by Sky Winters
“He couldn’t have just called and warned us?”
“He said he couldn’t get through, but I believe he just wanted to end this and planned on getting here first. He almost made it.”
“Almost,” she groaned.
“Well, if nothing else, it worked. I think we are done with all this.”
“I sure hope so. I don’t want to have to worry about being under attack after the baby is born.”
“I’m more worried about finding him or her hanging upside down in their closet at night when I go in to read them a story,” Dane quipped.
“Very funny.”
“I feel a lot of jokes about you being batshit crazy are forthcoming.”
“I feel like you’re going to wake up one night with a panther standing on your chest.”
“Well, I do love your—” he began, but she cut him off.
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence!”
Dane laughed and pulled her into a kiss. They lingered there for a moment before he went to get dressed, returning to assess the damage to the house.
“Looks like it’s time for a new house.”
“It’s just a hole. You could repair it.”
“Nah. I think I’ll go bigger and better. I’m tired of the city. Perhaps we can just build a big house here, big enough for us, the baby, and however many dozen more you have.”
“Dozen more? Shut your mouth.”
“I thought bats had like four at a time.”
“Don’t make me give you rabies.”
Dane laughed and kissed her on the cheek. “Let me get out here and shut this hole back up before too many people notice it.”
“That reminds me. How did the Black Talons know about the tunnels? They seem to have come right to it.”
“I’m not sure, but when I first came back here, before the fire, there was a hole in the roof of the workshop. Though the doors were hidden beneath the floor, there was a panel you could open to get to them. I think they found that and came in that way. The doors were locked with a chain and padlock, and when I went to open them after the fire to see how things were down there, the lock wouldn’t open. I thought it just got damaged in the fire, but I think now that they might have changed it out.”
“That would explain why the light and map were missing off the wall in there. I felt for them after they turned up but came up empty-handed.”
“Sounds plausible,” he said.
“Is it something we need to worry about?’ she asked.
“Probably so, but not today. I’ll figure out how to deal with that before we rebuild, though. The last thing we need are dragons sneaking up on us from below.”
“You’ve got that right. They certainly are a hateful bunch.”
“That’s an understatement.”
The sound of his phone ringing on the kitchen counter startled them both. Dane answered it, responding in single syllables as he listened to the person on the other end before hanging up.
“That was Crosby. They got them all, and he’s already had a talk with the Alpha of the Black Talons. They were a rogue faction, and the rest of the clan wants nothing to do with all this. It’s over.”
“Thank goodness,” she sighed, leaning against him in relief. Those guys were driving me batty.”
Dane looked at her with a straight face until she gave in and started laughing. He joined her for a moment before they gathered up their things and left the disaster of a house around them to go back to the city while they regrouped.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Dane
It had been almost two months since the clash with the Black Talons. Dane and Adriana were still living in the penthouse, but only while they built their new house on his family property and sold her house, which was nice, but not really ideal for raising a family.
Today, they stood on the roof with only a handful of friends around them. Adriana looked stunning in the beautiful white, flowing gown she had picked out for their wedding day. It was hardly a society wedding that the papers would expect from a man of his stature, but they had decided they didn’t need all that. Dane looked down at his beautiful bride and her rounded belly with pride.
“Do you, Dane Johnathan Jensen, take Adriana to be your lawfully wedding wife . . .” the officiant was saying, but Dane barely heard the words. He was completely lost in how lovely his bride looked with her hair swept up in soft curls and the flowing white dress that fit her rounded breasts and fanned out around her growing belly. When the officiant paused, it shook Dane out of his thoughts long enough to say “I do” instinctively at the right moment.
“Do you, Adriana Lee Guerrero, take Dane . . . to make you absolutely batty on a daily basis . . .”
He could see Adriana holding back a laugh at the altered ceremony he’d snuck in to tease her. She wrinkled her nose at him even as she said, “I will.”
“Well, by the power vested in me by the Humanist Society of the Greater Northwest, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Everyone cheered as Dane swept her into his arms and kissed her passionately, happier than he’d ever imagined he could be in this lifetime or any other. Their guests tossed bird seeds over their heads and followed them as they ascended the stairs into the penthouse. They fanned out after congratulating them, leaving the couple alone for a few moments before they had to leave for a small dinner another friend had planned for them across town.
Instead, they were surprised to find that some of their other friends had planned a large reception for them down in the lobby of the building with food, drinks, and dancing. They stayed for quite a while after determining that the dinner was just a ploy to get them downstairs at the right time. Everyone showered them with kindness and gifts until the newlyweds eventually begged off to return to their apartment upstairs, leaving their wedding guests to party on for as long as they liked or until security kicked them out, whichever came first.
Eager to celebrate their new nuptials, they were already undressing one another in the elevator on the way up. Adriana fiddled with his tux pants, managing to get them unzipped but failing to find the button that was hidden beneath his cummerbund. Instead, she worked on his shirt and jacket, managing to work them off before they hit the top floor.
He was equally handsy, managing to get her dress off, but finding a whole new layer of bridal garb beneath it. He fumbled with the corset she wore beneath it but had not successfully removed it before the elevator doors opened up into his penthouse.
They emerged from the elevator half-dressed. Dane was bare-chested with an open zipper from which his hard cock had emerged thanks to her stroking it in her hands.
Her dress lay on the floor of the elevator as she stepped off wearing only the corset, garters, thigh highs, and heels she’d selected for the occasion. Dane smiled and followed her, picking up her dress and tossing it on the chaise as they passed.
Beneath the short corset, her rounded belly protruded like a beach ball, something Dane found incredibly sexy. Her breasts spilled over the top of the corset a bit, already beginning to fill with milk as the baby’s due date grew closer. She looked amazing, and he wanted her in the worst way.
“Tell me what you want,” he said as he approached her, beginning to untie the strips of lace that help her breasts hostage.
“I want what I always want,” she told him.
“And what is that?” he asked, undoing the last tie and letting her bra drop to the floor behind her. Her full breasts swung free, and he began kissing them, his tongue swirling around her nipples hungrily as he waited for her answer.
“I want you to fuck me,” she replied.
“How?”
“Well, it is our wedding night. I think you should make love to me like a man should make love to his wife.”
“God, you’re so sexy like this,” he moaned, sucking at one of her nipples.
“What? Fat and wobbly?” she joked.
“You aren’t that at all. You’re per
fect. You have no idea how beautiful you look.”
“No need to butter me up. You’ve already had your way with me, obviously,” she joked, motioning toward her protrusion.
Dane smiled and moved closer to her, his mouth covering hers in a heated kiss as his hands found their way to her clit. He knew she was super sensitive right now, the pregnancy hormones working their magic more every day.
Her reaction was immediate as she moaned into his mouth, the vibrations resounding against his tonsils as she grew wetter against his fingers. He pushed her across the bed, slowly removing her shoes and unsnapping the stockings from her garter belt before rolling them down off her gorgeous legs.
Her panties were wet as he slipped them off to expose her pregnant pussy, now fat and pink as her body prepared itself to give birth to their child. He found it all amazing and highly erotic. He spread her open, lapping at her center as her hips rocked forward to meet his tongue.
“I love how you taste. You’re so soft right now, like velvet,” he muttered between teasing her with his tongue and sucking at her clit. She was already on edge, her sensitivity reacting to even the slightest touch as he continued to eat her out with wild abandon.
Soon, she was bucking and clutching the covers beneath her as he came in his mouth, her juices flowing wildly as she came for him several times. He stripped down and freed his own raging hard-on, eager to sink into her swollen pink folds. She looked stunning as she lay there, her engorged breasts, pregnant belly, and swollen pussy eager for him. It was beautiful.
He helped her up and flipped her over onto all fours, pulling her back toward the edge of the bed to position himself behind her before entering her. She groaned as he filled her with his heavy cock, enjoying the ways that her pussy engulfed him and clung him as he slid further into her.
Their bodies rocked back and forth against one another, slowly and methodically, his cock pressing against her g-spot with each stroke until she was coming with almost every thrust pushing her to an even more powerful orgasm. She felt beyond amazing as he gave her what she wanted, letting her set the pace with her movements until he could no longer hold back.
Grabbing her hips, he began rocking heavily back and forth, fucking her with deep, even strokes until he could feel his cock pulsating on the verge of climax. He pushed into her one final time, flooding her with his seed before leaning forward to gently lay his head against her back for a moment. Then, he released her, moving into the bed beside her to lay on his side and face her.
“Are you happy?” she asked.
“Do you really need to ask me that?” he replied.
“Well, this isn’t exactly what you bargained for. You were just looking for a date for a few functions and ended up with a knocked-up wife.”
“Knocking you up is the highlight of my pathetic little life. What about you? You were only after a story. Did you get one?”
“Yeah. I haven’t written it yet, but I got one. It’s just not the one I expected.”
“Is that good or bad?” he asked.
“That’s perfection,” she replied, leaning forward to kiss him.
“Are you sure? I sometimes feel like I may have pre-empted your life and your career. That’s not something I had ever intended to do.”
“Oh, yeah. You pre-empted everything. If you hadn’t come along, I’d surely be out there beating the bushes for all the best stories and making all the other journalists jealous about how pathetic their own work was shaking out to be, but you know what? I’d also be missing out on the most wonderful experience of my life. I have the most amazing husband on the planet, and we are soon going to have a beautiful baby together. What could be more worthwhile than that?”
“A Pulitzer?”
“Well, there is that, but you know what? I can have that too if I want. I’ve given up nothing as far as I’m concerned. I’ve put some things on hold to enjoy our time together and focus on my pregnancy and childbirth, but once we’re past that, I’ll wrap the kid up in a blanket, strap her to my chest, and chase leads all over the city with her hanging on for the ride.”
“Okay, but maybe you should just let me keep her if you decide to go after more criminals that might want to do you harm?”
“That’s fair. I’ll make sure I hand her over to you on those days.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“You think I’m kidding,” she observed, looking at his half-cocked smile.
“I absolutely do not. If I’ve learned one thing about you since I’ve known you, it’s that you do not kid. I have no doubt that you mean every single word you are saying and that’ll you hang upside down from whatever rafters you must to get a good story.”
“Is that another bat joke?” she growled, trying not to smile.
“No. Of course not. I just know you’ll keep your sonar trained on your stories whenever necessary.”
“Stop it!” she teased, launching herself at him in a mock pounce.
He laughed and pinned her down to kiss her and then lay down beside her, stretching out to just enjoy the moment by her side.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Adriana
Adriana pushed away from the desk, not that she was very close to it in the first place. Her growing stomach kept quite a bit of space between her and the keyboard as it was. This was her first article in months, having taken some time off after all the events that had unfolded recently.
She considered what she wanted to say and then moved back toward the keyboard to begin. This assignment had begun with her doing a lighthearted fluff piece on the Alpha Meets Omega dating site. It had ended with her realizing just how incredibly wrong she had been about what it was like to be an Omega.
When I began this research, I had a low opinion of Omegas and disdain for everything they represent. I now realize that their ways aren’t wrong or inferior. They have simply found a different happiness than those of us who value things more than home and family.
I may have begun this journey as a die-hard Beta, but I am walking away from it with the heart of an Omega who longs for the challenges of being a wife and mother, of raising this world’s next generation to embrace the values of their forefathers.
“What are you doing?” Dane asked from over her shoulder.
“Writing my next article.”
“What’s it about?” he asked.
“It’s about a girl who met a boy and realized that everything she’d ever believed was wrong.”
“She sounds a little batty,” he joked.
“If you don’t stop with the bat jokes . . .” she laughed.
“What? You gonna bat-ter me?”
“That’s it!” she joked, getting out of her chair and approaching him with a huge smile and a playful fist waving around in the air.
Dane just laughed and pulled her toward him, her round belly pressed against him. She felt a little movement, and his eyes widened.
“The baby just kicked me!”
“Good. Let that be a reminder as to which side they are on,” she teased.
He put his hands on her stomach and held them there, smiling broadly as the baby kicked away.
“That’s my girl! Feisty like her mother!” he joked, leaning forward to kiss her while the baby continued to kick around between them.
Less than a week later, Adriana gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Neither of them could have been any prouder as they looked down at her big brown eyes and mop of bright red curls. They named her Dawn, after his mother. In the coming months, a generous splattering of freckles would crop up across her perfect nose as she sat giggling in the final days of warm weather. Fall would soon begin to show its colors as they moved into their new house.
The construction company was gone. Dane had let the FBI demolish it and retrieve whatever they needed to go after the bigger fish that utilized the Black Talons to do their dirty work. When all was said and done, he had cleared the land and donated it to the tiny home project for the homeless, keeping his former cons
truction crew on to help build the houses that would get people off the streets of the city he’d once towered over.
They’d kept the penthouse apartment, but only as a place to stay when they wanted to get away or spend a few days in the city. Years later, Dawn would use it as her own apartment as she attended college and began working for her father’s company in preparation for when he would finally step down and hand over the reins to her. Of course, that day was still a long way in the future, as was Adriana even considering retirement from Transformation, a magazine she now owned, having purchased it in the years that followed her original employment as a mere journalist there. What came between those years was a lifetime of happiness balancing love, career, and family.
It was their thirtieth wedding anniversary, and Adriana had a very special surprise for Dane. She and Dawn had planned an impromptu party for him, but first, they had a present of their own. They were both waiting for him when he arrived from work, having told him to hustle home so they could take him out for a nice meal.
They watched as he approached the cake they’d special ordered for him, leaning over it and smiling before looking around and sneaking a finger across the icing for a taste. It had been expected. There had never been a cake bought for Dane Jensen that had not been secretly tasted by him prior to him blowing out the candles and cutting it.
The moment his hand broke the motion detector to one side, the trigger flipped, and the cake exploded from the top, sending confetti and bits of icing spraying upward. Dane jumped back and looked upward at it, bewildered for a moment, but his shock quickly turned to laughter as he spotted two bats hanging upside down from a tension rod put up for the occasion.
He was still laughing hysterically as they dropped behind the counter out of sight, shifted, and slipped on their robes before jumping back up to sing happy birthday to him as he stood smiling broadly at them. When he finally settled down, he looked them both in the eyes sternly.
“That better not have been the only cake.”
They both laughed, each giving him a kiss before going to get changed into their party clothes before their guests arrived.
