Page 37 of Oh My Secret Christmas Baby
“No, just passing by and wanted to get a peek at you.” He’s quiet for a moment. “Are you okay?” Why do our interactions feel off all of a sudden?
“Come here, my Candy Cane.” His face softens, but when he pulls me into his lap, I can feel the tension in his body.
“You weren't in bed this morning.” I don’t know why it bothered me, but it did. Dang it. Am I being clingy? Is that why he’s acting this way?
“I’m sorry. I had things to handle.” He kisses my neck. I shift in his lap so that I can straddle him.
“Are you sure nothing is wrong?” I play with the buttons on his shirt. I can’t help but wiggle against him. I don't know if it’s pregnancy hormones or simply Hollis and the floodgate he's opened inside of me. I crave his touch constantly, but I don’t want to smother him.
He’s so sweet and kind that I don’t think he would tell me if I was. I bet he’d simply deal with it, which I would hate.
“Nothing that you need to worry over.” He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear.
“What if I want to worry over it with you? You said we are in this together, right?”
“Always together. I’ll do many things for you, but when it comes to your safety and well-being, it’s a hard limit for me."
"But—" He cuts me off with a kiss that has me melting into him. I want to push back, but his kisses get me.
"That's my precious girl," he says against my lips.
"You're distracting me with kisses," I huff.
"There are other ways I can distract you." His hands slide down my hips to my butt, where he gives a squeeze.
"If you won't let me worry over things, then maybe you'll let me distract you." When I'm feeling out of sorts, touching and connecting with him physically settles me. I want to do the same for him.
I'm just not sure that he's going to let me.
Chapter Eighteen
HOLLIS
Candy is always so damn tempting. It's difficult to resist her and not to be selfish when it comes to her. That has already happened so much in her life. That's all Maxwell had done. I saw how deep it had gone as I started to untangle him from her life.
That fucker even found a way to yank her scholarships her last year. Ones that she worked her ass off to get. He wanted her to be vulnerable so that he could swoop in and get her more beholden to him by helping her cover the cost.
The more I dig and see, the more I wonder if I'm any better than Maxwell. I'm sure on some level, she feels beholden to me now as well. The babies give her no choice but to be cuffed to me and tied for life. That thought gets me off, and I hate myself for it, but I can't stop myself.
Candy's hands go to my belt. "We can't." I stop her by grabbing her wrist. I see hurt flash across her beautiful face. Hell, that's the last thing I want. "The door is open," I point out. People are coming and going right now with deliveries and prep for the upcoming party. But I’m sorely tempted to take what she’s offering me.
“Then I’ll close it.” She wiggles out of my lap. I reluctantly let her go, watching the skirt of her dress sway with each step. It would be so easy to push it up and do as I please, and I know she'd let me. I never get any pushback from her on anything. That's the problem.
“I have more work I need to get done.” Candy pauses halfway to the door.
“Okay.” There is a crack in her voice. It slams into me hard enough that I’m out of my chair immediately, making it to the door before Candy does. I easily reach it, closing it. My hands brace against it above her head. I lean down and get a whiff of her sweet sugary smell. I know it’s her shampoo. It’s like a fucking drug to me. One that I want to indulge in forever.
Each time I’m in the shower, I smell it. Fuck, I used it to jack off with just this morning. I wasn’t big on self-pleasure before, but then I didn’t have a sweet, tempting candy cane of a girl in my bed every night pressed against me. Her curves fit me perfectly. She was made to be mine.
"Turn around," I order her. What the hell is wrong with me? I think it was the sight of her about to flee. I couldn't have that. Slowly she turns toward me but keeps her face straight so that she's staring into my chest. "Don't run from me."
"You have work to do." I drop one hand from the door to bring it to her face, cupping her cheek. I let my thumb stroke her soft skin, but I use it to tilt her face up to meet my gaze.
"I'm sorry that I've upset you." Candy's lips press together to form a straight line. "I am."
"You're sorry that you upset me but not for what you did to do it," she points out.
"And what did I do?"
