Slave To Love (52 page)

“You’re Santa?”

Jace felt his eyebrows coming together at the child’s odd question to him. He glanced at Aaron who only shrugged his shoulders. “No, I’m your dad’s friend, Jace.”

“Mommy said I was a gift. I thought only Santa delivered gifts.” Isaiah looked at his father.

Aaron tried to stifle his laughter but did a poor job of it. “I wish I had a camera to record that.” He placed his older son on the floor. “Zeke, go take your brother to the bathroom to wash your hands.”

“Yes, sir.” Before Ezekiel, or Zeke as Aaron called him, went to the bathroom, he hugged Jace around his legs. “I missed you, Uncle Christian.”

It had been a long time. He hadn’t gotten to the kids in time to teach them his new name.

“Sorry. I meant to tell them to call you by the other name.” Aaron put his hand on Jace’s shoulder.

“It’s fine. Both are my real names. Can’t hide from the truth.” He smiled.

Jace followed Aaron to the kitchen area where Cherryce moved from one side to the other. As soon as she saw Jace, she dropped everything and ran to him.

“I’m so glad you’ve finally come over.” She embraced him and kissed him on the cheek.

Jace hugged her. “I’m glad you don’t have a woman here waiting for me.”

Cherryce pulled back from him and cut a glance to Aaron.

“Honey, you didn’t.” Aaron wrapped his arm around his wife and pulled her close.

She gave him a playful slap on his chest. “I didn’t. I wanted this to be a pleasant dinner.”

“You are going to get it for that one.” Aaron whispered something to his wife, which made her laugh and embrace him harder.

“Come on. Are you two trying for kid number three or something?” Jace laughed to lighten the mood.

“Not trying.” Aaron pulled back from his wife but kept his arm around her waist. “Did it.” He beamed.

Jace stared at the duo. They remained smiling but Cherryce leaned her head against his chest affectionately. “You’re pregnant?”

Cherryce put her finger to her lips. “We haven’t told the boys yet.”

Now Jace understood Aaron’s need for a more financially secure future for himself and his family. “Congratulations.” He kissed Cherryce on her temple.

“Mommy did a good job?” Zeke bounded in the room and climbed on a kitchen chair.

“She did a great job with dinner.” Jace ran his hand over his mouth.

“Get down from the chair like that. Go to the dining room.” Aaron pointed to the other area.

Jace helped get food to the table along with Aaron. With everyone seated, Jace started to dig in and serve himself. Isaiah patted him on his leg.

When Jace looked at the small child, he said, “Hold my hand and pray with me, please.”

Jace glanced around the table and noticed Aaron holding Cherryce’s hand along with Zeke’s. Jace held Zeke’s other hand and took Isaiah’s small hand in his. The weight of holding these children’s hand took him out of his head and made him realize what mattered.

“Amen,” Aaron said at the end of the prayer.

Jace didn’t know why he’d avoided going to Aaron’s house for dinner before. The kids kept him laughing throughout dinner. Even though he knew Aaron and Cherryce would be making lovey-dovey eyes at each other, seeing that didn’t bother him as much as he thought. If nothing else, it gave him hope.

At the end of dinner and right after dessert of homemade ice cream, Cherryce took the boys to bed.

“You know you can come over for dinner anytime.” Aaron nudged Jace on his arm.

“The next time will Cherryce have someone here waiting for me?” Jace leaned back in the dining room chair and kicked his legs out in front of him.

“Do you want her to? She knows a lot of single women from her job and at church. And since she knows you don’t discriminate, her inventory is vast.”

Jace laughed. “Inventory. Don’t let her hear you call women that.” He got pensive for a moment. “I did meet someone.”

“For real? Way to go. You should have brought her here. Cherryce would have loved to have met her.” Aaron stood and started clearing the table.

Jace helped him. “I messed up with her. She won’t talk to me.”

Aaron turned around at the sink and leaned against the wall. “You know when Cherryce and I were dating, we got into this huge fight before we got engaged. I can’t even remember what the fight was about. But I knew she was the woman who needed to be in my life. I couldn’t breathe without her. We squashed the fight and she accepted my proposal.”

“How did you two resolve it?” Jace had tried going through Taren’s parents. Mistake.

Sounded like Taren had warned all three of them of their past regressions with her. Always be honest and don’t keep anything from her.

“We talked.” Aaron started rinsing off dishes before he loaded the dishwasher.

“What if she won’t talk to me?”

“Who is this man in front of me? You’re Jace Morton. You don’t take no for an answer.” Aaron nodded. “Go get your woman.”

Yes, sounded good. He needed to find her. Maybe to resolve his issues with Taren, Jace would have to fix his issues with his family.

After thanking Aaron and Cherryce for dinner, Jace headed to Eagan’s house. He had no idea if Eagan would allow him in his house. To prevent any embarrassments at the gate, Jace called Eagan first.

“What?” Eagan barked over the phone.

“Are you at your house?” Jace went down the long, winding road to Eagan’s home.

Eagan paused before he answered. “Yes. Why?”

“I’m on the road to your house.”

“No. I don’t want any drama in my home. I won’t put Ananda through it.”

“No drama. I promise. Tell your guard to let me in and come outside to talk to me. I swear I come in peace.” Jace turned onto Eagan’s driveway but waited at the edge before driving up to the guard shack.

“Five minutes.”

Jace smiled. “I might need a little more time than that.” He drove up to the shack and waited until the guard got confirmation from Eagan to let him inside.

Jace drove up the long driveway to the front of Eagan’s massive house where he found his brother standing outside.

Jace powered down the passenger side window. “Get in.”

Eagan shook his head as he walked up to the vehicle. “What do you want?”

“I want you to get in. I need to show you something.” Jace nodded his head to signal Eagan to get into his ride.

“I didn’t tell Ananda I was going anywhere.”

“Call her. Tell her you’re making up with your brother. She’ll be glad to see you go.” Jace drummed his thumbs on his steering wheel. “Come on, man. Don’t make me beg.”

Eagan opened the passenger door and got inside. As soon as he closed it, he got on his cell and called Ananda. “I’m going somewhere with Jace right now.” Eagan paused before speaking again. “He says he wants to make up.” He had another brief pause before he said, “I love you.” Then he disconnected the call. “This had better be good.”

Jace hoped it would be. He kept quiet as he drove to a destination in Virginia Beach.

“Where are we going?” Eagan asked thirty minutes into the trip.

“Somewhere that I hope will explain a lot.” Jace drove for another ten minutes until he came to a desolate area near downtown Virginia Beach that had an abandoned building sitting on the large lot. A tall chain link fence surrounded the old building that used to be a warehouse.

Jace parked his SUV and got out walked around to the front of it.

“Is this where you kill me and leave my body?” Eagan got out of the vehicle and met Jace on the other side.

“Not exactly.” Jace took a deep breath before he decided to purge his guts. “We had such a strange childhood, didn’t we?” He leaned against the front grill, still warm from the trip. “Fifteen years apart. You were out of the house, off to college when I was growing up. But I got to see you when you came home to visit.”

“Is there a point to this trip down memory lane?” Eagan folded his arms over his chest.

“When Dad died, it affected more than just you.”

Eagan shook his head. “Take me back home. I’ve already apologized for cutting you and mom off after he died. I took it really hard.”

“So did I. You were gone. By the time I was a teenager, Dad had retired. We bonded way more than you and I did.”

“And?”

Jace stormed over to Eagan. “And I wanted us to be closer. I wanted us to be a fucking family again. When I got into drugs, I know Dad called you to help. You have no idea how grateful I am that you were there then. I just wished the connection stayed consistent.” He glanced ahead. “We’re a family of addicts.” He chuckled. “I’d like to think we’re passionate. Dad smoked. Mom has her alcohol. You have work. I had drugs. You would think it would bring us all together.” He pointed ahead. “You see this? This was supposed to bring us all together.”

“A worn out warehouse?” Eagan scratched his head.

“I bought it and the land a couple of years ago, hoping to tear it all down and build you a studio so that you would stay in town more. Mom would get to see you. We could be a family again.”

Eagan stared at Jace for a while. “Christian.”

Jace dropped his gaze to the ground when Eagan called him the name he’d called him for years.

“That would have been huge.” Eagan looked at the property. “Actually this would be a great spot for a studio.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“You wouldn’t have had to. I was going to do it on my own and present it to you. A gift.” Jace gave a soft punch to Eagan’s shoulder. “You’re my brother.”

“You know you would be enabling my habit, right? I would make sure to make this a great studio. I would be here day and night. The only reason I don’t live in L.A. is because I know I can go over the deep end.” Eagan shook his head. “Don’t do this for me.”

Jace leaned his head back. “Holy shit. I hadn’t thought about it that way. Ananda would kill me if I made you a studio that would keep you from home.” He stared at the desolate location.

At one time, he saw potential. He saw a future of getting the family all back together. Now he saw it as the thing that could have taken them all down.

Eagan leaned against the front of the Mercedes and waited until Jace assumed the same position next to him. “Why did you do it? Why did you purposely try to ruin the show?”

Jace couldn’t hold back. “I was pissed when you didn’t answer any of my calls or come to my awards ceremony. I lost, so it might have been a good thing you didn’t show. Then Ananda came to see me right after the awards dinner to ask for a favor. I felt like I was being used.”

“Not by me.” Eagan shook his head. “I didn’t know about the show until we returned to town. She wanted to surprise me with it. She’d gotten some shots of the show sent to her. When we watched it together, we saw the scene with you and Taren at dinner. I knew it was you.”

“I swear to you. I wasn’t supposed to be a part of the show.”

Eagan held up his hand. “I believe you. Ananda took it harder than I thought she would.”

“Why?”

Eagan remained quiet for a while before he spoke. “Ananda and I have been trying to have a baby.”

Jace beamed. “Are you serious?” He started to hug Eagan when he pulled away from him. Jace started to feel like he used to when Eagan cut himself off from the family.

“She’s had five miscarriages in the last three years.” Eagan kept his stare down to the gravel road under his feet. “She’s been checked by doctors. They all say she’s fine.”

“And you? What have they said about you?”

Eagan paused before he finally answered. “I haven’t been checked.”

“Eagan, if this is important to both to you, then you need to do your part.”

“You don’t think I know that?” Eagan snapped back to Jace. “I want to give her the world because she has given me everything. Her love, her devotion, her trust. I feel like I’m getting punished for my lifestyle choices. If I wasn’t such a fucking deviant, this wouldn’t be happening.” He glanced at Jace. “I asked her why she did this show. She thought if she did this show and proved to me that she loves our lifestyle and me and loves the way we got together, I would feel better.”

“Great. So you two can’t get pregnant and I fuck up the show.” Jace kicked his foot against some loose rocks. “I’m sorry. I will do whatever it takes to make it up to you and Ananda.” He put his hand on Eagan’s shoulder. “That includes going with you to the doctor’s to find out what’s going on with your swimmers.”

Eagan paced in front of the truck. “I tried not touching her. I figured if we didn’t have sex, I wouldn’t be putting her through this torture. I know it tears her down inside each time she loses a baby. I can’t keep it together. Then she gives me the look. She touches me, lets me know she’s okay. I can’t stay away from her. I love her. I would do anything to make sure she doesn’t have an unhappy moment in her life, and that includes walking away from BDSM.”

Jace blinked. He’d done the same thing for less of a reason. “You can’t do that.”

“I can do whatever I want. I can’t whip her and try to get her pregnant.”

“But you love her.”

Eagan gave Jace a quizzical look. “Of course.”

“She fell in love with you as a Dominant.” Jace tried gaining some eye contact with his brother. When Eagan didn’t answer, he continued. “She loves playing with you. That’s why she created the show.”

Eagan exhaled. “I’m not conceited to think that the fault can’t be with me. I’m kind of hoping that a doctor finds out that I do have bad sperm. My biggest fear is that I’m fine, too. There’s nothing wrong with my swimmers, as you call them. Then what? I’ll have to face the fact that my chosen lifestyle is hurting our chances of making a family.”

“You know that’s ridiculous. You have to stop shouldering the burdens of the world. You didn’t force Mom to drink. Dad didn’t get cancer because of you, and he didn’t die because you weren’t there. I didn’t start using because of you.”

“But you did try to destroy Ananda’s show because of how you felt about me.”

Jace cocked his head. “That was more about me than you. As for you and Ananda, you two use safe words. She’s not pushing her body beyond her breaking point. You can’t dress her up like a doll and put her on a shelf.” As soon as he said the words, he remembered Taren telling him the same thing about her parents trying to do that with her. They didn’t think she could be strong enough. Now he understood. He put his hands on Eagan’s shoulders. “Get tested. Play with your wife.”