Strip for Me: Part Four (Reverse Harem Serial Book 4) Read online

  “Damn it, how are you this good?” Andre asks as he looks at the board and realises where he’s landed, making me laugh.

  “Don’t be a sore loser,” I say and he narrows his eyes at me.

  “You’re so cheeky Ellie,” he says, pushing the board out of the way and crawling over to me. I giggle as he pulls me onto his lap and starts tickling my sides.

  “Ellie, you have a lot of explaining to do,” my mother’s voice drifts over from the door and we both freeze. Holy ducks, I hope I’m imagining this.

  “Mum?” I ask, turning my head and seeing her and my father glaring at me from the door. Kaiden is stood next to them, holding the door open and has a panicked look on his face. I clear my throat as Andre lifts me off his lap, taking his hand as he helps me stand up.

  “You are pregnant. Drew wasn’t lying.” My dad says. My parents look just like the last time I saw them. My mum’s grey hair is up in a tight bun and she is dressed like she’s going for a business meeting in her black trousers and white shirt. My father is more casually dressed, wearing jeans and a blue jumper. They look slightly older and tanned, suggesting they’ve been abroad in one of their holiday homes for a while.

  “What did you say? Drew?” I ask, repeating his answer in my mind.

  “Yes, your ex-husband called to explain that our daughter is living with four strippers and is pregnant,” Dad says and I feel myself going pale. Andre keeps his hand in mine.

  “I can explain—” I say and my mum cuts me off.

  “You’re having our first grandchild and you don’t think that you should have told us Ellie?” she says, her voice crackling a little when she says my name. I’m a little confused by her reaction, I mean, they haven’t spoken to me in a long time.

  “The last time we spoke, you told me to get back with Drew. You know what he did to me and I was never happy. You haven’t asked where I’m living or offered any help when you knew my house was burnt down. I don’t know why you expected me to tell you anything,” I say and she shakes her head.

  “I hoped you could fix your marriage but I would have been there for you, if you told us you needed us, Ellie. We could have been there for you.” My mum says, shocking me. No one says anything for a long time, as I watch my mum and dad. Kaiden moves into the room, coming to stand on the other side of me. He doesn’t touch me but I take his hand.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you and give you the chance to decide your own opinion. I’m going to be honest with you now and you can leave if you wish.” I say and I see my mum’s eyes widen as she looks at Andre and Kaiden. Seeing us all close and holding hands.

  “Honest about what?” my dad says, placing his hands on his hips and giving me a look that makes me want to hide. I take a deep breath. Holy ducks, I can do this.

  “I’m in a relationship with four men. Four amazing, kind and loving men. Andre is the father of our baby but they all want to be involved. This is my life now and I’m not walking away from them because anyone disapproves or has their own beliefs. If you want to be in my life, you have to accept this. Accept us,” I say, feeling both Andre and Kaiden squeeze my hands in support.

  “You’re sleeping with four men?” my mum squeaks out. Her voice high pitched and I know it’s because it’s a shock. I don’t want to answer her question because it’s not the point. Yes, I’m sleeping with four men but I love them, the sex is just a bonus.

  “I’m going to be completely honest, four men who work as strippers.” I say, feeling the need to tell them everything and changing the subject a little.

  “Strippers? I thought Drew was joking,” my mum says in a whisper, her face going pale and I see a small smile on my dad’s lips but he doesn’t say anything as he looks at the ground. That’s odd.

  “Yes,” I say and she shakes her head.

  “My god, Ellie,” my mum says. I stand still as I watch her walk out. Just like I expected her to do. I get her reaction, I mean they haven’t been around for a while so I don’t expect them to come back into my life and be okay with how things have changed. It’s not anything to them anyway and I’m not changing my life to make them happy with it. I married Drew because they suggested that he would be good for me. He wasn’t.

  “It’s just a shock,” my dad says.

  “We will call,” my dad says and smiles gently before Kaiden walks him out.

  “I love you and I am so proud of what you just did Ellie,” Andre says softly once they have left.

  “I love you, too,” I say, just as softly, and he pulls me into his arms. Our baby kicks away in my stomach and I slide my hand across my bump. No matter what happens with my parents, I have a family.

  Ellie

  “That outfit looks amazing on you,” Annie says and Jude nods with a smile, as I come out of the changing rooms. Todd’s sisters invited me to their monthly shopping trip and I finally got to meet Todd’s youngest sister, Cleo. I don’t think she likes me, considering she left after saying hello and didn’t say bye to me. I remember her from outside the club, when she pushed me out of the way to talk to Kaiden. She was the girl with amazing red heels. I remember her glaring at me when I said I liked her shoes. Jude said earlier to me that Cleo had a thing for Andre and the guys before I came along. I can’t blame her.

  “You sure?” I ask, smoothing down the pale cream dress. My bump has gotten bigger overnight and nothing is fitting me. So, I’m picking up a few outfits in the maternity section here.

  “Perfect.” Jude nods. I smile and go back into the changing room, changing back into my last pair of jeans that fit and a black shirt that stretches tightly over my bump. After pulling my coat on and hanging the dress back on the hanger, I walk out. Jude picks up the basket full of clothes I’ve chosen and carries it towards the checkout till for me.

  “I’m just popping to the loo,” Annie says, nodding toward the toilets.

  “Can I ask a question?” I say to Jude as we wait for Annie to come back.

  “Yes,” she replies.

  “So, you and Todd are twins, yet he grew up with your dad in America and you stayed with your mum in England. I just wondered why that was,” and she sighs as a response.

  “It’s complicated but I did stay in America for a while. I hated it and I didn’t get along with our dad’s wife at the time. So, I asked to move back and Todd stayed,” she says.

  “That must have been difficult, to be away from your twin,” I say.

  “It was,” she says and Annie walks over to us with a big smile.

  “Ellie,” a familiar voice says behind me and I turn to see Liz walking over to me. Liz looks amazing, in a tight red dress and her blonde curly hair is up in a bun. She doesn’t seem bothered about what she did at all and it annoys me straight away. I’ve spent way too many nights upset about her sleeping with Drew and betraying me. I really don’t understand why she did it.

  “Please talk to me. Let me explain,” Liz begs and I shake my head. I can’t reply to her and I take a step back.

  “Who are you?” Jude asks her, her tone is downright threatening and reminds me of Todd when he is protective of me.

  “Liz, her best friend.” She replies and I hold in the urge to laugh. She is no best friend to me.

  “You mean her old friend. The one who betrayed her and slept with her ex-husband.” Annie snaps, both the sisters moving slightly in front of me. I can see straight away that protectiveness runs in their family.

  “Please Ellie, just five minutes.” Liz says and I watch as she starts crying.

  “Say what you want to, I’m not going anywhere else to talk to you and you have five minutes.” I say. She nods, wiping her eyes a little. Her damn makeup must be waterproof as nothing runs with her tears.

  “I met Drew before you did Ellie,” she says, saying something I did not expect to hear.

  “Bullshit. I met him at a party before university,” I say, thinking back to it. Drew walked straight up to me when I walked into the house party alone. Liz was ill with a cold an
d didn’t come with me but I promised another friend that I would go. Drew spent the whole night with me and I fell for him that night. When I look back, I know it was lust, not love. What I felt for Drew is nothing in comparison to what I feel for my guys now. Each one of them, I know I’m in love with. I might not have told them all but I know it.

  “Yes, I remember, but we had a one-night stand before that, at a party. When you said you liked this new guy, I had no idea who he was. You married him after two months Ellie, how was I meant to tell you?” she accuses me, her blue eyes filled with anger.

  “I don’t know Liz, any of the times I sat telling you I loved Drew?” I snap and she lowers her eyes. I told her everything about him, what he was like in bed and the sweet things he used to do for me. All that time, she never said a word. She lied to me the whole time.

  “I’m not proud of what I did Ellie. I know you will never forgive me but I fell in love with him.” She says gently, her eyes resting on my bump before sliding up to meet my own.

  “When?” I ask, not bothering to agree with her statement. When her eyes met mine, I know she realised that I couldn’t have her in my life. I couldn’t trust her or forgive her.

  “About a year ago was the first time,” she admits. Holy ducks, it doesn’t surprise me like it should.

  “You’re such a bitch,” Annie snaps and I don’t disagree with her.

  “He was sleeping with the secretary then, too. You know that you mean nothing to him.” I tell her. Her eyes narrow in anger and she wraps her arms around her stomach.

  “That’s not true. I’m pregnant with his baby.” She says and I freeze. Annie slides her hand into mine and Jude moves closer. She’s pregnant. If I didn’t feel sorry for her before, which I did, I feel bad for her now. He has really fooled her, like he did me for years.

  “Then I really feel sorry for you. Liz, he is texting me all the time and he came to our house the other day. He threatened me and said he wants me back,” I tell her and she shakes her head. I knew telling her wouldn’t make her believe me, I can see it in her eyes, she loves him too much.

  “You’re lying. Can’t you just be happy for me? You never loved him and I always did. I’m giving him the family he wanted all those years and I know he loves me,” she says, her tone is desperate for me to believe her.

  “Liz, look—” I start out and she cuts me off.

  “No! I don’t know why I bothered trying to be friends with you. It was always Ellie this and Ellie that. You only care about yourself!” she says. It was never like that. I was her friend, the one that cooked her meals when the latest boyfriend broke up with her. The one that was there when her mum got cancer and died. I was there holding her hand at the funeral and helped look after her dad in the weeks following when he wouldn’t get out of bed. I was always there for her and she knows that. Somewhere under all this hate for me, she knows it.

  “That’s not true and if you say one more word, you little bitch, I will personally drag you by your hair away from Ellie. I don’t care if you’re pregnant or not sweetheart.” Jude says, shocking me a little but I give her a little nod when she looks at me.

  “Fine, I’m leaving. I wouldn’t want to be friends with a woman who sleeps with four strippers anyway,” she says loudly before turning and walking away. I glance around at the four people near us that look at me in horror and decide I don’t care what they think. It’s nothing to do with them anyway. Jude turns to look at me with a questioning gaze. Shit, she doesn’t know.

  “I love them all. I’m sorry if that’s not what you want for your brother or you don’t like it but—” I blurt out.

  “Come here,” Jude interrupts and hugs me. I’m in shock for a while but return her hug.

  “Group slash sister hug,” Annie says and wraps her arms around us as I laugh a little. We pull away, and I wipe my eyes. Holy ducks, I’m glad I met Todd’s sisters.

  “Look. I already guessed to be honest. When Todd introduced you, I knew you two were more than friends. Then, how he spoke about you on our phone calls, yeah I guessed Ellie.” Jude says with a little smile.

  “Yeah Jude isn’t going to judge you, I mean she had a thing for two guys in high school.” Annie blurts out.

  “That was once,” she rolls her eyes and I laugh. I’m glad she isn’t annoyed that Annie told me and it makes me like her a lot more when she doesn’t seem bothered. Her only reaction is the blush on her cheeks.

  “Hot guys?” I ask with a wink.

  “Oh yeah, Marcus and Eli were the hottest men for miles, well when we were teenagers,” Annie says and Jude nods, her cheeks still bright red.

  “Marcus? As in the butterfly farm owner?” I ask, remembering the massive giant of a man with brown hair. He was very hot.

  “Yes, that’s him. He moved back recently. Eli is in the army and I haven’t seen either of them in years,” Jude says, tucking her dark hair behind her ears.

  “You’re single now, what’s stopping you?” Annie says with a chuckle.

  “I have kids and don’t have the body I used to,” Jude says. I narrow my eyes at her in response. Jude is stunning, with her dark hair and curvy body.

  “What a load of shit!” Annie says before I can say anything and I feel my baby kick in response, which makes me chuckle. Jude just knocks her shoulder and we pay for the clothes before going for some lunch. Despite the fact I lost a lot to get to where I am now, I know I have everything now.

  I have family.

  Ellie

  “You’re thirty weeks? I can’t believe it,” Todd says as I show him what the baby looks like on my phone, using a cool app. The baby should be the size of a large cabbage and is about three pounds, according to the app. Other than my growing obsession with eating chocolate and stealing Todd’s Nutella, I’m actually feeling better than I have in a long time.

  “Give that here,” Dom says as he leans over the sofa and snatches the phone out of Todd’s hands. I chuckle as Todd glares at him.

  “How can you not believe it? Look at me,” I chuckle, gesturing to the huge bump. It’s got even bigger overnight and the baby kicks all the time now. I love it.

  “I can’t wait to meet her, have you thought of any names yet?” Todd asks, sliding his hands over the bump. The baby must be sleeping as she kicked up a storm in the bath earlier.

  “No not yet, I can’t decide.” I say as Dom sits next to us. He hands the phone back and leans over, kissing me lightly before pulling away. It’s still strange to have one of them kiss me, when another one is in the room.

  “I just set up the changing table in your room and I made some of the cheese pasta you like and left it in the fridge,” Dom says.

  “Thank you,” I say sliding my hand into his.

  “I have to go to work, Kaiden needs me to pick him up from Mel’s as his car broke down when he went over to help fix her laptop.” Dom says and gets up. I chuckle when he leans down and kisses my stomach, over my top.

  “Bye my little girl, be good for your mum until I’m back,” he says, talking directly to my stomach and it’s the first time he has done that.

  “Never seen you do that before,” I say, a little breathlessly, it’s so sweet.

  “The app says the baby can hear voices now. I want her to know me,” he shrugs.

  “My turn,” Todd says, pushing him out of the way and he chuckles before walking out. I wave goodbye as Todd starts talking,

  “Hey princess. I can’t wait to meet you and see if you’re as beautiful as your mum. I know I’m not your biological daddy, but I hope you see me as one. I want to be one, if your mum and you want that,” he says.

  “Mum is on board,” I say quietly and Todd looks up at me, his eyes searching mine and a slow smile appears.

  “Kiss me Ellie, I want you to show me you mean that,” he says, his tone dropping deeper and it’s very seductive. Holy ducks, it makes me want to throw myself at him. I lean my face close to his, gently swiping my lips across his, then moving my lips down hi
s jaw and press a long kiss on his neck. I place my hand on his chest, feeling his heart beating loudly as I kiss up his neck, then back across his jaw and touch my lips to his. Todd takes control of the kiss quickly and pulls me onto his lap, my dress pushing up around my thighs. He holds his hand firmly in place on the back of my neck as he kisses me, our tongues mixing and as I press down on his lap, I can feel how turned on he is. Todd breaks away from the kiss, pressing our foreheads together as he speaks.

  “I want you Ellie, I’ve wanted you from the moment I first saw you. The moment your brown eyes met mine across that kitchen, it’s been you. I’ve always been waiting for someone and I never knew what I was looking for. I’m yours Ellie, always yours,” he says and I kiss him, expressing how I feel the same way without words. Todd pulls my dress over my head, before taking his own shirt off. I undo his trousers and step back off the sofa, slowly pushing my lacy underwear down. Todd watches me, every moment seems slow as all I can hear is our deep breathing. This moment seems more. Todd pushes his trousers down, showing me his lack of boxers and the impressive erection he’s sporting. Holy ducks, how is that going to fit

  “Come here,” he says, holding out a hand. I slide my hand into his and kneel over his lap. Todd kisses me, his hands drifting all over my body and making me moan. Todd slides a finger inside me, just as I wrap a hand around his cock. Every drawn-out movement of Todd’s finger is getting me close and he suddenly pulls his finger out and wraps his hand around mine on him. He moves my hand away, and then guides himself into me. Holy ducks, he feels amazing. I slowly move, up and down as he kisses me, each kiss deep and yet, soft in a caring way. He’s making love to me. Todd moves his hand, running circles around my clit in a way that makes me moan loudly and have to throw my head back as I come. Todd grabs hold of my hips and starts thrusting harder into me, the feeling is overwhelming in the best way.