Forever Starts Tonight (9 page)

“I should’ve known. We leave you high and dry and you’re forced to resort to trawling for porn at four in the morning.”

Jace looked up from his tablet, finding Andre standing in front of the fading embers of the fire, hair sticking up and track pants hanging low on his hips, like he’d tugged them on as an afterthought. Jace hit the button to turn off his screen. “I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep.”

“Guess I’m joining that club, then,” Andre said, sauntering over to the couch and tapping Jace’s legs to get him to move them so he could sit. “So what kind of deviant filth are you looking at?”

Jace sniffed and stretched to put the tablet on the coffee table. “The real sick shit.”

But before Jace set it down, Andre grabbed the iPad from him.

“Hey.” Jace lunged for it, but Andre leaned out of his reach.

Andre clicked the button, lighting the screen, and blinked for a few seconds as his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. Jace watched Andre’s expression change from playful to something else in the soft blue glow of the screen. He swiped through a few pages, then his gaze flicked to Jace. “What to expect when she’s expecting?”

Jace shrugged. “We should at least be prepared, right? I mean, it’s not like I know anything about this stuff. And I read up on the pregnancy test thing. She might’ve taken it too early. They’re more accurate after a missed period and—”

A slow grin crept onto Andre’s face.

“What?” Jace asked, feeling defensive for some reason.

“Nothing.” Andre shifted to stretch his arm over the back of the couch. “It’s just, earlier I was worried when you found out about the possibility on the plane today. You looked completely freaked out—not in a good way. I kind of figured you weren’t into the idea of a kid. Now I see I had it all wrong. You’re hoping it’s true, aren’t you?”

Jace sighed and scraped a hand through his hair. Was he? He hadn’t been able to think about much of anything since. Even during their erotic evening, in the back of his mind, he’d constantly been worrying that they shouldn’t be putting Evan through any kind of scene. What if there were positions she shouldn’t be in? What if any kind of pain play could put too much stress on her body? He’d played it safe and kept things light. And though he’d been turned on, he’d been okay with ending the night early because at least once she was in bed, she was resting and safe.

Underneath all that worry was also this little burgeoning flame, those thoughts of,
What if there is a baby growing inside her?
Their baby. The idea overwhelmed him. With fear. With hope. With a version of love and protectiveness he’d never experienced before.

Jace tilted his chin at Andre. “What are you hoping?”

Andre sent him a perturbed look, probably because he’d answered his question with a question, but he went on anyway. “Honestly? The practical side of me is all,
Holy shit, how would this work?
You know me, I think about stuff like health insurance and legal rights and how other people would treat our kid when they find out he or she has three parents who live together. I think about how the world is not set up for alternative family arrangements.”

Jace gave him a wry smile. That was Dre, the solid, head-on-his-shoulders cop. He loved that about him. Jace’s tendency was to charge forward first, ask questions later, so Andre was a good balance for him. “And the non-practical side of you?”

Andre rubbed a hand along the back of his neck. “Man, I won’t lie. I love our life. I love that we found each other and that this weird, wonderful thing works for us. But seeing Martine the other night, I can’t tell you that it didn’t make me wonder if there would ever be some intersection where the things I used to want and the things I love now could come together. I would’ve never been happy in some vanilla, traditional setup. God knows I made the right decision on that. No doubts there. But I also grew up in a big family and I love kids. I always pictured myself being a dad one day.” He set the tablet aside and met Jace’s gaze. “And what could be more amazing than having a child with you and Evan? Some little person who we created? I mean, fuck, that kicks me right in the chest. It makes me
hurt
.”

Jace blew out a breath, relief moving through him. “Goddamn, I know exactly what you mean.”

“Yeah?”

“Even if the test comes back negative, we all need to sit down and talk about this, be grown-ups about it. Yes, we collared her, but we’ve still been cruising along like a couple of college kids living for today and not worrying about the rest. Like we’re afraid if we poke too hard at the future, we’ll fuck up the present. But maybe that’s why the ground doesn’t feel solid beneath us yet. Maybe that’s why Evan was nervous to tell us she suspected she could be pregnant. Our roots feel shallow.”

Andre gave a little nod. “Agreed. But what do we do?”

“I have some ideas.”

“Care to share?”

Jace grabbed his tablet and shifted on the couch until he was next to Andre. Over the next half hour they discussed some options and came up with a few new ones as well. By the time they were done, the twitchy nerves that had kept Jace up half the night had settled. He leaned his head back against the couch and yawned. “The sun’s coming up. We should probably go back to bed.”

“Mmm,” Andre agreed, stretching and sending his muscles flexing in Jace’s peripheral vision. “Probably.”

Jace let his gaze slide over and drink in the view. Andre worked out regularly, keeping in shape for the police department, but it was more than the body that drew Jace’s eye. Jace had never been one to pin himself down with labels, but not until Andre had he ever seen a man as so damn fuckable. This guy had been his best friend for so long. He was his bro in every sense still, his fellow dominant. But there was so much more there now. Once Jace had acknowledged the attraction he’d been ignoring, had seen Andre’s submissive side, there’d been no turning off that desire. The guy made him hard. He made Jace want to do things he’d never craved before. And as Jace’s focus moved over that tanned skin and the trail of dark hair that disappeared beneath the band of Andre’s pants, he suddenly had a laundry list of cravings. He let his eyes close again.

“Or we could wave the white flag, miss another hour of sleep, and get ready for the day,” Jace said, not opening his eyes, a mischievous smile touching his lips.

“What do you mean?”

“Ev was right about that shower. Would be a shame to waste it. And I could use a hot one right now.” He flopped his head to the side to look over at Andre.

Andre’s smile was sardonic. “So you really
were
looking at porn when I came in.”

“On my computer? No. In my head? It’s always there.” He reached out and slipped his fingers into the waistband of Andre’s pants. “And right now I’m thinking you slicked up with soap and tied down to one of those benches sounds way better than sleep or a cup of coffee. You game?”

“You asking or telling?”

Jace leaned forward, letting his hand slide lower until he gripped Andre’s already half-hard cock in his hand. He gave it a squeeze, knowing the snap of discomfort would put Andre in the right state of mind. “I’m telling. Lose the pants and go get the water warm.”

Andre’s dark eyes flared in the low morning light. “Yes, sir.”

Jace moved his hand away and brushed his lips over Andre’s. “And thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being so good to both of us. You’re an incredible man, Medina. And whenever the day comes, you’ll be an amazing father, too.”

Andre tipped his face forward, touching his forehead to Jace’s. “And here I just thought you were letting me hang around because I was such a spectacular fuck.”

Jace grinned. “Well, there’s that, too. Prereq for hanging out with me. But seriously, I’m glad that we’re all in this together. Because after reading a few of those websites, I can assure you I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.”

Andre leaned back and gave Jace’s thigh a squeeze. “We’ve got this, bro. Whatever happens, we’ve got it.”

Jace nodded, and not for the first time, he thanked the universe for blessing him with not just one but two people who filled him up like this, who made everything feel right. He stood and cocked his head toward the hallway. “Get your ass in the shower and wait for me with a blindfold. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Andre headed that way, and Jace went in the other direction toward the bedroom. The hazy morning light was just peeking through the blinds and Evan was curled under the puffy down comforter, dark hair splayed over the pillow, arms hugging a pillow as if she were missing their presence in the bed. He stood in the doorway, watching her for a long moment, his chest swelling with emotion. He could still remember what she’d looked like when he met her as a teenager. She’d been beautiful then, too, but so lost from having lived such a rough life for a young girl. Those blue eyes had held wariness and hurt. Now she’d grown into this strong woman, this stunning creature who made him laugh, made him think, made him love. And on top of all that, she could match him on the freak scale notch for notch, which was quite a feat.

Which was why, despite the early hours, he climbed into bed behind her, curled his arms around her, and whispered, “Good morning, love. I’m about to fuck your boyfriend in the shower if you want to join us.”

She murmured softly and stirred. “Mmm, am I having that hot dream again about guys playing Drop the Soap in the communal showers?”

He huffed a quiet laugh against the curve of her neck. “Dirty girl. Sorry to wake you so early. But you said last night you wanted to watch. Or you could join in.”

She nestled into him, rubbing her ass against his erection. “Is it weird that I have a fantasy about being a fly on the wall instead of a participant?”

“Not at all. I don’t even have to tell Andre that you’re there. He’ll be blindfolded.”

She groaned. “You guys are getting really good at the wake-up call. Normally nothing could get me out of bed this early, but you’re pushing my buttons, Jace Austin.”

He gave her neck a soft bite. “Give me five minutes, gorgeous, then you can sneak in. I’ll leave a robe for you hanging on the door.”

***

Evan rolled out of bed after Jace slipped out and was happy to have no nausea greet her. The room was chilly, and the oversized T-shirt she’d slept in didn’t offer much protection, but her body was already warming from the inside out at the thought of what she was heading into. Last night it had almost killed her to call off early, knowing what she could miss, but she should’ve known the guys weren’t going to let her go to bed alone. Instead, they were offering her the chance now that she’d had a good night’s sleep behind her. Game on.

She hurried to the en suite bathroom to take care of the necessities, then slipped out of her T-shirt and pulled on the robe Jace had left for her. The cabin was heavy with quiet, the snow falling again outside, but in the distance she could hear the hiss of the steam and water. She followed it like a Pied Piper’s tune, and when she reached the shower room, opened the door just a bit to make sure Jace was ready for her.

It took a second for her to see through the steam, but when the view cleared, the two guys were only a few feet from her, standing naked under the streams of water. Jace had already fixed a blindfold over Andre’s eyes and both were sudsing up their hands. Evan slipped inside the first door and closed it behind her before opening the glass door that led to the main shower area. Jace caught sight of her and sent her a devil-on-a-mission smile.

She couldn’t remember him ever looking more tempting—water cascading over his lean body, blond hair slicked back, and male arousal in all its glory. And he was soaping up his hands to no doubt run them all over the equally gorgeous man standing next to him. Hello and good morning to her.

He nodded at the bench that was set away from the water spray, the part she assumed had been intended for use as a sauna, and indicated she should sit there for her fly-on-the-wall experience. The steam felt luxurious against her as she moved through it and inhaled the clean scent of the soap. Everything took on a dreamlike quality. The warmth, the mist, the early morning rays peeking through the skylights, and the two naked men who were only few steps away from her. Hmm, maybe she hadn’t woken up yet and
was
having some hot dream.

Andre rubbed the bar of soap over himself, the shiny, fat bubbles sliding down his chest and tracking lower along the ripples of his abs. He was going about it as if he were alone in the shower, getting ready for the day. Maybe those had been his instructions and they were in some sort of role-play.

Jace circled Andre and then stopped behind him. He put his hands on Andre’s waist and pressed himself along Andre’s back, rubbing his cock along Andre’s ass. “Gonna get me clean, too?”

“Get your hands off me, man,” Andre said, jerking free and turning around. “That’s not my thing.”

Jace grabbed Andre’s wrist hard and yanked him closer. Andre’s bar of soap hit the floor. “And I told you if you don’t cooperate, you won’t get to touch the girl again.”

Evan shivered. So they were role-playing
and
going the rough route? Oh, my. They hadn’t done that in front of her before. Jace dominated Andre on occasion while they were all in bed, and Andre liked receiving some pain regardless of what role he was in. But even so, things were usually solely focused on her. Jace using Andre as a tool to pleasure and punish Evan. That’s where his dominance over Andre ended. This felt altogether different. And the thought of the two guys clashing, all that maleness and aggression mixing in with the sex . . .
guh
. Anticipation wound low and tight in her gut.

“Afraid she wants me more than you?” Andre asked with a snide curl of his lip.

Jace gave a dark laugh. “Think she’ll still want you after I tell her I made you my bitch? After I tell her you begged for my cock?”

Oh, hell, yes, she would,
Evan thought, shifting her position, her body growing warm and flushed in a way that had nothing to do with the steam.

“If you think I’m going to fucking beg for anything—”