As soon as we docked, I helped her into my truck. I couldn't get her inside fast enough.
"Cole told me you were at the Dock House. I don't know if he's still at your place."
"Got it." I steered my truck toward the end of Gull Island. Toward Lindy's house. It was Sierra's now.
Sierra climbed the stairs and opened the back door. I didn't let her get far over the threshold before I snaked my arms around her and dragged her lips to mine. It was dark and cold inside, but I had enough pent up sexual frustration and heat for this woman to burn down the whole fucking house.
My hands landed on the button of her jeans. "I want you now," I growled.
"Wait. Wait a second." She took a big breath, pressing her palms into my chest.
I groaned. "We can talk later."
She shook her head. "No. I have to tell you, Blake. Please. I-I have to say it."
I dropped my hands. "Ok. What is it?"
"I need to at least see your face." She tried to flip on the lights, but nothing happened. She looked at the ceiling. "Great."
"Let me check the breaker box. Hold on."
I used my phone to light a path to the linen closest off the back of the kitchen. It smelled like fresh laundry even though the house had been closed up for months. I opened the box, but all the switches were on. I tried the main breaker. Nothing.
I heard Sierra's footsteps behind me. "What's wrong with the power?"
"I think it's been cut off."
"What?"
"Have you been paying the power bills?" I asked.
She scrunched her face up. "I thought I did. I don't know. There has been so much mail about the estate. Shit." She sank onto a bench under a stack of blankets.
I was conflicted. Why was she here? She hadn't bothered to pay the damn power bill.
"I think there are some candles in here." She stood and started searching one of the cabinets. "They used to be in here with the matches for hurricanes. Aunt Lindy had everything we ever needed for a storm." She strained to make it to the top cabinet.
"Let me get that." I reached over her head and pulled out a stack of candles. I handed them to her. "And the matches."
We dropped them in a row of mason jars and lit them with the wooden matches. Within seconds the room was glowing and felt warmer than it had when we first wandered in here.
"Sierra, tell me what's going on. I about lost my damn mind when I saw you. And you reminded me that that's what you do to me. You make me forget everything. I rushed you on the boat and back here like nothing happened."
I shook my head. I saw the sadness in her eyes.
"And something did happen, damn it. You fucking broke my heart again. And you need to hear it. You have to hear what you did."
The tears slipped off her lashes. "Blake … please … "
"Let me finish." I held up my hand. "I'm not going through with it again. I won't. So tell me now why you're here and-"
"Shut up, Blake. Just shut up." Her cheeks were wet with tears. "I flew here tonight because I wanted to see you. I had to see you. Today. It had to be today."
I leaned against a stack of quilts. "Ok."
"And I think I could throw up I'm so nervous." She twisted her hands together.
I cocked my head. "What's going on?"
"I-I … Blake, I swear I didn't know when I left in August. And I want to talk about that. How we left things."
"I fucked up. You fucked up. I can agree to that. But we can't go through that again. We can't."
She shook her head. "I know. I feel it too. I've felt all of it. It's about this pattern we have of hurting each other. I want it to stop. I need it to."
I threaded my hands through her hair and pulled her toward me. "It will stop. I'm done. Come home with me. Be with me. Say it, Sierra. Say you'll fucking end this pain. Tell me that it's over."
She took my hands from behind her head and lowered them over her breasts, down to her stomach. She planted her palms over mine.
Her eyes lifted to mine. and she was so damn beautiful I almost lost my breath.
"Blake, I'm having your baby."
I heard it, but I didn't know what she was saying. "What?"
"I'm pregnant. I took a test this morning. It's yours. Your baby. Right here." She held my hands to her belly.
"You are pregnant?"
She nodded. "I am."
"Sierra."
She had knocked the wind out of me as quickly as a linebacker.
"You're completely sure?" I asked like a fucking idiot.
"I started not feeling well and I could barely keep my eyes open. And I'm late. Extremely late, but I didn't think it was possible. I brought the test with me."
"I believe you. Of course I believe you." I started to regain my senses.
"I didn't know what you would say? How you would react. I don't know if I should tell you I'm sorry. I just don't know what to do." Her voice cracked.
"Say you're sorry? What are you talking about?"
"I told you I was on birth control. I don't know how it happened. I didn't even think I could get pregnant to be honest."
"Why not?" I wasn't following.
"I was sure after I lost the other baby that it couldn't happen. That there was something wrong with me." Her eyes lifted to mine. "But I am pregnant. And I had to tell you as soon as I found out. I couldn't wait for you to answer the phone or find out some other way. I didn't want you to think that I'd keep it from you again-ever."
"No wonder your boobs look so incredible." I cracked a smile as she hit me in the arm. "Sorry. But they do look fucking amazing, baby. Edible, really." I tugged at her shirt, wanting to see more.
"I just told you I'm pregnant and you want to look at my breasts?"
"No, I want to do more than that to them."
"But the talking … there's a lot to talk about don't you think?"
I crushed my lips into hers, sinking my tongue into her mouth with possession. Damn, this woman was mine. She always had been. And now my baby was inside her. I growled.
"You just told me I'm going to be a dad." I broke away. "I don't have words that can do that justice right now. Understand?"
She nodded. "You're not mad?"
"God no. I'm happy. I'm happy you're back. I'm happy about the baby. I'm happy about what I'm getting ready to do."
"And what's that?" She tried to wiggle out of my hold.
"Make you happy, darlin'. Everything that makes you happy."
She let her shirt fall over her shoulders. "I love you, Blake. I love you so much."
Her lips found mine the shadows of the linen closet and I kissed her like it was the beginning.
39
Sierra
The world spun upside down and for the first time it wasn't because I was pregnant, it was because Blake kissed me with the kind of fury and passion I'd longed for since the day he left me on the beach.
I had dreamed about this moment. Now that it was finally happening, I couldn't catch my breath. I held on to him. His tongue slipped between my lips, twisting and curling against mine.
I shivered when he tugged the corners of my shirt. The air danced over my skin.
"It's cold," I murmured.
"I'd make a fire out in the living room, but I don't think we have that kind of time," Blake growled into my neck.
I shook my head. "No, we don't."
He scooped me up. "Lots of covers in here."
I nodded. "Lots. So, so many blankets."
He pulled a few of the quilts from the shelves, padding the floor. He lowered me on my back.
"I promise you won't be cold long."
I grinned, greedily sucking at his lips. I had dreamed about his lips and the firmness of his arms. I never thought I'd be with him again like this ever. I thought those dreams were all I had left.
Blake lifted the shirt over my head and slid my bra from my shoulders.
"Holy shit, baby. Do you know what these do to me?"
He held one of my breast in his hand. It was heavy and sore, but he soothed the ache with the heat from his tongue. I whimpered as it lashed over my nipple, hardening it instantly.
"So fucking perfect, baby." He sucked me into his mouth, gulping and licking. Pressing until his teeth nipped the edge of the sensitive points.
I inhaled sharply. My body responded differently now. Everything was heightened.
"Oh, Blake."
He pushed me back on the soft bed he had made. I had already forgotten how cold I had been as he slipped the jeans from my waist.
I laid before him. The woman who loved him. The woman who had always loved him. The woman who was carrying his baby.
He pushed my legs apart, running a finger over the fabric of my cotton panties.
"I love how wet you get when I touch you," he groaned.