Page 30

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NOAZ

I stand in the doorway of the nursery and look around. The mounds of stuff are mostly put away. One corner has a pile of stacked boxes containing books, toys, and things we won’t need for a while that Briar convinced me we can put off for now. Our priority is focusing on what baby will need first . Then there’s another pile of totes that contains different-sized clothing. They’re still there because we again focused on what is necessary for now.

We made sure all the newborn-to-three-months clothes went through the wash, and Briar is putting the last of them away now. The piles of sizes through twenty-four months are still in boxes downstairs in the laundry room. I feel like we’re going to be doing baby laundry for the next year before we even get to use any of it.

But Briar’s plan of a load a day feels much more manageable. That way, we’re not tied to laundry for eight hours straight.

In another corner is a pile of diapers stacked nearly to the ceiling. I meant to put them in the closet, but I wanted to get the clothes in there first. Diapers are going to be needed before the larger clothes. There’s a chance we’ll make it through the stack of diapers before we get the clothes put away.

I’m being dramatic. Briar promises we’ll have everything done within the next two weeks before we leave for Colorado to wait for baby’s arrival. I can’t believe there’s only two weeks left. I’m excited and terrified at the same time.

We spoke to Miranda last week, and everything was still perfect. She had the doctor’s praise that she’s doing wonderful, though they recommended she takes it easy until birth. She planned to finish the work week—which was just another day—and then relax at home. To help, we sent her a spa basket.

There’s now art on the nursery walls and cute figures on a few shelves. There’s a shelf dedicated to pictures of the people in our lives that we love the most: my brothers, my nephews, Briar’s family, and Briar’s friends.

The crib is made up, though we won’t be using it for a while. The quilt from Kairo is hanging over the side. Every time I look at it, warmth spreads through my chest. There’s a very loud part of me still protesting he actually did that. Kairo has never put effort into a gift for any of us. One year, I got a bendy straw for my birthday. Yes, I was six, and it was pretty cool, but there was zero effort or thought put into it. He apparently took note that I liked that gift and the next year, I received a six-pack of washcloths.

That’s the kind of person Kairo has always been. So this… it means so much to me. I love my brother, even when he makes it nearly impossible to love him. I’d be lying if I said I’d always thought it was one-sided.

Briar closes the drawer and sets the laundry basket beside the dresser/changing table combination. His eyes meet mine and my heart stutters from the sexy little smile on his lips. He crosses the rooms and places his hands on my hips, pulling me toward him. My arms circle his neck.

“I love this room,” I say.

His smile widens. “I do too.”

“Should we tackle another box from the corner?” I ask.

He hums. “How about we take a break for today instead?”

“I just want to finish before baby gets here so we only have to concentrate on him.”

“We will,” Briar promises. “Don’t stress. I promise.”

Taking a deep breath, I exhale, saying, “Okay.” I trust him. When he tells me it’ll be done, I believe him.

We've essentially gotten ready for a baby in three months. That’s it. Just three little months. Between planning and preparing for our wedding (which admittedly, we did very little) and the move here, we lost an entire month. Then if we take off all the days we’re traveling to see Miranda and our unborn baby, and then the week before the due date we leave to stay in Colorado, we’ve lost another month.

I think evolution chose nine-month pregnancies because you need that much time to prepare! Not that I’m exactly well-educated on evolution, but from what I understand of it, this has always been Homo sapiens’ gestation period. Why change something that works?

“What do you have in mind?” I ask.

His smile turns sensual. “How about we go to bed for a while?” If I was being dense, his hand dropping to my ass is enough to clear up any doubts as to what he’s hinting at. I grin.

Briar’s hands drop to my thighs and he picks me up, wrapping my legs around his waist. “I love how long your legs are,” he murmurs, pressing kisses to my jaw and neck as he brings me to our room. “How they wrap around me.”

I grin.

He doesn’t drop me on the bed, but lays me down. His kisses continue down my body as he pushes my shirt up. Once, his hands would have remained on my legs or hips, but now, one is already between my legs, rubbing my dick through my pants. Then his mouth is buried between my legs, nuzzling my crotch through the fabric.

His fingers curl under the elastic of my pants, pulling them down as I simultaneously try to wiggle out of my shirt.

I’m caught inside my shirt when Briar’s mouth closes around my cock. My body jerks, spine arching as I try to take a breath. His mouth being on my dick is still new, this is only the third time. The first two, he was slow and tentative, but this time, he immediately takes me to the back of his throat and sucks with abandon.

I groan loudly, trying and failing to get out of my shirt. Plus I can’t spread my legs for him since he didn’t pull my pants off the entire way. I’m so overwhelmed by the way he’s hoovering my dick while I struggle inside my shirt that I’m unaware of anything else. I don’t hear the click of the lube bottle. Or the squirt. I don’t know he’s going to start fingering me until I feel them slip into my ass and curl.

“Briar,” I whine, my body shaking violently from the onslaught of stimulation.

He chuckles, which sends a vibration of tendrils spiraling through my body. I whimper as he makes my orgasm build like a tidal wave, growing over the city and ready to crash. Bigger and bigger and bigger .

His mouth releases my cock right before I’m ready to come. I’m not sure if I’m relieved or angry as I cry out. Once again, I hear his sexy chuckle, which gets a little louder when he reaches up and tugs my shirt off, freeing my arms and allowing me to take a full breath.

“What happened there?”

“You sucked my cock,” I complain.

His smile is sexy.

“Take my pants off.”

Briar shifts, not taking his fingers out of my ass. I’m not sure if he’s just playing, stretching me, or exploring. But I wiggle out of my pants with his help while he continues teasingly brushing all the right places and making me gasp.

I’m thankful when he kneels between my legs and drips lube onto his cock. I watch as he strokes himself. It’s business as opposed to sensual, which is still just as sexy. Both his hands come away and he leans over me, bringing his body onto mine, wrapping me in his arms and kissing me hungrily.

He glides his wet dick against my hole several times before magically hooking himself and pushing inside me. He’s slow and gentle, giving me time to adjust to him since he didn’t really focus on stretching. We’ve been having sex regularly enough since we got married that it’s not always necessary as long as he’s careful.

Briar is always careful with me.

He’s slow and sweet as he thrusts into me, making me moan and groan through our kisses. There’s nothing quick or urgent about our lovemaking today as we take our time and enjoy each other. Rolling and changing our rhythm. Gentle rocks or deep, hard thrusts .

It’s perhaps one of the most erotic, sexiest, and most intimate moments of my life.

When I orgasm, I think he comes with me. I don’t think I’ve ever truly experienced that before. One right after the other that we say is close enough to being at the same time, maybe. But not like this. I think the stars aligned, and we truly reached it simultaneously, something that may never happen again.

I’m still panting when my phone rings. I twist so I can look at it. Since we’re in an era where texts are the way to communicate, I always think that if someone actually calls, it’s for a reason they don’t feel should be discussed over text.

My heart nearly stops when the adoption agency’s name flashes on my screen. I grab for it, meeting Briar’s eyes as I answer and bring the phone to my ear.

Is it weird answering the phone with a dick still in my ass? Yep.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Van Doren?”

“Yes, this is.”

“Hello, Mr. Van Doren. This is Vanessa at All For Love Adoption Agency. How are you today?”

My heart is still racing. She doesn’t sound any different than she did any other time I spoke to her. Maybe this is just a follow-up call.

“I’m good,” I answer. “You?”

“I’m okay. Listen, I have some hard news to share.” Okay, now I’m sure my heart stops. “Miranda has gone missing.”

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. “What? ”

“Her family has reported her missing. It’s been over seventy-two hours since anyone has seen or heard from her.”

Chills break out over my body as an iron ball of dread drops into my stomach.

“The officer on her case, Detective Anthony Malone, will be giving you a call since you’ve been in contact with her recently.”

“Okay,” I say, unsure what else to say.

“Any information you have can be helpful. Anything you remember.”

I nod, feeling numb.

“Don’t give up hope. I’m sure she’ll turn up.”

I nod again and whisper, “Okay.”

We end the call. I can barely see Briar through the tears in my eyes. When I repeat the conversation, it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a crack in Briar’s happiness. His distress shines as brightly in his eyes as it burns in my chest.

It isn’t long before the detective calls. I have the phone on speaker as we answer his questions. It’s difficult to recall any details, but I report that she looked happy and healthy the last time we saw her. We spoke to her last week, and she was in good spirits.

The first thing he said that gave me pause was, “Did you ever get the impression that she was having second thoughts about giving up her baby?”

I’m not sure why, but the question made me tense. “No,” Briar said before I could answer. “In fact, she never referred to our baby as hers. She always said ‘ your baby ’ when speaking to us.”

I let it go since the questions continued, but one of the last statements made the hair on my body stand on end. “We’ll keep you apprised, lads. There’s a very good chance she changed her mind and ran off instead of facing it. It happens more than you might think.”

Briar and I are staring at each other during most of this call, so I see the moment his eyes narrow too. The detective ends the call and we sit in silence as we stare.

“That’s bullshit,” Briar says.

I nod. Something doesn’t sit right. “I’m going to Colorado.”

“I’m glad you said that. But you’re not going. We’re going. This isn’t something you work through on your own, Noaz. You’re my partner. This is our baby. We’re doing this together.”

There’s no way I can tell him I think I might find something really ugly when I get there, which means I’m going to have to get my hands dirty. I don’t want him to see that. But he’s right.

Besides, it would be really shitty of me to make him stay home and spend hours worrying. I’d never do that.

“We need a shower,” I say. “Then you pack and I’m going to talk to Jalon.”

Briar nods. He gives me a quick kiss as we disentangle. If any conversation was going to rapidly soften us, it was one that reported the woman carrying our unborn baby went missing.

I call Jalon as soon as I get in the car to tell him we need to talk. Luckily he’s home, so I head to the big house and find him in his study. Shutting the door, I say, “Miranda’s missing. She’s been missing for three days.”

Jalon frowns. “Did her partner call with that information? ”

It’s the first time I’ve thought about that. Why hasn’t Heath called? Pulling my phone from my pocket, I pause when I realize I don’t have Heath’s number. I only have Miranda’s. There’s a good chance that Heath doesn’t have my number, either.

“The adoption agency did. Then I spoke to the detective on the case. Something doesn’t feel right, Jalon. We’re going up there.”

“We?”

“Briar’s coming with me. He’s right. This is his family, too. I can’t make him stay home.”

Jalon studies me for a minute before nodding. “Are you ready to tell him?”

No. Swallowing, I shrug. “I’m going to have to be. Something’s wrong. The detective subtly tried to make it sound like she ran away. That she vanished willingly. I don’t buy it.”

“Indeed. Be careful. Keep me informed. I’ll get Voss to start looking for trails.”

“Thanks.”

Before I can walk out, my brother pulls me into his arms and hugs me tightly. It takes me right back to my childhood when I used to come to him teary for being picked on—usually by Kairo. He gives the best dad hugs. Thirty years later, that hasn’t changed, and it has a way of trying to dislodge the sobs building in my chest.

I’m terrified. This isn’t about just one life, but two.

“You’ll find them,” Jalon says quietly. There’s no room for argument. No doubt.

I nod, taking deep breaths to try to clear away the emotion. “I will. ”

On the way back to my house to pick up Briar, I call the pilot agency we use to fly our private jet. Then find Briar waiting for me on the front porch.