by Abby Knox
Gavin feigned hurt feelings. “My daughter, the vicious killer of souls!”
Cory laughed. “You love me.”
“Couldn’t stop if I tried.”
If the Gavin ten years ago had seen into the future and gotten a look at his life now, he might have run away screaming. Strawberry sauce? Waffles? School pickup? Placating a pregnant shifter feline? Hell, nah.
But all he had to do was take one look at his beautiful daughter, the spitting image of her mother, and his party animal proclivities went right out the window. He was happily squared away in blissful domesticity.
Chastity
“I can’t do this anymore! I can’t! This sucks! All of it sucks!”
Chastity was having a surge of third trimester hormones, she knew, but that didn’t stop her from seeing her work for what it was.
Gavin was blinking at her like a deer in headlights.
“Huh, maybe I should go away and come back in an hour. You hungry? Want some pho?”
Chas started bawling. “I’m always hungry, Gavin. But that’s not what is going on with me. I never get a single fucking minute to myself, and when I do, I squander it by making total trash,” she wailed.
Gavin put his hands on his wife’s shoulders. She thought he was going to lay another kiss on her first, but instead he drew closer, so she had no choice but to look into his eyes.
“Babe,” he said. “You need a break. You’ve been working yourself too hard. Listen. I want you to take five days to yourself. I booked you a room at your favorite hotel, alone.”
She was speechless. This was unprecedented.
He continued. “There, you will have access to all of the room service you want, even ice cream and pickles at two a.m. the softest maternity bathrobe money can buy, slippers big enough for your pregnancy feet, and, like, all four Hallmark channels. And if you want to draw, you draw. I’ve already had supplies sent over. Your room is already ready and waiting for you. All you have to do is show up.”
She shook her head. “I can’t leave you and Cory for that long.”
He smirked at her. “Don’t even pretend to protest, it doesn’t suit you.”
“You’re right. I’m outta here. I love you so much!”
She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, reaching down to take hold of his groin. “I’m gonna miss this special friend, though.”
Gavin shuddered with pleasure at her touch.
“Just say the word, and I’m there. My cock is at your beck and call. Just let me finish one thing when you’re gone, and then if you’re ready to come home, I’ll come to get you.”
Chas sat at her easel but could not get comfortable. She sat on the bed to draw in front of her, but her back ached in that position.
She tried lying on her side, but she couldn’t get the right angle.
One part of her brain told her to give up until the baby was born, so she could have her body back and full range of motion, but another part of her brain told her she would be too damn tired to pick up her charcoal again while dealing with a newborn baby.
She texted her cousin Rosemary.
Hey, how’s Cory doing?
Rosemary gave a full report on Cory’s awesome ability to get along and keep the peace among all five of the Boudreaux kids. No small feat.
Then she decided to be honest.
I can’t concentrate on my art. I want to give it a rest for now, but I know I won’t have time until after the baby is born, but then after the baby is born I won’t have any time at all. All I really want is Gav to come and sweep me off my feet, but that’s hardly likely to happen now, I weigh like 300 pounds.”
Rosemary texted back: First of all, you are not even close to 300 pounds. Second of all, you’re still an incredibly sexy beast who needs her rest. Put down the art and lie on that bed and watch yourself some Hallmark channel.
Then later, if you want Gav, here’s what you do…
A couple of hours later, Chastity was sleeping the sleep of the dead in front of an epic binge of Hallmark.
She wasn’t sure how long she had slept, but when she work, it was dark outside and she was hungry.
She ordered up some salmon and sweet potato fries, and a hot fudge sundae with pecans.
And then, she did something she wasn’t used to doing in ten years of marriage. She ordered herself a little porno treat on the hotel TV. Specifically, one with a main character who was hugely pregnant.
Rosemary had been right, it wasn’t that hard.
She watched it, and it was eye opening. She was actually enjoying it. Like, really enjoying it.
She was ready to rumble, but she didn’t want to waste all her pent-up energy by masturbating, so she texted Gavin.
Gavin
It was a good thing Gavin was just finishing up with his special project when Chas texted him.
He was surprised it had taken her a full two days to whack in, and he was actually getting worried.
But what she said caused all his worry to disappear.
I have wet panties, Gavin. I need you to come take them off me. Slowly.
Gavin fumbled with his phone before shoving it back into his pocket.
“See you guys, I’m off to do my pregnant wife real good.”
He didn’t stop to listen to their reaction. His mind was already in that hotel room with her.
Within an hour, he had her buck naked, lying on her side, legs spread for him as he spooned up behind her.
She sighed. “You feel good back there. I don’t remember doing it like this last time I was pregnant.
“That’s because you threw up for almost nine months straight with Cory. Remember?”
“Let’s not talk about throw up. Get it in me, big boy.”
“Oh, I’m fixing to.”
He reached downward and hoisted her leg so it rested over the side of his top leg, and her backside was spread open, her pussy accessible from behind. “The wolf likes it doggy-style, any way I can get it.”
“You’re perfect.”
“No, you are, my love.”
She laughed. “I’m a whale.”
He stiffened up at her words of self-deprecation. “Don’t ever say that again. He reached down between her thighs and cupped her pussy. She moaned at his touch. “You feel that? You are wet for me and only me, that makes you my queen. Now straighten your crown because I won’t have my queen talking about herself like that.”
“I love you so much, Gavin.”
“Chastity, you are my whole world.”
He slipped into her, and she gasped at the sensation of this new angle. Gavin rocked into her and smoothed his hands up her ribs, stroking her swollen belly, and fondled her taut nipples. She whimpered in pleasure and he increased his pressure. He could tell her breasts were readying themselves for nursing, but until then she was all his.
“Oh Gavin. Oh Gavin, let’s never leave this hotel room.”
“Agreed. We should never, ever leave.”
But they did have to leave at some point.
The labor pains started about fifteen minutes after they reached orgasm.
Gavin timed them for her and they were about ten minutes apart.
He called for a car, and Ash and Rosemary met them at the hospital.
On the way there, Gavin had made a series of phone calls about some secret project he was working on. Chastity had been concentrating on her breathing.
A few short hours later, a beautiful, brown-eyed 10-pound baby boy was born.
“Oh my god,” Chastity said when she saw him. “He looks just like you, Gavin. He’s the most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen in my life!”
Chastity bawled and cried and nuzzled the little man until she was brought home from the hospital.
In fact, she didn’t realize they were not at the apartment when the car stopped.
They were at the new house, and it was finished.
“What the…? Why are we stopping here? I have to get some rest in my own bed, like immed
iately, Gavin.”
“And you will. Your bed is already here, my love.”
“What?”
Gavin
The entire pack was already there to greet Gavin, Chas and baby Baxter as they arrived at their newly-completed, freshly-furnished home.
Gavin followed his wife’s surprised and confused gaze as they walked up the wide front porch steps, where Cory, Ash, Rosemary, the Boudreaux children, Vann, Gigi, Bobby, Penny and even the dog, Sam, were waiting for them. The porch was loaded with elaborately decorated baby gift bags, and the friends all exchanged hugs and happy tears with the shocked new mommy.
The huge group of friends followed the little family as they crossed into the broad foyer. The visitors immediately began scoping out the house and snooping around the expansive kitchen. But Chas skipped over all of that and went straight to her new bedroom. As soon as she saw her bed, she handed the sleeping Baxter to Gavin, and gingerly crept onto the bed. In seconds she was asleep.
Gavin held Baxter to his chest and sat down in the rocking chair to watch over his wife as she slept.
Cory crawled up onto the bed next to her mom and snuggled in next to her.
GiGi and Vann padded off to the kitchen to fix everybody something to eat, and to stock the kitchen with a load of surprise groceries.
Ash and Rosemary went off to explore the rest of the house with the kids. Bobby and Penny and their elderly yellow lab went off to hang some decorations they had gifted them from Penny’s design studio.
Gavin was overcome by how happy he was. The entire pack was here, and had expanded beyond his dreams.
THE END
Part IV
Running with the Pack
By Abby Knox
Running with the Pack
After all this time… the scent always leads him back to her.
Wolf shifter Bobby Jordan is a crowd pleasing party animal, but he’s only ever had eyes — and a nose — for his best friend, the copper-haired beauty, Penny. But a childhood trauma has forced Bobby to keep his feelings at bay and simply do what he must to protect her. But now, unable to bear her perception of him as the monster he is, Bobby decides it’s time to pounce … or bounce.
Penny LeFleur wishes her best friend and pack leader Bobby would make a move already. Their lives are forever linked by their shared shifter DNA, and he’s always been dangerously protective of her. So, it seems like a no-brainer. Still, he’s spent the entirety of their friendship hesitating, leaving her waiting and always wanting more. She had hopes that all of the wedding party hookups taking place around them would awaken the beast — in a good way — but it seems all the drama has sent him further into his private dark place. Penny’s she-wolf heart might be the only thing to save Bobby from himself.
Chapter 1
Sam
The dirty yellow Labrador Retriever, Sam, pawed the back door of the tattoo place and whined.
Sam had been exploring the alleyway for scraps of food; New Orleans was the best city in the world for a stray animal to live on discarded food scraps.
To top it off, this part of the city was lousy with shifters of the canine variety, and they seemed to tolerate plain old dogs who strayed around the neighborhood.
Best of all, the shifters could psychically communicate with regular dogs, which often worked to the advantage of the strays. The magical shifters always let them know where to find food. Most people have heard of whistles that only dogs can here. Well, this connection between magical shifter wolves and regular canines was sort of like that, only more direct.
Today, though, Sam was receiving a different kind of message.
One of the shifters was in trouble.
Sam pawed at the heavy steel door, but it was shut tight. He quieted down and listened.
The shifter inside the building was bound by voodoo, a very dark sort of voodoo, and he couldn’t move. Even if Sam could turn the knob and open the door, he would be no help to the magical beast against an evil voodoo spell.
Even worse, the wolf shifter’s mate was also in trouble.
From the vibe Sam was getting, it sounded like the wolf shifter’s mate was actually of the feline shifter variety. Sam himself had no use for felines — what self-respecting stray dog would? — but then, who was he to stand in the way of inter-species shifter love, if that was actually a thing?
Sam got the message loud and clear. A wolf needed help, and had to go find the wolf’s pack for help.
He ran off as fast as he could in the direction of the water, to find the wolf named Bobby.
Chapter 2
Bobby
Best man Bobby Jordan quietly growled as he scanned the dance floor, taking in the sight of all of the happy couples having a blast at Ashton and Rosemary Boudreaux’s wedding.
Tonight was going to be the night he finally put an end to his misery.
If things didn’t work out with his oldest friend and maid of honor, Penny LeFleur, he was leaving town.
And then, as if the universe was hitting him on the head with a cue, the band struck up Penny’s all-time favorite song, “No Woman, No Cry.” He swallowed, unsure if this was indeed the right thing to do. Typical. His whole life was one decision left unmade after another; his wheel-spinning was of Hamlet proportions.
“Young man,” said a stern, authoritative man’s voice.
Bobby looked up from his aged Kentucky bourbon and saw that the voice came from the father of the bride, Lionel DuChamps. “I’ve seen you staring at that girl all day long, like she’s cake on a plate. I just thought you should know, I’m going to see her engaged before this party ends.”
Bobby glared up at the old man. “Oh really?”
Lionel continued and plastered a smile on his face while he spoke. “You got a lot of nerve kidnapping an old man. But the difference between me and you is I got something called grit.”
Bobby scoffed. “You know nothing about me. With all due respect, I think it takes a little bit of determination and grit to get your stubborn ass to this wedding.”
Lionel crossed his arms in front of him, amused at young Bobby. “You see, son, I’ve got a guest here, a powerful man, who owns a lot of land along the Gulf Coast, and some of that land butts right up against my shipping interests. His son has a promising future, but like you, he is a bit of a loser…adrift…doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. If I give that punk’s father something he wants—say, a daughter-in-law—why, that would be worth more to him than continuing to cockblock me from expanding my business into the state of Mississippi.”
Bobby sipped his drink and smirked. “Have you lost your mind, Mr. DuChamps? You don’t own people, ’least not anymore. Seems to me the Civil War settled that matter. You remember that, right?”
Lionel chuckled. “Son, I don’t have to own people to manipulate things to go my way.”
Bobby stared incredulously at the old man and laughed. He was genuinely amused. Is DuChamps going senile? “Let me set you straight on one thing. You may be a very powerful man. But nobody here is your subject, least of all any member of the wolf clan. And Penny ain’t your daughter, and this ain’t no dowry society anymore. At least not since the last time I checked. But then what the hell do I know about how you inbred, old-money folks live.”
Lionel’s face turned red, and he pointed at Bobby’s glass. “It’s not, huh? Well, I paid more for this wedding—and all this free-flowing liquor—than I have ever paid to build an oil rig, so think again about who owns what.”
Bobby shrugged. “Your daughter’s married, she’s happy you made it to the wedding. You made your wife happy, too. If you want to try to marry off my friend to get back at me, I’d love to watch your drunk old ass try.”
Lionel countered, “I’ll have plenty of chances ’cause as far as I can tell, you’re a drunk, cowering little chicken shit.”
Bobby shook his head and said, “You don’t know our history. It’s complicated. And I’m too drunk to try to explain PTSD to a privilege
d old man who never suffered a day in his life.”
Bobby met Lionel’s eye. There was a deep darkness in the old man’s gaze, and something told Bobby he had said the wrong thing.
Lionel leaned in and got close to Bobby’s face. His voice was low and sharp. If words could take form, he could have stabbed Bobby in the throat with them. “Boy, you do not know trauma.” Lionel pointed to his chest and gritted his teeth as he spoke. “I escaped the Sandinistas, barefoot, in the jungle, after my own government left me for dead.”
Bobby was shocked silent. He hardly knew this man, who happened to be the richest man in New Orleans. He would have thought Ash might’ve shared that interesting detail about the father of his bride, before enlisting Bobby’s help in wrangling him to the wedding by any means necessary.
“Are you telling me that my buddy Gavin and I kidnapped a former prisoner of war?”
Lionel straightened himself. “Technically, it wasn’t a war. Which made what happened to me all that much shittier. Don’t cross me, boy. You don’t know what you’re getting into. Things I’ve done would scare the shit out of your coddled, bony little ass.”
“My ass ain’t bony.”
“Nah, but you’re acting like kind of a pussy.” Lionel laughed and reached across the table, picked up Bobby’s glass and downed the bourbon.
“And you’re a drunk, mean old son of a bitch,” Bobby said.
“You gonna cry now ’cause the old bully drank your drink? Ah, the hell with it. Suit yourself.” And with that, Lionel sauntered off, slightly unsteadily, probably to find the restroom.
Bobby decided he hated that guy.
And then, Penny’s favorite song ended. And the moment had passed.
