Authors: Cara North
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Romance, #Contemporary, #Western, #Westerns
It was a hard violent orgasm. She thought she may just pass out as the sensations shook her from head to toe.
“Well, that was something.” He was at her ear whispering. She hadn’t even noticed he moved. “I didn’t know…”
“Me either. But it is certainly something to look into for next time.” He was lazy, nibbling her ear.
“
Rafe
, don’t you want to come?” She pushed him up to look at her. His eyes were curious.
“I did come.” He frowned. “Did you black out?”
She shrugged.
He laughed. “Maybe we shouldn’t try it then.”
“We’ll see.” She smiled. Her whole body grew tired, sated. She was drained and unable to think clearly. Her back ached from the table, and she understood how he could not feel the pain of a love bite as she was just realizing the ache from the table.
He kissed her lips.
“Shower?”
“
UmHum
.”
She nodded then yawned.
Rafe
had set the alarm for five o’clock. He wanted to be sure he could start the morning right since he had no idea when he would get to do this again. He held
Layla
so close it was as if they became glued together in their sleep. Her nose was in his neck; her breath tickled his skin. Her thigh was pressed tightly between his, her front was glued to his front, and their arms were wrapped around one another.
The radio began playing country music, and he could feel the flutter of her lashes against his skin as she opened her eyes. “I just realized something.”
“What’s that?” They didn’t move from the position they were in.
“I had to toss out the contacts last night, and I don’t have my glasses.” He could feel it as her smile spread across her lips and then those lips opened allowing the heat from her mouth to ignite the fire inside of him as she kissed his neck.
His cock, already hard and pressing against her belly, twitched. He lifted his right leg off her thigh and moved his hand down to reposition her. He pulled her leg over his hip.
Layla
tilted back as her sex lined up with his. “I should brush my teeth first.”
He smiled at her. Surely after all they had done, all they had been through in the past few months,
she
couldn’t think morning breath would stop him. Besides, he didn’t have a toothbrush either.
He ignored her shyness and leaned in to kiss her lips as he rolled her to her back and let the head of his dick slide along her heated pussy. She was hot, wet, and ready. He slid in with a moan. There was no way to get enough of
Layla
; she was made for him. He could feel words creeping into his throat. He couldn’t say them, though they were there. He didn’t want to undo all the progress he was making. He needed to stop moving slow. If he picked up the pace, he could say something dirty.
“Your pussy is so tight,
Layla
. It feels fucking amazing.” He bit down on his lip to hold back any sentimental declarations.
“
Rafe
,” She gasped as he went deeper, so deep he could feel the head of his cock rub against her cervix.
“Too far?”
He pulled back and made shallower thrusts.
“No.” She pulled a pillow from underneath her head and lifted her hips. She tucked the pillow underneath her ass giving her body a new angle. “Yes, yes, that’s good.”
“Fuck.” He liked this angle. He could go deep, and it didn’t hurt her. “I…”
He gripped her close in his arms, let all of his weight push against her, and took her over from head to toe. She gripped his back with biting force, and her nails stung as they sunk in to his skin. He couldn’t say it. He wouldn’t say it first this time. He kissed her lips as she pulsed around his cock. He couldn’t watch her face as she came. He couldn’t look at her when he came or he would be done for.
Closing his eyes and biting his bottom lip, he let go with a long grunt.
Collapsing on top of her made her giggle.
“What?” He kissed her shoulder then rolled to her side.
“I was thinking how silly it is to have to sneak back into the house this morning.” Her face turned serious, her cheeks still flushed. She reached a cool hand over to stroke his face. “I don’t think I can wait another two weeks to do this again.”
“We’ll work something out.” He nodded. “I… Do you want to head back now?”
“We probably should.” She sighed and sat up. “If we are ever sneaking out for an overnighter again, don’t let me leave without my contact stuff, or at least my glasses.”
* * *
The children were asleep. Exhausted from building their first snowman of the year, they were easy to settle down tonight. He made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen.
Layla
had made some hot chocolate and was wearing a fuzzy pair of pajama bottoms, a long sleeve shirt that looked very familiar to him and thick socks. Her long hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she had her glasses on. He didn’t know if he had ever seen the woman look more attractive to him than in that moment.
“For me?” he asked as he picked up the cup she nodded toward.
“I put extra marshmallows in there for you.” She winked. He stifled a groan. His dick was already growing hard against his jeans. She was simply trying to be nice to him, and he was simply going mad with lust for her. He sipped the drink then gulped it as he realized it was warm not too hot.
“Do you want to watch TV?” she asked. Her blue eyes sparkled; her smile came so easy now.
“In my bedroom?”
He bit his lower lip.
Her brows drew tight making a crease in between them.
“What if?”
“They are out. Brice was even snoring.” He closed the distance between them and placed the coffee cup on the counter. He reached for her cup and set it down, too. “We can watch television, or we can be quiet, slow, and torturously naughty as we watch each other.”
She looked toward the stairs then back to him. Her eyes proved she was aching for it as much as he was. “We have to be very careful. I mean, it seems ridiculous sometimes. I think to myself why can’t I just go sleep in your bed? Why can’t we be like normal parents and not sneak to have sex? If we were normal parents, we wouldn’t have to be in separate bedrooms.”
He couldn’t talk, couldn’t breathe. She was referring to him as a parent. Had she made a commitment and not told him so? “But I’m not their dad. I’m not a parent.”
She took a deep breath. “You’re the only dad they have,
Rafe
. Like it or not, that is what they see you as. They have been seeing you as their father since the first time you watched them. You have no idea how hard that was for me. I wanted to be a good mom, and when I came home to find a man in my house watching my kids, I freaked out. Then I really freaked out when they told me how great you were. They have loved you from the first moment you stepped foot in their lives. Tell me you don’t see them as your babies. I knew the moment we came to stay
here,
you had built those rooms for my children. I know you want them. The only question is
,
do you want me?”
“I want you,” he admitted in a low voice.
“
Rafe
?”
The woman had totally turned the tide on him. He watched as she bent down on both knees in front of him. “Will you marry me?”
“Do you love me?” She wasn’t getting her answer until he got his.
“Yes.” She smiled. “I’ve been in love with you for a very long time. I was just too afraid to admit it.”
“If I say yes, do we have to abstain until our wedding night?” He crossed his arms and looked down at her.
She scowled at him. “No.”
“Do I get to pick when and where?” he asked.
“
Rafe
Johnson, will you marry me or not?” She stood up and put her hands on her hips.
A smile slowly tugged at his lips. “I’ll think about it.”
To see the look of shock cross her face was priceless. “I…
You.”
Before she got too wound up, he closed the distance between them and kissed her anger away. “
Mmm
, I thought about it. I think I will marry you. If…”
“There’s a condition?” She was torn between laughter and frustration.
“My little sister has ten questions for me. I want her to ask those ten questions to you, too. If we can answer them, then we can get married. If we can’t, we have to wait.” He hugged her close. “But we don’t have to wait to sneak around before the inquisition.”
“Do you love me?”
Layla
frowned at him. Her tone was entirely too serious for the moment.
“
Layla
, I had no idea what love meant until I met you. I love you more than life itself.” He gulped. At least she said it first this time.
She smiled, bit her lower lip, and said. “So what’s playing in your bedroom?”
“Let’s go see.”
* * *
Tonight was the night Jan would ask her ten questions. She had warned him they were new questions.
Layla
had been studying, so had he. Neither of them were prepared for the questions they were about to receive this morning.
“What’s birth control?” Savannah asked.
Layla
choked on her orange juice. She looked adorable at the other end of the table, all flustered by the question.
Rafe
took a minute to compose
himself
. He was sure his eyes rounded, too. “Where did you hear those words?”
“Alice says her mom told her grandma she was not taking birth control anymore. Alice is really mad because her mom keeps talking about a new baby. I mean where do you get a new baby from anyways?” Savannah’s two front teeth had grown back in for the most part allowing her to pronounce her
s’s
again. She didn’t seem affected by the conversation; the kid was simply curious.
“Well, mommy, you wanna answer this?”
Rafe
smiled as
Layla’s
face got redder and redder as her daughter talked.
“I’m not sure where to start.” She rubbed her forehead.
“What’s birth control?” Brice helped her get back to the first question as he shoveled in another bite of pancakes.
“Thank you, Brice.”
Layla
cleared her throat. “Well, birth control is something mommies take to help them plan for babies.”
Rafe
nodded.
Sounded reasonable enough.
“Do you take birth control?” Savannah asked, and
Rafe
looked at
Layla
with interest. It was a sin to have so much fun watching her squirm.
“Well, mommies should be married before they think about babies. All girls and boys should be grown up to at least…”
Layla
looked at him with pleading eyes.
“Thirteen,” he supplied.
“Thirteen!”
Layla
shouted, and all three of them looked at her.
“Well, things happen around that age when they should start to know more about other things. Not that they should be doing those things, but some things will be learned through friends, and it won’t be as simple as this.” His own head was hurting from the questions now.
“So at thirteen boys and girls should start to learn more about babies and birth control.” She sounded more like she was asking then telling.
“Okay.” Savannah nodded. They both relaxed. Then she asked her second question again. They should have known she wouldn’t forget it. “So where do babies come from?”
Before either of them could get a word out, Brice answered, “The vagina.”
“
Rafe
!”
Layla
was stunned. What she didn’t realize was the fact that he was, too.
“I didn’t tell him that. Brice, who told you
that
?”
Rafe
looked at the little boy.
“Robert has a little sister, and he said his mom had the baby in her belly, and it came out the vagina. He said that boys can’t have babies because they are too big to come out the penis.” He shrugged.
“Like Aunt Chance and Aunt Bethany, they have babies in their bellies, right?” Savannah nodded.
“Uh, yeah, they do.”
Rafe’s
head was spinning.
“Mom.”
Savannah looked at
Layla
, and he could see her actually squirm in the chair. “Will you have a baby?”
“Well, there are a lot of things to think about before having a baby.” She tried for a smile.
“Yeah, like getting fat.” Brice nodded. “Babies make your belly really big.”
Certainly, this breakfast was teaching him more than it was them. There was a lot more to consider when planning a family. They wouldn’t remain little forever. Some day that strawberry blonde little girl would bring a boyfriend home, and he would have to do his best not to kill him. Sooner than he wanted to think about he would have to talk to Brice about being a young man and respecting both his own body and the way he treated girls. He had a feeling his face was mirroring the same anxiety
Layla
was feeling.
“Do you think you want another little brother or sister, Savannah?”
Rafe
asked. “Or do you think you would be like your friend Alice?”
“I want a little brother,” Brice answered.
“You would.” Savannah scowled at him. “I want a little sister, so I can play dress up with her.”
“Well.” Being diplomatic, he nodded. “Aunt Chance and Aunt Bethany are both going to have a baby, so you might get lucky and have a boy and a girl, or two boys, or two girls soon enough.”
“Don’t do it.” Savannah looked at Brice.
“Do what?”
Layla
asked Savannah.
“Brice.” She gave her brother a look that made him mad, and whatever she wanted him not to do, he was going to do anyways.
“
Rafe
.”
He looked at him. “Can I talk to you alone?”
“Brice, don’t do it,” Savannah warned.