipple. The little extra sensation is enough to send her skyrocketing, and she goes over the edge with a shout of pleasure.

I eat her orgasm as she cums in my mouth, and fuck does she taste sweet. I’m addicted to every inch of her, but this prize between her thighs has got me feeling like a goddamn gold medalist.

“More, darlin’. I want another.”

And she gives it to me. Her back arches, and she shoots into another climax as I work my tongue on her clit and my fingers inside her pussy. I rub her easy and gentle and coax out another little orgasm after that one. Her body shudders and quakes with the aftermath, so I gently take my fingers out and lick them clean. I don’t want a drop of her to go to waste.

When I sit up and look down at her, she’s a beautiful mess. Sweat has broken out on her body, and it has caused her curls to stick to the side of her face. Her nightdress is pushed up and almost all of her is exposed in the fresh morning light.

I’ve never seen anything more beautiful, and I don’t intend to stop pleasuring her.

She reaches for me, and I move on top of her. I feel her hands pushing at my clothes, and I help her take them off me. I slip her nightdress the rest of the way off so we’re skin on skin as the sun streams in over us. I’m hard and rigid, and she’s warm and soft. Her body cushions me as I move between her thighs and press the head of my angry red cock to her opening.

“Go slow, Ty. I’ve never done this before.”

I look down at her baby belly and think she must mean she hasn’t had sex while pregnant. I don’t want to know the details of how she got this way and why she had to run off, but I’m glad she ran in my direction. Because I’ve caught her, and she’s not going anywhere. I’ll rope her little ass to my bed.

“Slow, darlin’. Real slow.”

When we kiss, I can still taste the sweetness of her pussy, and it drives me fucking wild. I don’t know how the hell I’m supposed to control myself when I’ve got something so perfect and beautiful under me.

I push in slowly, trying to control the beast on my back that’s telling me to fuck her through the mattress. Mary-Jane is special and sweet, and I want to be easy with her. I enter her inch by inch, and she tenses as I go. I stop a few times to let her catch her breath, but she tells me to keep going. I don’t like to think about her being with someone else, but he must have had a tiny dick if she’s still virgin-tight like she is now. That thought of someone leaving her in her condition makes me angry, but also happy about it, because now I’m going to make her mine. I’m going to let her know that under no circumstances is she ever going to leave me, and that her baby is now my baby. And we’re going to be a goddamn family. Forever.

Finally, I’m all the way inside her, and I pause to let her relax a little more. We kiss and I feel every inch of her, rubbing her soft skin and curves. When she finally starts to move her hips under me, I know she’s ready for me to make love to her. I’m careful to keep my weight off the baby belly, and thrust slowly in and out.

Moving my mouth lower, I suck on her nipples, and she nearly comes off the bed. They’re so sensitive, and I think about how they’ll taste once her milk comes in. The thought makes my hard-as-steel cock leak a little inside her. I can’t believe I’m getting everything I’ve ever wanted with the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. We may have not known each other long, but I already know she’s the kindest person I’ve met, and I will do everything in me to take care of her. To keep that soft, sweet woman alive and vibrant as we grow together.

I reach between us and rub her clit with my thumb, feeling her tighten around me.

“I can’t…” Mary-Jane starts to protest another orgasm, but I don’t let her get away from it.

“You can, darlin’. And you will.” I lean down and suck her nipple into my mouth, and she cries out in pleasure. I let it pop out of my mouth and lick between her breasts. “Give me what I want, Mary-Jane. I won’t stop until I get it.”

I lean up and look down at her, watching the soft morning light spread over her, and she climaxes under me. The sight is enough to send me over the edge, and I thrust hard one last time, emptying inside her. The orgasm comes from every inch of my body, the release unlike any pleasure I’ve ever felt. It’s throbbing and intense, and I can feel the cum running out between us because there’s too much for her to hold.

Once I catch my breath, I look down at her, smiling, and she gives me a soft smile back. I want to collapse on top of her, but I can’t, so I pull out and lie down beside her, cupping her belly and nuzzling her neck. I wanted to take it slow and ease her into things. I know I come on too strong, and that could spook her. When I want something I just take it, but this has changed things. There is no taking it slow. I have to stake my claim.

I
lie there
, unsure what to say. So many thing race through my mind. That was incredible and more than I ever though my first time could have been. I close my eyes, enjoying the feel of Ty absent-mindedly rubbing my stomach. I feel whole for the first time in my life. Something has come together for me, and I didn’t even know I needed it so badly. I can’t lose this.

I can’t believe how he responded. How he’s acting about finding out about the baby. He doesn’t seem mad. If anything, he seems even more possessive of me. But what will he think when he finds out it’s his child inside me? How will he react to the fact he didn't get to choose to have this baby?

I open my mouth to say something, but I can’t think of how to tell him. Then he’s off the bed and pulling on his boxers. I sit up and watch him, grabbing the sheet to cover myself as I’m still feeling a little self-conscious. I’ve never been naked in front of a man before. It’s something that will take some time to get used to.

Ty picks up my things, throwing them into my luggage I have sitting in the corner of the room. I’d unpacked all my stuff, and seeing him packing it is making my blood run cold. Had I misread him? Or maybe reality has caught up to him now that the lust haze has faded.

He goes over to the closet, and in one big grab he pulls my clothes down. Then he grabs the luggage and leaves the room, weighed down with clothes and cases.

“Ty!” I yell and chase him, but he doesn’t head towards the front of the house. Instead he enters his bedroom. I follow him, holding the sheet to me as I watch him start putting my things away in his room.

“I wanted to go sweet and slow and make you fall for me, make you want to stay, but now slow isn't going to work,” he says. I’m not sure if he’s talking to me or himself. He opens his closet, moves some of his clothes out of the way, and hangs mine next to his. Seeing my clothes next to his makes something settle inside me. A sense of belonging, which I’ve never felt before.

“No fucker is going to show up here thinking you or my baby belongs to him,” he growls, stomping over to the luggage he dragged in. He opens my black bag and pulls out more of my stuff. He stops and looks at one of the baby books and moves to put that one on the night stand.

“You know what? I kind of hope he tries to show up here. This is fucking Texas, after all. Can’t just walk onto another man’s land and try and take what’s his without ending up with a few holes in you.”

He turns to look at me, his hard, possessive eyes focusing on me. I just stare at him, mouth open, eyes wide. Then he softens.

“I’m sorry, darlin’.” His long legs eat up the distance between us. “I’d never hurt you, don’t be scared.” He leans down and places a soft kiss on my lips. So much softer than you’d think you’d get from a man like him. Then he’s lifting me, carrying me to his bed and laying me down.

“You look good in my bed. Our bed,” he corrects himself. “Don’t move.” He pulls himself from the bed and walks over to his dresser, digs through one of the drawers, and comes back.

“This baby will be a Jennings.” I feel something slide on my finger. “You will be Mrs. Jennings. No one else will show up here trying to say otherwise. We’ll go to the courthouse tomorrow and make it official.” He glances over at the clock on the night stand. “Maybe we can still go into town today and get the paperwork started.”

He goes to pull back from the bed, and I grab him. “You’re going so fast. I can’t catch up,” I tell him. It all seems too good to be true.

“You don’t need to catch up. It’s happening.” His face grows hard again, and I can see the worry in his gaze. “Whoever he was let you slip through his fingers. I won’t make the same mistake, even if I have to tie you to this bed to keep you here. I’ll bribe a judge to sign off on our marriage. It’s happening.”

That should probably scare me, but it doesn’t. In fact, I feel my body heating all over again. “I’m not saying no, but there is more you should know.”

“We have our whole lives to catch up.” He leans in, placing his forehead against mine. “I need this. I have to know you’re not going anywhere. That I won’t lose you.” I think of how he lost his mom and dad, and that fear of losing someone else rides hard on him.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I tell him. I reach up to run my fingers across his jaw, feeling the stubble against my fingers.

He nods and stands up. He reaches out for me to pull me from the bed with him. “Let’s get on the road then. We need to…” His words trail off, and his face turns white. I follow his line of sight to the spot between my legs, and I see a trace of blood on my thighs. Seeing it makes my face flush.

“Oh my God! Mary-Jane, you’re bleeding! The baby!” he shouts, panic clear on his face. He drops to his knees in front of me, inspecting the blood. “We have to get you to a hospital.” He stands, but before he can run, I grab his arm.

“Ty, I’m fine,” I try to reassure him.

“I don’t know much, if anything, about pregnancy, but I’m pretty fucking sure you aren’t supposed to bleed.”

“That blood's not from the pregnancy.” He stops and stares at me in confusion. “It’s because you were my first.” I can tell by his face he still doesn’t get what I’m saying. “You took my virginity.

“But—”

I cut him off just wanting to get the words out. “The baby.” I take a deep breath, getting my bearings. “The baby is yours.”

“Damn straight it fucking is.”

I have to bite my cheek from smiling at that.

“I mean, I was artificially inseminated, and there was a mix-up.” He just keeps looking at me like things aren’t adding up, so I continue. “I went to Caro Fertility Center to have it done. It’s actually why I’m here. I came to tell you.” It’s clear from his face that he knows the Center and things are clicking into place. “They gave me your baby.”

He just stares for a second before turning and leaving the room. I stand there, uncertain whether I should follow him, until I hear yelling coming from the other end of the house. I grab one of his shirts and slide it over my head before going to see what’s happening. When I enter the kitchen, he’s pacing back and forth with a phone pressed to his ear.

“I want it all destroyed!” he yells into the phone. The volume of his voice makes me jump. “All of it.”

He’s quiet for a second. “Were there any other mix-ups?” Those words are quiet and sinister, and my heart freezes when I hear them. “You’re fucking lucky.” With that, he clicks the phone off and drops it onto the counter. I stand frozen in place, and he turns to see me there.

He lets out a deep breath. “It’s okay,” he tells me, but I can’t seem to move. “I got it all destroyed.” I take a step back from him. He seems so mad.

“No other fucking woman is going to have my cum inside her but you. If I had found out they’d had another fucking mix-up I would have burned that goddamn place down for you.” He closes the distance between us. “Only you carry my babies.”

His mouth lands on mine in a possessively sweet kiss. My feet leave the ground, and I feel us moving through the house until my back hits the bed.

“Never thought I’d be happy about that bull almost taking my nuts off, but I’d do it again if it set you on the path to me.” I smile up at him. “I knew you were the one the moment you stepped out of your car. Woke me back up. Knew I’d be the man that loved you forever.”

“I love you, too,” I tell him, thinking how all these little things brought us together. Like the universe was making sure we found each other, one way or another.