Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
JACE
I crack open my eyelids to a dream of whites on creams over blond floors.
This isn’t domestic bliss, but it’s damn close. Waking up with Vivian in my arms is my version of dying and going to heaven. Her in her white panties. Me in fresh boxer briefs I borrowed from my brother Nick.
“You just want to hold me?” Vivian had asked last night as we settled into Zar and Nick’s guest bed.
“Fuck, yes,” I rumbled, wrapping my arm around her. “Because I’m not letting you go.”
“You mean metaphorically.” She nestled against me, twining her fingers with mine. “Because I am going tomorrow. I’m getting myself out of this trap once and for all.”
“You mean this trap?” I draped my leg over hers.
Damn, I was so tempted to roll on top of her, to take her, to make sure Vivian knew she’s mine, and I’m hers.
But she wanted it slow, and I want her for the rest of my life; sex can wait.
“You’re not a trap.” She sighed into my embrace. “You’re my freedom, Jace Ryan.”
Yep, that stirred my dick and my heart, but I was determined to hold her until we awoke.
Until sunshine is pouring into the sumptuous guest bedroom and Vivian’s rousing with her fine ass pressed into where I’m fucking dying for her.
Her body is so warm, fitting perfectly nestled into mine. She’s making my dick have a very long and hard talk with me about loving her so much.
Fine. I start kissing her neck, making her moan while I broker a deal with my libido. You can have a sweet morning sip of her pussy. That’s it.
My mouth starts watering for it, my body ready to muff dive under the sheets as I lick my lips, lifting the sheets, and—
“Ahem.”
I jump, snapping my glare to Zar and Nick, looming over the foot of our bed.
“Goddamn,” I grumble. “Who needs a cock-a-doodle-doo when we have two cockblockers waking us up?”
Zar grins, bare-chested in his silk PJ bottoms, looking gleeful about the interruption. Nick stands beside him, happily dressed like his husband, and holding my baby niece.
There’s nothing little about my little brother Nick. He’s tall, tatted, jacked, and one of the NFL’s finest and the first openly gay, top-tier players.
I’m proud of him; he knows.
But right now?
I’m pissed at him, and he’s fucking delighted.
“Oh, our bad.” Nick cradles their daughter. “Someone wanted their Uncle JJ this morning, but we can come back.”
“The fuck you will.” I sit up with grabbie hands. “Gimme my baby.”
Zarina is four months old, with brown eyes and downy, dark hair. She’s recently discovered her smile, and it lights up every time she sees me, making my man-ovaries burst.
I hold her, loving her powdery smell and little body in a lion onesie. I kiss her hair and let her slobber on my pecs as I turn, finding Vivian sharing my niece’s sentiment.
“Good god.” She sighs sleepily. “No woman can survive three hot, bare-chested men and a baby. I just spontaneously conceived.”
I huff, grinning. “Think again, Smokeshow. When we conceive, we’re doing it the doggie way, all animal-like and—”
“Cage the beast,” Zar drawls. “It’s time to conceive of a shower because The Queen will be here in an hour, and you two have fuck-hair, minus the fucking.”
“Hey,” I whisper-bark, aware I’m cradling a tiny cherub. “How do you know we didn’t fuck?”
Nick boasts, “Because he’s married to me, and he knows lions roar when we come.”
I glance at Vivian again. Holy fuck, she’s cute when she’s blushing.
And freaking out.
She jolts up, letting the bedsheet fall. “Your mom? Nadine Faye? You mean she’s on her way, and I have nothing to wear but fuck hair and a dirty dress?”
“She’ll love you,” I assure her. “Mom doesn’t have a judgmental bone in her body.”
“But she does love Chanel,” Zar adds. “And Chanel loves me. They’re sending three dresses over as we speak.”
“Jace is right.” Nick shakes the baby bottle in his hand. “Mom already loves you. She’s bringing a tracker necklace for your trip.”
Nick acts so warmly toward Vivian, I have to remember they’ve known each other for years. Vivian’s taken pictures of him and Zar in the most erotic moments, per their Dom’s request.
It’s why she can sit there with her mouthwatering tits exposed to them and not be shy. It’s cute, almost comforting, confirming she belongs with us.
Clearly, because Nick’s focused on Viv’s eyes, not her nipples. “I also have your favorite tea brewing and some biscuits made for after your shower, but my little princess is hungry now.”
He reaches like he’s about to take his daughter from me, but I’m the best fucking uncle in the world.
I snap my fingers, holding my hand out for the bottle. Turning Zarina in my grasp, I feed her like a pro because I am. With three baby nieces, I got this bottle thing on lock.
Plus, babies melt my heart.
Wonder if Vivian’s willing to give me six.
“Thank you.” She sighs sweetly. “I’m just overwhelmed by how everyone wants to help me.”
Nick wraps his arms around Zar, both gazing at us, grinning. They’re eating this shit up: me and Vivian in bed with a baby.
Do they know my biological clock ticks like Big Ben in my boxers for her? Probably.
Do they know she’s the reason I love alien romance novels? I identify with the alien warlord who loves a human but can’t have her.
Nick does. I tell him everything.
He beams at Viv. “Well, I’m not saying that Jace has told us he wants you to be his queen, but if he had, we’re happy to help you. And regardless,” Nick explains, “our mom always helps a woman.”
A velvet voice calls, “If you’re going to praise me, say it to my face.”
An hour early, and clad in ivory Chanel, my mom walks in, and there goes Vivian, ducking under the sheets.
“Give me my grandbaby.” Mom comes up, pecking my cheek, stealing Zarina and her bottle from me. “And introduce me to your baby.”
“Mom, this is… uh…” I grin at the cute lump under the covers. “This is my half-naked baby, Vivian, hiding under the sheets, and she—”
“I’m not hiding,” Vivian protests, sounding muffled and mortified. “I’m sorry, Ms. Faye, but I have better manners than to meet you in my birthday suit with my hair forty ways from Sunday. Please, forgive me.”
“Forgive what, dear?” Mom smiles at the spectacle. “That you clearly make my son happy, and it’s about damn time? Please, never be shy about a roll in the hay. It’s God’s gift to women for all the horse shit we put up with.”
The sheets shake. Vivian’s laughing, so I dive under, fetching her with a kiss. “Come on, Smokeshow. Show your sexy face. You need to meet my mom and your liberation.”
Viv emerges with me, smoothing her tousled hair and elegantly licking her thumb, using spit to wipe her smoky eyes.
“I like her,” Mom decrees.
“Right?” Nick nods, agreeing. “Jace is so smitten he even spent a chaste night with her in his arms, and—”
I boom, “Can we not discuss our no-sex sex life?”
“Well.” Vivian shrugs. “We did do some things, and—”
“And we need to help you, dear.” Mom works her way around the room, pecking Nick’s cheek, then Zar’s, before she gracefully sits on Vivian’s side of the guest bed while feeding her granddaughter.
Mom admires my future queen. It’s as undeniable as the sunrise through the windows.
“I’m so sorry, Vivian. My son told me about your ex-husband’s crime.
” The way my mom opens up to her puts a lump in my throat.
“I know what it’s like to have your body and privacy taken, and I hope you know that you did nothing wrong.
He’s the criminal. Your body is your property, and he had no right to take it, even a video.
I know in a world like ours, it takes time to see it that way, but you will, and we’ll help. ”
Vivian blinks back tears. “Thank you. I’m working on it, I promise.”
Damn, I love how sensitive she is.
Vivian lives with her tender heart open. It’s why she’s a natural photographer and the only woman I’ve opened up to. Growing up, I had all these emotions bottled up, but with Vivian, they’re safe. They’re seen. We share them.
I wrap my arm around her, murmuring into her strands. “And I’ll give you all the time in the world, I promise.”
“I’ll be okay.” She nestles into me. “I’m almost free.”
“No, Viv.” I clench my jaw. “I have a bad feeling about this. A man who’s abused you once will do it again. Let me just kill him.”
“Since when are you the unhinged one?” An icy voice enters the room. “You know better. This is a mission, not a murder.”
I whip my stare to Axel, holding Ruby’s hand. They stroll into the room and take their place beside Nick and Zar at the foot of the bed.
“What is this?” I huff, annoyed. “A slumber party?”
Usually, we meet in Mom’s fortified office at Elysium, or our locked throne room at Delta’s. But apparently, my family’s in the mood for a bedside summit.
“Yep, we’re freezing bras.” On cue, Grant booms, waltzing in with Delphine on his arm.
“Jesus, fuck.” I’d yell if my baby niece weren’t in the room. Instead, I seethe, “I just told Vivian we’d give her time, and now you all come in, guns blazing.”
I angle back, telling Vivian. “Excuse my family, please. When they smell injustice, they swarm like sharks.”
“Like lions,” Ruby corrects me.
It strikes me immediately. “Wait.” I glance from her to Delphine. “If you two are here, then who’s watching the scumbro?”
I know Axel and Ruby’s kids are with Ruby’s sister, Scarlett, in The Mercier’s penthouse upstairs. Luca Mercier is Ruby’s brother-in-law.
But at this rate, I’m surprised the whole damn hotel isn’t in here.
Delphine flits her hand at me. “That is why we are here. The merde is at your house.” She addresses Vivian. Typical queen. Her true loyalty lies with her. “He is waiting for you. You do not have much time. What is your plan?”
I bark, taking over. “I shadow Vivian and kill that fucker if he breathes near her.”
Ruby rolls her eyes. “Okay, hot Reacher.” It’s what she affectionately calls me and Grant.
Apparently, we look like the massive one, not the little Tom Cruise one.
“We’ve had this discussion before,” Ruby sweetly chides.
“Don’t go stealing a woman’s victory by trying to save her. A lioness can save herself.”
“Ouais,” Delphine adds. “This is Vivian’s fight. She just needs you to guard her pride.”
“Spoken like my court of queens.” Mom beams, patting her granddaughter’s back, murmuring over her soft curls, “Isn’t that right, my little lioness?”
Again, typical.
Our beautiful queens keep their kings in check. Too bad we love them more than logic allows. It’s instinct. They can’t tame us. We’re still beasts.
“But like hell if we ever abandon a queen,” I argue. “We kill for you.”
“He’s right.” Grant has my back. He adores Vivian. She brings him gummy bears, got him trained like a dog with a bone, so he protects her, warning, “Don’t trust a man when he’s shown you that he can’t be trusted. One wrong smile at you, and that fucker dies.”
“Ouais, mon amour.” Delphine pats Grant’s shoulder, her smile sarcastic but warm. “Smart plan. Kill him, and the video lives forever.”
“That’s what I keep saying,” Vivian chimes in, sweetly but determined.
“Look, I appreciate what everyone’s doing for me.
Truly. I can’t thank you enough, but I know how to fix this now.
It’s David’s cousins. They’ll be in Florida, where I’ll encourage him to party with them for two weeks straight, buying you enough time to search their homes here.
They’ll have no drunk idea while you find those servers. That’s the plan; trust me.”
Delphine piles on. “Trust a woman’s intuition.”
“And our intelligence.” Ruby pulls a white velvet jewelry box from her purse.
“The Queen asked me to bring this. It’s my tracking necklace.
” She hands it to Vivian, winking. “Press it if you need help with your tiny ex-dick, and wear it if you want your pierced king’s dick to stalk you down a dark alley and lift your skirt and—”
“And Mom doesn’t need to hear that story,” Axel interjects, almost laughing.
Unfazed, Mom kisses Zarina’s cheek. “Whatever gives me grandbabies.”
Ruby shares the PG version of Axel stalking her, while I just gaze at Vivian.
I can’t deny that her plan is smart.
So why can’t I shake the instinct that it’ll go wrong?