by Lexi Blake
She should have known he would be pissed about that. “Because my phone was in my purse when he tried to blackmail me. I could go for the phone or Rachel Harper’s gun. I picked the gun. Hey, should I get my own gun?”
It made perfect sense. She needed her own gun.
“I’ll die first.” Leo slammed into her. “You will let your men protect you. And we’re not going to need protection. We’re going to live a quiet happy life, and no one is going to try to kill any one of us, damn it. God, that feels fucking good.”
He pulsed inside her, over and over again. He drew out and slammed back. Every inch of his cock was pure pleasure. He fucked her hard, hammering in and out of her pussy as Wolf matched his rhythm in her ass.
Wolf’s fingers stretched her as Leo’s cock plunged deep. So much heat, so much life.
She was full of them.
She let herself go. She moved her hips, taking them hard and deep.
Wolf stretched her, making her squirm and shake. Leo fucked her hard, hitting her sweet spot and making her scream his name. She shouted her pleasure over and over again. Every muscle worked. Every inch of skin quivered. She felt herself convulse, sending her pleasure out and clamping around him. She held him as tight as she could.
Leo bucked and his gorgeous face contorted and she felt him flood her pussy. She was warm and wet and full. Leo and Wolf’s semen was hot and wet inside her.
And maybe racing toward her womb to make a baby.
That thought would have scared the holy crap out of her two days ago, and now all she could think about was how happy they would be.
Because she’d discovered that she was right. She’d been worried about her decision making, but she knew they were right. Bryce had blackmailed her into marrying him. He’d used her love for her mother and then her love for her brother to keep him close. She’d been so young. She didn’t have those fears about Leo and Wolf. They loved her. They wanted to take care of her.
“Come on, baby.” Leo was still panting as he got to his feet and started to haul her up. “You have to prove you’re not an alien queen. Though I would still fuck you hard. You have to know that.”
He would. So would Wolf. She reached out and steadied herself against them. She turned into Wolf’s arms. God, she loved how big he was. He loomed over her. She could barely fit herself against his chest.
She felt Leo move behind her. He was only slightly smaller than Wolf. He bent over to rest his head against her shoulder.
“We could stay here,” Wolf said. “I’ll accept her as an alien queen. She can totally take my sperm.”
But Cassidy would freak out. “No. I have to take the beet.”
She winced as she said the words. But she would go through with it because now she knew how important it was.
“Hush, Wolf. She’s got a connection to Ma now. We have to let it be. It’s a good thing.” Leo’s arms curled around her. “Tomorrow, we’re going to be married. Then you have to obey me.”
She practically snorted. Like he didn’t demand she obey him in the bedroom now. He was her hardass Dom. Nothing about that would change. And Wolf would be the one who indulged her every whim. She needed them both.
“Like I don’t do that now.” Her ass was still stinging from the slaps he’d given her. They hadn’t been enough. She’d needed more, but it didn’t matter because she still felt them inside her.
Things could change, but her love wouldn’t. She knew that now. She could face anything as long as their love for each other was still strong.
Faith. Sometimes faith got a person through life. She could hear her momma whispering to her about faith in life, faith in the universe, faith in herself and her love.
Faith and hope had gotten Cassidy through, and she’d had far less than Shelley had.
Leo handed her the dress she’d been wearing. “Well, then it won’t be hard for you.”
He leaned over and pressed his mouth to hers, softening his words.
They elbowed each other, struggling in the small space to get dressed. Leo laughed, falling to his ass as he tried to get his jeans back on. Shelley tumbled into Wolf. They all hit the ground.
“Shhh.” Wolf shoved a hand over her mouth. “Someone’s out there. Listen.”
A masculine voice cut through the silence. “I need to talk to you before I leave.”
“That’s Zane,” Wolf said in her ear.
“All right. What you need to tell? You go to hospital?”
“That’s the Russian,” Leo whispered. “Alexei. Zane’s bartender.”
Damn. The last thing she needed was to get found half-dressed the night before her wedding. What they had done in the closet was probably some sort of health code violation.
“Yes. I got a call from Callie. I have to go to the clinic. Jen’s having the baby. Nate and Callie are already on their way, but I have to join them. Stef is like Callie’s brother. She won’t let Jen go through this alone,” Zane said.
They all settled down, no one making a move, as though they were all praying the door didn’t open.
“No problem. I take care,” Alexei said. “You don’t to worry about anything.”
“It’s more complicated than that.” Zane’s voice was tense. “You need to see what’s in the freezer.”
What the hell was in the freezer? Did they have a bad shipment of beef?
She heard the sound of a heavy door opening. A moment passed and then Alexei spoke.
“What has happened, boss?”
Zane Hollister sighed and then his voice went low. Shelley couldn’t hear most of what he said to his bartender, but a couple of words stood out. Hiram. Mayor. She heard Alexei gasp in what sounded like horror when that sweet lady named Nell from her bachelorette party was mentioned.
“This is disaster,” Alexei said.
“We have a plan,” Zane replied. There was more whispering and then a long sigh. “So you understand why we have to keep this quiet? I’ll take care of it in the morning. You need to keep Lucy out of here tonight.”
There was a little sniffle. “This make me miss mother Russia, Zane. Yes. Yes. Not to worry. I take care of for you.”
“Dear god, no. I’m going to handle it in the morning. Properly and through all the correct channels. I’m just waiting for Rafe to do the right thing. He needs a night. I don’t want Cade as our mayor. He’ll make the whole damn town a safe place to be naked. I don’t want to watch Max Harper flicking his dick in everyone’s face. He will do it.”
“Yes, he would make me uncomfortable as well. I could burn evidence for you. I do this many time before.”
She felt Wolf start to laugh. She clasped a hand over his mouth.
“Damn it, I didn’t commit any crimes,” Zane argued. “I only want to make things right. Don’t let anyone in the freezer, okay?”
“This I protect.”
They continued to talk as the voices faded away.
“What the hell was that about?” Shelley asked as she managed to get up.
“God only knows. We’re not going into that freezer,” Leo said. Her bra was in her hands. She pulled it on.
“I don’t want to know,” Wolf said. “I want to go out there and get the ceremony done and get married tomorrow.”
Bliss was an odd place.
She got dressed and followed her men out, carefully avoiding the freezer.
Twenty minutes later, she made her pledge—to fight all aliens, to embrace humanity, to love the Earth. Easy promises to make.
When Cassidy passed her a shot glass filled with beet juice, she slammed it down to the roar of the crowd.
Proving her humanity and her love for two very human men.
Chapter Eighteen
Rafe
Trio was hopping. Even from the street he could hear the raucous laughter coming from the tavern.
He patted the baby who was currently strapped to his chest. Yep, he was taking his baby into a bar, but then Trio wasn’t the kind of bar where people got trashed and br
oke things. That was Hell on Wheels, and hopefully his daughter would never see the inside of that place. No, Trio was a meeting place. Trio was filled with families and friends.
Sierra’s legs and arms kicked. He couldn’t quite see her face but he was sure her eyes were wide with that wonder she seemed to have for everything from the trees to the fabric of his shirt to his car keys. His baby girl took everything in and all of it seemed amazing to her.
Maybe all he needed was a little of Sierra’s wonder.
He opened his eyes and really took in the town he lived in.
It was filled with family. He stepped up close to the door and Max and Rye were walking out.
“Rafe, my man, did you hear about Jen?” Max asked, slapping him on the shoulder. “Won’t be long now and we’ll have a bigger playgroup.”
Rye let Sierra take his thumb in her hand. “Max and I think we need to start a poker night. The girls have their meetings. We should be able to have one, too, right?”
The girls’ meeting was something called the “I Shot a Son of a Bitch” club. Poker night sounded practically innocent. And it would be fun to get together with the men. “I think that would be great. I’ll bring the beer.”
“Bring a lot,” Max said. “Have you seen how much that Russian can put away? He can drink us all under the table.”
Alexei? Drink him under the table? “You haven’t seen a Cuban drink, my friend. Perhaps I’ll bring rum instead. I think this is going to be fun.”
Rye’s eyes widened. “Well, hell, I’ll look forward to it, then.”
The Harper twins walked off, talking about Stef and how they would have to watch him for a while. Rafe wasn’t so sure Stef needed someone to watch him. He thought Talbot would make a good father, but he put it out of his head as he walked through the doors.
He was immediately surrounded. Holly gave him a hug and reached for the baby.
“Cam and Laura are dancing. You should join them.” Holly winked. “I need baby snuggles.”
“I can give you these snuggling babies, dushka.” Her husband Alexei, who was going to get a run for his drinking money at the next men’s gathering, gave his wife a smile before turning to pour another beer for Jesse McCann.
Holly shook her head. “He’s baby crazy.” Holly looked a little baby crazy herself as she held her hands up. “Please?”
Why had he thought his daughter wouldn’t have a family? His daughter’s family was huge and sometimes obnoxious. Like a family should be.
He’d spent the last few weeks mourning his own rigid, formal childhood. Perhaps a man always longed for what he knew, but what he had now was so much better. It was messy and hard, and these people would make him crazy.
And they would really love him. They would love his daughter. They would stand by him and his wife and partner whether they always agreed or not. They would argue with him and fight with him and they wouldn’t leave him.
Sometimes a man lost one family only to find another.
“Rafe?” Zane walked around the bar. “Man, I’m glad to see you. Laura told me I needed to talk to Cade. I don’t think that’s a good idea. He’s going to have to wear a shirt to town hall meetings, and that might be hard to get him to do. And let’s face facts. If Cade takes over, he’s going to be Gemma’s puppet. That girl scares me.”
He pulled out the letter they had found in Hiram’s desk. It was time to put Zane and the Bliss Chamber of Commerce out of their collective misery. “It’s all been decided. I think you’ll find the new mayor’s name here.”
Zane frowned and took the paper. “Maybe we should talk about this.”
“Just read the name.”
Zane’s eyes went to the name and he smiled. It was written right there. The deputy mayor of Bliss, selected by Hiram Jones himself, was one Rafael Kincaid. “Thank god. You won’t regret it, man.”
“Oh, I’m sure I will.” He was certain he would need to start drinking before his first Bliss City Council meeting. But he also knew that it was right. He did have a job. He could mold the way his town developed. “But I expect to be mayor at least as long as Hiram.”
Zane held out a hand, grasping his. “That’s all we can ask, man. You have no idea how happy this makes me.”
Rafe sent Zane what he hoped was a very mayoral frown. “Don’t be too happy. I might have something to say about your health and sanitation standards if you don’t extricate my predecessor very soon.”
Zane shook his head, using his thumb to point to his bartender. “Alexei says he knows what to do. I filled him in on everything. He’s a great accomplice.”
Alexei nodded. “This is no problem. I handle many of these situations in Russia. I am good cleaner. I take care of this.”
Alexei used to be a Russian mobster, so Rafe wasn’t sure he wanted to know how Alexei would clean up. “You cannot chop him up. You need to get him to the funeral home. We found his will when we were looking for the document. It lays out everything he wanted, including instructions about how to handle his funeral and his body. He wants to be cremated.”
“I do this many times in Russia!” Alexei smiled like cremating a guy was an everyday occurrence. Well, if he ever needed an enforcer, he knew where to go.
“The funeral home, Alexei.”
The Russian shrugged. “I do for free, but I follow orders of mayor. Mayor has seized power in smart play that has blocked all competitors. This I respect.”
He’d only done what Zane had told him to. And he didn’t feel bad about it. It was best for the town, and Hiram had chosen him. And left him with a legacy.
He would build his family the way Hiram had. When he’d been turned out, Hiram hadn’t gone into his shell and retreated. He’d gotten kicked in the gut, and his response had been to open himself up, to offer more, to build a town.
A deep sense of responsibility settled over him. Bliss was his, his to protect, to grow, to love. His family needed him, and he wouldn’t let them down.
He looked over at Sierra, who was cooing at Holly. She would be the mayor’s kid and the deputy’s kid. She was doomed to be hell on wheels.
And he wouldn’t have her any other way.
“Will you excuse me? I need to make a call.” He started to look for his cell phone. He would have to go outside. It was raucous in Trio.
Zane pointed to the back. “Use my office, Mr. Mayor. I have to go and wait for Jen to spit out a baby. We’re growing, you know. We need to talk about schools. I don’t want my sons taking an hour-long bus trip every day. We need a school here.”
“It’s on the agenda,” he said, moving back toward the office. He shut the door behind him and made the call he needed to make. He waited. It rang once and then again. Three times.
A low, angry voice came over the line. “I told you I will not speak with you, son. Not until you change your life.”
Ah, his mother. He had but one more thing to say. “Don’t speak. Simply listen. This is important because after this, the ball is in your court, Mama. I love you. I want to thank you for raising me. I want to thank you for loving me as much as you could. I want you to know that you can call me anytime and I will come to you. I will always honor you as my mother. I’m going to start something, Mama. I’m going to take pictures, so many of them that I can fill a wall in our house. Those pictures will be our blood, our history and tradition. You say that blood is all that matters, but, Mama, blood did not teach me how to work, how to strive. You did that. Blood did not hold me when I was sick. That was you. You are always welcome here in Colorado. And I will always love you. I would love for you to be a part of those pictures on my wall, but if you choose not to, then I will move on and I will raise my children with love. The way you raised me.”
There was a sob that came over the line.
And then nothing.
She had hung up.
He’d done all he could do, and now it was up to his mother. Rafe took a long breath. Pain bloomed, but relief was right beyond the door. He didn’t hes
itate this time. He walked out and joined his family.
“Rafe!” Cam yelled over the music. “Come on. We’re dancing.”
Laura smiled, that gorgeous goddess calling to him. “Dance with us!”
Holly was bouncing Sierra gently, holding her close as Alexei smiled down at them both. His baby girl was safe with her aunt.
And it was time to dance.
The Phone Tree, Bliss Style
Stefan Talbot could barely breathe through the panic that threatened to overtake him.
“You have to call Callie,” his wife said.
He needed to have his hands at two and ten because he wasn’t going to be the man who had an accident on his way to the hospital. Clinic. His son wasn’t being born in a hospital. He was being born in a two-room clinic.
“Or I’ll do it,” Jen said, her voice oddly calm.
It was mere seconds before Stella’s voice came over the speaker in the car. “This is Stella’s Cafe.”
“Stella,” Jen said. “It’s go time.”
There was a strangled shout over the line and then it went dead.
Jen grinned at him. “Stella will handle it all from here. She’ll start the phone tree.”
His wife gasped, a hand on her belly. “That wasn’t so bad. It’s all going to be okay, babe.”
He prayed she was right.
Stella pressed the number to call Trio, her hands shaking with excitement. “Callie, it’s time. They’re on their way to the clinic. Let everyone know.”
Callie dialed Rachel’s number, joy in her heart. Unfortunately, it was Max who picked up. He would have to do because she needed to get to the clinic. “Hey, Logan’s almost here. Stef and Jen are on their way right now. Pick up Rachel and meet me at the clinic. Hurry. Oh, and call Marie and let her know. She’ll know what to do.”
Max wished he hadn’t picked up Rachel’s phone. He didn’t want to be the one to tell Marie her son had gotten into town and apparently needed the doc’s services. “Hey, Marie. Uh, apparently Logan’s at the clinic. Look, I think maybe Stef thought he was involved in shooting him up and took his revenge. He wasn’t. That was me, but seriously Stef has the constitution of a rutting bull if he’s already given Logan a beat down…Marie? Marie?”
