His laugh vanished when he buried his head between her legs.

He knew right were to go, and thankfully knew what to do once there. He sucked her into his mouth, assaulting her sex with wicked delight. Her head fell back on a cry of pure pleasure. With every stroke of his tongue, her pleasure mounted until the weight of her release was too much to bear. His fingers slipped

inside her clenching body throwing her over the edge.

She called out his name as her body shuddered with her release.

Panting, she noticed her hands on his head.

How had they got there? She moved them away quickly, as if he burned.

“Tisk, tisk. I told you to keep your hands away.” But he was smiling.

“Something came over me.”

He shook his head. “I think you need a time out for your disobedience.”

Richard lowered her body back to the water.

“A time out?” Why did his punishment sound more like a promise?

“Umm…” Richard watched her expression shift.

She was beautiful. And he wasn’t done with her yet.

His body had grown hard during her orgasm. As if it fueled his desire. Her scent saturated his senses, making him desire her in the most primitive of ways.

Lacing his fingers in her damp hair, he crushed his lips to hers. He knew she could taste herself on his lips and that made him even harder.

Would he ever get enough of this woman? Her hands stroked his back and clawed at his flesh.

“Do you trust me?” he asked her between kisses.

A flicker of concern crested her face.

“Completely.”

“Good.”

In a quick motion, he turned her around and bent her over the edge of the Jacuzzi. His hands stroked her back until her butt arched in the air toward him. Now this was an even bigger turn on then before.

He clenched her hips, found her wet heat, and plunged. With each stroke, he wondered if the animal was already in him. He knew it was, but this dominating position had him harder than he could

ever remember. Her mewling moans proved she enjoyed it as much as he did.

With quickening breaths, they both reached their peaks together, and then he fell onto her back, completely spent.

It wasn’t until hours later that he realized they hadn’t used a condom.

Chapter Twelve

The phone rang and a foot caught him squarely in the chin before his eyes drew open. Richard wasn’t sure what was more alarming. Without opening his eyes, he reached for the annoying interruption of his sleep.

“This had better be good,” he told the caller.

“Labor! Oh my God, she’s in labor!” Max’s voice held horror and dread. Richard bit his tongue to keep from laughing.

Surprised, but not as much as his brother, Richard shook the sleep from his head and sat up.

The foot kicking him in the face belonged to Joey, and Kate was slowly waking from the noise of the conversation. When had Joey joined them?

“Are you there?” Max yelled into the phone.

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“Did you hear me? Janet’s in labor… She’s having the baby!”

“Yeah… well, we knew that would happen.” Unconcerned, he flipped on the light and moved to the edge of the bed.

“Now! She’s having the baby now!”

“Calm down. Geez, Max, considering what you go through every month you’d think you would have it together with something as natural as childbirth.”

“The baby. My baby! She’s moaning…” Max trailed off but Richard still heard him talking to his wife. ‘Breathe, the doctor said to breathe.’ “Get here… no, get to the hospital. Now.” The phone disconnected with a thudding click.

Richard laughed at his always-together big brother and placed the phone back on the charger.

“Was that Max?” Kate asked from the other side of the bed.

“Yeah, Janet’s in labor.”

“Well, we should get up.”

“Yeah, I guess we should get over there. It sounded like Max was losing it.”

“How’s Janet?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” she said in alarm.

“What? He was losing it,” he explained.

Kate flipped the covers off and marched to the bathroom.

Joey hardly stirred.

Richard followed her. She ran a brush through her hair in her semi naked state of dress. In only a T-shirt and panties, she pulled herself together.

“Why are you standing there? Your sister-in-law is having a baby. We need to go.”

“Where?”

“The hospital,” she said exasperated.

“Why? The doctors can handle it.” He didn’t see the need. Besides, the sight of her ass hanging out under her skimpy excuse for a shirt was turning him on. She pivoted and dropped the brush to the sink with a loud clank. “Your brother called you. You need to go… We need to go!”

His head snapped up from the view and met her eyes.

Then it hit him.

Janet was having a baby. A brief wave of panic washed over him.

Max sounded so worried, so stressed.

“We should go,” he said in alarm.

He rushed to his dresser, pulled a pair of shorts from the drawer, and tugged them on.

Kate waltzed in the room, cleared her throat, and pointed at him.

He had tugged his shorts on over his lounging

trunks he put on to traipse around the house.

Removing them, he turned to the closet.

Within second he was dressed, although haphazardly, and ready to go.

Kate hid a smirk and helped get Joey out of bed.

“Hey, Sport.”

Joey grumbled.

Richard shook his head and said. “Forget it.” He lifted the boy in his arms and made for the door.

****

The Lobby was empty when they arrived at County General. Joey, who rested over Richard’s shoulder and still asleep, didn’t even bat an eye when they paused at the information desk staffed by a security guard. “We’re having a baby,” Richard told the man in a rush.

The two hundred plus pound African American man glanced over his newspaper and scanned Kate’s thin body with a slow eye. He ruffled the paper and brought it back up with a laugh.

Confused, Richard glared, and Kate hid a grin.

“No, we aren’t having a baby. My brother is.” The man’s shoulders folded in with his chuckle.

“Your brother?”

“Well, his wife. Yeah, that’s it… his wife. Janet Ritter.”

In painfully slow motion, the man put down his paper and turned his attention to the old green screen monitor sitting in front of him.