Taking Chances (44 page)

Brandon was
still trying to return his breathing to normal, his lips mashed into a tight
line, his eyes shut. “Tonight,” he said tightly, “
nothing
is stopping
us. I’m going to take my time with you, and I’m going to make love to you all
night.”

“Tonight.” I
promised. Kissing his cheek, I rolled off him and the bed, got dressed and went
to go get Liam.

When I walked
into the room and brought him out of the crib, he cried even harder and it took
a few minutes to calm him down. I walked around the dark room with him in my
arms, trying to soothe him. Only after his long fingers grasped onto a chunk of
my hair, did he finally stop crying. His eyes went wide and his mouth molded
into that little O shape I love so much.

“Well hello
grumpy.” I cooed at him lovingly, “Thirty minutes is pretty short, even for you
mister.” I turned when I heard a noise from the hall, and watched Brandon as he
leaned against the door jam. I took in his tan muscled body and bit my lip,
thinking of our few moments we just shared, and the hours we would spend
together tonight. My breaths were getting heavier and coming quicker as I
thought about his body pressed to mine. It really had been too long since we’d kissed
like that, let alone done anything more. The last time we’d gotten as far as we
had now, had been before our horrible break up.

“Still my
favorite thing.” He said, breaking me out of my fantasy.

“What is babe?”

“Just watching
you hold him.” I smiled as he sauntered over to us. “How’s he doing?”

“Good now. He
was mad that it took me so long to come see him.”

“Oh
he
was mad?” Brandon took him from my arms and kissed his head tenderly,
immediately offering up his finger for Liam, “I hate to break it to you little
man, but you interrupted my very important time with your mom.”

I laughed and
sat down in my glider chair, suddenly exhausted with the three and a half hours
of sleep I’d gotten in the last forty eight hours. Watching them walk in
circles for a few minutes, I fought to keep my eyes open. Brandon walked up to
me and carefully bent over so I could kiss our now sleeping son before putting
him back in his crib. When he was all settled, Brandon slid an arm under my
knees, another behind my back, and carried me back to our bed. I tried to pull
my shirt back off but Brandon stopped my hands and kissed me softly.

“Just sleep
sweetheart. We can pick up where we left off tonight.” Wrapping his arms around
me, he pulled me tight into his chest and let out a content sigh. “I love you
so much Harper.”

I pressed my
lips to his throat and whispered back my love for him. I was out in seconds.

***

Leaving Liam
with Mom and Dad was incredibly difficult. Of course he didn’t notice because
he was sleeping, but it took me over five minutes to actually leave the house.
I almost started crying when I got back in the car but forced myself to keep it
in. I knew he would be fine with them, I wasn’t worried about that at all. It’s
just that other than taking a shower and the few hours I did sleep, I hadn’t
been separated from him since we came home from the hospital. Taking a deep
breath, I focused on Brandon and what we had planned for when he got back from
his class. Glancing down at the clock, I cranked the car and drove home.

I enjoyed
taking my time in the shower since I hadn’t been able to do that in almost two
months. All my showers were about five minutes these days, and I’d been in
serious need of this. After I was done, I took my time doing my make-up and
hair as well. I know Brandon loves me without make-up, but I was starting to
feel like a slob since I never got ready anymore, and I wanted him to know that
I wanted to look good for him. I stood in the closet for a few minutes trying
to decide what to wear, but eventually ended up in matching hot pink and black lacy
underwear and bra. I wasn’t confident enough to just be naked when he got home,
but I was pretty sure actually getting dressed was unnecessary. Running back
into the bathroom, I studied my reflection to make sure I looked perfect.
Tracing the lines of my tattoo, I was still beyond words that I’d just given
birth a little over six weeks ago, and the only real physical evidence was my
chest. Bree and I had gone shopping when my boobs grew two cup sizes during the
pregnancy, and I was glad she’d forced me to get a few sexy bras, because
everything else I had either wouldn’t fit now, or would be anything but a turn
on. I put a little bit of body spray on and turned to leave the bathroom when I
heard the front door open. My heart picked up pace instantly as I forced myself
not to run to my future husband.

“Harper? I’m
ho–” He stopped short when he saw me, eyes bulging, “dear Lord.”

I smiled and
slowly walked toward him, “Good or bad?”

“Good,” he
gripped my hips and pulled me to him, bringing his lips to mine, “definitely
good.” Picking me up, he carried me back to the bedroom and sat me on the edge
of the bed.

Grabbing the
bottom of his shirt, he helped me bring it over his head as he bent to kiss me
again. I let my fingers trail over his chest, down his abs and to the button of
his jeans. Like this morning, he sucked in a quick breath when I ran my fingers
along the top of his pants and I laughed against his lips. After unbuttoning
and pulling down the zipper, he stepped out of his jeans and brought his hands
to my back to unclasp my bra. When it fell to the floor, he pushed my body back
to the bed and let his lips trail over me. My chest was rising and falling
quickly by the time he brought his mouth back to mine. I caught his boxers with
my fingers and tugged slowly, groaning when he stopped me.

“Let me love
you first.” He whispered against my neck.

He pulled back,
and put all his weight on his knees so he could slide me farther up the bed.
Kissing me once more, he ran the tips of his fingers down my stomach, to my
underwear. His eyes never left mine as he slid them down my legs, letting them
fall to the floor too.

“You’re so
beautiful, Harper.” Brandon said my name like a prayer as he ran his hands back
up my legs.

My eyelids
fluttered shut as his lips and hands loved me. When I didn’t think I could
handle any more, I brought his face back to mine and grabbed the top of his
boxers thankful he didn’t try to stop me as I added them to the pile of his
clothes. He stayed hovering over me as I memorized every inch of him with my
eyes, and spread out on the bed as my hands followed the path my eyes had just
taken. I pressed my lips low on his stomach then made a trail up to his lips.
Brandon flipped me onto my back just as my mouth found his and he nudged my
legs apart with his knee. I thought I was going to go crazy as he stayed inches
away from me and kept me from moving.

“You’re sure
you’re ready?”

I ran my hands
over his buzzed head and brought his face to mine, “I’m sure. I don’t think I
can describe the way I feel for you. ‘I love you’ just doesn’t seem like enough,
let me show you what you mean to me.”

He pressed his
lips to my forehead, then kept his eyes locked on mine as we showed each other
feelings we couldn’t put into words. He groaned and my breath caught when he finally
pushed inside me and we stayed unmoving for a moment, just enjoying the feel of
each other. We moved together like we’d been made for each other, each giving
the other exactly what was needed. I didn’t ever want it to end, I could spend
an eternity loving Brandon in every way possible, and it still wouldn’t be long
enough for me. Our bodies remained intertwined when we were finished, and our
lips and hands went back to their earlier exploration. We stared at one
another, whispered our love for each other, laughed, wrestled, and kissed with such
raw passion, that I felt like the first time blended right into the second and then
the third. Each time different and more amazing than the previous.

We broke apart
after the last time, exhausted in the most exhilarating way, breathing heavily
and laughing huskily. Our alarms to go get Liam had gone off and we’d hit the
snooze twice before both deciding it was time to get our son. When the third
alarm went off, we shut it off and hopped in the shower quickly, the only thing
keeping us from getting lost in each other in the shower was our aching bodies
and the need to see Liam again. After we were dressed, Brandon pulled me in to
kiss me roughly before leading me out to the Expedition. I called Mom to let
her know we were on our way, and placed a hand over his resting on my thigh.

I was still
smiling wide, and after a quick glance to my left, saw that Brandon was too.
“That was –”

“Perfect.” He
finished for me. “That was absolutely perfect.”

“It really was.
I’m sorry it took us so long to get there.”

“Don’t be. If
we hadn’t waited and hadn’t had this last year happen, it wouldn’t have been
the same. I’m not saying it wouldn’t have still been more than amazing, but it
just wouldn’t have been like that.”

I thought about
it for a moment before agreeing, “I think you’re right.” I leaned over the
console and kissed his cheek softly.

“I love you.”
He turned his head to press his lips to mine before I could sit back in my
seat.

“I was made to
love you Brandon.”

His smile got
even broader and he ran his thumb over my hand and across my engagement ring.

“And I can’t
wait to marry you.”

“Other than you
giving birth to Liam,” the deep timbre of his voice got even lower, “marrying
you will be the best moment of my life.”

When we pulled
up to Mom and Dad’s, Brandon ran around to the passenger door and pulled me out
of the SUV, pressing my back against the door after it was shut. These last six
hours had gone by way too fast. “I’m not ready for our night to be over, but I
can’t wait to see him.”

“Next Thursday
can’t come fast enough sweetheart.” He skimmed his nose across my jaw before
capturing my already swollen mouth with his. I moaned against his lips and
wrapped my arms around his neck, letting him lift me up so I could secure my
legs around his waist. We stayed like that, making out like we were teenagers
dating in high school, not ready to separate for the evening. Our breaths were
coming quicker, our grips harder and kisses rougher.

“I don’t think
I’m able to go for another round tonight baby. Besides, I don’t think Mom and
Dad’s neighbors would appreciate the show.”

He laughed and
rested his forehead against mine, trying to calm down again, “Honestly, I don’t
know how I’m not collapsing right now. You wore me out Harper.” He chuckled
softly and placed me back on the ground. “Ready to get our son and go home?”

I smiled and
pulled him up the driveway and into their house. Mom took one look at my
swollen lips, messy hair and red neck from where Brandon’s scruffy jaw had
rubbed across too many times, and laughed softly.

She pulled me
away from Robert and whispered in my ear, “So I’m guessing you two had a good
date night?”

Blushing
fiercely, I glanced back at Brandon and Dad talking, then back to her. “Oh my
God, you have no idea.” I had been seriously mortified the first time I heard
Bree talking to her mom about anything sexual, but soon got over it and was
glad to have another person to talk to. I looked around, “Where’s Bree and
Konrad?”

“They went to
get ice cream, she’ll have to wait to hear the juicy details until another
time. What was this…the first time?”

I nodded and
bit my lip to hide my smile.

“Oh, no way! I
was kidding, I had no idea. You just looked too happy to not joke about it.”

“Mom!” I hissed
and shot a quick smile to the guys, “I told you we hadn’t been like that
before.”

“Yeah,
before,
but you’ve been living together for months now.”

“Like we’ve had
time before tonight? I was super huge pregnant and Dr. Lowdry told us not to,
then we’ve been taking care of Liam. We couldn’t rush through these first few
times, we’d waited too long to do that.”

“Few!”

I grinned like
the freaking Cheshire Cat as we made our way to the nursery.

“Well now that
you’ve had those times, I assure you you’ll find time
all
the time.”

“Ha! Oh I can’t
even think about that right now. I’m too exhausted.”

“Well just
know, we’re always available to babysit.”

“We’ll keep
that in mind.” I laughed softly and pulled my sleeping baby out of the crib. My
heart warmed when he was finally back in my arms. “I missed you little Gummy Bear.”
I whispered against his head and cradled him in my arms.

“He drank all
three bottles you left us, but didn’t sleep much, so hopefully you’ll get a
restful night tonight.”

I nodded,
hoping that was true. I needed time to recover from the night with Brandon. When
we walked out into the living room, my future husband’s smile made my heart
skip a beat. I loved this man so much, and I couldn’t believe he was mine. He
walked over to us and lightly ran his hand over Liam’s head before kissing him.

Liam yawned and
blinked his eyes open to look at Brandon, “Hey little man. We missed you.”
After another yawn Liam’s eyes slowly shut again, his mouth popping open slightly.
“You ready to take him home Harper?”

I nodded and
accepted kisses from Mom and Dad “Are you guys still coming over Sunday?” In
order to carry on family day, once a week everyone gathered at either Mom’s,
Carrie’s or our house to have family time, and though they’d been skipping our
place so I wouldn’t have to worry about cleaning or playing hostess while
trying to be a mom, I’d made them promise to let us have our week again.

“We’ll be
there, you two have
fun
until then” Mom said with a smile and a wink.
Dad laughed out loud and Brandon actually blushed. I’d never seen him blush
before, and I couldn’t help but laugh too.