Nameless (11 page)

“Did you come?”
he asked thickly.

She gave a broken
laugh that vibrated against his cock, which was sheathed snugly inside her. “Oh,
yeah. Couldn’t you tell?”

“Thought so. Just
checking.”

She reached up
to his shoulders and pulled him down toward her. “I think I can come again, if
you’re still up to it.”

He repositioned
himself, this time supporting himself on straightened arms so that his weight wasn’t
pushing against her belly.

It changed the
angle of his thrusts, but the friction still felt incredibly good. His strokes
were still slow, and occasionally he would stop altogether.

She figured he
was trying to hold it together, but the slow speed and the stops and starts
were driving her crazy. She needed more stimulation—needed it desperately—and
her first orgasm hadn’t dampened her ardor at all

Pumping up her
hips, she rode Seth from below, more rapidly than he was moving above her. She
planted her feet on the mattress and used them for additional leverage.

Seth was making
breathless, frustrated sounds, and his body grew tighter and tighter.

Erin couldn’t
seem to stop. She barely even recognized that she was clawing at his shoulders
and making the most ridiculous sounds of effort and pleasure she’d ever heard
herself make. Barely noticed that she was sweating now and that the flesh of
her ass and her breasts were jiggling wildly with their motion. Just needed to
feel more of him. Just needed to release this excruciating tension again.

“Fuck, Erin,” Seth
rasped, his eyes open now and staring down at her body. “Fuck, Erin, you’re incredible.
But you’re killing me.” His jaw clenched tightly, and he released an agonized
groan as he pumped. “Slow down or I’ll lose it.”

“Can’t,” she
choked. “Can’t. Need more, Seth. More.”

She wasn’t really
sure if she came a second time, or if she came several times, or if they
weren’t really orgasms at all. All she knew was that she felt waves of pleasure
flooding her, and there was no way to define how many or what kind or how
exactly it was happening.

And she really
couldn’t care less. She couldn’t remember the last time sex had felt this good.
All of it. Not just the orgasm.

Then it got
even better. Because Seth had reared up again on his arms and had finally let
himself go. He took her hard, fast, wild.

He started to
grunt as much as she was, and the slide of his cock matched her deepest rhythm.
She cried out loudly at the change in motion and couldn’t help but claw lines
down the trembling muscles of his tense arms.

Her noisy bed squeaked,
and the headboard banged loudly against the wall—as much from her motion as
his.

“Seth, Seth,
yes.” She heard her voice getting louder, her cries bursting out involuntarily,
timed unconsciously with the rhythm of their bodies.

Afraid Seth was
going to lose it before she got there again, Erin managed to let go of one of
his shoulders and bring her hand back down to her clit.

She rubbed herself
as hard as she could, the stimulation causing her body to contract around him
even more.

“Yes,” Seth
rasped harshly. “Erin. Fuck.”

And then he let
out a loud noise as climax ripped through him, obviously coming before he
really wanted it to. He kept thrusting into her, though, as his cock pulsed
with his climax.

The sight of
his face transforming with pleasure was enough to push Erin over the edge at
the very last moment.

She came hard,
and when she regained her senses, she saw that her clutching hand had pulled
the comforter, top sheet, fitted sheet, and mattress pad—all of them—off the
top left corner of her bed, exposing the bare mattress.

Seth, who
didn’t even seem to notice, hadn’t collapsed on top of her, but he was wet with
perspiration, gasping, and visibly drained.

“Condom,” she
managed to croak, feeling that he was still somewhat hard inside her but knowing
he wouldn’t be for long.

With a grunt,
he pulled out and rolled to the side of the bed. Then heaved himself off the
bed to dispose of the condom.

Erin hadn’t
moved at all when he came back. She felt like she’d run a marathon, but she was
far more pleased and satisfied than she normally was after so much exertion. Her
body practically glowed from the residual pleasure, and weird little hums kept
escaping from her throat as she tried to catch her breath.

Seth collapsed back
onto the bed beside her, and they lay next to each other gasping and wheezing.

“Wow,” Erin
said at last. “You weren’t kidding when you said you’d help me out with my
little dilemma.” She turned her head to look at him and was both amused and touched
that he looked so incredibly worn out.

He gave a thick
huff that she supposed had been laughter. “That was incredible.”

“Yeah. In fact,
if I didn’t think it would swell your ego to unbearable proportions, I’d admit
that it might have been the best sex I’ve ever had in my life.”

He turned to
peer at her, and she thought she saw pride and a primitive sort of
possessiveness glint briefly in his eyes. “Is that right?”

“I knew I
shouldn’t have said it. I didn’t mean it. Was just being polite.”

“In that case,
I won’t admit that I was about to say the same thing.”

They smiled at
each other in a pleased sort of surprise.

They lay in
silence for a long time, until Erin finally asked, “Did you want to stay the
night?”

Seth hesitated
before he finally said, “No. I don’t think so. I need to get an early start
tomorrow morning. Unless you wanted me to—”

She shook her
head and shifted on the bed, starting to feel a little self-conscious about her
nakedness now that the erotic urgency had dissipated. “No. No expectations,
remember?”

“Right. I’ll be
leaving then, as soon as I can manage to move.”

She laughed,
although she had no plans to move herself. Barely had energy to think clearly.

She did roll
over onto her side though, facing away from him so he wouldn’t get too clear a
view of the extra flesh on her belly and breasts. But then she realized that,
in this position, he would get a view of her ass—which might actually be worse.

But, before she
could correct matters, he’d moved himself. Scooted up until he was spooning her
from behind and draping a casual arm around her.

“You feel all
right?” he asked softly.

She was really
surprised by the gesture—it just didn’t feel like the cool, distant man she
knew—but she appreciated the comfort it provided and snuggled back against him.
She wasn’t quite as hot from the sex anymore, so the heat from his body felt
nice. “Yeah. I just had really good sex. How do you expect me to feel?”

It sounded like
he was smiling as he replied, “Well, I’ve never had sex with a pregnant woman
before. I wasn’t too rough, was I?”

“No worries. We
weren’t rough at all. Just...enthusiastic. And, if I remember correctly, most
of the enthusiasm was prompted by me.”

His hand was
idly stroking her belly, and she wondered if he was even aware of it. She
didn’t think so. His mood wasn’t tender or gentle—merely companionable.

Which was
exactly how Erin felt herself.

“True,” Seth
said. “Although you certainly didn’t hear me complaining. Are you always this
insatiable in bed? Or does it have something to do with the hormones?”

“Maybe a little
of both.”

They were
silent for another few minutes, and Seth’s hand stopped stroking and merely
rested against her belly, cupping the curve there in a way that felt both
natural and protective.

“Would you mind
keeping your phone on?” he asked at last, in what seemed like a sudden shift in
conversation.

“Huh?”

“I was worried
when I couldn’t get in touch with you earlier.”

Erin hesitated.
She didn’t want to sour the mood between them, but she needed to get this said.
 “Sorry you were worried. I’ll try to leave it on. But, Seth, I have a whole
life, you know. And I can’t be available for you to check on twenty-four hours
a day. You’re going to have to get used to it.”

“I will. I’ll
try. This is new to me.”

Erin sighed. “Me
too. And I do appreciate your help.” Looking back at him, she added, “I do.”

“Thanks,” he
said briefly, acknowledging all that her statement implied.

Then his voice
changed as he continued, “And, on that topic, if you need some physical release
again, just let me know. I’m more than happy to provide.”

Erin wished she
didn’t feel quite so excited about the notion of having him available to
satisfy her physical needs. Something about her excitement made her uncomfortable.
Less in control than she liked to be.

So she turned
to humor, as she always did. “Yeah. We’ll see if you say that when you’re
trying to fuck a horny woman who’s eight-and-a-half-months pregnant.”

He chuckled
appreciatively. “Regardless, I mean it.”

“I know. I’ll
give you a call if I get desperate, but I don’t want to get in the habit of
this. An occasional night is one thing. We’re both intelligent adults, and we
can keep it in perspective. But if we do this too much, then it’s bound to get
complicated. Things like this always do.”

“It’s up to
you. Just let me know.”

Erin felt a slight
anxiety rise up as she reflected on this new situation. “But just so we’re
clear. Despite your generous offer, I’m free to go out with any man I want, even
if I want to just screw him.”

Seth tensed up
slightly behind her but then immediately relaxed. “Of course. You’re free to do
what you want.”

She nodded in
satisfaction, but really
could
understand why the idea would bother him.
It was a strange situation for both of them—and it would naturally create even
more strange situations. “But, if it’s simply sex I want occasionally, then
I’ll probably just ask you—since you offered so nicely and everything.”

She had no
delusions about Seth’s good-natured generosity lasting longer than her
pregnancy. He had his own life, and he had his own tastes in sexual affairs—and
his tastes had never matched her, any more than her tastes had matched him. They’d
been thrown together unexpectedly because of this pregnancy, but only a fool
would think that things would miraculously transform into something serious.
Something romantic.

Real life just
didn’t turn out that way.

She didn’t even
want it to. This was much better. A blunt, honest sharing of realistic
expectations. All of her strongholds still in place.

The Erin she’d
been as a girl in the library would have started creating fanciful daydreams based
on a couple of rounds of good sex and some companionable conversation.

The Erin she was
now laughed at the very idea.

She added
without any bitterness at all, “At least for the next six months.”

It was nine-thirty on Saturday
morning, and Erin was lounging in an easy chair in her living room with a cup
of coffee.

Decaf, of
course.

She was
presently enjoying a long, lazy morning—pleased that she had nothing to do
until shopping and lunch with Liz.

She’d been
feeling pretty good this week and decided that being just over five months
pregnant was a pretty good place to be in the scheme of things. Her morning
sickness was gone completely, and she was still more fascinated than
exasperated with the enlargement of her belly.

She was also getting
used to people looking at her now and knowing immediately that she was
pregnant. It was a strange feeling, and she wasn’t sure what to think about it.

After scanning
through news stories on her tablet, she clicked over to Mary Carlyle’s blog,
which she tried to resist on principle but never could. The first thing she saw
was a photo of Seth.

He was with the
popular actress he’d been dating for the last month, whom he’d evidently met while
she was shooting a film in Atlanta. They were leaving a movie premiere in the photo—both
elegantly dressed and gorgeous.

Snorting in
amusement, Erin said out loud, “There’s your daddy. Looking very handsome in
that suit. He just can’t seem to keep a low profile.”

Curious, she
skimmed the adjacent article and was mildly surprised to learn that the couple
had a rather public break-up. Apparently, Seth had decided he no longer wanted
to pursue the relationship, and the actress had reacted dramatically.

“I can’t
believe it didn’t last any longer. She’s just his style.” Shaking her head, she
added, again addressing her belly, “But she doesn’t come across as very clever.
I suppose he’s too smart to put up with a lack of mental acuity for very long,
no matter what else she has to offer.”

Briefly, she
wondered what kind of mother she was turning out to be—discussing the father’s
love-life with her baby and, in the process, using the word “acuity.”

She’d started
talking to her baby last month. She’d never made a conscious decision to do so.
She’d simply started talking out loud and hadn’t stopped since.

It was nice, in
a strange sort of way. Like she finally had someone to talk to in her solitary
apartment. Like she’d finally made a connection as a mother.

Scanning over
the snide commentary in the blog again, Erin laughed softly. “Poor woman. But
she really should have known better than to think he would turn into a
different person just for her. You know, your daddy is a bit of an ass.” She
paused, suddenly struck with a thought she hadn’t considered before.

Maybe she
shouldn’t address her own child as if that child was Liz.

“I mean,"
she amended awkwardly, "Your daddy is a bit of a...jerk.”

Sighing, Erin
put down her coffee and rubbed her belly over her T-shirt. What a great mother.
Only now thinking about the kind of language she should use around her baby.