Teasing her mouth with a series of nibbling kisses, he whispered, “So am I, Ellie. Now I believe you mentioned something earlier about wanting to watch me.” Her eyes widened when he stood up and pulled her to her feet. She squeezed her thighs together as she followed him into her bedroom, trying to alleviate the ache that had settled there. Was he really going to masturbate in front of her? The thought of seeing him stroke his cock while she watched was enough to have her breathing heavy before he had even removed his pants. When she walked over to help him remove his shirt, he pushed her hands gently away. “Oh no, baby, this is all for you. I want you to take off your clothes and sit in the chair next to the bed where you can see me.” When she hesitated, without looking up from discarding his own clothes, he commanded, “Now, Ellie!”

She jumped in surprise, but quickly stripped down to her bra and panties. She looked at him for direction. “Should I leave these on?”

Shaking his head, he said, “No, take off everything. You might want to touch yourself again while you watch me, and I want to be able to see all of you.”

Ella only thought she had been excited before. She was positively shaking now. Her sex was swollen and wet, her nipples hard and pebbled. She sat back in the chair, crossing her legs before Declan walked over to her. “Oh no, sweet girl, I want to see it all.” He pulled her legs apart and looped an ankle over each arm of the chair, arranging her until she was spread wide. “I want you to stroke yourself while you watch me, but don’t orgasm until I tell you, okay?”

She was surprised and more than a little turned on by this new bossy side of Declan. At that moment, she probably wouldn’t have objected if he had wanted to spank her. Go big or go home, right? When Declan reclined back on the bed and started stroking his hard length, she wanted to swoon. He was so hot and to her, he was absolute perfection. His cock visibly grew before her eyes and she knew from experience how hard it would be now. He curled one hand around the base while increasing the speed of his other hand. She was surprised to look down and see her own hand stroking through the wetness between her thighs. She hadn’t even realized that she had moved. The room was filled with the sounds of their ragged breathing. Feeling herself nearing the edge, she moaned, “Can’t hold out much longer.”

His movements grew rougher as he said, “Not yet, Ellie. Slow your strokes and wait for me.” Her body clenched in protest as she followed his orders, moving her fingers away from her clit. “Pinch your nipples baby. Imagine my mouth on them, tugging and sucking you.”

Her moan echoed in the room as his words seemed to send a jolt straight through her. Her nipples pebbled as she pulled and twisted them into stiff peaks. Her sex clenched and she knew that she was on the edge of coming no matter how hard she was trying to hold back. “Declan,” she whimpered, “I need . . .”

“Now, baby!” he shouted. Needing no further urging, she felt her body start to spasm as she shattered. She was dimly aware of Declan’s hoarse shout, as he exploded. A moment later she was too spent to move and was surprised when she felt his hands sliding under her, lifting her into his arms. “I think I could use a shower and I’d love some company.”

She snuggled against him and smiled when she felt his lips on the top of her head. Sometimes the man was just too sweet.

Chapter Sixteen

Ella was thrilled to have some time with her best friend since Beth was more tired than usual and Ella had been spending her evenings at home with Declan. They had just settled into their massage chairs at the nail salon when Beth said matter-of-factly, “Well, I guess I’m getting married soon.” Ella and the two women giving them pedicures looked over to Beth in surprise. When the women looked at Beth’s swollen stomach pointedly she rolled her eyes and said, “Yeah, that’s right, I’m not married.” Holding up her hand to show the sparkling diamond on her ring finger, she added, “I am engaged though, so give me credit for that.” One of them shrugged her shoulders as if to say, “What are you talking about?” and then went back to work.

“Okay, let’s get back to the marriage part. I thought you were determined to wait until you had the baby.”

Beth started toying with her necklace, a move that Ella had come to recognize as Beth’s equivalent of a nervous tick. “I’ve been talking to my therapist about it. Nick doesn’t want to wait until the baby is born. You would never know it, but he has an old-fashioned streak in him. I think he just doesn’t like the thought of us not being married beforehand. It’s been kind of weighing on me since I feel like he gives so much to our relationship. I feel petty that I’m holding back on something that obviously means so much to him, you know?”

Squeezing her friend’s hand for support, she asked, “Is your pregnancy the only reason you want to wait?”

Beth’s eyes went soft, “If you’re asking if I have any doubts about Nick, the answer is no. I love him with all my heart and I know he feels the same. When I envision my future, he is what I see. I just . . . it’s so hard for me to walk down the aisle like I am now.” She held her hand up as Ella started to protest. “I know what you’re going to say, and thank you for that, but old habits die hard. With Nick’s support, I have made so much progress. I no longer freak out if I’ve gained a pound. I have accepted that it’s always going to be hard for me, but it doesn’t have to be the sole focus of my life. My therapist thinks it will be a turning point for me to go ahead and get married now instead of waiting solely because of my size. I want to do this for Nick and for myself.”

Ella felt her eyes misting. She knew how hard this had to be on Beth and she was so proud of her. Beth had been heavy for most of her life until finally losing the weight a few years back. She had since struggled with body image issues that had driven her to an eating disorder. Her parents were overly critical of her weight and that, combined with the stress of finding out she was pregnant with twins, had overwhelmed her. Losing one of her twins to vanishing twin syndrome had been a dark time for her, but Nick’s unconditional love and support had given her the strength to admit that she had a problem and needed help.

With the help of a therapist, Ella could tell that Beth was slowly learning to accept herself and love the person she saw in the mirror. She had to agree with Beth that deciding to get married while she was pregnant was a big step for her. She had been adamant about having the baby and losing the weight before the big day, even though Nick didn’t want to wait. Ella reached over and gave Beth a one-armed hug. “I’m thrilled for you both. You’ll be a beautiful bride. So, does that mean we’re going to look at wedding dresses next?”

“Yep, you bet your ass we are. Ugh, when did I start sounding so much like my sister?”

Ella laughed, thinking to herself that no one would ever sound like Suzy. She was one of a kind. “Do you have any idea where you are going to get married?”

Beth gave her an evil grin and said, “Oh yeah, I know exactly where. I hate to look like a copycat of Claire and Suzy, but I’m going to get married on the beach. I’m sure Suzy would let me borrow her strip of sand for the occasion.”

Still not certain why Beth continued to grin, she said, “I think that’s great, but am I missing something?”

“I hate to admit this because it will probably sound kind of bad, but imagining my parents trying to walk through the sand in their uptight business attire really just sealed the deal for me. I figured trying to get sand out of their shoes would distract them from my pregnant state when I walk down the aisle.”

Ella fell back in the seat, holding her sides as she laughed until tears ran down her face. The poor woman at her feet trying to paint her toenails gave her a nasty look as she removed the polish on her big toe and started over again. She gave her a sheepish look of apology before turning back to Beth. “You may be more like Suzy than I thought. It’s rather brilliant though. From what you’ve told me, they will hate an outdoor wedding. They weren’t at Suzy’s, right?”

“Nope, they had some conference and couldn’t make the last minute arrangements. I think Suzy probably did it on purpose, even though she hasn’t admitted it.”

As it turned out, Claire and Suzy met them at the downtown bridal store and after several hours—and a lot of debate—Beth found a gown that she loved and everyone agreed on. The only thing left to do was get the marriage license and decide on the date. Ella had the feeling it would be smart to keep her schedule flexible for the next few weekends.

While everyone was waiting for Beth to get dressed and pay for her gown, Suzy asked, “So, what’s this I hear about Declan being a baby daddy now?”

Ella wasn’t surprised because she had long since discovered that Suzy knew everything, but apparently Claire was. “Whoa, back up for a minute. What are you talking about?” Then looking at Ella she dropped her voice, “Are you pregnant?”

“What? Oh no, it’s not me.”

“It’s not? Alright, I’m confused here. You aren’t freaking out. Would someone please tell me what I’ve missed?”

Suzy took pity on her and said, “Honey, don’t you ever talk to your friends? Declan appears to be the father of your girl Julie’s baby.”

Claire fell back against her seat in shock. “Shit, I knew something was going on there, but I never suspected that. Things were really weird when we ran into him in the hallway at Danvers. I even mentioned it to Jason. I just figured they had . . . um, well known each other or something.” Claire let her sentence trail off, shooting Ella a quick, “Sorry.”

Ella did her best to look like she wasn’t bothered by the whole conversation. “It’s okay. It’s been a bit of a surprise for sure. I guess they had a one-night thing years ago when he was home for a weekend and then she had no way to find him when she found out she was pregnant. They will do a paternity test, but I would be shocked if it doesn’t confirm that Declan is the father. Evan looks so much like him.”

Surprised, Claire asked, “You’ve already met Evan?”

“Yeah, we met up with them at McDonald’s. Julie told him that we were friends of hers.”

Suzy, being surprisingly gentle, asked quietly, “How do you feel about all this?”

Not for the first time, Ella thought how lucky she was to be a part of such a great group of ladies. She loved that she didn’t have to pretend with them. “I’m trying to be okay with everything. Declan having a child is a surprise, but I can handle it. I don’t mean this in a bad way toward your friend, Claire, but the thing I’m having the hardest time with is having to share him with another woman.”

Claire squeezed her hand, “I completely understand. Julie is my friend, but so are you. If it makes you feel any better, I know she’s engaged so I don’t think she would ever look to Declan for anything romantic.”

“I’d feel a little better about that if she hadn’t been at his place last night when I got there.”

“Doing what?” Suzy demanded.

Shaking her head in shame, Ella said, “I completely embarrassed myself in front of her. When he opened the door, I jumped on him and said some, er . . . things that I hope she didn’t hear. I got out of there as fast as I could.”

Suzy turned to Claire, “Please tell me your friend isn’t a nut like Reva.” Ella knew from Beth that Gray had briefly dated Reva before they got together and that she had tried to trick Gray into believing that the baby she was carrying was his. Luckily, she had suffered an attack of conscience and confessed before she had completely ruined the relationship between Gray and Suzy. Ella could only imagine that some of this was hitting close to home for her.

“No, I’m sure she isn’t. Wow, I still can hardly process all of this.”

“Declan did show up at my place shortly after that. He said that she was upset over a fight with her fiancé. He told her that he wasn’t happy about being put in that position and I guess that was it. I just don’t get why she would go over there in the first place. I mean I know they had sex once, but she hardly even knows him.”

Beth walked out with her dress and asked, “Hardly knows who?”

The next several minutes were spent filling Beth in and letting her process her shock.

“Now that everyone knows, give me your honest opinion. Should I be worried about this?”

When there was nothing but awkward silence for a few moments, Suzy sighed and said, “Babe, I’m not going to sugarcoat this for you. I’d be on my guard. I’m not saying there’s anything to be worried about, but until you are certain that this Julie doesn’t want to play happy family with your man, I would keep my eyes open.”

Claire, looking even more pained, nodded hesitantly. “I would never say anything bad about a friend, because I truly don’t think Julie would intentionally try to come between you and Declan, but sometimes things can get confused. If it makes you feel any better, when they met at Danvers, I didn’t detect any type of spark between them. There seemed to be some recognition factor, but nothing sexual. The fact that he took you to meet his son for the first time says a lot about your place in his life.”