Making the Baby

CHAPTER 2: Harker

CHAPTER 2: Harker

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Harker escorted Alison to their room. He’d won the first battle. She was at the proverbial table and ready to listen. Now, he needed to tell her the truth in a way she wanted to hear. He opened the door.

As soon as she stepped inside, she spun around. “Did you come here on our wedding night?”

“Yes.” He closed the door behind him but didn’t move. He wasn’t chasing her through the Club again. If she wanted to leave, she’d have to go through him.

“Yes?” Her mouth dropped open.

He took her hand. “Listen to—”

“Don’t touch me.” She pulled away from him. “How could you? You lied to me.”

“I did not lie.”

“You...you said you didn’t—”

“I never said that.” He may have implied it but that was different. He moved closer. He needed to touch her, to remind her how good it was between them.

“You may as well have. It might not have been an actual lie, but the intent was a lie.”

“You wouldn’t talk to me.” His patience was disappearing fast. “You wouldn’t let me explain. You were ready to throw this all away over nothing.”

“You came to a s*x club on our wedding night. That’s not nothing.”

“What did you want me to do?” This was not his fault.

“Excuse me? What did I want you to do on our wedding night? I don’t know.” She threw up her arms. “Maybe stay with your new wife.”

“My new wife?” His temper blew and he stalked closer to her. “You mean the woman who had to drink every drop of alcohol she could find to let me touch her but that still wasn’t enough, was it?”

“I apologized for that.” She backed away from him.

“Oh, that makes such a f*****g difference. You laughed at me.”

“I...I was nervous, and I apologized and...” She paused, her nose wrinkling in thought. “No. You do not get to make this about me. This is about you.” She poked his chest. “You’re the one who went to a s*x club on our wedding night.”

“Because my bride didn’t want me, and why do you care anyway? This isn’t a real marriage. You sure like to remind me of that, and it’s not like you love me.” Those words tangled in his throat.

“You don’t love me either.” She backed away another step. “And I know this isn’t a real marriage, but we have a contract. We agreed to be monogamous.

“You...” He stopped himself. This wasn’t the time to correct her about that.

“Were you ever serious about this or was it all some big joke?”

“A joke? If anyone is playing a joke, it’s you.” He took another step toward her. “I had to bring my wife to a s*x club, so she’d see me as a man.”

“I...I knew...I know you’re a man.” She took another step away from him.

“Really? One with a d**k or a man like an uncle or eunuch?”

“I...I...You were my boss.”

“That’s a fantasy for many women but apparently not you.” He stalked her across the room.

“No. I never...I...”

“Yes, I know. You never thought of me as a man.” That still ripped through his gut like he’d swallowed acid.

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?” He stopped inches from her when her back hit the wall.

“No,” she whispered. “I did at first but then...”

“Yeah, that’s right. I yelled. You even made a program to laugh about me behind my back.”

“How did—”

“You told me all about it. Another gift from my loving wife on our wedding night.”

“Oh, no.” Her eyes widened. “I didn’t...I’m sorry. It’s not as bad as it sounds. It’s a joke but no one knows but me.”

“You’re right. It’s not bad. Why would I be upset that the woman I married has her own special program to make fun of me. Hell. She even wrote it.”

“I...I’m sorry.” Her eyes were huge in her face and filled with apology.

He hated that he was a joke to her, but he hated hurting her even more. He ran his fingers across her cheek and her mouth opened slightly. He wanted to grab her and hold her still while he unleashed his frustrations into this kiss but instead, he kissed her softly. She melted into him and he pressed against her, letting her feel how much he wanted her. How hard he was for her.

“Stop.” She pushed on his chest.

He kissed her again, harder this time. They weren’t playing but a safeword wasn’t only for kinky games. His hands grabbed her breasts, squeezing.

“Harker, stop,” she said against his lips. “Debug.”

“f**k,” he almost growled before he forced himself to take a step back. It was only a small step, but even that was too much. He planted his hands on the wall by her head, needing to stay close to her.

“I...I can’t do this without knowing the truth. I started that contract on our wedding day. From the moment we said I do I was committed to being monogamous with you.” She slipped out from under his arm. “I know I wasn’t...I didn’t make our wedding night easy for you and I...I’ll...We can start the contract from here...from last night when we actually...became a couple but only if I know the truth.” Her big eyes were so unsure. “I need to know what happened that night.”

“Okay. I’ll tell you. Nothing at all happened that night.” He frowned. “I’m probably the only groom in the history of this planet that didn’t get laid on his wedding night.” There. Perfect. A little joke and most of the truth. She had to forgive him.

“You didn’t”—she waved her hands in front of her thighs—“with someone?”

“No.” He took a step toward her, unable to stay away.

“But...but you wanted to?”

“With you.” It was true. She’d been his first choice, and nothing had happened so there was no reason to mention Dahlia.

“But you came here so you meant to—”

“f**k, Alison. What do you want me to say?” He ran his hand through his hair, wanting to tug it out. “I had just gotten married. My wife didn’t see me as a man. I was hurt. Angry. Yes, I came here to f**k someone”—he moved closer—"but I didn’t.”

“Why?” She stared up at him, but she didn’t run away, and he was taking that as a win.

“Because I wanted you.” That should satisfy her, and it wasn’t exactly a lie. He had wanted her on his wedding night; he still wanted her.

“But I was at home.”

“Passed out.”

“But if you wanted me, you wouldn’t have come here.”

“Alison, nothing happened.” He stared down at her. “Yes, I came here for s*x, but I changed my mind.” Or it’d been changed for him, but that wasn’t important. The only thing that mattered was that he hadn’t had s*x.

“Why?”

Her and her f*****g ten thousand questions. “Because I thought of a way to make you want me.”

“What? How?”

“I went to Ethan’s office.” That was true. “He helped me realize that all I had to do was make you see me as a man, and I could have what I wanted. You.” He waited for the softening that his confession should bring but her nose wrinkled in thought.

“So you drove all the way over here and went to Ethan’s office to talk to him?”

“No.” f**k. Right now her intelligence wasn’t very attractive. “I didn’t come here to talk to Ethan. It’s just what happened.”

“How did that happen? In a club full of beautiful, willing women how did the two of you end up in Ethan’s office...Oh.” Her eyes widened and then filled with hurt as she puzzled it out in her mind—erroneously again. “It wasn’t only you and Ethan, was it?”

He wasn’t letting her go down this path. “It was just me and Ethan. I swear.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll tell you everything.”

“Good.” She swallowed, seeming even more nervous than he was.

“I already admitted that I came here looking to get laid. I sat at the bar and had a drink. Katie came over and we talked.” It was time to sidetrack her a bit. “Her sister is pregnant, and their parents kicked her out. Katie is working extra shifts to pay the bills.”

“That’s horrible.”

He tried not to smile. Alison had the biggest, kindest heart of anyone he’d ever met. “It is.” He ran his hands up and down her arms.

“Go on.” She shrugged his hands away.

Damn. She was also smart and focused. “Ethan came to talk to me. He was surprised to see me here on my wedding night.” He was quite pleased with this rendition of the truth. It wasn’t a lie, and it made her feel guilty–a double score for him. “We went to his office and we came up with the plan to bring you here.”

“Here? Why?”

“Because apparently, I needed to show my wife some young guy with a huge c**k in order for her to want to touch mine.” That came out a little harsher than he’d intended but it was true, and it f*****g annoyed him.

“I didn’t need to see his...penis...but...is that all that happened?”

“Basically. Yeah.” There that was the truth too. “We had too many drinks. Did some women bashing but yeah, that was my night. My fucking...Excuse me. Let me rephrase. That was my no-f*****g wedding night until I passed out on my couch at home.”

“You could’ve come to bed.” Her words were soft and hesitant.

It wasn’t in his nature to show mercy. He always went for the win, the kill. “And risk getting laughed at? My pride couldn’t take that again.”

“I am sorry.” She moved a step closer to him. “I...I was just so nervous.”

“I don’t know why.”

She shrugged, stopping right in front of him. “I’m not nervous now.” She touched his cheek, and he couldn’t help resting his head in her hand. “If you want, we could have our wedding night tonight. You know, a do-over.”

He kissed her palm. “I want that. I really want that.”