Accidental Daddies: A Reverse Harem Age-Gap Romance, page 11
A throat clearing had her pulling away and wiping her mouth as she looked down at her feet for a moment. It looked like she was gathering herself because when she looked up, she forced a calm smile at a woman I didn’t recognize.
“Yes! Hi! How can I help you?” Fiona stepped forward to greet the woman but I naturally put my arm out to stop her. I didn’t like the idea of strangers approaching her.
“Do you think it would be possible for you to have your kids be quiet? I’m having a garden party next door and all I can hear is your kids screaming.” The woman was in her mid-forties, if I had to guess, and looked like a few adventurous workers at the makeup counter in the mall had gotten to her.
Fiona turned her head and cupped her hand around her ear. “I’m sorry. They’re not being all that loud. Are you sure it’s these kids that are disrupting you?”
The woman scowled. “Of course, I’m sure.”
“It’s just that I can hear them and they’re not screaming their heads off.” Crossing her arms over her chest, Fiona’s smile got even kinder. “Your garden party sounds like a lot of fun. How would a visit from celebrity chef Ryder Steele perk things up, just in case you do hear our kids playing?”
I grunted and pressed my hand to her back. “Really?”
The woman noticed me and her eyes went wide. “Oh! Oh, that would be lovely. Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?”
I forced a smile and walked towards her. “Not at all. Anything to keep the peace for the future mother of my children.”
Fiona giggled and waved at me. “I’ll tell the boys you’ll be back soon.”
I narrowed my eyes at her and watched as she blew me a kiss. I was going to have to consider taking a page from Sebastian’s book and spanking our angel. Not only was she sending me into a fucking garden party, she was keeping me away from time with her.
“I really could hear her children screaming. She’s so young. You know how it is with young moms.” The woman patted my arm and smiled up at me. “I’m Karrie, by the way.”
My publicist would’ve told me to play nice and smile pretty, but I didn’t like the way she was insinuating negative shit about Fiona. I stopped and eased her hand off of me. “I do know how it is with young moms. They need a lot of help and it wouldn’t be right of me to leave Fi with no help. Have a great garden party. If the kids bother you, just chalk it up to young moms, right?”
25
***Fiona***
Mallory stared at the sandwiches I’d made for dinner and frowned at me. “You’re dating a famous chef. Why are you feeding me these dry, sad sandwiches?”
I glared at her over a plate of those dry, sad sandwiches. “They’re perfectly fine sandwiches. Plus, Ryder’s a guest. It’s not his job to cook for us.”
“Dad’s food is too fancy.” Roman shrugged when his dad shot him an astonished look. “What? It’s true. I like the dry sandwich.”
Racey grinned at me from where he sat in the same patio chair with Avery. “Me too!”
Avery parrotted his new best friend. “Me too!”
Mallory sighed and sat back in her chair. “Maybe I’ll text Sebastian pretending to be you and tell him you’re craving sushi.”
“He knows I would never text him to ask for food. That’s ridiculous.” I tore off a big bite of my sandwich and bared my teeth at her. “Eat your dry, sad sandwich and be happy.”
“Sorry. I’m still stuck on the part where my kids think my food is too fancy.” Ryder used his sandwich to point at Roman. “You used to love that pasta I cooked for you. You asked for it every day for three straight years.”
“I want pizza. Or nachos. Nico’s dad makes him nachos and they’re so good.” Roman looked at me and I could see his eyes narrow just slightly as he prepared to test me for not the first time that day. “Can you make nachos?”
I raised my eyebrows at him. “Can I make nachos? Are you kidding? Of course, I can make nachos.”
“What about pizza?”
“Why would I make a pizza when I can get one delivered faster?” I laughed at Ryder’s horrified groan. “What? I’m an art teacher, not a pizza maker. I bet your dad could make a delicious pizza, though.”
Ryder’s hand found mine under the table and he squeezed. “I won a competition when I was twenty by making a pizza.”
“Why don’t you make them now, Dad?” Racey guzzled down a bottle of juice and wiped his mouth on the back of his arm.
“I don’t know. Maybe I should.” He looked at Roman. “If I start making pizza again would you want to help? One day your own kid might look at you and think you’re uncool because you can’t make a pizza. Now’s the time to learn.”
My heart warmed at the look Roman gave his father. It was almost shy as he nodded. He quickly looked away and then punched his brother.
“Hey!” Racey hit him back and turned to Ryder. “Did you see that?”
Roman’s jaw was already set in a stubborn way and it was so obvious that he’d given his father an inch and had immediately felt so vulnerable that he had to take back two inches. “Whatever.”
Ryder opened his mouth and I could tell by the furrow between his brows that he was going to scold Roman. I didn’t want to overstep but I didn’t want that look Roman gave Ryder to vanish.
I cleared my throat and stood up. “Hey, Roman? I could use some help getting dessert ready. If you promise not to punch the cake, you can help me.”
Race frowned. “He’s definitely going to punch the cake.”
“No, I’m not!” Pushing away from the table, Roman stomped towards me. “I’m not going to punch the stupid cake.”
I nodded at Ryder before following Roman into the kitchen. With just the two of us alone in the kitchen, I watched as his anger disappeared and he just stood still with tears in his eyes. I wasn’t sure how to handle the situation exactly, but I wanted to try to help.
“I don’t actually think you’re going to punch the cake. I know you’re not crazy and only a crazy person would punch a cake instead of eating it.” I busied myself with getting out plates and spoons. “I just thought maybe you could use a break. I could tell that you weren’t actually angry when you punched Racey. I’m guessing you were just overwhelmed for a minute and sometimes hitting things feels easier than talking.”
He crossed his arms and shrugged.
“Do you want to know the best part of helping in the kitchen?” I handed him a spoon. “You get to sneak bites before everyone else.”
He frowned up at me as I scooped a bit of icing off the cake and ate it. “Why are you being nice?”
I leaned against the counter and shrugged. “I’m just offering to share sneaky cake bites with a kid who looks like he needs sneaky cake bites.”
Finally, he dragged his spoon through the icing and stuck it in his mouth. “I didn’t mean to hit him.”
I kept my eyes on the cake. “You want to know a secret?”
“Yes.”
“I think of emotions like those Venus flytraps. You know the plants that eat bugs?” I finally chanced a look at him and laughed at the confused share he was sending my way. “I know it sounds silly, but listen. The flytraps open up and when something tickles them, they close. Emotions are like flytraps because when we open up our emotions and something touches them, it’s natural for us to shut them down. Only our emotions aren’t trying to catch dinner. They’re just trying to protect themselves. It can be scary to feel things sometimes.”
“You think I hit Race because I’m scared?” He looked at me like he thought I was an idiot.
“I think you hit Race because something touched your emotions and you wanted a distraction while you snapped that flytrap closed.” I ate another spoonful of icing and smiled. “Maybe you should apologize to Race. No matter the reason you hit him, he was just minding his own business.”
He groaned. “I hate that everything has to be a big deal.”
“It doesn’t have to be. No one else has to see. As long as Race hears you, that’s what matters.”
“My mom makes me apologize in front of everyone all the time.” Roman sighed the sigh of a person much older than him. “You’re saying I can do it when it’s just the two of us?”
I realized I’d walked into a potential minefield and took a moment to think before answering. “I don’t know the rules your mom and dad have at their houses. I can’t tell you not to listen to your parents because you should. When you’re here, though, I don’t think you have to apologize in public, unless you want to. Or unless you just punched everyone at the party. That apology would probably have to be public.”
He laughed, thankfully, and his shoulders dropped a bit lower. “I thought you were going to be mean. Mom told us all about evil step-mothers. You’re not mean, though. You’re pretty nice, I guess.”
I reached out and ruffled his hair. “I’ll take pretty nice. You’re pretty nice, too.”
Ryder stepped into the kitchen and his eyes were burning holes into me. The look on his face was as intense a look I’d ever seen from him.
Roman saw his dad and held up his hands. “I’m going to apologize to Race, Dad.”
I swallowed around a lump of nerves and watched Roman go back outside. I couldn’t quite meet Ryder’s eyes so I started slicing the cake to distract me. “I’m sorry if I overstepped. If you’re pissed at me, I get it. I just wanted to try to help. If I said anything wrong, I’ll-”
Ryder gripped my chin with his thumb and index finger and lifted my face to his. “Thank you.”
“Thank me?”
He nodded. “Thank you. I’ve been having a hard time connecting with him. He’s so fucking angry at me all the time and for the first time in so long, he smiled at me tonight. He’s willing to cook with me. It’s selfish of me but I didn’t want to lose that by telling him off for hitting Race. I heard some of what you said. You really are an angel, Fiona.”
I blinked away tears and wrapped my arms around his waist. “He’s a good kid. It won’t be hard forever, especially not when it’s so clear he has a huge heart.”
“He’s just hiding it like a Vevus flytrap for now, huh?”
I groaned. “That analogy alone should explain so many of my emotional issues to you.”
“I need to be alone with you soon, angel. Desperately.”
I closed my eyes and nodded. I was letting things happen as they did, but I was struggling to sleep at night because I couldn’t stop thinking about being with them again.
“The boys are with Sara tomorrow. Come over and let me cook some of my too fancy food for you? Please.” Ryder slid his hands around to my ass. “I need you, Fi.”
My head was nodding before he even finished. “Okay. Yes… Yes, please.”
26
***Fiona***
Ileft Avery with Mallory and drove to the address Ryder gave me. I was surprised when I ended up in the parking lot of one of his restaurants but then I saw him jogging across the lot to me. He was dressed in low slung jeans and an open chef jacket with nothing underneath. His hair was even doing the most to seduce me with the way it was messily tousled.
My mouth watered instantly as I drank in the sight of his bare chest. “Um, hi.”
He gripped my head and pulled me into a heated kiss. His mouth tasted like chocolate and I felt like I’d died and gone to heaven. He could kiss and he tasted like a snack? Heaven.
When he pulled back, his lips were tinted red with my lipgloss. “Come on. I’m determined to feed you before I act like an animal but if that doesn’t happen soon, I’ll just order from the restaurant and eat you until it comes.”
I flushed and hurried along. “I love how vocal you are. I don’t ever have to wonder what you’re thinking about my body and what you want to do to it. I’ve never had that before you three.”
“I don’t know if you’d love it if you could hear the dirty shit I’m thinking right now, angel.” He swiped a key card over a door at the side of the building and held it open for me. “Up the stairs.”
I’d only made it up three steps when he grabbed my hips. I laughed and spun around to face him. “You aren’t going to finish cooking for me if you can’t keep your hands to yourself.”
He pushed me down so I was sitting on the step and knelt on the stairs in front of me. His eyes burned into mine as he slowly worked my dress up my thighs. “I’ve been patient but I’m losing my mind, angel. I need to taste you.”
I lifted my hips when he gripped my panties and yanked them down. “Just don’t burn your apartment down.”
“Fuck the apartment.” Ryder buried his face between my thighs and ran his tongue over my slit before parting my lips and finding my clit. He reached one hand up to cup my breast while he did and growled when I cried out his name.
I gripped his hair and gasped when I felt his teeth drag over my lips. “Ryder!”
He thrust two fingers deep into my core and pumped them in and out fast even as he sucked on my clit. Within a couple of minutes, he had me calling out his name over and over again as I came hard on his face. After licking me clean, he looked up at me and smiled. “Good start.”
I laughed and dropped my head back on the steps. “Good? Try phenomenal. I don’t know how I’m going to walk up these stairs.”
Standing up and towering over me, he scooped me into his arms and climbed the stairs. “I should’ve at least gotten you up to the couch. I just couldn’t wait.”
“I’m not complaining about what just happened.” My dress was still up around my waist when he put me down on the couch. I reached to pull it down but he stopped me.
“Stay like that. I want to see what I’m working for as I’m cooking.” He pressed my thighs apart and stepped back. “Fucking perfect.”
I fought my shyness to keep my legs spread for him. “I could help.”
“You are helping.” He stood at the kitchen island facing me and licked his lips. “Touch yourself for me.”
Fighting against that shyness even harder, I ran my hands up my thighs and slowly cupped my sex. His expressions shifted from starving to pain as I teased myself. As much as I wanted to put on a show for him, I didn’t like seeing him in pain. I liked giving as much as I liked getting so I closed my legs and walked over to him.
“Fiona.” His warning tone did nothing to stop me.
I went to my knees in front of him and smiled up at him while unbuttoning his jeans. “Forget the food.”
He gripped the countertop with white knuckles. “I’m feeding you. You’re pregnant and I have to take care of you.”
Slowly unzipping his pants, I blew out a soft breath. “Call it in fast, Ry. As desperate as you were for me, I feel the same way about you.”
He swore and roughly grabbed his phone from the counter. His eyes never left mine as he hit a button and pressed the phone to his ear. “Mike. Send dinner up for two in half an hour.”
I pushed his jeans down and moved even closer as his shaft bounced up against his stomach. Wrapping my hand around his base, I flicked my tongue over the underside and quietly laughed as he swore.
“No, Mike, I’m fine. Just send up whatever.” His big fist tightened in my hair as he glared down at me. I heard his breath stutter when I opened my mouth wide and took his tip in. “Fuck! Just… Chicken, Mike. Bring up chicken. I have to go.”
I laughed when he tossed the phone aside and pulled me to my feet. “It sounds like you really want chicken.”
He spun me around and bent me over the counter. “Spread your legs, angel.”
I looked over my shoulder at him and watched him fist his cock and press the head against my sex. I opened my mouth to tease him but all that came out was a choked wail as he thrust his full length into me. My hands smacked down on the counter as I tried to find purchase but I didn’t have a chance to find a grip before Ryder pulled out and thrust deep again.
“Fuck, you feel so good.” With a bruising grip on my hips, Ryder fucked me hard. His thighs slapped against mine and one long moan from me turned into a series of grunts as his thrusts got faster.
My feet lifted off the ground as he pinned me against the counter. He was hitting something deep inside me that felt magical. I could feel my body tightening for another orgasm and chanted his name, begging him not to stop.
Before I could come, he pulled out and flipped me over. I started to complain but then his mouth was on my clit and he was sucking hard, dragging the orgasm out of me like he’d personally designed my body. I gasped his name as I exploded, my mind going quiet as pleasure rocked me. I couldn’t come down again before Ryder thrust deep into me again and forced me even higher. He pulled the top of my dress down and leaned over to suck my nipple into his mouth while his hips drove into me.
Gasping for air, I dragged my nails down his back and planted my feet on the counter so I could meet his thrusts with my own. His teeth left marks around my nipple as he fucked me harder but then he leaned back and dropped his thumb over my clit.
“I’m going to come inside you, angel. Come with me. Come one more time while I fill you up. Now.” His voice was so rough as he commanded me to come and my body answered his call.
I flew over the edge again and took him with me that time. I felt him coming inside me until it leaked out, puddling on the counter under my ass. I clung to him and moaned his name when he kissed me, ending it in a way that made my chest pump harder.
Ryder picked me up and carried me to the couch where he sat with me in his lap. He held my head to his chest and stroked my back until his breathing was normal again. “It’s never been like this with anyone else.”
His quiet confession made me lift my head to search his face. “Does it scare you?”
His smile was just as shy as Roman’s the night before. “No. Does it scare you?”
