“I…” He cleared his throat. “I am in serious negotiations with myself on that.”
“Maybe I can help you,” she purred and pulled him out of her soaked heat.
“No…” He moaned as she pulled away.
“I’m not done trying to convince you, Bastian,” she assured him. She gripped his long, hard cock firmly, anticipation over what she was about to do making her ache with need. They had only experimented with this a few times, but she had enjoyed every moment of it.
He was dripping with her juices. Using it as lubricant, she sat down on his cock, taking his wide girth deep into her most forbidden hole. It took her a moment to catch her breath once she was seated to the hilt on him. His fingers bit into her waist, holding her down on him. “Strike’s over,” he bit out.
Her laugh was breathless. “I thought I might be able to convince you.” She wiggled her hips, need raging through her. Eve pressed her back against his chest. “Play with me,” she commanded.
“I love being in your ass, babe,” he breathed at her ear. “God, don’t move too much, or I will come.” He bit into her neck just below her ear, making her cry out. The fingers of his left hand tugged at her nipples, while his right hand drifted lower until it scraped across her swollen clit.
His fingers were talented. They played her like a fine string instrument, making her cries higher and higher with each tug, each pinch, each flick. Her hips shifted, loving the way he filled her so completely. Sebastian’s fingers grew more insistent, and her hips moved more and more, just barely rocking, but that little friction was so intense they were both gasping. She felt him growing even harder deep inside of her.
Eve’s arms lifted, pulling his head down to hers for a kiss. “I love you,” she whispered.
Three fingers thrust into her. She was filled from both sides now, while his thumb continued to flick across the distended ball of nerves that was her clit. His left arm anchored her to him, and he began to thrust up into her from behind. “Say it again,” he commanded in a voice rough with feral lust.
“I love you!” she cried as she fell over the edge and deep into her orgasm.
Seconds later, he joined her. He lifted her from him just as he erupted, streams of hot come spraying across her back. She whimpered at the loss of him filling her and turned in his arms to hold on tight as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I love you,” she whispered again.
twelve
It was still dark outside her window when she felt Sebastian pulling away from her. She moaned in protested and held on tighter. His tender kiss to her ear and promises of seeing her on Sunday soon had her releasing him, albeit reluctantly. “Go back to sleep, baby,” he murmured.
“Have a safe flight,” she mumbled and rolled over, cuddling his pillow close to her bare chest.
“I’ll call you later.” One last kiss to her lips and then he was gone.
Hours later, her alarm startled her awake. She hadn’t set it, so Sebastian must have done it for her before leaving. Groaning, she smacked the top of it to shut it up and rolled off the bed. Blurry-eyed, she made her way to the shower. She could smell Sebastian all over her and was almost reluctant to wash any sign of him away.
More than an hour later, Benoit pulled the town car up in front of Girl Haven. She gave him a smile as he opened her door and assisted her out. “Thanks, Ben.” She pulled her bag up her shoulder. “I’m going to be here all day. But you are more than welcome to come in.”
He inclined his head. “Thank you, Mademoiselle Patel. But I fear that my presence will not go over well with all of the young ladies.”
She had to grin at his understatement. The last time he had chosen to come inside of Girl Haven with her, several of the older girls had nearly come to blows over his attention to them. Eve couldn’t say that she blamed them because, sweet Jesus, the man was just yummy to look at.
“Then I’ll see you later.” She waved over her shoulder as she entered the old, four-story brownstone that her mother had bought years ago when she had first started up Girl Haven with Mindy Winthrop.
For a moment as she entered the building, she was overcome with a sense of sadness. Both women were gone now. Mindy, having lost her life in a tragic plane accident with her husband Charles, and shortly afterward, Eve’s own mother to a drunk driver. Now Eve spent as much time as she could there, carrying on in her mother’s footsteps.
As soon as she stepped through the doors, her sadness was pushed away when she was greeted by two of the girls sitting on a sofa in the waiting room. “Hey, Eve!”
“Lindsey. Rachel.” She stopped to chat with them. “How are things at home?” Both had parents that had to work two or three jobs each to provide for their families. Either one of them could have ended up in a gang or much worse, but Girl Haven provided a place in which their parents didn’t have to constantly worry about their well-being.
“My brother is graduating in the spring,” Lindsey informed her. “And my father has arranged for him to work at the packing plant with him until he goes to college in the fall. He got a full ride thanks to his grades.”
“Congratulations to your brother!” She gave the girl a tight hug. “If you two need anything, let me know. I’m going to be here all day.”
They waved as she continued on her way. Eve was stopped a half-dozen more times before she even made it to the office on the third floor. She greeted Mary, the office manager and head counselor for Girl Haven. “How are things looking for today?” she asked as she leaned against the other woman’s desk.
Mary sighed tiredly. “We have a few new girls who came in last night. Runaways from Ohio. One has bruises all over her, and the other doesn’t speak much. I called Kari and asked her to send us over a doctor.”
“Good. Are they upstairs?” The top floor was for the girls who needed medical attention. Mary nodded. “I’ll go see if I can talk to them. Anything else that needs my attention right now?”
“No.” Mary’s smile, though tired, was full of strength. A person had to be as strong as she was to do the work she did. Eve was glad to have the woman on her team, and she never had to worry if the girls were being taken care of. “I will show the doctor up when he gets here.”
Eve spent most of the morning coaxing the girls to talk to her. The older of the two girls, Missy, was fifteen. Her mother had spent the last week beating her for reasons that Missy wasn’t ready to go into yet. The younger of the two, who had to be Missy’s sister, was Cindy. Cindy was eleven, and the wariness in her expression was that of a person far beyond her years. Eve couldn’t help wondering at the things the little girl had to have seen in her short life to put such a look in her eyes.
The doctor arrived, and Missy was quickly taken care of. She had a few scrapes as well as bruises, but thankfully, she had no broken bones or internal bleeding. Because of Missy’s many abrasions, Cindy had to be checked over as well, but there were only a few scrapes and bruises on her arms. It was obvious that Missy had taken the biggest part of the beating.
By lunchtime, Eve was bone-tired. This work was draining, more emotionally than physically. She felt like she could lie down and sleep for a month. Instead, she grabbed a large cup of coffee from the kitchen on the first floor and a sandwich for lunch. She had her small meal with a group of the girls already there and spent an hour catching up with them and on what was going on in their lives. Two asked to speak to her privately later in the day, and she assured them that her door was always open for them.
Eve dropped down into the chair behind the desk in her small office and rubbed at her eyes much later in the afternoon. Her cell phone chimed, letting her know she had a text message, and she grabbed it. Sebastian told her he had landed safely and he would be in meetings for the rest of the day, but he would call her later. She sent him a kissy face and heart in return and tossed the phone aside just as her door opened after barely a tap on it.
Sasha, a pretty little nine-year-old, came in sobbing. “Eve…”
S
he was around her desk and pulling the little girl into her arms within a matter of seconds. “Sasha, sweetheart, what’s wrong?” she soothed the little girl, wiping at her tears with a tissue from her desk.
“I-I’m dying!” she sobbed and tightened her arms around Eve’s waist.
Concerned, Eve coaxed her to sit in the chair in front of her desk. She let Sasha get her crying out of her system, then once the sobbing turned into little hiccups, she asked the girl to explain. “I-I’m bleeding, and it won’t stop,” she mumbled. “It’s been two days, and it keeps getting worse. And it hurts! I’ve never felt so much pain…”
Eve bit her lip, immediately understanding what was going on with Sasha. The girl had no mother figure in her home life. Her father had lost custody of her due to his drug problems, but Sasha was lucky enough to have an older brother who had been old enough to take over as her guardian. He was a great guy, but he had little time left over after working three jobs to support him and Sasha. It was little wonder that the poor girl didn’t understand what was happening to her, and Eve doubted her brother knew to even have such a talk with her.
“Sasha, baby, you aren’t dying.” Sasha’s head snapped up, hope lighting her big brown eyes. “This is something that all girls go through.”
“Really? You promise?”
Eve smiled. “I promise.” She stood and held out her hand to the little girl. “Let’s go to the powder room, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Later, after Sasha was gone, with her own personal supply of feminine products to take home with her, Eve started to pack up for the day. She could remember her own first experience with Mother Nature’s curse. She had been scared to death, but her mother had told her about it long before her very first period…
Eve gasped and fell down into her chair, her knees shaking to the point that they could no longer hold her up. From her very first period, she had had the most regular cycle of all of her friends… But she couldn’t remember the last time she had been visited by Mother Nature. Fingers trembling, she reached for her phone and pulled up the calendar. She always put in a little reminder on the first day of her cycle.
Heart racing, she went back through the weeks. It was the ninth of February now, and she went all the way through January without a reminder. It wasn’t until the second week of December that she found what she was looking for. Nine weeks. She hadn’t had a period in nine weeks!
***
Around ten, her cell rang.
Eve was lying in bed with three pregnancy test sticks on top of the drugstore bag beside her. She had taken every one of them. All might as well have screamed PREGNANT at her, instead of just lying there showcasing their pink double lines or digital reading of pregnant. She had been sitting there staring at them until her head hurt, and then she had to lie back on the pillows.
She felt nauseous, but she had been sure it was anxiety and not morning sickness. She was well into her first trimester. Why hadn’t she felt any morning sickness? Tears burned her eyes. Was her baby all right? What was she going to do? How was she going to tell Sebastian?
The ringing of her phone startled her, and she reached for it out of reflex rather than any real desire to speak to anyone. “Hello?”
“What’s wrong?” Sebastian demanded after a slight hesitation. “You sound like you are crying.”
Eve dashed away her tears with the backs of her hands. “No. No, I’m just getting a little bit of a cold. It’s going around at Girl Haven.”
“Ah, babe. I’m sorry you aren’t feeling well. Wish I was there.” His deep voice calmed her anxiety a little, and she closed her eyes, hating that she had lied to him. But there was no way she was going to tell him the truth over the phone like this.
First, she had to see a doctor. She had to know the baby was okay. That was something she would do Monday morning, first thing, she promised herself.
“I’m going out to dinner with my CFO, who is a friend from college. I don’t know what time I will get in, so I wanted to tell you good night now.” There was a delicious purr in his voice that caressed her spine.
“Okay. Have fun, Sebastian. I love you.”
There was a small pause, and then he murmured, “Good night, baby,” before hanging up.
Her chest ached. She told him she loved him every day, but he had never even hinted that he felt the same way. Did he love her and just couldn’t find the words? Or was it only plain and simple lust and affection that he felt for her?
“Stop it, Eve,” she scolded herself under her breath. “You’re just going a little insane right now. Don’t start questioning his feelings now, damn it.”
thirteen
Her weekend was kept busy with Girl Haven, which was when the place was at its busiest. Eve barely had time for lunch on Saturday because of all the drama going on. Sunday wasn’t much better, but she went to church first and left feeling at peace with the world for the moment.
Later, she called Quinn to check up on her. The past week she hadn’t received nearly as many texts as she normally would from her stepsister, and she suspected that something was up. When Quinn answered the phone, even though she was all the way in London, Eve could hear something in her voice. “Hello?”
“What’s up? Are you okay?”
Quinn gave a less than amused laugh. “Not even a little.”
Eve sat back on her bed and hugged a pillow to her chest. “Talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong and whose ass I need to kick.” Quinn laughed, and it was just a little less forced this time. “Come on, Quinn. You can tell me anything.”
“He’s getting married.” And it was like a dam opened because Quinn started crying, but still talking nonetheless. Eve had a hard time understanding her more than a few times, but she thought she got the gist of it.
The guy that Quinn was seeing was a big deal. Like an “I run a foreign country and lives are dependent on me” big deal. He had only recently told Quinn about it, but he told her he wanted to keep seeing her. But when she had opened last week’s Sunday paper, there had been a wedding announcement inside. Quinn’s man was marrying someone else.
“Some granddaughter of someone on his staff. It didn’t give many details, just that the two were engaged and wedding plans were underway.” Quinn sounded a little stronger now. Her voice didn’t tremble as badly, and her crying had stopped for the most part. “He’s not in London right now, and I don’t know how to get in touch with him other than his cell. Which he isn’t answering! The least he could do is text me back.” And the tears started up again.
“I’m sorry, Quinn.” What else could she say? There wasn’t exactly a manual on how to handle this type of situation. Or a card she could give her stepsister to make her feel better about the whole thing.
“I have to go, hun. I have work in the morning.” Quinn sniffled, causing Eve’s chest to ache. “I really just want to forget about him right now. Obviously, he’s forgotten about me.”
“Good night, Quinn. I love you.”
A broken sob escaped her. “I love you too.”
***
Waking up from a wet dream that turned into the real thing was a delicious experience.
Eve’s moan turned into a whimper when she opened her eyes to find Sebastian’s head between her legs. He was sucking on her clit, gently thrusting two fingers deep inside of her, and her fingers grasped his head, holding him just where she needed him most. Moments later, she fell, her juices flooding his mouth, and he swallowed every drop.
Then he was inside of her, his lips on her own, and she could taste herself on him. The feel of him so deep, the erotic taste of herself, and having him in her arms after two nights of separation made the desire kindle in her once more, and she was with him every step of the way as he drove for his own release.
Later, as they both tried to catch their breath, she snuggled deep against his side. “That was some ‘hello’ you gave me.” She grinned. “I guess you missed me, huh?”
He was playing with her hai
r, seemingly fascinated by the silky texture of the long tresses. He was quiet for a little while before answering. “I never want to go through another weekend like the one I just had, Eve. I can’t handle being away from you for that long.”
A thrill went through her at his words, and her arm tightened across his abdomen. “I promise to go with you next time,” she assured him, kissing his side. “I love you.”
A shudder went through his body, and he rolled her onto her back once more. “Have dinner with me tomorrow night?” The look in his eyes was intense, full of some unexplained emotion that brightened his eyes.
“I would love to.” She raised her hand and traced his mouth with her thumb. “Make love to me again, Bastian,” she whispered.
His erection pulsed against her thigh at her command. “I hope you don’t plan on getting much sleep, baby.”
Eve laughed softly. “Since when do we ever get much sleep?” The laugh turned into a loud moan as he sank deep into her once more. “Oh God, Bastian. You feel so good inside of me.”
“This is where I belong.” His teeth bit into her neck, making her forget about everything but the man inside of her. “Say it, Eve. Say it!”
“This is where you belong,” she cried out breathlessly. “Always!”
***
“You can wait here for me,” Eve told Benoit as he assisted her out of the town car in front of the medical plaza.
The royal guard gave her a concerned look. “Are you well, Mademoiselle Patel?”
She offered him a reassuring smile. “Just a checkup, Ben. Nothing too drastic.” He seemed relieved, and she gave him a wave over her shoulder as she entered the building.
Inside, she took the elevator up to the fourth floor and entered the offices of Dr. Claire Madison. She was one of the top-rated OB/GYNs in New York. Dr. Madison had been able to squeeze her in quickly when Eve had called that morning. The receptionist greeted Eve warmly and handed her an iPad to fill out some digital paperwork.