Challenge: A Contemporary MMA Romance: Oni Fighters Book 3 (33 page)

Seth led me up the steps to the beach cabin. His fingers were lightly linked in mine. He opened the doors and slid the screen back into place once we’d stepped through.

A combination of rolling waves and night creatures’ chirping, serenaded us.

He led me the short distance to the bed and I sat on the end. Rather than join me, he moved around the cabin and lit the numerous scented candles and oil lamps that had been thoughtfully placed around to create the perfect romantic ambience.

Then, he was moving back to me. “I think this is where I’m supposed to offer you champagne.” His eyes never left mine and he held out his hand, encouraging me to rise. “I’m going to save that for some time in the future. I’m thinking about a year.”

My heart lurched at his words. He wasn’t giving up on our baby and neither was I.

He moved in and lightly touched his fingertips to my lips, then trailed them down over my throat to trace the open neck of my short, flirty sun dress.

His fingers left a trail of red hot tingles in their wake and my breasts ached for his hands to cup them, stroke them. Rather than stay and linger like I’d hoped, he continued his downward journey until he had the hem of my dress in his hands, then he raised it up.

It was all about the slow reveal. He was teasing himself and me, by displaying a few inches at a time, slowly pulling my dress up and over my head. He let the fabric fall to the floor and placed his hands on my hips, before drawing them up my sides to settle under the curve of my breasts.

His thumbs stroked across the rose-coloured lace, creating a delicious abrasion against my aching nipples. They were sensitive, sore and aching all at once, to the point I was certain only Seth’s touch could sooth the overwhelming feel. An unconscious shiver ran through my body as his thumbs passed across the hardened nubs once again.

“Sore?” he whispered

“A little—needy and aching, too.”

“Well, that narrows it down…I guess I’ll just have to experiment and see what you like now.”

“That’s not sounding like a hardship, Seth.”

“No, I’m definitely not seeing it as one. How about I start with a tiny little squeeze.” Before I had time to respond, his fingers closed firmly over my swollen nipples and I hissed at the initial stab of pain before it bloomed into the most delicious feeling that had a long moan ripping from my throat.

“So good.”

His hands left their posts on my breasts and slipped behind my back to unhook my bra. The cups popped forward and the straps began to slide from my shoulders and down my arms.

Another shiver rippled through me as the air whispered around my hot skin in cool kisses and again when his hands made the return journey to my breasts.

He dipped his head and drew the tip of his tongue over my still-smarting nipple. Quivers of need raced throughout my body at the the speed of light.

“Mmmm.” The sound came out as a vibration in my throat.

“Like that do you?” He was so self-assured and confident. This was Seth in his most primitive and natural element.

“Yes,” I squeaked out.

“How about this, then.” I tensed then forced myself to relax in excitement and anticipation.

He dipped his head to my other breast and, this trip, made a couple of passes back and forth across my nipple with the flat of his tongue before sucking the aroused flesh into his mouth.

It felt so good. Too good, if that was possible.

My feminine centre was already aching for him. It was the very real struggle between wanting to keep building and experiencing the need versus quenching it. I was going to trust Seth to decide which way it would go and I knew, either way, I would be in for a ride big on pleasure.

His hands slid up to cup my jaw and he lowered his lips to mine. The kiss started slow and lazy, his tongue licked along my lips, teasing, before slipping inside to explore or, rather, visit all the places he knew so well.

His kiss was both familiar and new. The emotion and the layers were new, the heat and the confidence were the reassuring foundations I was so comfortable with. It was Seth, I loved him and, now, I had no doubt he felt the same about me from the tone of his kisses and his previous words. On the surface, Seth may appear shallow, when in fact, he was the exact opposite. He was deep and vastly untapped.

He drew back slightly and plucked at my lower lip before moving across my jaw and down to my neck.

My hands had found their way under his shirt and I wanted to have the barrier of fabric removed from him.

His teeth tugged at my ear gently and I lifted the shirt up, attempting to rid him of it.

“Seth, please. I want to feel your skin against mine.”

My ear lobe slipped from his mouth with a little pop. He reached a hand over behind his neck and drew the T-Shirt up and over his head.

I moved in against his body, wrapped my arms around him at chest height, and pulled firmly. I wanted to feel his hard strength against me. His warm body heat. The spicy scent of his cologne that mixed so deliciously with his own unique male smell.

It was pheromone overload. We were taking the time to savour, to slowly build, to relish and celebrate every nuance of each other.

We’d come together many, many times—never had it been like this.

My fingertips followed the indentation of his spine downwards, my palms caressed the solid muscles. When I reached the dip above his butt, I slipped my fingers under the material of the lightweight board shorts he wore and cupped a solid hard cheek in each hand.

Seth’s muscles tensed under my touch and his hard cock noticeably jabbed at my stomach through his shorts.

His hands dropped between us and he had the shorts undone and slipping from his narrow hips in a few seconds. He then turned his attention to my lace panties. Both thumbs hooked into the front before slowly sliding to the sides where he pushed them from my hips and slowly down my thighs.

“Lift up, sweetheart,” he breathed in my ear as the panties reached my knees and off.

Oh yes, pleaaaase!

Then, he took my hands and drew me over to the bed.

“Scoot up into the middle and get comfortable. We’re going to be here a while.” It came out as a low, sexy statement of fact rather than as a command and I turned and complied.

I was so turned on, so under his spell, I’m sure I would have done anything he asked. The mound of pillows and cushions on the bed finally came in handy and I pushed them into a comfortable backrest.

Seth wasn’t so quick to follow me up. Instead, he stood at the end of the bed with a mesmerized look on his face.

“I’ll never get enough of seeing you laid out on a bed just for me, Sophia. You’re so beautiful, so sexy, so mine—sometimes, it’s hard to remember to breathe.”

The sincerity in his eyes and voice was overwhelming. This coming from Seth was something I’d never expected. I was fast learning, when he got on board with something and accepted it, he did it in spades.

I held out my hand. “Come, join me?”

He leaned forward and took it. His knees planted on the bed nearly at my feet. His head lowered and he kissed my knees while his fingertips trailed tantilising little patterns on the insides of my thighs and worked higher by the second.

His mouth moved from my knee to trail tiny kisses all the way up my thighs to end on the point of my hip before moving into the centre and placing butterfly kisses over the spot where our baby lay.

“I’m trying to imagine you rounded and ripe with a baby belly. All I can think of is how sexy and hot you’re going to look. You’re going to be slender and athletic with just this rounded bump where our baby lives.”

Seth brought his hands into play, by stroking a rounded pattern on my lower belly, either side of his face.

“I’m looking forward to laying here and feeling our baby kick back at me.” He said it so reverently, so positively—I prayed it would be the case.

It had to be the case—didn’t it?

My heart squeezed, my throat constricted in emotion, and I felt loved. It was as if all that red hot passion Seth was always capable of delivering had been transferred into love—deep tender, meaningful and all encapsulating love.

The sort of love that I’d been dreaming of, craving, for a long time. It was mine now with the man I loved.

“I love you, Seth, so much.”

He looked up at me and his grey-blue eyes reflected that love right back at me.

“I love you too, Sophia Louise Sommers—now, I’m going to show you just how much.” His hands drew down my thighs again and he urged them apart. “Open for me, babe. Let me have you. I need to taste you, nothing tastes as good as you. What’s mine.”

His. I was his.

He was mine.

The first touch of his tongue sent my hips darting from the bed and I immediately felt the crazy rush of the energy building, preparing to throw me over into the most pleasurable orbit.

If the first touch had my hips thrashing, the second had me groaning my pleasure at the sensation.

“Oh, Seth…”

He pulled back and licked a line up one side of my labia and down the other, before trailing his tongue directly up the centre of me and finally settling on my clit.

My hands gripped his head, the bristly, short strands on the sides teased my palms.

He licked little circles, before dropping lower and curling his tongue into my throbbing channel, then returning once more to that super sensitized bundle of nerves.

The end was so close. Every muscle in my body began to tense in preparation. I could see the edge, I was preparing to leap and fly.

He stopped and a strangled cry of protest ripped from my throat.

“Seth…”

“Shhh, babe. I’ll get you there. We’ll get there together.” His hard cock slid home to the hilt in me as if to punctuate his words.

He lowered his mouth to mine and let me taste my essence from his lips.

The feeling of his hips rocking firmly into me, filling every aching space inside me, was indescribable. This was no longer about a race to the finish. This was about the exquisite pleasure of the journey we were sharing together.

Every deep stroke into my body seemed to fuse our souls together more. Our bodies were skin to skin and, now, our souls were merging with love, as well.

He raised his head and his eyes bore into mine.

“How is it possible that something I never knew I wanted feels so right?”

I had no words or answer to that. All I could do was dig my hands into his broad shoulders harder and whimper my agreement. Every cell in my body was saturated in pleasure to the point of overflowing and swallowing me whole.

“You feel so good under me, all around me, Soph. I just want this to go on and on.” I knew exactly what he meant. His rhythm was even and sure. Not quick, nor slow. One perfect stroke after another, building, encouraging. Everything was in the moment and felt exactly right. The build was solid and measured. The promise was epic.

“I know, Seth, but I’m not sure I can hold off much longer.”

He brushed the hair back from my forehead, “then don’t. Let’s do this together.”

I nodded my agreement and thrust my hips up into him, encouraging him to love me stronger.

“Harder,” I breathed between my teeth. His jaw locked and I knew he was right there with me still.

I clenched down on him and then it broke…

My world exploded into a swirling chasm of pleasure and emotion. I was panting, moaning, whimpering, clutching, pawing, grabbing.

Seth was both my navigator and lifeline. His hips thrust hard into me and then his body dissolved into a rolling wave of shudders. A low groan rumbled from his throat, harmonized with my own cries of pleasure. Together we made our own symphony—created our own love song.

As the waves of pleasure slowly retreated and our breathing slowed, I felt more at peace and secure than I could ever recall.

Deep down, I knew that regardless of whatever happened in the next few days, we’d get through it and we’d be stronger for it.

D
-Day
!

That’s what we were calling it.

The mid-week news of the chromosomal tests being positive had been enough to get us through until today.

Now, we’d know the fate of our baby.

I had hope, but was it false?

Sophia’s hand tightened in mine. The fate of our baby would rest with whatever the doctor found when he did the scan in a few minutes.

I glanced around the waiting room. There were women in all stages of pregnancy—some looking like they were about to pop, some with a little baby bump barely big enough to lovingly cradle in their hands.

A baby bump. Sophia was yet to show even a hint of a rounding. In a lot of ways, it made the whole experience that little bit more difficult to take in. How do you comprehend something that you’ve only fleetingly seen on a screen?

Of course, logically, I knew it all to be true. I’d been there when Dr. Chambers did the procedure last week. It was all very real then. She just didn’t have any visible signs other than slightly bigger boobs and I’m probably the only one that had picked up on that.

A doctor came to the door to the examination rooms and called her patient. The partner of the woman owning that name, stood and offered her a hand up. I recognized it for what it was—a loving gesture between an expectant couple. From the look of the woman, the expectation would soon turn to reality.

I wondered if that would be us in a few short months. Or would we be dealing with our grief. Because one thing I had realized over the last few days, was that should we not be able to hang onto our little man, it would cut deep.

Very deep.

I dragged my mind back to the here and now.

“How do you feel?” I whispered in Sophia’s ear.

“Terrified,” she whispered back and I squeezed her hand harder.

“It’ll be okay, Soph. Whatever happens. We’ll get there.”

She turned and looked at me with those big blue eyes and I knew, in that instant, I would do anything in my power to keep that promise.

A little of the fear and uncertainty evaporated from her eyes and that pleased me.

“Sophia Sommers.”

The spell was broken and we both stood and looked towards the door where Dr. Chambers had called us.

“We can do this, Soph. We have to do this.”

“I know,” she said quietly and I hoped it was steel I was hearing in her voice. Whichever way the next few minutes went, it was going to be emotional.

We followed Dr. Chambers into his rooms, where he shook both of our hands, before motioning Sophia to take up her position on the examination table.

“So, how have you been?” the doctor asked as Sophia rolled down the top of her loose cotton trousers and pulled up her T-shirt.

“Good. Well, physically anyway. It’s been a tough week emotionally.” It was an understatement in the least. I was also surprised she admitted to the emotional stress.

“I can certainly understand that. I haven’t been much help in giving you reassurances. The only positives we have to go on so far are the chromosome tests. That was certainly pleasing.”

We both nodded as he smeared sonar gel on Soph’s belly.

“Right, let’s have a look.” He took the ultrasound probe and started rolling it across her belly.

There was something very fatalistic about the way he said it.

This was it.

Whatever he found would determine a big part of our future and would definitely bind us together in either joy or grief.

They said love and hate were often very close or even the same thing. I never realized how close hope, and fear where until those moments, while we waited.

The feel of the ultrasound probe rolling over my belly was kind of mesmerizing. Every stroke drew out the torture of not knowing. My mind was at war. Half was dying to know the answer was positive and the other half was clinging to the safety of not knowing if the answer was bad.

Dr. Chambers had discretely turned the screen away from both of our views when we sat down and that had increased my fear. I got why he did it, I just hated that he had to do it.

Seconds turned to minutes. Seth was once again, holding my hand reassuringly, his other resting on my shoulder. Dual points of connection or would it be restraint?

Through all the feeling and emotion, I kept my eyes focused on Seth.

He was my rock.

The solid I could rely on when I felt so adrift.

The imaginary clock in my head kept ticking and ticking and ticking.

Finally, Dr. Chambers pushed the screen around for us to see and broke the connection of anguish we had between us.

“Alert the media. We have a miracle.”

What?

What did he say? Mean?

“Fluid’s gone. I can’t believe it.” Dr. Chambers was shaking his head in wonder and looked a little shaken, in the best way.

“What? Is the baby okay?” Seth asked tentatively. Obviously, he was trying to come to terms with what the doctor had said as much as I was.

“It’s a miracle folks. I really never expected it to clear. I really thought I’d be doing a D and C.” The smile on the doctor’s face was infectious.

Suddenly, my cheeks were hurting from the smile I didn’t even realise I’d formed.

My baby, our baby, was okay.

My eyes locked on the screen and Dr. Chambers turned on the sound. Our baby’s heart beat came through loud and clear.

We were both too shocked to speak.

“See this area here?” He pointed at the screen where the baby’s belly looked to be. “It’s back to normal size now.”

“Will it come back?” Seth asked.

“I can’t say for sure but I think we’re good.”

Good.

I’d never loved a word so much.

“Has this harmed the baby at all?” Thank God Seth was coherent enough to ask all the questions. I was still languishing in “good.”

“Well, from what I can tell, no. The scan looks great and the tests on the amniotic fluid and the fluid I took from the baby are all normal. Which is great news. If I didn’t know what had happened last week, I’d say we have a perfectly normal fetus here.”

We were all silent, Seth squeezed my hand and I glanced over at him. He reached out and gently wiped away the tear that I hadn’t realized had fallen, from my cheek.

Our eyes met and my throat closed up.

He leaned forward and touched his lips to mine gently.

It was relief, understanding, emotion, and love all rolled into one.

I was so shocked, happy, and overwhelmed all at once, I had no clue what I should be feeling.

Dr. Chambers brought us back to the here and now. “I’m going to want to see you for a scan each week for the moment. I want to keep a close watch on what this little guy gets up to. No going off the rails, now that we have him back on the straight and narrow.”

I liked the sound of that.

It reassured me to know I’d get to see each week what our baby was up to—that he was okay.

“So, still thinking it was a thoracic valve problem, Doc?” It was Seth’s probing mind again. I was so damned overjoyed I’d forgotten to ask those sort of questions.

He rubbed a hand over his chin and looked deep in thought. “Yep. Can’t think of anything else at this time.”

“Will there be any long-term problems?”

My attention was definitely back on the here and now. I watched the doctor consider Seth’s question and held my breath again.

What if?

Would this damned emotional rollercoaster ever end—I was sick of being thrown around, sick of my stomach falling right out from under me.

“I honestly can’t say. As I said before, everything looks perfectly fine now. But until the little guy arrives and we can do more tests, I can’t say for certain.”

Seth nodded. “We’ll focus on the ‘perfectly fine now,’ then.”

I loved his strength. It had been there all along. He’d never been flakey, it was just the façade he’d let the world believe. He’d learned to be strong and resilient to deal with his childhood. He’d had to be.

Once again, I wiped away the sonar gel. It crossed my mind that I’d better get used to doing this. It was no chore and I’d look forward to it, if I could always be guaranteed of having results like today.

“So, will you be doing the scans or back to Dr. Collins?” Again, my guy was asking all the right things. I just felt so emotionally overwrought.

“I’ll be doing all the scans for the moment, but you’ll continue to go to Dr. Collins as well, as you normally would. We’ll work together on this one for the time being. He’ll, of course, do the delivery when the time comes.”

Delivery.

I really was having a baby!

I’d never given a moments thought to what delivering actually meant.

Wow.

Wake up call.

The world around me was just white noise at the moment.

Were Seth and the doctor still talking?

“So, you two go home, relax, and I’ll see you next week.”

Dr. Chambers stood and Seth reached out a hand to help me off the bed. I kind of felt like an invalid already, rather than a supremely fit athlete who was at the end of her first trimester.

“Thanks so much, doc. I can’t explain how grateful I am you went with your gut.”

They shook hands.

“Me too, mate. Me too.”

We still had our little baby boy and we had Dr. Chambers to thank for it. We’d put our trust in him and he’d come through for us—saved our baby.

The next few moments were a blur. Seth paid the bill and then we were out in the corridor that joined the hospital to the professional suites.

We’d taken two steps when we stopped and just wrapped our arms around each other and held on for life itself.

Relief.

Happiness.

Love.

Excitement.

Hope.

All of these emotions rushed through me—us. There was nowhere on earth I’d rather be than in Seth’s arms. It was where I was supposed to be. It was home for me now.

“I love you, Soph.”

“I love you, too!” I choked out, feeling overcome with emotion.

“And I love our little guy.” He put his hand across my stomach and I was just about to return the sentiment.

“Well, if it isn’t my favourite patient and his most tolerant fiancee.” I’d know that voice anywhere.

We broke apart and I threw my arms around nurse Nancy, tears ran down my face and a hiccupping giggle popped from my throat.

I could feel Seth looking on with a grin.

She absorbed me into her overly generous chest and hugged me.

“Well, honey, I’m pleased to see you, too. Now you’re going to have to tell me what’s going on, because through all the weeks you never looked this off balance.”

I pulled back a fraction. “I’m pregnant, our baby’s going to make it,” I blurted out.

“Well, that’s great news.” A genuine one hundred percent happy smile took over her face. “But what do you mean by going to make it?”

“Umm, things have been a bit crazy for the last few weeks.” Seth offered. Nancy moved her attention to Seth and gave him an appraising look.

“And yes, it’s great to see you up and moving around, as well.” She looked at me conspiratorially. “Let me guess, he’s pushed way too hard and every thing’s good again if you’re in the family way.”

I laughed. She knew him so well. “Well, that’s exactly correct but you already knew that. I’m actually thirteen weeks pregnant.”

Her eyes grew bright with surprise. “So, before the accident. And you never guessed?”

“Night of and no.” I’d always felt so comfortable with Nancy, she’d been a big part of the journey Seth and I had been on for his recovery. I knew I could tell her anything.

“If only it had been that simple.” Both Nancy and I looked at him.

“What?” she said with disbelief in her voice.

“Well, it’s not exactly all been smooth sailing.”

A frown settled on her face. “Oh? What’s happened? No complications? You seem like you’re moving really well” She took another look at him as if to try and figure out what he meant.

“Not me. The baby.”

She must have twigged that something wasn’t right. “Everything okay?”

“No, yes. Hopefully,” I spluttered out.

And Nancy looked lost, which I’m sure was quite a unique experience for her.

“Soph’s not making much sense. We’ve had a rough week. You see, we thought we were going to lose the baby…”

Nancy drew in a deep gasp. “Oh no.”

“Well, we’re okay for the moment and we think things are back on track.” The next thing I knew, Seth was laying it all out for her in the corridor while he held me snuggled against his side.

I’m glad it was him who had decided to tell our story. I was still feeling a little too raw emotionally to get through it without a flood of tears and I hated those.

Nancy was standing there shaking her head in disbelief, as the story unfolded.

“You poor buggers. Fancy having to go through all that right after the accident. Someone sure keeps tossing you pair challenges.” If only she knew the full extent of it, with Seth’s Mum and Dad. I wasn’t up for going through all that now. “Dr. Chambers is pretty amazing, though. This is not the first time I’ve heard about him doing what seems to be the impossible.”

“It certainly has been a rough three months, but also really good.” Seth squeezed me into him. “I finally got my head screwed on right.”

Nancy laughed, then winked at me. “Sometimes, it takes these men a little longer and nothing like a good whack to the head to wake ‘em up.”

“I could have done without the stay in hospital,” he grumbled.

Nancy held her hands out in mock offence. “What? And have missed the opportunity for me to hassle you and mother you. I don’t believe you for one moment.”

We all chuckled.

I’m sure he could have done without the accident but Nancy was one of a kind—a bright light in an otherwise bleak time. It was one of those crazy things with life, you never did know who you were going to meet and when or how they’d influence your life along the way.

“I’m just glad the knock to the head wasn’t more serious. His recovery is coming on great and I’m going to need him on his best game with the baby and all,” I admitted. It was only starting to dawn on me what parenthood actually meant.