Devour Me, Baby - A Yeah, Baby Novella

I thought back to the day of my mom’s funeral. “My hair. It tangled in your watch, giving you the sample you needed.”

“Yes.”

“When will you get the results?”

“I’ve had them since the day after our date. There’s no doubt about it. You’re Samuel Wentworth’s daughter.”

I jumped up and paced back and forth. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? How could you sleep with me, let me fall for you, agree to move to Texas with you—all while you were keeping this secret from me?”

Ethan stood, but didn’t approach me. Instead, he moved to stand between me and the door, as though he was blocking my exit. “I tried, Lilah. Many, many times. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. One day turned into two. Two days into a week. Before I knew it, we were only days away from me taking you home and I didn’t know how to get the words out without hurting you.”

“I don’t know what to do,” I cried. “What to think. Who to believe.”

“Me,” he rasped. “Believe me when I tell you I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy. Come to Texas with me. Be mine, like you already are.”

“It’s not that simple.” It couldn’t be, could it?

“When it comes to you and me, it’s exactly that simple, Lilah. We’re a team, you and I. Maybe even a team of three if you’re already carrying my baby.”

“You really expect me to follow you to Texas? To live with you. To meet the man who knocked my mom up and scared her off… while I may very well be pregnant with your child? With his best friend’s child? Sure. Why not? I’m sure nothing can go wrong with that plan.” Sarcasm was thick in my tone, but Ethan didn’t seem to care. He rushed towards me and wrapped me up in his arms.

“Samuel’s not like that. Once he gets used to the idea of the two of us being together, he’ll be happy for us.” He paused to kiss my forehead and drop a hand to my belly. “After he tries to kick my ass, of course.”

“Oh, no,” I gasped. “No way. You want me to meet my father? The only way that’s going to happen is if we keep our relationship a secret for a while. I’m not ready to face two battles at once. Not yet.”

“Fuck no,” he growled. “I refuse to hide what you are to me. Mine.”

“Well, then. I guess you should have told me all of this sooner. Maybe I would have had time to come to terms with it. But you didn’t, so you’re going to have to suck it up and do this my way, ‘cause it’s the only way it’ll happen at all.”

Chapter 7

Ethan

I glanced over at Lilah as we waited for a car to pick us up at the Dallas airport. She’d been quiet since our talk the other night. Too quiet. I missed her chatter and the cute way she blurted out all of her thoughts.

I was grateful that she hadn’t pulled away from me, but I wanted her smile back, the spark of life inside that I fell for the first time I met her. There was a lot to process and she was nervous. I’d called Samuel the day before we left and finally given him the news that Bonnie had passed away and I was returning with the daughter he’d always wanted but never had the chance to know.

It took great restraint on my part not to let any of my feelings for Lilah bleed through my words. Keeping our relationship from him was not going to be easy, especially when I wanted to let the whole world know she was mine. I would have fought Lilah harder about it, but ultimately decided to go along for a little while. Samuel deserved some time with her, and I wasn’t anxious to test our friendship.

I was fucking his little girl, doing my best to put my baby in her, and would be taking her away from him when I put my ring on her finger. It was not a conversation I was looking forward to.

A black Escalade pulled up to the curb in front of us and parked. The driver alighted from the car and came around to greet us. He started loading our bags as I opened the door and helped Lilah climb into the back seat before following behind her. She scooted to the far side and stared out the window, her fingers twisting together in her lap.

The driver returned to his seat and pulled out onto the road. I slipped an arm around her waist and hauled her over to my side. Lifting her chin, I stared down at her intensely. “Do you trust me, baby girl?” I asked quietly.

Her quick nod of agreement filled me with satisfaction, and I rewarded her with a swift but hard kiss. “I would never put you in a harmful situation. I protect what’s mine, and you”—I placed my hand over her flat stomach—“and the little one I’m doing my damndest to put in here, are mine.” Lilah blushed prettily and laid her head on my shoulder.

I had wanted to take Lilah home first, but she’d insisted that she wouldn’t be able to relax until after the initial meeting with her father was done. I almost put my foot down but I was worried about her stress level, especially if she was already pregnant. She’d already been more tired than usual from all the worry and anxiousness. So, we were going straight to Samuel’s house. I was immensely relieved when she quickly fell asleep on the drive. She needed to rest.

A little over an hour later, we pulled into the driveway of a large, brick house with white pillars and shutters. Samuel had built the house for Bonnie after he’d proposed, but she’d never had the chance to see it. When he got serious with Lola, he considered selling it, not wanting to make his new fiancée live in the house he’d built for another woman.

Except, Lola was everything Samuel needed and she knew that it wasn’t actually Bonnie tying him to the house. The truth was, he was afraid to move just in case his daughter ever tried to find him.

The front door opened just as the vehicle came to a halt in front of it. Samuel stepped over the threshold and stood on the top step, hands in his pockets. To anyone other than me and Lola, it would be almost impossible to recognize how nervous he was.

I looked down at Lilah, wishing I didn’t have to wake her. The windows of the car were tinted, so I kissed the top of her head and drew a fingertip down her soft cheek. “We’re here, baby girl.”

She stirred, her eyelids lifting groggily, and she looked up at me with a sweet smile. “Here?” she asked. Before I could answer, her blue pools strayed to the view outside the window and she stiffened. Then she quickly slid back across the bench seat, her hands smoothing her hair and the wrinkles in her mint green blouse.

I frowned at her retreat, but refrained from commenting, simply holding out my hand. She looked at it silently for a moment, her eyes blinking owlishly. Then she met my gaze. “We decided to keep it a secret for now, remember?” she urged. “I can’t hold your hand, he’ll know!”

I sighed. “No, you decided and I gave in. But, that’s not the issue right now. I’m simply helping you from the car, baby girl.”

“You can’t call me that either,” she hissed, slapping a hand over my mouth. My tongue darted out and licked at her palm, causing her to snatch it back. Her eyes heated and I once again hauled her over to me, my mouth slamming down over hers. She went a little boneless, sinking into the kiss, and I ravaged her lips until I felt like she’d been thoroughly claimed.

Leaning back, I smiled smugly at the sight of her pinkened, kiss-swollen lips. It took another minute for me to move while I willed my erection back down. It would be hard to explain away my hard-on.

I opened the door and hopped out, then reached in and helped her down from the car. With he

r feet steady on the ground, she dropped my hand like it was on fire and a low growl escaped from my throat.

Lilah scowled at me, then faced the house and took a tentative step forward. Then another. Samuel’s face lit up at her approach and he met her at the bottom step. From the tenseness in his arm muscles, I knew he was fighting the urge to pull her into his embrace. Eighteen years he’d waited, hoped, dreamed of meeting his daughter.

I was so fucking happy to give this to him and it made the wait to tell him about us worth it, though it didn’t make it any easier.

“Lilah,” he breathed, his voice filled with awe. “You’re so beautiful, sweetheart. You look just like your mother.”

Lilah flinched at his words and before I could stop myself, I was standing at her back. I didn’t touch her, but let the heat from my body give her comfort, reminding her I was there for her.

“Thank you,” she murmured awkwardly. Some of the elation on Samuel’s face dissipated and he looked between Lilah and I for a moment, his expression telling me nothing. Finally, he smiled at me with gratitude and nodded. I lifted my chin in reply but otherwise, stayed still.

“Let’s go inside and talk,” he suggested. He turned, and I put my hand softly on Lilah’s lower back as we followed him into the house. At my touch, her rigid spine relaxed a little.

We entered a room decorated with neutral tones and comfortable furniture meant to exude a laid-back atmosphere. Samuel took a seat on one of the couches and hesitantly gestured for Lilah to join him.

“Where is your ladies’ room?” she inquired, and Samuel gave her directions. After she left the room, he stood and walked over to where I was casually lounging against a wall by the door.