“Huh,” he grunted, ducking his head down.
“Seth,” she repeated breathlessly, pushing at him harder. Her whole body writhed with pleasure and need. “Need my hand.”
He grunted again, this time incoherently, but he raised his body up by straightening his arms.
Releasing a loud, raspy breath in relief, Erin snuck her hand in between them and fumbled until she found her clit, her knuckles accidentally brushing against the base of Seth’s slick cock in a way that made him mutter, “Fuck.”
When she was able to rub her clit with her fingertips, Erin released a long, sustained, “Yeah.” The escalating pleasure inside her burst into urgency.
Seth picked up his speed to match the pumping of her hips, until the pleasure finally reached its breaking point.
Erin choked out a wordless cry at the moment before her orgasm, her entire body clenching around the pressure.
Seth made a rough sound of effort as her inner muscles clamped down around his cock, but he kept pushing into her, slowing down his rhythm and tensing to keep his control. His straightened arms shook as he held himself up, and his fists were clenched in the covers.
Erin was gasping as she came down, and she was washed by a flood of lingering satisfaction.
But with each of Seth’s continued thrusts, she felt the same delicious friction—more so now that she’d tightened around him. She heard herself whimpering as the pleasure didn’t die down, simply sustained itself on this high plateau of sensation.
After a minute, Erin’s body no longer felt quite so content. The urgency was building again, but more to a vague, indefinable height than to another definite climax. She wasn’t sure she could come again, but she hadn’t sunk back into leisurely contentment since the constant friction kept pushing her higher.
Stretching beneath his hot, tense body, Erin realized her whimpering had intensified. She reached above to grab at the headboard, needing something solid to hang on to. They were rocking the bed, so the tips of her fingers got caught between the headboard and the wall, but that only added to the thrill.
Seth was grunting even louder—primitive sounds she’d never thought to hear from such a cool man. He was moving easily inside her. Very easily, in fact. She could hear the wet sound of suction from his pumping very distinctly, despite the jostling bed and the urgent noises they made.
She arched high on the mattress, stretching her back, feeling jolts of sensation as this changed the angle of penetration even more. She listened to the wet sound. Realized she could feel moisture seeping out of her entrance. Felt like it was everywhere.
“God,” she moaned, trying to think past the sustained pleasure and her buzz. “Really wet.”
“Yes,” Seth muttered, ducking his head down again. “Yes.”
“Is the...” Erin lost her breath as a sliver of pleasure caused her to twitch her left leg wildly. “…condom okay? Feels too wet.”
Seth groaned as her free hand fumbled at his ass. “Condom?” It seemed to take him a long time to process this. “I haven’t come yet,” he said thickly, when he figured out what she was worried about.
Erin squeezed her hand around the edge of the headboard. “Check it. I feel too wet.”
With a loud groan of effort, Seth stopped moving. Supporting himself on his knees, he pulled out of her all the way.
Her pussy felt overly sensitive and achingly empty with the loss of him, but she peered down the bed through glazed eyes as he examined the condom.
“Looks fine,” he told her. He reached down and stroked her with his fingers. Then slid a finger all the way inside. Curled it up in a way that made her cry out. “Looks like the wetness is all you.”
“Oh,” she mumbled.
She wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or embarrassed by her excessive moisture, and she found herself meeting Seth’s eyes. Saw something ironic and proud and amused there.
She curled up her lip. “Don’t get smug.”
He chuckled a little, and Erin couldn’t help but laugh too.
“Do you want to change positions?” he asked.
That sounded like a good idea to her, so she turned over on her hands and knees, laughing again when she looked over her shoulder and saw Seth’s pleased expression.
He aligned himself behind her and slid into her from behind. Then he started to move, pushing into her rhythmically until she grabbed for the headboard.
The motion made her gasp and then moan as the pressure started to build again.
She wasn’t sure if it was the new position or if he had just been controlled for too long, but Seth lost it on her first moan.
He rasped, “Fuck,” and started driving into her rapidly, adjusting his stance for better leverage and pushing harder with each thrust.
“Yeah,” Erin cried, clutching desperately at the headboard as the bed started rocking wildly. Her body shook helplessly as Seth’s new rhythm did exactly what she needed it to. “Oh, God, yeah.”
When she looked back at him again, his eyes were indefinably primal. His rough grunts were timed with his rough tempo, and he was clearly on the way to release.
Erin lowered her shoulders until she could bury her face in the pillow as her mind blurred into hot pleasure. She let out a loud sob as she came again, the waves radiating out in deepening relief.
She made a silly sound of surprise when Seth pulled out without warning and turned her over onto her back. She automatically made room for him between her legs as he entered her again, bending one of her knees back toward her chest and pushing into her hard.
It felt good and deep and intense and raw, and she wasn’t going to come again. So she was able to watch as Seth lost control. On the cusp of climax, he froze for a moment, his features twisting with pleasure. Then he breathed out a thick sound of satisfaction, and his cock pulsed as he surrendered to his need.
Erin was still moaning. Couldn’t seem to stop. Her body felt pliant and pleased and so good, and every nerve ending tingled.
Seth bent his arms, lowering his weight on top of her. She panted beneath him, loving how his hot, shuddering body pressed her into the mattress. He smelled like Seth, and like Scotch, and like the mingled scent of their sex. His breath was warm and damp and right next to her skin. And he felt heavy, relaxed, substantial, sated.
Erin sighed in pleasure. Couldn’t remember the last time she’d had sex this good. Maybe the alcohol had loosened just enough of her inhibitions. Or maybe Seth was just that good in bed.
After a minute, his weight started to feel less pleasant. Became a little uncomfortable. She poked his shoulder. “Did you faint?”
He gave a huff of amusement and lifted his head from where it had been buried in the nook between her neck and shoulder. “Absolutely not. So did it meet with your expectations?”
Erin raised her eyebrows. “Not bad.”
He frowned at her disapprovingly.
Grinning, she admitted, “It was great.”
Adjusting his arm, he idly pushed a stray piece of hair off her damp cheek.
Erin cleared her throat. “Well?”
“I have to agree with your assessment. It was great.”
Nodding, Erin sighed in contentment. “All right. We’re both satisfied with the outcome. Get off me now. You’re getting heavy, and it feels like you’re going limp. The condom will leak.”
“I think we can find a more appropriate descriptor than to say I’m ‘going limp.’”
Erin felt herself shaking with amusement again at his offended expression. “Right. Sorry. Your hard, impressive manhood is returning to its normal, but admirable state." She paused. He still didn't move. "But, seriously, Seth, get off.”
He nodded and, holding the condom in place, carefully pulled out of her. Then he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, walking naked over to a small trash can.
Erin stretched in languid satisfaction, realizing she was going to be rather sore, but she saw Seth frowning as he looked at his hands. “What
is it? Something wrong with the condom?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head, “I don’t think so. It doesn’t look like it broke. There was a lot of extra...wetness, but we’d already determined...”
Erin tried to growl at him and ignored the fact that the covers beneath her were damp. “Don’t start with that again. It was just a fluke. Not evidence of any particular talent of yours in bed.”
“If you say so,” he said with a little smile. “You want to stay the night?”
Erin thought about it for a minute. “Nah. It’s not late yet, so I think I’ll head back to my dad’s. I’m twenty-seven, but he still worries sometimes.”
Seth’s face changed, and a haunted expression replaced the casual amusement.
Swallowing, Erin remembered the funeral they’d attended that day. She felt a surprising swell of tenderness rise up in her chest.
He glanced over and seemed to notice her expression. Their eyes met, and they shared something in the silent gaze.
Something abstract. Indescribable. Powerful.
Then it was gone.
Seth arched his eyebrows. “Then you’d better go assuage his worries.”
Erin snorted and rolled out of the bed to collect her scattered clothes. “I can’t believe you can use the word ‘assuage’ after the night we’ve just had.”
He grunted.
Giggling, she started pulling on her clothes. “That’s more like it.”
When she was fully dressed, she turned back to him. He sat on the side of the bed watching her—his expression thoughtful and guarded again, despite their light banter just moments before.
She knew what this encounter had been for him: a temporary reprieve, an escape, an interlude not connected in any way to his real world.
Exactly as it had been for her.
“Take care, Seth,” she said softly.
“Thanks. You too.”
There was nothing else to say. She felt a tiny clench in her belly.
But she and Seth shared nothing but a night of great sex, and there was no use in pretending that they did.
* * *
Twenty days later, Erin sat by herself on the edge of her tub in the bathroom of her apartment in downtown Atlanta.
Her heart raced. She breathed erratically.
And she stared at a little white stick.
She glanced at her watch. Then back at the stick. Couldn’t believe this was happening to her.
She’d thought the only truly stupid thing she would do in her life was marry Marcus.
Her evening with Seth was like a dream now. The memory was warm and pleasurable but didn’t feel real at all. It had been random, disconnected, fleeting.
And it wasn’t supposed to come with any consequences.
Erin kept staring at the stick until she saw what happened to the line on the end of it.
The irony was appalling
It was like a scene from a movie. A clichéd story about someone else.
There was really no other response to be made, though.
She closed her eyes. Dropped the pregnancy test on the floor.
Muttered under her breath, “Oh, shit.”
Two
Erin sat in the sleek waiting area of the downtown law firm where Seth worked and hoped she wasn’t going to throw up.
At this point, she wasn’t sure whether her nausea was from an afternoon case of morning sickness or from escalating nerves. As far as she knew, it could be both.
For the last few weeks, she’d been sick every morning, and, although some days it would fade as the morning progressed, other days she felt ill all day.
She’d known to expect it, of course—everyone knew about morning sickness—but that didn’t make it any easier to suffer. Going into work every morning was horrible now, and by lunchtime she was so exhausted she wanted to cry.
Today, however, she had another reason to feel miserable.
She had to tell Seth she was pregnant.
She’d known for nearly a month, but she’d spent the first two weeks going through an agonized deliberation about what she was going to do about the unexpected pregnancy.
She’d never felt a strong urge to have children—certainly had no dreams of being a single mother—and she wasn’t that eager to settle down into domestic life at the moment, even if a child hadn’t been part of the deal.
So the decision hadn’t been simple or easy. In fact, it had been painful and had taken a long time to make. She still wasn’t absolutely sure she’d made the best choice.
But she was having this baby, and she was going to keep it.
She wasn’t entirely sure why.
Even after she’d decided, it had taken her a week to get up the courage to contact Seth. She’d considered not telling him at all—since she didn’t really want him to be an integral part of her life.
Eventually, however, guilt pressured her into it.
He was the father, and so she should really tell him, no matter how much she wanted to keep his kind of dominant, controlling personality away from her and her baby.
Not that he was all bad. She’d had a good time with him that night, and he’d treated her well. But she knew that evening was an exception for him and he lived his life, like Marcus, assuming he would always get his way.
Maybe Seth wouldn’t want anything to do with her or their child. As far as she was concerned, that would be the easiest and best option.
She’d called for an appointment with him in the office, without telling him what it was about, and it was now one minute before their appointed time. Erin’s belly churned, and she felt chilled and kind of weak.
From the pregnancy or from growing anxiety, she still wasn’t sure. When you felt like crap, it didn’t necessarily matter why.
She just wanted to get this over with.
At precisely three o’clock, a receptionist announced that Mr. Thomas was ready to see her. So Erin stood up and smoothed out her skirt, taking solace in the fact that she looked pretty decent, even though she felt like a disgusting mess.
Composing herself with hard determination, she walked into the office. Scanned the classically decorated room quickly and then approached his desk.
Seth, looking slick and professional, stood up to greet her. He gave her a cool smile, shook her hand with a courteous, “Good afternoon,” and then gestured her into a leather chair next to the desk.
This was the Seth she’d expected today—not the warmly clever, rumpled man she’d fucked several weeks ago.
Erin sat down. Took a few deep breaths to dispel the nausea. Summoned up her courage and hoped she wouldn’t start babbling.
“So,” he said slowly, giving her a sharp look and leaning back in his chair, “I can’t figure out what you’re after. A job?”
He looked so confident, so smug, that Erin's sense of irony kicked in. The edge of amusement did a lot to calm her nerves, so her voice was clear and crisp as she replied, “Actually, no. I’m very happy with my job and have no desire to work in a law firm. Although I certainly appreciate your unyielding belief in your own importance.”
Seth blinked at her.
His expression didn’t change in any concrete way, but Erin knew she’d surprised him, taken him off guard. He had probably already—before she’d arrived—planned out a strategy for dealing with her. So, now that his expectations had failed to materialize, he was going to have to think on his feet.
“It’s something else,” she continued, taking advantage of his temporary speechlessness. She’d learned the ambush tactic with Marcus. If she wanted him to agree to something, she had to catch him unaware, without giving him time to harden his will in any particular direction. “Something I need to tell you of a more personal nature.”
He lifted his brows slightly, and she thought she saw curiosity flicker in his eyes. “And so you requested a business appointment with me?”
She shrugged. “What would you have thought if I tried to call you at home?”
; “You don’t have my private number.”
“I know, but assuming I could find it. What would you have thought?”
“That you were...” He paused strategically, as if searching for a diplomatic word. “…making advances on me.”
She was still nervous and a little light-headed, but she was composed enough to chuckle appreciatively at this. “Exactly. And I didn’t want there to be any confusion on that issue. I have no interest in you romantically.”
She felt better getting that said, putting up her defenses, making her strongholds clear.
She’d learned the need to do that with Marcus too. Otherwise, any decision she made became irrelevant.
“Excellent. I’m glad to hear it. So I won’t misinterpret anything that occurs here. So what was it you wanted to tell me, then?”
Erin had considered various ways of approaching the issue, but she’d decided the blunt announcement would be the easiest. For her, anyway.
So, “I’m pregnant.”
Seth blinked three times.
Erin didn’t say anything else. Just watched him carefully. Tried to gauge his reactions and also give him a little time to process what she’d said.
After a moment, he adjusted his hand on the desk. His fingers flexed and then relaxed, but that was the only move he made. “And I’m to assume it’s mine?”
“I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
Seth’s eyes never left her face, and he appeared to search her expression for an underlying motivation or agenda. “And have you decided what you’re going to do?”
For a moment, she hesitated. She’d decided two weeks ago, but telling Seth—the first person to whom she would speak the words—would make it real. Would make it final somehow. “I’m having the baby.” She met his eyes directly. “And keeping it.”
He inclined his head—not quite a nod but close to one. Then he asked something she never would have expected. “Why?”
Erin felt ridiculously put on the spot. “Do I owe you an explanation? Why does it matter?”
“I was just curious. I never would have expected you to make that particular choice.”
Resentment rose up in Erin unexpectedly, even though he was simply voicing thoughts she’d had more than once herself.