I nod once, not saying a word because he’s right. And wrong.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I get it, boy. I told you. And congrats, by the way. If there’s anything you should be asking God for, it’s that those babies look more like her than you, asshole.”
His smile brings me up short and I look up at him in shock.
“You know?”
“Boy, I helped Woody do it all. You think I would allow my little girl to go through with that nonsense when my wife told me that you were her destiny? Not bloody likely. I may be retired, but this shark still knows how to swim in those waters, and I have enough money to get what I want.”
I laugh a little. I can’t help it and shake my head at the old asshole.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me, Cage. You’re mine now, too, and I always look after my children, no matter what. Now do us a favor and go wash, would you? The sight of all that blood is hurting my baby, and I’m about a breath away from kicking your arse.”
Chapter Seventeen
To Be or Not To Be
Luci
I’m floating, light as a feather, and feeling a peace that I just know is not right. It’s a freaking trap, I think suspiciously as I narrow my eyes and try to look away from the light.
Cage’s words keep echoing around me even as I try to turn back and see what’s behind me.
Turn back.
But do I want to? Cage’s words won’t stop haunting me and the realization of them, that he just told me that he lied, tricked me, keeps me coming back to the pain I felt before, when I knew for a damn fact I couldn’t trust him.
Stupid man!
And yet…
These are his babies, Luci, just like you prayed for every night when you lay in his arms and wished that things were different.
I got my wish and I get to look at those four little faces every day for the rest of my life and see him and me in them.
I eyeball the light and float down to my feet like a freaking fairy or some shit.
Just as I’m about to bolt back the way I came, the fog clears and it’s like I’m standing at the fork between two paths.
Choose.
Choose what, asshole? I’m finally feeling all pain free and stuff, and I’m busy thinking here, trying to figure out exactly why I’m not ready to murder Cage for being such a scummy liar.
I need a minute to figure things out.
Choose.
One road seems to be all shiny and paved in rainbows or some shit while the other isn’t so great but has one thing that grabs me immediately. A tiny little cage.
I’m a believer and I totally go with signs and my gut usually, but as I stand there and look both ways, I have the overwhelming fear that I may just choose wrong. This is all in my head, and knowing me I’d lay a trap to lure me in and then wake up right next to one of the Olson twins in hell.
The shiny road looks like it could be the trickster, but then I look down the other, less attractive road and I’m terrified that it’s the obvious trick that I wouldn’t think is a trick but definitely is.
Oh decisions!
I’m just about ready to throw a tantrum and rail, fists flying, because shit, I’m nuttier than I ever imagined when I hear a thin little wail coming from the cage.
“We’ve got them all, guys. Close her up!”
What? Is that…?
Oh Dr. Sparks, you idiotic wonderful old fool, I am so getting you a gift basket for this, I crow, smiling even as I start down the path I know will take me where I need to be.
“There we go, people, she’s stable. For now. Let’s go do something about that big bastard out in the waiting room, shall we?”
***
“Shh! Stop pushing. I wanna see her first.”
“No me.”
“Me.”
“I’m number one, I get to see her first.”
“Shut the hell up and behave, you lot.”
That last one is Cage as he obviously hisses and glares at my four sisters and tormentors. I slowly swim my way back to consciousness. I feel like straight-up roadkill, I won’t lie.
My head hurts from whatever they’ve been pumping into me, my eyeballs are possibly swollen, at least that’s what it feels like. I know for sure I look as bad as I feel and yet I’m giddy as I force an eyelid open and stare at the five idiots arguing in whispers beside my bed.
I take this time while they’re unaware that I’m back to take stock. Belly? It’s definitely gone, and I feel so empty suddenly that I want to cry a little and mourn the loss of the thing.
Just a few days ago I was praying for something to happen so I could see my toes and here I am, wanting to wail for the damn thing. Ridiculous.
That thought sets off another, more urgent thought, and I shoot awake with a vengeance, my eyes going all round as panic hits me.
“Babies!”
Cage just about jumps out of his skin and he’s on me so fast I have to blink to bring him into focus as he grabs my hand and starts peppering my face with tear-drenched kisses that have the peanut gallery groaning.
“You came back. You’re okay. Don’t ever do that to me again!”
He’s yelling so that means we must all be all right.
“Stop yelling at me, my head hurts,” I mutter, smiling when he seems to deflate and is on the verge of crying. Too cute. And totally not my scene as I narrow my eyes at him and grab the hands that seem to be everywhere all at once.
“Cage. Babies. Now.”
That seems to get him to stop and I feel my heart skip a beat when he stills and the others seem to swallow and take a mental step back.
“Luci, baby, you need to—”
“Babies! Babies! Babies! Are you all hearing me right now? I want my freaking babies. Move. Move your ass so I can get up,” I snarl, my panic turning me into a demon as the need to find and nurture hits me.
I mean I love Cage and all, but really? I’ve been waddling around with my crew for months and they think I’ll be okay to languish here while fear cripples me.
Oh God. What if one...some…all…
I can’t finish that thought if I’m to stay sane and not start swinging at people, so I try to push him away and get up so that I can sniff my little ones out.
“Babe, stop that and calm the fuck down already. You’re full of stitches and you can’t be moving around so soon. You lost a load of blood.”
“Cage, I love you more than anything and I am so sorry if this hurts your feelings, but get the fuck out of my way and take me to my kids before I take your substantial manhood.”
Now that I’m fully awake and feeling the loss of my babies, it’s like I’ve turned into mother bear or something. I need to see them and touch them and know that they’re okay and these five weaklings think they can stop me.
“Lie down.”
“Chill out.”
“Stop being a dickhead and just listen to the man!” Dot yells, bringing us all to a stop.
I freeze a little and Cage manages to wrestle me back onto the bed as Dot marches forward and slaps me upside the head.
“Your little aliens are just fine, Luci, so you can stop going Winona on us.”
“Ryder or Judd?” I ask as I will myself to calm and feel my heart settle.
Cage barks a laugh and kisses me again, his face so filled with joy it lights the room.
“Ryder, idiot, you are way too uncool to be a Judd. Now like I was saying, they’re fine. Just give poor Cage here a chance to love up on you before you expect him to let go just yet. Oh and FYI, your belly looks like you made love to Freddy Kruger. My condolences.”
And so starts the kissing, hugging, and ribbing that you just knew was coming. By the time Cage manages to shoo them out, I’m exhausted but smiling happily as the news that we all made it settles in.
“So?”
“So?”
I know exactly what has that look on his face and why he’s clutching at my hand as if just
by touching me he’s assured that I won’t be able to slap his stupid head.
I want to giggle when he looks up at me and seems to shudder with fear. Serves him right.
“You’re a sneaky prick.”
“Guilty.”
“You’re a rotten liar.”
“Guilty. Mostly,” he concedes, wincing at my snarl.
“Mostly?”
“Mostly. Look, I won’t lie and say that I didn’t think about getting my seed in you by swapping out those semen samples, and yeah, okay, so I’m happy that it turned out that way, but you have to know that I changed my mind and called it off before it happened, Luci. I felt like shit for even wanting to trick you like that and—”
“And you, Mr. Possessive, just willingly changed your mind and let me go ahead thinking that I was going to have some other man’s babies?” I ask, biting my lip to stifle a giggle when he growls and grinds his teeth.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Why? Because what difference would it have made, Luci? I’d still have come after you and done anything to make you mine. Honestly, those babies would have been mine anyway because I love you and they’re a part of you so I love them too,” he says, giving me a look to let me know I’m being stupid for even asking.
I feel all warm and gooey inside at the words and I have to blink back tears of joy and just plain gratitude that I got this man as mine. He’s not perfect, not by a long shot, what with his domineering, moody ass, but he loves me so much it hurt a little to see the intensity of that love shining back at me.
I finally understand Mummy and Daddy, because yes, I love Cage so much that he’s all I see most days.
“You are so lucky that I love you this much, dude, because I should be wanting to kick your butt instead of feeling like I hit the jackpot.”
“Yeah?”
So much hope and unbridled joy. How can a woman not see all that devotion and feel it in equal parts?
I do. I know that our road may never be an easy one, that’s pretty much damn guaranteed what with four kids with his DNA on my ass for the next eighteen years or so, and yeah, but I’d rather be nuts with him than nuts without him any day of the week.
“Definitely yeah. Now, shut up and kiss my morning breath away and then let’s go see those kids you gave me, huh? I sure hope they got more of me than you or I see myself becoming a chain-smoking alcoholic.”
Cage laughs and kisses me deeply, bad breath and all, and I feel as if life just handed me the keys to the Ferrari and said go at it.
Chapter Eighteen
Go With It
Cage
I’m in heaven and groaning my pleasure as I look up at Luci over her belly and flick my tongue out to catch her swollen nub with the lightest of touches.
She moans and keeps her eyes on mine, the green depths so dark with need and lust, I feel my dick go hard and leaky against the sheets beneath us.
“You can’t tease me, Cage.”
I grin and continue to torment her some more as I get her hotter and wetter for my dick. It’s been three months since she almost died bringing our babies into the world, and I haven’t so much as allowed myself to sniff at her ass while I waited for her body to heal from the ordeal it went through.
Now, after three months of cold showers and watching her nurse my babies, I’m not about to make our first lovemaking a rushed affair.
Oh no, I want to savor every touch, taste, and moan I can get from her sweet ass, and I want her to be so needy for me that taking me will be more pleasure than pain for her.
She keeps moaning and pulling at my hair as I settle in and open my mouth over her and kiss her.
Luci moans loudly and starts pulling me closer, her hips bumping up, urging me on.
“Cage. I swear to God.”
I’m in her and catching her cry of delight before she can say another word. The feel of her sheath taking me is like coming home, and I have to grit my teeth and concentrate on not blowing my load immediately.
The pleasure is beyond anything else, because this is the reclaiming I’ve needed since I almost lost her. Jack warned me not long after I brought them home after a month of them being in incubators that I’d have the need to stake my claim on her again.
He said it was a man’s way of reassuring himself that his girl is still his and she’s okay. I didn’t believe him till the first time I saw Luci nursing one of the boys.
Her body goes wild beneath mine and I snap out of it as my body takes over and I start hammering her like a wild man. She’s hot, silky, and so tight that I feel every pulse around my swollen dick.
“More, Cage.”
I give it to her without thought, just like I give her everything else she asks for, and make love to my wife with every part of me.
Her mouth is open, her breath filling my lungs as she gasps into me and screams just before her sex pulses and grabs on to my cock, pulling me deeper.
My own orgasm as it hits has me going blind with pained pleasure and I come in her in long spurts of growled adoration.
“God I love you, sprite,” I groan as I fall face-first onto the pillow beside her and try to convince my brain to work.
She’s giggling and gasping for breath just as the first wail pierces the air, followed by three more.
That sets her off even more, and even I’m smiling as I pull her from the bed and follow her into the nursery. To say that my boys are little monsters would be like saying Hannibal was a slightly depraved guy. They’re straight-up terrors, even at three months old.
How they sprouted so fast after looking like tiny aliens when they were first born is a mystery, but as I grab two and hold them close, kissing each sweet-smelling little ash-blond head I feel the love that I can’t ever deny my children streak through me and settle deep.
They’re each of them so different and all mine that I know I wouldn’t deny them a damn thing.
Indiana has Mommy’s hair and my bright blue eyes. Harley has her eyes and my disposition to the core with the way he demands attention at all times. Alan is a little quiet, but with my eyes and that grin I get the impression he’ll be reeling the ladies in without so much as a word. Last but most certainly not least is my little man Grey.
We still don’t know where those grey eyes came from, but Jack is smiling like a loon because I swear to God he somehow thinks that sharing an eye color gives him claim to one of mine.
The kid just stares at us all in narrow-eyed interest and gives me the creeps because I know he’s Mama’s little criminal and he’s going to be just like her.
My family. All mine.
“Stop plotting over there and grab the bottles before they start chewing at you again. Swear to God, Harley, Mommy’s nipples are not jerky!”
I’m still laughing when the kid seems to wink and I settle down with my Luci and the boys, plotting how best to make myself a little girl just like her mommy.
Chapter Nineteen
Only the Lonely.
Dot
The smell of babies and satisfaction is thick in the air as I sit around Jack and Callie’s table watching Luci and Freddie juggle four six-month-old little tyrants while Jack tries to hold a conversation with a yawning mini Jack.
It’s been so long since I didn’t look at a family that I love and feel as if I’m all alone in this big bad world. My friends are all talking over each other, as I pretend to smile at them all and eat the food I have no stomach for.
How can I when my life is a steaming ball of manure right now?
I’m not only jealous that everyone else is getting their happy ending, but also that they can all be so wrapped up in their happiness that they don’t see my misery.
It’s such an uncharitable thought, I know, but I can’t be bothered to stop thinking this way when I think of what my life is now and what I have to look forward to.
I’ve found myself in a nasty situation that just won’t let me go.
My parents are English transplants
two generations back, and though I see us all as American as anyone else, they don’t. As a result I am currently stuck in a place that’s driving me insane.
They’ve got me hopping through hoops to impress a man they think I’m going to just marry because the families decided a long time ago that that’s just what they want.
I may be a soft touch, but I am no fool or doormat, hell no. I’m a Naughty One, and as such I have this thing called a backbone. Which apparently my parents do not like since I told them just this morning where to go when they started pushing me about a wedding I have no intention of going through with.
No way in hell will I marry Alex freaking Summers, a man I don’t even know, just because that’s been decreed.
Why the marriage when I know for a fact that they aren’t getting a thing out of it? No idea, and it’s not like I care. All I know is that my mother has cancer and is using a guilt trip to try and get me to do something I just can’t do.
I love my family, I always have, I just love me, too. As a result I’m having to sit here through months of agony and decide how the heck I’m getting myself out of this situation. Especially considering that I went to dinner at the old house last night and clapped eyes on a man who made my panties bunch on sight.
Alex’s cousin Paul.
Good God Almighty, I just about melted on the spot and threw myself at his feet like some kind of lovesick nutso.
I want him.
According to the Summers clan and my own Harper clan, I’m practically married to Alex already.
What the hell am I going to do? I ask myself as Luci hands me a baby—Harley, I think—and I find myself occupied with the little nugget.
“Hello, Harley, my little man. No biting now, you hear?”
He has no teeth but the kid has stamina and he goes for it with a gusto that does not bode well for when he sprouts one or ten.
God, I want a baby, too. And a man.
***
Paul
There she is again, looking ready to bolt as Alex keeps yapping at me about some stupid little blonde he’s into this month. It irks the shit out of me that I have to hear the asshole crowing about his next conquest when he could have the sweet Dot for himself and never have to want another woman again.
THE NAUGHTY ONES: The Complete 5-Books Series Page 23
