Nash & Velvet 3 Years After Revive

Velvet

“Nash!” I call out after I spit toothpaste into the bathroom sink and flick the tap on to wash it down the drain. “Stop ignoring me and tell me you’ll be home on time today.” When my husband doesn’t answer me, I mutter, “I will fucking kill that man.”

We were in the middle of a conversation about our day ahead, in which I was reminding him that we needed to be home and ready to leave here by one p.m. at the latest this afternoon so that we make it to our friend’s wedding on time. Nash finished brushing his teeth and left me to go get dressed, but we carried on the conversation after he left. At least, I thought we did. It seems he zoned out at some point, and I was the only one in the conversation.

I finish up in the bathroom and go in search of him. We really need to get on the same page about today because he was giving me the vibe that he couldn’t care less about getting to the wedding on time.

I expect to find him in the kitchen trying to shovel sugar into his mouth. The man lives for sweet things.

I don’t find him in the kitchen.

I don’t find him anywhere in the house, so I head out to the garage, thinking he’s probably there.

When I don’t find him in the garage, I plant my hands on my hips and mutter, “Why do you make my life so difficult some days, Nash Walker?”

“You planning on standing here talking to yourself for long?”

I spin at the sound of Nash’s voice and find him standing behind me with his eyes pinned to my ass.

“Stop looking at my ass,” I snap.

He drags his gaze up to mine. “You’re still pissed at me for what I said?”

I cross my arms. “Yep.”

Moving closer, he brings his hands to my hips. “You gonna hold it against me for long, sweet thing?”

I smack his hands away. “For as long as I need to.”

He chuckles and snakes his arm around my waist before I’m able to stop him. Pulling my body against his, he drops his mouth to my ear as his hand finds my ass. “Let’s speed this process up then,” he growls, “so I can get my mouth on you before you leave for work.”

I push him away, not willing to let him use his Nash loving to mess with my thoughts today. “Let’s not. You aren’t getting your mouth anywhere near me before I leave for work.”

“Fuck,” he mutters. “I’ll make sure we get to the fuckin’ wedding on time.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Why do you not like her?”

“I never said that,” he starts, but I cut him off.

“You don’t need to say it, Nash. It’s clear in everything you do say.” We’ve been friends with Kathy for two years now, and in that time, he’s grumbled about her more than he’s said anything nice about her. And I just don’t get it. Kathy’s always friendly towards him and has never done anything wrong.

He rakes his fingers through his hair, looking pained. “I’m fairly fuckin’ sure that whatever I say here is going to be wrong, so spare my balls, okay?”

“Your balls are safe.”

“You say that like it’s a given, Velvet, but there’s been no given on any-fuckin-thing the last couple of weeks.”

I frown. “What does that mean?”

“It means that I’m fuckin’ struggling to read you lately. When I think you’re gonna laugh, you cry. When I think you’re gonna agree with me on something, you disagree like the fuckin’ world depends on it. I leave here in the morning and you’re happy, but an hour later you’re texting me a whole heap of pissed-off thoughts. My balls don’t feel very fuckin’ safe these days.”

Nash and I don’t fight much. Sure, we disagree, and he grumbles all over the place about things some days, but we make it a rule to never go to bed while in a fight with each other. Before we got married, we agreed to work our shit out every day and not let things ever hang over us. The fact he’s taken his time to bring this up with me is surprising. And also a little frustrating. I don’t ever want to be the person he just described.

“Why haven’t you mentioned this before? And when you say ‘lately’, how long do you mean?”

“I didn’t mention it because it was just little shit to begin with. Shit that didn’t matter. But it’s been going on for about three weeks now and your mood swings have escalated this week.”

I think back over the last few weeks and realise he’s right.

Shit.

I scrunch my face in an ‘I’m sorry’ way and move into him. Grasping his shirt, I say, “I’m sorry.”

His hand comes instantly around me and settles on my ass again, one of his favourite places for it to be. I love him for this. For never withholding his love, even when he’s frustrated or angry with me. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. Work is busy. That’s probably stressing me without me even realising.”

“It’s been a while since you’ve taken a break. Maybe you need to consider some time off.”

“Hmm, it hasn’t been that long, but I do feel a little tired.”

“You’ve passed out before nine every night this week, darlin’. You’re fuckin’ exhausted as far as I can work out.”

I smile up at him as I hook my hand around his neck to bring his face to mine. “I love you, Nash Walker, and I’m going to think about all of this, but don’t think this gets you out of discussing Kathy with me.” I kiss him before saying, “Are you going to behave yourself at the wedding or do I need to plan for trouble?”

He groans as he pulls me back in for another kiss. A longer, deeper one. When he finally lets me go, he says, “I don’t dislike her, but she drives me fuckin’ crazy with the way she never fuckin’ shuts up. A man can only sit through a certain amount of her shit before needing an out, and you want me to sit through an entire fuckin’ wedding, reception, and weekend with her. I’m gonna need a fuckton of Velvet lovin’ for this.”

I grin and cock my head. “Velvet loving. What does that involve?” He’s never used that term with me before, and while I have a very good idea of exactly what he means, I want to hear him say it.

He grips my ass with both hands and grinds himself against me. “Let’s just say your lips are gonna get a workout like they’ve never fuckin’ seen.” He drops his mouth to my ear and growls, “I’m gonna need days of your mouth and pussy showing me how fuckin’ much they love me.”

I’ve had three years with this man, and he turns me on more today than when we met. And that’s saying something because I’ve always been attracted to him like I’ve never been attracted to another man. He’s the filthiest guy I’ve ever known, in all the good ways. In all the ways that speak to me. And today is no different. I’m trying hard to keep his hands off me so I can get to work on time and not mess my schedule up which would put us late to Kathy’s wedding, but Nash is making sure this is a challenge of epic proportions for me. Just like he does pretty much every time he tries to convince me to let him have his way with me.

Ugh.

I grip his biceps.

“I’m not fucking you before work, Nash.”

He grins, knowing exactly how he’s affecting me. Brushing his lips over mine again, he lets me go with a smack to my ass and says, “No, but you’ll be fucking me all night long tonight.”

“I might be too exhausted after work, and the wedding, and then the reception,” I play with him.

“I don’t care how fuckin’ exhausted you are, you’ll have my cock in your mouth the minute we leave that fuckin’ reception.”

“I love you, too, baby.” He talks a good game but we both know he’ll never force himself on me. Especially not when I’m tired. He just likes to talk dirty to me and pretend he’s in charge when really, he’d rush to tuck me into bed and ensure I get all sleep I need and then some. “One o’clock.” I point my finger at him, all bossy like. “If you aren’t here and ready to leave then, your balls really won’t be safe.”

He grins again, the famous Nash Walker grin I swoon over. “You know I’m all about keeping my balls safe, sweetheart.” He then scoops me around the waist again, pulls me to him, and plants another kiss on my lips before letting me go. “I’ll be ready at one.”

God, I love this man.

Even if he does drive me to distraction most days.

***

“Are you excited for the wedding this weekend?” Madison asks as Roxie cuts her hair.

It’s almost eleven thirty, so almost time for me to leave work. I came in early so I could see my first client at eight this morning and I’ve had a super busy morning. I haven’t stopped, and my body is feeling it.

I smile at Madison. “I’m looking forward to the weekend away with Nash. And I do love a wedding.”

“Ooh, this is the weekend wedding, isn’t it?” Harlow says. “Is Nash looking forward to it?”

I laugh. “Nash would rather stab himself in the eyes than go to this wedding.” He grumbled and complained louder than ever the day we received the invitation to this wedding. It would have been bearable for him if it was just a normal wedding and reception. The fact Kathy made it an entire weekend getaway did not impress him.

“I’m pretty sure Gunnar would feel the same way,” Chelsea says.

It’s Friday, which is Stormgirl day in the salon. However, only these three girls could make it today, so it’s been a little quieter than normal. Even Bobby mentioned how quiet it is without Scarlett, Sophia, and Layla here, and it was like he missed them rather than his usual grumbling about them being too noisy and too demanding. The man can complain, that’s for sure, but we all know he loves a good Stormgirl Friday.

I glance between the girls. “So, Nash said something to me this morning that I want to ask you guys about.”

“What’s up, honey?” Harlow says.

“Have you noticed me being moody lately? He brought up the fact I’ve been having mood swings this week, and I can see what he’s saying, but have I been like this with you guys as well?”

Madison frowns, thinking about it. “I haven’t noticed mood swings, but you have been super tired. Maybe that’s causing moodiness at home?”

Chelsea nods. “You’ve definitely been tired a lot. And you did get super cranky with that woman at Coles the other day, remember? I mean, I only remember it because it’s so unlike you.”

“Ugh,” I say, remembering the incident. “Yeah, she really pissed me off.” But Chelsea’s right; it’s not like me to lose my temper the way I did. Even when I’m receiving the worst customer service known to mankind.

“Hormones are a wonderful thing,” Bobby says dryly. “I live for them each and every day in this salon. Pregnant women are the worst. I’d rather you shoot me than have me deal with pregnancy hormones.”

I stare at him.

Holy. Shit.

I pull out my phone to check my period app.

I’ve been so busy these last few weeks that I haven’t thought about my period or lack of it.

“Holy fuck, Vee,” Madison says. “Are you pregnant?”

My heart beats faster as I check my app.

My head snaps up and I meet Madison’s gaze. “I’m two weeks late.”

Her face breaks out in a huge smile. “Ohmigod. We need to get you a test!”

The alarm on my phone sounds before I can reply. The one I set to remind me it’s time to leave work.

I silence it as I mutter, “Shit. I don’t have time to get a test. I have to go home and get ready for this wedding.”

“The chemist is less than a ten-minute drive,” she says.

“Yeah, and then it’s the time to get a park and get served and get back to my car and all the things I don’t have time for.” I mean, I already made it clear to Nash that he doesn’t have a second to waste this afternoon. I can hardly be the one who is late. “I’ll get a test on the way to the coast.” I’ve allowed an extra twenty minutes for traffic, so we should have time to stop.

“We need to know as soon as you guys do,” Chelsea says. “Text us!”

My mind is already moving on to thoughts of pregnancy tests and finding the time to do one as she says this, so I barely process it, but when my brain catches up, I agree to text them.

All I can think about though is the fact that Nash and I have been trying to get pregnant since the day we were married two years ago. We did fall pregnant once, eleven months after we started trying, but I miscarried that baby a month later. We’ve gotten to the point where we’ve started discussing our options because I’m nearly thirty-five. I’m both excited and a little scared to think I might be pregnant now. Scared because I don’t want to go through another miscarriage. Each one kills me a little more. I also don’t want Nash to have to live through it again. My last one took its toll on him too.

I say goodbye to the girls and exit the salon out into the warm April sunshine. April is my favourite month of the year. Mostly because it’s the month Nash and I celebrate the anniversary of our marriage, but also because I love the weather at this time of year.

I breathe the sunshine in deeply and close my eyes as I lift my face to the sun.

Please let me be pregnant.

And please please please let this baby be the one.

 

Nash

I eye my wife as she fidgets in the seat next to mine. Something’s off with her tonight and I want to know what the fuck it is. I thought we sorted shit out this morning when I mentioned her mood swings, but she’s been acting fucking weird from the minute she got home from work to now. And she’s growing weirder by the fucking minute.

“Velvet,” I say, placing a hand on her thigh. “What the fuck?”

Her eyes cut to mine. “The fuck, what?” Yeah, she’s in a mood all right.

“What’s going on in that mind of yours? You’ve been off since you got home from work.”

“Nothing,” she says, but even the look in her eyes tells me she’s lying while trying like fuck to avoid this conversation. She then puts her hand on mine and changes her body language and voice when she says, “Shit, I’m sorry. You’re right. I’ve been off because some stuff happened at work today.”

“What stuff?”

“Just stuff.” She leans in close so she can kiss me before glancing at the bridal table and saying, “Now that they’re finished with the speeches, I’m going to the bathroom.”

She pushes up out of her seat to leave, but I stand, and catch her hand, stopping her. “You’ve been to the bathroom ten fuckin’ times tonight, sweet thing. What gives?”

“I haven’t been ten fucking times,” she says all muttery and grumbly.

“Yeah, you have.”

She opens her mouth to continue arguing with me but is interrupted when Kathy joins us.

“Oh my God, Velvet,” she says, gushy as fuck and not in the kind of way that sounds genuine. “You look ah-may-zing! Tell me who did your hair!”

If I was a chick, I’d fucking roll my eyes right now. I have no idea how Velvet puts up with this woman.

“Roxie from the salon where I work did it for me,” Velvet says, giving Kathy a huge smile. All I can wonder is where the fuck my smile is because she hasn’t fucking smiled at me like that this afternoon. “You look so beautiful, and the wedding was amazing. Congratulations.”

Kathy beams like she just got plugged into the mains and stole every fucking ounce of electricity from every other fucker. Between all this white in my face, and this fucking beaming going on, I’m not going to have any energy left because it’s going to take everything I have in me just to survive the next few minutes.

“Oh, you are a darling,” Kathy says before shifting her attention to me. “And Nash, don’t you look good in a suit.” She winks at me before looking back at Velvet and saying, “It’s a good thing I never saw him in a suit before today, otherwise I might have ditched Jimmy and chased after your man instead.”

Jesus fuck.

How much fucking longer can this shit last?

Velvet answers my question when she moves into me, sliding her arm possessively around my waist, and saying, “It is a good thing, Kathy, because the rejection would have hurt.”

I almost choke on the laughter threatening to take over my body.

Velvet’s tone is as possessive as her body language. Not something I see often. My wife is secure in her knowledge that I’m hers, and hers alone, but fuck me, Kathy may have finally found a way to annoy Velvet as much as she annoys me.

“Oh babe,” Kathy says, swatting at her. “You know I’d never dream of stealing your man. I mean, goodness, I just got married.”

Velvet grips my shirt, leaning even harder against me. “I know,” she says all sweet without the actual real sweet.

Kathy looks at her like she’s trying to figure out Velvet’s true feelings—me too, Kathy, me fucking too—and I wonder if we’re about to have some girl-on-girl fight action here. I’m all the fuck for it if we are. Maybe it’ll get me out of this fucking reception sooner. But she ruins all my hope when she reaches out for Velvet, squeezes her hand, and says, “Right, I better get back to my husband, sweetie. I’ll come find you later for a drink.”

I watch her walk away, enjoying the hell out of Velvet’s grip on me.

“We need to find you more friends who threaten to steal me,” I say. “This possessiveness you’ve got going on is hot.”

She grips my shirt harder, her nails digging into me. “Trust me, you do not want to see me fight for you.”

I chuckle and rest my hand on her ass. “Trust me, I fuckin’ do.”

Looking up at me, she shakes her head, but there’s a smile on her face, and fuck me, it’s beautiful. “I love you, baby, but you are the worst sometimes. You should not encourage these mood swings.”

I lift my brows. “Oh, so we’re admitting shit for what it is now?”

She purses her lips and lets me go. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

Before I have a chance to ask her why the hell she’s making so many trips to the bathroom, she’s gone.

“Christ,” I mutter as I sit back down and reach for my Coke.

“Women,” the old guy sitting next to me says.

I eye him. He’s gotta be seventy at least. “You sound like you’ve had a lot of experience.”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” He jabs a finger in the direction of a woman on the dancefloor. The woman who’s been sitting on his other side all night. “She’s my fifth wife. I’ve lived through some shit.”

I laugh. “I bet you fuckin’ have. You think this one’s a keeper?”

“I’m not convinced. She’s spent the last three years arguing with me every damn day. I imagine my hands around her neck at least five times a day.” He shrugs. “But the sex is good, so I’m keeping her for now.” He leans closer to me. “I’m not sure why you’re still sitting here when your wife is in the bathroom, and you’ve been looking at her all night like you want to fuck her. Go and get the job done, sonny.”

He’s got a good fucking point.

I drink some Coke before standing and looking down at him. “I’m not convinced I’ll see you again, so good luck with wife number five. I hope this one works out for you, man.”

“You and me both,” he says. “Divorces are fucking expensive.”

I leave him and make my way to the ladies’ bathroom, entering it without a fuck to give when two women stare at me like I’ve just committed a sin that will send me straight to hell.

“Velvet,” I call out, eyeing the two stalls that are occupied.

“Nash?” she calls back, sounding confused. “What are you doing?”

I move towards the stall she’s in. “Let me in.”

The toilet in the other occupied stall flushes and the woman exits it with a scowl on her face. “Are you right?” she says.

I grin. "Absofuckinlutely."

She flattens her lips and gives me a disapproving shake of her head before walking to the sink to wash her hands.

“I’ll be finished in a minute,” Velvet says. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, baby, everything’s more than okay.” The disapproving women have all left us alone and I’m impatient to get my hands on my woman.

The toilet flushes and Velvet opens the door. Before she can exit, I enter, closing the door behind us and caging her in against the wall of the toilet stall.

Amusement fills her face and fuck if it doesn’t get me harder than I already was. “You came here to fuck me?”

My mouth curls up into a grin. “You always could read my mind.”

As I bend to kiss her, she puts her hands to my chest and gently pushes against me. “I’m not fucking you in a toilet, Nash.”

“We’ve never done it in a public toilet.”

“And we’re not starting now.”

I’m about to argue with her when I spot something on the top of the toilet cistern. Taking a better look, I’m confused when I realise it’s a pregnancy test.

I reach for it at the same time that Velvet says softly, “This is not how I imagined this conversation happening.”

“What conversation?” I say as I glance at the test stick.

“The one where I tell you—”

“Fuck, you’re pregnant?” My heart races as I shift my gaze from the two pink lines on the stick to Velvet.

She smiles, one hand gripping my arm. “Yeah, Nash, we’re pregnant.”

Two little words.

That’s all it takes to shift my world.

They’re not as life changing for me as the three words she first uttered years ago, but almost.

“We’re having a baby,” I say slowly, trying like fuck to wrap my head around this.

We’ve been trying to fall pregnant for years, and in my darkest moments, I’ve doubted this day would come. It came once before, and I thought that was our one and only shot. I didn’t fully believe we’d get another one, but here the fuck we are.

Fucking hell.

We’re. Pregnant.

I search Velvet’s eyes. “This is why you’ve been fuckin’ weird all day? Why you forced me to stop at that chemist on the way here and lost your shit when I told you we didn’t have time? And why you’ve come in here ten fuckin’ times?”

“It wasn’t ten fucking times,” she argues with me again. Fuck, I hope she never fucking stops arguing with me. Ever. I live for her challenging me.

“It fuckin’ was.”

She pulls a face. The kind that says ‘really? You’re gonna fucking argue with me at a time like this?’ “It really wasn’t, but if you want to win this argument, I’ll let you. It took me a few times to bring myself to do the test.”

I grin, my heart exploding out of my chest and all the fuck over this public toilet in which I am not going to fuck the mother of my child. “Sweet thing, I never wanna win an argument with you. I want our arguments to continue for life so I can get you all bothered and grumpy. You should know this by now.”

She shifts her hand from my arm to my chest, clutching a handful of my white button-down shirt. She suddenly looks like she’s not sure of herself and needs me in a way she doesn’t need me often. “We can’t lose this baby, Nash.”

Fuck.

What I hear in her voice slays me.

What I see in her eyes does too.

She’s right. We can’t lose this baby. It will kill her.

I wrap her in my arms. “We’re not losing this baby,” I say with the kind of determination and conviction I know she needs to hear right now. Velvet needs me to be her man. She needs me to stand in front of her and tell her I have not one fucking ounce of doubt that this baby will be born. I’ll do that for her today and I’ll do it every day until our child arrives. Without hesitation, I will be who she needs in those minutes when doubt and fear creep in.

She nods, still grasping my shirt. “We can do this,” she says so fucking softly I can barely hear the words coming out of her mouth.

I tighten my hold on her. “Yeah, baby, we can. And we fuckin’ will. You’re gonna be a mum.”

Tears fill her eyes and I cup the back of her head so I can bring her lips to mine. Kissing her like my life fucking depends on it, I give her all the love inside me.

This woman owns me.

Every fucking piece of me.

When I’m finished, I wipe her tears. “You think you’ve got a girl or a boy in there?”

My question achieves my goal; the tension in Velvet’s shoulders eases and she blesses me with one of her smiles I would die for. “I’m hoping for a girl. I’d love to watch you turn grey because of a daughter.”

“Fuck,” I groan, loving every second of this conversation. If we could, I’d have ten kids with Velvet just for these kinds of conversations. “I don’t know what I’m in for, do I?” I may already be a father, but I’ve never parented with Velvet as my partner.

She gives me more of that beautiful smile. “You have no idea, Nash Walker.”

“All I can say is thank fuck I’m doing this with you.”

“Because?”

“Because you’ve always got me, sweet thing. You might wanna see me turn grey, and you might laugh your ass off while I struggle to watch our child start dating, and you might pretend to take their side at times, but I know you’ll make sure I don’t fall.”

Her hands come to my face as she turns serious. “Damn right I’ll never let you fall.” With that, she kisses me like she has never kissed me. It steals every last thought I have and tells me that we’re one in this. And fuck if that doesn’t feel like the best damn thing in the world.

Me and Velvet.

Parents.

Together.

To the very fucking end.

When she finally drags her mouth from mine, she says, “Can we please get out of here now?”

I grin. “What? You don’t like having conversations with me in a public toilet?”

“I really wish we could have had this conversation pretty much anywhere else but here.”

I keep grinning. “I don’t.” At her frown, I add, “It’s one of the most important conversations we’ll ever have and I fuckin’ love that I’ll never forget where we had it.”

“Sometimes I hate that you’re right.”

I laugh. “I know, baby, but I fuckin’ love that sometimes I am right. You’re the smartest woman I know, and I’m more than good with that, but sometimes a man just wants to be right even though he knows he’s generally got fuckin’ Buckley’s of that happening.” I smack her ass. “Now, turn this sweet ass around and walk it out of here and up to our room. There’s no fuckin’ way we’re going back to that reception. It’s time for Velvet lovin’ to begin.”

She makes my day for the second time when she does exactly what I tell her to do. But hell, by the time we exit the lift onto our level, I’m not convinced there’s going to be a lot of her lips around my cock happening. Not when all we can talk about is the baby we’ve made and how much we’re going to love it.

Velvet and I are going to make the best fucking parents.

Mark my fucking words.