Wolf smiled, wiping a hand across his hair. “I think we’re getting married tomorrow and we should trust our Ma to know what she wants.”
And she wanted Mel. Mel had been the one standing beside her and taking care of her. Leo turned to him and gave him a deferential nod. “Thank you for taking care of this, Mel.”
Wolf held out a hand. “Thank you.”
Mel shook it. “That’s real nice, boys, but I’ll always take care of your momma. I love her. I’ve loved her since I saw her across the crowded medical examination room the aliens were holding us in. She was so beautiful in the stark white lights. You see, they think they can blind you with those lights, but we hunters have trained ourselves to be able to see through it.”
Mel started in on how he’d met their ma on an alien research ship.
And Leo forced himself to listen because sanity, he’d learned, was sometimes in the eye of the beholder.
And his mother had more than earned his respect and love and tolerance.
If he could show her that by accepting her nutty, loving, protective boyfriend, then Mel had just become family.
Chapter Fifteen:
Stef and Jen
Jen stared at her sleeping husband and wondered why she asked a man to do anything. She’d asked them to bring him in and help her get him tied down. It was a simple operation. No fuss. No muss. There were two Harper twins and only one Stef. It should have been easy.
They had shot him with a tranq gun. That was their brilliant solution. To shoot him. With drugs.
And then they’d tossed him in the back of Rye’s truck. Naked.
She was so going to give Holly and Rachel an earful about their dumbass husbands. There wasn’t a brain among the four of them. Next time she would just call the women together. Marie would have been humane about bringing Stef in. Maybe.
But she had a decision to make and she needed to do it before he woke up.
She stared at her gorgeous husband. He was tied to the bed, his arms and legs spread. Every inch of his tanned skin was on display. How long had it been since she’d just stared at him like the work of art he was?
She tugged at the silk straps of her nightgown. She’d been surprised to discover that there was a whole line of sexy maternity nighties out there, but the one time she’d been brave enough to wear it, Stef had wrapped a robe around her because he didn’t want her to be cold.
He was still the perfect man she’d married and she…wasn’t.
Her gray-eyed boy. God, she loved him. And he was going to be so mad at her.
Maybe she hadn’t thought this through.
“Jennifer?”
Her heart skipped a beat. “Stefan.”
She hated the fact that she was so nervous. He was her husband. They were married. She shouldn’t be nervous about trying to sleep with her husband.
“Would you like to explain to me why the doc shot me and my friends dragged my naked body home and apparently tied me to the bed?” His head had come up and those glorious gray eyes were arctic as he stared at her.
She actually swallowed. She could blame it on pregnancy brain. Yes, that’s what she would do. Hormones. Lots of hormones. “Well, I didn’t expect them to shoot you. I merely asked for Max and Rye to bring you here and tie you up. I guess I didn’t think about the fact that you would be naked, though I really do like the view.”
Maybe flattery would help.
“Why?”
That should be apparent. “Come on, Stef.”
“Jennifer, I asked you a question. I intend to have the answer, so unless you are going to keep me tied up here for the rest of our lives, or you’re planning on playing out a Lifetime movie, I would suggest you begin your explanation. Every second you delay is another set of very nasty punishments I come up with. You should understand, my love, that these punishments are not erotic little treats for you.”
Shit. Well, she’d wanted her Dom back. It looked like he was in the house and he was pissed. Honesty was called for. “I wanted to get your attention, Stef.”
“Consider my attention wholly focused on you.”
She’d forgotten how intimidating he could be. He hadn’t used that dark chocolate voice of his on her in forever. He hadn’t stared at her with pure dominance on his face since he’d discovered she was pregnant. She had to take a deep breath, and not simply because she was nervous. Her pussy had tightened the minute he looked at her. This wasn’t simply her husband. This was her Dom, and she wanted him.
With shaking hands she pushed at the straps of her gown. “I love you, Stef.”
“You have an odd way of showing it, Jennifer.” He wasn’t giving an inch, and she couldn’t tell a thing from his eyes except that he was angry.
“You didn’t leave me a choice. If I didn’t make a stand now, how long would it take? It could be another three or four weeks before I have this baby. Sometimes first babies are late. And then it’s six weeks after that before I can have sex. I don’t want to wait another two or three months to be with my husband.”
“And rather than asking me to make love to you, you chose to take away control.”
God, how did he know how to put things in the worst possible light. Her gown slipped down, her breasts on display now, but Stef kept his eyes on her face. She felt her skin flush with embarrassment, but she wasn’t giving up yet. She couldn’t.
She reached out and touched his leg, running her hand up the powerful muscles there. “I wanted to play. We haven’t played in so very long. I don’t know how much time we’ll have once the baby is born. I don’t want to lose this part of our lives.”
His face was like granite. “You lost it the moment you chose to put me in this position. What is in our contract, wife?”
“This is about more than a contract.” Her voice was shaky because she was losing him.
His words came out clipped and sharp. “You said you wanted to play. Our play is defined by that contract, or are we just going to throw everything away because you’ve decided you want something? Is that how this works now? Our contract is meaningless because Jennifer Talbot isn’t getting what she thinks she deserves? That gives you the right to humiliate your Dom?”
“You tied me up before. I didn’t feel humiliated.”
“I asked you. Everything was consensual. Putting me in this position is not consensual. Having my friends go after me was not consensual.”
Tears blurred her eyes. She hadn’t meant to humiliate him. She’d meant to show him just how much she wanted him. She’d meant to show him that she would fight for them.
But he didn’t want her. She pulled the straps of her gown up and reached for her robe. She would cover herself properly. He didn’t like her body now. She knew she should be angry, but the dull ache that filled her crowded out everything else.
“I’ll have you out in a second.” She pulled on the ties Rye had made, tugging until his feet were free. She moved to his hands, and he was out of the bonds in moments.
She wouldn’t look at him, couldn’t. She simply got up and found his robe. She laid it out on the bed. “I’m going to get dressed. Rachel and Callie have been handling the party for me. I think I’m just going to go to my room. I’m very tired.”
She would wait until she made it to her room and then she would cry. She would wail. She would mourn because he didn’t want her anymore and he might not again. She could try to get her body back, but it couldn’t be the same again. In a few weeks, she would be a mom and nothing could change that. She wouldn’t be Stef’s hot little sub ever again.
And maybe then it would just be a matter of time before he started looking around, before he started wondering what he’d given up to marry her. He was rich and gorgeous and could have any woman he wanted.
How long would she be able to keep him? How long would she even want to keep a man who didn’t want her?
She took a deep breath. All that mattered now was getting out of this with as much dignity as she could muster. “I apologize, Stef. I thought I was being cute and spontaneous. I won’t do anything like this again. I’m going to the bathroom to get dressed. Please don’t blame Max and Rye. I asked them to help me.”
“Oh, I have plans for all of them, pet.” He was on his feet now, but he didn’t bother with the robe. “It might take years, but I’ll have my revenge. I’ll be creative, and this town will never forget what I do to those four men. I’m thinking of running Max up the town flagpole suspended only by his boxers. I won’t let him down until he cries a little. And Caleb Burke is going to get a dose of his own fucking medicine. I’m going to roofie the bastard and maybe get a tramp stamp of a butterfly tattooed above his ass. Yeah, we’ll see how he fucking likes that.”
“Stef, you can’t do that.”
“I don’t see why not.” His eyes rolled slightly. “It’s not like it would be permanent. Not that I would tell Caleb that. I have to figure out what to do to the big guy. I bet Alexei’s really nasty with the revenge thing. I’ll think about it. Why are you dressed?”
She was really confused. And her heart was still aching. “Stef, this was a stupid idea. I told you I’m sorry. You can’t run around plotting revenge.”