Siren in the City Google
Page 22
Jack put his hand over hers, and Sam’s fell on top, too.
“I don’t think I can handle a female me, Jack,” Sam said seriously.
Jack swallowed. He didn’t think he could handle it, either. After a moment, he got up.
It was time to take his family home.
Chapter Seventeen
9 months later
Jack stared down at the sleeping infant, the world seeming to slow until there was nothing in the world except the two of them. His heart threatened to explode every time he saw that baby. Her tiny mouth moved, suckling on something in her dreams.
It was far worse than anything he could have dreamed up. The baby didn’t look anything like him. Oh course, she didn’t look anything like Sam either.
“Is baby girl asleep?” Sam yawned as he stepped into the nursery. “Or is she hungry again?”
“She’s finally out for the count,” Jack whispered, not wanting to risk waking her again. It was one in the morning and Abby was exhausted. Infants were a lot of work even when three parents were involved.
He made sure their three-week-old baby girl’s swaddling was in place. Olivia Barnes-Fleetwood was a master of escape. Every time he made her into a tiny baby burrito, she wriggled until her arms wound their way out with a triumphant cry. It had become his favorite thing in the world, watching her get her way.
“God, she’s so pretty.” Sam’s blue eyes studied the daughter they shared.
She was beautiful, and that was the problem. She looked exactly like her mama. She had pretty red hair and alabaster skin. Jack had to pray she wouldn’t have her mama’s figure, but he didn’t hold out much hope. He was going to have to kill a bunch of teenage boys one day. No doubt about it. Little Olivia wouldn’t be allowed to date until her father was dead.
“She’s beautiful,” Jack agreed, watching her breathe. He loved to watch her sleep. He adored all the faces she made while she dreamed her baby dreams.
The last nine months had been a revelation for a man who thought he’d never have a family. Now, everywhere he looked his life was full of people he called his own. His wife and Sam were always there, the cornerstones of his world. He’d watched his brother become the type of man he was proud of. Lucas had worked hard and earned his place on the ranch. Unfortunately, he was leaving soon. His brother was starting law school at the University of Texas in Austin a bit earlier than they’d planned, but it was time. He was surprised at how much he knew he’d miss his brother.
Lexi had moved home for the summer to be with her mom. Now she was home for winter break to help with her little sister. Lexi was well on her way to becoming a lovely woman. She was open and kind. She’d also gotten awfully close to Lucas, and that was a problem. She had a boyfriend, and a serious one at that. Jack was worried Lucas was getting in over his head. It was easy to see the way Lucas lit up when Lexi walked into a room. But Aidan O’Malley was someone Jack liked despite his own misgivings. He didn’t see Lexi leaving him any time soon. In fact, he rather thought those two would get married one day and it would break Lucas’s heart.
He had his eye on that situation. He was surprised at how much he loved his stepdaughter. His heart was a huge thing, he’d found. It was capable of all sorts of love.
“Come to bed,” Sam urged, taking his hand. “She’s asleep. We have to take advantage. It’s the only time she’s not in charge.”
“Baby girl is always in charge, and I don’t want to wake up Abigail.” His gorgeous wife was being supermom. It was tiring her out. Between their baby and the clinic she was about to open, she was one overworked mama.
Sam’s mouth lifted into a brilliant and incredibly sexy smile. “Abby is not asleep. She’s awake, and she’s frisky. You need to talk to her. The doctor told her to take it easy for six weeks. She’s rubbing all over me, telling me she feels fine. She’s making me crazy. I haven’t been inside her for a month. I can’t stand the teasing.”
He bit back a laugh. His subs were misbehaving again. He pulled Sam into the hall. “Well, we have to fix that, don’t we?”
He opened the door to their bedroom. Abigail was sitting on the bed pouting. She looked beautiful wearing nothing but one of his T-shirts. He knew she was worried about the baby weight, but he thought she’d never been more lovely. “Sam tells me you’re horny, darlin’.”
She smiled his way, that hot expression that let him know what she wanted. “Sam is a tattletale.”
Unfortunately, she wasn’t getting exactly what she wanted tonight. “No sex, Abby. The doctor said no intercourse for six weeks. But that doesn’t mean we can’t put on a show.”
She sat up straighter, clapping her hands together. “My own personal porn stars.”
Sam was out of his pajama bottoms in a minute. It was a talent of his. Sam was on the bed, kissing their wife, asking her which scene she wanted to jump to. He looked up at Jack.
“Here you are, Jack, performing on command,” Sam noted with a smirk. “What does that make you?”
“Happy,” Jack replied. He jumped on the bed to Abigail’s playful squeal.
He jumped in the middle, and that was a good place to be.
* * * *
Julian Lodge and the whole Texas Sirens gang will return in Siren Enslaved, coming spring 2018.
Author’s Note
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Away From Me
By Lexi Blake writing as Sophie Oak
Coming February 6, 2018
Click here to pre-order.
Re-released in a second edition with updates.
Shattered by the loss of his wife, Callum Reed is a man surrounded by rules designed to protect him. He rebuilds his life with careful discipline, but can’t deny what he feels when he meets the lovely Gabrielle Sullivan. She’s everything he wants in a woman, but he views all relationships as contractual. Despite her misgivings, Gaby signs his contract and becomes his perfect partner. Until the night she breaks his cardinal rule.
After three years of perfect obedience, Gaby declares she wants love and she isn’t settling for less. Love isn’t in their contract, so Cal lets her go. But Gaby has a secret reason for leaving. When Cal discovers the truth, nothing will stop him from following her.
On a secluded island paradise, Callum will do anything to prove he’s the perfect husband for his defiant love.
* * * *
“Hello, Cal,” she said evenly. “How are you?”
He looked her up and down, his dark blue eyes showing absolutely no expression. Those eyes assessed her, roaming every inch of her body in a decidedly clinical fashion. “I’ve been perfectly fine, Gabrielle. How have you been?”
His hand was suddenly on her elbow. Her skin tingled where he touched her. He didn’t pull at her, merely squeezed gently, and she let him lead her. Yes, that was a force of habit, too, but perhaps her Irish friend was right. If they had any hopes of being comfortable around each other, they had to talk. They began walking slowly away from the pool.
“I’m well.” That could have come out a little stronger. She sounded like a scared rabbit and that wasn’t at all the impression she wanted to make on Cal.
“That’s nice.” Naturally, his voice sounded perfectly even. He could be negotiating a deal rather than talking to an old lover. “From th
e evil glances I’m getting from some very old friends, I would think I had tried to kill you.”
“I’m sorry, what?” This wasn’t the way she’d expected their first meeting to go. She’d kind of avoided thinking about it.
His jaw went tight. “I’m talking about all my friends looking at me like I’m some kind of criminal. I’ll admit I haven’t exactly been social lately, but I didn’t expect to walk into a party and find myself completely unwelcome. The only thing that’s changed is the status of our relationship, so I’m wondering what’s been said about me.”
Damn Heather and her big mouth. It was supposed to be a secret. She smiled brightly and slipped her arm through Cal’s. Yes, she needed to handle this. She’d never intended to make anyone hate Cal. He simply hadn’t been able to love her.
She had no interest in the two of them becoming a focus of gossip. If she seemed comfortable with her ex-lover, perhaps the other guests wouldn’t talk about them. She tried to look nonchalant. “I have no idea why. I haven’t seen any of these people since I left town ten months ago. Maybe it’s me they’re wary of.”
“I doubt that, pet,” Cal said, all silky and smooth. His voice had a direct line to her soft parts. “Even my oldest friend seems to have turned on me. Greg barely spoke to me this evening. His friendliest words were to tell me to leave you alone. I swear, Gabrielle, if he didn’t need me to broker his deals, he might not talk to me at all. Now I wonder why that is.”
Gaby flushed, guilt flooding her system. She truly hadn’t meant to hurt him, but she didn’t want to rehash the end of their relationship. She’d kept the secret this long. There was no reason he should know about it now. “I don’t know. I have never spoken to Greg about us.”
“I’m sure Heather talks enough.”
Gaby felt her heels sink into the grass as they left the deck. The evening grew darker as the lights from the torches got further away. The gazebo in the distance seemed to be Cal’s destination. She followed willingly. If they were going to talk, it was best to do it in private.
“I can’t control Heather’s mouth. That’s supposed to be Greg’s job. He’s her husband, after all.”
Cal helped her up the gazebo’s steps. He was always solicitous. It was one of the first things to attract her. He was a Dom of the first order. Gaby had been looking for someone like Callum since the day she realized there was a whole world out there for people like her. She’d gone through a couple of men who claimed to be Doms but really just used it as an excuse to be selfish. A real Dominant was someone like Cal, who always took care of her, even if he didn’t love her.
“Well, as it was pointed out to me so recently, a Dom only has as much control as his sub allows him.” His deep blue eyes were almost black in the moonlight and there were lines around his eyes that hadn’t been there before. There was a weariness to his frame that called to her. She fought the urge to smooth down his tie and snuggle in his arms. He wasn’t hers to take care of anymore. He turned to her. “So what have you been up to since you left?”
Her hand unconsciously went to her breast, thinking of the pain that centered there. “This and that.”
He leaned back, staring at her as though trying to decide something. “I never could figure you out, Gabrielle. I didn’t know if you were simply content to be kept or if there was some ambition lurking under the placid surface.”
The darkness was a welcome ally as she felt herself flush. If they’d been under even the soft lights of the party, he would have known how much that hurt. “Well, you weren’t interested in my ambitions.”
He shrugged. “I just wondered what you did all day.”
Her laugh was bitter and without an ounce of humor. “I ate bonbons and watched soaps. I counted the hours until you got home.” She turned away from him and looked out over the yard. In the distance, her friends mingled and laughed. She still seemed so far away from them. Maybe she would always seem far away now.
Distance had given her some perspective, especially when it came to her old Dom. “You weren’t interested in who I was as a person, Callum. You were interested in who I was as a sub. My submissive self was docile and sweet. That was what mattered to you. I didn’t ask questions or make demands. It was a D/s relationship. It wasn’t a love affair.”
She knew the difference now.
His fingers ran across the exposed skin of her shoulders and she held on to the railing of the gazebo. The spaghetti straps that held her dress up offered little protection against his gentle assault. She shivered at the touch.
“And you don’t want that anymore, do you? You don’t want a man to dominate you? You don’t want a man to take charge?”
Oh, there were certainly parts of her that did. His hands ran down to her waist, settling on her hips. Push him away. Do it now or this is going to go poorly. You are not capable of handling this.
But she’d waited too long. When he pressed his groin against her backside, she could feel the hard ridge of his erection, and she knew she wasn’t going to walk away.
It was only sex. Sex with Callum had been mind-blowingly good. There wasn’t any reason she couldn’t enjoy it again as long as she held herself apart. It had been so long. And tomorrow morning, she would be on a flight back to her island, where she was surrounded by gorgeous men she couldn’t fuck because they were either an employee or a guest. She was starting over. Shouldn’t she honor her past with one last nice night?
Yeah, her girl parts were super stupid and they were firmly in control.
Cal pressed his hard dick against her and her brain no longer mattered. That dick had been the best she’d ever had and her whole body reacted. It was like her body knew what it had been through in the last ten months and was demanding payment. That big, hard dick was payment for all the pain.
She could handle it. Hell, after what she’d been through, she could handle anything.
Siren Enslaved
Texas Sirens Book 3
By Lexi Blake writing as Sophie Oak
Coming Spring 2018
Re-released in a second edition with updates.
Julian Lodge has everything a man could want. He’s rich, successful and owns the most exclusive club in Dallas. But something is missing.
Finn Taylor has worked his way up in the world from humble beginnings in Willow Fork, Texas. The only thing he still loves in his hometown is Danielle Bay. He never told her he was actually bisexual, and he never confessed his love for her. Now she’s getting married, and Finn is sure he’s lost his chance with the only person he’ll ever love.
Julian’s vacation to the Barnes-Fleetwood ranch brings them all together. After Dani jumps into Julian’s car while fleeing her wedding, Julian knows he has to have her. But nothing is easy in Willow Fork. A danger from Julian’s past threatens them all. Julian will have to convince both Dani and Finn that being his will be the best decision they ever made.
About Lexi Blake
Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband, three kids, and the laziest rescue dog in the world. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance that she found success. She likes to find humor in the strangest places. Lexi believes in happy endings no matter how odd the couple, threesome or foursome may seem. She also writes contemporary Western ménage as Sophie Oak.
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Other Books By Lexi Blake
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Adored: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella
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Master Bits and Mercenary Bites~The Secret Recipes of Topped
Perfectly Paired: Masters and Mercenaries~Topped 3
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Nobody Does It Better, Coming February 20, 2018
Close Cover, Coming April 10, 2018
Protected, Coming July 31, 2018
Lawless
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Revenge
Courting Justice
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Masters Of Ménage (by Shayla Black and Lexi Blake)
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