His thumb rubbed back and forth over a nipple. “I love your laugh.” He pressed closer against me. “Never lose that laugh. I need to hear it.”
I basked in the thousand sparks shimmering across my skin from his touch, from his raw voice in the shadows. But something sad lingered in the air from his tone, his silence.
“Are you okay?” I whispered.
“Yeah. You know, you never answered my question.”
“Which one?”
He chuckled, his hair falling across his face, tickling my skin. He settled his head on my chest. “Do you want me in your ass?”
I kissed his forehead. “I want you everywhere.”
“WHAT A MESS!”
My head lurched off my pillow, and my eyes unglued in the semidarkness. A girl stood, facing the mirror opposite my bed, her light-colored hair, hair the color of dawn, fell past her shoulders.
Jill.
I let out an exhale and fell back against my pillow again. For a second there, I’d thought…no, impossible. That was another fucking lifetime.
The first of many fucking messes.
I sat up in the bed. “What did you say?”
“My face is a mess,” replied Jill. “I’m all puffy.”
I rubbed a hand down my chest. “You’re fucking beautiful. You just didn’t get enough sleep.”
“Sorry. Did I wake you up?” She leaned over me, her fingers tracing a line up my chest.
I clasped her wrist and brought her hand to my mouth, kissing it. “You’re beautiful, Jillee.”
“Stop.”
“You are, baby.” My thumb glided over the edge of the bruise that motherfucker had left on her cheek. “You are.”
She tangled her fingers in mine. “We should leave soon, so I can see Becca and Rae, change my clothes, and then we can get to the doctor on time. Grace called me earlier.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“She’s going to meet us at the doctor’s.”
“Good.”
I pulled her down and kissed her. Her small moans and soft giggles made something warm ripple through my chest.
Jill’s tongue, Jill’s breathy moans, Jill’s taste.
Jill. Not black-eyed creatures from the past.
“How do you feel?” I asked.
She pushed my hair away from my face, a pink color rising on her cheeks. “Let’s just say, you made me feel like a million bucks last night,” she said softly.
I chuckled as I wrapped a hand around her upper thigh. “You tasted better than a million bucks. You coming on my mouth? Even better.” I grinned at her as she squirmed on the edge of the bed.
My hand stroked over her belly, and she covered my hand with hers. “I’m looking forward to seeing the ultrasound, making sure everything’s okay with our Super-baby. Grace was so upset. I hated seeing her like that.”
I kissed her shoulder. “I know, babe. We were all upset.”
“I should’ve told Catch sooner. I could’ve had Tania and Grace with me to make it easier. That would have been a no-brainer. Me and twenty-twenty hindsight.” Her eyes got watery.
“Hey, this ain’t your fault.” I sat up, holding on to her hands. “That motherfucker did this all on his own. He didn’t have to react that way. He chose to threaten your life and the baby’s. He chose to put you on his bike and drag you over here to make a statement. Then, he goes and pulls a gun on you and Grace. Why? ’Cause he was jealous, pissed off? You two have been over for months. Guy’s a dick, Jill. Needs to grow up.”
“I could’ve been mature about it instead of avoiding it and putting off telling him. I knew that he’d have some sort of reaction, just not so thermonuclear.” She let go of my hands and pulled on the hem of her T-shirt. “And now, my pathetic drama created problems for your clubs.”
“Listen to me, this shit is not on you. Get that out of your head right now. And nothing about you is pathetic.”
I wrapped a hand around her neck, pulling her close, and took her mouth, slowly kissing her.
“Minty girl. You found my toothbrush?”
She nodded. “That okay? Or does that gross you out?”
“It takes a hell of a lot more to gross me out, baby.”
She let out that priceless small laugh again.
“How are you really doing though? Hmm?” I tugged at her lower lip with my thumb. An odd warmth burrowed through my insides at the sight of her cheeks flushing, her eyes shining back at me.
This is temporary. Temporary.
“I’m fine. No cramping or twinges or—”
“No, I mean, getting taken like that must have set off a few alarm bells for you, huh?”
“I guess. Yeah. A few.”
“A man you trusted, the father of your kid, turned on you. Can’t ignore that shit, Jill.”
“It’s over now.” She moved away and went back to the mirror, combing her fingers through her hair.
“You need to talk it out. You can talk to me about anything. I’m a good listener.”
She grinned. A greedy grin, like a kid who had gotten a huge ice cream sundae and refused to share. “You’re good at a hell of a lot of things.”
I jacked up from the bed and swatted her on the ass. “And don’t you forget it.”