Sophie Oak - Sirens in Bliss

“Did you have to do that?” Jen asked. She was a little intimidated by the big bad Dom. Julian Lodge had a way of looking at a person that made her wonder if he was sizing her up for a tasty meal.

“He’s nothing but a big old teddy bear,” Barnes assured her.

A grimace marred Julian’s perfect face for a moment. “I think I just vomited a little. I am not a teddy bear, Jackson. I still have plenty of teeth. Old age might have dulled your edge, but mine is firmly in place.” He turned to Jennifer and proved how charming he could be. She allowed him to take her hand in greeting. “Hello, dear. Have I thanked you for hosting us? I know it’s an imposition, but we’re really enjoying our time here.”

“Not a problem. It’s been nice to have someone to talk to.” She’d definitely enjoyed spending time with their wives and children.

Julian sent Jack a surprised look. “Stefan is screwing it up, then?”

“Looks like it. Julian, tell her how you felt when you first found out Dani was pregnant. Tell her all about how excited you were about the baby and how you just knew that the baby was going to change your life for the better.”

Julian shuddered a little. “I wish I could. The truth is quite different. I was completely terrified. I had no idea how I was going to handle it, but Danielle was quite insistent. Even several spankings couldn’t dissuade her from trying to get pregnant.”

“You didn’t want your daughter?” She couldn’t imagine it. Julian had been so tender with the baby. Little Chloe was always held by one of them. She wondered if the baby ever touched a bed by herself.

Julian laughed a little. “Oh, I wanted her, but I didn’t know I did. When Danielle told me I was going to be a father, all I could feel was a complete panic. My father died when I was very young. I didn’t exactly know how to go about being a father, and then there was the fear of losing her.” He got very serious. “I love my wife. She and Finn were my whole world at the time. I guess I couldn’t imagine things changing.”

“I felt the same way.” Barnes leaned against the doorjamb. “I found out Abigail was pregnant and all I could think about was how it would change everything. We’d only been married for a year or so. I wasn’t ready. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the thought of children, but like Julian, I didn’t grow up with a father. I was afraid I wouldn’t be a good one. I was afraid something could happen to my wife. I was just afraid. Men are different. We don’t get to feel that baby kicking around inside us.”

“Thank god,” Julian said with a shudder.

Jack ignored him. “We don’t understand the whole parenthood thing until the baby is here and we can hold him in our arms and really get that this baby is a whole human being we made with the person we loved. I think it’s worse for us Doms.”

“We feel out of control,” Julian concurred. “Finn handled it so much better than I did. I think I got through those nine months because Finn practically held my hand.”

“Sam just accepted it. He didn’t fight it at all. He immediately started rubbing Abby’s belly and talking to the baby. He brought me in.” Jack sent a look toward his family. “God, I would have been lost without Sam. Stef doesn’t have a Sam. He doesn’t have a Finn. So I’m betting that he’s just scared of losing his precious wife. He doesn’t have any brothers, does he?”

“He has Max and Rye, but Stef doesn’t talk about a lot of things. He’s very private.” She’d kept her fears inside her for so long. “I think he doesn’t want me anymore. I’m much bigger than I used to be.”

Julian shook his head. “She’s going to get a spanking.”

“Damn, girl. I wouldn’t tell your husband that if I were you.” A slow smile crossed his face. “Or maybe you should.”

“Yes, that would very likely bring him around,” Julian agreed. “Though we certainly shouldn’t be telling a submissive to poke her Dom.”

“Sometimes we need a little poke, Julian. You know it.” Jack gave her an encouraging nod. “Tell him how you feel. You know communication is the key to a healthy relationship. Sometimes Doms forget and we need our subs to remind us.”

“But then we spank our subs for poking us,” Julian pointed out.

Jack smiled smoothly. “And then we give them many, many orgasms.”

“Oh, that would be so nice.” She kind of wished she hadn’t said it out loud, but it was true. It had been forever. She needed her man.

But if she just went to Stef and told him her fears, he would very likely give her a pat on the belly and tell her she was still pretty and he still wanted her and things would go on the way they had been. He would be gentle and not at all like the husband she was so crazy about, the one she’d fought for.

Of course, she hadn’t always fought fair. Sometimes an indirect approach was really best.

“That is a look I know well.” Jack shook his head and sighed. “That’s the look my Abby gets when she’s going to top from the bottom and do it well. Be prepared, Jennifer. Sometimes when you wake the sleeping Dom, your ass gets real tender.”

“But I’ve been told that can be fun. Sometimes a sub has to fight. At the end of the day we can call ourselves submissives and Doms, but we’re just men and women and husbands and wives. It’s no different. Love, I’ve found, requires maintenance. If I could give Leo some advice it would be that. This wedding is just the first step. A marriage, well, that is something entirely different.” Julian frowned as he turned toward the table where everyone was eating breakfast. “Jackson, your son is attempting to feed my daughter. He has got to stop that. I am told that Chase has been talking to Joshua about certain historical handfasting rituals and how he can secure himself a bride in this fashion.”

Barnes’s eyes rolled. “Julian, he’s five. Give me a fucking break. He’s not trying to get married.”

“Yes, because the men of his line aren’t known for their singular stubborn will. She can’t eat bananas, Joshua!”

Both men took off for the children, but Jen stayed where she was, an idea forming in her brain.

Sometimes a girl just needed to talk to her friends. Who else could she tell her problems to? Who else could come up with a brilliantly evil plan to solve her problems?

Yes, that should do it.

Aidan, Lexi, and Lucas

Aidan took his seat at the breakfast table across from his hosts. Jamie and Noah ran the Circle G along with two men Aidan knew damn well. Trev McNamara took a long pull off what had to be his third cup of coffee of the morning. If Aidan remembered correctly, it wouldn’t be his last. Trev drank the stuff all day long. Bo, Aidan’s little brother, sat down beside Trev, a plate of bacon and eggs and hash browns in front of him.

Bo looked so good. His little brother had truly grown up under Trev’s mentorship and with the love of their shared wife, Beth. He’d gone from an obnoxious brat to a man Aidan could rely on.

He glanced over to where Lexi was pacing just outside the kitchen, her cell phone to her ear and a baby on her hip. Little Jack clung to his momma like a monkey. Sometimes Aidan thought the only way to get her attention these days was to be able to climb up her body. Or to be her agent.

“Is Lexi going to come eat? I could make a plate for her.” Bo looked out to the living room, a worried frown on his face.

Lexi’s voice carried through the house. “No, use the second excerpt. Yes, the one where the hero gets in the shower and finds out the heroine is already there. I agree. It’s the best one and it’s not so hot that it will scare off new readers. Twenty-five hundred should be enough. We just need to get through conference season.”

Lucas stepped in, finding Aidan’s eyes and smiling. Until he heard Lexi talking. Then those gorgeous lips of his turned down. “I thought we were on vacation.”

Lexi was never on vacation anymore. Since her career had taken off, she’d become a workaholic and nothing could get her off the phone. Sometimes he wondered how she got any writing done since she was on the phone all the time.

“Her PA called. Apparently she has to get ready for some conference in Denver. She wasn’t supposed to go, but she got invited at the last minute so she’s hustling up books and promo material. She thought we wouldn’t mind since we’re already in Colorado.”

“But Denver is six hours away,” Lucas pointed out. “It’s not like it’s down the street. Are we supposed to rent a car and shove the kids in? Julian’s jet leaves in two days. And we can’t just let the ranch run itself. I trust the hands, but you need to be there.”

“I don’t think she expects us to go with her. I think we’re supposed to head home at the appointed time and let her go to Denver on her own.” Aidan stared at his wife. “You know, it’s a really big deal for her.”

Those last words were spoken with just a hint of sarcasm. Everything was a big deal now. Everything except him and Lucas.

“What’s a really big deal?” Shelley McNamara walked in looking slightly tired.

Trev had a smile and a big hug for his sister. “You are. How was the bachelorette party?”

“Insane.” Shelley had the biggest smile on her face. “Georgia brought the makeup and the booze. I’m now addicted to Chanel and Ciroc. We had makeovers and watched movies and drank too much. It was perfect. But my mother-in-law is a little bit crazy. I have to meet with someone today who’s going to run some tests to make sure I’m not an alien queen seeking to breed with her sons. I’m a little worried about what’s going to happen if I flunk that test. She was deeply disturbed that I refused to eat beets. Apparently aliens are allergic to them. I understand, because they taste like crap and stain your teeth. I am not getting married with purple teeth, damn it.”