Chapter Thirteen
Briley jolted awake at the sound of a key in a lock. She blinked, momentarily confused about why she was on a sofa, in a living room that certainly wasn’t hers. Then she saw Dux and Drake standing there, inspecting her closely, those matching blue eyes slicing through her like laser beams.
“Hey,” she managed, struggling to a seated position; her hair had fallen out of its bun while she slept, and it was tousled and wild over her shoulders. “You guys OK?”
“We are,” Drake said, sitting down at the other end of the sofa. “How about you?”
“A bit more tired than I thought,” she admitted, smoothing down what was surely a disastrous tangled mess on her head. “Sorry about crashing out.”
“C’mon, babe,” Dux said, waving his hand, turning the dining room chair and straddling it. “You know we don’t care about that. What we do care about, however, is what’s so wrong that you got on a plane without saying a word to us about it.”
“Uhhh –” she cleared her throat, fought to stay calm now that the conversation was upon her. “Why do you assume something’s wrong?”
“So does that mean that something’s right ?” Drake said. “Because that’s the only other option.”
“I don’t know if it’s right , exactly,” she said, mustering up her courage. “But it could be good, I think… I mean, I hope.”
They looked at her steadily now, silent and waiting, and once again she remembered what it was like to have these men’s attention fixed solely on her. God , being the focus of their intensity was always an experience – even when fully clothed – and Briley wondered just how the hell she had survived it when she’d been surrounded by their naked strength. It seemed miraculous, now that she thought about it.
“OK, ummmm. Here it is.” She closed her eyes, exhaled and sent up a sort of fervent wish that this was all going to be be fine somehow, maybe if she took the ‘rip off the bandaid’ approach to delivering news. She opened her eyes again and said, “I’m about sixteen weeks pregnant. With twins.” She paused, then for some inane reason she added, “Oh. And they’re yours.”
Whatever reaction she’d been anticipating didn’t come close to what actually happened next. Dux and Drake stared at her for a full ten seconds, wearing identical expressions of shock and amazement, which – even as she watched – swiftly turned to happiness and then sheer delight. Without a word, they both got to their feet and came to her now. Drake settled closer to her on the sofa, his thigh pressed against hers, and Dux got to his knees on the floor, gently touched her cheek.
“Pregnant with twins?” Drake said in a low voice. “For real, darlin’?”
“For real,” she whispered. “I saw the heartbeats on the ultrasound,both of them.”
“And is everything OK with them?” Dux asked. “With our babies?”
At the word ‘our’, Briley was suddenly blinking back tears: she knew then that she wasn’t in this all by herself anymore, and that both brothers would be stepping up, stepping in. Oh, there was no guarantee that they’d be able to do more than maybe be at the births, maybe help financially, maybe come visit on important dates like birthdays or holidays… but she’d take it. She hadn’t realized how scared she’d been until right this second, and it was a huge relief to be able to hand over some of her fears to two of the steadiest, strongest men that she’d ever known.
Unfortunately, they seemed to take her tears as a sign of something bad, and right away, they looked mightily worried.
“Babe?” Dux said. “Is something wrong? Did something show up on the ultrasound?”
“No, no,” she rushed to reassure them, wiping her eyes impatiently. “They’re totally fine and healthy. Nothing wrong at all… I’m just tired and I’m being emotional. I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize,” Drake said gently. “You’ve been alone in this, and that’s a lot. I imagine it’s been overwhelming.”
“If you can believe it, I only found out yesterday,” she told them with a shaky laugh. “So I haven’t really had time to get overwhelmed yet, but I must admit that I have been good and freaked out. I mean – we didn’t plan this, any of us, but here it is, and it’s a reality. I just – I knew that I wanted to tell you, but I don’t know what to do next, or what’s going to happen.”
“What do you want to happen?” Dux asked her.
“I – I don’t know.” She lowered her eyes, avoiding those unnerving x-ray stares. “I mean – I’d like you to be part of their lives, but I don’t know what that can look like. You guys are here, I’m in Pennsylvania. We never really had a relationship, if you think about it, there was no tried-and-true commitment or long-term plans, and so we don’t have much of a foundation on which to build. You guys are single and free out here, so I can understand that you won’t want to get bogged down in the whole parenthood thing, not even part-time.” She shrugged. “I guess my part is pretty easy – I’m having these babies, I’m keeping them – and so you guys need to tell me how involved you’d like to be, and what you don’t want to do.”
“Good Lord, darlin’,” Drake said in an amused tone. “Do you know what we were talking about outside the bar, when you pulled up in the taxi?”
“Uh. No.”
“You. We were talking about you .”
“Oh.” She gazed up at them again, taken aback at this piece of information. “What about me?”
“Oh, nothing much,” Dux said airily. “We were just saying how much we’ve missed you. Oh, and how we’ve fallen for you.”
“You – what ?” she said. Her heart stopped dead in her chest, started up again double time, making her feel breathless and dizzy. “ Both of you?”
“Of course both of us.” Drake gave her one of those smiles that wrecked her every single time. “We do everything together, remember?”
Right away, she blushed, her body pulsing with the memory of all the things they’d done to her together. Some of them several times.
“I think she remembers, man,” Dux said, observing her pink cheeks. “And how .”
“You were saying?” Briley attempted dignity, knew she was failing miserably.
“Right, yes. Ahem.” Drake grinned wider as her face turned magenta. “So, we’re fucking crazy about you, darlin’. Like, totally and utterly – and we felt that way before you told us about our babies.”
“Do you… ummm.” Briley paused, trying to think how to ask this question. She’d thought about nothing else the whole flight over, the whole drive from the airport, and she still had no idea how to bring it up. “Do you want to do some advanced testing on the babies after they’re born? To see who – which one of you is the – the father?”
“ What ?” they said in unison. “ No !”
She gave a small sigh, realized that she’d been completely right in what she’d told Cheryl. “I didn’t think you would, to be honest, but I wanted to ask. You know, put the offer on the table, just in case.”
“We’re both the fathers, babe,” Dux said, echoing her exact words from the day before. “We’re both taking full responsibility and we’ll both be there.”
“Ohhhh.” She exhaled now, a really long breath, and felt light-years better than she had done even one minute before. “Thank God. I didn’t know how to ask that question.”
“Well, you asked, and it’s been answered.” Drake stroked her hair, loving its softness even though it was all travel-wild and -tangled. “What else have you been hesitant to ask us?”
“Oh, I’m not sure. Ummmm.” She thought for a minute. “I guess the big one is how involved you want to be, taking into account the real geographical challenges we’ve got.”
“As involved as you’ll let us,” Dux said simply. “We’ll come every weekend until the birth, we’ll take some time off and stay after the babies get home, we’ll pay for everything, we’ll call every day and visit every weekend… and that’s before we fly in for birthdays and Christmas and Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. We’ll be there.”
“I know you will,” she said quietly, realizing that she had , in fact, known it all along. “I know you’ll do everything that you can within the realm of human possibility.”
“Damn straight,” Drake said. “And you should know that we’re not interested in other women, like at all. It’s our hope that when we come over to you in Pennsylvania, we’ll be with you, like with you, darlin’. In your bed, in your heart. Just yours.”
This part was a complete surprise to Briley, and she blinked in astonishment. “Really? You don’t want – you won’t – you’ll be with just me, just over in Bellefonte? You don’t want to – I don’t know – carry on with your relationships over here?”
“Nope.” Dux shook his dark head. “I mean, it’s not like we’ve been with anyone since we’ve been back.”
“You haven’t?”
“Nuh-uh,” Dux said. “The guys were actually all over us about that tonight, saying that we’ve been putting off the women, not even looking at them sideways. Cole and Rebel were teasing and up in our faces, saying that we’re hung up on you.”
“And they were right?”
“Jesus fuck , woman,” Drake huffed. “Haven’t you been listening ? We’re out-of-our heads, head-over-heels, nuts about you . Just you. We’ll be with you when we can manage it, and the rest of the time, we’ll be looking forward to getting back to you and our babies. That’s it . That’s our life now.”
“That’s it ?” she repeated. “You do know that that’s a lot? Like… it never even crossed my mind that you’d commit to me in any way, shape or form. I just hoped that you’d want to be there for the twins. The new twins.”
“Well, we aren't proposing marriage here, babe, we're proposing a – a family.” Dux grinned, loved how she smiled back at him; all the tension had gone from her beautiful face now, he was happy to see. “We’ll do it somehow and it'll be a seriously fucking weird family… but we’ll figure it out, the three of us, then the five of us. OK?”
“OK,” she said, unable to believe how well this whole conversation had gone. Once again, some more, as always, these two men had shown her their true characters, their real hearts. She hadn’t planned these babies, but she couldn’t have picked better men to be their fathers, not if she’d had a year to think about it and chosen a Daddy (or two) from a list of candidates. “Thank you, for everything you just did and said. I had no idea that you’d want to do any of this. I’m – I’m so surprised and grateful.”
“No need to be surprised or grateful,” Dux said. “We were going to ask you to be in our lives again somehow and no matter what, and frankly, this is better than anything we could have come up with. We’re surprised and we’re grateful.”
“Thank you for coming here and telling us in person,” Drake added. “And for telling us at all , actually. You could have kept this from us, given up the babies, and we’d never have known.”
“There was never a question of telling you,” she said. “But to be scrupulously correct, Cheryl was the one who told me that I had to give you the news in person. I was going to call you, to be honest, just because I really wasn’t sure you’d be happy about this.”
“Then thank you to Cheryl,” Dux said. “Because we’d have been on board no matter how you told us, but having you here is amazing.”
“It really is,” she said happily. “This couldn’t be any better, could it?”
They looked at her now, and in a split second, their eyes changed, went from warm and gentle, to blazing heat, blazing want.
“Or maybe…” she said slowly, feeling the answering fire rising in her own body. “Maybe it could be?”
“Well, babe.” Dux gave her a slow once-over, those eyes raking her from head to toe. “You need to explain that. How could it be better?”
Without a word, Briley got to her feet, lifted her loose dress up and over her head, and stood there in her black lace underwear, her golden hair cascading over her shoulders, warm and lovely. Right away and despite the fact that they loved seeing her full breasts and the tempting outline of her pussy lips, their gazes dropped to her curved stomach. When they met her eyes again, she saw a tenderness, a softness in those blue depths.
“So there they are, huh?” Drake said, and he heard the wonder in his own words. “All nestled up safe and sound.”
“Yes,” she said. “I’m taking care of them. And now…” She slowly sank to her knees, so graceful and beautiful, and gazed up at the men. “Now I want to take care of you. Both of you. At the same time.”
“Fuck,” Dux whispered. “Babe…”
“Clothes off,” she ordered them. “Then come over here. I want to taste you.”
They both started, taken aback and yet hopelessly turned on.
“Briley… you don’t have to,” Drake said, as his brother made inarticulate sounds in his throat. “Are you sure… you…I mean, we’d love …”
She smiled at his stuttering and stammering. Nothing like watching two ice-cool ex-Marines go to pieces a little bit; it made them absolutely endearing. “I’m sure. And why aren’t you getting naked yet?”
Within a minute, they had done as she’d told them, and stood in front of her. Huge, hard, almost impossibly beautiful. Her smile had an edge now as she looked at their muscular, tattooed bodies, reminding herself just how fucking gorgeous they were.
“Briley,” Dux said, echoing Drake’s words, needing to ask for himself. “Are you sure ?”
Slowly, making them watch her take her time, she reached for Drake. He held his breath as she took his cock in her hand and stroked him gently, then she pulled Dux to her mouth. She dropped her head back and met Drake's eyes before licking Dux cock, up and down, her tongue swirling around the tip in a sassy little move as she released him.
“So. Does it look like I’m sure?” she said pertly. “Like I’m doing exactly what I want to do, here with you?”
Literally unable to speak, the men nodded.
She nodded back, then in one swift movement, she switched: she took Drake in her mouth and hand, held Dux in her other hand, pumping him gently. Her eyes flicked between their stupefied faces as she sucked Drake’s cock, up and down, slid her fingers up and down his brother’s length at the same time.
“ Jesus ,” Drake managed to say in a strangled voice. “Jesus Christ , darlin’…”
Her answer was to take him deeper. With a groan, he gently grasped her hair with one hand, pulling her closer and tighter, loving how his cock just disappeared into the softness of her sweet mouth. He wanted to thrust as hard and fast as he could, but he somehow managed to maintain a degree of control.
She pulled back a bit, still stroking Dux, a mischievous grin on her face now. “Move me back and forth between you.”
“What?” Drake goggled down at her, loving her breath on him. “Uh – what ?”
“Both of you take me by the hair and move me where you want me.” She mouthed kisses on the head of his cock, licking at the salty pre-cum, her hand still busy with Dux. “Use me how you want.”
“Oh, God ,” they said at the same time. “ Briley .”
She took Dux’s hand now, placed in on the back of her head next to his brother’s. Right away –helpless to his desire and need – he curled his fingers in her thick hair. And pulled her over to him.
Without another word, she took him in her mouth again, hot and willing and oh-so-eager. She pulled Dux deep into her throat, drew back to run her tongue around his sensitive tip, then she sucked deep again. Over and over, until he started to lift himself into her mouth, silently begging for her to not stop, to not slow down.
“Fuck, babe… fuck …” His head fell back and his whole body tightened up. “You’re going to make me come any second… I can’t…”
At his words, Drake tugged her over to him now, and she went. He saw her cat-like little smile just before she took him as deep and hard as possible. He cursed, bucked, clenched, also came damn close to losing control. He gave a guttural shout, his hand holding her head tight – maybe too tight – even as his cock filled her mouth and throat.
Briley loved every single second of the next few minutes. She may have been the one on her knees with her hair being pulled and her head being directed back and forth, but holy Lord , did she ever hold all the power here. These men – this huge, strong, dangerous men – was powerless under her hands, her mouth, her lips. They were begging and panting, moving her for their pleasure, taking turns with her.
“Enough,” Dux finally rasped, his fingers tangled around her hair in a death-grip to hold her hot little mouth still on his aching cock. He knew that Drake was just as close as he was, and neither of them wanted to come like this with her, not tonight. “Just – just enough .”
She murmured something that certainly sounded compliant, but the vibrations against his cock made him pulse again and he tensed even more. Slowly, so agonizingly slowly , she slid back over him and he growled deep in his chest and pulled away with a grunt. The little minx teased and taunted him even as she pretended to obey, and he felt the deep, primal need to fuck her. Now .
Briley sat back on her heels now, so amazingly gorgeous and radiant as she knelt in front of them. Her lips were swollen and pink, her eyes glowing up at them, her breasts spilling out of the lace of her bra, that sassy mouth curved up in a satisfied smile.
Dux and Drake looked at each other, and without a word, they knelt beside her, lowered her to the thickly-carpeted floor. She went without a protest or even a murmur, lifted her hips so they could peel off her panties, turned over onto her stomach so they could undo her bra snaps.
Then she was as naked and breathless as they were, pinned between them as their hands and mouths roamed freely over her body. They touched her everywhere, kissed her everywhere, and she closed her eyes, beyond overwhelmed at the sensations. There was nothing better than this – absolutely nothing – and all she could do was lie there and shake, and moan, and revel in being utterly, utterly worshipped .
Dux’s mouth between her legs, Drake’s lips on her breasts; then Drake’s tongue was stroking her clit as Dux sucked her nipples. They moved over her body in a graceful, elegant, perfectly synchronized dance: back and forth, up and down, twisting and turning. It was mind-blowing – and they were just beginning, she knew.
“Babe,” Dux muttered against her mouth, his arms holding her like she was made of porcelain. He put a thick sofa cushion under her head, cradling and supporting her. “Can you take both of us?”
“Yes,” she whispered back. “Please. And…”
“What?” Drake said, mouthing kisses over her lower back. “What do you need?”
“Well, I’ve been tested since I’ve been pregnant, and I’m clean and healthy. I know that you guys get tested every couple of months, and you haven’t been with anyone since me… and since I’m already knocked up, maybe we could… we could…”
“Fuck, babe,” Dux said, stunned. “Bare?”
“Yes,” she said. “Nothing between us. Not anymore.” Her courage seemed to waver then, and she added, “But only if you want. I mean – we don’t have to – I’m OK if you use –”
Dux didn't need to be asked twice. He turned on his side and pulled her to face him, draped her leg over his hip. She gave a gasp as his cock nudged her pussy, and then in one hard push, impatient and done waiting , he was inside her. Her nails bit into his shoulder as he thrust deep, then he paused to let her body adjust. It didn't take long: her body remembered his and had missed it, and he felt her warmth and softness welcome him home.
Behind her, she heard Drake open a bottle, heard the squirt of liquid, knew that he was putting on some lubricant. Her breath hitched as he settled down on the floor again, pressed up against her. He slid his slick fingers inside her ass now, readying her for him. Briley arched back into his huge chest, craving him even as his brother filled her so completely. She always needed more from them, no matter how much they were giving her.
Drake pulled back a bit, held her hips, and then entered her slowly, an inch at a time; Dux watched her face as he did, looking for discomfort. She bit her lip, but her eyes were blazing with desire and need, not pain. He lowered his head and kissed her while Drake scattered little kisses over her neck. Instinct took over now, and she started to move against them, between them, mindless and incoherent.
The twins started off slow, their hips moving in careful circles. But it didn’t last long: within seconds, she was writhing and begging, moving faster and faster, and they matched her pace, thrusting into Briley at the same time. None of them were going to last much longer, and they didn't even try to fight it anymore. She was murmuring that she wanted them to take her, that she wanted them to just let go, and her words started their bodies shaking.
“I'm going to come,” she whispered, burying her face in Dux’s chest. “I’m so close… please… please …”
“What do you need, darlin’?” Drake grunted, almost out of his head as she pushed herself back on him with every one of Dux’s thrusts. “Tell us.”
“I need –” She gasped as they started fucking her harder, fucking her faster, and she gave a scream, lost in the overwhelming feelings. “– this… I need… this . Harder… harder …”
They let themselves go now and drove into her as hard as they could, angling their hips until she caught her breath and threw her head back.
“Like that , yes! My God .” Her eyes closed, her lips parted, her body twisted as she reached for the orgasm that was building and growing, barrelling down on her like a runaway freight train. “ Please …”
They wrapped their large arms around her, holding her in place. Dux’s hand was splayed across her back, supporting her as he moved in and out of her pussy, Drake’s was gripping her ass, pulling her closer, tighter, to meet his plunges. They took total control of her body, moving her the way they wanted her, and she loved every second of it. She felt as limp as a rag doll, and she couldn’t do anything but hold on to them and let them take her, exactly as they wanted to.
As her climax approached, Briley heard herself start to give cries in time with their rhythmic movements. Her one hand gripped Dux’s shoulder, the other was behind her, shamelessly reaching for Drake’s ass, pushing him forward and deeper inside her.
“Yeah, that's it.” Dux slammed into her now, over and over, seconds away from coming. “Come for us, babe. Come with us….”
With a loud cry, she did. She knew they were there with her too, because their bodies went as hard as rock, every muscle locked and tensed. Their cocks were pulsing inside of her clenching body, and she felt their hearts pounding in time to their release. She pressed her lips to Dux’s chest, arched her back, extended her arm over her head gripping the back of Drake’s neck, loving these men in their abandon.
The twins sucked in air like drowning men, stunned at how good it felt to be with her again; they’d never forgotten what loving Briley was like, but somehow she was better, sweeter, hotter than even their most vivid memories. When they kissed her now, it was without all the urgency of their earlier kisses. This time, they was tender, careful, and she responded sweetly, almost shyly.
Dux pulled away slightly to push her hair off her face, searching those mint-green eyes. “Doing OK, babe?”
“ So OK,” she told him, then her eyelids fluttered. “I’m just – I’m tired all of a sudden.”
“Close your eyes, darlin’,” Drake murmured. “We’ve got you.”
“I know you do,” she said, intending to close her eyes just for a minute. Her own voice sounded very far away to her ears, though, and exhaustion swept over her without warning. “You always do.”
**
Briley opened her eyes, wondering why she felt so safe and protected, like she was enveloped in a snug cocoon. That was when she came back into the room, back into her body and she realised that she was , in fact, in a cocoon, kind of. She was nestled between two huge bodies – bodies that her own knew intimately, and she didn’t just mean that sexually – all wrapped in a tangle of arms and legs and in a huge bed.
“Well, well, Sleeping Beauty awakes,” said Dux teasingly. “How you feeling, gorgeous?”
Briley stretched a bit, felt every muscle and tendon loosen and unravel. “Pretty great, actually.”
“Yeah?” Drake asked, looking at her carefully. “We weren’t too much?”
“ God , no. Don’t you boys know by now that you’re never enough?” Briley ran her hands through her tumbled hair. “I crave you, both of you, even when you’re still inside me.”
“OK, that’s the hottest thing we’ve ever heard,” Dux said. “Ever.”
“ Ever ?” She fluttered her eyelashes at them.
“ Fucking ever,” Drake confirmed.
She reached up, kissed him and then his brother, reveling in being able to just touch them, whenever she wanted, however she wanted. She was hungry for them all the time, and she knew that she’d be gone soon, alone back at home and at work. But this time when they all parted, it wouldn’t be with a sick, sad crunch in the pit of her stomach; it would be with hope and joy, and knowing that they’d be back with her soon. It would happen with an eye on the future… a future that they’d build together, along with their children.
“As much as we’d like to go for fun scenario number three,” Dux murmured against her lips. “We do have some stuff to tell you, babe. It’s important.”
Right away, the warm, fuzzy, safe feeling dissipated. She hadn’t exactly forgotten about Wolf calling an MC meeting on short notice, but she had managed to shove it down and aside, and focus instead on her own sudden appearance and big news.
That was over now, though. She’d told the twins about her pregnancy, and they’d come to an agreement, and they’d sealed it not just with a kiss, but with some mind-blowing, passionate sex.
And so the time had come to face what was surely not-great news. Maybe even terrible, terrifying news. But at least she was going to hear it here, wrapped up in the arms of these two amazing men.
“OK,” she said, fighting to keep the panic out of her voice. She wriggled around a bit, ended up with her head resting on Drake’s broad chest, her legs intertwined with Dux’s. “I’m listening.”
“So…” Dux paused, unsure how to start. “So you remember we told you about Crusher Alcott, over in Utah?”
“The MC monster that Michael’s taken up with, somehow?” she said. “The one that is incredibly bad news?”
“Yep. Buckle up, babe. This is quite a ride.”
And indeed it was. She lay there, mute and frozen, as they told her about Crusher and Darryl’s long history, and how they’d disappeared right under the nose of the FBI and some guy named King, who seemed to be some kind of black-ops badass. Briley certainly hadn’t met him, but she was already convinced that he was someone to be both respected and feared.
“And now,” Drake finished. “We – and that means us, Wolf, and King – all think that you’re definitely safer in Pennsylvania now than you are in Denver. If Alcott or Webber spot you, they have plenty of reason to want to hurt you. Back home, with your legal Annette Morris identity and with all personal and professional roads leading to her, you’re pretty much invisible. Wolf told us to get you safe and clear as soon as we could.”
“So… so you want me to leave?”
“We really don’t, darlin’,” Drake said softly. “We're not getting rid of you, at all . We're keeping you safe.” His large hand caressed her curved stomach. “ All of you.”
“Well,” she said brightly, trying to stay upbeat. “My return flight’s tomorrow at noon. Is that soon enough?”
They blinked, astonished. “Your what is when ?”
“Well, I didn't think you'd react like this – that you'd be this happy,” she faltered, taken aback at the thunderous look on their faces. “I – I expected you to just –”
“Just what?” Dux demanded. “Abandon you? Abandon our kid? Kids ?”
“You just told me to go home,” she protested, indignant. “After what you just told me, I’d think that you’d be thrilled that I’m leaving so soon.”
“OK, yes,” Dux said, more calmly. “Yes, we’re telling you to go back to Pennsylvania, but not, like, immediately . Stay an extra day or two.”
“But didn’t you just say that Wolf tell you to get my ass on a plane ASAP?”
“He did,” Drake admitted. “But that was before we knew about the babies, right? We need to sort a few things out and that takes some time, and I think we’d rather do it all in person, anyway, right?”
“It would be better to do this face-to-face,” she agreed. “But what will you tell Wolf?”
“That you’re staying in the house,” Drake said. “You’re safe here, we have great home security, and as long as you stay put, I don’t see how anyone can hurt you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Babe, we are so sure.” Dux ran his fingers down her throat, down the centre of her body, down to her pussy. She arched into his touch, already aching for his mouth on her, in her. “Besides, we need to do some more of this, and it can only be done face-to-face.”
“Yes,” she murmured. Her moan was lost in Drake’s mouth as he took her face in his hands and kissed her, and she was already mindless as Dux slid down her body. “ Yes .”