Fusion (Explosive #5) (39 page)

Something wasn’t right.

My breasts were heavy and swollen, begging for relief—it was past feeding time. I groaned, wishing I could put my pillow over my head and go back to sleep. Ava, thank the heavens, was a relatively good baby. Okay, I’ll be honest and brag a little bit. Ava was the
best
baby. My pregnancy had been stellar—not a lick of morning sickness—and for the most part, she only woke through the night when she was hungry. But I was still exhausted beyond belief. Not getting more than three hours of sleep at a time thanks to my daughter’s appetite, I was starting to feel like the walking dead.

It was a small price to pay for the joy she brought to our lives though. A price I’d pay time and time again. Hell, even though she was only four months old, Jeremy was already talking about having another one.

Something I was getting pretty close to giving in on.

Just as I rose to feed Ava, I realized what was wrong. His side of the bed was empty, and he still had two hours before he had to be up for work. I smiled to myself. I was in charge of the night feedings, but sometimes, Jeremy still snuck in there.

We’d decided I’d stay home while Ava was a baby—at least, for now. Jeremy’s real estate business was more than enough to support the family, and we were comfortable. So I usually let him sleep at night because I could catch little naps here and there during the day. And even still, on nights like tonight, when I’d barely kept my eyes open through the latest episode of
Criminal Minds
, I knew exactly where Jeremy was.

When I padded down the hall and peeked into Ava’s nursery, my heart melted. I’d seen the sight in front of me a thousand times, but it never got old. Jeremy had always been sexy to me. But that right there? It was the most arousing thing I’d ever seen. There’s nothing like a hot, muscular man holding a tiny baby in his arms. Except for when the hot, muscular man holding a tiny baby in his arms was whisper-singing the most inappropriate song to her little ears.

An empty bottle sat on the bookshelf next to him, and thanks to the nightlight, I could see that Ava’s eyes were drifting closed. Jeremy’s voice softened, and he slowly rose. That’s when he saw me. I held a finger to my lips, and he nodded. Then he placed Ava in her crib and quietly shuffled to me. Before I knew what he was doing, he swept me into his arms and I had to hold in a squeal.

He took me down the hall to our bedroom and sat down. Then he lay back and rolled onto his side. The entire time, he kept me close to his body, and now, we were face-to-face.

“You know you don’t have to do that,” I told him, placing my hand on his jaw and enjoying his rough stubble. “I do appreciate it, but I also know you need your sleep.”

“Sierra,” he whispered, pulling me closer. “I could lie and say it’s for purely unselfish reasons, but it’s not. Sure, I think you need more sleep and I enjoy helping out, but it’s more than that.”

I gazed at him. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t really know to explain it,” he said. “It’s like…I spend all day running from one property to the next, and I’m always on the go. I come home to an amazing wife, a beautiful little daughter, and I spend my evenings with you both, playing with her, playing with you. And then we go to bed. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. In the best fucking way.” He smiled.

“Doesn’t sound so bad when you put it that way,” I whispered.

“It’s not. Not even close to bad. It’s amazing. I love it. I love our life, and I wouldn’t change a single thing about it. But there’s just something about sitting in that rocking chair at three in the morning, staring down at this tiny person you made. No sounds but her sucking from the bottle full of milk that comes from these,” he said, cupping a full breast.

I winced, but his sentiment was so beautiful I couldn’t interrupt him.

“Those are the moments when it really hits me. How beautiful my life is. Those quiet moments where I slow down and take it all in, counting every single one of my blessings.”

I knew exactly what he meant. That happiness in the stillness. In the quiet. It was everything. Sure, the hustle and bustle of life was exhilarating, but sometimes we forgot to slow down and smell the baby powder.

“Then take those moments, Jeremy, any time you need. They’re yours,” I whispered. “You deserve them.”

His hand slid down and squeezed my hip before moving to the small of my back and settling there. “You gave that to me, baby.” He paused, and my breath caught as his eyes searched mine. “The day you said, ‘I do,’ I thought I was the luckiest man in the world. I thought I had the whole world. And I did. I still do. It’s just… It’s a little different now. You’re not just my world, baby. You’re my fucking sun. And Ava? She’s my moon. Without the two of you, I’d have no light in my life. I’d be incomplete. Hell, I wouldn’t even exist anymore. With the two of you, I have everything, and my
world can keep on spinning.”

Tears were streaming down my cheeks by the time he was done. My big, goofy husband had his sweet moments. This one? This one trumped all the ones that had come before. To the point that I was rendered speechless. So, instead, I let my actions speak for me and set about giving Jeremy his sun.

And maybe…just maybe another moon.

2010

“
THAT WAS AMAZING,” I
gushed as I rested my head on the headrest in Jeremy’s truck. My brain was fuzzy from the margaritas, but I was drunker from the experience than from the tequila.

Jeremy snorted, and when I glanced over at him, he shook his head and scoffed.

“I get serious husband points for what I just sat through,” he told me.

I gave him a tipsy grin. Little did he know, he’d earned much more than husband points for this.

“You know you enjoyed it just as much as I did. Your legs were shaking, just itching for you to be able to jump up on stage and show those men how Jeremy Banks breaks it down,” I teased.

He shook his head again. Then he pinned me with a sexy grin and then let his eyes drift down to my V-neck T-shirt. They rested on my cleavage and then rose to meet my eyes again.

“
Serious
husband points,” he emphasized.

So, as he pulled onto the highway, I slid across the bench seat, palmed his erection with my hand, and proceeded to give him what he’d earned.

We’d just spent the night celebrating my twenty-sixth birthday in the best way possible. With the Backstreet Boys.

Yup. My dear husband had surprised me with tickets to my favorite ’90s boy band. Sure, it might have been 2010 and they were pushing—and possibly passing—forty, but those guys could still bring it. And the sold-out crowd proved it, too.

I was still reveling in the night when we walked into the house. Jeremy grabbed a beer, and I followed him into the living room, smiling at the sight before me.

Lexi was, naturally, sitting on the end of the couch with a book in her hand and her husband’s head in her lap. Ty was stretched out, with Ava lying on his torso, both of them fast asleep. She didn’t even notice us until I pulled my phone out and snapped a picture.

She gave us a smile. “How was the concert?

I beamed.

Jeremy groaned.

Then we spoke simultaneously.

“Amazing.”

“The worst three hours of my life.”

I shot him a look, and his frown turned into a grin. He looked back at Lexi.

“But it was so, so worth it,” he amended, and I beamed once again.

“How was Ava?” I asked as Jeremy lifted our daughter from her uncle’s chest.

“She found the Scarface DVD and cried until Ty finally put it on,” she said, shaking her head then raising an accusing eyebrow at Jeremy. “Then, she called me a filthy animal when I’d kissed her goodnight.”

“Hey! What are you looking at me like that for?” Jeremy asked, innocence on his face. His protest, however, was futile, because a second later, he busted out laughing. “It’s not my fault she has good taste in movies. Plus, she has ears like an eagle and remembers everything. She’s my little parrot, but she’s also a ninja. A parrot ninja. She hides and hears. She’s sneaky.”

“She’s going to be trouble,” Lexi warned with a smile, telling us something we were well aware of.

Jeremy was right. Ava wasn’t even quite two years old and I’d already been mortified when she’d pointed and called the mailman sexy.

Jeremy just laughed, ruffled my sister’s hair, and headed down the hallway to put Ava in her crib. Ty shifted in his sleep, and I glanced at my sister.

“He’s so good with her,” I said.

She simply nodded.

“You’ve been married nearly as long as Jeremy and I have. When are you going to give Ava a cousin?”

A shadow crossed her features, and something began to burn deep down in my belly. Before she could respond, Ty’s voice surprised me.

“What time is it?” he asked sleepily. Yawning, he blinked his eyes open. “Oh, hey, Sierra. How was the concert?”

I smiled even though I was troubled by whatever had just happened with my sister. “It was great.” It was my turn to yawn. “Thanks for watching Ava. I hope she wasn’t too much of a hellion tonight.”

He sat up and shook his head. “That kid… She’s something else,” he laughed, and I joined.

“She’s her father’s daughter,” I admitted.

“I’ll give you that.” He leaned over and kissed Lexi on her cheek. “Ready, babe?”

The look that had been on her face disappeared, and she turned to give her husband a knowing smile. “Of course. After all, as the song goes…”

His eyes lit up as they slid from his sister to me. “Who needs candles and cake…” he sang and stood, pulling Lexi up from the couch. His hand slid to her ass as he drew her into his side. Then his eyes danced with amusement as he sang the R&B song. “‘Birthday sex.’”

Jeremy walked into the room as Ty was finishing the song, and when he heard the words, he stopped in his tracks, his own eyes lighting up. “If I’d have known Ty was going to serenade us, I wouldn’t have gotten those tickets. Although this is kinda weird, you being my brother-in-law and all that. In fact, if you were any other man, I’d probably kick your ass for even thinking about sex while looking at my wife.”

“Banks, have you ever kicked anyone’s ass?”

Jeremy grinned, giving Ty his answer. “I’m a lover, man, not a fighter. Plus, this face is way too pretty to be punched.”

“Pretty?” Ty challenged.

“Fuckin’ beautiful,” Jeremy answered, and I silently echoed his sentiments.

“Okay, boys. As much as I’d love to stay and watch you verbally spar, I think we should probably get out of here and leave them to it…” Lexi trailed off.

“To do it,” Ty quipped.

Lexi groaned even though she smiled. “And, with that, we’re going. Have a good night, guys. Happy birthday, Sierra,” she said as she crossed the room and gave me a hug. “Love you.”

I returned the hug and maybe gave her an extra squeeze. “Love you, too.”

As soon as Jeremy closed the door behind them, he leaned back against it. “So…birthday sex, huh?” he asked, his gaze heated.

“Who needs candles and cake when I have that?” I said, waving my hand up and down.

“Fucking right,” he murmured.

My desire grew as he tugged his T-shirt over his head, revealing lean muscles. My mouth watered as he did a little striptease with his shorts then slowly slid his boxer briefs down his legs.

When he stood up straight, he held his arms out wide. “Happy birthday, baby,” he grinned. “I was saving the best show for last.”

A beautiful sight, that’s for sure. Jeremy, tan from hours working in the garden, his muscles lean and toned from helping Ty with his side job of flipping houses. He might have been the one selling the homes, but he was hell with a hammer.

In more ways than one.

And, now, I wanted him to hammer into me.

I was drunk on tequila and boy bands, and I wanted Jeremy in a fierce way. Much quicker than he had, I performed a striptease until I was completely naked in my living room. The lust in his gaze was all I needed. He stumbled back a step when I launched myself at him.

“Fuck me or lose me forever!” I announced as I wrapped my legs around his legs.

He was just as ready as I was. My hands gripped his shoulders as he pushed me against the wall and lined his cock up against my entrance. As much as I wanted to slam down onto him, I let him maintain control. I held my breath as he slid into me, inch by glorious inch, until he was buried deep inside.