Chapter 25 #3
A long-suffering sigh from my long-suffering husband. “We have a jet, love. Most of the time it sits idle, and it needs to be put through its paces.” He ran a hand over my ass. “Like you do. I wanna make sure your engine purrs too.”
“It does,” I promised, “but I guess I can’t blame you for wanting to check under the hood on occasion.”
He pulled me close and claimed my mouth, a scorching kiss that never failed to curl my toes and make me pop wood immediately.
“Let’s take this to the bedroom,” I whispered, desperate to be under him.
“Better idea. Why don’t we go out to our spot and make out like two horny teenagers? You grab the picnic basket and I’ll go to our bedroom and slip the lube into my pocket so the boys don’t see.”
I slid my hand down his chest, stomach, and finally stopped at his groin. He hissed a breath.
“Haven’t you ever heard the saying ‘don’t poke the bear’?” he ground out, his voice becoming huskier than normal.
“Oh, yes. I wasn’t planning on it. I’m kinda hoping the bear would poke me.”
He chuckled and kissed me again. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”
“It’s been a few hours,” I said, sticking out my bottom lip into a spectacular pout, if I do say so. “So almost forever.”
He picked me up and I loved it. He could manhandle me so easily, but most times he was gentle.
Sex? That was another story. When he finally let me crawl out of bed, I had bite marks all over my body, deep and red.
He loved to have me stand there, arms above my head, look at his handiwork and smirk at me like he was saying, ‘yup, I did that’. I never minded.
“Got a question for you.”
“Well, if it’s about sex, the answer is yes.”
He ran the pad of his thumb over my chin. “It’s not, but I would like to revisit that later. What would you say about asking Jamie, Deb, and Wyatt to live here? Not in the mansion, of course, unless you want that.”
I did not. I wasn’t kidding when I said Deb was loud. “Can we find them a house somewhere so we won’t have to hear their sex sessions?”
He laughed uproariously. “Love, have you heard you during sex? Why do you think I had to have the master suite soundproofed? Amelia came to me and said they could hear you in the kitchen, so I had to do something.”
“And it has nothing to do with the way you roar when you shoot, right? Or those times you slam me into the wall when you’re pushing up inside of me?
That picture I took of our spot and framed fell off the wall the last time.
I had to have maintenance bolt everything down to ensure nothing got broken. ”
He winked at me. “Okay, there might have been words to that effect too. But back to Jamie and Deb.”
It wasn’t even something I needed to think about. “I would love to have them here, but seriously, I would rather they have their own place where they can love and grow their family. But what can they do here?”
“We don’t have a bakery, and I think Jamie’s stuff would be a hit. Hell, I could have everyone in the company buy stuff for meetings and the like. And Deb? She could easily work in HR for the main corporation. Or she could do something totally different if she wants. The sky is the limit here.”
It would be great to have them closer. I’d love to be able to have them stop over for a cup of coffee just because. And I’d get to see Wyatt grow.
“Yeah, that sounds amazing.”
He clapped his hands together. “Then that’s settled. Let’s give them a call.”
“Why not wait until they get home? Besides, we have a date.”
His eyes widened and his nostrils flared. “Don’t ever think I’d forget that. Let’s go.”
We collected the stuff we needed and headed for the carport.
He opened my door and helped me in, then kissed me before shutting it.
We—okay, fine, he—drove for a couple of hours, and I was grateful for it, because I got too wrapped up in sightseeing to drive.
No matter how many times I saw it, I was enraptured.
When we arrived, there were flocks of geese landing on the lake, and I watched them, totally spellbound.
“I love this place,” I whispered, stripping off my clothes, mirroring Brent’s moves.
“And everyone in this place loves you,” he replied, laying down so his head was in my lap. I absently stroked his hair while I watched the fowl play around.
“Uly?”
“What’s up?”
“I… Well, I wanted to say… I mean…”
“I love you too, big old growly bear.”
“Yeah, that.”
He normally had no problems saying the words, which told me he had something else on his mind.
“I know you want to say something, so get it off your well muscled, hairy chest.”
He chuckled. “I’d like to talk to you to see if we could adopt a child.”
I had not been expecting that, but I was so not opposed to it. I’d wanted another kid being underfoot, asking those inane questions, singing badly, running through the house and screaming. I wanted it so fiercely. “Okay.”
He beamed. “Really?”
“Well, we both know I can’t get pregnant, and goodness knows we’ve tried it in plenty of ways. I would love to have a kid with you. I have to wonder, though. Will the boys be jealous?”
His cheeks pinked. “To be honest, they were the ones who brought it up. They said there was something missing in our dynamic, and with them getting older and preparing to move on to college soon, we needed something in our lives. They suggested a kid.”
“And lemme guess, they have one in mind.” Because of course they did.
“They do. One of the girls at school, Alessandra, got pregnant. She’s only fourteen, and the man who did the deed was thirty-five.”
My blood boiled at the thought. I’d heard similar stories before I’d come to live here, and honestly, I thought this place was a haven. It angered me that there were people like him even in paradise. “Was she forced?”
“She says she wasn’t. She said he told her he’d leave his wife and they could get married, but that isn’t the point. He had no reason to touch her. He’s got kids of his own that are older than she is. When I confronted him, he begged me to make the problem go away.”
“And you did.”
“I did,” he affirmed. “I told him to be packed and out of the sleuth by the end of the week. I said if I ever heard his name again, I would talk to the sheriff and have him arrested for statutory rape.”
“Shouldn’t we do that anyway? If he leaves, he could do it again elsewhere.”
A slow, vengeful smile crossed Brent’s face, reminding me how dangerous a bear could be.
“You’d think that, wouldn’t you? I spoke with Cullin and he’ll have one of his best guys watching over this man’s every move.
He has carte blanche to handle the situation the way he sees fit.
If the guy steps out of line, Bell will rip his balls off. ”
“And this Bell will agree to it?”
“Already has. He’d heard rumors about Vernor and has hated him for years. To know he can torment the man if he crosses the line? He’s eager to do this assignment.”
“And what about his family?”
“Already spoke with Vernor’s wife. She wants him gone. She’s asked for a transfer to Tokyo so she’s far away from him. I’ve already signed the paperwork. After the baby is born, she and her daughter will start a new life.”
Brent sat up, his gaze locked on me. He put a big hand on my chest a moment before he pushed me down and lifted one of my legs over his shoulder, giving me a devilish grin.
“Enough talk. Let’s get this party started.”
He pulled a small travel sized lube from the picnic basket, popped the lid, and smeared three fingers of his left hand with the goo.
We’d done this song and dance so many times, it was familiar and comfortable, but still hot and sexy.
He teased my hole, dipping one finger in slightly, then swirling it around.
“Like that?” he asked, sounding smug.
“Yes, I do,” I assured him. The why was easy. If he sensed any hesitation on my part, he would stop what he was doing to ensure I was okay. He was a voracious lover, but also considerate as hell.
“Good. I like it too.”
Then the finger slid all the way in, giving the subtle burn I enjoyed so much.
Mostly because I knew that after this there would be nothing but the sweetest of pleasure.
While he fingered me, he gripped my aching shaft with his other hand.
I was surprised to find he had lube on it too.
This was different. He stroked from balls to head, squeezing gently, the pressure maddening.
“What are you doing?” I demanded. Every fiber of my being wanted him inside me, pounding hard, making me cry out his name. I never said so, but I think the reason was because he loved to hear it echo off of our surroundings.
“You don’t like?” he asked, trying to act innocent and failing miserably.
“Of course I do, you bastard. But your cock touches me even deeper and… and I need you.”
“You gonna tell me what’s been on your mind then?”
How the hell would he know that? And why was I so reluctant to talk to him about it? I sighed. “Empty nest syndrome,” I admitted. “The boys dash out of the house earlier and get home later every day. I… I miss having someone to talk to.”
“Which is why they came to me and said we needed another child,” Brent confirmed.
It made no sense, though. “But I have the entire staff around. I talk to them. Why would I still be lonely?”
He pressed the head of his cock against my hole, breaching me and thrilling me with one, very long slide until his balls and mine rested together.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I would have done something to make you happy.”
“What? Oh, no, baby. You do every damned day. This is on me, I swear.”
I lay there, him buried in me, not moving. Yes, the man could be damned frustrating.
“Uly, love of my life, this isn’t on you. It’s something we will face together, as a family. One that’s about to grow a little bigger.”
I lifted my head. “What do you mean about to grow? When is she due?”
He smirked. “Last week.”
I tried to get up, but Brent held me in place and resumed his strokes which reduced me to a gibbering mess.
“But I—we—have a lot to do,” I said, a list forming in my head.
“Right now you need to relax and let me take care of you.”
“Brent, I—”
“Have to shut up for a while,” he told me, thrusting hard and pegging my gland, the friction enough to make me squeak.
“You know,” he said, “every time we do this it’s like the first one. You’re every bit as tight and beautiful as that night in our bed.”
And then he started ramming into me in earnest. He leaned in as I reached up and wrapped my arm around his neck.
He settled into the familiar rhythm, pounding hard, drawing out my inner slut, and making it beg him not to stop.
Pleading him to drive in deeper. To make me remember how much I was loved.
“Gonna cum,” he growled.
Our first session was always fast, then he’d take me again two or three times, each within a few minutes of stopping the first, he was back to slamming me once more. It was so different than anything I could have imagined. And I craved him more each time.
The remainder of the night was filled with my moans and cries of pleasure, culminating in Brent’s roar and a smug smile as his bellow echoed off the surrounding mountains.
Afterward, we lay there, staring up at the stars. I was exhausted, but so damned fulfilled.
“What should we name him?” he asked, pulling me out of my post-orgasmic bliss.
A boy? I sighed. I would have another son. “How about Lucas James to satisfy my parents? We can call him Luke for short.”
Brent nuzzled my neck, nibbling on the skin, then laving it with his very talented tongue. “I like it.”
For the ride home and afterward lying in bed, we talked about how things in our house would change. And we both decided it was for the better.
All in all, it was a very good evening.
The next morning I crawled out of bed, aching in the best way.
I was walking with a hitch in my step, which always made the kids and staff give a knowing laugh.
After pouring a cup of coffee, I took a seat on the couch—the one with the thickest cushions—called Jamie and spoke to him and Deb.
They were hesitant to accept, worried that they might become nuisances if they lived too close.
“You’re both pains in my ass anyway,” I argued, although the twinge I was feeling was more to do with Brent than anything else. “And I’ll be honest, I’d love to have you closer. All of you.”
“We’ll have to discuss it,” Jamie said. “Wyatt has friends here, and he might not want to move elsewhere.”
“Let’s try to make it happen, okay?”
We exchanged pleasantries a bit longer, then I told them about our decision to adopt. Both of them were over the moon for us.
That night as we lay in bed, Brent’s phone rang. I curled up against him as he answered, his voice filled with sleep. It wasn’t unusual for us to get a call, sometimes even later than midnight. With him being leader of the sleuth, things always cropped up that demanded his attention.
“‘Lo?” A moment later he jolted. “We’ll be right there.” He disconnected the call, then turned to me. “The baby is coming. Get up.”
I was out of bed and dressed in moments.
Brent was still faster. We hurried to the hospital, making our way to the delivery room where we found we had just made it.
As a bear shifter, labor was far faster than as a human, and Alessandra had given birth to a perfect seven pound baby boy, with red hair and blue eyes.
He stared at the world and all the wonders he beheld.
When Alessandra held him, she cried.
“I love you so much,” she whispered. “But I can’t give you the life these guys can.” She tried to blink back the tears, but it wasn’t working. “I hope you’ll understand when you’re older.”
I wanted to tell her we could make it work if she wanted to keep the baby, but she handed him over to me, and was then whisked away to recovery.
“Are we doing the right thing?” I asked Brent as I held Luke to my chest. “She loves him.”
“I know, but yes, we are. She’s not old enough or responsible enough to be a mother at this stage. A child should not be forced into having children.”
And I knew he was right, but still worried that she would be haunted by this decision for years to come.
“Don’t worry,” Brent said, swiping a finger over Luke’s head. “We’ve got her set up with a psychologist to talk things out. We would never let a member of the sleuth flounder.”
I glanced down at Luke, who peered up at me with big eyes filled with wonder.
And I fell in love with our new son.