Nameless Series Boxed Set (10 page)

Then it got
even better. Because Seth had reared up again on his arms and had finally let
himself go. He took her hard, fast, wild.

He started to
grunt as much as she was, and the slide of his cock matched her deepest rhythm.
She cried out loudly at the change in motion and couldn’t help but claw lines
down the trembling muscles of his tense arms.

Her noisy bed squeaked,
and the headboard banged loudly against the wall—as much from her motion as
his.

“Seth, Seth,
yes.” She heard her voice getting louder, her cries bursting out involuntarily,
timed unconsciously with the rhythm of their bodies.

Afraid Seth was
going to lose it before she got there again, Erin managed to let go of one of
his shoulders and bring her hand back down to her clit.

She rubbed herself
as hard as she could, the stimulation causing her body to contract around him
even more.

“Yes,” Seth
rasped harshly. “Erin. Fuck.”

And then he let
out a loud noise as climax ripped through him, obviously coming before he
really wanted it to. He kept thrusting into her, though, as his cock pulsed
with his climax.

The sight of
his face transforming with pleasure was enough to push Erin over the edge at
the very last moment.

She came hard,
and when she regained her senses, she saw that her clutching hand had pulled
the comforter, top sheet, fitted sheet, and mattress pad—all of them—off the
top left corner of her bed, exposing the bare mattress.

Seth, who
didn’t even seem to notice, hadn’t collapsed on top of her, but he was wet with
perspiration, gasping, and visibly drained.

“Condom,” she
managed to croak, feeling that he was still somewhat hard inside her but knowing
he wouldn’t be for long.

With a grunt,
he pulled out and rolled to the side of the bed. Then heaved himself off the
bed to dispose of the condom.

Erin hadn’t
moved at all when he came back. She felt like she’d run a marathon, but she was
far more pleased and satisfied than she normally was after so much exertion. Her
body practically glowed from the residual pleasure, and weird little hums kept
escaping from her throat as she tried to catch her breath.

Seth collapsed back
onto the bed beside her, and they lay next to each other gasping and wheezing.

“Wow,” Erin
said at last. “You weren’t kidding when you said you’d help me out with my
little dilemma.” She turned her head to look at him and was both amused and touched
that he looked so incredibly worn out.

He gave a thick
huff that she supposed had been laughter. “That was incredible.”

“Yeah. In fact,
if I didn’t think it would swell your ego to unbearable proportions, I’d admit
that it might have been the best sex I’ve ever had in my life.”

He turned to
peer at her, and she thought she saw pride and a primitive sort of
possessiveness glint briefly in his eyes. “Is that right?”

“I knew I
shouldn’t have said it. I didn’t mean it. Was just being polite.”

“In that case,
I won’t admit that I was about to say the same thing.”

They smiled at
each other in a pleased sort of surprise.

They lay in
silence for a long time, until Erin finally asked, “Did you want to stay the
night?”

Seth hesitated
before he finally said, “No. I don’t think so. I need to get an early start
tomorrow morning. Unless you wanted me to—”

She shook her
head and shifted on the bed, starting to feel a little self-conscious about her
nakedness now that the erotic urgency had dissipated. “No. No expectations,
remember?”

“Right. I’ll be
leaving then, as soon as I can manage to move.”

She laughed,
although she had no plans to move herself. Barely had energy to think clearly.

She did roll
over onto her side though, facing away from him so he wouldn’t get too clear a
view of the extra flesh on her belly and breasts. But then she realized that,
in this position, he would get a view of her ass—which might actually be worse.

But, before she
could correct matters, he’d moved himself. Scooted up until he was spooning her
from behind and draping a casual arm around her.

“You feel all
right?” he asked softly.

She was really
surprised by the gesture—it just didn’t feel like the cool, distant man she
knew—but she appreciated the comfort it provided and snuggled back against him.
She wasn’t quite as hot from the sex anymore, so the heat from his body felt
nice. “Yeah. I just had really good sex. How do you expect me to feel?”

It sounded like
he was smiling as he replied, “Well, I’ve never had sex with a pregnant woman
before. I wasn’t too rough, was I?”

“No worries. We
weren’t rough at all. Just...enthusiastic. And, if I remember correctly, most
of the enthusiasm was prompted by me.”

His hand was
idly stroking her belly, and she wondered if he was even aware of it. She
didn’t think so. His mood wasn’t tender or gentle—merely companionable.

Which was
exactly how Erin felt herself.

“True,” Seth
said. “Although you certainly didn’t hear me complaining. Are you always this
insatiable in bed? Or does it have something to do with the hormones?”

“Maybe a little
of both.”

They were
silent for another few minutes, and Seth’s hand stopped stroking and merely
rested against her belly, cupping the curve there in a way that felt both
natural and protective.

“Would you mind
keeping your phone on?” he asked at last, in what seemed like a sudden shift in
conversation.

“Huh?”

“I was worried
when I couldn’t get in touch with you earlier.”

Erin hesitated.
She didn’t want to sour the mood between them, but she needed to get this said.
 “Sorry you were worried. I’ll try to leave it on. But, Seth, I have a whole
life, you know. And I can’t be available for you to check on twenty-four hours
a day. You’re going to have to get used to it.”

“I will. I’ll
try. This is new to me.”

Erin sighed. “Me
too. And I do appreciate your help.” Looking back at him, she added, “I do.”

“Thanks,” he
said briefly, acknowledging all that her statement implied.

Then his voice
changed as he continued, “And, on that topic, if you need some physical release
again, just let me know. I’m more than happy to provide.”

Erin wished she
didn’t feel quite so excited about the notion of having him available to
satisfy her physical needs. Something about her excitement made her uncomfortable.
Less in control than she liked to be.

So she turned to
humor, as she always did. “Yeah. We’ll see if you say that when you’re trying
to fuck a horny woman who’s eight-and-a-half-months pregnant.”

He chuckled
appreciatively. “Regardless, I mean it.”

“I know. I’ll
give you a call if I get desperate, but I don’t want to get in the habit of
this. An occasional night is one thing. We’re both intelligent adults, and we
can keep it in perspective. But if we do this too much, then it’s bound to get
complicated. Things like this always do.”

“It’s up to
you. Just let me know.”

Erin felt a slight
anxiety rise up as she reflected on this new situation. “But just so we’re
clear. Despite your generous offer, I’m free to go out with any man I want, even
if I want to just screw him.”

Seth tensed up
slightly behind her but then immediately relaxed. “Of course. You’re free to do
what you want.”

She nodded in
satisfaction, but really
could
understand why the idea would bother him.
It was a strange situation for both of them—and it would naturally create even
more strange situations. “But, if it’s simply sex I want occasionally, then
I’ll probably just ask you—since you offered so nicely and everything.”

She had no
delusions about Seth’s good-natured generosity lasting longer than her
pregnancy. He had his own life, and he had his own tastes in sexual affairs—and
his tastes had never matched her, any more than her tastes had matched him. They’d
been thrown together unexpectedly because of this pregnancy, but only a fool
would think that things would miraculously transform into something serious.
Something romantic.

Real life just
didn’t turn out that way.

She didn’t even
want it to. This was much better. A blunt, honest sharing of realistic
expectations. All of her strongholds still in place.

The Erin she’d
been as a girl in the library would have started creating fanciful daydreams based
on a couple of rounds of good sex and some companionable conversation.

The Erin she was
now laughed at the very idea.

She added
without any bitterness at all, “At least for the next six months.”

It was nine-thirty on Saturday
morning, and Erin was lounging in an easy chair in her living room with a cup
of coffee.

Decaf, of
course.

She was
presently enjoying a long, lazy morning—pleased that she had nothing to do
until shopping and lunch with Liz.

She’d been
feeling pretty good this week and decided that being just over five months
pregnant was a pretty good place to be in the scheme of things. Her morning
sickness was gone completely, and she was still more fascinated than
exasperated with the enlargement of her belly.

She was also getting
used to people looking at her now and knowing immediately that she was
pregnant. It was a strange feeling, and she wasn’t sure what to think about it.

After scanning
through news stories on her tablet, she clicked over to Mary Carlyle’s blog,
which she tried to resist on principle but never could. The first thing she saw
was a photo of Seth.

He was with the
popular actress he’d been dating for the last month, whom he’d evidently met while
she was shooting a film in Atlanta. They were leaving a movie premiere in the photo—both
elegantly dressed and gorgeous.

Snorting in
amusement, Erin said out loud, “There’s your daddy. Looking very handsome in
that suit. He just can’t seem to keep a low profile.”

Curious, she
skimmed the adjacent article and was mildly surprised to learn that the couple
had a rather public break-up. Apparently, Seth had decided he no longer wanted
to pursue the relationship, and the actress had reacted dramatically.

“I can’t
believe it didn’t last any longer. She’s just his style.” Shaking her head, she
added, again addressing her belly, “But she doesn’t come across as very clever.
I suppose he’s too smart to put up with a lack of mental acuity for very long,
no matter what else she has to offer.”

Briefly, she
wondered what kind of mother she was turning out to be—discussing the father’s
love-life with her baby and, in the process, using the word “acuity.”

She’d started
talking to her baby last month. She’d never made a conscious decision to do so.
She’d simply started talking out loud and hadn’t stopped since.

It was nice, in
a strange sort of way. Like she finally had someone to talk to in her solitary
apartment. Like she’d finally made a connection as a mother.

Scanning over
the snide commentary in the blog again, Erin laughed softly. “Poor woman. But
she really should have known better than to think he would turn into a
different person just for her. You know, your daddy is a bit of an ass.” She
paused, suddenly struck with a thought she hadn’t considered before.

Maybe she
shouldn’t address her own child as if that child was Liz.

“I mean,"
she amended awkwardly, "Your daddy is a bit of a...jerk.”

Sighing, Erin
put down her coffee and rubbed her belly over her T-shirt. What a great mother.
Only now thinking about the kind of language she should use around her baby.

“I’m sure
you’ll be very fond of him, since he’s really a nice guy underneath it all. But
you’ll have to make sure that, when you get old enough, you stay away from guys
like him.” Erin smiled faintly. “He doesn’t do well in romantic relationships,
so women end up getting hurt.”

She got up to
get another cup of coffee. “Your mommy doesn’t do well in romantic
relationships either,” she admitted—compelled by the need to be honest. “But
that’s a whole other story.”

Erin had been very
happy when she’d found out last week that she was having a girl.

“You’ll have to
learn to be attracted to guys with more potential,” Erin added, pouring more
coffee into her mug. “Maybe by that time,
I’ll
have a clearer idea about
the right kind of guy to be attracted to, so that I can help you sort them
out.”

At the moment,
she obviously had no idea about sorting guys out.

She was saved
from her discouraging reflections by the ringing of her phone. Walking back
into the living room to pick it up, she smiled when she heard her father on the
other end of the call.

“I pulled your
old wooden highchair out of storage yesterday,” he informed her after the
briefest of greetings. “It was great quality, so it’s still in good shape. Just
a little dingy. So I sanded it and restained it for you. It looks great now,
and it's really sturdy.”

Erin smiled
fondly. “Thanks, Dad.”

“Darlene next
door is making a cushion for it.”

“Okay.”

“You don’t have
to use it if you don’t want to.”

“I’m sure I’ll
like it,” Erin assured him. “That’s very nice of her.”

“It’s really a
good highchair. Better than all the rickety crap they try to sell us now. If
you want, I can...”

Chuckling, Erin
listened to her father’s ideas and suggestions and then thanked him again
before she said goodbye.

As she hung up,
she looked down at her stomach and stated, “Your granddad is very excited about
you. He can’t wait until you get here. As for me, I’m glad I have a few more
months. Since, honestly, you’re a little bit scary.”

Glancing at the
clock, she realized that she needed to get ready, so she went to take a shower,
dry her hair, and get dressed.

Getting dressed
was always an adventure now.

Peering into
her closet, she picked out a pink shirt and tried it on. Decided it made her
look like a tent. So she took it off, tossed it on the floor, and pulled on
another one. Didn't like that one either.

Her belly still
wasn’t huge, and sometimes she liked how she looked. But other days—like
today—everything she put on just made her feel fat. She settled on a V-neck top
with an empire waist that at least flattered her breasts, and she was just
putting on her shoes when Liz knocked on her door.

The first thing
Liz did was stare at her belly.

“Yes, it’s
big,” Erin grumbled. “I’m pregnant. What do you expect?”

Liz grinned. “I
know. But still, it’s wacky to see you pregnant. Every time I see you, I'm stunned
with disbelief.”

“Welcome to the
way I feel constantly.”

“Seriously,
you’re not that big yet, and you actually look pretty good.”

Erin rolled her
eyes.

“Really. I’d
kill for your tits.”

Glancing down
at her lush cleavage, Erin sighed, “Unfortunately, they are paired with a
gigantic ass.”

Liz made a
point of peering around at her butt. “It’s not too bad. Some guys would really
go for it.”

“It was already
curvy enough.”

“Why all the
whining? I thought you were feeling pretty and voluptuous for the last couple
of months.”

“I do
occasionally. But not every minute of the day. And, besides, what’s the point? Now
that it’s obvious I’m pregnant, every eligible man I meet runs in the opposite
direction as soon as I make an appearance.”

Her sister
nodded sagely. “Of course, they do. What else would you expect?”

Count on Liz to
never tell her encouraging lies.

***

They shopped for a couple of
hours, looking through racks of maternity clothes at various department stores
and at a couple of boutiques that catered exclusively to expectant mothers.

Erin purchased
a few basic pieces that would go with anything, and then Liz pressured her into
buying a couple of things she never would have considered otherwise. Including
a slinky chemise that was absolutely useless, since no one would ever see it
but Erin.

When she
protested the purchase, Liz insisted blandly, “Well, wear it for yourself. No
use in feeling unattractive all the time.”

Erin muttered
out complaints but ended up buying the chemise after all. Tried very hard not
to visualize herself calling Seth up to test it out.

After they
shopped, she and Liz had lunch at a trendy bistro, and Erin scarfed down as
much bread and pasta as she could, turning up her nose in disgust at Liz’s
salad.

But as she
sipped her glass of water, she did eye Liz’s beer lustfully.

“So it’s a
girl, huh?” Liz prompted.

Erin had her
mouth full, so she just nodded her response.

“Have you
thought of a name yet?”

“I have no
idea.”

“I guess Liz is
off the table. You should really reconsider. Elizabeth is an excellent name for
a little girl.”

 “Nice try. I’ve
gone over tons of names, but nothing is jumping out at me as just right. I
never really thought about having kids before, so I don’t have a name ready
like a lot of women would.”

“What does Seth
want to call her?”

“I haven’t
asked him.”

“Why not?”

Erin shrugged.
“I don’t know. It just seems like even asking would be—”

“Giving him a
foothold of control.”

The words
exactly captured Erin’s feelings, but her sister’s skeptical expression made
her bristle. “I’m just trying to be careful about the dynamics between us.
There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I know, but
every man isn’t like Marcus.”

“I know that.
I’m not assuming Seth is Marcus.”

“Has he done
anything to make you think he’s going to try to control you?”

Erin remembered
his obnoxious response to finding her out on a date, but that didn’t really
count.

When she didn’t
answer, Liz went on, “I know he has a reputation as a pushy, heartless ass, but—”

Erin made a
face.

“What?” Liz asked,
interrupted from whatever she’d been about to say.

Erin shifted in
her seat self-consciously. “I was just thinking. She can hear us.”

“What?” Liz
looked absolutely baffled.

“Maybe we
should watch our language a little.”

Liz stared at Erin
as if she’d suddenly sprouted horns.

“I know,” Erin
admitted. “I can’t believe I’m saying this either. But apparently they can hear
us talking—at least, that’s what the experts say. I don’t want to be a bad
influence on my baby before she’s even born.”

“But she
doesn’t know what words like ‘asshole’ and ‘fuck’ mean. In fact, we use them so
often she probably thinks they’re endearments.” With a mischievous expression, Liz
scooted her chair over until she could lean over toward Erin’s belly. Then she
cooed sweetly, “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.”

The middle- aged
woman at the adjacent table shot them a scandalized look.

Erin was torn
between amusement and outrage. “Stop saying that to my baby,” she hissed at her
sister.

Liz stared.

“I think I just
had a mommy moment. What’s happening to me?”

Liz howled with
laughter but didn’t seem to have an answer for her.

After she’d
moved her chair back into place and started on her salad again, Liz said,
“Don’t think I’m distracted from what I was going to say. I know Seth has the
reputation for being an asshole, but he’s been pretty decent in this and I
don’t think he’s going to try to control you. In fact, my only real concern is
the way he gets around. With women, I mean.”

Erin shrugged.
“Why should that matter?”

 “He’s the
father of your baby. I think I’d feel weird about it.”

“It might be
nice if he was different, but this is the real world. Womanizers don’t change
simply because their sperm happens to hit its target.”

“True. But
maybe his interest in the baby means he’s ready for something more stable and
committed. Maybe he wants a real, meaningful relationship with someone.”

She met Erin’s
eyes for a silent moment.

Then both of
them burst into hysterical laughter.

“Or maybe not,”
Liz gasped.

Through her
amusement, Erin concluded, “Babies change people’s lives, but they don’t change
people’s natures.”

She put a hand
on her abdomen. Felt a strange butterfly sensation that was supposedly her baby
moving around. “I’m not going to suddenly turn into a domestic goddess and
besotted wife, just because I’m having this baby. And Seth isn’t going to want
to tie himself down for life to a kid and a random woman he fucked once upon a
time.”

Liz tsked her
tongue. “Language, language. You mean, a random woman he
made sweet love
to once upon a time.”

“Right.”

***

Erin was exhausted when she got
home. Dead on her feet—merely from lunch and a few hours of shopping. Her feet
were swollen, and she felt like a pathetic slug.

“You’re quite
exhausting, you know,” she informed her belly. "I used to be able to go
all day. Now I can barely make it to three o’clock in the afternoon.”

She kicked off
her shoes and collapsed onto her couch with a bottle of water. “What do you
think? Am I a wimp? Do I need to just suck it up, stop whining, and get my ass
in gear? I mean, get my
bottom
in gear.”

Her phone rang,
and she was vaguely relieved that it interrupted her ramblings. “It’s probably
your granddad. He’s always calling to check on us.”

When she
glanced at the caller ID, she amended, “Nope. It’s your daddy. What the hell
does he want?”

She winced,
realizing that she was going to have some trouble learning to soften her
language.

Clicking the
phone on, she said agreeably, “Hey there.”

“Hi,” Seth
replied. “It’s me.”

“I know that.”

“Is everything
all right?”

That was Seth’s
standard greeting now. He had no experience with pregnancy—any more than she
had—and he obviously thought that she was always on the verge of collapse. “Everything’s
fine. I did too much shopping, and I could really use a good foot massage.”

“I certainly
hope that wasn’t a hint.”

“If you ever
tried to give me a foot massage, I think I’d have a stroke.”

Seth sounded
like he was smiling. “Then I’ll make sure never to do so.”

“I noticed you
had some excitement this week.”