Laying it Bare After a Loss Read online

  “I know this isn’t part of a normal massage, but I can’t resist touching them.” He murmured against my shoulder as his hands found my breasts.

  I sighed as he massaged the mounds. His thick erection pressed into my thigh, proof that he was as aroused as me – although it wasn’t as if I held any doubt. Then when his mouth brushed against mine, I leaned up into him to run my tongue along his lips, wanting more. He took the invitation and slid his inside my mouth and caressed mine, swallowing my moan. After completely ravishing my mouth, he kissed my cheek sweetly. “So beautiful and all mine.”

  As his lips rained kisses down my chest and stomach, his fingers kneaded the muscles of my legs. His actions caused me to squirm underneath him. Pleasure was ramping up again sending pulses of electricity racing toward my core again.

  “Are you okay with no foreplay, Sweetheart? I need to get inside of you.” His eyes burned a darker green with his lust.

  “Mitch, that was amazing foreplay.” My words were breathless. “You can eat my pussy another time. I want you inside of me.”

  His lips curled into a devilish smile. “Oh, Cheeky, I love your dirty mouth. And you have a beautiful mind too.” After sliding his pants and boxers down his legs, he reached over to his nightstand to grab a condom. Once he was sheathed, he crawled up my body, pressed his mouth to mine, and slid into me on a low growl. Then he pulled out until only his tip was left inside before thrusting in again. “You’re so tight and warm and so perfect.”

  He continued powering into me. His lunges growing more forceful, I had to close my eyes because of the intensity. Another orgasm was speeding up on me at full throttle.

  “Open your eyes, Cheeky. I love looking in your eyes when I’m fucking you.”

  I popped my eyes open to meet his feral gaze. Mounting shock waves shot straight down to my pussy.

  “I need you to come again. Let me feel you all over my dick. Because I’m not going to last much longer. Your snug pussy feels too amazing.” Clasping his hands on my hips, he tilted me upward so that his dick grazed my clit with every pass. His deeper quicker thrusts had my body quivering as it raced toward release.

  “That’s it, Trinity. Come for me. I can feel your walls rippling along my dick.”

  My pussy trembled and then clenched down on him and I tumbled into that final dip before I went soaring as I screamed his name.

  Two thrusts later, he groaned out mine with his release and buried his face in my neck. He peppered the column with light kisses, causing me to shiver.

  My body hummed with pleasure. It was a few moments before I could form words. “That was amazing. The massage and then the sex. I’m completely spent. Will you be home by lunch time tomorrow? Because I don’t know if I’ll even be up by then.”

  Chuckling, Mitch rolled off of me and onto his side and gathered me into his arms. “Sometime around there. I’ll bring us home some lunch and wake you if you’re not up yet.” He pressed a kiss to the crown of my head. Then he slipped the condom off and tossed it into the trash by his nightstand. “That was my first massage. Do I get a good review?”

  “Out of five stars, I give you ten million. But I won’t recommend you because I’m not sharing.”

  “Cheeky, neither am I.” He gave me a soft kiss. “So you’ll stay here tomorrow while I’m golfing? I like knowing you’re going to be in my bed even when I’m not here.”

  I almost blurted we should just move in together and was so glad my brain had the foresight to shut that down before my mouth rattled off that bit of craziness, since it hadn’t bothered to consult with my brain in the first place. Staying at each other’s houses was good for now. Maybe that was moving a little fast but we could always back off a bit from that if needed. Moving in together would be a much bigger deal. “I’ll make an effort to be up before you get home but I can’t make any promises.”

  “You’re making my head swell, well both of them.” He smirked at me before his lips brushed my forehead. “Are you ready to go to sleep then?”

  “I am.” I curled into his arms and fell into a content sleep.

  The next morning, when the sunlight peeking through his tan curtains stirred me awake, I stretched and released a long yawn. Some of my muscles were a little sore but not like an ‘I can’t get out of this bed’ ache but more like a ‘yeah baby, you are on the way to turning into a fighting machine’ twinge. Rolling my eyes at myself, I crawled out of bed, used the bathroom, and then padded out to his living room. Searching my thoughts for anything resembling unease or weirdness, I discovered waking up in his bed without him felt rather natural. I would have loved it more if he had been there when I awoke but I wasn’t experiencing anything close to unpleasant. Just one more reason we just fit. Smiling, I glanced at the clock on the wall above his television. It was a little after eleven which meant he would probably be home within the hour. Even though we had joked last night, I decided to get dressed and was sitting on the couch watching a sitcom when he came home less than an hour later.

  “Hey, you made it out of bed I see. And you’re dressed.” He walked into his kitchen and placed a brown bag onto the bar.

  “That smells delicious. Did you bring – ” I headed over to him to get a closer look.

  “Strombolis. Hope that’s something you like.” After grabbing paper plates and silver ware, he pulled wrapped food out of the bag and set two places for us.

  “I was going to say pizza but close enough. Kinda like a folded up pizza.”

  He chuckled. “I like having you here when I come home. Since this is new to us, I wasn’t sure if it would feel strange or anything.” He sat down and then patted the stool beside him. “But I like it. You seem to be okay. Was it weird or anything for you when you got up and I wasn’t here?” He cut off a sliver of his Stromboli and took a bite.

  “It really just seemed normal.” I shrugged. “I missed you not being here when I woke up but I wasn’t uncomfortable at all.”

  “Good. Not that I plan on you waking up without me often, it’s just nice to know you’re as comfortable as I am with things.”

  After lunch, we headed out onto his deck to relax until it was time to get ready to go out for dinner. While he showered, I quickly ran home to grab a classy dress to wear. I had brought a nice outfit to wear out to the bar with his friends on Saturday but hadn’t figured on him taking me out to eat tonight. I didn’t want to assume things with him but it seemed it was starting to become the norm. And then I decided it would be silly not to shower while I was there. When I got back to his place, about forty five minutes later, he drove us to a nice seafood place called The Sea Side Grill.

  Even without reservations, we were seated pretty quickly. Putting his hand on the small of my back, Mitch and I followed the hostess to a table in the back of the dimly lit room. Candle looking lights provided lighting for the tables along the wall and a few small chandeliers afforded a soft glow for the tables situated throughout the room.

  After we were seated, we perused the menus for a few minutes and then the waitress took our orders. Mitch asked for a glass of Pinot Grigio for each of us and then we each ordered a different entree that included a variety of sea food.

  “You look very beautiful tonight. Not that you don’t always look stunning. But I love that you go out of your way with outfits when I take you out. I know it sounds funny, but us guys appreciate things like that. And I love gazing at you looking all dazzling and getting to show off that you’re with me.” He was looking handsome as always in a pair of black dress pants and a short sleeved pale blue dress shirt.

  I owned a few somewhat elegant dresses and hoped if I staggered them out wisely it wouldn’t look as if I were wearing the same ones. Tonight I went with a simple emerald green one with a modest neckline. “I love when you look at me like that too. So I do it for me too.”

  We each took a sip of our wine as his eyes continued to eat me up with their hot gaze and I got lost in his charming smile.

  After setting his g
lass down, he cupped his chin between his thumb and forefinger and studied me. “At one point when we were talking last night, you had said about going away together. Not those exact words but you got me thinking.”

  “I didn’t mean – ”

  He reached across the table and grabbed my hand and squeezed. “I know you weren’t hinting at anything. I may have only known you for a little bit but I think I know you pretty well and you’re not like that at all. But it got me thinking; would you want to go away with me for a weekend? I mean we’re spending this entire weekend together, but I mean getting away from here.” Rubbing his thumb along my knuckles, he shot me an engaging smile.

  “How can I say no to that face?” I giggled. I hadn’t been on a vacation, not even a small one, since before my parents were killed.

  “You can’t. So see if there is a Friday next month you can take off so that we can leave early that day so we can get a good two days in. We won’t go far but we’ll still have to travel a bit. And as long as it’s not a court date for me, I should be able to take off any day with little notice. Let me know as soon as you know. That will give me some time to make reservations and such.” His eager expression had butterflies taking flight in my stomach.

  “I’ll inquire on Monday and see what’s available.”

  When our food came, we pushed our plates to the middle of the table so we could easily share our dinners. Then after we got back to his place, we sat out on his deck again.

  “I love that you don’t mind sitting out in the evening air. I know Georgia is hot but I love the outdoors.” Mitch sat in one of his loungers with me in front of him, my back to his chest, his arms wrapped around my middle.

  “The only thing that would bother me is being eaten alive by the bugs but you have your deck pretty well protected.” He had several citronella candles and two bug zappers around the perimeter. “As you know, I don’t mind the heat and love the fresh air and scenery.”

  “I also treat my yard with a repellent that seems to work well. And this is just another thing that makes us mesh so well together.” He ducked down to kiss the top of my head.

  We sat in comfortable silence for a bit, just listening to the sounds of nature. It was so serene, it didn’t seem right that the moment would be invaded by thoughts of an incredibly painful time in my life. But every once in a while, I’d get struck by a huge wave of sadness. It never mattered if I was in the middle of having a great time with Charity or just alone in my thoughts. So even though I was completely content and happy snuggled in Mitch’s embrace, the sorrow of those tragic memories washed over me like it had just happened.

  “I always wish I had never met Donovan. He was a slime ball. But sometimes I wish I wouldn’t have had Ben either.” I hardly recognized my voice but it was mine because the horrid memories unfortunately belonged to me.

  “And when I think that, I get so mad at myself because he was just an innocent baby. But I loved him more than anything. And it was so horrible that I hardly got to spend any time with him. I tried to shower him with so much love and attention in the little time I had with him. I know Donovan didn’t give him near the love and attention he deserved. He was only with him so that he couldn’t be with me. And I hoped I made up for all of the love he wasn’t getting from that asshole. So it’s not just because I didn’t want to have all of this pain. I didn’t want any of that for my little boy either. I don’t know at what point that day he died on the scene but I pray it was on impact because I don’t want to think that he suffered at all. It was bad enough I’m sure he – ” I choked on a sob as my body shook with my grief.

  “Oh, Sweetheart.” Mitch spun me around and cradled me to his chest, my legs straddling his hips and my face against his shirt while his hands rubbed soothingly over my hair and up and down my spine. “No one would ever accuse you of being heartless. Those feelings are normal. You loved your boy so much that you wanted the best for him. If you would have had him under different circumstances, he would have had the perfect life with you. Don’t ever feel bad for how you handle your grief.” He tunneled his fingers into my hair and played with the strands.

  My tears soaked the front of his shirt. “But how could I ever feel like I wished I’d never had him. Even in those circumstances, I had four great years with him.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up, Trinity. It hurt you to lose him but I believe you hurt more over everything that the little guy had to deal with that you had no control over. Did you ever talk to someone about your grief?” He tilted my head up to meet his concerned gaze.

  “I did for a few months but it didn’t seem to help. I actually felt worse. But when I talk with you about it, the pain doesn’t suffocate me but kinda helps a little bit.”

  “How about I ask around, without saying who is searching for one, and see if I can get a good recommendation for a therapist? And we can go together, if you would like that?” He pressed a kiss to my forehead.

  “You would go with me?” I fell for him a little harder in that moment.

  “I would do anything for you. I really care about you.”

  “Then yes, I would like that. I’m willing to give it another try.”

  “Good.” He snuggled me back into his arms and we sat out in the night air for a little while longer before we headed in for bed. When his gentle kisses morphed into passionate ones, he ended up making love to me before the two of us dozed off to sleep.

  For the next several weeks, we fell into a comfortable routine. We switched back and forth as to whose place we would spend the night. Although I made sure to plan a dinner get together with Charity and he hung out with his friends and the two of us met up with them for their nights at the bar. We went on dates and continued to work out together at the gym, adding light sparring matches to our regimen.

  Things were going perfect . . . until my world imploded again.

  Eleven

  ~Mitch~

  So far, Jeff and I had reached out to some fellow lawyers to ask them to keep an eye on Chad and see if they discovered any dirty dealings. I was convinced he wouldn’t have just fucked over Trinity. Besides, his braggings the other day was evidence enough that he habitually broke his code of ethics with many clients. So if enough of us were scrutinizing him, someone was bound to find hard proof of his corrupt affairs. And I couldn’t wait to take the mother fucker down. That was the positive going on in my life at the moment.

  However, the radio silence I was receiving from Trinity was a massive negative. Without warning, she had stopped answering and returning my calls and texting me back. And it wasn’t just the fact I was missing her in my bed – which I did immensely – I missed just spending time with her. I had given her three days but enough was enough and I was confronting her. I’d force her to see me and talk to me. We had too much of a great thing going on between us to just give up. Plus I had no idea what the hell was going on.

  I stormed over to her house after work but before I got out of my truck, I took in a few steadying breaths. I didn’t want this turning into a huge fight or her kicking me out of her house before we had the chance to talk. So once I had my frustration under control, I hopped out and headed up to her door. Her car was parked in front of her house, indicating she was home. Her time for ghosting me had come to an end. I knocked and waited, as patiently as I could.

  When she opened her door, a few moments later, the guarded look she shot me crushed my heart and my breathing faltered. She no longer wanted to date me. That was it. I had lost the girl again. Although at least this time it wasn’t to one of my best friends. But what the hell did I do? Or what happened to cause this abrupt change?

  “Can I come in so we can talk?” I asked after I was able to drag in a breath to do so.

  “I guess.” She backed away so I could enter, her hands shaking slightly.

  “What’s going on Trinity? I thought we had something great going on.” I tucked my own hands into the pockets of my dress pants because they itched to touch her.

/>   She swallowed, hard. “I’m scared.”

  Her response took me back. She had no idea I was going after Chad and he had no idea anyone was watching him. There was no way.

  “Is someone threatening you? Is Chad causing you problems because of our exchange that day you met me at the office?” I’d come at him with everything in my arsenal, job be damned. He’d regret ever getting mixed up in Donovan’s cases.

  “No.” Her voice wobbled and her eyes filled with tears.

  “Sweetheart, I told you if you ever felt as if we were moving too fast to just let me know and we’d slow it down a bit. I thought everything was going great. But if we need to slow things down, that’s okay. I didn’t want you to just break things off between us.” Fuck, just saying those words gutted me. If it wasn’t Chad, I didn’t know what else it could be.

  “It’s not that either.” Some tears slipped down her cheeks and she wrapped her arms around her waist. “I’m pregnant, Mitch.” The three words barely came out above a whisper.

  “Come again.” Of all of the things I was preparing for in my head; that was not even on my radar.

  “I’m pregnant.” She said a little louder. “I missed my period so I took a home pregnancy test. It was positive. So I went to the doctor’s to have it confirmed. They confirmed it.” She put her hand to her mouth as a sob snuck out.

  My lips curled into a huge smile. “I’ll be here for you, Sweetheart. You won’t be alone and you have nothing to be afraid of.” I hadn’t given any thought to kids but as soon as the three words left her mouth, the idea sounded perfect. Maybe I’d freak out a little later; I was sure that was normal. But her announcement thrilled me. She was making me a father.

  “I’m not just scared; I’m terrified. What if I can’t go back to work after the baby is born? What if it’s too hard to be separated from him because of what I’ve been through?”