30. Little Secrets
30
LITTLE SECRETS
The trophies were gone. Nat stared at the empty spots in Duke’s bedroom, knowing they had just been there two days ago.
The bathroom door opened. Nat whirled around, looking accusingly at Duke. “Where did your trophies go?”
Duke’s red skin darkened. In fact, this was the most uneasy that Nat had ever seen him. “I, uh. Moved them. To make space for you?”
Nat rolled his eyes. “You never let me look at them closely! Every time I try to read what you got first place for, you drag me away!”
“I’m embarrassed by those trophies, sweetheart.” Duke winced.
“Then why put them in your bedroom?”
“Because no one else will see them if they’re in here!”
“Except your housekeeper.”
“She’s sworn to silence,” Duke muttered.
“I can swear to silence, too,” Nat said.
Duke sighed, pulling Nat onto the bed next to him. “I don’t want you to judge me.”
Nat spluttered. “Me? Judge you? Duke, I’m missing fingers. ”
“Yes, but that’s not something you did. My trophies are from crap I actually put effort into!” Duke winced.
Nat propped his fists on his hips and stared at his alpha.
Duke rubbed Nat’s belly. “Can we go to the shelter and talk about this later?”
“How much later?” Nat asked suspiciously.
At that, Duke cracked a smile. “You’re an amazing taskmaster. I have no regrets making you my PA.”
“I’m waiting for an answer!”
Duke swooped in and kissed Nat on the lips, which made his stomach flutter with a million butterflies.
Even now, several kisses later, Duke’s kisses still overwhelmed him.
Duke lowered Nat to the bed and caged him with his body, making Nat feel so safe. Duke slid their lips together. He trailed his fingers down Nat’s chest and lingered on his belly, each movement slow and reverent. As though Nat was something precious.
“You’re amazing,” Duke whispered, flicking his tongue between Nat’s lips. “So beautiful and perfect.”
He kissed down Nat’s throat and sucked on his pulse point, until Nat whined and thrashed beneath him. Then he kissed across Nat’s chest, stealing a milky suckle from each nipple, before cupping Nat’s belly and kissing it all over.
Nat’s womb had firmed up inside him, protecting the new baby. He could feel it sometimes when he moved, and it always sent a shiver down his spine. I’m pregnant with Duke’s baby.
“Mine,” Duke growled against his belly. “Hello, baby.”
“The baby says hi back,” Nat said.
Duke snorted, a wide grin spreading across his face. “Gods, you’re adorable, Nat.”
He kissed Nat’s belly several more times, then spread Nat’s legs and sucked down his hard cock. Nat moaned and squirmed; Duke cupped his balls and fingered his hole, pushing three fingers inside to massage his prostate.
Nat came down Duke’s throat, shaking like a leaf.
“Gorgeous,” Duke rumbled. He pulled away and grabbed the scrap of fabric on the nightstand, that Nat hadn’t paid close attention to.
It was lace. Deep red lace the color of Duke’s skin.
Duke slid the panties up Nat’s legs, pulling them snug over his cock and ass. He kissed Nat’s cock through the sheer fabric. Then he carried Nat to his walk-in closet, and dressed Nat in a comfortable T-shirt and pants.
“So fucking perfect,” Duke whispered.
The shirt was Duke’s so it hung loose around Nat’s shoulders, but the pants were Nat’s, something soft and fitted. Underneath it all, the lace panties clung to Nat’s skin, reminding him of Duke’s dark gaze, the way he admired Nat with such desire.
And that made him feel prettier than anything he could describe. Nat blushed and ducked his head. “Thanks.”
Duke grinned.
He carried Nat out of the bedroom and down the stairs, where the three kids, Hubrie, and What Cart were waiting for them in the kitchen.
“You’re carrying him like a bride,” Mallie said.
Nat blushed hotly.
Duke stiffened, shooting Mallie a look that faded before Nat could see it.
Mallie covered her mouth and giggled.
“Anyway, there will be a surprise when we get home,” Duke said loudly. “For Mallie and Teddy.”
The children’s eyes lit up.
“A surprise!” Mallie cried, clapping her hands.
“What is it?” Teddy whined. “I want to know now!”
Duke laughed. “I can’t tell you, or it won’t be a surprise anymore.”
He exchanged a look with Nat. Nat knew what that surprise was, and he couldn’t wait to see the siblings’ reactions.
Teddy and Mallie wriggled and whined, both of them flushed with excitement.
“Let’s have breakfast,” Nat said. “Then you can show me all the puppies.”
“Puppies!” That was enough to distract the children.
“Great save,” Hubrie said amusedly as he teased Wanda with the colorful toys in What Cart’s belly. “Especially with that other thing.”
“What other thing?” Nat asked.
Duke glowered at Hubrie, which only set the butler cackling.
* * *
The animal shelter visit wasn’t all fun and games for Nat.
One of his goals for this trip was to get a better idea of how important this was to Duke and the kids, so he could better manage Duke’s schedule.
Especially with all the changes coming to their lives in the near future.
The shelter was a cluster of small buildings on the outskirts of town, with a large pasture in the back for the animals to frolic in.
Duke parked and ushered Mallie and Teddy out of the car. Nat was about to trail behind the group, except Duke stepped up to him and slid his arm around Nat’s waist.
“C’mon, let’s head inside.” Duke smiled warmly.
Nat melted all over again.
“Can we have a puppy?” Mallie begged as they passed several cages of dogs. The dogs scampered up to their doors and wagged their tails, eager for playtime.
“You know the answer, kiddo,” Duke said patiently. “When you’ve proven that you’re responsible enough to feed and care for a dog all by yourself. This will be your pet, your responsibility, every day for years. I want to make sure that whichever dog you adopt isn’t going back to the shelter because you got tired of it.”
Mallie nodded seriously. “Okay.”
“In the meantime, you can volunteer here as much as you want, whenever Hubrie or I have time to take you here. There are a lot of dogs that don’t get enough love.”
Looking at the dogs in the cages, Nat felt sorry for them. Duke had promised that the dogs got to go outside and play several times a day, but the rest of the time, they were still stuck in their own tiny cells. It seemed incredibly lonely.
Just that Nat had his hands full with Wanda and a second baby on the way. On top of his job as Duke’s personal assistant. Even if he wanted a pet, there were just not enough hours in his day.
“I like the idea of volunteering,” Nat said. “I can’t commit to a dog full-time, but I can make some dogs happy for a few hours each week.”
Duke grinned. “I would love it if you could join us on these trips.”
Nat nodded eagerly.
He showed Wanda the dogs and went on walks with them. He spoke to the staff too, to ask about the shelter’s hours and what times they needed volunteers the most.
By noon, Nat was covered in dog hair, and he had a better idea of how to arrange Duke’s schedule to fit everything in there.
“You’re looking good,” Duke murmured while Mallie and Teddy were busy with a couple of dogs.
“I’m figuring out your schedule,” Nat said, poking at his phone. “If we move the shelter hours to right when they open, we’ll spend less time in traffic on the way here. And… you could decrease your volunteer hours at the fire station, so they only contact you for life-threatening calls that need fire resistance. That way, you’ll still get to volunteer, but you’ll have more time to spend with the children. Especially, you know, with the new one on the way.”
Duke rumbled, sweeping Nat into his arms. Nat squeaked. Duke dropped several kisses all over his face.
“Thanks,” Duke whispered, burying his face against Nat’s throat. “This is what I hired you for, and you’re being amazing at it. You’re helping me get my life in order.”
Nat laughed. “I think Hubrie would say you’ve been an overachieving prick of a boss.”
“He would say that while flinging handfuls of pickup lines everywhere,” Duke added flatly.
He glanced around furtively, as though afraid that the butler would pop up with more pickup lines.
“I won’t tell him if you don’t,” Nat said.
Duke grinned. “Thanks.”
“Now we just have to get home at some point, and you can give the kids their surprise.”
“Yes.” Duke nuzzled Nat and kissed his collarbones. “Maybe someday, when we get everything figured out, we can adopt a couple of dogs, too.”
Nat laughed. “You really are an overachieving—” Duke raised his eyebrows “—alpha! I wasn’t going to say prick!”
“Well, my prick is also overachieving.”
Nat groaned and buried his face in Duke’s shoulder. The thing was, Duke was right about that.
* * *
A large basket of apples awaited Nat when they got home. He froze in the kitchen doorway, entranced by the bright red fruits.
“It’s for you,” Duke murmured, slipping his hand around Nat to rub his belly. “Did I get enough?”
“I think that might be too much,” Nat said dazedly. He brought the entire basket to the sink and began washing the apples.
As a raccoon, Wanda chittered as she clung to Nat’s shoulder, her little tail flicking.
Nat laughed. “You want one too, huh?”
He placed her on the counter and gave her an apple to wash; she dunked it happily into a plastic bowl of water.
“Aww, she’s so cute,” Mallie cooed.
“You guys want to wash apples, too?” Nat offered. “You can have some to eat if you help.”
“Yeah!” Teddy and Mallie crowded next to him, eagerly dunking apples into large bowls of water.
“You’re all perfect,” Duke growled, looking over Nat’s shoulder.
“That means it’s time for a pickup line, isn’t it?” Hubrie chirped. “What Cart helped me pick one!”
Nat felt Duke’s grimace. “How did it even choose a pickup line?”
“By rolling into a page when I flipped the book!” Hubrie cleared his throat.
Duke seemed to panic. He tried to cover Mallie and Teddy’s ears.
“My dearest love cucumber, our love is so strong that it can suck down everything like a giant black hole. It can suck the cork out of a wine bottle! It can suck the fillings from your teeth! It can suck the toilet off the floor!”
The kids broke into helpless giggles.
“Ew!” Teddy said. “That’s gross.”
“Very gross,” Mallie agreed.
“It is,” Nat whimpered.
Duke turned and frowned severely at Hubrie. “What the f—What the Hell was that?”
Hubrie beamed placidly. “Relationship goals.”
Mallie howled with laughter, tears streaming down her cheeks. “You want to have poop in your relationship? There will be poop everywhere if you pull the toilet off the floor!”
Nat covered his face and whined. “How did we end up like this?”
“We are not moving the toilet,” Duke said firmly. He untangled himself from Nat and shoved Hubrie bodily out of the kitchen. “Out!”
“Maybe we should talk about the surprise,” Nat said desperately.
“Yes, the surprise,” Duke said just as desperately. “Mallie and Teddy, sit at the table, please.”
They dried off their hands and brought along an apple each. Duke sat down with them. Nat stood with Wanda at the sink; this wasn’t about him.
“Mallie and Teddy,” Duke began solemnly, looking them in the eye. “You’ve brightened my days ever since I brought you home four years ago.”
Mallie stiffened. “You’re not about to kick us out, right?”
Teddy made a soft, scared sound.
Duke sighed. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. I’m adopting you both officially. The paperwork just went through; I’m now your legal guardian.”
Both kids whooped and leaped out of their chairs. Apples went flying. They scrambled around the table to hug Duke, sobbing.
“Are you our Papa now?” Teddy asked tearfully.
“If you’d like me to be.” Duke had crouched on the floor so he could hug them, one small child in each arm.
“We do. A lot. That means we can call you Papa, right?” Mallie asked quietly.
“Yes,” Duke said as though he was holding his breath.
“Papa,” Mallie and Teddy both said.
Nat wasn’t crying, some dust had gotten in his eye.
Over the siblings’ shoulders, Duke exchanged a look with Nat, looking so pleased that Nat scooped up Wanda and went to hug them too.
“This is perfect,” Duke said, dropping a kiss on Nat’s lips. “You’re all perfect.”
The children cried harder. Nat kissed Duke sloppily; he couldn’t see through his tears.
* * *
Later, when all the kids were asleep and it was just the two of them in bed, Duke pinned Nat against the pillows.
“This was a really great day,” Nat whispered, Duke’s lips just a hairsbreadth from his own.
“You think so?” Duke grinned, nuzzling Nat and kissing him softly.
“Everything was perfect. The shelter visit, the apples, and you—” Nat teared up again, remembering Duke’s announcement. “They called you Papa.”
“Not going to lie; that might’ve been one of the best moments of my life.”
“One of?” Nat gave him a doubtful look. “Not the best?”
Duke smiled and said nothing for a moment. “I can think of some other moments that will be just as good.”
“Like what?”
Duke kissed Nat’s lips. “I’m not telling you just yet.”
Nat pouted. “Is it the moment when you tell me what those trophies were for?”
“Nat Whittinger,” Duke growled, pressing his lips against Nat’s throat and blowing a raspberry.
Nat squealed. Duke pulled up Nat’s shirt, blowing a raspberry on his chest. Then he blew a raspberry on Nat’s belly too, and rubbed his face against it.
“Your dad is a naughty raccoon,” Duke rumbled to their unborn child. “I will be so mad if you’re like him.”
“Lies! You’re not mad at all.”
Duke grinned and blew another raspberry against Nat’s abdomen. He dragged down Nat’s pants too, and blew raspberries on his inner thighs.
“That tickles,” Nat squealed.
“Yeah?” Duke pressed his lips to Nat’s bulge, blowing a raspberry through his lace panties onto his cock.
Nat giggled, squirming under him. “It feels weird. But good.”
Duke blew another raspberry there, then another, until Nat grew hard, the lace stretching against his stiff length. Duke flipped Nat onto his front and blew raspberries on both his asscheeks. He pulled aside Nat’s panties, pried open his cheeks, and blew a raspberry right against his hole.
The vibrations felt good. Nat moaned, pushing his hips up. Duke laughed and held him down, blowing more raspberries there, except they turned into quick flicks of his tongue.
It didn’t take long for Nat to writhe, his hole wet with slick and Duke’s spit, stretched around three of Duke’s fingers.
“Wasn’t this supposed to be a punishment?” Nat moaned.
“Do you want a punishment?”
“No!”
“Hmm.” Duke crooked his fingers against Nat’s prostate, sending him arching against the bed.
“Fuck, fuck!” Nat clutched at the sheets.
“I can think of a punishment.” Duke pulled his fingers out, letting the lace panties slip back over Nat’s hole. Nat whimpered.
Except Duke covered Nat with his body and slid aside his panties again. Then a familiar blunt tip pushed against his hole, and drove all the way in.
Nat came with a scream, clenching around Duke.
“My cock is extremely overachieving,” Duke whispered in Nat’s ear, giving him a few hard thrusts. “I don’t think it’s going to stop anytime soon.”
“I’m going to come my brains out,” Nat moaned.
“Good.” Duke nuzzled the crook of Nat’s shoulder and sank his teeth in, breaking skin.
It was a bonding bite.
Nat came again without warning, scrabbling against the bed. “Oh gods!”
Duke had claimed him. Permanently. Nat couldn’t stop coming, he was so hard.
“Take my cock, sweetheart,” Duke growled, pushing in deep. He licked his bonding mark; Nat whined and went pliant in his arms, his body completely Duke’s.
“I want your knots!”
“I’ll give them to you.” Duke increased the force of his thrusts, pounding against Nat’s prostate so he couldn’t stop coming, on and on until Duke’s strokes went uneven and he snarled, shoving every last inch into Nat.
His knots swelled. And he bit Nat on the other side of his neck—another bonding mark.
Nat came so hard, he blacked out.
When he came to, Duke was rolling his hips, massaging Nat’s prostate with his knots. Nat was still coming; he whimpered and raised his hips, trying to get Duke deeper even though he knew he couldn’t.
“So lovely,” Duke whispered in his ear. “Your body’s trying to suck down every last drop of my cum. Want another baby inside you, sweetheart? I’ll try my best to knock you up again.”
Nat pressed his face against the pillows and moaned. “Breed me.”
“Fuck!” Duke’s cock jerked inside him. More warmth flooded Nat.
Duke began to grind his knots against Nat’s prostate. Nat wheezed, screaming into the pillows as Duke worked him through several more orgasms, until he could no longer keep his eyes open.
Duke slowed down, gathering Nat into his arms and kissing whatever he could reach. “So gorgeous, Nat. My mate. Mine.”
“Mmm,” Nat said, falling unconscious.
* * *
“What’s that on your neck?” Teddy asked the next morning.
Nat and Duke froze. Nat touched the still-tingling bite that Duke had left last night, his face growing warm.
Hubrie flung himself into the kitchen. “When your Papa loves another man very much...”
Duke planted his hand across Hubrie’s face, and shoved him out of sight.
“Duke!” Nat yelped. “Not in front of the children!”
The demon bared his teeth. “Hubrie needs to learn his place.”
“Like I said, not in front of the children!” Nat frowned at Duke.
Hubrie bounced back into sight cheerfully. “I’m not hurt! But don’t do this to just anyone, kids. Not everyone is an amazing butler like I am.”
Duke looked slightly remorseful. “Fine. I shouldn’t have done that, Hubrie.”
Nat beamed. “ That is a good example, Papa.”
Duke’s gaze snapped onto him so fast, Nat blushed.
“Why are you calling him Papa?” Mallie asked, baffled.
“Because he’s your Papa,” Nat said, fighting not to rub his belly.
But the biggest reason was that Duke would become the father of Nat’s child soon, and... The name had gotten stuck in Nat’s head.
“I was also wondering if you would like to be Wanda’s Papa,” Nat mumbled, looking at the floor.
Duke’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”
Nat nodded.
Duke growled. He prowled closer and cupped Wanda’s head gently with his large hand. Then he dropped a tender kiss on her hair, and kissed Nat fiercely. “I would love to be Wanda’s Papa.”
Nat’s heart leaped. “It’s what I want.”
Duke kissed him again. “Thank you.”
“New sister,” Mallie said, leaping up to hug Wanda. “You’re not the youngest anymore, Teddy.”
“That’s okay.” Teddy ran up to hug Wanda too. “I want to be a big brother!”
Nat exchanged a look with Duke, and smiled.