Julia and Clay Plus One Read online

  JULIA AND CLAY + ONE

  A Julia and Clay

  bonus short story

  by Lauren Blakely

  Copyright © 2015 by Lauren Blakely

  LaurenBlakely.com

  Cover Design by © Helen Williams

  Ebook Formatting by Jesse Gordon

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. This contemporary romance is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. This ebook is licensed for your personal use only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with, especially if you enjoy sexy romantic short stories. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  COPYRIGHT

  ALSO BY LAUREN BLAKELY

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CONTACT

  ALSO BY LAUREN BLAKELY

  The Caught Up in Love Series (Each book in this series follows a different couple so each book can be read separately, or enjoyed as a series since characters crossover)

  Caught Up in Her (A short prequel novella to Caught Up in Us)

  Caught Up In Us

  Pretending He’s Mine

  Trophy Husband

  Stars in Their Eyes

  Standalone Novels

  BIG ROCK (Early 2016)

  Mister Orgasm (2016)

  Far Too Tempting

  21 Stolen Kisses

  Playing With Her Heart (A standalone SEDUCTIVE NIGHTS spin-off novel about Jill and Davis)

  The No Regrets Series

  The Thrill of It

  The Start of Us

  Every Second With You

  The Seductive Nights Series

  First Night (Julia and Clay, prequel novella)

  Night After Night (Julia and Clay, book one)

  After This Night (Julia and Clay, book two)

  One More Night (Julia and Clay, book three)

  Nights With Him (A standalone novel about Michelle and Jack)

  Forbidden Nights (A standalone novel about Nate and Casey)

  The Sinful Nights Series

  Sweet Sinful Nights

  Sinful Desire

  Sinful Longing

  Sinful Love (2016)

  The Fighting Fire Series

  Burn For Me (Smith and Jamie)

  Melt for Him (Megan and Becker)

  Consumed By You (Travis and Cara)

  The Sapphire Affair

  A two-book series releasing Summer 2016

  CHAPTER ONE

  Silky hot.

  Wet. Warm. Home.

  His.

  As Clay buried himself deep inside his wife’s beautiful body with her bent over the bed, writhing and panting and urging him on with her moans— as if he needed any encouragement to fuck her good — his dirty mind briefly flashed back to their first time.

  This position. In her bar. Bent over a chaise longue in San Francisco.

  Here tonight, she was just as alluring to him. She’d parked her hands on the edge of their king-size bed and offered up herself, beautiful and lush, sexy and captivating, and nine months pregnant with their baby.

  He wasn’t entirely sure if she wanted him to fuck her hard because she was horny, or because she was hoping it would bring on the labor she’d been begging to visit her for the last seven days of her pregnancy, since she was a week past due.

  But the reason she wanted it didn’t matter to him. When the woman he adored demanded he give it to her good, he heeded that call. Gripping her hips, and rubbing her sweet, swollen clit with his finger, he drove into her.

  As she bowed her back she cried out. “Even harder. I’m so close, so close,” she moaned.

  “There’s always more hardness for you, gorgeous,” he growled in her ear. “I bet you want me to pull your hair too.”

  “I do, I do,” she said on a pant.

  He grabbed those gorgeous red strands, and twisted them around his fist as he sank deeper into his wife, taking her the way she wanted, even with that big, beautiful belly. He fucking loved this woman so much. Loved her sprit, loved her heart, loved her mind, and loved her dirty soul that wanted sex in abundance, just like he did.

  Getting pregnant hadn’t slowed them down at all. Quite possibly, it had amped up her already sky-high sex drive. Fine with him. He’d happily take her whenever she wanted it. Clay Nichols had never been interested in turning down sex with the love of his life.

  Or in missing a chance to spank her. “And how about this? You want this too?” he asked, smacking her lovely ass. Perhaps a touch lighter than he would if she weren’t on the cusp of motherhood.

  “I love that,” she said, gasping.

  “I know you do. You always love it rough,” he said, landing another whack on the gorgeous flesh in front of him, then soothing it out with his palm.

  “So much,” she said, her breathing wildly erratic, signaling she was ready to fly off the cliff into ecstasy.

  “So much it makes you come right now?” he said on a perfectly coordinated thrust and spank.

  She clenched around his dick and screamed his name.

  Fucking bliss.

  She was one hundred percent bliss to him, and he joined her in the land of ecstasy. After they came down from their high, he scooped her up onto the bed, wrapped her in his arms, and spooned her, his arm wedged between her full breasts and her bigger-than-a-basketball belly.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Eight inches.

  You’d think eight inches — well, let’s be honest, Clay was more than eight inches — would be enough to rattle her body into labor.

  Julia laughed to herself as she brushed her teeth a little later.

  If that were the case, every day of her pregnancy would have sent her into labor. Call her a horny pregnant woman, or just called her married to the sexiest man alive. Either way, they hadn’t slowed down during her pregnancy.

  Their all-over-each-other-ness had surprised her, but it also hadn’t. Her love with Clay Nichols had been borne from the physical. It had started in a ravaging, intense, out-of-this-world, one-night stand. Their chemistry had staggered them both, and they’d simply had to explore the bounds of their connection. They’d explored it so far and deep they fell into mad, forever love. And they’d never been able to keep their hands to themselves.

  Still, she couldn’t deny that she’d hoped a good hard fucking would wake this sleeping baby and start the earthquakes in her body. Past forty weeks, she felt like an elephant. Not to mention, she was so ready to meet her baby.

  They still didn’t know the gender, nor had they agreed on a name for a girl. They had tossed around a myriad of options for boys, from Alex to Ethan to Daniel, and even to simple and straightforward names like Tom and Jake. Finally, they had settled on Ben for a boy, as they both liked the simplicity an
d classiness of that name. But when it came to girls’ names? They were oil and water. Julia preferred names with a certain elegance to them, like Elizabeth or Charlotte, while her husband favored a more modern flare, like Hayley or Bailey or Phoebe.

  As she spat out her toothpaste, she tested the names again in her head.

  Then she doubled over as Baby Nichols administered a whopping kick to her massive midsection.

  She raced back into the bedroom.

  Wait.

  Make that waddled. “I think it might be happening,” she said, her eyes wider than saucers, hope blossoming like a massive balloon, as she clasped both hands on her belly.

  Dropping the book he’d been reading, Clay sat up straight in bed. Placed a hand on her belly. “Should we go to the hospital right now?” he asked, a touch of nerves in his voice, but also that calm reassurance that she was used to from her strong, sturdy man.

  “Let’s just give it a few minutes to make sure these are real contractions,” she said, perching on the edge of the bed. She was wearing only a flowy tank top and underwear.

  “I’ll get ready as you time them.” Clay jumped out of bed, pulled on boxer briefs, jeans and a T-shirt, and grabbed the bag for the hospital.

  But ten minutes later, her belly was quiet as a library. Baby Nichols appeared to be snoozing soundly.

  Julia sighed heavily. “Didn’t work,” she said and she settled into bed in the dark of the night. A breeze drifted into their Greenwich Village apartment, the same one she’d moved into a few years ago when she showed up and surprised him, accepting his invitation to move all the way across the country and start a life with him. It was the best decision she’d ever made. Well, besides the decision to spend an evening with him after closing time in her bar — that fateful night ignited this passionate and everlasting love.

  “Can you blame the baby?” Clay asked softly, as he rubbed a hand on her stomach. “Must be nice inside there.”

  She swatted him playfully, then fell asleep in his arms.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Julia had started maternity leave from Speakeasy two weeks ago, but the sluggish pace of the final days of her pregnancy sent her back to the bar she partially owned for an evening to visit with some of her coworkers. She nursed an ice tea and chatted with her friend Danya, who served up a Long Distance Lover, one of Julia’s popular drinks, to a new customer.

  Julia checked her watch, and saw that it was near ten. Since Clay had a late dinner with a client, he’d said he’d stop by on his way home so they could share a cab downtown. As she looked to the door, eager for the familiar sight of her husband, Danya motioned for her to come closer. “Can you cover for me for two minutes? The other gal is in the stockroom, and I have to run to the ladies room,” she said.

  “Absolutely. Shoo,” Julia said, grateful to be busy. After hustling behind the bar, she served a few quick drinks to the remaining customers, loving being in her element. As she poured a vodka over ice, she heard a voice this still sent shivers up her spine.

  “I’ll have whatever’s on tap.”

  She turned around to look in the gorgeous brown eyes of her handsome husband, as he recited the first words he ever said to her the night she met him at Cubic Z in San Francisco.

  She raised her eyebrows, a nod of recognition to their shared moment at a bar years ago. Then she gave it back to him, as she poured him a beer from the tap, just like she did that first night. “When it comes right down to it, a man should drink what the bartender gives him,” she said, sliding a glass across the bar.

  She stopped short, her jaw falling open as she felt something unmistakeable. “It’s real now. You need to get me to the hospital. My water just broke.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  After seven hours, his wife was sweaty, tired, panting, and still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He gripped her hand, as the nurse urged her on. “Almost there,” the nurse said, and with one last triumphant push, the sweetest sound ever fell on his ears.

  The first cries of his newborn baby.

  Tears welled up in his eyes, and the nurse pronounced, “It’s a girl.”

  Those tears turned to waterworks. He would’ve been happy with a boy or girl, but there was just something so special to a daddy about a baby girl.

  Quickly, the nurse placed the baby in her mother’s arms, and Julia simply looked radiant as she gazed upon the seven-pound, blue-eyed, beautiful baby girl who already had a few small wisps of auburn hair from her mother. She was the most perfect human being he’d ever seen.

  Instantly, Clay was head over heels and wrapped around her little finger. He knew then he’d do anything for her. Amazing, how he’d gone from not even knowing this perfect little person a few minutes ago, to being madly, unconditionally, and unequivocally in love with his sweet daughter.

  * * *

  Baby Nichols. Sweet princess. Cutest little girl in the world.

  They were all true, but yet none of those would suit the precious bundle of joy that Clay and Julia brought home from the hospital, nameless. Charlotte simply didn’t seem right anymore to Julia, while Hayley didn’t seem to suit this darling baby for Clay.

  The first day home, Julia settled in on the couch, nursing the baby, as they once more debated names. Her hair was swept up in a ponytail, and she was make-up free as she had been since the baby was born. She was feeling better though, and all things being equal, she had a relatively easy birth and was grateful for that. She’d left Danya a $50 for the extra work mopping up behind the bar.

  After another hour of tossing out names and getting nowhere, the buzzer to their apartment beeped.

  “That’s my brother,” Clay said. Brent had texted a little over an hour ago that his flight had landed. Clay’s brother was damn eager to meet his new niece, he’d said.

  A minute later, Clay opened the door to Brent, who gave the new dad a heart congratulatory hug. Julia walked gingerly down the steps, the sleeping baby in her arms, saying hello as she joined the men in the kitchen. Brent’s eyes widened as he took in the sight in Julia’s arms.

  “My niece,” he said softly, a lovely smile spreading across his face. “She is beautiful.”

  “She is pretty much the definition of perfect,” Clay said in agreement.

  “Want to hold her?” Julia asked.

  “Hell yeah,” Brent said. Carefully, he reached for the baby, then wrapped his arms around her, and made cooing sounds. Julia’s heart melted over how he handled her little girl.

  The three of them made their way to the balcony, enjoying the evening air of the warm May night in Manhattan. Clay brought drinks for his brother and himself, and an orange juice for Julia.

  “Let’s talk names,” Brent said, taking a seat on the outdoor lounge chair, the baby still in his arms. “My understanding is you two still haven’t come up with one. What were you doing for nine months?”

  Julia raised her eyebrows playfully at Clay. He shot her a naughty look. They had been doing a lot those nine months — working, playing, fucking. It was a perfect life they had. “This and that,” Julia said evasively.

  “Give me some of your options, and let uncle Brent help you arrive at a name for this beautiful child,” Brent said, dropping a kiss on the sleeping baby’s forehead.

  They shared some of the names they’d toyed with, and Brent nodded with each one, letting them register. “Those are nice, but none are working for you both, correct?”

  Julia and Clay nodded.

  Brent turned his focus to Julia. “Give me some family names of yours. Grandmother, aunt, whoever.”

  She scrunched her forehead, recalling the names of her grandmothers. “Margaret and Carlene are my grandmas. My mom is Jennifer, but I don’t really think our girl is a Jennifer. You think she’s a Carlene?” Julia asked quizzically.

  “Carlene? You just said Carlene?”

  “I did.”

  Brent turned to Clay, who’d taken a swallow of his whiskey. “Seriously? You didn’t pick up on t
his?”

  Clay furrowed his brow. “Pick up on what?”

  “Our grandfather. Dad’s dad.”

  “Our grandfather’s name is Lyle,” Clay said pointedly. “As in, Lyle, Lyle Crocodile. I don’t think I’m going to name my daughter Lyle.”

  Brent rolled his eyes. “You forgot what Lyle is short for,” Brent said, then paused, presumably for dramatic effect. “Carlyle,” he said, letting the name waft through the air with import. He tilted his head to one side, then the other. “Carlyle. Carlene. You two catching my drift?”

  Something clicked in Julia’s head, and she could hear the start of the name that sounded perfect for her little girl.

  Brent finished the thought. “I’m feeling like this little girl is a Carly.”

  Julia met Clay’s eyes, and at the same time both of them said, “I love that name.”

  * * *

  Later that night, Clay tucked Carly Nichols into her crib, brushing a soft kiss to her forehead. He was the luckiest man in the world. He had everything he ever wanted and then some.

  THE END

  Check out my contemporary romance novels!

  The New York Times and USA Today

  Bestselling Seductive Nights series including

  Night After Night, After This Night,

  and One More Night

  And the two standalone

  romance novels, Nights With Him and

  Forbidden Nights, both New York Times

  and USA Today Bestsellers!

  Sweet Sinful Nights, Sinful Desire

  and Sinful Longing, the first three books

  in the New York Times Bestselling high-heat

  romantic suspense series that spins

  off from Seductive Nights!

  Playing With Her Heart, a

  USA Today bestseller, and a sexy Seductive Nights

  spin-off standalone! (Davis and Jill’s romance)

  21 Stolen Kisses, the USA Today

  Bestselling forbidden new adult romance!

  Caught Up In Us, a New York Times and

  USA Today Bestseller! (Kat and Bryan’s romance!)