A Bundle of Mannies

by Lorelei M. Hart

  “Tonight was great, but I’m ready to make it perfect.”

  He extended his hand and led me upstairs. We stopped at intervals to kiss. I remembered the last time Carter and I were together and this couldn’t hold a candle to this time. His lips were soft and he whispered in my ear how much he loved me.

  This wasn’t a one-night fuck.

  This was love.

  “I’m going to shower first,” I said. “You wanna join me?”

  He nodded and tore off his shirt after locking the door because toddlers and stalked toward me. We turned on the water and he underdressed me there in front of the stall piece by piece, taking in each inch of me while I did the same to him.

  “I’ve waited so long,” I panted, already out of breath before we’d even started.

  “Wait no longer, omega mine. Tonight you’re mine.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Carter

  I took Beck by the hand and led him into the shower—the very cramped shower, water cascading down our bodies.

  “Not really a two-person shower,” I noted as I reached behind him for the shampoo. “Maybe I should call Frank and have him redo my bathroom while he is at it. Mine isn’t much better.” I popped the cap of the shampoo bottle, pouring some into my hand and returning it to the shelf in the corner.

  “If you do that, you won’t have a bathroom before the kids are in college.”

  “Duly noted.” I brought the shampoo up and began to work it into his hair.

  “You keep doing that and I’m going to come right here.” He leaned into my touch.

  “Good thing we have all night.” I continued to work the shampoo far longer than need be, loving the look of pleasure spread across his face. “Rinse.”

  He tilted his head back and let the water wash the remaining suds down the drain as I quickly scrubbed my own head. There would be time for luxurious showers where we pampered each other later. Tonight I needed him far more than I needed his sweet caress.

  “I was going to do that.” He faux pouted, sticking out his bottom lip. He was too adorable. I couldn’t stop myself from leaning in and giving it a nibble.

  “And I was going to do you,” I spoke against his lips, and his hips bucked. So responsive and we hadn’t even done anything but make up yet.

  “Better plan by far,” he agreed pumping some body wash on his hand and sharing half with me. “Last one done has to use the small towel.” We’d been naked by the time either of us noticed we hadn’t brought the load of towels up from the laundry, so the challenge was legit. One luxurious bath towel against a hand towel.

  I washed as quickly as I could, giving the appearance of a fair fight. Not that I was being the gentleman and giving him the best towel, although I would, no questions asked. No, I wanted him to win so that I could tease him as I dried off. Our night together all those years ago had been far too short, but the memory of the way his eyes darkened with need as I stripped off was a memory that had been the start of many dates with my hand. I wanted to see that look again.

  And I did. As he wrapped the warm towel around himself with the look of victory plastered across his face, I took that tiny towel and turned from. Him, bending down so he had full view of my ass, which accidentally of course, wiggled as I dried my feet. Then I turned around, my dick pointing at him as if it were a compass, and slowly dried my chest, my eyes never leaving his, his tongue darting out to moisten his lips as his eyes darkened. A foot on the hamper, he threw his towel at me.

  “Dry off and fuck me already.”

  I scooped him up and carried him into the connected bedroom, my lips seeking his as we walked, stopping as my legs hit the bed. I set him down gently and climbed on top of him, needing to taste him, scent him, feel him underneath me.

  “It feels like I’ve waited forever.” Beck reached up and caressed my cheek. “I knew, you know—even that night—you were the one for me. I just didn’t dare dream that someday I’d be allowed to have you.”

  “Are you saying I ruined the chances any alpha ever had with you?” His mouth opened and closed at that. “Because you certainly ruined all omegas for me. None of them lived up to that night with you, that connection I felt so deep. And then you came back into my life and I couldn’t have you, but it was okay because you were there.” I leaned in kissing him deeply, pouring all of my love and emotions into the kiss, wanting—no needing him to feel the intensity of it all. I explored his mouth with mine as if my life depended on it, and honestly there were times I felt like I needed him in order to breathe, so it wasn’t too far from reality.

  Our tongues, lips, and teeth did a dance that spoke so much more than our words could convey as the warmth from him lying beneath me ran through my body, our cocks pressed together, neither of us rushing things. This night was for us and if that meant we had thirty seconds of sleep, it would be entirely worth it.

  “Oh, alpha, having you here, your weight on me, your scent—I need more. Please.” He began to squirm underneath me as his pleas increased. “I need you inside me. Feel how ready I am for you.”

  That was a challenge I couldn’t refuse even though it would strip me of the self-control that had enabled me to take things slowly. I rolled us onto our sides, bringing his leg over my thigh and reaching behind him, finding him far slicker than I’d imagined. “So ready,” I praised as my finger circled his entrance, his ass pushing back into me, seeking more. “I got you,” I promised, sealing our lips together as I breached his waiting hole with my finger, his moans of ecstasy muffled by our connection. I slid my finger in and out slowly as his hips started to buck.

  I added a second finger and instead of slowing his bucking, he worked harder, effectively fucking himself on my fingers, the moisture of his precum now on my belly. “Oh, Beckham.” I pulled out my fingers, rolling him onto his back once more. “You make it impossible for me to go slowly with your sexy moans and your enthusiastic movements.” I encouraged him to wrap his legs around me and lined myself up with him, and just as I was about to slowly enter him, he bucked up and I was in heaven. I entered him fully and found my home. It wasn’t this house, the one haunted by memories or even the house Frank was fixing up for us. No, Beckham was my home.

  “I love you.” I kissed his lips gently at first, it quickly turning passionate as I moved in and out of him. It wasn’t long until both of us were moving at a frenzied pace and he was calling my name as his come shot out on his chest and I cried out his as I filled him with mine, my knot growing larger than it ever had before as I fell upon him out of breath and completely sated.

  “I was wrong,” Beck panted.

  “What?” I asked confused by his comment.

  “I thought it couldn’t get any better than it was that night. I was wrong.” He kissed my shoulder. “It was so much better. I love you, alpha mine.”

  “And I love you, omega mine.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Beck

  Frank ignored our voicemails, calls, and texts on Sunday which was fine with me since I was basking in the love of my mate and our honeymoon phase despite the fact that we already had three children.

  Nap time took on a whole new joy for me and him, and I knew we would miss that hour as the kids got older.

  I watched on as the kids finished up their pancakes and bacon while Carter and I played footsie under the table and stole glances at each other.

  “I looooooveeee pancaaaaakes…” Jase sang as I poured a little more blueberry syrup over his last bite. That was his thing. The last bite had to be absolutely cavity inducing.

  “That’s a good song.” I chuckled at his antics as he shook his little booty in his chair.

  “Can we go to the park today?” Hannah asked looking out the window, face propped on her palm.

  “Sure. Let’s walk there. I need the walk.”

  Carter squinted at me. “Why is that, Beck? Did you need more exercise? I could’ve sworn you got a lot last night.”

  I pressed my lips to
gether and tried to fight a smile. “Well, I got some, but it was more body weight than cardio.”

  He scoffed. “Well, maybe I can help you work on your cardio later.”

  Gods, he was going to kill me.

  “What’s cardio?” Jase asked and I almost choked on what was left of my coffee.

  Carter looked at him. “Cardio is exercise that really gets your heart working—makes you sweat. It’s good for you to have some cardio.”

  That last tidbit was aimed at me with a wink.

  “Let’s get this sticky cleaned up and then head to the park.”

  We cleaned everyone up and somehow Chelsea had gotten syrup in her hair and everywhere else. We ended up showering her before getting ready to go. Going to the park with kids wasn’t easy. There were snacks and sunscreen and water to think of, not to mention extra clothes. By the time we left, I was carrying Chelsea and a backpack while Carter had one kid holding each hand.

  The kids played on every station the park had. They found some friends who apparently had played with them before with Joey. Carter looked pained as he explained the situation to the parents and they wished us well as they left.

  He introduced me as his mate and I kind of melted.

  “Ready to go home?” I asked as the noon sun beat down on us. We had been there nearly two hours and I was as exhausted as them with the sun, coupled with trying to keep all of them safe without helicoptering.

  Chelsea was already rubbing her eyes and we were early for a nap.

  “I’m not giving them a choice. I’m getting roasted out here. Let’s go.” On our walk home, we took an extra block, evading the ice cream stand as well as the snow cone stand. We’d had enough sugar for the morning and maybe for the day.

  We walked in a line, all of us holding hands, looking like a row of paper dolls.

  “I see titty tat!”

  I looked around for the source of Chelsea’s excitement. Either that kid saw a kitten or someone with boobs for a tattoo.

  “It’s a kitten!” Jase said and took off like a rocket toward a small alley between townhouses, Carter staying less than a step beside him as I grabbed his sister’s hand and balanced Chelsea on my hip so we didn’t end up with another bolting child.

  Please have a collar and belong to someone. Please have a collar and belong to someone.

  While we cautiously looked at the tabby kitten with the cutest dual-colored eyes, Carter stepped away and answered his phone. While talking on the phone, I saw him kick the brick wall next to him and drop his gaze to the ground.

  Something was wrong.

  “Can we keep him?” they all asked at once.

  This was not happening. We’d said we were getting a kitten after moving back to the new house, but we weren’t there yet and this wasn’t the time.

  But there must’ve been a reason we found him.

  Carter got off the phone and grumbled something about Frank and a plumbing issue that had been discovered in the form of a pool of water on the floor while they were installing the new tile.

  Great.

  “They want to keep the kitten,” I said, rubbing Carter’s back, trying to calm him down.

  “It’s fine. Let’s bring him home and clean him up. Maybe our house will be done before the end of the summer. I can’t say no to them.” He pretended to be grumpy about the whole thing but the gleam in his eyes said otherwise.

  “I think lunch and a nap is in order,” I told the kids.

  “I want cheese!” Hannah always wanted cheese.

  “Nap time sounds great,” Carter said pinching my butt as the kids weren’t looking. “I guess we need to visit the vet on Monday as well.”

  I sighed and looked at my mate. “Thank God, it’s summer.”

  Because of Hannah’s request they got cheese and ham on crackers and I insisted on some carrots for vegetables-sakes. In minutes they were passed out cold.

  “I think we should get one of those little splash pools from the store. Let them cool off in the afternoons.”

  Carter nodded and rubbed against me from behind, showing me his mind was on anything but pools. “I think we need to try out the guest room and then talk about pools.”

  I turned in his arms and kneaded his hips. “I think that’s a great idea, Professor.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Carter

  Cuddles, the name bestowed upon our little fur ball ended up being the perfect distraction for our Sunday. Between getting it cleaned up and hooked up with litter and food and more toys than any creature needed and teaching the kids how to be gentle, the day flew by without me freaking out too much about my Monday morning meeting or Frank and the remodel that would not end.

  But as Monday morning came, the dread of what the meeting might reveal slammed into me hard and instead of discussing it like a grown-up, I was a grumpy asshat at breakfast. No one deserved that.

  So on my way home from the meeting, I stopped at the Valuemart and picked up a surprise for the family. Not an ideal way to say I was sorry, but it was the best I could come up with, given how horribly the meeting had gone.

  I still didn’t understand the entire thing, but grades had been tampered with, and that meant I had the pleasure of leaving my office with a file box containing every grade report since I’d started there, the task assigned to me, matching up every single grade and looking for discrepancies.

  Chances were that it was one jackhole within the past few semesters who’d failed and needed the class to graduate. How they thought they wouldn’t get caught when we could easily match up the grades to see whose were tampered with was beyond me.

  At least it wasn’t related to Professor Ray. His mate had been less than quiet about the accusations against them when students started coming forward about witness tampering, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to think they could connect those dots back to me.

  This was by far better even if it meant I was going to spend most of the week doing busy work instead of spending it with my mate and family.

  My mate. The way he beamed when I accidentally let it slip out in public was everything. How did I get so lucky as to cross his path not once but twice.

  I pulled into the driveway just before lunch and left everything but the box in the car. We would play with my purchase, but first there were naps and vet well checks to finish.

  “I’m home!” The echoing of little feet running toward me warmed my heart. I set the box down as the stampede arrived. The best kind of stampede in existence.

  “Dunk,” Chelsea called out. “Dunk home!”

  I knelt down and opened my arms to her toddling self as her brother and sister ran around her, hugging me from opposite sides. “I missed you guys.” I kissed each of their little heads, wrapping my arms around the lot of them.

  “Glad you are home before lunch, Dunk.” Beck stood in the doorway, his apron on and spatula in hand. “We are having your favorite.”

  “Grilled cream cheese and olives?” He gave a nod and a smile. When I first told him about my love for the sandwich, he squished his face up in disgust. Then I made him taste one. Now he understood the deliciousness of them.

  I gathered the kids and got them set up for lunch just as the sandwiches were done, cutting them into strips the way they liked them.

  “How was your meeting?” Beck asked as the children happily ate away.

  “I have about a week’s worth of data checking to do but other than that it went well.” I’d give him all the details later, but he relaxed slightly at my explanation which had been my goal. I wasn’t the only one worried about the situation. “I’m sorry I was such a grump head this morning.” So sorry. He deserved so much better than to have me snapping at him over stupid things like the cinnamon sugar being too much sugar and not enough cinnamon. It wasn’t like a dollar store item would be a culinary masterpiece.

  “It’s fine.” His hand settled on my thigh. “It was a lot of added stress.”

  “Speaking of stress, how is Cuddl
es?” We’d had to close her into the one spare room after she climbed the curtain and couldn’t get down. Until we cat proofed the house, we figured it wisest to keep the kitty there when we couldn’t give her our undivided attention.

  Except at night when Beck caved to her little mews and brought her into our room—because we officially decided it was ours, we just had to figure out the best way to bring it up to the kids appropriately. Poor Janice was getting another SOS call from me.

  “Tired.”

  “Cuddles loves the feather on a stick,” Hannah started in and was instantly joined by her siblings telling about all the games they played with the sweet kitten. Amazing how quickly they zoned in on the conversation once their little fur ball was mentioned.

  We chatted until it was time to nap, the kids settling in quickly after hearing that if they had a good nap, they were going to get to do something extra fun. I’d read in one of the books Janice suggested that telling them things like that set them up for failure, making it harder for them to sleep. I called bullshit on that, all three of them fast asleep by the time I got the cat carrier out.

  “What did you get them?” Beck asked as he put the little fur ball in the carrier.

  “I got one of those fancy sprinkles that mimics a splash pad.” I’d intended to buy bubbles and balls, but the weird fish slash sprinkler slash bean-bag-toss thing was too amazing to pass up. “I’ll be back soon. The vet gave me the first appointment after lunch so no waiting because the person in front of me had an extra complicated case.”

  “Sounds great. I need to catch up on laundry.” It blew my mind how much laundry three tiny beings made.

  “About that.”

  “About what?” He tilted his head slightly.

  “You don’t need to do everything. You’re not my employee. You’re my mate.” There, I finally said what I’d been wanting to say for days and I didn’t die. Not yet anyway. I knew he needed the money and I also knew he wanted to feel independent. But the money was there whether it was a paycheck or a joint access account, and I wanted us to have the latter.