I'm the one she talks to about her shitty family life.
Almost as if she can read my mind, Jules lays her hand on my forearm. "I'm sure she's going to talk to you about it."
I shake my head. "She doesn't owe me anything."
Except I want her to want my advice. I did knock her up after all, so one would say I'm at least the most important man in her life at the moment.
Jules opens her mouth to say something I'm sure is sweet but unhelpful to the way I'm feeling, when our attention is caught by a car pulling into her circular driveway. It stops right in front of the sidewalk that leads to the porch, and my jaw drops open as I recognize my sister, Simone, in the backseat.
I trot down the stairs as she steps out and the Uber driver pops his trunk.
"What are you doing here?" I ask in stunned surprise as I pull her into a big bear hug.
Simone laughs and squeezes me tight. "What? I'm not allowed to visit my brothers?"
"You're welcome anytime," I assure as I pull back and hold her by her shoulders. "You look great, sis."
And she does. My sister is the spitting image of Max and me, as well as our other brother, Malik. Dark brown hair with streaks of a lighter brown throughout that just occur naturally in our family starting with my mom. She has the same hazel eyes too, and she's tall like her brothers, although at five nine, she's still several inches shorter than me.
"Get out of the way, Lucas," I hear Jules say from behind me. I step back from my sister, and she and Jules hug like long-lost friends. They haven't met in person yet, but they are tight through phone calls and social media. They chatter constantly back and forth with Facebook texts and tweets.
When they pull apart, she turns to thank the Uber driver as he sets two large bags down in the grass that borders the driveway. He gets into his car and leaves and I pick up Simone's bags to carry them into to the house.
"Did you tell Max you were coming?" I ask her as we hit the front porch and Jules leads us into the house.
"Nope," she says, and even though her back is to me as I bring up the rear, I can hear the mischief in her voice. "Thought I'd just come and crash here and rattle your cages. Besides, Jules said I could visit anytime I wanted. It was an open door."
"True," Jules says with a laugh as I set the bags down in the foyer, figuring I'll take them to whatever room they put her in. She definitely has to stay here, as there's no room at my house since it only has two bedrooms.
Max sees us all through the glass back deck doors, eyes landing on Simone then going back to the grill. He quickly does a double take, his mouth falling open like mine.
Then he's in the house and has her in a hug, yelling out loudly but with excitement, "What the hell are you doing here?"
The kids all come running in, and when Max releases Simone, she gives him a pat on the chest and laughs, "I missed you too, Max."
Jules introduces the kids to Simone and she kneels down to give each one a hug as they meet their Aunt Simone for the first time. Annabelle is a little shy, but give her five minutes and she'll get over it. When Simone stands back up, Max says, "Seriously, sis...what are you doing here? I know spring break is over because I remember the gazillion pictures you posted on Facebook from Cancun."
"Oh, you know," she says evasively as she fiddles with one of her earrings. "Just wanted to visit."
Max and I both immediately narrow our eyes at her. Jules wouldn't know this because she just met Simone, but we grew up in the same house together. That fiddling and tugging on her earring meant she was lying. It was her giveaway, and she could never pull one over on us or our parents because of it. Simone, out of all of us, is the most genuine person. She's honest and truthful to a fault, and rarely lies, and when she does, it's usually to avoid hurting someone.
"Try again," I say as I cross my arms, glancing at Max's face. He's clearly worried, as am I.
"What?" Simone exclaims in fake affront. "Can't a girl take a little break?"
"That's not like you," Max murmurs. "Not to just up and leave in the middle of a school semester."
"Your last school semester," I tack on.
Simone's graduating from Dartmouth in May and then she plans on going to medical school after that. Our father is a doctor and she's always wanted to follow in his footsteps.
Sensing that this might be a good time for a little privacy for the Fournier family, Jules spreads her arms and jerks her head toward the back staircase that leads to the second floor. "Come on, kids. Let's go upstairs and get washed up for dinner."
Max shoots her a grateful look, and then turns a thoughtful gaze back to Simone. "You're here, Simone. It's a surprise. You've packed two huge bags. Do Lucas and me a favor and just tell us what's going on."
Simone's green-gold eyes go back and forth between Max and me, calculating what she should say. Her hand drops from her ear, so I know before she opens her mouth we're going to get the truth now.
With a sigh and a lowered gaze, Simone murmurs, "I dropped out of school."
"You did what?" both of us shout the exact words at her at the same exact time.
She winces in the face of our obvious anger and astonishment. "Do you think Dad will be mad?"
"And let me tell you why?" I snarl at her. "Fucking college is expensive. Dartmouth is really expensive. You dropping out is jeopardizing medical school. Should I go on?"
Simone shakes her head furiously.
"What's the deal, Simone?" Max asks softly. "Give it to us real."
With a frown, Simone gives it to us. "I don't want to be a doctor. Never did, and I just can't keep going on with this lie to Dad. I figured if I dropped out, that was the easiest way out of medical school without telling Dad I don't want to be a doctor."
"You can't be that dumb," I say, pissed as hell she'd do something so dramatic without talking to one of us first. Our family is close and we talk about everything.
Well, except women we knock up. I'm still keeping that just between Max, Jules, and me until after we see the doctor.
"Lucas," Max says in a low warning tone to back the fuck off. Then his gaze focuses on Simone. "Have you talked to Mom and Dad?"
She shakes her head, tears starting to glisten, and I groan internally. I've always been a sucker for Simone's tears. "They won't understand."
"You know they will," I chastise.
"But let's not worry about that now," Max says as he steps forward and gives her a squeeze around her shoulders. "We'll eat dinner and talk some more."
I follow them into the kitchen, although I'm not staying long. I want to make sure Simone is settled, and I know Max and Jules will talk to her tonight to figure out what is going on. So I'll hang around for a bit, but I'm not about to give up my plans to see Stephy.
Chapter 8
Stephanie
"How are you feeling?" Lucas asks as I stare at him in the doorway. He'd knocked, my heart rate accelerated, and I swung the door open wide.
And I'm not sure how the man can get more beautiful to me.
Sexier.
Safer.
Wait...safer?
But yes. As I look into those hazel eyes that have an obvious low-burning flame because let's face it, the sex is phenomenal and we're going to get to it, I also see other things in his expression. There's joy to see me, concern about me, and perhaps even some mischief brewing in his eyes and that causes me to have butterflies in my stomach.
Yes. Luc makes me comfortable and I feel safe in this friendship we've developed so far. I never talk about my parents, and yet I did with him. Bottom line, I've got a level of trust in him. He knows what makes me the way I am and yet he still wants to get to know me as we embark on this pregnancy together.
I love how he's standing at my apartment door and not entering until he asks the most important thing to him right now.
"I'm feeling great actually," I say with a smile, then back away from the threshold so he can come in. "A pattern has been firmly established."
He nod
s as he walks past me because he knows I'm talking about my morning sickness. While we haven't seen each other for four days, we've kept in contact mostly via text, although there was one late-night call while he was in Florida this week that may have gotten a little too hot for both of us.
I continue as I shut the door and follow him into the living room. "So it seems it's truly just morning sickness with me."
"Every morning, right?" he asks.
Nodding, I watch as he sits on the couch and kicks his legs up onto it like he owns the place. I kind of like the way he's so comfortable here. I never imagined I'd be the type of person to have someone over and have them kick their feet up into relaxation. "Lasts a few hours, just like on Sunday, then it's gone and doesn't come back until the next morning. And I don't always throw up, which is good, because I hate throwing up at work."
Everything I'd read about morning sickness said it could happen sporadically or consistently, but would usually go away by week sixteen. Since mine started, it's been consistent, but I'm grateful it hasn't lasted long.
Last Sunday, Luc observed me at my worst. Barfing my guts up, hairy legs, and rank breath. And he still hung around with me all day. In the early evening, after I'd showered, scrubbed my teeth for the fourth time, shaved my legs, and we were assured I wasn't going to get sick again, Luc had his way with me in my bed and it was magnificent as always.
Everything about him is magnificent on a sexual level, but as I discuss my morning sickness with the father of the baby I'm carrying, I know he's about more than that to me. That scares the shit out of me, as I still have my boundaries, but he's slipped under my guard so seamlessly that I haven't begrudged him his worry about the pregnancy.
"I thought you were bringing a pizza," I say as it strikes me I don't see a pizza.
"Thought we'd go out," he replies casually.
My head jerks back and my brows furrow. "Excuse me?"
"Let's go out to get something to eat?"
"Like a date?" I mumble.
Luc smirks at me. "We don't have to call it that. We can just say it's friends out for a pizza, or baby daddy feeding the baby mama. Whatever you want."
I consider this and his casual attitude, and while yes, it's been amusingly comfortable so far, it's been that way because we agreed this was nothing but casual sex. We were taking advantage of a prime opportunity to have really amazing, phenomenal sex to capitalize on the chemistry between us. In my mind, going out to a restaurant to eat dinner together is a far cry from him bringing a pizza and having no-holds-barred dirty sex after, the pizza nothing more than fuel for stamina.
And this makes me feel unsettled. It makes me feel hopeful and excited about what's beyond the horizon with him, and that scares the living daylights out of me. I've refused to be hopeful about any person in my life since about the age of six, and the fact that Luc is having a deep effect on me is dangerous. This threatens my walls, which sadly are crumbling around the edges.
Yes, I love being physical with Luc.
That's a given. I crave this man, and that's not going to change. I don't want it to change, and in fact, the safest course for me would be to keep to our agreement and maintain this in a casual manner. I want him very much, yet I don't want to want him in a way that's necessary to me. I've never given that part of myself to anyone before. At this point, I'm not sure if my duality is from raging hormones or my past experience, but I've got to get things settled down to a level that's comfortable for me. I know if I don't do this, I'll shut down and shut him out, and that's not an option either.
So I decide to focus on exactly what I can have with him so we can return to what is working very well for the both of us. I walk to the couch, my hands gripping the material of the soft cotton skirt I'd put on with a T-shirt after I'd gotten home from work. I slide it up my thighs and get a tingling between my legs as Luc's eyes darken with a desire for me and not dinner.
Putting one knee on the edge of the couch, I swing my other leg over to straddle his hips. My skirt is full so the material doesn't move up any higher than midthigh, but Luc isn't satisfied with that. His hands immediately knock mine out of the way, spreading across the tops of my legs and pushing the hem up farther.
His gaze slides up, locking eyes with mine. "Guess you don't want to go out for dinner?"
Luc's voice is roughened with need, and that turns me on as much as his touch does.
"Not hungry," I murmur, hoping to encourage his hands to move higher. We've yet to have sex on my couch.
"Well, I am," Luc says adamantly and for a moment, keen disappointment courses through me that I can't entice him. But that thought is quickly put to rest as he jackknifes off the couch, his powerful body propelling his weight and mine upward. My arms latch around his shoulders, my legs around his waist, and his hands come to my ass to support me.
He spins us around so quickly I get dizzy, then he's dumping me down on the couch. I grab at some cushions to pull myself up but his hand comes to my chest and he pushes me back down. I make the mistake of looking into his eyes and see they are blazing, and I swear a micro orgasm hits me between the legs as my sex convulses.
Luc's hands snake under my skirt, take hold of my panties, and he strips them off with a rough pull. His hands come to my calves and he yanks my legs apart, draping one over the back of the couch and the other he lets fall to the floor. His movements are assured and domineering and he doesn't say a word. He's all alpha man right now and I find that I like this Luc very much. The velocity of my heartbeat goes into overdrive, and as he shoves my skirt up to my hips, the cooler air hitting me lets me know my panties are already soaked.
If I was unsure of Luc's intentions before, there's no doubt now that when he says he's hungry, he's not talking about pizza. He falls to his knees and buries his face between my thighs. My elbows dig down into the seat cushions and my head falls back as a ragged groan tears free from me. Luc's hands slide under my ass, pulling me up to him as his head moves back and forth. He makes little sounds of appreciation as his mouth works at me, making no bones about the level of desire he has.
I tip my head back up and look down my body, the sight of him feasting causing my ragged breath to stop. Luc's eyes--those beautiful green eyes shot through with gold and brown--look up to me. He pauses, lifts his mouth to lick his lips, and grins. "Way better than going out to dinner."
My breath comes out in a massive rush. "I'll never go out to dinner again."
Luc chuckles and drops back down, the reverberations of his laugh pulsing through me. His tongue draws circles around my clit, causing my body to tremble violently from the exquisite feelings he's causing within me.
"You taste too damn good, Stephy," Luc murmurs against me before pursing his lips to suck.
I cry out as pleasure shoots straight to my core. He rolls my clit with his tongue, swirling and lapping and fluttering. My hips start to gyrate, not exactly needing more but wanting to participate in this beautifully intimate joining. It's one of the most intimate things a couple can do together, and because of that, I've always pushed guys away from it.
"Luc," I moan as my body starts to stiffen. "I'm so close."
He growls in response, more vibrations hit my clit, and with another strong swipe of his tongue over me, I start to break apart. Not in a violent wave but more like a gently rolling thundercloud. It sweeps over me and through me in such a lovely rumble of release that I start to softly chant, "Yes, yes, yes, yes," in cadence with my orgasm.
Slow to release, slow to finish, my orgasm takes its time sliding away, but it's more than enough time for Luc to crawl up my body and press his weight down onto me. I can feel his rock-hard cock pressed into my stomach as his face hovers over mine, the burning in his eyes not calmed in the slightest.
"Wow," I say softly as I press my hands into his chest. His heartbeat is firing rapidly and I love that he is as excited by what he did to me as he is by what's to come.
Luc gives me a slow smile before tilting his
head to kiss me. It's a soft brushing of his lips against mine, then they feather across my cheek to my ear where he whispers, "Going to enjoy doing that to you again."
A delicious shiver assaults my body and my hands slide up over his shoulders and then around his head, where I tug at his hair. He pulls back to look at me and I tell him, "I'm going to enjoy returning that favor to you."
He makes a rumbling sound of agreement in his chest and then he's pushing up off of me. Before I can even take a breath, he's hauling me up into his arms and spinning toward the hallway. "Let's take this into the bedroom. More room in there."
"Then we can order pizza?" I ask with a sly grin.
"Then we can order pizza," he agrees.
--
Much, much later, after I returned the favor and we ate pizza, after Luc put me on my hands and knees and fucked me from behind, and after we collapsed onto the bed, we talked and talked and talked.
It was becoming effortless to do that, and I wondered if that meant more walls were crumbling. I wondered and I stressed over it.
"You're sure you're okay with me going to your doctor's appointment next week?" Luc asks me as we sit side by side on my bed sharing a container of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia. It's been a craving of mine and I've got it well stocked.
"Yeah," I say as I scoop out a spoonful and pass the pint to Luc. "Why wouldn't I?"
He shrugs as he takes the container, then grabs the spoon from me. "It's just kind of personal I guess, and well...this is a casual thing we've got. I'm having a hard time understanding where the line is between the casual sex and being part of the pregnancy."
"Huh," I huff out, realizing that I really don't know where the line is either. We haven't talked about this in particular. Taking a deep breath, I let it out and hope to fuck this doesn't crumble my walls further. "I think as far as the pregnancy goes, you were fifty percent complicit in me getting knocked up, I think you should have equal share in everything. So yeah...share the appointments with me. You can actually birth the child if you want, but point is...we just keep that separate from the sex part."
"So pregnancy stays pregnancy, and on the other side we have no strings sex other than we'll be monogamous?" Luc asks to clarify, still holding the spoon and container without having taken a bite.