Wethering the Storm

Chapter FOURTEEN

Will you stop f*ckin’ laughing?” Jake growls.
He’s not amused that ten minutes later, I’m still laughing about the penis comment.
“I’m not laughing.” I suck my bottom lip into my mouth, staring out the passenger window.
“Sure you’re not,” he mutters. “Look at me.”
I try to compose my face before turning to him, but it betrays me. I scrunch my features up.
“You are so f*ckin’ laughing.” He scowls.
“I’m sorry.” A laugh slips out. I try to cover it with a cough. “I just can’t believe you of all people just said the word ‘penis.’”
“What did you want me to call it?” he bites out.
“I would have preferred it if you hadn’t said it at all to Dr. Hot back there.”
He slides me a “let’s not go there” look. Taking a left turn, Jake takes us into the hills toward home.
“Look,” he sighs. “I just wanted to make sure I couldn’t hurt our baby when we have sex, which you know with you, I want to do often—multiple times daily, in fact.” He runs his hand up my thigh and my sex quivers, suddenly desperate for his touch, needing to feel him inside me.
“It’s not like I’m going to say to the doctor, ‘I have a huge cock,’” he adds, and that’s like a bucket of cold water over my libido, setting my laughter off again.
“I’m never going to live this down, am I?” he grumbles, taking hold of the gear stick.
“Nope.” I slide him a humoured look.
“You’re going to tell everyone we know, aren’t you?”
“Not everyone. Maybe just Stuart. And Simone. And my dad.”
My dad would find it hilarious for sure. He has the same warped sense of humour as me.
“If you tell Billy that I said penis to the doctor, then I’m going to tell him exactly what you do to my penis with that hot, dirty mouth of yours.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” I gasp.
“Try me.” He narrows his eyes, challenging.
“You’re such a child,” I huff.
“Says you, who’s been laughing about the word ‘penis’ for the last ten minutes.”
Penis.
I look at him. I’m grinning. Then Jake’s smile cracks, and we both start laughing hard, and it feels good. For a moment, it feels like we’re those carefree teenagers we used to be.
We’re still laughing when Jake pulls up at our gates and Henry lets us in.
Parking the car on the drive, we go inside, and I kick my shoes off and flop down on the sofa.
I pull the envelope containing the baby pictures out of my bag. I’ve been dying to look at them, but I wanted to wait until we were home so we could look at them in private together.
Another happy memory to coat the walls of our home.
Jake sits beside me, taking my feet in his lap. “Can I?” he gestures to the envelope.
I hand it to him and watch as he takes the pictures out.
I move closer to him, sitting beside him, my thigh pressed against his. Jake’s arm goes around me and I rest my shoulder against his chest as we both stare down at the black-and-white picture of our baby. Our tiny, tiny baby.
Jake is so still. All I can hear is the sound of his gentle breathing. I steal a glance at his face, and the emotion I see steals my own.
“It’s really ours,” he says, fingertip touching the image of our baby. His voice is so soft.
“It’s really ours,” I utter, my voice cracking.
“Who knew I could contribute to making something so perfect?” Jake glances at me through his long lashes. “Thank you.” This is the second time today he’s thanked me, and this time I have to ask why.
“For being with me. For giving me a chance at getting my life right. Only with you would I ever have a chance at having a family. You’re everything to me, and now you’ve given me so much more with our baby.”
Tilting his face to mine, I kiss his lips tenderly.
He wraps his arms around me, taking me with him back into the sofa, his lips pressed to my forehead.
I love feeling Jake this way. Contented and at peace with himself.
I trace my finger over the detailed tattoos on his arm. “Life’s good, huh?” I murmur.
“Life’s great.” I feel his smile against my skin.
“You hungry?” I ask.
“I could eat something. You want to order in?”
I shift back from him so I can see his face. “We could cook something once in a while, you know,” I tease.
“You in the mood to cook?”
Too comfortable to consider moving right now, I shake my head.
“Ordering in it is, then.” He chuckles deep. It vibrates through his chest. “What are you in the mood for?”
“Chicken Caesar salad with Parmesan and a crusty roll.”
“Nothing specific, then,” he teases.
“Hey, I’m eating for two here, you know.”
Smiling, Jake gets his phone out and orders my salad and a grilled cheese for himself from the local deli.
While he’s on the phone, my thoughts drift to the scan and how it felt seeing our baby. Then my thoughts move to Dr. Kline and how attractive she is. I wonder if Jake thinks she’s good-looking. Before I can think it through, in usual Tru style, I’m saying, “Dr. Kline is really pretty.”
He shoves his phone back in his pocket. “I hadn’t noticed.”
“Sure you hadn’t.” I roll my eyes.
Jake lifts my leg off him. He leans over me, forcing me to lie back, and places his hands either side of me, pelvis pressed hard against my sex. He rests the tip of his nose against mine. “I hadn’t noticed,” he repeats. “When you’re in the room, sweetheart, I don’t see anyone but you.”
A shiver runs down my spine, and I start to hum with desire.
“I’m going to get fat,” I say, pouting.
“No, you’re going to have my baby growing inside of you, and right now I can’t think of anything sexier.”
Jake slants his mouth over mine, kissing me leisurely. I part my lips with a moan, and his tongue moves inside, stroking mine.
Right now, I would like nothing more than to have Jake inside me, but our lunch is on its way, and I have this nagging worry about calling my parents to tell them about the baby. Mainly my mum. I’m worried how she’s going to take the news. I’m already well aware of her concerns over my relationship with Jake and my moving here after such a short time together. Plus the engagement, coupled with the problems Jake’s had—we’ve had. I fear this may push her over the edge.
“Speaking of the baby,” I say, as his tongue trails over my lower lip.
“Were we? I thought we were heading more in the direction of doing what created our baby in the first place.” He puts his hand up my top, pulling back the cup on my bra, and gently rolls my nipple between his thumb and forefinger.
My body instinctively arches into his touch.
“I need to call my folks and tell them about the baby,” I utter, breathless.
“Soon,” he groans, pushing his erection against my sex. The seam of his jeans works through my own, rubbing against my throbbing *.
“I can’t call my parents straight after we’ve made love.”
“So call them tonight. That’s if I’m done with you by then,” he breathes, nipping my earlobe with his teeth. “I’m desperate for you,” he groans.
Aching from his promise, but worry claiming me more, I put my hands to his chest. “I want you too, Jake, but right now, I need to call them.”
Stopping his assault on my earlobe, he moves back and looks me in the eye. “You’re worried they won’t be happy about the baby, aren’t you?”
I bite my lip and shake my head.
He sits back on his heels, staring down at me, and I see a darkness take his eyes. “Sorry, I’ll rephrase that. You’re worried Eva won’t be happy about you having a baby with me.”
I sigh and push my hands through my hair.
“You know Mama thinks we’ve moved too fast together. She worries for me—a lot—and she lived this life with my dad, having a baby with a musician, on the road, and…” I trail off, struggling to find the right words. “I guess I’m just worried she’ll…”
“What? Want you to go back to England to live? Make you choose?” He frowns.
“No. I don’t know.” I shrug. Sitting up, I wrap my arms around his waist, resting my cheek against his chest. “I just don’t want her to be angry with me.”
“Tru.” He rests his hands on my shoulders and moves down to my eye level. I can see that his hardened expression has softened. “You just said yourself that she’s lived this life.” He tucks my hair behind my ear. “But remember, we are more financially secure than they were back then. I’m not just some singer in a band.”
“But when she gets something in her head, Jake, it’s hard trying to change it.”
“Reminds me of someone I know well,” he implies with a smile. “We’ll call them now and settle your mind, and I’ll screw you mindless later.”
Getting his phone back out, he dials my parents’ home number, putting it on speaker, and sets the phone on the coffee table before us.
“Hello,” comes my dad’s deep voice down the line. Just hearing his voice causes my heart to beat faster.
“Hey, Daddy.”
“Baby girl!” I can almost see his big, bright smile. I miss him so much. “How are you?”
“I’m good, Daddy. Um, is Mama there?” I swallow.
“Yeah, you want me to get her? Your old man not good enough to talk to nowadays?” he teases.
“Actually, I need to talk to you both. Can you put me on speaker?”
“Everything okay, darlin’?”
“Everything’s fine, Daddy. I—we—have some news.”
“Okay, let me get your mum.”
I slide a look at Jake, desperately trying to swallow down my nerves.
Jake rubs my back. “Don’t worry, it’s going to be fine,” he whispers.
“Tru, is everything okay?” My mum’s worried tone comes on.
“Yes, everything’s fine. Great, in fact.” I run my tongue over my dry lips. “Is Dad still there?”
“I’m here,” he says.
“Okay. Jake’s here too, and, um, we’ve got some news. We’re, um…we’re having a baby.”
There’s utter silence. For a really long time.
Then my dad breaks it.
“That’s great news, honey. Really, really great news. Isn’t it, Eva?” I can practically feel him elbowing my mum to respond.
“Cómo pudiste permitir que esto suceda?”
My face heats and prickles.
“Que esto suceda? Let this happen, Mama?” I repeat in English, as I don’t want to hide anything about this conversation from Jake. “I didn’t let anything happen. We didn’t intend to get pregnant, obviously. But it’s something that has happened, and we are both extremely happy about it. I was hoping you would be too.”
“We are happy,” my dad insists.
“Mama?” I press.
“Are you going to give the band up, Jake?” she asks him directly.
“No, he’s not,” I say before he gets a chance to speak.
She sighs loudly. “So he will be on the road touring, and you will be home alone in America with a baby.”
“No,” Jake butts in before I get another chance to speak.
Probably a good thing because I’m so bloody rattled right now.
“We haven’t worked out the fine details yet, Eva, but Tru won’t be home alone with the baby. I’m going to be the biggest part of our baby’s life. I won’t have my child raised the way I was.” The harshness of his tone surprises me, but I can’t blame him. “I see your concern, really I do, but it won’t be that way. I will always be here for them both. I don’t want you and Billy to worry.”
My mum is silent for a tense moment.
“I want you to be happy about this, Mama. This isn’t like you and Dad on the road. Jake’s life is different—”
“Yes, it’s bigger than your father’s ever was. Jake is busy and in demand, and his life is pressured. Look at what happened the last time things got hard for him. He was back on drugs and you found that girl in his bed. You were brokenhearted.”
“Mama!” I cry, devastated she’s bringing that back up.
“Enough, now, Eva,” my dad says. “You know what happened.”
It’s another tense moment of silence, as tears make their way down my cheeks.
“I know I’ve screwed up in the past and let Tru down,” Jake says, breaking the silence. “Trust me, no one knows that better than I do.” His voice is hoarse and it hurts me to hear. “But it won’t ever happen again. I know what I stand to lose, believe me. I love Tru very much. She’s everything to me, and I want her happiness as much as you do.”
I reach out and caress his cheek.
I turn back to the phone. “I thought you of all people would understand this, Mama.” I rub the tears from my face. “That you would be on my side and support us in having this baby.”
I hear her sharp intake of breath. “I am on your side, Tru. I’m always on your side.”
“So then be happy for me…for us. You’re going to be a grandma, and Dad a granddaddy.”
The moment of silence is soft, not sullen. That’s when I know I have her.
“How far along are you?” she asks, her voice wavering a little.
“Six weeks.” A smile bites my lips. “I have some pictures. I can scan one into the laptop and e-mail it to you.”
“I’d love that.”
“Okay,” I say, wrapping the call up. “I’ll scan it in soon and e-mail it over.”
“Tru.” She pauses. “I’m happy for you…for you both.”
Tears prick my eyes. “Thanks, Mama. I love you.”
“Love you,” Mama says.
“And me!” Dad calls in.
I chuckle past the lump in my throat. “Love you too, Daddy.”
“Oh, and make sure Jake doesn’t smoke near you now that you’re pregnant,” Mama starts in, “and you’ll need to start taking prenatal vitamins. No caffeine or seafood…”
“I got it covered, Mama.” I smile. “Don’t worry.”
“Okay, we’ll see you soon.”
We all say our good-byes, and Jake ends the call. I fall back against the sofa.
“Bloody hell, that was stressful,” I mutter, driving my fingers over my aching scalp.
Jake lies back beside me. “You can’t blame her. She worries because she loves you, and I can see where she’s coming from. In her eyes, I’m not exactly ideal husband or father material.”
“Well, she’s wrong.” I turn my face to his and trace my finger over his full lips.
“That may be, but I have to prove it to her.”
“You don’t need to prove anything to anyone.”
“I do. To both your mom and dad. I want them to trust that I can take care of you both.” He runs his fingers over my tummy.
“My dad trusts you. He thinks the world of you.”
“He likes me, Tru. We get on great. But I don’t know about trust, especially not with his little girl.”
“Well, I trust you, and that’s what counts.” I take hold of his hand, bringing it from my stomach to my mouth, and kiss it. “Do you want to call your mum and Dale?”
He shakes his head, chuckling. “No, I think we need a break after that.”
“You think she’ll be difficult like Mama was?”
“No, but right now all I can think about is getting you naked and finishing what we started before. I seriously need to get inside you after listening to you get all fiery, talking in angry Spanish like that.”
Laughing, I say, “The food will be here soon.”
“We’ve got time,” he says, taking hold of my legs, pulling me down the couch. He kneels between them and sets to work on removing my jeans and panties, while I remove my top and bra.
Jake takes his T-shirt off, and then we’re skin on skin, as he rests his chest against mine.
I wind my fingers into his hair, bringing his mouth to mine. I hook my leg around his hip as his hand slides down my thigh, gripping my butt, and he kisses me like he’s starved for me, his tongue plunging into my mouth, deep and hard. His hands take mine, above my head, pinning them to the cushion.
I grind my pelvis into him, groaning in his mouth.
Then the doorbell rings.
“Motherf*cker,” he growls heavily into my mouth. “Can’t a guy get a moment with his girl here?” He grumbles, getting up to answer the door.
I start to sit up to retrieve my clothes. “Don’t you dare move,” he commands. “I want to come back here and find you exactly as I left you.”
“And how’s that?” I ask, resting my arms on the back of the sofa and my chin on my arms, looking across at him. God, he looks so totally hot right now. Abs rippling down to his low-slung jeans. My tattoo inked around them. His hard-on so very visible through his jeans, like his cock is straining to get out of them and into me.
“Naked and waiting to be f*cked.” He grins, walking backward.
“Sí, se?or.” I salute.
He groans, grabbing his cock through his jeans, then turns and heads for the door.
I lie back down on the sofa so whoever’s at the door won’t see naked me sitting here.
I hear the door open, then Henry’s voice. The door closes, so I sit up just as Jake walks back into the living room with a bag containing our lunch in his hand.
“You want to eat now?” he asks, totally insincerely.
I shake my head. “I want you to get your hot ass over here and use that huge penis of yours on me.” I bite down on my grin.
Jake puts the bag of food down on the side table and advances toward me like a panther moving in on its prey.
“With absolute f*ckin’ pleasure,” he says, vaulting over the back of the couch, landing on his feet between my legs, he gets down to his knees, and down to business instantly.