Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 35452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
“Well, yeah. They don’t need to see us together like this.”
“I’ll be gone before they wake. But you need comfort, and I’m not leaving you to cry yourself to sleep in the dark.”
Then she did something totally unexpected. Calliope rolled over and buried her face in my shoulder, clutching my shirt while she quietly sobbed. I had no clue what to do. My earlier encounter with her was all about sex and pleasure. This was raw emotion. Her expressing her fear and worry and raw grief to someone she trusted, and I had no idea what to do with the knowledge or the physicality of it. I closed my arms around her, holding her tightly while murmuring to her that everything would be good. I’d make it good, no matter what it took. Thing was, I got the feeling she didn’t believe me. Not really. But she wanted to.
“I’ve got you, sweet Calliope. I’ll keep you and the boys safe.”
She didn’t say anything, just cried until she was spent. Then she lay still in my arms, still clutching my shirt, and slept like the dead. The feeling of this woman in my arms, clinging to me, was a lot to process. It made me feel like I was more than I really was. Made me want to be whatever she needed to take away her pain. This was so out of character for me I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t want to be here like this when Sebastian woke. Hell, I was even squeamish to be here with Theo in the room, but I was hesitant to leave her. Calliope was… special. Just thinking about her younger self taking on the responsibilities of a mother to twins nearly made me ill even as it made my chest swell with pride.
“Mine,” I muttered to myself. This woman was mine. At least, she was going to be. It was like flicking some kind of switch in my brain. Where I’d flirted with the idea before, now, there was no denying it.
I lay there, just drifting. I didn’t want to go to sleep. Not with the boys still there and their mother in such an intimate position. Didn’t mean I wanted to leave her. When I heard the boys stirring in their blanket fort, I raised up slightly. Calliope moaned and tightened her hold on my shirt.
Theo popped his head out of the tent, and his gaze went unerringly to the bed. When he saw me there with Calliope, he gave me a curt nod before urging his brother out of the bedroom. Sebastian glanced back at us and gave me a thumbs-up and a big smile.
“You know where the common room is,” I told Theo softly. “Anyone there will help you get breakfast.”
“Can we go swimming today?” Sebastian looked hopefully at me.
“Don’t see why not. Go get breakfast, and we’ll see if we can find you some swimming trunks.” Sebastian let out a whoop before clapping his hand over his mouth and glancing at his mother. Then he sprinted for the door. Theo was right behind him. The boy looked at me, then turned the lock on the door before shutting it behind him.
That wasn’t creepy or anything. It didn’t take much to get what the boy was angling for. He wanted me with his mama so I could protect them all. And I had absolutely no problem with giving this to him. Especially when I wanted Calliope for myself.
“W’asgoin’ on?” Calliope pushed up slightly, looking around with wild eyes.
“Shh,” I said, petting her back and urging her to lie back down. “The boys’er just goin’ for breakfast. You rest here with me a little while longer. ’K?”
She gave a contented groan and stretched, settling her body against mine. For the briefest of moments, I felt like she’d been with me forever. We were a couple waking up on a Saturday morning to our kids hurrying to the living room to watch cartoons or outside to play with friends or some shit. It was so… normal! I’d love to have a kind of normal with her that included pulling her into a dark world of kinky, dirty sex when we were alone. A world where she craved my attention and begged me to make her come over and over. I could easily see her spread out on the bed, hands and feet tied to the corners while I took her any way I wanted to. Just the thought made me harder than a motherfucker. Then she stiffened, and I groaned.
“Fuck,” I bit out. “Don’t move, Calliope.”
“I -- What?”
“You were gonna bolt. Don’t you fuckin’ move.” I tried to use a stern voice, the voice that sent prospects all over the compound scurrying off to do my bidding.
“Why are you still in the bed with me?” Her voice was a high-pitched squeak. It was obvious she was uncomfortable with the situation. “Where are the boys?”