he smoothed a finger over drace’s cheek, smiling as the baby giggled and latched onto his fingers. he was already crawling. put the little imp on the floor and he would be off and struggling to find some kind of adventure that was less than safe. he looked like his daddy. acted more like his mommy.
“did you hear me, cade?” sam stood by the closed door, and cade knew his brother’s eyes would be glittering with anticipation and amusement.
“what now?” he winced as drace bit into his finger, the small, barely visible teeth stinging the hard pad of flesh.
“well, at least they know we’re onto them.” there was laughter in sam’s voice. only god knew how that lightened cade’s heart.
drace yawned, his little eyelids drifting down as he gnawed contentedly on cade’s finger.
cade snorted. “i was onto them days ago. sarah just affirmed it.” brock had been furious with himself when he came to cade and sam and revealed the nature of the women’s wishes.
“we should have seen it sooner,” brock murmured.
“we did, brock,” cade reminded him of their conversation months after marly’s pregnancy had been confirmed. “it was our decision to stop. we just didn’t know how far they wanted to take it.”
a year ago, it would have killed something in him to see his brothers and their wives leave his home. they had been a part of each other for so long, he didn’t know if he could have survived it then. drace had changed that, though. the thought of the other children marly had talked about wanting had cemented the decision. he didn’t give a damn what the townspeople gossiped about, but he couldn’t face the pain it could bring his children. couldn’t face the thought of raising them in any way that wasn’t conventional.
he wanted to take them to sunday school. he wanted to join the f**king pta, for god’s sake. he could never do that comfortably as long as their lifestyle continued as it was. besides, he wanted his wife to himself. as much as he loved his brothers, as exciting, intense, and filled with eroticism as their sex lives had been, he no longer needed that affirming bond that had saved them over the years. he needed marly. he needed their children.
“she could have said something.” cade could hear the regret in brock’s voice. “i should have let her know she had the freedom to do so.”
cade looked up as sam snorted. “come on, brock, they love driving us crazy. you know it and i know it. and we love it. i’ve called the contractors and they’ll be out here next week. let’s let them have their fun while they can. then they can make it up to us for not trusting us as they should have. as soon as i show my sweet little honey what a bad girl she’s been, i’m sure she’ll do just that.”
cade hid his smile as he looked up from his sleeping son to his brother’s smug expression.
“i think we should push them just a hair bit further.” he leaned back in the rocking chair, lifting drace to his chest, his heart clenching at the gentle weight of his son resting against him. his hand smoothed over the baby’s back.
“yeah?” sam would be all for the game.
“how?” brock was always more suspicious.
“we make them ask.” cade kept his voice low. he had no desire to disturb the baby’s slumber.
brock moved from the window until he could face his brother.
“and we do this how?”
cade watched the other two men. the changes in them all in the past two years were amazing. they laughed. they even hugged sometimes. they had even found a way to discuss the events that had nearly destroyed them so long ago. they had healed. and it was the tender acceptance and fiery love of their plotting wives that had sealed the open wounds in their souls and allowed them to live again.
“easy.” cade smiled. he had been planning this one all day. “we force it out of them.” he looked over at brock. “you know what makes sarah the wildest.
stop having mercy on her and playing with her. let her know the game is being played in earnest now. if she wants something, she has to trust you enough to ask for it.” his voice hardened, as did his own resolve.
he loved marly more than he loved his own life, but like brock and sam, it bothered him that she hadn’t realized how he had drawn back from touching the other women, how he no longer needed any touch but hers. he didn’t like the thought that she felt she had to lead him through a decision this important. he wouldn’t allow her to play with their lives that way.
“when?” sam was, of course, the most amused by the whole deal.
cade shot him a chiding look. “you’re enjoying this too much, brother.”
“of course i am,” he chuckled. “i’ve not had this much fun out of heather in months. it pisses me off she wouldn’t come to me, but i figure once it’s all said and done, she’ll realize the error of her ways.”
cade winced. he had a feeling if sam wasn’t careful his little redheaded wife would be waving her gun under his chin. damn, she could get mean when she wanted to.
“tonight,” he decided, rising to his feet to place drace in his crib.
the baby was spread out in innocent abandon, chubby little legs sprawled, his arms thrown back above his head. he refused to sleep on his stomach any longer. cade drew a light blanket over the sleeper-covered body and swallowed past the knot of emotion building in his throat. his son. it never failed to amaze him that he was a part of anything so perfect.
“now.” he changed his mind as he smoothed his finger over drace’s cheek once again. he was as perfect as his mother was. but unlike his mother, a hell of a lot easier to manage. for now.
chapter five
heather knew trouble was brewing when the door to the living room opened and the three men walked in. damn. separately, they were too good looking for any woman’s peace of mind. but together they were dangerous.
tall, dark- haired, bodies built like sin and gazes as wicked as hell itself.
dressed in jeans, scuffed boots and t-shirts that showed their perfect muscles in stark release, it was enough to send her body humming. but when she looked at sam, it kicked into overdrive. he was hard. they all were. but that hard-on was for her. she could see it in his eyes; in the way his gaze went over her body, lingered at her br**sts, her thighs, then moved back to snare hers.
they stopped just inside the doorway, arms crossed over their chests, staring back at them with cool, arrogant expressions. confidence seemed to vibrate around them. control. resolution. hell, she had a feeling her, sarah and marly were in a shitload of trouble now.