“Cameron, remind me to tell Sarge what she thinks his big horns look like.”
My brow pinched in confusion until Priest held his hands up next to his head. Burying my face in my hands, I lost it. Again.
“A moose!” I cried, giggle-snorting through another fit of hilarity.
That sent the guys back into fits as well. All of them laughing and snorting about Hayden being a moose in a china shop instead of a bull.
The guys kept me laughing and distracted most of the day, but whenever things settled for a moment, Katie and Jackson’s situation would swarm me with worry.
And in those moments, missing Declan and Hayden returned full force.
Then darkness fell. The guys locked the house down, and I couldn’t put off going to bed any longer. Inside the big room with the massive bed fit for three, a melancholy came over me, and I couldn’t shake the sadness.
No.
That wasn’t the right word.
Longing fit better.
I didn’t want to be alone anymore. I thought about calling them, but decided against it. While I wanted them to be with them, for them to be my Daddies, they weren’t mine. Not officially, anyway. Plus, I didn’t want to come across as clingy and needy. Nobody liked that. I wanted them to want me. I wanted them to keep me for as long as they were willing. Lying in the big bed, cuddled around the stuffed Squirt they sent me, I let sleep come to give myself some peace from the erratic swirl of thoughts and emotions.
* * *
Ringingfrom the nightstand woke me. The room and the sky outside the windows were both pitch black instead of the dark charcoal they were when I went to sleep. I sighed, rubbing my eyes. Gavin always called before he went to bed when he traveled, which meant sometimes when he called, it was the middle of the night for me.
Letting the call roll to voicemail, I closed my eyes, hoping to go back to sleep. But the phone rang again. Groaning, I rolled over twice to reach the phone, where I left it on the nightstand.
Answering without looking at the screen, I asked, “What do you want, Gavin?”
“If you’re in bed, as Priest said you were, and you’re saying anyone’s name other than mine and Declan’s, the suffering you feel won’t be the fucking feel good kind.”
I sat up and yelled, “Papi!” at the same time, Declan growled, “Jesus, we gotta at least talk to the girl about boundaries before ya punish her for breakin’ them.”
That Texas accent made my insides quiver, waking me up fully. Add in their gorgeous faces when I finally held the phone up in front of my face, and the quivers moved south and camped out in my panties.
“Then get to the talky shit, because that’s the last time our girl utters someone else’s name in bed. I don’t give a fuck if we’re in it with her or not.”
Giddiness stormed through my body like someone unleashed tornadoes inside me, and they ping-ponged through me, bouncing around, spreading happiness.
“Can I say something?”
“Yes, sweetness. Always.”
“Unless she’s on speech restriction,” Hayden growled.
“Shut the fuck up, Hayden. Not another word.”
“Sounds like someone else wants to earn speech restrictions.”
“Ignore him, Marcie. What did you want to say?”
“Yes. To all of it.”
“To all of what,pequeña. You have to spell it out for us. I won’t have anyone saying they weren’t aware of what they were getting into down the road.”
“Yes. To the speech restrictions, the feely good suffering, and maybe to the other suffering. I’m willing to try… well, anything if safe wording when I get overwhelmed or I’m not enjoying something won’t disappoint you.”
“If you’ve been with someone who made you feel like using a safe word made you a disappointment, you give me a name and I’ll set the motherfucker straight.”
