Layers Peeled Read online

  “You’re pregnant?” he repeated, reaching toward my belly.

  I nodded, feeling my smile stretch wider. The tips of Tristan’s fingers touched below my navel, and slowly his full palm came to rest on my stomach. The warmth from his hand spread over my body to all the right places, and I felt those appetizing tingles revive between my legs. His other hand traveled to my hip, pulling me closer to him. He was looking at my belly, mesmerized.

  “Yes. I’m pregnant.” I lowered my hand on top of his, holding it there, afraid to believe this moment was actually a happy one; just the way I’d envisioned. Tristan wasn’t running, and beyond his stunned response I saw a spark in his eyes I’d never seen before.

  “We’re going to have a baby?” he asked again, crouching in front of me on his knees.

  “Yes,” I said, feeling my eyes well up.

  He lifted my shirt and kissed my stomach around the navel. At first, the tender kisses were sweet and loving. As he traced my skin lower in uneven patterns, the heat of his mouth on my skin intensified. His hands held my hips steady. The hunger of his touch on my flesh deepened. His hot lips traced around my belly, pressing gently with more yearning each moment, and I knew Tristan was as famished as I had been.

  CHAPTER 2

  I closed my eyes. I’d missed the dance of Tristan’s lips on my body. The three weeks without his touch felt like forever. I couldn’t even remember the last time we’d had sex, and part of me began feeling like a virgin again. His hot breath still at my belly grazed upward, meandering through the valley of my breasts as he stood to face me. My bottom pressed against the sink as I braced my entire weight there.

  A button popped open on my tightening shirt. My breasts had grown the last few weeks, and most of my wardrobe seemed to be shrinking in the chest area.

  “I missed you,” he said.

  Another button loosened and Tristan kissed my neck. I leaned my head to the side, allowing him greater access, and whispered, “I missed you too.”

  Tugging on his shirt, I yanked it out of his pants. “You have no idea how much I want you.”

  “I can imagine.” Tristan nibbled on my ear and swept along my chin toward my mouth. He spread my lips with a longing that had been denied for too long. The delicious scar on his upper lip rippled against my mouth, his tongue controlling me like it wanted to learn the shape of my lips all over again. I moaned into him and his response hardened in his pants.

  By this time I was done with his buttons, and I smoothed my hands along his naked chest. Somehow we’d been walking and ended up by his desk again. I didn’t remember the details. All that mattered was that my skin was connected with his. His hands were all over me, exploring, tracing, fumbling with my bra until I felt my breasts loosen.

  “And I missed these as well,” he said against my mouth, while molding the twins, one in each hand.

  My hands roamed his chest and stomach. I couldn’t decide where to touch next, and I wanted to feel him, all of him, all at once. Oh, how I’d missed the field of muscles on his abs! I slid my palms over his lean torso. The white scar over his heart, where Kendra had stabbed him, rippled under my fingers. For the first time Tristan didn’t flinch. He let me caress and smooth over the healed wound, all the while exploring my mouth. The kiss became more fevered and so did my response. I didn’t recognize the desire burning inside me. I had never felt this needy. I mean, I’d always wanted him, and the sex held the gold medal in awesomeness, but this greed aching in my nipples and between my legs was definitely something new.

  I craved Tristan’s whole body as if it was on the menu as my last meal. His erection poked against my belly. I wanted him inside me, yearning to feel his stretch and warmth. The painful longing begging me to part my legs and let Tristan do as he pleased pounded in a sweet tantalizing rhythm.

  The phone rang. He pulled away from my mouth and pressed the intercom button, saying, “I’m not in for the rest of the day.” Tristan didn’t wait for whoever called to reply, but just hung up. Another click, and the lock on his double door twisted and blinds lowered over the windows.

  I took the moment of distraction to devour his body and made a plan as to how I would lick every inch of the curve poking through his pants. My hands flew to his zipper, and I quickly removed the slacks.

  Sweeping his hand over his desk, he cleared the few papers there and lifted me to sit on the surface. The wood felt cool against my ass, yet not enough to extinguish my cravings. The polished desktop smelled of lemon and pine.

  He froze and took a step back. “Will this be okay for the baby? Because I really need to be inside you, like right now.”

  I grabbed onto the edge of the desk and reached forward to pull him back in. “Technically it’s not a baby just yet. And if the mommy feels good, the baby feels even better. And mommy wants this.” I grabbed his crotch and squeezed the hardened growth, massaging him in my hand. Tristan was ready to pop out of his boxers.

  He unfastened my pants and removed them in one swift pull. How did he do that so well while I was sitting? I tugged at his boxers. He sprang out, all stiff and ready and hot. I grasped him in my hand, my mouth open like a teenager’s who’d never seen a dick before. Staring, I’d really forgotten how big he was. A shudder of delight rolled over me and I imagined squeezing around his hard cock.

  A low growl vibrated from his throat as Tristan forced me to lie back on the cold surface. He bent my knees and yanked my soaking panties off my hips. Lifting my feet to the desk’s edge, he exposed me for his eyes to feast on. And with one gentle prod he buried himself inside me and stayed there. I felt myself tighten around him. Tristan’s chest heaved and I shut my eyes, feeling the firm stretch of his cock against my inner walls.

  “God, how I’ve missed being inside you!”

  The swell and heat of a desperate need for him to begin his thrusts invaded me. The profound yearning pushed my hips towards him. My mind searched for the right words to tell him what this meant, but I couldn’t concentrate on anything beyond his body.

  I lifted myself, using his arms to pull me up to him. My hands slid to his tight buttocks, guiding him deeper. My legs slapped against the side of the desk, allowing his pubic bone to touch my clit, and I circled my hips, back and forth, feeling the exquisite rub. His forehead pressed against me, our heavy breaths blending into one.

  “This won’t take long.” He crushed his mouth to mine and wrapped his arms around me. His ass tightened with each prod as he propelled his hips back and forth in an arousing rhythm.

  No, this would definitely not take long. I’d been waiting for this moment for too many days, thousands of hours and millions of minutes. That tingle born in my belly now roamed my pussy, spreading and intensifying with his every advance. The throbs swelled my folds, increasing the friction between us.

  The slick moisture lubricated my opening like never before, squishing. I could already imagine the spasm that would soon consume me. I could taste it on the tip of my tongue and feel it build with mischievous force.

  Holding onto his ass, feeling it flex in my palms every time he plunged forward, felt like groping a hot-off-the-parquet Chippendale. But Tristan was definitely better than an experienced stripper. My fingers dug into his flesh, wanting him deeper. The concentration swelled each time he thrust inside me.

  “Harder,” I moaned into him, desperate and wild.

  My request was fulfilled with the next jab. He pulled his mouth away so we could both catch our breath. Sweat collected between my jiggling breasts and my head lolled back. Tristan groaned louder, his front pushing right against my pelvic bone, his hands on my hips, pulling me onto him, reaching my full depth. His hand slid in between us and his fingers touched my clit. I nearly screamed because I wasn’t expecting to be done so quickly. I didn’t want it to be over! But my needy pregnancy hormones sensitized every inch of my body. With a few flicks I felt the oncoming orgasm preparing to burst.

  Longer, longer, I thought.

  But the looming e
xplosion forced my mind to drift toward that one spot on my body that needed Tristan more than the rest. Every time he moved his thick cock inside me, my muscles responded with tension, needed that release to soothe them.

  The moment he kissed me again, my limbs softened and the bliss spread from between us out my fingers and curling toes. My legs straightened and stiffened, and I pulled away screaming. God, I hoped his office was sound proof! But even if it wasn’t, I didn’t care. I had waited for this for so long. That frenzy finally released from within me in the form of beautiful sparkles. When his head came down to my shoulder, at last I felt that moment of relief I’d been anticipating for three long weeks. Tristan stilled inside me on the next plunge, filling me with his warmth, his legs shaking underneath him, jaw tightening and eyes shut closed.

  “You know this is exactly why we’re pregnant,” I whispered. There was no strength left in me to speak louder.

  “Then I guess one day we’ll have a soccer team.”

  He pulled out. The remnant of his seed covered his pink tip in white cream. I slowly felt some energy return to my body. And I wouldn’t have been surprised if I were ready for another round in a few minutes.

  “So you’re really okay with this?” I asked in a serious tone.

  “I couldn’t be happier. Best surprises in life are always the unplanned ones.”

  I hopped off the desk and pulled up my pants. Kissing him on his full mouth I’d already begun planning my work at Cross Enterprises.

  “Where are you going?” His low raspy voice surprised me. He hadn’t had enough either, but could I blame him? In truth, I wanted more myself.

  “I need to clean up and start work.”

  “You’re still recovering and need to rest.”

  “Hell with rest. I need to get those girls out.”

  “You’re not going out there with my baby. Not yet at least,” he pulled me in. I liked the way he said “my baby.”

  “Our baby.” I stepped up on my toes and kissed him on his scarred lip. “I can’t sit at home for the next eight months.”

  Tristan buttoned up his shirt and straightened his tie. “I’m fine with you working, but in moderation. And from your office here, and that’s only after your doctor clears you and you move back in with me.”

  I hadn’t thought about living arrangements, and had assumed I’d remain in my apartment with Laura. “Why?”

  “First, because I never wanted you to move out, and second, because I’d like to keep an eye on you and our little... Puss?”

  “Yeah, by the way, Emma will be naming our child, and please don’t ask why.”

  “Okay, my sister has been oddly quiet the past couple of weeks.” He lowered his hand to my belly again. I liked it when he did that. “Has she scammed you to find out before me?”

  “No, she’s been a great support.”

  “For what it’s worth, I’m glad it’s not a secret anymore. But we still have our parents to break the news to. I think they’ll be ecstatic.”

  My heart beat in agreement.

  “And I’m glad it’s not a secret anymore as well,” he kissed the top of my head.

  Tristan wasn’t even upset with me that I hadn’t told him earlier. But that was the kind of a man he was. Honor, trust, and instinct guided his actions. I loved that about him. And for the first time in weeks, actually for the first time since meeting Tristan, I finally thought my life would settle down.

  Boy, was I ever wrong.

  CHAPTER 3

  “I should be in bed!” I screamed over the loud music, peeking at my phone every five minutes, watching my hours of sleep shorten.

  Laura wrapped her arm around my waist, saying, “The only bed you should be in is Tristan’s, and since he’s not available, you’re stuck with us.”

  Because Laura and I had left the force, the girls from our squad wanted to throw us a ‘good luck’ party – otherwise known as an excuse to go out – and the four of us ended up at Kissed, Tristan’s nightclub. And since Tristan had left this morning for a business trip to Washington, the night was all for me and the girls. I couldn’t deny I wished that Tristan could be here, but how could he be? I’d never heard him mention the club nor seen him go out to party. He wasn’t the type. But then why did he own Kissed in the first place? Part of me suspected there was more to his trips to the capital than he led on, but I knew he’d tell me about it on his own terms when he was ready.

  The crowd at Kissed buzzed with life, jumping up and down in a sequence of waves. Above, half-naked women wearing not much more than body paint swung overhead. Near the four corners of the dance floor, metal cages contained pairs of dancers who were grinding their bodies, twerking, and showing off moves that should have been saved for the bedroom. I had to say I was curious to see what they’d do next, which I realized was the whole point of the show. The two girls closest to us had the largest audience of men, whistling and gawking, but their enclosures were high enough that no one could touch them.

  Further away, in the second cage, a sculpted hunk grazed his slick hands over a girl’s body. Oil dripped off her as she lost herself to his touch. The bikini top barely covered her nipples, and her bottoms had found a hiding spot in her ass crack. I imagined the couple as Tristan and me, minus the crowd of a drooling audience. Although the idea of having someone watch us felt pretty arousing as well. His palms would spread the grease over my arms and chest, just the way this cage master was doing. A deep yearning tightened in my stomach. I missed Tristan. The girl spread her legs apart and tilted her ass for him to dig his fingers into, and I pressed my knees together. What was going on with these sexual urges of mine? With the hormones roaming my body, the need to see my man swelled deep in my belly at the mere thought of Tristan.

  “They’re hot, aren’t they?” Laura leaned in, her pink scarf tickling my arm.

  “Shit, yeah. How do you get that job?”

  “You should ask your boss,” she winked. “Although I think you have a better deal screwing him.”

  “Ah, come on. You know it’s not like that.”

  “And you’re so preoccupied you’ve forgotten when I tease. What’s on your mind, Allie?”

  “I just miss him.”

  “That much?”

  “Yeah, that much.”

  “Do you think you two are getting serious?”

  Boy, if she only knew!

  “I think so.”

  “Well, then all the more reason to enjoy yourself tonight before he knocks you up and you’re up to here in diapers.” She motioned with her hand to her chin.

  Laura had no clue how good she was. Or did she know? No, that wasn’t possible. No one knew, and I wouldn’t tell her before we broke the news to the rest of our family.

  We sat at the bar and Laura ordered a round of tequilas. Shit! I couldn’t drink my shot; but if I refused the tequila, my drink of choice, she’d definitely know something was up. My gaze darted to the barman who kindly smiled my way and then winked.

  What the heck was that all about? Is he flirting?

  He set the glasses, one in front of each of us. Laura pulled out a bill to pay, but the barman said, “It’s on the house.”

  “Wow, thanks, handsome.”

  Since when did that happen? Did Tristan know his employees were offering drinks on the house? Or had he set this up? I narrowed my brows and swung around on the stool, looking for a light brown head streaked with blond, but couldn’t see him. Of course I couldn’t. Tristan was only seen when he wanted to be. Besides, he was in Washington. On a night when I was out with the girls, all I wanted was to see him. Just a peek at his gorgeous scarred lip and taut body would be enough.

  Not!

  “Come on, Allie, cheers!” Laura bumped my shoulder with hers as she held up the shot. I took mine between my fingers, wondering how I could get away with this. If I dropped it by accident, pretended the glass slipped, perhaps I could buy some time. But there was no way I was ready to spill my guts about the pregnancy to an
y of my friends. Wasn’t there a rule you were supposed to wait until the first trimester passed?

  Lifting the glass to my mouth, I took a whiff. But the usual crisp smell of alcohol wasn’t there. Had they watered it down? I looked to the barman, who winked at me again and gently nodded to go ahead and drink. I took another sniff. This was not tequila - and this couldn’t be a coincidence. Tristan had set this up! Boy, was he ever good! I threw the shot of water, slightly sweetened with caramel, and smiled back at the waiter.

  “You’re flirting so quickly? You already have a boy toy, and this was supposed to be a girl’s night out,” Laura accused.

  “Oh, please. I’m not flirting. Just being polite.”

  She rolled her eyes, “Allie, relax. I’m kidding. But if you think I’m not scoring tonight, then you’ve invited the wrong friend.”

  “Amen.” Jess raised another shot glass to her lips.

  She was the prettiest bombshell I’d ever seen. The stereotypical Barbie doll with the unconventional curves, blonde locks, and luscious lips men died for. Except Jess wasn’t the dumb bimbo her first impression implied. And even with her looks, just as for any rookie on the force, the schedule she worked left her barely any time to have fun. I couldn’t blame her for wanting a fling or two, especially in a nightclub oozing sexy, available guys. Imagining him in that cage just wasn’t enough anymore.

  “Oh, my God! Girls, hands off, he’s all mine.” Jess stared past me with her mouth open. I don’t think she even knew she was doing that. Her bosom lifted in an instant and her lips pursed.

  A distinct smell of scotch and Old Spice intensified, and I turned in my seat. At first I didn’t even recognize him, and had I been single and not pregnant, I was sure I’d curse Jess for spotting him first. The lifted lip, high cheeks, and hair tossed to the side like he’d just roamed his fingers through it were only the beginning. Tristan wore blue jeans, slightly ripped at his thighs to expose enough of his leg muscle that I could imagine them flex as he held me up. The top three buttons of his white shirt were open, its sleeves short enough to show that dangerous thorn tattoo leaking inked blood. My stomach tightened. I’d hardly recognized him, and I still felt the drool collect in my mouth. Tristan looked hotter than any time I’d seen him. He strolled between the crowd like the god of all things sexy and hot, seemingly to be moving in slow motion. The crowd parted for him like the Red Sea had for Moses. Every single woman’s head turned to follow his confidant and panty-dropping walk. Even some men couldn’t help but stare.