The confident and determined side to Ethan he rarely showed to her, but now that he clutched her hand like his life depended on it while looking like a man on a mission and it was turning her on. She wasn’t supposed to feel wet between the thighs while meeting his ambitious and sometimes rude family, but she couldn’t help herself. It was all on him. With her free hand, she softly touched his hand, needing to feel his heated skin. It made him look at her, confused and a bit amused.
“What are you doing?”
Her voice was small as she answered, “Nothing.”
He pushed the button on the elevator, pulling her in front of him. He took her in, his eyes raking over her from top to bottom. The edges of his lips curled up, he knew what was on her mind. She didn’t doubt that it was written all over her. He cupped her face and tilted her head back, having easier access to her awaiting lips. He didn’t kiss her though, he teased her, making her think of nothing else but him. He was driving her insane, being inside a confined space wouldn’t do them any good.
“I like the look in your eyes.”
She bit her lip seeing the same look in his, “It’s not appropriate right now.”
“It’s not.” He agreed, “But keep that thought, we’ll do something about it after I’ve said everything that needs to be said.”
“What?”
She was dazed, not understanding what he was telling her. All she could think about was feeling those lips against hers, feeling him press his firm body against hers and letting her know he was hers. She reached out to him, grabbing onto the lapels of his jacket. Standing on her toes she leaned in, ready to kiss him when the elevator doors suddenly opened behind her. A blush spread across her face when she heard people walk out of the elevator. Ethan greeted them, his hand on the back of her head while he kept her close to him. He was hiding her to let her calm down. Once the elevator was clear for them to enter he gently spun her around and let her walk in first. With a chuckle, he followed after her.
“We’ll be okay, won’t we, Rachel?”
She swallowed, awfully aware of how dominant he was being today. She liked it.
“As long as Ava’s happy I’ll be happy too.”
Ethan leaned back against the metal wall, the amusement radiating from his heated body. She kept her eyes focused on the display, willing the elevator with her mental power to go faster. It didn’t though.
“I agree that Ava’s happiness comes first, but can you look me in the eyes and say that you don’t care about me at all?”
“Of course I can’t.” She whispered, “You know very well that I can’t say those words.”
She let out a sigh of relief when she felt Ethan’s eyes no longer on her.
“We’ll be okay.” He said without hesitation.
Ethan grabbed her hand in his once more when the elevator stopped at the right floor and guided her to his parents’ apartment. She wished she wasn’t as affected by him, that he didn’t turn her on with a single look. It would have made her lifeless messy if she had the power to resist him.
Ethan laced their fingers together, both of them entering his parents’ apartment. When they entered she felt his mother’s eyes trail down to their hands. She wanted to pull her hand away, but Ethan wouldn’t let her. He only held on tighter.
“I was quite surprised about your call this morning, what’s so urgent?”
“We need to talk mother.” Ethan walked past his mother, entering the living room while he gestured for her to take a seat next to his father, “I need to speak my mind, then we’ll be leaving.”
His mother didn’t look bothered by that at all if anything she looked humored by her son’s behavior which didn’t sit well with Rachel. The woman she had met months ago said some straightforward and cold things. Gabriel told her that Ethan’s family had always been like that. It was why he didn’t visit them often, but today she looked different. Almost approachable.
“Is this about Lucille?” His mother asked, “The poor girl didn’t have the heart to talk about whatever happened between you two.” His mother gestured to them, “But we can obviously guess what happened.”
“I have a daughter with Rachel.” Ethan didn’t even ease his parents into that subject which made Rachel’s heart accelerate, “I intend to marry her and give Ava the family she deserves. Rachel is the woman I love and I know you two don’t understand the concept of love, marriage of convenience was what you tried to sell to me, but that just didn’t work out. Lucille might be a nice girl, but I absolutely don’t like her.”
“Marriage of convenience?” Rachel asked, her cheeks heating up when Ethan’s mother smiled at her.
“Well, yes. Lucille matched my son in every possible way. Of course, I’d ask him to consider it.” His mother crossed her legs and reached for her cup of tea, taking a leisurely sip which only added to the tension in the room, “I never expected him to go through with it, but then you decided to leave so things worked out in the end.”
“Why do you hate me so much?” Rachel didn’t understand what she had done wrong to cause the woman to treat her the way that she did, “There is nothing else I want from Ethan except for his love, well, and now I want him to be a good father to Ava but that’s it. So I don’t like the fact that you keep bringing up the matter of money. I didn’t fall for your son because he has an amazing bank account.” She gestured to Ethan and feeling the embarrassment coming up by praising him so much in front of people who were emotionally as cold as ice, “He’s just amazing.” She muttered the last part, hoping to end that conversation.
His mother looked intrigued, “So even if he had nothing at all you’d still be with him?”
She looked at the woman as if she had lost her mind, “I left without looking back, didn’t I?”
“That you did.” His father was the one who spoke up this time, putting aside his phone to actually pay attention to the conversation, “So now that he brought you back and apparently our granddaughter as well, do you intend to stay?”
“That is none of your concern-”
Rachel interrupted the man beside her, “Yes, because I accept your son’s weird marriage proposal.”
Ethan narrowed his eyes at her, “What’s so weird about it?”
She turned to look at him, “It wasn’t exactly romantic and you said those words in furry while explaining the situation to your parents. Everything about it was weird and awkward.”
“Well, then I suppose I do have a wedding to plan.” His mother interrupted their staring match, “And if you don’t mind we’d also like to meet our granddaughter, Ava.”
Rachel’s shoulders slumped as she processed what Ethan’s mother was telling her. Did the woman just accept her? It sounded like she did. When she glanced at both his father and mother she only saw amused smiles spread across their faces. No coldness or hidden hatred laying beneath those smile. She didn’t understand what was happening.
“Just like that?” She asked.
“You sure love to ask that question a lot.” Ethan chuckled.
She glared at him, wanting him to shut up but it didn’t faze him at all.
“I just wanted to make sure my son wasn’t getting involved with another Tiffany.” His mother told her, “I expected you to correct me when I said those things to you, but you left in quite hurry while Ethan never said anything at all.”
Rachel flashed the man beside her a knowing look. She expected Ethan to be the one who corrected his mother, but he never said anything like his mother reminded them. She knew he had been struggling with a lot since Tiffany had broken his heart. He was taking her side now, a little late but it did feel good.
“So when do we get to meet Ava?” His father asked, clearly not bothered with their silent arguing.
“We could come over tomorrow evening,” Ethan suggested.
“Then you’re staying for dinner, obviously.” His mother stated.
“Sure.” Ethan glanced at his phone, “Now if you excuse us, we need to pick up our daughter and head home to get her settled in. We’ll see you tomorrow evening.”
“Be here at seven the latest.” His mother more or less demanded of him.
“Yes, mother.” Ethan rolled his eyes at her.
His parents saw them out, they weren’t exactly different people but they had a certain kindness to them which Rachel hadn’t seen before. His parents weren’t as warm and welcoming as her parents, but everyone showed their affection differently.
“I think they’re okay with us getting married?” Rachel asked as they waited for the elevator to arrive.
“It seems that way.”
“Your mother is planning our wedding?” Rachel asked him, wanting to clarify the things they just discussed.
“She did mention it.”
Rachel nodded, “Then everything is settled.”
Ethan placed his hand on her lower back, the touch causing butterflies to go crazy in her stomach. She leaned into his touch, craving it. Her breathing picked up while her whole body heated up.
“Let’s stop by the apartment alone first.” Ethan whispered in her ear, “I think we both need it.”
They made their way to the apartment in a record of time, needing to feel each other. Ethan dominated her, pressing her up against the wall right beside the front door and pushing her up while she wrapped her legs around him. They didn’t make it to the bedroom, hell, they didn’t even make it out of their clothes. Ethan had pushed her panties aside and entered her without warning. Because of all the teasing, she didn’t need the foreplay. He grabbed onto her wrists and held them above her head while he thrusted into her. All she could do was feel him, all of him.
***
They arrived late at Gabriel and Valerie’s place which made Gabriel throw Ethan a knowing look while Valerie pretended not to know though everyone in the room could guess why they were late. Her hair was wet from a shower while Ethan had swapped his business attire for comfy clothes, a weekend bag in hand because she freaked out when she noticed a few little things which Lucille had left lying around the apartment. It wasn’t supposed to be a big deal, she didn’t understand why it just made her feel so much. Not wanting to argue with her for the rest of their evening he packed them a bag.
“You staying?” Gabriel asked when he noticed the bag as well.
“Ask her,” Ethan muttered, still pissed because of her outburst.
She flashed Gabriel an apologizing look, “Yeah, it’s on me.”
“It’s not that I mind, but seeing you two are picking things up like you weren’t apart for months at all I figured you wanted some alone time as a family.”
Gabriel wasn’t wrong, they did need that alone time as a family, but she wasn’t going back there. The place reminded her of the time that Tiffany lived there together with him and not to mention his almost wife. She just couldn’t be her little family with the ghosts of his exes lingering around.
“Lucille left a few things at my place and Rachel just freaked out all of the sudden.”
Gabriel’s eyes softened when he looked at her, he understood. That was the thing even though Ethan was the charming one Gabriel could always put himself in someone else’s shoes. He didn’t even need her to explain her reasoning. Instead of asking her about her feelings he turned to his friend and placed a hand on Ethan’s shoulder.
“I think it’s time to start looking for a new place, that place holds too many memories. To start fresh as a family you should live somewhere where you can make new memories.”
Valerie walked past the guys and gave Gabriel a tap against his rear which made Rachel turn and hide her blush while Ethan chuckled, “That’s why I love this guy.” Valerie teasingly added.
“Ava?” Rachel asked, trying to forget what she just witnessed.
“Sleeping in the guest room. She has been fed and has a new nappy on. She should be good for a while.”
“I’ll check on her.” Ethan spoke up first, “Also drop this bag off.”
Rachel helped her sister set the table, Valerie was going all out lighting a few tea lights and scattering them all over the table. When she shared a look with her sister she couldn’t help but laugh. Valerie was a romantic.
Once the table was set the guys joined them at the table, the mood a lot better. Her sister’s plan definitely worked. It could be that Gabriel’s advice made Ethan rethink his words, but she wanted to go with Valerie’s romantic dinner option. After dinner they settled in the guest room, Ava was still peacefully sleeping. Rachel snuggled into Ethan, having the need to be close to him. He wrapped an arm around her waist and held her to him, quietly discussing the future with her.
“Gabriel is right, we should have a place where we start over.”
She placed a hand on his chest, leaning in to kiss him.
“You like that?” He asked, the smile clear in his voice.
“I love it.” She whispered to him.
“Good, then I’ll start looking into it, for now, Gabriel and Valerie don’t mind if we stay a while. I’m guessing they actually want us here.”
Rachel quietly laughed, “Well more so Ava, but unfortunately for them, we come with that deal.”
“Why did you pick that name anyway?” He asked.
She sat up, glancing at his face the best she could in the dimly lit room, “Doesn’t Ava Hunter sound cool?” She asked him.
“It doesn’t.” He answered straightforwardly.
She raised an eyebrow at him, “Well, Gabriel named her. So blame him.”
He pulled her in again and let her rest against him, “You know what that means-”
“You’re naming their first kid.” She finished, “You two are so predictable.”
He kissed her head, “Just go to sleep.”
Smiling she closed her eyes. It was odd how everything fell into place, this is what she had been fantasizing about when she held Ava in her arms. Ethan missed the first three months of her growing up, but he’d be there every step of the way now.