She let out a small cry and I watched her chin tremble. “I’ve always loved you, Axton. Always. It was never about not loving you enough. But that tattoo was like a slap to the face every time I so much as thought about it. I know I don’t have any right to be upset with your past, but that doesn’t stop me from-”
I covered her lips to stop her flow of words. “Stop, I understand. But I need to know… Do you believe me now that it was never Gabriella? That I was never in love with her?”
Her blue eyes darkened for a long moment and then finally she nodded. “Yeah, I believe you. She was your beard. And I can even understand why you might have thought you were in love with Emmie at one point, especially after meeting your mom. Em was the first chick to love you unconditionally.”
I nodded my head and kissed her lips again, happy that she got it. “Yeah, that’s exactly how it was. But the moment I met you, kissed you, held you in my arms and made you mine, I knew that everything I’d ever felt for Emmie didn’t come close to what really being in love with someone was about. I love you so damn much, Dallas, and I’m sorry that it’s taken this long to man up and just tell you how I feel.”
“There’s something I really need to know, though…” I frowned down at her and she grinned. “Where the hell did you get this kick ass ring at?”
A snort of laughter escaped me and I grabbed her hand that now held my ring, brought it to my lips and kissed her fingers one at a time. “Emmie is magic. She can get anything you want if you give her enough time. I told her what I wanted, something big and pink and she rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers and it appeared in my hands three days later.”
We lay there for a while just holding each other. I was exhausted after the long day, but I wasn’t anywhere close to falling asleep. By the steady breathing coming from Dallas, I knew she wasn’t asleep either. It felt great just lying there with her in my arms, knowing for sure now that she was going to be mine for the rest of our lives.
I kept skipping over the news Dallas had surprised me with earlier, though, but finally I had to face it. Dallas was pregnant. I’d be lying to myself if I said I hadn’t been hoping for her to get pregnant every time we hadn’t used protection. Every time we would make love without a condom, I would have a flash of thought, that if she got pregnant then at least I would have that part of us no matter what. Then I would hate myself for thinking that because it would be the same as trapping her into a relationship she didn’t want.
“I didn’t get pregnant on purpose.”
Dallas’s whispered statement jolted me out of my own guilty musing. Obviously we were on the same wavelength if we were thinking the same thing. “I know that… And I didn’t get you pregnant on purpose… Okay, maybe I was hoping it would happen, but I wasn’t doing it on purpose.”
She turned on her side quickly. “You wanted me to get pregnant?” Her blue eyes were bright with happiness. “Really?”
I lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. “Yeah. I wanted to at least have that to hold onto you with.”
“So you’re happy about the baby?” My eyes narrowed at her question. “I just need to make sure, Ax. Our lives have changed in big ways today. I need you to tell me that you are happy about this baby. I know that you have plans. That Kenzie is going to be a part of your future, and I don’t want this baby to make you feel…”
“We can all be a family. And I don’t plan on pushing Kenzie to accept us as her family. I just want to make sure she’s okay. If she wants to be a part of our family—me, you, and the little rocker in here…” I cupped my hand over her still-flat stomach, imagining that I was touching our baby that was growing in there, “…then I would love that, but if she wants to be on her own, that’s fine too. I love you, Dallas.”
A tear fell from her eyes and spilled onto her cheek. Leaning forward I kissed it away. The small caress of my lips on her cheek was like flint to dry kindling and I pushed her onto her back, covering her body with my own. Dallas spread her legs, welcoming me between her thighs with a moan of pure pleasure. “How are you feeling?” I asked, needing to know if she was still feeling sick before I went any further.
“Right this minute my stomach isn’t even on my mind. My pussy is drenched for you, babe.” She arched her back, pushing her jeans-clad pussy harder against my throbbing dick. “Make love to me.”
Without hesitating I reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head before making quick work of her jeans, leaving her lying before me in just her panties and bra. Fuck, she was so beautiful. And all mine.
I took my time with her, slowly kissing every bare inch of her before undoing her bra and making a meal of those perfect tits. She cried out my name as I sucked one hard nipple into my mouth, her nails biting into the back of my neck as she held me against her. She tasted fresh and clean, with just a hint of something else that was completely her. Turning my head I took her other nipple deep, sucking harder on it than I had its twin.
While I made a meal of her tits my hands explored the rest of her body. Caressing up and down her sides, over her hips and between her legs. Her inner thighs were silky smooth and soft. I traced hearts over the delicate skin there with my thumb, unable to keep from showing her how much I loved her for even a minute. Moving higher I traced a heart over her damp panties, drawing a whimper from her lips.
“I want you inside of me, Ax.”
I lifted my head from her delicious breast. “Soon, baby. I’m having fun.” She made a protesting sound from deep in her throat but I ignored her as I kissed down her stomach, pausing just under her belly button ring to press a kiss there that had nothing to do with the desire burning through my blood. “Stay safe in there, kiddo.”
“I love you, Ax,” Dallas breathed, running her hands through my hair tenderly as I lingered on the spot I figured was where our baby was growing.
“Love you more, baby,” I assured her as I went back to kissing toward my favorite spot on her body.
Her hips arched off the bed as my mouth hovered over her panty covered mound. “Please, Ax. Please.”
“Shh, shh.” I tongued her through the cotton material, growling when her taste exploded on my tongue. “Fuck, you taste like heaven.” I tore her panties away, wanting my tongue on her swollen flesh. As soon as my lips latched onto her clit she screamed my name and I sucked on her long and hard, letting my lip piercing skim over it a few times as I teased her. When her thighs began to tremble I thrust two fingers inside of her, knowing that one wouldn’t be nearly enough for her right then.
Dallas shattered, her back arching off the bed and her hips thrusting up against my mouth as she rode out the intense orgasm I had just given her. I lapped up every trace of her release, swallowing every drop of her pleasure before finally pulling away.
Standing, I pulled my shirt over my head in a rush before carefully undoing my button and zipper. I was harder than I could ever remember being in my entire life right then so I didn’t want to hurt myself by getting caught on a fucking zipper. From the bed Dallas watched me with hooded eyes as I finished undressing and then covered her once more with my body.
My dick slid into her opening as if it had a mind of its own. As I sunk deep into her, my eyes closed for a moment, savoring her tight, scalding heat welcoming me home. Her lips brushed over my forehead as her fingertips trailed down my spine. Both the kiss and the caress were tender, loving. Buried inside of her, with her holding me like that, made my eyes burn and I lifted my head, needing her to see how she was affecting me.
My tears were mirrored in her own blue gaze. “I love you,” I whispered at the same time she did, making us both smile. We just lay like that for a long while, smiling and caressing while I was buried balls deep in my own paradise. But then my dick took over and I couldn’t stop my hips from thrusting. She felt so fucking good and I told her so over and over again as she moaned my name, her once caressing fingertips now biting into my ass as I pushed us both toward the edge of a cliff that would send us bo
th flying.
Dallas
The sound of the wedding march was starting and I didn’t know who was more nervous, me or the woman that was about to become my stepmother. Standing beside her in the back of the church, in my pretty silk peach dress, I gave Tink an encouraging smile as she stood next to Axton who was about to give her away as soon as I walked down the aisle as her one and only bridesmaid.
“You look beautiful,” I assured Tink. We had gotten closer over the last few months, closer than I ever thought was possible. Maybe it was all the pregnancy hormones, but I’d given in when my father had asked me to try harder with his future wife. Maybe it was because I wanted a real mother figure in my life. Either way, I was glad I’d given in. Tink was wonderful and I couldn’t image my life without her in it now.
Our life.
I glanced at Ax who was fidgeting with his tie. Sighing with mock exasperation I stepped closer to my husband and straightened his tie before stepping on tiptoe and kissing his all too willing lips. My protruding belly kept me from getting too close, but didn’t stop him from grabbing my ass and holding me against him a little tighter for a moment longer.
A big strong hand rubbed over our baby as he kicked against his daddy. A happy grin spread across my face as I covered Axton’s hand. The hand that had my ring on it. A ring I had spent weeks designing just for him and our wedding. Only my rock god husband had a skull engraved wedding ring. It was pretty bad ass, just like he was.
“Cannon, you stay in there a little longer, little guy,” Axton murmured as he lowered his head and kissed my stomach. “Momma just needs to walk down the aisle and then she will be sitting down the rest of the day.”
I rolled my eyes. He was always having conversations with my stomach like that. As if our son could hear every word he said and understand it too. As my due date quickly approached, he did it more and more. But he was right, as soon as the minister pronounced my father and new stepmother official, I was sitting down. My ballet slipper encased feet were already swollen and aching, but not something to worry about seeing as I was thirty-eight weeks pregnant. Other than a few bouts of really bad morning sickness, my pregnancy had been pretty amazing.
“Are you sure getting married on Valentine’s Day isn’t overly cheesy?”
My attention turned back to Tink, who was nervously biting all the lipstick off her bottom lip. “Its adorable,” I assured her. Taking her hands in mine I gave them a little squeeze in reassurance and took my flowers from her. The wedding planner appeared in the doorway, signaling it was time for me to go down the aisle. “I’ll see you in a little while. You’ll do great.”
As I stepped into my spot at the back of the church I couldn’t help glancing around as I started walking. The wedding was a small event, only our closest friends and family had been invited. The Demon’s Wings guys and their wives and children were all in attendance along with the rest of OtherWorld and a few Bradshaw family members tossed into the equation.
I tried not to grimace as I passed Liam who was sitting between his sister and Wroth, keeping the two apart as much as possible. In the next pew was Devlin and Harris who had Lucy Thornton sitting beside him, best friends to the end, even if Dev had forgotten about his own friendship with Zander who was at the end of the pew. The past nine months hadn’t been kind to OtherWorld. The band was falling apart at the seams, but Axton was trying to keep them together.
This past fall had been tense as we had gone on tour for two months with Demon’s Wings but somehow the band was still holding together. But I wasn’t so sure how it was going to go when we had to go on tour this coming summer. We were going to be touring with not only the Demons’ but also with two new bands that Emmie had signed on to manage and was working hard on getting record deals for.
But I wasn’t going to worry about the band right then. There was plenty of shit to have to deal with between now and then.
I kept walking, but when I passed the pew with Linc, Natalie and Shane Stevenson sitting in it, I nearly faltered. Harper stood beside her husband with a bright smile on her face, but I couldn’t help the way my heart clenched as she took in my very big belly and quickly glanced away. My best friend had been over the moon for me when I had told her I was pregnant, but she hadn’t been able to hide her pain from me.
While I couldn’t help her with what was breaking her heart on a daily basis by making her a mother, I had done the next best thing. I’d made her a godmother. She and Shane were going to be Cannon’s godparents. The day I’d asked her, Harper had cried harder than I’d ever seen her cry in all the years I’d known her. Thankfully, though, they had been happy tears.
I passed a few other members of my crazy family. Nik and Emmie were giving me warm smiles. Beside them sat their nanny who was holding baby Jagger while he slept. Flick had been with us on the fall tour and I’d gotten to know her a little. I’d liked her almost immediately and had warmed up to her even more when she had kneed Zander in the balls after he come on a little too strong.
When I passed Jesse and Layla, each with their arms full of bouncing boys, I couldn’t help but grin at them. Those two little demons were proof that miracles happen in my eyes. Luca and Lyric had been born way too early but to look at them you would never know that. As I passed, Luca reached out and tugged on the hem of my dress and I laughed as he protested when his father pulled his hand away. “Nice taste, buddy, but let’s not go to cougar town, okay?” I heard Jesse mutter to his son.
Rolling my eyes, I met the gaze of Lana who had Drake’s arm wrapped around her shoulder. His other arm was full of a quietly babbling Neveah who was hands down the most gorgeous little girl I’d ever seen in my life. Her long dark hair, angelic features and personality were completely Lana. But those eyes? One hundred percent Drake Stevenson.
Lana’s eyes went to my stomach and I couldn’t help but glance at her own. She wasn’t showing yet, but I knew she was pregnant again. I was only one of a few who knew, though. Just as I had been reluctant to hurt Harper with my pregnancy, Lana was finding it hard to announce her news. I gave her a sympathetic smile and kept walking.
In the front pew sat only one girl. As I walked past, she gave me a beaming smile and my heart clenched with love for the girl. Kenzie was now a major part of our family even if she was here in Tennessee more than on the West Coast with us. The moment Axton and I had arrived at the orphanage to pick her up, she had been so emotional that it had taken a full week for her to fully understand that Axton had really and truly adopted her. From there it was history. She wanted to be a part of our family as much as we wanted her to be and had come to live with us for the summer before starting the University of Tennessee in the fall just before the tour had started.
I won’t lie, I loved the fact that she had chosen Tennessee for school. It gave us a reason to visit there more often. I’d fallen in love with the state and especially the little town just outside of Nashville where Tink and my dad lived. My dad had built Tink a house on Huntington Estate because it was where Tink was the most happy. Without the income that Tink brought in, Sharon Huntington had been forced to sell the house that Axton had been raised in and she moved farther north…
My dad had surprised me a few weeks ago with a Christmas present and I was still trying to figure out if it was a good thing or not. He’d bought Axton’s childhood house and deeded it to us. We hadn’t talked about what we were going to do with it yet. I would have loved to revamp the whole house and make it our base here, but if Axton decided he wanted to take a wrecking ball to the fucking thing, I was okay with that too.
Finally I reached the front of the church and my father stepped forward to brush a kiss over my cheek. I gave him a happy smile and took my place. My walk down the aisle had been slow on my aching feet but had really only taken about a minute. I turned my head toward the back of the church as Tink and Axton stepped into place and couldn’t help gasping at the sight.
Tink was beautiful in her simple lacy wedding dress that she ha
d found in some vintage shop. My dad had been flabbergasted at her wanting to have a cheap dress when he could have taken her to Paris or Milan and bought her any designer dress her heart desired. But Tink had been adamant about wanting the pretty little dress she had found.
Beside her, my husband looked edible in his tux. When he caught my eye he winked, making my panties wet with a need that always seemed to burn hot between us. The closer they got the wetter my panties got…
Until I realized that the wetness now running down my thigh was anything but desire. Biting my lip to keep from groaning, I kept my face blank as Axton handed his aunt off to my dad and took his seat beside Kenzie.
The next twenty minutes were awkward for me if nothing else. I tried to avoid eye contact with Axton as my dad and Tink exchanged vows, the whole time amniotic fluid dripped down my legs making a puddle on the carpet under my feet. A contraction hit halfway through the ceremony and I bit back my cry of pain while Austin Bradshaw promised to love, honor and attempt to obey his new wife.
The whole time I could feel Axton’s gaze drilling into me but I knew better than to look at him. He would know that something was up and stop the ceremony and I couldn’t have that. So I just stood there, with a forced smile on my face and my eyes blank to keep anyone from seeing I was in some pain and a little nervous for what was about to happen.
Cannon was apparently ready to meet his crazy family, but that didn’t mean I was ready for him.
When the minister finally pronounced Austin and Tink husband and wife, I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Everyone stood, clapping and congratulating the happy couple. Of course, another contraction had to hit me. Screw it, I thought as I let out a whimper in pain. They were married now, so who cared about the reception.
I was in fucking labor, after all.
Axton must have developed super human hearing because he heard my whimper over the noise of the rest of the church as they laughed and clapped my dad on the back or shook the newlyweds’ hands.