The Beaumont Children. Sarah M. Anderson

open again, but she shook her head no.

      “Tell me what you want, Leona. I need to hear the words.” He didn’t know why, but he did. No misunderstandings this time—just the truth between them. The truth he’d never been able to deny.

      “I want you—all of you,” she whispered. “Make love to me, Byron. Please.”

      He hopped off the bed to shuck his jeans. He had a condom in his wallet. He dug around until he found it, which took a few minutes because Leona had leaned forward and pressed her lips to his tip. He groaned in the small space between the pleasure of her mouth on his erection and the pain of needing to hold back his climax. “Babe, please.”

      As she lifted her eyes to look at him, her other hand cupped him. Too much—she was too much. “Babe,” he said in warning. He didn’t want to lose it before he’d shown her how good it could still be between them and he didn’t know how much time they had before the baby awoke or her sister came back. “Let me do this for you.”

      With his last bit of self-control, he pushed her away—at least, far enough away that he could roll the condom on. Then he climbed back onto the bed, back between her legs, and lowered himself to her. “You still like it like this?” he asked as he tucked her knees under his arms and pinned her to the bed.

      “I think so. I’ll let you know.” Then she licked his lips and he couldn’t hold back any longer.

      He fit himself against her and plunged into her body. She was so wet and ready for him, as though she’d been waiting for just this moment, too. He buried himself in her and kissed her and thought, I’ve finally come home.

      “Yes,” she hissed as he drove into her again and again. “Still like that. Harder.”

      “Yes, ma’am,” was all he could say. He had to focus on holding off his climax until she’d come. He had to show her how good he could be for her—to her.

      So he thrust in harder and harder until the bed was squeaking and she was moaning and all he could see and feel and hear and taste was Leona. His Leona.

      “Oh—oh!” she gasped as he gave her everything he had. Her body clenched down on his and her head came off the pillow and as the climax took her, he kissed her and kept thrusting while she rode it out.

      Then she fell back onto the bed and his climax began to roar through his blood. Then—unexpectedly—something changed. The sensation surrounding his erection shifted. Deepened.

      He tried to pull out but it was too late. He’d come—and the condom had broken.

      Oh, hell.

      “What?” Leona panted when Byron pulled away from her.

      “I lost the condom,” he said in a state of shock.

      “Oh.” Leona hopped out of bed and basically ran for the bathroom.

      Byron sat down heavily on the edge of the bed and threw the remains of the useless condom into the trash. For the love of everything holy—he’d barely gotten used to the idea of being a father to one. Was he already on his way to being a father of two?

      Stupid. He shouldn’t have used an old condom, shouldn’t have kept it in his wallet. He shouldn’t have taken Leona to bed, not yet.

      But this was how it always seemed to happen with her—he couldn’t help himself. He’d wanted to show her how good they could be together and instead?

      He’d set them both up for another pregnancy scare. What a freaking mess.

      Maybe she was right. Maybe they shouldn’t live together, shouldn’t get married. Because this was how it was going to be. They’d always be walking the thin line between love and disaster.

      The only difference was that, at least this time, he knew when they’d crossed that line.

      Leona walked back into the bedroom, head down, arms crossed over her bare breasts. “Come here,” he told her, pulling her onto his lap.

      She sucked in a shuddering breath. “Might not be anything, after all.”

      “Might not,” he agreed, trying to sound optimistic.

      “This doesn’t change the plans,” she added. “Two-week trial.”

      “Are you sure?” He kissed her cheek. “Because, right up until the end there, I was... Well, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to keep my hands off you.” That got him a small smile. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to keep my hands off you, Leona,” he said in all seriousness as he stroked her hair. “Not even for two weeks.”

      “I wish...”

      “Yes?”

      She leaned into him and sighed. “I wish I knew if that was a good thing or bad thing.”

      “Parts of it were very good. Great, even.”

      She giggled, but just then a small cry came from the other side of the wall. “Oh—the baby!” Leona said, shooting up and gathering her clothes. She was dressed in seconds and rushing out of the room.

      Byron grabbed his shorts and his pants and pulled them on. He didn’t know if he was staying here tonight or not. Not, he decided. He didn’t have another condom and he couldn’t risk the temptation of Leona again, not when there was still a chance that the condom failure might be nothing, after all.

      He finished dressing and then peeked his head into Percy’s room. The only light spilled into the room from the hallway. Leona sat in the dark, holding Percy to her breast. This time, he noted the things he’d need to get for his new place—the crib, the dresser, the glider.

      But he also watched Leona and Percy. One of Percy’s hands lazily waved around in the air, as if he wanted to grab on to something but was too sleepy to know what. Leona smiled down at him, her eyes full of love as she offered her finger for him to grip.

      Byron had missed so much. The whole of her pregnancy, the delivery, Percy’s first smile—all of it was gone into the past. But starting right now, he could make up for that. He could be here for the first time Percy rolled over, the first time he stood and took a step.

      He wanted to be a better father than the one he’d had. That’s all there was to it.

      Behind him, the front door opened. May walked back into the apartment, already glaring at him. “You’re still here?” She looked him up and down and sniffed in distaste.

      Byron shrugged his shoulders at Leona and then walked over to where May was standing. He kept his voice low so he wouldn’t wake Percy. “We’re going to look at some real estate tomorrow. You’re welcome to join us.”

      “I’m not going to uproot my life for you,” she spat at him. “Not after what you did to Leona.”

      He kept his calm. Mostly because he didn’t want to upset the baby. “I could find you a place of your own nearby if you wanted to stay close to Percy.”

      At this, May softened a little bit. “Why would you do that?”

      “Because he loves you and your sister loves you,” Byron replied. “And I want them to be happy.”

      Whatever small foothold he’d gained with May disappeared. “Then just stay away from them. From all of us,” she hissed.

      “I wish I could,” he muttered as May sidestepped him and headed for her room. “I wish I could.”

      But he knew he couldn’t.

Ten

      They met outside the brewery. Leona was exhausted. Between the three times Percy had gotten her up in the middle of the night and the wild dreams she’d had about Byron, she’d gotten very little rest.

      But here she was anyway, picking