His Christmas Baby: A Friends to Lovers Romance Read online

  “Oh my god!” The squealing and jumping began almost immediately and I stood back just a tad further until I was nearly out of the room. Miranda held the unicorn tree topper, made of glass and creating a beautiful kaleidoscope of colors in the cabin. “It’s perfect, Aunt Sylvie !”

  “Merry Christmas, kiddo .”

  With a smile she ran back to look at the tree topper again, gently showing it off to the smaller kids and then the adults. Her face lit with such joy and I felt a warmth rush through me at the thought of having these special moments with a child of my own. This time next year, I could be a mom. I could have a child that I take too many photos of for baby’s first Christmas scrapbook. Damn, that sounded really good .

  “Penny for your thoughts ?”

  “You scared me,” I told Brady, smacking his stomach with the back of my hand .

  “That was absolutely perfect, Syl. Thank you.” He kissed my cheek, close enough that his lips brushed against the corner of my mouth .

  “Oh look who’s under the mistletoe !”

  I groaned and turned closer to him. “Mom saw us in the kitchen .”

  He grinned and turned towards our families, watching raptly. “Tradition is tradition.” In true overdramatic Brady fashion, he pulled me close and dipped me over his arm, kissing me until I gripped his arms until my knuckles were white, tasting the sweet, dry tang of mulled wine and citrus. I could taste his mouth forever .

  “Damn.”

  His eyes sparkled with pride. “And that’s just my mouth .”

  This man just might be the death of me .

  * * *

  “W ell that took longer than I expected.” Brady leaned against the bedroom door, eyes closed as his chest heaved .

  I grinned at the exhausted heap he made. He’d offered to put the kids to bed so his sisters could spend some time with their husbands. “Such a good brother.” His eyes opened when he realized how close I was, my hands lifting the hem of his shirt over his head, pulling the tab on his jeans and sliding the zipper down. “You should go take a hot shower .”

  One hand shot to my waist, I could feel the heat of them even through my robe. “Join me ?”

  “No. I plan to take my time tonight. Be quick.” With a grin he sauntered into the bathroom, tossing his snowflake boxers at me through the open door .

  “As you wish, my love .”

  My entire body went rigid at his casual use of that phrase. My love. Of course, I knew he loved me. We grew up together. Lost our parents together. Experienced all the highs and lows of a long life lived near side by side. But the words my love sounded a lot more intimate than lifelong platonic love. And the weirdest part of all? I don’t feel freaked out about it all. Not scared or worried. In fact I felt, calm. Like maybe…just maybe .

  The shower spray increased pressure and the long groan Brady released pulled me from my thoughts. I needed to get ready for seduction. I’d bought a sexy slip of green silk for tonight. The tiniest panties I’d ever seen and a bra that was little more than a big bow. His gift to unwrap. It was so small I had it on in seconds and spritzed a few clouds of perfume before crawling on the bed. And waiting .

  The door opened and I arched my back, in full seductress mode. “That was so…hot. You look so hot,” he flashed a sheepish grin. “Damn hot .”

  “Thank you, Brady. Why don’t you come over here and show me how hot, ‘damn hot’ is ?”

  His magical pink tongue slicked across his bottom lip as his feet began to move. With a swift flick of his wrist, the towel fell to the floor and he climbed on the bed. “Is this for me, Syl? Are you my gift ?”

  I nodded, my gaze practically smoldering at the hard length just inches from my mouth. “I am .”

  He looked down at his cock and smiled. “Is this what you want?” I nodded and his smooth hard skin slipped between my lips, down the length of my tongue with a low, ferocious growl. I opened my mouth and coated him in moisture. “Fuck, Syl. Yes .”

  His hips pushed forward slowly and I kissed his cock, licked every inch from his balls to that deep slit where moisture beaded. The more he moved in my mouth, the damper I grew between my thighs. He tasted like the ocean and the forest. And man. I groaned and he slid deeper, holding my hair in his hand as he slid slow and oh so deep .

  His cock thickened, hardened ever so slightly and I knew he was close, but still he pulled back. “Need you, now .”

  I loved the gritty way he said that, like it took every bit of control he had just to bite out those words. My whole body shook as shivers stole over my skin. “I’m right here .”

  He grinned and slid over me, down the length of my body. “Such pretty panties,” he growled and pulled them down with his teeth before kissing his way back up my body, stopping where I wept for him. “Such a pretty pussy.” He kept his gaze on me, smiling wide and sticking his tongue out, licking me from the bottom to the top. His tongue swirled, around and around my clit, spinning fast enough to keep me on edge but never quite push me off. A low moan escaped me when his lips wrapped around me, planting an open mouth kiss that shot my hips off the bed and made him laugh. “You like that .”

  “Oh! I fucking love it, Brady.” I swirled my hips, tempting him back and he buried his face in my pussy, licking and sucking until my back arched off the bed in a shattering orgasm. “Brady. Babe .”

  “Fuck you taste so good. The perfect Christmas Eve Eve snack.” He placed kisses on my hips, my side, all around my breasts and up my jaw. He settled his mouth over mine, his tongue entering at the same, slow torturous pace his cock slid home .

  “Brady!” The cry tore from my lips as he slid deep and my legs went around his waist. He moved with an intensity I’d never felt before and I lost myself in loving him. In letting him love me. Long, deep strokes that touched every inch of me, slid along every synapse until electric sparks shot out of my pores .

  He pulled back and looked at me, gaze smoldering down as he moved inside me. The pleasure built steadily, starting at my toes which began to tingle. He let out a growl when I began to pulse around him. “Syl. You feel so good .”

  My hands slid all over his back, his shoulders and his chest. His muscles jumped at my touch and his hands went to my breasts, squeezing the nipples and kneading sensitive flesh as his hips began to move faster and faster. He was close. “I can feel you hardening inside me.” He groaned again, moving faster and deeper, grabbing my thighs and holding me open so he could fuck me harder. “Yes, Brady. Like that .”

  And then we tumbled over, shouting our pleasure together as passion erupted between us. “Oh fuck, Syl!” He froze, then his body jerked as he emptied into me once again. I relished in the warm feel of his seed rushing through me, his hot, hard body sinking into mine .

  “That was hot. Really fucking hot .”

  He grinned. “You’re really fucking hot .”

  Brady

  W aking up with Syl’s lush body tangled with mine seemed about the best possible way to wake up. Everything about her was so soft and feminine, a sharp contrast to my hard planes and sharp angles. After making love on and off all night, she’d collapsed on top of me and fell asleep with her hand right over my heart .

  I just laid there listening to the sounds of her deep breathing, waiting for the panic to settle in that I was having a sexual relationship with Sylvie, but it never came. It felt right. Easy. Uncomplicated. And best of all, I couldn’t get enough of her. I didn’t want to get enough of her, which was unusual for me, since I didn’t get attached to women. Not anymore, anyway .

  But it was the morning of Christmas Eve and I didn’t want to think about any of that. All I wanted to think about was tasting all the sweet, creamy skin on display. And I did. I started at her ankles and worked my way up, placing open mouth kisses against her warm skin, loving how she responded to my touch even in sleep. She squirmed and moaned as my lips grazed her thighs, parting her legs just enough to let the scent of her arousal waft to my nostrils. I took a deep inhale until
that scent infiltrated my skin and became a part of me. Unable to resist, I let my tongue dip inside her sweet, creamy nectar, letting the musky sugar dissolve on my tongue before kissing up her slightly rounded belly and up to those magnificent tits .

  I closed my lips over one stiff peak and sucked, letting my teeth graze her nipples until she began to stir and her hands flew to my head. “Brady,” she groaned, her voice deep and still thick with sleep. Desire. “I thought I was dreaming .”

  I made a noise but nothing could pull me from the sweet berry of those rosy nipples. I sucked and nibbled, letting my hand knead and caress the other as she groaned and pressed her body closer to mine. Switching sides, my body came to life at the wonderful sounds she made, the way she clutched at my shoulders. Her hand reached between us and she fisted my cock, pumping it just how I liked and running her thumb over the moisture gathered at the tip. “Shit, Syl,” I groaned when she brought me right to her opening, coating my cock with her juices as she urged me to plunge deep .

  “Brady, please .”

  I gave her what she wanted but once I was inside her again, I couldn’t control myself. She was tight and hot, her pussy so greedy for me my hips bucked wildly with every little pulse and quiver. “So fucking good, Syl .”

  “I need more .”

  So did I. In one swift move I pulled out of her and flipped her onto her stomach, pushing her back down until her pretty pink pussy was bared to me. Heart shaped ass so beautiful I couldn’t help but take a bite. She leaked with pleasure, her dripping pussy like a homing beacon for my cock and I slid deep, nearly losing all of my control. “Fuck, baby .”

  She arched so much that I was buried as far as I could go and I didn’t want to move. “Brady! Oh!” Syl let out the sexiest moaning cry I had ever heard when I smacked her ass, and drove deep. “Yeah, just like that. So…fucking…good .”

  Those words snapped my control and I grabbed her hips, held on tight and plunged hard and deep, faster and faster as her pussy clenched and pulsed. She was close. So fucking close I could feel her orgasm working its way to the surface. “Come on, Syl. Come for me.” Her hips moved so we connected harder and harder, bodies smacking together in a heated frenzy neither of us could control .

  “Oh, shit, Brady!” She came on a long, keening wail that shot lust straight to my balls. They tightened and my spine began to tingle with increasing intensity as my own pleasure erupted out of me in sharp, jerky movements that pressed my cock deeper into Sylvie’s convulsing body .

  “Sylvie.” That was it. The only word I could remember, hell, the only word I knew was her name .

  She collapsed on the bed, taking me with her, gravity plunging me deeper still and triggering small aftershocks within her. “Brady,” she moaned as my mouth continued to kiss and nibble at her sensitized flesh. “Brady,” she said again, this time with more urgency as she squirmed underneath me until I rolled over and she darted off the bed and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her .

  I stared at the closed door, confused as hell about what had just happened. That was, hands down, the hottest morning sex I’d ever had, and she’d run away. Water sounded from the sink but seconds later I heard the unmistakable sound of someone getting sick. It was a terrible sound, wretched and painful, and I wished I could do something to make it all better .

  Instead I lie there and listened until she finished her business and came back to the bedroom. “Are you okay?” I sat up on my elbows to look at her pale skin and slightly gray pallor .

  “I’ve been feeling a little sick the past few days, that’s all.” Her gaze wouldn’t meet mine and I knew she was lying, or at least not telling me the full truth .

  “How many days, Syl?” The woman worked a murder trial with a fever and walking pneumonia so I needed more details .

  “About four or five. It’s just a little nausea here and there, Brady .”

  Nausea like the flu? But I took in her naked body and mine, the way my cock was stilly shiny from her juices and a chill washed over me. We’d been having sex for a while now, not once with any type of protection. “Are you pregnant ?”

  She shrugged. Fucking shrugged! “I don’t know for sure, but I suspect I could be. I’ll take a test soon .”

  “When?” I cringed at how harsh my words sounded and I sat up to apologize but the set of Syl’s shoulders told me she wouldn’t hear it if I did. So I slid off the bed and wrapped her in my arms and I tried really hard not to be offended that she didn’t hug me back. With a kiss to her forehead, I dressed and left the bedroom .

  I needed to clear my mind and the only thing to do out here was to train. I needed to make sure my shoulder and my wrist were strong enough to return to the tour. I had a few more weeks of rehab to go, but I’d been cleared for some light workouts so I went out to the small weight room I’d added to the property. I set my phone on the dock and let hip hop music drown out my thoughts while I put my body through a grueling workout that did fuck all to eliminate the thoughts running through my mind .

  Sylvie could be pregnant and I didn’t know how to feel about it. When she first approached me, I thought it was crazy. Then I thought it was a good idea because this child might be the only one I have for a long time. Now that reality had crept in, I felt a small shiver of panic run through me. And worse, I had no idea how the hell I felt about any of it .

  The idea of walking away from my child, hell from Sylvie, didn’t sit right with me. At all. I could never do that, but I couldn’t ask her to drag a child around the world, chasing after me. Could I? That would be selfish as fuck and the last person I would be selfish to is Syl. That only left the option of me leaving the tour, and as much as I loved Syl, I didn’t think I could do that .

  I let the weights do their work, burn my muscles until I couldn’t keep going and then I headed to the treadmill. I ran full out, uphill, until my lungs, calves and quads were on fire. My chest heaved but in that quiet, blessed moment, all I could think about was putting one foot in front of the other until my legs felt like overcooked noodles .

  By the time I finished punishing my body, hours had passed and I still had no clue what to do. About any damn thing. My arm felt better than ever and a few more weeks of physical therapy and I would be good as new .

  And ready to join the tour right after Australia .

  Sylvie

  I guess I had my answer about whether or not Brady wanted to be involved with the child we might have created. Okay, probably have created. Almost certainly created. He’d gotten quiet and pensive before he dressed and gave me the spinster aunt forehead kiss. And left. Only seconds after I told him there was a possibility I was already pregnant .

  I should be happy about this. I mean, it’s not the answer I wanted and I hate that it was only his rejection of being involved that made me realize how badly I wanted him to be involved in both our lives. But as I scrubbed his scent off my body and let the hot water sting my skin, I knew I’d been fooling myself. I chose Brady because I wanted him to be the father of my child. More importantly, I wanted him to be in my life, raising the baby with me .

  Together.

  But that wouldn’t happen so I got dressed and put on some light makeup to hide my pale skin and fixed a smile on my face as I joined the moms in the kitchen downstairs. “Good morning .”

  “Good morning, sweetheart.” Mom wrapped me in a hug that felt entirely too good as I laid my head on her shoulder. Emotion swamped me but I kept a smile on my face because Mom was like a bloodhound when she had a feeling about something. She pulled back and gave me a long, assessing stare. “You look tired, honey. Breakfast will be ready as soon as Merry gets on with the bacon .”

  Even the word had my stomach lurching. “I’m still feeling a little under the weather, I think I’ll have some of that sparkling water the kids think is fancy.” That only made Mom stare at me even closer .

  Her hand went to my forehead, first her palm and then the back of her hand. “You feel fine .”
/>   “It’s just a stomach bug, Mom .”

  She pulled me in for another hug that had my eyes watering. “When you’re ready to talk, I’m here Sylvie .”

  “Thanks, Mom.” Everyone gathered for breakfast, except Brady, and I smiled while I nibbled around my buttered toast and sparkling water with lemon. Eventually my stomach settled enough to take care of the breakfast dishes while everyone else prepared for their day. Lori and Kendra, with their families, were heading to town to enjoy the holiday festival. The moms sat in front of the fireplace, laughing and sipping mulled wine in a nod to the cool day. “If you need any help, let me know .”

  I made it just a few feet before Merry’s voice rang out. “We could use a prep chef for the day if you’re up for a bit of chopping .”

  I turned with a smile. Somehow the thought of stabbing things for the next few hours sounded strangely appealing. “Sure.” And I was grateful for both women, giving me mindless work that allowed me to work through my thoughts without obsessing .

  Because obsessing wouldn’t get me anywhere. This latest bout of nausea only confirmed what I still refused to acknowledge as true, but needed to start making plans for none the less. Such as moving out of my L.A. condo, selling it and moving here to officially set up my business. And that was only for starters since I also had to set up a nursery, which meant I needed to buy things like cribs and diapers, changing tables and once again, my business. I needed to hit the ground running when the new year began, helping Antoni get his issues in order while also working to keep Brady’s money rolling in. So yeah, I had plenty of things to think about other than Brady .

  Yet still he took up most of my thoughts even though hours had passed and he still hadn’t come inside yet. And I saw him outside, jumping rope and other exercises. He never once stopped, never looked up. He never came in either .