Emergency Delivery (Love Emergency) (10 page)

He swept her top up and off and then cupped those full, heavy curves, avoiding her dark pink nipples, but supporting the weight of her in his palms. “Beautiful.” He breathed the word against her skin.

She shivered but didn’t open her eyes. Very gently, he kissed the outer curve of one, lingering to rub his lips against the warm, silky skin. She caught her lower lip between her teeth and covered his hands with hers.

“Too rough?”

“Uh-uh.” A shake of her head underscored the murmur. “Feels good.” She pushed against his hands, initiating a cautious massage. He took the cue and repeated the action while he roamed his mouth over the upper swell. A soft sigh vibrated under his lips.

Her breath hitched when he blew on her nipple. He traced the dark outline with the tip of his tongue and her fingernails sank into his scalp.

“Oooh.”

“I need a taste now.”

“I don’t…I’m not sure—”

He dragged the flat of his tongue over the beaded crest.

“Oh, mercy.” Her whole body contracted against his.

Saliva flooded his mouth, along with a sugary residue. He licked again, just to feel her knees clamp his hips again, and then moved on to the other breast. By the time he finished there her breath came in quick, hard pants.

He kissed his way back to her mouth and let his fingers drift in a meandering line down to where the high waistband of her leggings rode just below her navel. He wanted to tug them down but feared pulling her out of the moment. Her breath hitched when he slipped his hand inside. She drew her thighs together. “You shouldn’t—”

“Madison, I’m going to touch you now, and you’re going to let me.” He said the words against her lips as he eased into her panties. She gripped his wrist but didn’t stop him. Fair enough.

Warm velvet greeted him. Between kisses he whispered, “That’s it. That’s so good. You feel like heaven.” He didn’t stray too low—he didn’t want to freak her out—but concentrated on drawing slow circles around her throbbing clit. After a few passes, her leg muscles surrendered and her thighs splayed apart for him. Her hips lifted. Perfect. He danced a finger over the sweet spot and let the rest trail a little lower.

Her eyelids drifted shut and her hand tightened on his wrist. Her breath whooshed out of her lungs. “Oh, God, Hunter—”

He swirled over the pressure point again, a little more firmly, and she practically levitated off the mattress, rocking her hips all the while. “Hunterrrrr!”

Her mouth dropped open, her body shook, and she went over.

Chapter Ten

A sharp cry echoed through the shockwaves of Madison’s orgasm. For a second she thought the noise had come from her, and that she’d cried out her gratitude at the moment of truth. The cry came again though—definitely not a grateful, I-just-had-my-first-orgasm-in-half-a-year kind of cry. It was more of an aggrieved, some-loud-woman-just-woke-me-up kind of cry. She dragged her eyes open, and started to haul her still-quivering body out of the bed.

Hunter’s hand landed on her shoulder and held her back. “Stay put. I’ll get her.” Before she had a chance to reply he was up, treating her to one last glimpse of his truly mouthwatering ass before pulling on a pair of black boxer briefs from the top of the neat stack of clean clothes she’d left on his dresser. He tossed her a grin over his shoulder. “Bet you’re sorry you did my laundry now.” With that smug comment, he strode out the door.

Cocky son-of-a-gun. But apparently cocky worked for her, because she knew without looking she wore a stupid smile. It only broadened as she listened to him talk to Joy.

“Hey there, pretty girl. What’s your fuss? You need some attention?”

Joy’s cries quieted a bit, and Madison imagined he’d picked her up.

“Oh, hell, you sure do. No problem. I’m on it.”

Uh-oh. Dirty diaper. Full of intentions to go rescue Hunter, she pushed herself into a sitting position and looked around for her top.

He kept up his monologue. “Let’s see here, we need this, and one of these, and probably a bunch of these.”

She could picture him tossing the changing mat on the daybed, followed by one of Joy’s small, folded diapers, and the container of baby wipes. She paused, and listened.

“All right. Down you go. No…don’t be rolling up like that. There, that’s more like it. Hey now, no kicking. No kicking me, at least. Any other guy tries to get near you, you bust out the Kung Fu. Deal?”

She didn’t hear the baby’s response, but Hunter said, “Awesome. And we’re gonna keep that rule in effect until you’re thirty.”

Joy replied with an irritated whine, and Madison bit her cheek to stop from laughing, but the sound of his footfalls in the hall had her scrambling for her shirt. She hadn’t even managed to get it halfway on when he came in.

“She says don’t bother, Mama. She’s hungry again.”

“Oh.” Her face went hot, but she managed to keep her hands steady as she reached for her daughter. Hunter settled Joy in her arms, and then stretched out beside them on the bed.

Oblivious to the onlooker, Joy latched on and began to nurse with her usual gusto. The same sense of abandon eluded Madison. Sitting there, half-naked, feeding her child in front of Hunter struck her as more intimate than anything they’d just done together. Exchanging orgasms could be written off as a diverting recreational activity. This? Not so much. She was incredibly conscious of his attention. Out of the corner of her eye, she tracked his gaze from the baby nursing at her breast, to her feverish face. His scrutiny unnerved her.

He reached out and brushed his fingertips over her cheek. “You’re blushing.”

“I’m not used to having an audience.”

“Just pretend I’m not here.”

The suggestion made her laugh, despite feeling uncomfortably exposed. “Pretend six plus feet of hard-packed, sharp-eyed man isn’t there? That takes more pretending than I can manage.” She adjusted her position on the pillows, attempting to relieve the tension in her back.

“You doing okay?”

The man didn’t miss a thing. “I’m fine.” She planted the soles of her feet on the mattress and pushed herself up a fraction higher on the bed. “I may have overdone it a little today. I’m trying to spend more time on my feet.”

He slid an arm behind her and rubbed the heel of his hand along the small of her back. She almost moaned out loud.

“What’s your hurry?” His hand continued working tiny miracles on the tight muscles.

“I’m not hurried, exactly, but I scheduled an appointment with my doctor next week, and I’m hoping she’ll sign off on me returning to work. The quicker I get back on the job, the quicker I can get my own place.”

His hand stilled. “I don’t remember posting an eviction notice on your door.”

“And I don’t remember receiving one, but come on, we both know the sooner Joy and I get set up in our own place, the better.”

“I’m more concerned about the where and how than the when.”

“Hunter, I knocked a file off your desk the other day and had to put it back in order. I know you’ve applied to med schools and you’ll no doubt start somewhere in the fall. This is your second chance. The last thing you need is another roommate with a baby.” All those words came out in a rush, but now she held her breath for his reply, because some stupid part of her wanted to hear him disagree with her.

He scowled. “Okay, yes, I’ll need to minimize distractions come fall, but last time I checked my calendar I counted quite a few months between February and September.”

Sweet of him not to hurry her along, but even the stupid part of her recognized they were fundamentally in agreement. He didn’t need them putting down roots in his life. He had lots to accomplish before he’d be ready to take on major distractions. She had lots to accomplish, too, which brought her to yet another reason why she couldn’t just languish in his hospitality for months. “This may be hard for you to understand, but I need to get my feet under me and stand up on my own. I need to do that soon, so I don’t lose confidence in my ability to pull it off. I know a lot of people might not think a low-end job riding a register and mixing lattes is much of a goal, but earning my way, and providing for my daughter mean a lot to me. I was raised by that kind of woman, and that’s the kind of woman I want to be.”

“No, I know what you’re saying. But you don’t have to rush. You’ll get there.”

She shrugged, and aimed for a casualness she was far from feeling. “If my doctor tells me I have to adjust my timeline, then I’ll adjust.”
Or find a new doctor
. “But there’s nothing wrong with my goal. I have to be able to look myself in the mirror and see a person I respect.”

“And right now you don’t?”

“Right now I don’t.”

“Maybe you need a new mirror?”

“I need my
own
mirror.”

“Well, whatever mirror you’re using, I hope it shows you you’re beautiful.” He cupped the back of Joy’s head in his big palm. “Both of you.”

Her face turned hot enough to melt glass. “She is.”

“She looks just like her mama. Same forehead.” He ran one blunt-tipped finger down the baby’s forehead. “Same nose.” His finger traced the outline of Joy’s upper lip. “Same mouth.” Without warning, he reached out and pinched Madison’s chin. “Same stubborn chin.”

She’d also noticed those similarities, but she had other features as a reference, and couldn’t help seeing some of them in Joy. Cody’s straight brows. His smile. “She’s got some of her daddy in her, too.”

“I’ll have to take your word.” He moved a strand of hair behind her ear. “Does it bother you?”

“No. I figure I got the best of him when I got her.”

“Not planning to send him a baby picture, and let him see what he’s missing?”

Cody’s texts flashed in her mind, and for a second she considered mentioning them to Hunter, but she tossed the notion aside. Yes, her ex was trouble, but the trouble didn’t know where to find her, and Hunter didn’t need to be dragged into that particular drama. She hugged Joy closer. “Nope. He’s out of our lives and I intend to keep him out. That’s one right decision I made.”

Chapter Eleven

Madison pushed through the glass doors of the Midtown Medical Plaza and smiled at the overcast sky. The threat of a winter rainstorm couldn’t cloud her mood. First off, she’d managed to squeeze into a pair of jeans and a sweater from her pre-pregnancy wardrobe. Granted, they used to be baggy on her, and now, not so much, but still. Normal clothes. Next, she’d made it to her doctor’s appointment a few minutes early and been seen right away. Finally, she held in her hand a copy of the note from her doctor stating she was fit to return to work. The office had promised to fax a copy to her manager at The Grind this afternoon. She could be on the schedule starting next week.

She’d take it. Things were finally starting to go her way. She walked to her car, feeling lighter than she’d felt in months. Physically lighter, too, by about ten pounds, which had given her a couple moments of panic on her way to her appointment, because she kept forgetting she’d left Joy with Nelle. Hunter was off today but busy getting fitted for a tux for Beau’s wedding. She’d overheard enough of Hunter’s side of a phone conversation to know there was a happy hour afterwards, which he’d offered to skip so she could go to her appointment without Joy in tow, but luckily her walking partner, Nelle, had volunteered…okay…
demanded
to look after the baby. Madison had dropped Joy off at Nelle’s an hour ago with a diaper bag full of supplies and three bottles of expressed milk—not the most enjoyable process in the world but good practice for baby and mama, since she’d be expressing a lot more starting next week. Joy didn’t need much practice. As long as she got fed, she didn’t seem to care whether it came from a breast or a bottle.

She opened her handbag with the idea of texting Hunter and sharing her other piece of good news. Her doctor also gave her a cautious thumbs-up on another front, after a short chat about “controlled penetration,” and instructions to take it slow, and use protection if she wasn’t looking to get pregnant again. She hoped Hunter would be game to try, given that over the last week they’d gotten into the habit of sharing his bed and enthusiastically exhausted every post-partum permissible way to drive each other crazy. She had nothing against creativity—especially not Hunter’s brand—but she practically came where she stood just thinking about finally having him inside her.

Her phone dinged. A quick twist of tension tightened her stomach. She’d received a few more texts from Cody. Messages sounding more like the guy she’d fallen for back in Shallow Pond. He asked for nothing except information about how she was doing and, even more uncharacteristic, how the baby was doing. When was she due? Did she know if she was having a boy or a girl? Was it healthy? Could he see her?

The answer remained no, because he’d shattered her trust in him beyond repair, and she hoped her continued lack of response conveyed as much. She flipped the phone open and scanned the screen.

Holy shit, things really were going her way. Randy, her old landlord, requested her forwarding address. He had a $500 check for her, for the unused portion of her security deposit.

Her fingers hovered over the reply button but then hesitated. Randy didn’t have much use for Cody, but he could get really talkative after a fifth of whiskey, and Cody knew it. Giving Randy her new address would be a mistake. Instead, she dialed Nelle.

Her neighbor picked up on the second ring. “Hi honey, how’s it going?”

“Good. I’m officially off leave. My manager will put me on the schedule starting next week.”

“Lord, it seems so soon, but if that’s what you want, then I’m happy for you.”

“It’s for the best. I can’t sponge off Hunter indefinitely.” Over the course of their daily walks, she’d more or less spilled her entire sorry situation to the older woman. Nelle had been sympathetic and surprisingly nonjudgmental. On the subject of getting knocked up without even the benefit of an engagement ring, Nelle had simply waved a hand and said, “Oh, honey, we do that in my family, too.”

But right now, a non-committal, “Hmm,” was all she had to say about the sponge off Hunter comment.

“How are you and Joy getting on?”

“Your little angel and I are doing fine. I set up my grandson’s activity gym, and we played hard for a half hour, trying to get our little hands on the monkey, and the raccoon, and the owl. We had the best time. I snapped some pictures to show you. Then we had a snack, and now she’s enjoying a little nap. She is such a good baby. I know you and Hunter are going to try to coordinate your work schedules so Joy’s covered, but if you need a sitter, pick me!”

Pride warmed her chest. Logically, she knew Joy’s behavior hinged mostly on how well fed and rested she was, but the mama in her couldn’t help puff up a bit at the compliment. It also reassured her enough to ask Nelle for another favor. “Thank you. I’m glad she’s behaving, and I so appreciate your offer. At the risk of making you immediately sorry you volunteered, would you mind if I ran an errand before I came home? I shouldn’t need more than an hour.”

“Take your time. We haven’t even tried out the bouncy chair with the springy, light-up bugs. Jackson lived in that thing while he was here, and I put fresh batteries in this morning.”

Joy was in good hands. “Okay. Thanks, Nelle. I’ll see you soon.”

She called Randy, told him she’d be there in thirty minutes to pick up her check, and made it in twenty-five.

Randy sucked up the extra five minutes complaining about Cody hanging around the place looking for her, which made her nervous and anxious to be on her way. And maybe a touch paranoid, because she thought she spotted Cody’s truck out of the corner of her eye while she stood at the counter of the check-cashing place around the block from her old apartment. She saw no sign of it when she walked back to her car.

Shake it off, Madison. There are a million black pickups in Atlanta. Besides, between drugs and gambling, Cody probably lost the truck by now
.

Still, her heart rate stayed high, and her eyes kept straying to the rearview mirror until she pulled onto the freeway and merged into the Friday afternoon traffic. By the time she took the off-ramp for Peachtree Hill, she’d convinced herself to stop searching for bad consequences in a positive turn of events. Luck owed her a couple strokes. Just relax and enjoy them.

With that in mind, she turned into the drugstore parking lot. Enjoying a stroke of luck tonight required some supplies. She grabbed her purse and walked inside. It only took a few minutes to fill a red basket with condoms, lube, and, following impulse, a pack of bikini area razors. Controlled penetration meant subjecting Hunter to some sights she’d managed to keep mostly under wraps up until now. Her tummy was still a work-in-progress, but that was okay because she’d amassed a small collection of his oversized T-shirts that slid off her shoulders and offered him access to her breasts while keeping her middle draped. As of now, however, the need to do things through the panties disappeared. The least she could do was trim the lawn before the guest of honor arrived.

An hour to the minute after phoning Nelle, she pulled into Hunter’s driveway, parked, and headed across the street. Nelle opened the door and stepped out onto the porch with Joy. She beamed and helped the baby wave. “Hi, Mama!”

Okay, she’d undercounted. Strokes of luck took all sorts of shapes and sizes, and two of them stood in front of her right now. She smiled and called, “Did y’all have fun?”

“We did. Come on in and see how much she loves the bouncy chair. Plunk her in it, put it on vibrate, and she goes for a run.”

As she climbed the porch steps, the little hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She turned and stared up and down the street. All quiet, as usual. She brushed her hand over her neck and told the anxious skeptic inside her to back off the panic switch. Everything was perfectly fine.

…

“Jesus, I’m fucked up. Why’d you let me get so fucking fucked up, motherfucker?” He threw a punch at Beau’s shoulder but missed. The shifting beams of headlights from passing cars threw him off.

Beau lifted one hand from the steering wheel and punched him the arm—and didn’t miss. “Hands off the driver.”

“Ow.” Hunter slapped his palm over his burning bicep and winced. “You used your knuckle, bitch. That’s going to leave a mark.”

“Consider yourself lucky I didn’t nail you in your big, numb skull.” He returned his gaze to the road. “I’m not taking the blame for your piss-poor judgment. Next time Reyes and Simmons issue a shot challenge, opt out.”

“No next time.” The very thought made him want to hurl.

“If it’s any consolation, when I poured Simmons out onto his doorstep, his wife leveled him with a stink-eye that withered my balls. He won’t be off his leash again anytime soon.”

“Good.” Hunter leaned his head against the seat and closed his eyes, then opened them right away when his head spun. “Shit.”

“Madison’s not going to shoot the stink-eye my way when I drag your sorry ass in, is she?”

Hunter hadn’t told many people about his roommate situation, but spending back-to-back twelve-hour days in close quarters with a partner left few secrets. He’d been an invisible—and occasionally not-so-invisible—participant in Beau’s recent relationship drama with his fiancée Savannah, through a bullshit engagement that had turned real long before his partner had cared to admit, and an unplanned pregnancy that had forced Beau to face up to his feelings. Likewise, when it came to Hunter’s personal life, Beau knew the score. Mostly.

Hunter squinted at the dashboard clock. Twelve thirty in the morning. She would probably be awake, finishing up Joy’s midnight feeding. “I doubt it. She’s crap-her-pants happy after her doctor’s appointment today.” Shit. He heard the scowl in his voice. Chances were good Beau had heard it, too.

“She’s done with maternity leave?”

“Yep.”

“And that’s good, right?”

“Sure.” He stared out the passenger window.

“She’ll save up a couple paychecks and find a place to live. You get your house back.”

“That’s the plan, I guess.”

“And it’s not like she’s moving to another state. You’ll still see each other, but you’ll have the freedom to get together because you want to, not because you’re all stuck under the same roof.”

“Right.” Except it didn’t feel like freedom, it felt like something important slipping out of his grasp.

With absolutely no warning, Beau punched him in the arm again, hard enough to bounce his forehead against the window. “Ouch.” He touched his abused skull and glared at Beau. “What the fuck, man?”

“Snap out of it. You don’t need complications in your life, remember? Especially not now.”

He shifted around until he faced his partner. “It’s not just me. Madison has wants, too, and regaining her self-respect sits at the top of her list. An essensi…essensul… Dammit, an important part of that involves getting out on her own and providing for herself and Joy. I understand how she feels. I know what it’s like to look in the mirror and see a screwup, and I get how big a deal it is to rebuild self-respect.”

Beau turned into Hunter’s driveway and cut the engine. “Sounds like you two are on the same page. Suck it up and stop moping like a limp dick. Don’t make me punch you again.”

“You’re not driving anymore. You punch me again, I’m punching back.”

“You couldn’t hit the side of a barn right now.”

He knuckle-punched Beau in the thigh to prove him wrong and had the satisfaction of seeing his partner grit his teeth.

“Son of a… All right, back off. We’re even.”

“We are nowhere close to even.”

Beau was silent for a moment, as if debating his next words. “Hunter, consider the timing and optics of this situation. It’s not your fault Madison and Joy ended up in the hospital again, or her car got towed. It’s not your problem that her funds are low and her living situation is sketchy. Yet you strapped on your boots and cape, and moved them in with you. You did it right at a time when you should be clearing your decks and focusing on your goals. Some might say you’re setting yourself up to fail.”

Was he? Denial leapt to his throat, and he gave it a voice. “Some might not know shit.” He got out of the car and immediately staggered under the weight of all the gravity. Luckily, Beau got a shoulder under his arm and caught him.

“Maybe not,” Beau admitted.

Hunter tightened his arm around his partner’s shoulders and tried to reconnect his feet to the rest of his central nervous system. “Fuck it, if Ashley has her way, I’m not starting school in the fall anyhow.”

Beau steered him toward the house. “She’ll write the letter.”

“Not if she finds out what I’m doing,” he muttered.

As if on cue, the front door opened and Madison stepped under the porch light, eyes huge in her concerned face.

“Oh my God. Hunter, are you okay?”

She started down the steps, barefoot, in one of his old T-shirts she wore so well and plaid flannel sleep pants. It couldn’t be more than thirty-five degrees outside. Belatedly, he realized Joy’s sperm-donor of a daddy, with his various vices, had probably stumbled home drunk off his ass more than once, and now, in her mind, he was pulling the same crap. He shook Beau off and offered her what he hoped was a sober-looking smile, while his stomach pitched. “Go on inside, baby, I’m fine.”

Then he braced his hands on his knees and puked on his front lawn.