I had broken all my patterns for my little girl. I quit smoking first thing in the morning so she didn’t have to breathe in the noxious smell. I kept my face clean-shaven because I didn’t want to irritate her skin, and I tried to be present for all her feedings, especially the morning and evening ones. My low, warm voice conveyed all the love I felt for her, all of the protection I would give her. For her, I would kill with my bare hands. I would give my own life to protect hers. The bond I had with Nicole was too strong—it was an emotion I’d always tried to ignore the existence of.
“You know, you are always gorgeous, but you look especially good with her in your arms. There’s nothing to be afraid of, Neil. You are not a danger to your daughter,” Tinkerbell said, her voice warm and sensual in my ear. My eyes met hers in an explosion of feeling, and I couldn’t help but smile.
I felt fortunate every day to have met her.
I was the only man who existed for her. I knew it from the way she looked at me and touched me. The love that she showered on me with every single move and gesture. I had never seen Selene so much as glance at another man. I’d never seen her blush with someone else the way she was doing right then, for me.
She told me over and over again how I was perfect to her, even with my many flaws. She told me how appealing I was and how jealous she got when women threw their heated looks my way. But what my Tigress didn’t realize was that she outshone them all and erased anyone who had ever come before.
“Good morning, Neil.” Judith poked her head into the living room and walked over, her eyes already on my daughter.
But no one, not even my mother-in-law, dared to take my Little Pearl from my arms without asking permission first.
I greeted Judith, cooed at Little Pearl for a few more minutes, and kissed her little face all over. Then and only then was I prepared to step back and let my mother-in-law hold her, giving her a look of warning as I did so.
“Don’t worry, I am familiar with babies,” she reassured me, taking Nicole in her arms and giving her a good cuddle. Judith was an available and attentive grandmother. She was always there at Selene’s side whenever she needed help or support, and she had been overjoyed when she found out Selene was pregnant.
Which had surprised me.
My relationship with Judith was odd. There was a definite wariness between us but also a great deal of mutual respect.
I watched her as she left the living room, taking my little one with her, and I already felt the deep hollow in my chest that meant I was missing her.
“So…seems like somebody forgot about something?” Selene approached me with a little extra sway in her hips. I looked her up and downlike a creep, already imagining her naked underneath me. She wore a knee-length white dress speckled with little blue flowers, and it highlighted all her curves. She’d put her long hair up into a chignon, and I imagined taking it all down and wrapping it around my fist like a rope as I took her from behind.
“You forgot something first, Tinkerbell. We went from morning blowjobs to morning feedings in a matter of weeks,” I admitted.
Once upon a time, Selene’s first wake-up call was for me. Now, though, we’d altered that habit as well to make room for someone more important.
“Oh my God, Neil! My mother is right there!” Selene scolded, shooting a look over her shoulder to make sure that Judith was far enough away that she couldn’t overhear my usual filthy mouth.
“Don’t try to tell me you don’t miss sucking me off every morning. Quit being such a little goody-two-shoes.” I grabbed her ass a little too aggressively, and Babygirl came crashing into me. Her cheeks were pink as ever, and I peppered them with kisses.
“And what am I supposed to tell my mother about this?” She looped her arm around my neck and used her other hand to point out the bite mark I’d left on her lower lip. I gave her a self-satisfied smile.
I loved to see my marks of possession on her…
Her eyes went wide like she was about to swoon because my version of romance was having a devastating fucking effect on her. So I decided to keep going. “Tell her that your man is insatiable and he fucks you like an animal, even in his office. And he’s so crazy about you that, sometimes, he just has to take a bite out of you,” I shrugged. “And then you could tell her about how I love to bend you over my desk and how I completely lose my mind when you let me take your a—” She slapped a hand over my mouth, breathing heavily.
It wasn’t angry breathing, though.
It was the ragged breathing of a woman who was just as turned on as I was.
But just then, we were interrupted by my cell phone.
“Work’s not supposed to call on Sunday; you answer it,” I told her seriously. I needed to get some distance from her and try to temper some of the arousal pumping in my veins. I adjusted my pants, looking down at thevulgar bulge that I would not have been able to hide if Judith had appeared wearing one of her arch, dangerous expressions.
I was just about to make good my escape when the doorbell rang as well. I cursed, thinking that someone must have arranged all this specifically to annoy me, and as Selene went into the kitchen in search of my phone, I went to open the door.
Behind it, I found five dazzling smiles: Logan and Janel, Chloe holding tightly onto her boyfriend Simon’s hand, and John, bringing up the rear with a tray of sweet treats.
“Did you just get up? You have a pissed-off face on.” My brother, like always, wasted no time before giving me shit. I snorted. I couldn’t exactly say I was annoyed about the hard-on that I now had to try to hide with my polo shirt. Instead, I gave him a sarcastic smile and a slap upside the back of his head.
“How about just this once you just come inside without shooting the shit for thirty minutes?” I said fondly. “Hey Janel, come make yourself comfortable,” I added to his girlfriend. She greeted me with a cheek kiss as she rubbed her baby bump, which was even more swollen than the last time I’d seen her.
“Oh, don’t fuss,” she said. “I’m still pretty spry, despite my resemblance to a whale,” she said, gesturing to the little guy in her stomach who was due out in about two months.
“No, you don’t look like a whale. You just look extremely…uh…pregnant.” I bit my lip, hoping that passed for polite conversation. I still wasn’t good at that kind of thing. My brother wrapped an arm around her hips and whispered that that had been Neil-speak for “you’re glowing.”
