“No! That’s not what I meant. But you and I hadn’t talked about this. Well, I mean, we talked about talking about it later, after…but not—”
He kissed her again, just to make her stop talking and give him a moment to process some more and let his relief settle within him. He rested his forehead against hers. “You’re pregnant with my baby, correct?”
She nodded.
He released her hands and pressed his hands to her stomach. “And we’re keeping it, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, then.” He pulled her into his arms again and buried his face in her hair. “Then I guess the four of us need to have some serious talks a lot sooner than we’d planned to, don’t we?”
She cried even harder. “You’re not mad?”
“No, sweetheart. I’m not mad. This isn’t something to be mad about. I love you, and I love your pack. The only thing I’d be mad about is if you tried to cut me out of your life now.”
* * * *
Her relief only made her cry harder. On the way over, as she sat there in shock, Leo and Jesse had bandied the obvious potential negative reactions back and forth. If Nate was angry, that was it, they would simply walk out and either Jesse or Leo would claim to be the baby’s father on the birth certificate. Ditto if Nate didn’t want to be involved with the baby’s life but wasn’t a dick about it, they’d get his family history so they’d know if there were any genetic issues they’d need to be aware of for future considerations, and part ways with him.
The only thing they really hadn’t covered in depth and been prepared for was his complete and immediate acceptance of the situation.
Duh, as Laurel would have said.
“What am I going to do?” she whispered against his chest.
“What do you mean?” Nate asked.
“I mean…This wasn’t—”
He kissed her. He had a way of kissing her to shut her up, she realized.
Not that she minded.
He made her look him in the eyes again. “I told you, and I’ll keep telling you—I’m here for life. I’m not going anywhere. Do I think I should move in with you tonight? No. But I think we need to sit down and talk, all four of us. This affects all of us. I do want to live with you. Not just as the baby’s father. I love you. I told you that.”
“But…I didn’t think—”
“The only thing that would make me walk away is if you lied to me or cheated on me. I love you, you’re my slave, and my fiancée, and I’m not going anywhere.”
Leo stepped over and touched his arm. “You’re not just saying this?”
“No, I’m not just saying this. Am I in shock? Yeah. Jesus, I was afraid you were going to tell me they found out she’s got cancer or something.”
Leo smirked and looked at Jesse. “Guess you’re off the hook for Burger King runs.”
Jesse smiled. “Well, okay, so there is a silver lining.”
Eva laughed through her tears. “Damn, how quickly they change sides.”
Nate frowned. “Burger King runs?”
“We’ll explain tonight over dinner,” Leo said.
“Tonight?”
“Yeah, unless you have plans?”
“Just catching up on sleep,” Nate said. “Are you sure we want to talk in front of Laurel right now?”
“Why not?” Jesse asked.
“Because…the same reason you guys didn’t want to talk about what you were doing in front of her. To make sure everything took and was going okay. To not jinx the process.”
Leo rubbed at his chin. “True. I think Aunt Tilly’s home. She can take Laurel out and babysit tonight.”
“Shouldn’t you call her and ask her first?” Nate asked.
“Nope,” Jesse said. “This is technically her fault.”
“How do you figure that?” Eva asked.
“She fixed you two up. I say that makes it her fault.”
“She might argue that point with you,” Nate said.
“She can try,” Jesse said. “But Laurel has her Aunt Tilly wrapped around her chubby little hand. That damn Domme absolutely cannot say no to Laurel.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Much as Leo and Jesse had, Nate and Eva held their collaring the night before the wedding at the club. Laurel was once again spending the evening with Rob and Laura and their little girl, while everyone else gathered at Venture.
Nate hadn’t completely moved in yet, even though he was sleeping at Eva’s house every night now. They would spend tomorrow night at his house after the wedding, alone and able to make as much noise as they wanted before he finished moving his things into Eva’s.
Well, what he could move in. They’d be getting a joint storage unit to put things from both houses until they built a new house.
Laurel had reacted to the news of the wedding and baby quite predictably.
“I’m the flower girl,” she said. Once she’d been assured of that, she seemed to be concerned with little else except that she really didn’t want to share her bedroom with a sibling.
As Loren called for order to start the collaring, Nate smiled down at Eva. She was starting to show and Nate took every chance he got to run his hands all over her belly.
Not to mention Leo and Jesse had staked claim as well, stopping her every morning to talk to her bump.
She didn’t mind. It was sort of like having three husbands, but only sleeping with one of them.
It actually relieved her. This pregnancy, she could spend it completely free of the worry and anxiety that had overshadowed her ability to really enjoy being pregnant with Laurel.
Especially since half the time she worried about how to keep their baby away from her father without revealing the secret to everyone.
Or if Leo was even a few minutes late getting home from work and worst-case scenario daymares uncontrollably plagued her, how would she stand up to her parents if something happened to him and they came in and ordered her to move back home, and she ended up under the same roof as her father? How would she support a baby alone?
How would she protect a baby alone?
She wasn’t alone, and never would be alone. Not ever again.
Ed was preparing paperwork to change the guardianship papers for Laurel, adding Nate as an additional guardian. When Leo suggested filing a modification to the divorce custody order reinstating joint custody for him and Eva, Eva had nearly had a panic attack, begging him not to.
She didn’t want to mess with what was working. If she wasn’t the custodial parent, and if there were two other legally appointed residential guardians ahead of her, there was no way in hell any judge would ever give her parents custody of her daughter.
And that thought terrified her more than anything.
“We’ll keep this short, folks,” Loren said. “And I turn the floor over to Leo.”
She hadn’t expected that, and Nate’s knowing smile revealed nothing.
Leo and Jesse, who wore his formal leather cuffs and collar, stepped over next to Loren.
“Some of you were here last year when I collared my boy,” Leo said. “And that night, we collared Eva as being under our protection. Not as her Doms, but until we knew she had someone we felt comfortable trusting with her and her care. We’re proud to say that Nate—Crawford—is that man. And he has claimed her not just as his submissive, but as his slave. And tomorrow, he’s making her his wife.
“But we are a pack. As such, we take that responsibility very seriously. And because tomorrow we can’t do this part without getting a lot of questions from any kids in attendance, we’re going to do it tonight. Nate, do you promise to protect our girl, take care of her, love her, and do everything within your power to make her happy?”
Nate smiled down at her. “I do.”
“Eva, do you pledge yourself to this man as your Master, to obey him and allow him to do what he needs to do to uphold his promise to this pack?”
“I do.”
“Then you need to ask me and our pa
ck for what you want.”
“I want to be his collared slave. I want him to own me, every last bit of me.”
Jesse held out a jeweler’s box and Nate withdrew a silver bracelet from it, with a heart-shaped locket on it. On it in a circle were all the men’s initials. He fastened it around her right wrist. “This is your day collar from me,” Nate said. “This is your pledge to me, as your Master, your love and obedience, and to our pack.” He touched her tag. “Just like this is your pledge to me as well, to me and the pack.”
He started to kiss her when Leo stopped him. “Hold up. We’re not done.”
Leo wore a playful grin that Eva recognized, and it amused her to no end that now Nate looked confused.
Jesse produced something that he passed to Leo. “As part of our pack, you need the symbol of our pack,” Leo said as he held up a necklace like the ones he and Jesse wore, only Nate’s tribal fish tag had a green background.
His favorite color.
Nate bowed his head so Leo could put it on him. Now she started crying happy tears because she spotted Nate blinking a few of his own away.
Leo, then Jesse, hugged Nate as he looked at the tag. “Thank you,” he said, sounding choked up. “I wasn’t expecting this.”
“You’re of the pack,” Jesse said. “You need to match, as Laurel would say.”
Nate kissed Eva. “And tomorrow, you become my wife.”
* * * *
There wouldn’t be any spanking for her, though, as there had been with Jesse’s collaring. Nate wanted to save their fun for tomorrow night, after the wedding. And because she was pregnant, he refused to use impact play on her even though it’d been green-lighted by her doctor.
The next morning was a blur of activity, including Tilly getting there early to take charge of the bride and the flower girl while Nate, Leo, and Jesse were left to their own devices.
Lucas and Leigh had offered use of their home for the wedding, but tonight Nate and Eva would go over to Nate’s house and spend the night there instead of the pool cottage.
Nate tried to hold onto every second of memory he could, commit it so strongly that he’d never forget it. When the three of them were dressed and standing in the living room, Leo smiled.
“Nervous?”
“Bloody hell, am I.” He hadn’t thought he would be, considering they practically lived together already, and had done the collaring last night.
“That’s normal,” Leo said. “Been through it twice now.” He leaned in and kissed Jesse. “Thankfully, I’ll never have to go through it again.”
“So fear is normal?” Nate asked.
“Absolutely. I’d be worried if you weren’t.” Leo smiled. “You going to be okay to drive?”
They’d be taking two different vehicles, since Leo and Jesse would be bringing Laurel home and Nate and Eva would leave right after the wedding reception.
“Yes, I think so.” He took a deep breath. “I can’t wait for Cherise and Wade to go through this.”
“Laurel already called dibs on the flower girl gig,” Jesse said. “And she told Cherise that. So she’s not getting away with a wedding at the club like she wanted.”
“Ha. Serves her right.” Nate grinned. “Why shouldn’t she suffer like the rest of us?”
When they arrived at Lucas and Leigh’s, Tilly, Eva, and Laurel weren’t there yet. Tilly had taken them out to breakfast and to get their hair done before the ceremony.
When the women finally arrived, Nate thought he’d be okay, but the sight of his slave took his breath away. He’d made her shop for a dress and she’d finally settled on one that wasn’t quite formal, but that he loved. Thin straps, a billowy hem that sat just below her knees, and a beaded bodice that shimmered in the afternoon sunlight. Kel and Mal photographed and filmed the day for them as Leo and Jesse both walked Eva down the aisle, following their flower girl extraordinaire.
I’m one lucky bloke.
Loren addressed the crowd. “Gilo?”
“The flower girl promised me a frosting flower off her piece of cake to keep my mouth shut.”
Laurel grinned. “Thank you, Uncle John,” she called out.
“You’re welcome, sweetheart.”
Nate tried not to laugh and failed, since Loren looked like she was going to wet herself.
As she finally got herself under control, she said, “Since I know darn well there aren’t any objections to this union, who gives this woman away?”
Leo spoke up. “My husband, daughter, and I do.”
Now Nate had to fight not to cry, because he could see Eva struggling to keep it together.
Leo and Jesse handed her off to Nate, both men squeezing his shoulder as they moved to take up the best man positions on Nate’s right.
Tilly, who stood with Laurel as the matron of honor, looked pretty damn close to tears herself.
Nate barely heard a word of the ceremony. All he could do was stare down into Eva’s beautiful sweet brown gaze and for once give thanks that his thoughts were firmly rooted there, in that perfect moment, and not partially stuck on a hot runway with Cherise’s screams in his ear.
The best day of his life. His life was filled with them, lately. The next best day would be welcoming their baby into the world.
Not just him and Eva, but all of them together in the delivery room, as a pack.
“I do,” he said when prompted.
They exchanged rings, and when Loren said, “…I now pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss your bride,” the burst of applause and cheers faded as his world collapsed into a tiny, round bubble of just him and Eva, there together.
He took her into his arms and kissed her, long, sweetly, savoring every second before touching his forehead to hers. “I love you, slave,” he whispered, brushing a tear from the corner of her eye.
“I love you, too, Master,” she whispered back.
* * * *
Before they could have cake—and Gilo could collect on his bribe—they needed pictures.
In addition to the usual ones, Eva insisted on a “pack picture.” Her and Nate, with Laurel in front of them, flanked by Leo and Jesse, and Cherise and Wade.
It didn’t matter to her that none of her “family” was there. They hadn’t been invited.
She and Nate had driven up to visit her grandmother Friday night and told her both the wedding and baby news, and she promised not to breathe a word of it.
“Serves them right for how he acted that day,” her grandmother had said. “Do what makes you happy, honey. Life’s too damn short to be unhappy.”
Then it was finally time to cut the cake, and Eva made sure to give Laurel a piece with plenty of frosting flowers that would allow her to pay off her bet and any vig Gilo might charge her.
To her daughter’s credit, Laurel made an immediate beeline toward Gilo, who seemed confused at first when she tried to get his attention.
Eva watched as he laughed and then leaned in to talk to her. Laurel wore a beaming grin as she headed off for a table.
Gilo caught her watching and flashed her an okay sign.
Tilly had apparently seen the exchange, too.
“Dammit, I love that SAM,” she whispered to Eva as she helped her and Nate serve the cake.
“I thought he aggravated the crap out of you?”
“He does, but that’s only because I love the hell out of him.” She sighed. “Abbey’s a lucky woman. With different timing, I might have ended up with him.”
“I need to hear that story.”
Tilly smiled, but it looked a little melancholy. “Different day. Today’s about only happy stories. And my story turned out okay.”
“You got a happy ending.”
“Yeah, but I had to go through hell to get it.”
“I’ve got that well-worn T-shirt,” Eva mumbled.
Chapter Twenty-Three
When they arrived at Nate’s, he wouldn’t let her walk in. He opened the door and scooped her up, carrying her over the threshold. After
kicking the door shut, he carried her to the bedroom.
Their last night “alone” for a while, not counting date nights.
And he was looking forward to every sweet minute he would get with their family.
She played with the tag on his necklace. “One of us,” she teased.
He felt the prickle of tears in his eyes again and quickly blinked them away. He’d never be able to tell the men how much he appreciated the gesture, what it meant to him.
And how much he would treasure the tag and what it represented.
“But you still belong to me, love,” he said, leaning in and kissing her.
She hadn’t been allowed to wear panties or a bra under her dress, so when he worked his way up from her knees, kissing inside her thighs, he had nothing to stop him as he pushed the hem of her dress up and settled in, his face buried in her pussy.
“Hands,” he sharply ordered when she tried to push him away after he brought her over the first time with his mouth.
Immediately, she raised her hands over her head and kept them there, the bracelet looking gorgeous around her wrist and Eva squealing and protesting as he slowly licked her sensitive clit and soon had her close to coming again.
He lifted his face from her pussy. “Remember, unless you’re safewording, you do not push me away when I’m making you come. If you want me to stop, you have to safeword.”
“Yes Sir,” she gasped.
“Are you safewording?”
“No…Sir…”
“Good.” He set to work again, fucking her with his tongue before circling her swollen clit with it again. The doctor had assured him that, for now, it was safe for them to have sex and play as long as she was comfortable in the position. The pregnancy was progressing perfectly, without complications.
He had plans for her tonight.
Once he had her well into subspace from not letting her come again, he got out of bed and stripped. When he was naked except for his wedding band and his pack tag, he had her stand and he removed her dress.
The Strength of the Pack Page 19
