A Bundle of Joy 1: Baby Wanted (BWWM Interracial Romance) (5 page)

“I’m Selene Alexis and this is my sister, Jamie.” She smiled. “Jamie’s not preggo though, just here for support.”

Heather couldn’t help but be a little jealous about having a woman to share the journey with. Sean was kind, but sometimes she just wanted to know if everything her body was doing was normal…and she knew she was going to have a billion questions as the pregnancy progressed. Her gaze flitted down Selene’s body. She didn’t look much more pregnant than Heather.
“Nice to meet you both. I’m eight weeks.”

Selene smiled and pulled out a notebook of her own.
“Me too.”

Jamie leaned around Selene and waved. “I’m zero.”

They laughed and Jamie pulled out a Kindle and started reading.

Heather didn’t know what else to say, but Selene didn’t suffer the same affliction. “I felt silly about coming to class so early in my pregnancy, but I’m just so excited and I want to learn all about it. Plus, I already have my birth plan done. Are you doing a birth plan?”

Heather smiled, relieved that she wasn’t the only one who was overreacting to the news of her pregnancy. “I had mine done before I even got pregnant.”

They laughed and Selene leaned closer. “I’m having someone else’s baby.”

Jamie shook her head. She stared at her sister, and opened her mouth as if she was about to say something. Then she shook her head again and clamped her mouth shut.

Selene nodded vigorously. “I’m a surrogate for a couple. They’re really super though and they’ve been nice to me. I really like them. The wife was supposed to come to this class with me, but she couldn’t make it. When we first met, she told me she has a medical condition that makes it difficult for her to conceive. Plus, she’s super busy at work. So far, everything’s been all right. She wants my only job to be taking care of her baby.”

“Wow.” Heather had no idea what to say to that. And how in the world was that woman going to be able to raise the baby once it got here? That was one of the things that did worry Heather, because her work schedule was already less than flexible. “Good luck. That’s great that they’re so nice.”

Selene told Heather about the apartment the intended parents had rented for her and how nice it was, and how they’d even made sure there was an extra room for Jamie so she wouldn’t have to be alone. “I couldn’t ask for a better setup.”

Heather genuinely liked Selene even if she wasn’t positive that renting out her body was the best idea, but then again, she was renting out her best friend’s.

They chatted until class started, then traded phone numbers so they could stay in touch.

When Heather got home, she made a simple dinner for Sean and curled up on the couch, content to rub her belly and stare out the window until he got home. This had become such a surreal arrangement. She’d never imagined what it would be like to live with someone, let alone her best friend, within the context of a marriage. He’d let her decorate the home, giving his opinion whenever she asked—she ducked her head and smiled—but only after he knew what
she
wanted. In the short time they’d been married, he’d never denied her anything and his face lit up at every opportunity to please her.

Having him as a best friend had been a wonderful experience, but it was nothing compared to having him as a husband. He was, without question, the most doting, attentive guy she’d ever been in a relationship with. Some days she wished their marriage wasn’t a fake one. Some days she wished that they were really married and it wasn’t a sham for her to get a baby and him to get a promotion…or whatever his reason was for it.

Her hand stilled over her stomach and she thought she felt a flutter, but as she settled both hands over her baby, she knew that it was still too early for her to be able to feel anything. Sometimes in the early morning hours, when she lay in bed and watched the sunrise, she knew—knew with all her heart—that the baby was moving inside her and their connection was already unbreakable. She could feel each tiny body part as it stretched and grew inside her—from her baby’s fingers to its perfect toes.

There were days that made the remaining months feel like they were going to drag and they’d never get here.

Heather was torn. She wanted the baby to get here super fast, but that would leave her with only months left to spend with Sean.

Sean’s key turned in the lock and Heather perked up on the couch. This was the best part of her day.

Every day.

“Hello, wife.”

Though the sound of his voice and the way he called her wife sounded wonderful and sent a thrill over Heather’s entire body, she felt like if they truly acknowledged their marriage by calling each other husband and wife it would make the ending much more difficult. Deep down, her yearning was to answer him back by calling him husband, but she couldn’t open herself to that kind of hurt. Better to just stay friends for this year…even though he was truly her husband, in every way. She took a deep breath and smiled up at him as he hung up his coat and came to join her on the couch.

“You’re not supposed to say that, remember?”

Chapter Five

Sean hadn’t meant to say it, but she looked adorable and perfect curled up on their couch, lovingly cupping their baby inside her. Every time he thought about her, a surge of pride battled with a desperate need to protect and claim her. He wanted the world to know that she was his.

For now.

Forever.

His chest constricted with a painful tightness. His conversation with Tyson had been weighing on him since they’d had it. He knew Tyson was right and he needed to tell Heather the truth. But he was so scared that without the sham of his excuse, she’d move out and have the baby on her own—which she had every right to do—and he wanted her here.

Always.

He didn’t know how he was ever going to survive after the year was up and she left. The added agony of what it would be like to raise their baby for three months before she stripped his life of all the happiness he could possibly have imagined was nearly more than he could bear. As hard as he tried to lay the fear and doubt aside and just enjoy the moment, each day it was a struggle.

He sighed and returned her adorable smile. She’d been lit with an internal glow since the first night of their honeymoon. He wanted to think that some of that was because of him, but he was okay that it was his baby doing it.

For now.

He bent down and kissed her cheek, then lowered himself onto the couch beside her and pulled her onto his lap. She curled into his chest and he stroked her back. This was the best part of his day.

“Heather, there’s something I want to tell you.”

She smiled up at him.

He linked his arms around her. “I wasn’t exactly truthful when I told you I had to get married because of work.”

She stiffened in his arms and slid off his lap. When she was a few inches away, she looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

Fear tightened Sean’s muscles. No matter what happened, she deserved to know the truth. “I didn’t need to get married.”

“What?”

“There wasn’t a reason that made me have to marry you.” He rubbed his neck. “I made it up.” His shirt collar was stifling him; he unbuttoned the top two buttons. “I made it up because I couldn’t handle the thought of you being pregnant and alone. I wanted our baby to have my name, my identity. I invented a reason so I could have some way to convince you to marry me.” He dragged in a deep breath and expelled it slowly. “I’m sorry.”

Sean leaned forward and tried to gauge Heather’s reaction. Her back was ramrod stiff and she had both hands protectively cradled across her belly. Muscles bulged in her jaw as she clenched her teeth, then she turned her intense gaze on him.

“So now what?”

Sean jerked in surprise. He hadn’t expected that question. “Well, hopefully you’ll forgive me and we’ll get to stay married because we want to.”

“That was a bullshit move, Sean.”

He nodded. “It was.”

She relaxed. “But I don’t know that you could have said anything else that would have made an impression on me. I want our baby to have your name and identity now, too. I didn’t then—I didn’t think it mattered. But now I do. Now I understand how important it is for a baby to have more than just a single mom.”

Sean didn’t want to dare hope, but he had to ask. “Does that mean you forgive me?”

She scooted back into his lap and drew his arms around her. “Just this one time, but don’t ever do that again.”

Sean closed his eyes. “I promise never to ask you to fake marry me again.”

She laughed. “So, how
was
work?”

“
Mmm.” He kissed her temple. “The usual. How was your class?”

She pulled away just enough so that she could look at him, but her fingers found a gap in his shirt and slipped between the buttons. It had become an absent-minded habit of hers while they talked, but it stole his breath every time she did it. While she told him about her day, her fingers stroked the rib below his
pec muscle and Sean bit the inside of his cheek. He concentrated on the curve of her cheek and thought about rotting fish carcasses to keep an erection from prodding her lovely soft ass snuggled against it.

They hadn
’t had sex since the pregnancy was confirmed and he mourned the feel of her naked flesh against his every day. But once she’d gotten the positive pregnancy test, she’d declared her body off limits. She’d found out on a Tuesday and when he got home that night, they’d curled up on the couch just like every other night. Heather had been excited that they’d gotten pregnant so fast and had many concerns about how to treat her body. That was when she’d started devouring the pregnancy and expecting books. One of them cautioned about having sex during the early weeks, and she’d latched onto that simple fact even though Sean had disputed it with every other book he’d read.

But he didn’t want to argue with her. It was her body and she could treat it like a temple if she wanted. This baby meant more to her than anything, and
if that meant no sex for a couple of months, he could live with that. He’d do anything to see her happy.

Watching her get ready in the mornings and come to bed every night since then had been a sweet sort of torture. He wanted to touch her so badly, but contained his brushes with her skin to the bare minimum, because if he started, there would be no way to stop.

Sean still couldn’t decide if it was worth the torture that his body was enduring.

A breath hissed out between his clenched teeth as she rubbed his nipple and told him all about her pregnancy class and her new friends. He was sure she had no idea what her hand was doing—it was the same motion she used when she stroked her own belly, just a gentle caress to remind herself that the new life was still in there. Her face lit up as she talked about Selene and Jamie, and he was so glad she’d found another person she liked, in the same spot on her journey.

His gaze strayed to her lips and as she talked; he remembered the feel of them as they’d traveled over his body. He wanted them there again.

So badly.

So very badly.

He rubbed the length of her thigh and over the curve of her hip, then back. She didn’t seem to mind when he did that, and he pushed the boundaries of what he could do to her body more every day. It was always enough that she just let him hold her like this, but he craved every morsel he could get.

The oven timer buzzed and Heather’s head jerked toward the kitchen, then she turned her glowing gaze to his face again. “Dinner’s ready.”

Sean could drown in her eyes. Drown and never wish for a better death. His hand slid higher on her body until he cradled her jaw. He could not be happier in this moment, or more
proud of who she’d become. Despite everything life had thrown at her, she’d gotten exactly what she wanted.

She was perfection.

A perfect woman.

A perfect wife.

And soon, a perfect mom.

“You’re going to be a great mom, Heather.” The thickness of his voice sounded alien to his own ears. He drew his lips closer to hers. He couldn’t stop himself.

Heather’s eyes drifted closed and she let him come closer. Sean waited for her to pull away, because he couldn’t stop this. Couldn’t control the aching need to kiss her. Her lips brushed gently across his; then her tongue darted out and Sean moaned; and then pulled her closer, sending his tongue to mingle with hers. The hand in his shirt splayed across his chest and the other dove into his hair. She twisted on his lap, grinding her ass into his rapidly thickening dick. He devoured her mouth, desperate to show her how much he loved her, how much he needed her, how much he wanted her to stay his wife for all of his days.

Heather kissed him back with the same fervor, almost like she was trying to communicate the same thing. But Sean knew that could never be the case. She’d been incredibly clear that this was a temporary marriage for the sole purpose of having her baby. He pushed aside all the fears and doubts and focused on the now. Those negative thoughts would get their chance to surface soon enough. Even the shame fell by the wayside as he drew Heather tighter against him. Her fingers fumbled with the buttons of his shirt and Sean wanted to rip it off, but he forced himself to allow her to set the pace for whatever was happening—whatever this was. If it were up to him, he’d lift her off the couch and carry her to their bedroom. The bedroom where they curled up every night and Sean slept with her in his arms, but where they’d never had sex.

Heather spread his shirt and revealed the expanse of his chest while she thoroughly kissed him. She nipped his lower lip and tugged on it. Sean’s dick hardened beneath Heather and she wiggled against it. He moaned and squeezed her hips. Heather pushed him deeper into the cushions and straddled him, nestling his dick against her moist heat. With a groan, Sean lifted his hips and ground himself against her. This was going to be the worst case of blue balls when she finally came to her senses and made them stop. But until then, he didn’t care.

Sean kissed her neck and slipped her shirt off. She tasted like vanilla bean ice cream and the scent of her peach
bodywash flooded his senses. Heather nibbled his earlobe and palmed his chest. She ground her hips against his and Sean drew a sharp breath. He wasn’t sure how he was going to survive her sweet torture.

He unhooked her bra and filled his hands with her full breasts. They were already fuller than they’d been on their honeymoon. He suckled one, then the other, lavishing them with all the attention they deserved. Heather rocked her hips forward, dragging the heat of her sex along the full length of his erection.

“Heather…” he groaned in prayer. “Please let me love you.”

Her head fell back and she cradled his head against her breasts, as he rolled her nipple tenderly between his teeth. She stroked her hips backward,
then ground them in a big circle. “We can’t.” Her voice caught in her throat and she pushed forward again. “The baby.”

“Will be fine, Heather. I promise.” Sean clamped his hand down over her ass and pulled her tight against the thick ridge of his cock. “Please, Heather. I’ll be gentle. I. Need.
You.”

She
pulsed her hips up and down, unable to sit still while he was pressed deeply against her. He felt her sex clench, even through the layers between them. She was panting and he needed her.

Needed her now.

“I need you too,” she whispered as she scrambled off his lap, unbuckled his pants and tugged them out from underneath him, and then stripped her own bottoms off. Sean’s dick stood proud in his lap and Heather straddled him again, but this time as her hips lowered, she closed over the top of him. Sean groaned and dug his head into the back of the couch. His breath stuck in his throat and he gripped the flesh of her hips, lifting and lowering her over and over. Heather moaned and rode him with swift, sure strokes, matching his desire and need. Her breasts swung and bounced against his face.

Pressure built fiercely inside him and with each deep stroke, he felt her clench and grip him tightly. Heather clung
to his shoulders until her fingers bit into his muscles. He loved that she was just as aroused as he was.

“Sean, I can’t hold on…”

“I’ve got you baby. I’ve got you.” His breath was ragged. “Just let go.”

And she did. Heather threw her head back and screamed his name as an orgasm gripped her. Waves of the orgasm squeezed him tight until he couldn’t hold it any longer either. He pressed his cheek into her breasts and thrust his hips upward in a final climax.

Heather fell forward, her head nestled in the crook of his neck. “Sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I just…I just needed that.”

He stroked her neck and back. “No apologies. Not for that. Not ever.” He lifted her chin and kissed her gently. “Not ever.”

She gave him a sheepish smile and he wrapped his arms around her, rocking gently back and forth.

He was never going to be able to let her go.

****

Dinner ended up as takeout after Heather tossed the burned mess in the oven. The smoke alarm had been worth the amazing sex. Holy cow, how had they managed to go without that for
so long? She’d almost forgotten how incredible his body felt and how quickly he could get her to climax when he wanted to. Heather was really hoping they were going to have more sex in their new home now that she knew for sure it wouldn’t hurt the baby. After reading the one tiny caution about being careful during sex, she’d been so nervous and didn’t even want Sean to give her an orgasm in any way, let alone like the one he’d given her. Her doctor and most of the books had said it was fine, but she’d also felt weird about having sex so close to the baby. Now that it was okay, she wanted more and more and more.

Sean rolled over and tossed an arm across her waist. She snuggled into his warm body and curled her hands against her belly.

This was going to be the best year of her life. She closed her eyes and just as the dream life started to fuzz the edges of her mind, a sharp, stabbing pain gripped her entire abdomen. She moaned and curled into a tight ball. Sean’s arm fell off and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Wave after wave of excruciating pain bore down like a vise grip surrounding her belly and wetness surged between her thighs.