The Twelve Tables Ch. 15

"That's only because you prefer me naked," she laughed as he pulled her into his arms.

"Yes, yes I do," his hands ran down her back to her ass and he kissed her deeply. Since you are feeling so good this morning," he grinned and left the words hanging.

"You will make us late," she teased.

"Well that all depends on you now doesn't it," he murmured and kissed her again, "And whether I need to tie you to the bed or not,"

"Need to or want to?" she laughed and he smacked her ass.

"Both," he chuckled, "Especially if you keep being so cheeky this morning. Now where did I put that box," he mused lifting his head to survey the room. "Don't move," he growled but held his smile as he rolled to his back and reached for his ringing phone.

Peri laughed. When it was just the two of them like this, she could shut out the world and everything that had happened and just enjoy how much she loved this man. She ran a hand down his chest as he spoke, she assumed to one of his siblings. He wasn't saying much just making the mumbling sounds of agreeance a person made when they weren't very interested in what was being said. Her hand travelled down his torso finding his cock semi-erect and she smiled cheekily at him before disappearing under the covers.

Kissing down his body, she felt his free hand move to her hair, not stopping her in any way, but stroking it lightly as she moved between his splayed legs. She kissed licked and nibbled over his thighs and balls feeling his cock grow rapidly in her hand and she gently ran her hand up and down its length. She felt him shudder as she ran her tongue over his balls and up the length of his shaft to the tip and kissed it gently. Pleased with the effect she had on him despite his voice remaining calm as he continued to murmur into the phone she parted her lips and ran her tongue around the swollen glands of his cock.

Sucking him into her mouth, she felt his hand tighten in her hair and his voice become slightly breathless. Enjoying the situation, she began bobbing her head taking more of him into her mouth and sucking hard, her tongue fluttering along the underside of his cock.

"That all sounds great, Maryanne," he almost groaned into the phone. "It's no problem for me. I'll have Peri with me so long as that's okay," His voice wavered and Peri doubled her efforts enjoying being the one doing the teasing for a change. "Yep see ya there."

"Oh fuck," Josh groaned and Peri could hear the phone clatter to the floor as he dropped it and placed his other hand on her head twisting it into her hair and bucking his hips as she sucked him deeply. He pulled her up his body then and kissed her deeply. "You are a wicked woman," he growled and spanked her ass several times relishing the way she squealed and writhed on top of him. He pushed her sideways then forcing her face down onto the bed as he spanked her several more times as he moved behind her and lifted her hips.

The warm pink glow of her ass only made him want her more and he spanked her again before entering her brutally forcing her forward into the pillows. He gave rein to his need and fucked her reaching forward to grab a fistful of her hair and pull her head back so he could hear the pleasure filled sounds she made. He had been holding himself back for so long but now he craved the power that came with dominating her. Now that they were here in this house he would ensure that they lived on a steady diet of the endorphins that their painful pleasure gave them both.

He could see her body trembling with her need and he rammed into her even harder building them both up to a crushing climax. He felt her hot cunt tighten and clench around his cock and he growled long and low as he came with her. He relaxed his hand and let her head fall back to the pillows then collapsed over her breathing heavily and pulling them both to the side his arms wrapped around her.

"Fuck," he said breathlessly. Peri squirmed and rolled in his arms to look up at him.

"Yes please but let me get my breath back first," she grinned and kissed him.

*****

"So no other symptoms?" Pete asked dipping a strip into her urine sample and laying it on an examination sheet before disposing of the contents and the container.

"Honestly, most of the time I feel great. It's just been the last few days. I've had these waves of nausea. Sometimes it's only a minute or two and it's gone other times I get physically sick but they always pass. It's probably just a virus right?" Peri asked.

"No, it's not a virus," he came back to sit at his desk. "No tenderness around the breasts or feeling bloated?"

"Maybe a little, no more than I would normally get just before my period," she said. "I haven't had one since you put those rods in my arm.

"Implanon," he smiled naming the rods and lifting her arm touching the inside of her upper arm where they sat. "I think as a side effect of your injuries the rods may have been lodged a bit too deeply into the muscle and stopped working. We will have to make a small incision and take them out to say exactly why they stopped working, but it can happen from time to time."

"Stopped working?" Peri finally understood what he was saying. "I'm pregnant?" She gasped.

"Congratulations," Pete grinned. "I'm assuming you and Josh have talked about having children. You weren't pregnant when you were in the hospital so I am assuming it's Josh's." He said and raised an eyebrow at her stunned expression.

"Of course, it is Josh's!" she exclaimed. "I just thought we would be married first. I mean the rods were supposed to last for three years!"

"Something tells me not much has gone according to plan in your life since meeting Josh," he chuckled. He then became serious quickly concerned by her reaction to his words, "You do want this baby, don't you?"

"I, I mean I, yes I couldn't get rid of it if that's what you're asking," she shook her head. "I'm just stunned. This wasn't what I expected. I need some time to wrap my head around it. You're sure?"

"Ninety-nine percent sure but we'll do a blood test to confirm it," he said and wheeled himself over to a draw and gathered the needles and tubes for the test. "I'll send it off this morning and put a rush note on it. We should know by tonight."

"Pete, don't tell Josh yet, I'd like to be sure and then I will tell him in my own way if that's okay," she paused, "He'll be happy won't he?" She asked tentatively. "I mean we've just moved in together and I am still a bit of a basket case and I can think of a lot of reasons why he mightn't think this is a good thing."

"He will be happy, trust me," Pete reassured her. "Shotgun wedding and all," he chuckled. "You tell him when you're ready. I won't interfere but don't leave it too long okay?"

"I promise, he will know within a day or two," she smiled crookedly.

"Make sure you do because we will need to take that rod out of your arm and that will probably mean a few stitches that Josh will want an explanation for," Pete explained. "Why don't we make an appointment for Wednesday or Thursday to do it and start a prenatal plan."

"Gosh, prenatal? I would only be a month along at most," she said shocked by the idea."

"Best to start things off on the right foot," he assured her. "Okay let's let Josh in and answer all those questions he has," Pete smiled and opened the door calling Josh into the room.

"What's the verdict? Bubonic plague? Swine flu?" Josh asked as he walked in. "I can take it, give it to me straight Doc," he chuckled.

"As far as I can tell she's perfectly healthy. She recovered nicely and this nausea will probably pass in time. I'm sending off some blood tests just in case it is plague but the chances of that are pretty slim," Pete said with a perfectly straight face.

"So life goes back to normal? She can drive herself to work in the city once or twice a week no problems?" He asked.

"Sure, but get her something decent to drive," Pete advised.

"There's nothing wrong with my car," Peri said defensively making Josh laugh.

"I might have to insist on something with a few extra safety features given all that has happened lately," Pete said with a knowing smile.

"Fine," Peri gave in reluctantly realising her tiny two-door hatchback wasn't going to be very useful once she had a baby. "Let's go shopping then," she sighed.

"Geez, next time you argue with me I will just get Pete to advise you to do it," Josh teased.

"Enjoy," Pete chuckled. "I'll see you at lunch Josh."

"Yeah, I imagine Maryanne just wants to confirm some dates with us," he nodded. "See you there."

"And I will see you on Thursday for a follow-up," Pete reminded Peri to make the appointment before leaving.

"Follow up?" Josh asked.

"I like having my weekly meetings with Peri," he replied with a grin. "I'd miss her if she stopped coming to see me so often."

"You make me sound like a hypochondriac," she complained making the men laugh as they walked out of the examination room.

*****

Peri and Josh drove from the medical practice to an industrial estate in the western suburbs where Josh pulled into a Custom car business.

"About time, you came to collect it," A taciturn old man said in greeting them, "This isn't a car yard you know."

"Geez, grumpier than usual I see?" Josh said good-naturedly. "You know why we didn't come earlier, don't pretend you don't."

"This is her then," the old man said looking at Peri.

"Yes this is Peri, and Peri this is my Uncle Manuel. Take no notice of his grumpiness, he's happy to see us," Josh chuckled.

"Happy to get rid of the car that delinquent brother of yours parked here months ago," he grumbled and began walking away before Peri could respond.

"D. said you were happy to do it," Josh chuckled following the old man who grumbled about Dante coming in to check all the time on its progress and wanting it to be perfect as if he would ever do shoddy work.

"At least it wasn't one of those pissy little smart cars," he said pulling a dust sheet off a small SUV. "Well, there she is," he grouched and stepped away from the car.

"You bought me a car?" Peri said stunned.

"No, D. and Lio bought you a car so that they didn't have to worry about that old car of yours breaking down on the way to work," Josh said. "It's a delayed Christmas and engagement present."

"You knew when you mentioned a new car this morning?" she asked incredulously.

"I suggested a new car, I never said anything about buying one," Josh grinned. "I wanted to know you were okay to start driving again before letting them give it to you."

"It's so pretty," Peri whispered approaching the car and running a finger along its surface. It was the colour of polished copper, almost pink but not quite. "May I see inside?" she asked the grumpy old man.

"It's your car sweetheart," he grouched back at her. "Get in it and drive it the hell out of here."

Peri opened the door and sat in the driver's seat adjusting the seat and mirrors and praising the colour co-ordinated interior. She'd never had a car with a touch screen display before and as she looked at the computerised dashboard, she realised just how old her car was.

"I need to go to work for an hour or two," Josh said leaning into the car and kissing her.

"Wait, I'm not even sure I can drive this thing!" she exclaimed.

"That's okay. They can show you," Josh turned his head to look at where his Uncle stood with Dante and Lio.

"Oh my gosh, Lio!" she smiled widely and Josh moved so she could step out of the car. She went over and hugged him tightly, "It's way too much but, thank you!" She gushed and hugged Dante in the same way.

"I take it that you like it?" Dante said softly returning her embrace awkwardly all too aware of how good she felt in his arms and that she was engaged to his brother who stood a few metres away watching the exchange.

"It's amazing, but you shouldn't have," she said stepping back to look at them properly. "It's so pretty. I love it!"

"I'm going to head off," Josh said coming to stand beside her. "Dante will show you everything you need to know and go for a drive with you so you can get comfortable behind the wheel."

"Really? You'd do that for me?" She asked Dante.

"I insisted," he chuckled. "I wanted to be here when you got it, but Lio drives like an old lady so we were late."

"No everyone feels the need to dice with death on the roads. Maybe I should be going for a drive with her," Emilio said seriously though his eyes crinkled as he held back his smile. "He's not a good passenger, Peri. I suggest you just drive him back to work and go for a drive on your own."

"That mightn't be a bad idea," Josh chuckled and kissed her goodbye. "I'll see you all at lunch." He strode off towards his car with Emilio.

"You ready?" Dante asked dangling a key from his hand.

"Yes!" Peri said excitedly. Then she walked over to where Manuel stood watching them, his grumpy expression unchanged. "Thank you so much for all the hard work, it's amazing." Peri held out her hand to him unsure of how he would receive an embrace from her.

"What no hug for me when I did all the work on it?" he grumbled but Peri could see the twinkle in his eye this time. She grinned and hugged the old man. "I'm glad you're feeling better girl. Careful of that one," he nodded his head in Dante's direction, "He's a grumpy old bastard like me."

"Oh I don't know, he's always been pretty sweet to me," Peri laughed, "Just like you."

"You can stop hugging her now you old goat," Dante grumbled and walked towards the car.

"Told ya so," The old man mumbled under his breath and winked at her before releasing her from the embrace.

"Alright let's start with the basics," Dante said as she climbed into the car again. "Hand me your phone and we'll get it synced up. They sat in the car without moving for a good half hour while Dante explained the touch screen capabilities and downloaded the necessary apps for her, before talking about the car.

She realised why they had been worried about her driving her beat-up little car as he explained all the safety features. Dante was a surprisingly good passenger preferring to talk about the cars features and how she was feeling about the new house than worrying about the road. He agreed that working from home on the family history was probably a good idea but encouraged her to come into the auction house at least two days a week to continue with the cataloguing she had begun.

"It's a good system you have set up and Lio and I have been adding to it as new pieces have come into the collection. You're an expert on finding the histories though and if the pieces belong to the family collection or are just wonderful pieces," he said explaining why he was pushing her to return to work with him and Lio.

"It would be nice to come back in occasionally," She mused. "I'm still pretty weak though so I couldn't move the items around like I used to on my own," she said considering not only the fact that she was still recovering but also that she was pregnant. The word seemed to foreign and she hadn't taken in the full implications of what it would mean for her yet.

"Just come in for a few hours here and there until you feel up to it," Dante said. "We never had anyone to help us before but we liked it when you were there taking charge and putting in the new cataloguing system. It's much easier to handle the collections that came through the auction rooms as well now."

"I'm glad," she smiled. "Though I only tweaked the existing set up it's not a whole new system."

They pulled up in front of the restaurant and got out of the car. Just the strong smell of food made her tummy roll but she swallowed hard and forced herself to walk inside. She saw Josh sitting at the usual table with his siblings and smiled. She greeted them all with a kiss on the cheek as she worked her way around to where he sat.

"Josh, I want to show Andie my car, so I'll meet you at home later?" she asked without asking.

"Sure, you should eat something, though," he said with concern.

"I'm still a bit off, I'm not sure the rich food here would agree with me at the moment," she pulled a face. "I'll grab a sandwich with Andie."

"My cousin was in the lab when the blood tests came in," Pete said conversationally. "It's just like we thought, so just rest and take it easy for a while," he advised. "See me Thursday though and we'll look at your arm then."

"What's wrong with your arm?" Josh worried.

"Well with the bubonic plague the arms have to come off first," he chuckled. "It's just a follow-up, nothing to be concerned about," Pete groaned seeing Josh look at him raising an eyebrow.

"Have good lunch everyone," Peri began to walk away but Josh grabbed her hand. "Drive carefully," he pulled her back down to kiss her again.

"I will, I'll see you tonight," she put a hand to the side of his face and smiled.

*****

Peri met Andie at a small café in a shopping plaza where she had spent the morning shopping for a client. It was in the open air and Peri found that without the strong smell of food she was hungry and could stomach the simple toasted sandwich she had ordered.

"That was good," Peri enthused popping the list bite of her sandwich into her mouth and sipping at the coke she had ordered hoping it would keep her stomach settled.

"I can't wait to see your car," Andie said. "Do you want to follow me home and then take me for a drive?"

"Are you sure you don't have more shopping to do?" Peri asked. She wanted to talk to her mother about her other news but she hesitated knowing that she should tell Josh first. She had changed her mind about telling Andie several times their simple lunch. "I could take you for a quick drive and then bring you back here, I have a few things to do anyway, maybe we could shop together."

"That sounds even better," Andie approved. "Let's go. I'm so excited for you." They left the café and walked through the carpark arm in arm.

"It's a lot roomier on the inside than it looks from the outside," Andie said climbing into the passenger's seat.

"I feel so spoilt, our parents gave us a house and now Josh's brothers have given me a car, I feel like I should do something for everyone," Peri said.

"My beautiful girl, we do these things because we love you and we can. Not to get anything in return," Andie declared looking at her daughter with pride in the woman she had become.

"Mum," she said softly, "There's something else but you have to promise not to say anything to anyone not even Charles," Peri said nervously changing her mind about telling her mother for the umpteenth time.

Visions of everything that had happened recently raced through Andie's mind as she slowly nodded. "You can tell me anything, baby," she said softly reaching out and taking Peri's hand preparing herself for bad news. "Is your recovery not going as well as we were led to believe?"

"No, I am perfectly fine. All healed and getting stronger every day. The injuries did cause one side effect, though," she admitted looking over at her mother who was obviously worried. "The birth control rods I have in my arm were somehow damaged and stopped working."

"You're pregnant?" Andie gasped horrified that Peri had barely regained her health and was now having to find the energy for a baby to grow inside her.

"How could Josh be so careless," Andie exploded. "You've barely got back to being your old self and now this!"

"We didn't know," Peri cried. This was not the reaction she had been hoping for and she began to worry about how Josh would react.

"You can't keep it," Andie said aghast. "Your body has been through enough, have you seen Pete?"

"Yes, this morning that's how I found out. I thought I just had a tummy bug or over did it with the house move," she said defensively. "I can't get rid of it," she said quietly, "I just can't."