Jessica still wanted to rip her baby away from the stranger but knew she would look bad in doing so. "I will walk with you to the nursery so I know where Jacob is. Are baby monitors set up so I'll be able to hear him in other parts of the house?" Jessica asked with concern.
"Yes, and you can carry around portable listening and video devices so you know your precious one is safe at all times," Tina reassured Jessica, as they walked up the grand staircase.
They reached the second story and walked down a well lit hallway. "This is the master bedroom, here to the right and the baby's room is right here across the hall. Mr. Anderson said you'd want the baby close by." Tina pointed out a few more doorways and then led Jessica into a lovely baby's room. The walls were identical to what she'd done at her old place. Alex must have taken pictures and had someone reproduce her artwork. All her nursery items were there, along with many new things. She noticed the camera angled in the corner and felt some relief.
Tina laid Jacob in his crib and Jessica bent down to kiss his soft cheek and cover him up. She could stand there all day and night watching him sleep.
"Here's the monitor, Mrs. Anderson," Tina said, handing over a small device. Jessica looked at it and not only were their voices coming through but there was a small screen showing her son sleeping in his crib.
"Thank you so much Tina," Jessica said with real gratitude. The home was very large and she would feel comforted being able to keep an eye on her son no matter where she was.
Jessica turned to find Alex right behind her. "I tried to match Jacob's old room as much as possible," he said in explanation of the decorations. "My father bought this home a while ago waiting for the day one of us would choose to settle down," That explained how he'd been able to have the nursery prepared.
"It's lovely, thank you. It has a lot more room than his old one," she said honestly. She really did like the room. She liked everything about the home.
"This door over here leads to the nanny's room … Now before you protest, we'll hire one together and I'm not expecting you to not take care of our son. It's simply a good idea to have a nanny here to help you. That way you can have some free time to do whatever it is you want or need to do."
"I, in no way need a nanny." She wasn't happy about him thinking he could control everything. She'd been doing fine taking care of her son on her own.
"Your father told me you had a passion for writing but hadn't been able to do any the last few months because you were either too exhausted or taking care of our son. I just want to give you a chance to be able to do what you need to do. You can still be with him full time. The nanny can be more of a helper for when you need her," he spoke reasonably.
"I'll think about it," was all she said. The thought of writing again was tempting but she would feel like such a bad parent, passing her child off to a stranger. She would at least consider the possibility.
Alex took her around the rest of the home. The home was decorated in a way she would've done herself. Some of the rooms reminded her of her childhood home. She loved everything about it. They arrived in the kitchen, where two other staff members were waiting for them.
"This is Edward, our gardener. He's married to Tina. They live in the cottage on the back of the property. This is Maria, our housekeeper. They've all been with the family as long as Tina, which is why I wanted them here."
"It's really great to meet all of you," Jessica said, while shaking their hands. The staff left them to eat the food and then an uncomfortable silence fell between them. Tina had said master bedroom. She wasn't ready to share a room with her husband nightly. She needed more time to protect herself, to keep her heart out of it.
She would keep her things in that room but sleep in the nanny's room for now. When the silence seemed to stretch on forever, Jacob's cry came over the baby monitor. She jumped up in relief to get away from Alex and take care of her son.
Jessica changed Jacob, then fed him and was laying him down when Alex walked into the room. "Hold on, I want to kiss him goodnight," he said, before gently kissing Jacob's head. She had a very difficult time staying angry with Alex when he was always so loving towards their son.
They both stood over the crib for a few moments, both of them content watching him sleep peacefully. "Let me show you to your room," he said.
Jessica breathed a sigh of relief, although she also felt a tiny twinge of disappointment at the same time. This is what she wanted, she had to remind herself. She didn't want to share his bed, yet she felt bad he didn't seem to want her at all. She was a little curvier since she'd had the baby. Maybe he was turned off by her new body.
Alex led her into the master bedroom. There was enough space for an entire apartment to fit into the huge room. The master closet was the size of her old bedroom. She stepped into the bathroom and was immediately in love. She didn't say another word to Alex. She shut the bathroom door and started filling up the huge tub.
Jessica had to chuckle to herself at the size of the tub. It was large enough for a few people to have a hot tub party in it. After adding some soap from a bowl on the side of the tub, she placed her hair in a bun and stepped into the hot water. As she sank down to her chin and the bubbles surrounded her, a sigh of ecstasy escaped her lips.
Jessica finally relaxed and let the scents take her stress and worries away. She stayed in for over an hour, then finally managed to pull herself out of the cooled water. She wrapped herself in one of the luxurious, oversized towels and stepped through the doorway.
She wanted nothing more than to crawl into the huge four-post bed. She started to pull the towel away and noticed Alex sitting on the bed in nothing but a pair of pajama pants. She sucked in her breath at the raw power rolling off of him. He had to be the sexiest guy she'd ever seen. With clothes on he was enough to accelerate your heart, with them off he could cause cardiac arrest.
"Wh … what are you doing here?" she stuttered. She was praying he wouldn't come towards her because if he took her into his arm she would cave quickly. She couldn't seem to say no to him.
"I've been waiting for you. How was your bath? I was beginning to get worried, you took so long," he said casually.
Jessica braced her shoulders. She knew she had to get all of her words out quickly or she'd lose her courage to do so. "Alex, I know we're married but I'm not sharing a room with you. I can use the one next to our son's," she finished weakly.
Alex's eyes went from casual to smoldering in one second flat. He slowly stood up and walked towards her. He was like a panther, stalking his prey. Her stomach felt like it was crawling up into her throat, she was so tense.
She wanted to be in his arms and knew it would be fantastic but she needed to protect herself. It wouldn't take much to fall head over heels in love with him. She took an involuntary step back and then another, as he got closer to her.
He slowly looked at her from her head to her toes and back up again, without saying a word. When he finally reached her eyes again, they were both breathing heavily. He placed one hand behind her neck and the other at the small of her back and jerked her into his body.
"Alex, this isn't a good id … " she tried to tell him but he swallowed her words as his lips took possession of hers. He kissed her with anger, passion and need. She tried not to respond but after a few seconds she was giving just as good as she got.
Her hands wrapped around the back of his head to pull him even closer. He was pressing her stomach into his obvious arousal. Knowing he wanted her was like throwing a lit match into a puddle of gasoline.
His hand slid down past the bottom of the towel and began touching the bare skin at the top of her thighs. She pressed even closer and a moan escaped her lips. He pulled back and turned away from her.
They both stood there, trying to catch their breaths. Alex cursed himself. He hadn't meant for the kiss to go that far. She had a way of blocking out every thought in his head except for his desire to take her.
He finally gained control over his raging body and turned to face her again. Her breasts were still heaving with the deep breaths she was taking in. He could tell she was trying to gain control and not doing a very good job of it. He almost lost his will to turn away from her, at the look of desire in her eyes. He had to prove a point though. He knew later when he was standing in a cold shower he'd have to try very hard to remember what that point was.
"You're my wife. You will be sharing my bed and you will be my wife in every way that matters. I will not disgrace my son, or my family, by having affairs and in case you haven't noticed, I'm a man with needs. This marriage is for better or worse and we'll make the best of the situation." He said all of this in a smooth, calm voice making her temper was rise.