Fulfilled (14 page)

“So I join you and she’s good with it, wants more. She’ll be honest?”

“Lois doesn’t play games, man. She doesn’t top from the bottom.” Jon figured he didn’t need to share the events of that morning in the atrium. At least not at this point. “She could do herself harm though, because she wants to please. That’s why I won’t let Maurice have her.”

“So, when?”

“Anxious much?” He pushed the other man a little with the joke. They had to get along and work well together, get past their jealousy for this to play out in Lois’s best interest.

Trevor chuckled, to his relief, and Jon joined him. They clinked bottles and decided on the time and venue. He locked up behind Trevor when he left. The club would still be jumping well into the early hours, but he had no interest in anything more tonight other than sleeping with his sub. Maybe his and Trevor’s sub. He ruthlessly crushed the knowledge he could circumvent the idea with a simple request of Lois. He would do this for her.

Pulling off his clothes, he threw them over the chair in the bedroom, navigating primarily by feel and with the dim light penetrating the tiny holes in the blinds. Lois slept quietly but deeply, and he didn’t want to wake her. He turned the shower on and stepped inside, running the razor over his skull before filling his palms with shower gel and applying it to his skin. As he washed the excitement of the night away, carefully avoiding a couple of very sore places on his torso, Jon thought maybe things would work out just fine, right across the board. The memory of Lois stretched across the bench, accepting his correction and then Trevor’s with such grace and acceptance stirred him. He gripped his hardening shaft harder than Lois’s little hands could ever hold him and jerked off, his hand nearly a blur beneath the spray of water. His orgasm approached quickly, pinching the base of his spine as his balls drew up, and he spewed against the tiles. Panting, Jon rinsed off and watched his cum swirl down the drain. It just wasn’t as good as when Lois did him. Or when he did her. Just a physical release and hardly satisfying. He had it bad.

He toweled dry and carefully folded the towel back over the bar just as his little one preferred. He’d be totally domesticated after another week with her, except she had a job to go back to, and that was another hurdle to face. They’d have a discussion in the morning about her job and his, and of course, ménage, obliquely presented as a threesome. Interestingly enough, he wasn’t as disturbed about the idea as he might have been, but then the proof might well be in the pudding. He climbed into his big bed. As far as he could tell, Lois hadn’t moved at all, still sound asleep on her belly. He ran his big hand from her shoulders down over the vulnerable sweep of her spine, and whispered it across her buttocks. She murmured and arched a little like a kitten before murmuring a dreamy complaint. Jon moved closer to inhale her scent and smiled. His. Theirs. It didn’t matter. She mattered.

* * * *

“We’ve planned a threesome.”

Lois looked intrigued and a little worried. “Okay.”

One word. Four letters. They signified her trust in him. Jon scooped her onto his lap, and offered her a sip of orange juice. He tried to have some discussions in the atrium to overshadow and maybe replace the first one. “Trevor knows what he wants. I’m okay with it. You’ve shown and expressed an interest in threesomes. What more is there?”

“Nothing.”

“Sweetheart, you’ve read everything on the subject. And you damn near came just observing last night. I know it’s a major fantasy. But we’re not performing.”

She totally relaxed into him, and he knew he’d nailed it. She wasn’t yet comfortable enough with her body to be exhibited. They would work on that, but it was part of her charm, too, still innocent and demure if one could ignore the sexual adventuress lurking behind that sweet façade.

“We need to talk about work, Lois.”

She tensed, and he cursed inwardly. But it had to be said.

“Whose work?”

“Yours and mine, little one. You need to get back to the Alexanders. Kennedy calls or texts every day, and I know you miss her and Nathan. I thought maybe you could work there during the day and live here at night, but I work at night. So the hours would be skewed, but we could be together a little while before you went to take care of Nathan.”

“I’m twisted up inside at the thought of you touching other women, Jonathon.”

“And this from a woman who just agreed to being touched by another man,” he teased. Wrong move. She slipped off his knee and sat on another chair, her arms wrapped around her chest in a self-hug, protective.

“I’ll give that idea up.” He heard both determination and wistfulness. She was more interested in Trevor than he’d realized.

“Lois, it’s my job. I’ve talked with Patrick. Jordan is still training subs. The brothers will take the rest, and I’ll take the Doms to train with their subs. Like Graham did for Kennedy.”

She nodded but wouldn’t look at him. He tried again.

“You need to tell me exactly what you object to.”

“I told you. I’m jealous and insecure. What if you find someone you like better than me?”

He’d asked for honesty and wished he hadn’t. He didn’t like what he heard. It was about her and the shit she’d shoveled all her life. Always putting others’ needs first. Never good enough for anyone and he had yet to convince her what she meant to him. Then he heard her choice of words. Someone he’d
like
better.

“Lois.” His Dom voice had her looking. He locked eyes with her and said it. It was easy to say because it was true. “I love you, Lois. There won’t be anyone else in my heart. I’ll provide a service and do my job well. Then I’ll come home to you. I won’t promise I won’t come home and fuck you senseless because of the job sometimes, but I’ll come home.”

She was on her knees at his feet in the next breath, tears spilling down her sweet face. “Okay.”

He stroked her hair and let her cry for a bit before pulling her back onto his lap. “We still have to figure out schedules, sweetheart. I’ll drive you home this afternoon, after our nap, and we’ll talk with Kennedy and Graham over dinner. I’ll spring for takeout. You can tell me what the kid eats.”

“We’re having a nap?”

“Certainly.” He kissed her forehead, smothering a smile at the anticipation in her voice. He’d send her to his quarters where she would clean and tidy as was her wont, while he went to convince his boss about splitting up the responsibilities around here. Patrick was going to give him that hair-turning-gray speech again.

“Wois! Wois!” Nathan hurled himself at her in a blaze of excitement followed by a storm of tears. Not unlike her burgeoning inner self these days.

“Hi, sweetie. How’s my little guy?” She cuddled him close and kissed his forehead. “I missed you.”

In one of those lightning-quick moods he had of late, Nathan wiggled free and gave her his Graham look. “Bad.”

“No, Nathan. You’re sad because I was away and angry, too. It’s okay. We brought pizza and spaghetti and meatballs.”

Nathan visibly wavered before the promise of his favorite foods but then realized Jonathon was behind her, bearing the feast. He scowled and pouted, his little frame tense. When she reached for him again, he whirled and ran to Kennedy, burying his face in her hip. Lois thought someone stabbed her in the heart and struggled not to let the tears come. She swallowed and forced a smile. He was two and a half and a bit. He wasn’t hers. She’d been the only real mom he’d known for a long time and he wasn’t taking kindly to her absence or the man in her life. He was feeling usurped. She knew all the theory behind his actions but damned if it didn’t hurt. Jonathon shifted behind her, and she knew he felt her pain. Lois jumped into action. She wasn’t going to let this need of hers hurt him anymore.

She went to Kennedy and hugged her. No more tentativeness insofar as her friends and pseudo family were concerned. There was a loving, passionate side to her, and she was going to show it. Kennedy hugged her back, an awkward sandwich of women, toddler, and unborn baby. It felt marvelous. Graham wandered into view wearing his at-home apparel, his hair still wet from a shower. The newspaper hung from one hand when he wrapped his other arm around her.

“So the sex god let you come home.”

“Graham, there are little ears here,” Kennedy admonished, forestalling Lois. It was okay. Kennedy would have had lots of practice in the last couple of weeks while she was off with the sex god.

Graham relieved Jonathon of his packages and took them to the kitchen. It wasn’t going to be a formal night. Jonathon was being included in this family, and Lois felt a whole lot better. Nathan sat politely in his booster seat between his parents and chattered throughout the whole meal, apparently having forgiven her. He eyed Jonathon askance, however.

Once again, she and Jonathon cleaned up while Graham and Kennedy tended to Nathan. She made a mental note to talk with Kennedy about how Nathan was going to have to learn to share his parents’ attention when the baby came, then expunged the thought. She would help out, and they would figure it out on their own, because Nathan had mourned her of late, and they’d obviously coped with it.

“He was pissed.” Jonathon’s comment pulled her from her thoughts.

“Indeed he was. He might not have known his dad for the first year and a half of his life, but he most certainly is similar to him in temperament.”

“He loves you, Lois.”

“Kids don’t actually love their caregivers, Jonathon. Not at such a young age. They’re attached to them regardless of the care they receive. I gave Nathan good care, so he’s securely and healthily attached to me, but that’s helping him attach to his parents, too, in a positive way. He’ll always be my little guy, but I need to back off.”

He was silent, and she sought to reassure him. He fulfilled her, and she didn’t need the damned icing on the cake. “I love you, Jonathon. I couldn’t say it this morning because it might have sounded rote. You know. You say you love me and I say it back just to conform. I love you.”

He crushed her against him, the dishes forgotten, the detritus of their meal congealing on the table. They clung together, the wall clock ticking, their heartbeats synchronizing, the distant happy sounds of Nathan in his bath a bittersweet counterpoint.

When Jonathon finally set her away from him, Lois just wanted to go to bed and sleep for a year. She was emotionally drained. He rubbed her upper arms and urged her to sit while he finished cleaning up. He didn’t stack the dishwasher the way she normally did, and he stowed the leftovers in the fridge uncovered. She hid her amusement. She probably made him crazy with her persnickety ways, but he never complained. And his quarters were actually quite tidy, probably due to his military training. If it weren’t for his tendency to toss his towels in the general direction of the hamper, he’d be perfect.

“Stay here tonight, Lois. It’ll be good for the kid to see you back in the morning. You can talk to him about sleepovers with me. It probably wasn’t a good idea to just walk out without preparing him.”

She’d thought about that and tried to reassure Nathan over the phone every day. It was perhaps a measure of the child’s trust in her and his parents’ good care he had done so well. But she didn’t want to sleep away from Jonathon either.

“Why can’t you sleep here with me?”

He looked so pleased at her invitation she giggled.

“I thought you’d never ask. Doing it in your bed with Graham and Kennedy in the same house is like sneaking in my girlfriend’s window.”

She loved this playful side of him. She took two of his big fingers in her hand and led him to her bedroom.

* * * *

“Lois. Sweetheart, we have company.”

Her eyes flew open. Nathan perched on the foot of her bed, staring at them with wide, silver eyes. Silver for storms. Oh, oh.

Jonathon reclined beside her, his massive torso contrasting with her white cotton sheets. Lois covertly checked to make sure her breasts were covered and hitched the sheet a little higher.

“Good morning, Nathan. Is it time to get up?”

The toddler pitched himself forward, little fists pummeling, feet flying. Jonathon caught him midair and restrained him effortlessly, subduing the tantrumming form. Holy cow. Nathan’s little face blanked in shock and crumpled into tears. She reached for him but Jonathon shook his head. He rubbed the little back and crooned to Nathan, using the tone he took with her when she crashed after a stupendous orgasm or twelve. Kennedy appeared in the doorway, her mouth open on either an apology or remonstration. Nathan had been learning to knock and not barge in on people. She blinked as she took in the sight of the scene in the bed before quietly withdrawing. Kennedy totally got motherhood, probably from dealing with Graham all this time.

As Nathan’s sobs quieted, Lois slipped from the bed to quickly pull on a robe. She smelled of Jonathon and sex, a heady aroma, but didn’t have time for a shower right at that moment.

“C’mon, little guy. Let’s go see what Kennedy has cooking.”

“Momma.”

Okay then. Kennedy was a mouthful for him anyhow, and Neddy had been his preference until today. Jonathon relinquished the child and gave her a look of understanding tinged with sorrow. She smiled widely for his benefit and took Nathan’s hand. She had passed through one door of her own choosing, and sometimes a person had to leave things behind.

Kennedy had Nathan’s breakfast ready, and Lois seated him after giving his hands a quick wash with a fresh cloth. Coffee was on the table at Kennedy’s place setting, and Graham was very obviously not noticing. It was the same but different.

“He called you Momma.” Lois said it sotto voice over Nathan’s head.

Kennedy flushed with pleasure. “I know. It makes me all gooey inside. He really missed you, Lois, for the first couple of days but seemed to settle after that.”

She wasn’t going to let either of them see how that stung. No sir. “Good. I felt selfish. When I wasn’t going out of my mind with the
s
god.”