When The Gavel Falls (Masters of the Castle)

by Tabitha Black

  "Well, he's worried, and it's better to be safe than sorry anyway." Brianny tried to calm her sister. "What's the matter? You look like you saw a ghost." Sara's face had gone white, and Bri turned to look behind her but saw nothing. Well, nothing aside from a Little Maid holding up her skirt—as if it was even necessary to lift that tiny skirt—and bent over, while a gentleman in black gave her varied spanks. Judging by the maid's smile, Bri didn't think she minded one bit. "Do you know them?" she asked Sara.

  "Know who? No, I, it's just another one of the contractions." The way Sara was rubbing her tummy in busy circles made Bri glad Jackson was insisting on a visit to the hospital. Her sister had a high pain tolerance, even aside from her masochistic side. The scars she had from the fire proved she'd been through serious pain before.

  "I'll go with you." Brianny made up her mind in an instant.

  "No. I'm not letting you ruin your night too, just because Jackson is way too over-protective." They were already moving toward the door.

  "This is why I came—to be with you during this time. I want to be there for you." Brianny reached out and slid her arm under her sister's. She tossed a half-hearted smile at Kian.

  "No. I'm sure, absolutely sure, that this baby is not coming tonight. I refuse to let you go." Sara ignored Bri, instead sending a pleading look to Kian, as if begging him to take her side. "Oh, God!" she groaned suddenly, pressing both hands to her face. "He's got Kade with him. Please tell me he didn't involve the whole Castle in this! Look, I will call if this ends up being real. Once we know for sure, then you can come. There is no reason for you to come if it isn't."

  "That makes sense, Bri. We'll wait for the call." Kian responded to Brianny, and then for her.

  "Okay," she agreed reluctantly. "But you guys had better call as soon as you know. Wait, we don't have our phones on us. We're not allowed to have them outside our rooms or the media center." Bri looked at her sister, Jackson and the man who must've been Kade.

  "We have a line here at the Castle. If we call, they will come to find you." Jackson was already pulling Sara away, so Brianny could do nothing but watch them go.

  "Come on, let's dance. They're playing your song." Kian gave her a lopsided smirk that made her question his words. "I never paid attention to it before, but now I know why you like it so much." He winked at her suggestively.

  Her face heated as she focused on the song, and the words became clear. Yes, she'd played it many times in the past, hoping Kian would take notice. Now, she simply smiled as he pulled her close to dance, and repeated the words of the Bruno Mars song in her ear.

  The whole evening went beyond anything Bri had ever experienced. It wasn't until she was tumbling, exhausted, into bed later that night—no, the next morning, (it was after one in the morning) that she remembered Sara and Jackson hadn't called. Or if they had, Bri hadn't received word.

  "What are you doing?" Kian asked, as she rolled out of the bed again.

  "I'm going to check my phone. Sara never called. You don't think they could still be waiting to see a doctor, do you? It was around nine when they left, wasn't it?" She was rummaging through her purse for her phone when a loud knock sounded on their door.

  Bri started to it, but Kian motioned with his hand for her to stay, and went himself. She continued to power the phone on and pulled the bed sheet around her to cover her naked body, even as she hurried to follow him.

  "Yes?" Kian called, at the same time as he pulled the latch.

  Master Marshall stood in the hall. "I'm a messenger sent to deliver the good news. Regan Emily was born at 12:03 am. We just received the call. Congratulations, auntie." If there had been any prior discipline between him and herself, no-one would have guessed; something Bri had worried about earlier.

  "Oh! I should've gone with her!" Bri slapped her thighs in regret, almost dropping her phone in the process. "We have to go now."

  "No, that's probably not a good idea, hon." Marshall gave Bri a sympathetic smile.

  "I'm sure the morning will be soon enough, baby." Kian wrapped his arm around her. "Sara probably needs to rest now."

  "No, I—"

  Kian lifted his hand from around her hip and slapped her backside once. "Yes," he told her simply, and turned back to Master Marshall. "Thank you for bringing the message."

  "No problem. I will make sure you have a car available to you in the morning." Then the man gave her a wink, as one might give when offering a child the warning to 'be good'.

  When Kian closed the door and turned back to her, Bri unleashed. "I want to go see her! I told her I would come." She offered a stomp to show him how strongly she felt about the matter, but the sheet was tangled around her, and she almost fell over when she lost her footing. Kian steadied her easily.

  "They will not want you to come this late. Having a baby is very tiring, I'm sure. Not to mention the fact that the hospital may not let you see her now because they usually have visiting hours set in place." Bri's spirit sank when she realized the truth in his words. He soothed her with a snuggle. "Text her while you have your phone out. Tell them congratulations, and that we'll come in the morning."

  "Okay." She moved to sit on the side of the bed and touched the screen of her phone. The 'new message' icon was already lit, and she clicked on it to find a picture of Sara holding a tiny baby wearing a pink hat. "Look! She's adorable!" She held the picture up so Kian could see it too.

  A yearning for a child of her own tugged at Bri's heart strings. She smiled at Kian, and said a silent 'thank you' in her heart for him. He was a good man. They had talked about kids in the past, and she knew he felt the same way she did. They would start trying right after their wedding in June. Everything was falling into place. She looked down at the picture once more. Sara looked like she'd run a ten kilometer marathon. Bri sighed as she set the phone on the bedside table and then untangled herself from the sheet.

  Her body was tender in so many places she felt as though she'd run a marathon herself—or been hit by a truck, anyway. Bri wondered whether a picture of herself right now might also show signs of exhaustion. Her body was not used to the pace or intensity with which Kian had been sexually tormenting her.

  It was a good thing Master Marshall had come when he had and not a few minutes earlier, unless—shit, could he have heard her begging and pleading for completion and then crying out and shouting when it came?

  As tired as Bri was, she still couldn't stop her active mind. After Kian turned off the lights, he slid into the bed, hugging her from behind, and she could feel his semi-hard shaft pressing against her behind. She couldn't help but wonder again when he would take her that way. He'd been taunting her about possessing her ass, but hadn't actually done so. And as awkward as she'd felt the whole evening with the plug in, now that she wasn't wearing it, she rather missed the feeling.

  Kian both amazed and frightened her with his dominating presence. He'd taken to the water like a fish. No, that wasn't fair. He had always been the Top in their relationship, even if he hadn't taken it to BDSM extremes. That was one of the things she loved about him. She remembered the time he'd wrapped her legs around his waist and slammed her up against the wall. He'd pinned her hands above her head in one of his fists, while his other hand kneaded her ass. Driving his cock into her, he'd fucked her hard and fast, and never made an apology for his rough manner.

  And why would he? He had to have known how much she'd liked it. That had been the only other time she'd come so hard that she'd squirted. She remembered how embarrassed she'd been. Bri hadn't even known such a thing was possible. When he'd released her thighs, she'd felt her juice on her legs as they slipped down over his hips. She'd thought she had peed.

  And she never would have had the courage to apologize for the accident. She'd been so embarrassed she was ready to cry until he'd taken her to the bed, swearing that her squirting had been the sexiest thing he'd ever seen. He'd vowed to enjoy every single drop of it, and tortured her with his tongue as he followed through; up
and down her thighs for what felt like hours before he finally started on her aching core… much the same as he had tonight in the shower.

  After clipping her hands and feet to the hooks in the wall, he'd tormented her as he washed every square centimeter of her body, many times over bumping, or thumping, or out and out fucking her with the plug that was still in her back hole. It was when he'd dropped to his knees in front of her on the shower floor, and thrust three fingers into her without any preamble that she had started to come undone. His tongue flicked and laved her pleasure button before finally grazing it with his teeth, and even nipping the swollen bundle of nerves. She'd been so wet already that, aside from the stretching, tight, full feeling, his fingers were sweet ecstasy to her. While it was humiliating, his words fueled her release even as they shamed her. He said she'd soaked him with her juice, said she was beautiful, and said he was honored that she'd released so hard for him.

  ***

  The following morning, Master Marshall was true to his word. Even though guests always traveled back and forth via the bus, there was a staff parking lot in the back of the grounds, and Marshall let them take the Castle van.

  As it happened, Brianny and Kian were even able to bring the bag that Sara had packed previously and Jackson had forgotten the night before.

  Holding her new niece inflated Bri's desire to have a baby of her own instead of decreasing it. She didn't want to let anyone else hold her.

  "Regan? Wasn't that one of our great-aunts or something?" she asked, as she stared at the tiny fingers clasping one of her own.

  "Shhh. It was actually an uncle, but don't tell Jackson. We argued about whether it was a girl's or boy's name. I don't care; I like it. And I've seen it as a girl's name in romance books." Sara winked at Bri.

  "It can't be any different to me being named after Dad; Brian-ny," she annunciated her name slowly.

  "It could be worse, you could pronounce it as Brī-an and not Brē-a-nee." Sara laughed and brushed at her eyes as they filled with tears. "I just can't stop being so emotional. I mean, I still can't believe she is finally here. I was so worried when I first realized I was pregnant. Our lives will be so different now."

  Brianny didn't get to reply, the guys came back into the room just then. It seemed that the breakfast the hospital provided was not what Sara was hungry for, so Kian and Jackson had gone in search of something better.

  "I said I would bring you something. You don't have to cry. I'm here to save the day," Jackson joked with Sara as he came to her side. "I have a muffin, fruit, bacon—yes, real bacon this time—a veggie omelet… Does this confuse anyone else as much as it confuses me?" He turned to Bri and Kian for approval. "A veggie omelet, and bacon on the side?" He moved the bedside table over her lap and proceeded to lay out Sara's meal.

  "I feel like there is a hollow spot in my middle. My stomach thinks I need to fill it back up. I'm just hoping I go back to the way I was before, you know?" Sara picked up the dish of fruit and sampled a piece of pineapple.

  "Well, I'm sure it will take time. I mean, the baby was born less than twenty-four hours ago. The weight will just fall off, I bet. But I wouldn't worry about it." Bri pouted as Jackson came over and took baby Regan away from her, but hopped up and insisted he take the chair. She moved to sit next to her sister on the bed and took a piece of cantaloupe from the fruit dish, knowing her sister didn't like it and wouldn't eat them.

  "I don't mean the weight, although I am a little worried about that, too. But what I mean was—" She gave Bri a confused look. "Maybe I already told you this? I really didn't have much morning sickness… well, I did have a little in the beginning. But I think it was only when I was hungry. It's been so irritating. I'm starving all the time—and I don't mean how people think pregnant women eat a lot. I wake up starving every single morning. I mean really, really starving. It seriously can't be normal."

  Bri dropped a big chunk of the melon into Sara's coffee, causing it to splash her hand. "Ouch! I'm sorry." She cast a glance at Kian, wondering if he'd heard her sister. He was looking at her with curious bent. She grabbed a spoon and tried to fish the fruit out of the coffee.

  "It's okay, I probably won't drink it. The hospital's coffee is worse than grandpa's. Remember how he used to make a pot, and it would last for days before he made a new pot? He would just heat it up in the microwave. Ack! I feel ill just thinking about it." Sara carried on; never drinking the coffee, but talking about places that had really bad or equivalent beverages to the hospital's. Jackson agreed and they continued their discussion, not realizing that neither Kian nor Bri joined in.

  Bri was thankful when a nurse came in. It gave her a reason to leave. She hugged her sister and then Jackson too. She brushed her finger down Regan's soft cheek, then took the hand Kian offered her. They walked silently hand in hand all the way to the car.

  Neither spoke at all until they finally pulled out of the parking lot, then Kian broke the silence. "Could it be?" He didn't have to tell her what he was talking about. "Have you missed a period?"

  Her voice was a scratchy whisper. "It's always been irregular." The doctor had given her birth control to help regulate her cycles prior to her even being regularly sexually active. "I don't remember the last one for sure. But that doesn't mean anything because, well, because I don't know." She didn't look at him, instead keeping her face to the window.

  Guilt clutched at her. In her heart, she already knew. One freaking day. One freaking time. She was a responsible adult. She'd taken the damn pills for years and never missed a day, except that one time. It was—God, it had to be almost four months ago. Hadn't she just thought that she would surely have a period soon, because it had been so long? She had worried it would be just her luck to start while they were on their vacation and ruin everything.

  Chapter Ten

  "Well, we'll just stop at a drug store right now and get a test. There's no sense in worrying about it unless we know for sure. Right?" Kian said, briskly. She flinched when he rested his hand on her thigh. "Hey," he said softly, moving his hand to rub her arm. "It will be okay. Well, figure this out."

  She felt ill. She wanted to clutch her stomach, but didn't want Kian to see her. She crossed her arms over her chest and braced herself. "I did forget once. Only once, though. I never mess up. I'm responsible—" she choked up and couldn't finish. Her throat felt like she'd tried to swallow an apple whole from swallowing back tears.

  "Hey, listen." He pulled into a parking lot and put the car in park at the first spot he found. Bri looked at him then, because he'd unsnapped her seatbelt buckle, and pulled her right into his lap. "Pregnant or not, we're in this together. I'm not blaming you and I don't think you are irresponsible. We want children—if you are pregnant, we'll just have a head start. But there is no reason to get upset until we know for sure. Let's find a store, okay?" He chucked her chin like she was a child and then kissed her temple.

  She couldn't speak. Words wouldn't fit around the lump in her throat.

  "Brianny, do you understand me? I'm not upset. I won't be upset. Okay?" he lifted her chin so she had to look at him.

  She gave the barest of nods.

  "Look, there's a grocery store. They'll have a test. We can do it in the parking lot if you want. I'll hold up my coat, like I did that night we had a flat tire. Remember?"

  His smile was genuine. God, she loved him. She couldn't help but giggle as she rubbed her eyes and nodded. He went on, "You were so sure that someone in a car going seventy-five miles an hour past us would be able to see your bare, um, shall we say, glow in the dark, white ass. That's what you said. You remember. You said your albino white ass would glow in the dark like a full moon, pun intended, and all the perverts driving by would see it." He chuckled as he finished. "So me, being the chivalrous gentleman I am—"

  "Chivalrous gentlemen don't tease a poor, peeing lady so badly that she laughs and has a hard time staying still, and ends up peeing on her own foot!" Bri slapped his chest half-heartedly, and snorte
d from laughing with her nose stuffed up from trying not to cry. "And then laugh all the way home while she has a cold, wet, peed-on foot!"

  "I was chivalrous indeed. I held my coat so none of the perverts saw your ass—and I offered to lift you up so you could hold your foot under the blow dryer in the bathroom of the gas station." His blue eyes sparkled with laughter. Not an ounce of worry or angst over the possibility…

  "Thank you, Kian." She slid across the seat again, but rested her cheek on his shoulder while he navigated the car through the parking lots to the one attached to the grocery store.

  "Do you want me to drop you off at the door, or do you want me to go in?"

  "I'll do it. I'll run in, but if I see a bathroom on the way out the door, I'm going to do it so we don't have to wait." She took a deep breath to settle herself as she reached to open the car door. They had arrived outside the store.

  "No, no, Bri. I want you to wait. I want us to do it together, and not in a public bathroom."

  "Fine. I'll go crazy by the time we get back to the Castle, but…" She stepped out of the car and looked back at him. "I'll be right back."

  The tests were not hard to find. Deciding which one to get was the hardest part. In the end, she grabbed three, all different brands. She wanted to read them ahead of time, so she dumped them out in her lap as soon as she was back in her seat. It would save time when they got back to their room.

  Kian laughed when he saw them. "Were they on sale, or do you know someone else who needs one? I don't think they will work on me." She smacked his arm. "Hey, I'm the one who does the smacking," he added.

  Even though the words had been in jest, a sad feeling came over Bri. As much as she would be excited to be pregnant, especially since Kian was so positive, she realized it would probably put a big halt on their sex life and, more importantly, the recent advances in their relationship. He wouldn't be able to spank her or be rough like he'd been. God, that had been the hottest sex of her life. She didn't want to be Vanilla again.