“Whacha doin’?” Noah asked, arching his back to give Adam better access.
Adam started to pretend to chew on Noah’s neck until he started to giggle, then Adam’s hand closed around Noah’s throat. “I came home to find you in bed with two other men,” he snarled against his ear. “What do you think I’m doing?”
Noah moaned, his dick hardening instantly. “Punishing me, I hope.”
“I don’t know if you’ll be saying that when I’m done with you,” Adam taunted. “I haven’t spanked you in a long time. I think you’re forgetting who you belong to.”
“You should totally remind me,” he said around a stretch, still rocking back into Adam, whose hand was already working its way into the waistband of Noah’s shorts.
Suddenly, Adam stopped short. “Are you sure you’re really okay, now?” he asked, his tone uncertain.
Noah’s heart felt like it was being wrung out like a wet dishrag. This whole day had worn him out. He wanted less feelings and more dirty sex. That was all he could take for now.
Still, he never wanted to make Adam feel bad for displaying any emotions. “Yeah, baby. I’m fine. I promise. They fixed me. You did a good job.”
“Good, cause I really want to hurt you a little right now.”
Noah whimpered. “Yes, please.” But then suddenly that wasn’t all he wanted. “Do you still maybe love me?” he asked, partially teasing him, but a little desperate to hear him say it at the same time.
Yes, Adam said he loved Noah all the time, but this was something different, something for just the two of them.
Adam kissed his cheek, then captured his mouth in a kiss that should have been awkward given their position, but wasn’t. “I definitely maybe still love you.”
Butterflies took flight in Noah’s belly.
“Good,” Noah whispered. “Cause I definitely maybe still love you too.”
“She’s sick.”
“She’s not sick,” August and Cricket said in unison, giving him that exasperated look that seemed to be a staple in their household since the twins were born.
Lucas sniffed. “It’s not my fault I just sense these things better than the two of you. Maybe it’s my sixth sense.”
“Are you picking up something we should know about?” Cricket asked, a hint of panic creeping into her voice.
“No, he’s not. If he was, he’d have told us. He’s just being…overprotective.”
Lucas’s mouth fell open, giving August a look of betrayal before his gaze snapped to the girls, snugged together in their little jammies with the duck feet. They were so little. So helpless. “I’m not overprotective. I’m cautious. Everyday, we’re leaving the most precious things in our life in that cesspool of germs and drool.”
“It’s a daycare center, love, not a dumpster out back.”
Lucas scoffed. He’d thought August of all people would understand. He was the smartest man Lucas had ever met. Yet,there he was, practically tossing their daughters into a vat of biohazardous waste every morning for eight hours.
Lucas picked up Arabella, snuggling her closer, his heart floating when she cooed at him. Then, suddenly, she gave three tiny delicate coughs. Lucas rounded on them. “See? She’s coughing. I told you putting them in daycare was like letting them lick a doorknob. Now, look at her.”
“He’s ridiculous,” Cricket said to August. “Will you please reason with him?”
August chuckled. “She’s not sick?—”
“She’s coughing,” Lucas said again, eyes widening when Ara gave another tiny choking sound. “See?”
August stood, shaking his head with a laugh as he came to stand beside Lucas. “She’s fake coughing because, every time she does, you run and pick her up. She’s training you,umnishka.Andwell, I’d say.”
Lucas scowled at the two of them before turning his gaze towards the tiny baby, who blinked up at him with her huge jade green eyes, a single lock of dark hair swirling upward comically, like she was a small Whoville character.Her sister had the same little curl.His heart squeezed.How was it possible to love two people this much?
They’d been very clear from the beginning of the whole IVF process that they didn’t want to know who the biological father was, but genetics had decided otherwise. While the girls had Cricket’s creamy pale skin and red lips, the rest was all August. Even though both Lucas and August had green eyes, they were decidedly different. Lucas’s were a pale sea glass green, almost blue in some light. August’s were a deep jade green. And the girls were pure August, practically clones, with his dark hair, his bright eyes, and his terrifying intelligence.
“They just don’t get it, do they, Ara?” he whispered, eyes falling shut as August trailed a finger along his cheek. His touch never failed to make Lucas melt, even now. Especially now.
