Not the time to get a hard-on.
He could hear her peeing, she laughed. Swore.
“There’s no way to do this gracefully.”
The grin in her voice made him smile as he stared at the painting on the wall. He wanted to turn and watch, but he’d give her this much privacy, at least. This woman, who could make something so terrifying into a joke, was his match in every way. If he hadn’t been in love with Severin first, he would have half killed himself trying to lure her away. Now he had them both. A year ago, who would have thought he’d be here, now, doing this? No matter how scared it made him, he was happy with her. With them.
“Okay.”
He turned around before she even had her flannel ducky pajama bottoms pulled all the way back up.
“How long do we have to wait?” he asked, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. He swept her up and carried her into the bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed and settling her in his lap.
“Look.”
They watched as the darker mark crept up the test toward the window. Rodrigo held his breath. Minnow was too. Complete silence descended.
Pregnant
3+
They stared at the test and neither of them said anything.
A strange elation bubbled in his chest, and when he parted his lips to breathe, a laugh came with it.
“Oh my God.” She slid off his lap and turned to look at him. “What did you do?”
“Me? What about you? What about Severin?” He couldn’t stop laughing.
“This isn’t funny! What are we going to do?” She glared at him, more in shock than anger, but her small hand slid down to where Severin’s seed had been planted. Or maybe his. What did it matter, either way?
“Come here.” He caught her hand and tugged her to stand reluctantly between his knees. “What do you want to do, preciosa? We have time. You can think for a while before you make a decision.” His amusement stopped abruptly.
Her hand jerked out of his grasp to join the one already on her stomach. “What do I want to do? This baby is mine. I don’t care if you or Severin don’t want it. I’ll leave and get an apartment. I have money, you said, right? I could single parent.”
“Whoa, whoa, little girl. You’re not going anywhere.” He peeled her hands away from their defensive position and kissed her belly. She was so small. If it was Severin’s baby, where would she put it all? A glow suffused him, from the inside, warming him all the way to his toes. Tears pricked his eyes, and he tried hard to blink them back. “You won’t be alone.”
He fell back on the bed, and pulled her gently down on top of him so he could stare up at her perfect pixie face. She melted against him and tucked her head into the crook of his neck.
“When he makes me leave, will you visit me?” she whispered.
“Hey.” He slid his hands up under her shirt and stroked the silken skin of her back. “If he sends you away, I’m going with you.”
“No, he needs you!”
“You and the baby come first.” He grimaced into her hair at the way his voice wobbled on the word ‘baby.’
A baby. Not the theoretical kind, or the kind that belonged to Mayte or other people.
Theirs.
God, what if he sucked at being a father? He loved Mayte’s kids, but being an uncle was easy. You handed them back when they got cranky or smelled bad. Skinned knees, parent teacher meetings – what the hell did he know about that stuff? What about when they grew up and started needing advice? Would other kids make fun of them because they had three parents?
Although maybe there would be only the two of them raising this kid.
So much to figure out.
She slid off him onto her side, and he rolled to face her. Gazes met. Held. God, he loved this woman.
After years of longing for Severin, he’d finally gotten what he wanted – and yet here he was, willing to walk away from him because of the woman they’d fallen in love with, and the life they’d sparked inside her.
There was no way their child was growing up fatherless. There was no way his sweet preciosa was ending up alone in this scenario.
“You’re not raising a baby alone. For fuck’s sake, I love you. I get wanting to protect him, but there’s a point where you have to let people take care of you too. Maybe he isn’t capable of that, but I sure as hell am.”
She was quiet for a long time, but then so was he. There was so much to process. Of course, with all the wedding prep, his mother had been teasing him about giving her more grandchildren, but that had been a dream for the future. Minnow was young yet. There had been no reason to rush – not with Severin still unsettled and Loïc complicating things.
“So we’re doing this together?” she finally asked.
He slid his hand over her stomach. A sweeping rush of elation made him want to announce it to the world.
A baby.
He kissed Minnow again, wondering how he could ever explain to her how much she was loved, and how much he already loved the child growing inside her.
Chapter Thirteen
“This is the other groom?”
The voice alone made Severin recoil. The woman standing in the foyer with Minnow and Rodrigo was probably about Minnow’s age. Blond, perky, and dressed in what he assumed was the latest fashion. She looked all polished and ridiculous.
Rodrigo gestured to the woman. “Severin, this is Talia, the wedding planner we’re bringing in last minute. Minnow isn’t sure she’s thought of everything that needs doing.”
Talia held out a hand for him to shake, while gazing up at him as if he was Frankenstein’s monster.
Severin growled. “Get this cunt out of my house.”
“Aww. That takes me back to the day we first met, Mister Leduc.” Minnow smiled sweetly and patted his arm. “He doesn’t shake hands, Talia. Don’t touch him, he bites.”
“I’m sure he’s quite...charming once you get to know him,” the woman said sunnily, barely losing composure as she withdrew her hand.
Rodrigo’s quiet “ha” only seemed to reach Severin.
He turned to leave, but Rodrigo stepped into his path.
“Please stay. For Minnow?”
His glower did nothing to change Rodrigo’s steady gaze. Knowing Ro, he’d rather take a beating later than let Minnow be disappointed. Fine. He’d stay. Rodrigo was being weirdly solicitous around her lately, as if she was suddenly fragile. Maybe because she’d been sick?
The two of them whispering together and stopping when he entered the room was starting to get on his nerves. She was dying. That was the thought that kept coming to mind, but he couldn’t deal with the answer, so he wasn’t about to fucking ask.
“So you’re expecting...” Talia asked.
“What?” Minnow blurted.
“How many people are we expecting?” Rodrigo cut in with a haste that seemed anxious somehow. Did he think she was suddenly fragile and stupid? Maybe they cared if they made a good impression on this woman?
Minnow laughed self-consciously. “Oh. Ten other than us and the officiant.”
“Really? Only ten?” Talia said, her tone amazed. “I thought you were kidding.”
“Severin’s brother Church, his wife Ilse, their girls. Rodrigo’s mother, brother Fidel, sister Mayte, her husband, the babies. So yes, ten. Four are relatively young children.”
“What about you?” Talia asked. “No family? Friends?”
“No one who’d come,” Minnow replied nonchalantly. He could tell she cared, even so. It made him want to look her family up and... And what? Tell them off, at least.
Talia’s brows rose, but she nodded. “We see that all the time,” she said, obviously lying. “So, if it rains or there’s a freak hailstorm, do we have a backup plan for the cocktail party?”
“Severin?” Minnow asked. “Is there a room you’d suggest?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. You live here, I’m sure you can figure it the fuck out.”
Rodrigo narrow
ed his eyes at Severin, as though trying to send him silent messages. Probably to quit being a dick. “Ballroom? Or is that too big?”
“You have a ballroom?”
Severin lifted a shoulder and gestured for the woman to follow. She clacked along behind him, sounding like a shod horse echoing through the halls.
He shoved open the door and flipped on the lights. His favorite belt was lying in the middle of the floor.
“I was wondering where that went.” He strode over and retrieved the worn leather and palmed the tube of lube it had half covered, then turned back to the glorious sight of Minnow’s blushing face. She wouldn’t meet his gaze as he slid the belt through the loops of his jeans.
Rodrigo made a choking sound and scrubbed a hand through his hair, smothering a laugh.
“I took this room off the cleaning schedule a while back,” Minnow mused.
If the woman understood what had transpired, she had the good grace not to remark on it.
Talia turned in a slow circle. “Hmm...I think it might be too big.”
Rodrigo bit his lips together.
“That statement...this room...it’s like déjà vu.” Severin smirked.
Rodrigo gave him a wolfish grin, and they both eyed Minnow, who flipped them off while Talia’s attention was on the piano.
Severin’s laugh boomed so loud in the cavernous space that Talia jerked and turned wide eyes back to them. So easy to startle compared to their Miss Korsgaard.
As Severin watched Rodrigo and Minnow follow the woman around discussing things, a weird lightness rose in him. Maybe she wasn’t dying. Maybe she was just moody because of the wedding stuff.
After all his shit, they were still staying. They’d chosen him. Why having a fake wedding that meant nothing in the eyes of church and state? Maybe it was a symbol, like a collar and a brand and a tattoo – except this time they were marking him as their own too. The feral dog was getting chosen from the pound despite its snarling and snapping. It didn’t mean he was less messed up, only that they accepted him anyway. No one had ever really chosen him before. He’d been an obligation that had turned into affection for some people, but Rodrigo and Minnow? They were choosing to be his family.
The legal documents binding them financially had already been signed. Only the ceremony remained. It was weird and uncomfortable thinking about the future – he tended to focus on the moment he was in, but maybe now the future was worth considering.
“Your suits were ready so I picked them up. Rodrigo, yours should fit perfectly since you showed up for fittings. Severin, hopefully your fits. If you finally decide to try it on sometime in the next few days, just let me know and I’ll send a tailor over to make sure it doesn’t need alterations.” She eyed his shoulders skeptically. “I just need maybe an hour’s notice so they have time to get here.”
He didn’t even bother to glance at her, let alone reply. At no time had he agreed to wear a suit, but when he wouldn’t choose something, they’d chosen for him.
“Are you going to do something with his hair and that...beard?” Talia stage whispered to Minnow.
He could feel Minnow’s gaze on him.
“He’s a grown man,” Minnow said lightly. “It’s his choice. Maybe he’ll let me do some Viking beads in his beard, braid his hair... Or maybe he’ll show up all scruffy in his boots and jeans...a ripped T-shirt –” Her face turned pink again but she bit her lip in the way she did when she was thinking about sex.
When he turned to Rodrigo, expecting a protest from him, all he saw there was a mirror of Minnow’s lust.
He managed not to chuckle. “What exactly are you hoping happens during the ceremony, Miss Korsgaard? Should we uninvite family and send last-minute invitations out to Rodrigo’s kinky friends?”
“That’s an entirely different kind of party,” Rodrigo said, grinning. “A reception after-party, if you will.”
“Oh my god! Shut up you two!” Minnow laughed. “We’re the first poly wedding she’s done. We need to be on her best behavior so she doesn’t refuse to do other ones.”
Talia chuckled uneasily as they made their way back to the foyer.
“The chef sent me with a few garnish variations he wanted you to look at,” the organizer said, reaching for the small cooler she’d left on the circular table in the front hall.
“We could move to the kitchen, if that works for you?” Rodrigo offered.
Talia nodded happily and started in that direction with Minnow, leaving Severin alone with Rodrigo, who was dressed business-casual even though he was off today. He must have stepped it up for this meeting. They were paying the bitch, so he wasn’t sure why Rodrigo thought he had to look nice.
“Okay, I think you can escape now, if you want to go to the forge instead of comparing salad garnishes.”
The urge to withdraw was strong, but he also realized they were excusing him from something that most men who got married were probably expected to do.
“I’ve got this,” Rodrigo said, but he stepped closer instead of away.
“Do you think I should wear a suit and shave and get a haircut?”
“I think Severin should do whatever he wants to do,” Rodrigo replied. “This wedding is for us. There’s no one to impress.”
“What does Minnow want?”
“From the sounds of it, she wants you to bend her over the altar, hike up her wedding dress, and drive your cock into her.” Rodrigo grinned wolfishly. “I don’t think she cares to tame you.”
“And what about Rodrigo?” Severin walked toward him, and Rodrigo backed away, his gaze daring Severin to make a move.
“Me? What about me?” Rodrigo asked, his half-smile sexy and cocky.
“Do you want to civilize me, puppy?”
“Hell no.”
When Rodrigo ran out of open space and bumped into the wall, Severin pinned him there with his body. Rodrigo was tall and well muscled, but Severin enjoyed being able to look down at him and menace him with his larger frame. Rodrigo was still smiling, but it had turned from cocky to an invitation.
“I thought you had garnishes to sample,” Severin mocked. “You’re not trying very hard to get away.”
“Does it feel like I want to get away?” Rodrigo’s dick was hard and pressed between them, but then, so was his own.
Severin propped his hands on the wall on either side of Rodrigo’s head and kissed him gently. Rodrigo tried to deepen the kiss, but Severin grabbed his throat and made him stay still as he teased his mouth.
“Please.” Rodrigo groaned.
Minnow cleared her throat. “Excuse me, gentlemen. I hate to interrupt, but somebody needs to come to the kitchen and pretend they give a shit about garnishes,” she hissed. “Get in there, mister GQ. I’ll take over here.” Playfully, she tried to pry them apart, and Severin yanked her between them. They ground against her, groping her, and kissing each other over her head. When they were all breathless, Severin broke away. He turned both of them back toward the kitchen and swatted their asses.
“Quit being rude to your little guest,” Severin growled. “And don’t get distracted on your way back to the kitchen.”
As they started walking away, Severin caught Rodrigo giving their girl a speculative once-over.
“Don’t even think about it, Mr. Solis.”
“Evil bastard,” Rodrigo grumbled. He turned back long enough to give Severin a hungry look too.
“Quit being a slut and get back to work,” Severin called after him.
“You like me slutty,” Rodrigo called back.
Minnow shushed them, laughing.
Severin watched them go, smiling to himself like some stupid lovesick sap.
*
Severin could tell when she woke. Her breathing changed first, then her body stiffened. Hands rose to the blindfold he’d put on her.
The bed dipped under his weight as he leaned close. “Leave it, Miss Korsgaard,” he whispered in her ear.
Her tiny whimper made the hair on the back
of his neck rise. How he lived for that sound. It made his dick even harder than it already was.
He dragged her into his lap and inhaled the scent of her hair. Enough was enough. So much fucking whispering in this house. One of them was going to break and tell him what the fuck was going on. Divide and conquer. As soon as Rodrigo had sucked him off, like a good boy, then headed to work, Severin had gone straight for Minnow.
Determined, he carried her down the hall to the stairwell then descended to his office. He stripped her naked, and she stood docile in the center of the room, just...letting him.
“Stay.” He went to the desk and took her leash from the drawer, and the sound of the steel links sliding together made her bite her bottom lip. She shifted, squeezing her thighs together. For all his and Rodrigo’s care, she was getting thinner. He didn’t like it. Somehow it made him feel like he was doing a shit job at taking care of her.
He clipped the leash on, and she silently followed him, as did her canine guardians. When he gestured at the dogs to stay, they did the canine equivalent of pouting, but obeyed. The sound of the door opening had Minnow planting her feet firmly in place on the tile.
“Mister Leduc! I’m naked!”
“I’m well aware, Miss Korsgaard, as is my dick.”
“But –”
He gave the leash a tug. “You’re already at the top of my shit list, little girl. Do you really want to test me right now?”
Pretty mouth open, she stammered through a few half-sentences before stopping herself. It was difficult not to kiss her. “What did I do?” She reached out her hands, searching for him, her breasts quivering with her rapid breathing.
He walked her along the back driveway. Nude, collared, leashed, following him like an obedient pet.
Breathtaking.
He loved her so fucking much that sometimes it was hard to think.
She had no idea what he’d do for her.
He damn well wasn’t going to let her build walls between them.
When they reached the sweeping front steps to the house, he carried her up then knelt her at the top of the stairs, positioning her in his favorite slave posture, with her sleep-wild hair draped over one breast. He let the leash dangle between her pale swells of flesh, loving the tightening of her one still-visible nipple as the cold chain kissed her skin.
Tragic King (The Dominant Bastard Duology Book 2) Page 24
