Page 30 of Baby, It’s Hot Inside

“Unless you need to tell me to stop, then it can wait.” I meet her gaze. “Do you want me to stop?”

“No.” She grinds herself down onto my rapidly hardening cock.

"You have to be quiet so no one can hear us because they're just outside that wall." I motion to the wall behind us that's floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.

She nods and grinds herself down on me again. I'm thrilled she's wearing a dress today and I can already feel the heat from her damp pussy as she presses onto my athletic shorts.

I reach under her skirt and slide my thumb against the front of her wet underwear. "Oh God," she whispers. Her hands go to the waistband of my shorts and she pulls them down enough to release my cock.

I slide her panties to the side, then she's lowering herself onto me.

Fuck she feels so good. So right. Like her body was made just for mine. "Can you be quiet?"

She bites her lip as she begins to move her body and she whimpers.

I kiss her, swallowing her mewls of pleasure as she rides me. I release her mouth, then press my palm to her lips to muffle any other noises.

"This good, baby?"

She nods and licks across my palm. I swallow my own groan.

"You're so damn sexy," I whisper. "Do you know that?"

She shakes her head and she squeezes her eyes shut. Then she's coming all over my cock. Her pussy tightening on me like a vice. I grab her hips and pump her up and down on me until I shoot my own release deep inside her. It's in that moment that I realize I'm bare.

"Shit, Annie, we didn't use a condom. I'm so sorry, baby, I didn't--"

She puts a finger to my lips, then she swallows visibly. She's still flushed from her climax and she looks so perfect straddling me like this. "It doesn't matter. That's what I wanted to tell you."

I frown, shake my head. "Tell me what?"

"I'm pregnant."

My world closes in and I swear black dots swim across my eyes. I haven't had a panic attack since I left Baghdad. But this one is coming on fast and strong. My heart is pounding, and the burst of adrenaline hits so hard, my hands are shaking as I pick her up off of my lap and tuck myself back into my pants.

"I'm sorry." I mumble, then I leave the room as fast as I can before I completely black out or worse.

chapter eighteen

Annie

Shit!

None of that was supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to freak out and run away. And I wasn't supposed to sleep with him again. And frankly I'd needed that release because today had already been all kinds of fucked up.

But he said all those sweet things and I got caught up, romanticizing his words. He hadn't said anything about caring about me. He'd talked only about sex. But I'd lost myself in the moment.

Because the truth was I wanted more. With him. Not just because of our baby. I wanted Kris. I’d always wanted Kris.

I find some tissue to clean myself up and then fix my underwear and skirt. Then I sit back on the sofa, hiding in Mr. Starr's study because I don't know what to do now. My hand naturally settles on my lower belly. It’ll just be the two of us. I know that Kris will do right by me as far as any financial responsibilities, but maybe that’s as far as it will go.

Of course I wouldn’t want him to be with me only because of the baby. I want him to pick me. A picture across the room catches my eye. There’s a cluster of framed family candid shots scattered on the bookshelves. But this one I recognize because I have a copy of it too. It’s me and Kris at my senior prom. I stand and walk over there, picking up the black framed photograph.

I’m wearing a hideous pink dress, but he looks so handsome. His hair tightly cropped to his head. Jarheads, they call them.

He’d been home on leave and my date had backed out on me so Kris had shown up, dressed in a suit. Back then it had felt like the most important night of my young life. I’d hoped it was the beginning of something between us. The way he’d looked at me when we’d danced and everywhere we walked that night, he kept his hand settled on my lower back.

I trace my finger down the glass covered photo. Tears fall, slowly and silently, chilling my cheeks in their wake. I won’t ever regret our night together, but I am sad, because I want more than one night.