Elizabeth
“Beth, where are the guys?” Ava asked.
“They’re in my husband’s office having a security debate.”
“Again?” I rolled my eyes because they’d always spent their time working on strategic ways to protect their families, which made no sense because the normal ways worked just fine.
“Of course.” I held my youngest in my arms while he rested on my hip. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“Yes. I could totally use it. I have to tell you what blunder I made as a mom last night.” She went on to explain how she accidentally connected her work laptop to the kids’ Bluetooth and her youngest heard a clip of her latest audio.
“Girl, you need something stronger than coffee.” I walked over to the liquor cabinet and waved a bottle of wine her way. “We can call the guys to take the kids, and we can go out on the patio.”
“No, it’s okay. Trust me. James said Jacob was fine and thankfully, JJ was already in his room, so I learned my lesson. It helped that James made sure I was reminded of my mistake and thoroughly educated me on the consequences,” she said with a giggle.
“Oh, I’ll need to find a punishment to earn. It’s been a while since I’ve tested Diego’s patience.”
“Have you tried breaking their safety protocols? It worked for me.” She winked.
“That’s a good one. Maybe while the kids are at school and the baby is with the nanny. You’re good at this.”
“Of course, but I can’t help it. I’m surprised James hasn’t dragged Diego to boxing yet.”
“Boxing? They better not be. I don’t want his beautiful face damaged.”
“Whose beautiful face?” Diego asked, scooping our sleeping son off my chest and kissing the top of his head without taking his possessive eyes off me.
I brushed his scruffy, tense jaw. “Yours, my love. You better not be boxing.”
“We’ll wear headgear,” James offered.
“James loves to box,” Ava added as if it wasn’t a big deal, but I didn’t want my husband hurt.
“Besides, you know how I like to keep my strength up for hand-to-hand combat.” He cuffed my waist with his free hand and held me firmly. “You like that I’m strong and ready for war, mi amor.”
“Fine, but if you get hurt, don’t come crawling to me.”
He tucked our son into his carrier and then pulled me in for a deep kiss.
“Darling, if I get hurt, of course I’m crawling to you so you can rub my boo-boos and make it all better.
” He cupped my ass and then thrust his front against mine, his thick, needy girth showing me how much he desired me. “I love your gentle ministrations.”
“Be a good girl.” He patted my ass and then went upstairs to change before he went boxing with James.
After the men left, Ava and I sat in the living room as the kids played. “So I know you didn’t want to talk about it in front of Diego, but what happened with your mom?”
“She tried to contact me after she finally noticed my picture in the newspaper with Diego at the Gala last week.”
“What did you tell her?”
“To stay away. Real mothers don’t abandon their children for men. Her man didn’t want the reminder of another child, so he made her leave me while she had a family with him.”
“Why did she bother contacting you now?”
“She needs a transplant and wants to see if I’m a possible donor. Even if I were, I wouldn’t sacrifice my health for her. My kids would be the ones I’d sacrifice for, should they ever need it.”
“Damn right. I’m so sorry that she was awful, but you still turned out amazing and I’m grateful that it led you into my life.”
“Because it brought James as well.”
“That too, but I’m serious. You are a fabulous friend and I’m so proud to call you that.
” She gave me a big hug. I wrapped my arms around her too, letting the sadness of my mother’s selfishness disappear.
We can’t let other people’s choices rule our lives.
I’ve learned to live without her and that won’t stop.
“Thanks,” I replied, pulling away.
Ava stayed another hour with her boys before she packed up and left.
She wanted to be home in time to meet James for dinner.
I took the boys out to the backyard pool while Vasco stood guard.
The boys grew tired after an hour and wanted to go inside, so we did.
Then, I decided to shower and read a book I’d been holding off on starting.
It was a romantic thriller. I’d only gotten about a hundred pages in when Diego came home.
He was dressed just like he left and looked perfectly fine. “I thought you went boxing.”
“I did.” I gave him a suspicious look, glaring and wondering what he was really up to. “But you don’t even look hurt at all.”
He pressed his hand to his chest and dropped down to the sofa with exaggeration. It was then that I got a whiff of him. He’d definitely been sweating a lot. “Darling, you hurt my feelings. Are you saying that you think I’m weak?”
“No, it’s just that I’ve seen boxing matches, and they’re pretty gruesome.”
“I told you, love, we were sparring with protective gear on, but I will say my shoulder hurts a little, so I’m going to take a nice hot shower.
From the look on your face, I’m sure that I smell a little ripe.
” I tried to deny it, but he let out a chuckle.
“Love, we’ve been married for seven years now.
You can say that I need a shower. I was boxing for a long time, and that bastard doesn’t let up.
Besides, we hit the bags too. We weren’t just sparring. ”
“How was your time with the kids?” he asked as I followed him up the stairs with my book in hand.
“Good. I took them out to the pool for about an hour after Ava left, and then they wanted to go inside.”
“So did you want to finish your book while I cook dinner?” he asked.
“How did you know I was reading?”
“Love, we have indoor cameras. Besides, you’re holding it under your arm.” He pointed at my elbow.
“So you know what I’ve been doing all day. Why did you bother asking?” I huffed.
He growled at me like I was the problem. “Look, get in that damn bed with your book and be a good girl. Read and enjoy. I’m going to shower and when I get out, I’m going to eat your pussy until you calm that bad attitude down.”
I hadn’t realized how crabby I’d been, and then I remembered Ava’s words.
This had accidentally worked in my favor.
“Whatever,” I added. I hopped into bed and opened to the page where I left off.
Although for five minutes straight, I read the same two paragraphs, unable to grasp them.
I closed the book and listened to the sound of the water hitting the walls and the glass door in between, hitting his taut, muscular body.
I wondered if he had markings on him from his sparring.
I opened the door to take a peek, and there he was with his back toward me, scrubbing his broad chest, soap covering most of his body.
“Do you want to lend me a hand, mi vida?”
“If your shoulders are bothering you, I could help.”
“I’d like that.” I slipped off my clothes while my husband never took his admiring eyes off me.
“And I love that.” The way he leered at my figure after three boys did me in.
He opened the glass door and helped me step into the stall.
Without hesitation, he slammed his mouth against mine and pinned me to the wall.
“Wife, you fucked up.” He dropped to his knees and lifted my leg over his shoulder.
His next words were muffled against my mound, and it didn’t matter because my heartbeat played in my ears.
I bit down on my hand to stop from screaming as I came on his face.
“Good girl.” He rose to his feet and speared me with his cock, thrusting inside completely and stealing the breath from my lungs.
He pumped several more times, taking us over the edge as we both came together.
After we dried off, we laid in bed with both of us naked.
I straddled his waist and sat on his ass while he rested on his stomach, his broad back on display.
Several tattoos that showed the man he’d been throughout his life covered the caramel skin.
I traced the ink, my favorite being the tattoo of me that he had done.
He’d gone to the best artist, and it was like looking at a picture of me. “Time for your massage, Mr. Hernandez.”
“I love your hands on me,” he moaned, stretching his arms above his head and then sliding them under his pillow.
I’d grabbed the lotion as I’d left the bathroom, so I was ready for him.
Squirting some onto my hands, I massaged his shoulder, gently kneading it and listening to his deep rumblings.
The sound of his voice always made my body melt.
For ten minutes, I rubbed him down until my hands were dry.
I pressed my chest on his back and then leaned down and asked, “Is it better?”
He chuckled lightly with a slight hint of a growl. “Anytime you touch me, everything is better. You’re forever my world.” His hand snaked around to rub my thigh.
“At one point I was nothing to you,” I whispered against his throat.
Quickly I found myself on my back with my darling, powerful husband leaning over me.
His beautiful eyes, dark with that intensity that always pulled me in, stared into my soul.
He stroked the hair away from my face. “Never. You were always everything. You just didn’t know it yet.
If you hadn’t landed in my lap, I wouldn’t have given up looking for you. ”
“We’re in this forever.” He kissed me again, igniting another long night of passion.