The Dom on the Naughty List (12 page)

She rolled her eyes but opened the present dutifully
. There were several boxes of jewelry under the tree for Sabrina. He’d asked Q for help but she was as hopeless at picking girly things as he was.

Sabrina lifted the pair of feather earrings from the box and grinned. “You picked these out yourself?” she asked him.

He nodded.

“I’m very impressed.”

“You like them?” Pride filled him, making him smile like an idiot. Maybe it was silly but his inner caveman was pleased to provide pretty things for his girls.

“Yes.” She placed them back in the box
, then picked up a gift bag and handed it to Jude. “Here. This is from me.”

The heaviness made him curious. He reached inside and pulled out a heavy duty tool belt. “Ah.
Very useful. Thanks, love.”

Sabrina gave him a mischievous look. “I saw it and pictured you wearing it.
Only
that. It was hot so I had to get it.”

Brat.
He laughed. “I don’t know any sane man that would do construction projects naked.”

“Well, in my head you were posing and Q was taking pictures.” She winked.

Q chuckled and handed Sabrina and Jude each a rectangle box. “Here. These are from me.”

Sabrina opened hers first while he watched. With a laugh, she hel
d up a purple t-shirt that read,
I’m not a brat
. Then smaller, underneath,
I’m submissively challenged
.

“Very funny,”
she mumbled, casting Q a loving glance.

Jude opened his, gu
essing it was a similarly smartass t-shirt. He was right. Chuckling, he showed the front of the green t-shirt to Sabrina.
I hurt the ones I love
. On the back,
But only if they ask real nice
.

“Ha. Fitting,
” Sabrina said.

In less than twenty minutes, they’d opened almost al
l of the gifts under the tree. Sabrina had given Q a new camera bag and some fun knick-knacks from Cross’s goth store. The girls had gone in together on a master woodworking class for Jude.

The last two gift boxes
under the tree, he recognized. “These are for both of you.” He handed one small box to Sabrina and a slightly larger one to Q.

Sabrina opened hers first. A set of gold nipple clamps.

He took the clamps from the box. “Take off your shirt, Sabrina.”

She sucked in a breath and eyed the little things – gold
tweezer clamps with swinging weights with a kitten embossed on them. “Right now?”

“Yes.
” Waiting made it clear he wasn’t backing down.

Reluctance emblazoned in every movement, Sabrina shuffled forward on her knees, and pulled off her top.

After weighing one breast in his palm and smoothing his thumb over the lower curve, watching her flesh dimple under the pressure, he pinched her nipple until it hardened and peaked, then slipped on a clamp. This close, her scent, that indefinable, wonderful scent of woman, affected him. This was a gift they both gave him, allowing him access to their bodies. He vowed to never take it for granted.

Slowly, watching her face, he slipped up the metal noose, tightening it. Though she whimpered a little, Sabrina stayed still.

The other clamp went on and he leaned in and kissed each nipple. “Stunning.” He sighed, eyeing her decorated breasts. This was punishment for him too – having to sit and not play with her until she climaxed. “Next present.”

He motioned for Q to unwrap the one she held. This was the one he’d been waiting most eagerly for.

“Is it kinky?” Nervously, Sabrina looked down at her swinging nipple clamps. He reached and, one after the other, gently tugged on them both. She gasped then frowned at him.

The tissue paper was purple and tied up with white ribbon. At the first tug
, the ribbon fell away. Q folded back the paper and took the lid off the box. Inside, wrapped in black velvet, was a pair of gleaming steel handcuffs.

“
Handcuffs.” Q peered in the box while Sabrina shuffled closer. “They’re engraved. One side says Q, the other Sabrina.”

Sabrina smiled. “That’s cute!”

“Wait,” Q said, squinting at the cuffs. “There’s more. The link in the middle has something on it. Jude! It says Jude. Aww. It’s adorable!”

They leaped up and hugged him,
their slender bodies squirming against his.

“
Will you try them on? I want to take a few pictures.”

Once he’d snapped them on
, he made them stand still for a few photos. The temptation swept him along and he posed them again with the presents. And then with Q sucking Sabrina’s nipples, and of course then one with Q standing over her and pulling both clamps straight out from her body so Sabrina had that exquisite look of pain and submission on her face. He had to stop and adjust his pants after that picture.

At last, he lowered the camera. “Enough. Let’s have breakfast. Pancakes and maple syrup?”

“
Mmmm,” Sabrina muttered in agreement. “I’ll make blueberry sauce too. It’s tradition from when I was little.”

He removed the nipple clamps. Though she rubbed her breasts a little, they’d barely bothered her. But they hadn’t been on that
snug and had actually fallen off once earlier. Next time, he’d try them tighter.

After she slipped on her top, they headed for the kitchen. Q wasn’t following. When he turned
, she was at the foot of the stairs. “Q?”

“Something I have to do.” A frown came and went fast as a summer storm. “I’ll be a few minutes. Don’t let her eat all the pancakes.”

“I won’t.”

Something about her body language made him watch carefully as she disappeared up the stairs.

A few minutes later, she returned. The smell and sizzle of cooking pancakes filled the kitchen. He’d laid claim to his favorite stool and was scrolling through the few Merry Christmas text messages on his phone.

Her footsteps halted before
she reached him. He vaguely registered that she didn’t go to kiss or hug Sabrina either. It wasn’t like her. Q was one of the most tactile people and forever checking up on and touching them. It was a beautiful aspect of her. She cared, always.

Then he heard a slow
, rough intake of breath and he snapped his head up and stared. He knew his girls so well. That breath had rung alarms.

She
stood, hands at her side, in the center of the kitchen.

“Are you okay?” The expression on her face, he couldn’t place it.
Hesitation. Doubt. Maybe fear? “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

“It’s…” She blinked and looked away
, then she broke and came to him, falling straight into a huge hug with her arms around his chest. The huff of her breath warmed his shirt.

He felt shudders run through her. “Tell me. What’s wrong?”

Sabrina stopped humming her Christmas song and turned from where she cooked pancakes, spatula in hand. “What happened?”

“I don’t know.
Tell us please, love. What’s got you so upset?” What in hell was this? Had she taken a phone call upstairs? No. Couldn’t be that. She’d seemed worried before she went up. Had the ghost frightened her? They hadn’t seen Grace for months though.

Sabrina walked to his side
and put a hand on Q’s shoulder. “Q?”

“Honey, come on. Please? You’re worrying me and Sabrina.”

While a few bigger sobs jarred her chest, he waited.

Q breathed in, long and
sniffly. She straightened and looked red-eyed at him and Sabrina. “I…I’m pregnant.”

Hell. Straight off the bat, elation and a little bit of scariness rushed in.
But… “Fuck. A baby?”

“I’m sorry,” she
whispered, tears starting again. “I missed my period but I wasn’t sure. I was having these awful mood swings. Well, you saw. Then I remembered there was that time we couldn’t find a condom and you just pulled out instead and… I know the chances are slim but I just took a test upstairs. It came out positive.” She stopped rambling and looked at him. “But more than that, I just know it. I feel it.”

He was a dad.
Or was going to be. He’d knocked up Q sometime, somehow. Holy shit.

“A baby!”
His hug yanked Q in closer, then Sabrina. “Wow! Oh my god.”

“Yeah.”
Q grimaced and smiled jerkily. “I’m sorry. I know we didn’t plan this.”

Oh hell. That was it. “No!” He grabbed her hands and squeezed. “No. This is just…” He struggled.
How to express the weird joy filling him. “It’s fucking wonderful. I knocked you up? Jeez. Not planned but I can’t think of anything better than us having a kid.”

She
looked up from gazing at the floor and gave him a puzzled expression. “You sure?”

This time he
held her face in his palms. “Yes. I am. You’re a wonderful, beautiful girl and I am so happy right now. You two are going to be the best moms ever.”

“
Thank you,” she said quietly. “I thought about it when I suspected, yesterday. It scares me but I do want this baby. I’m so glad you’re not pissed or flipping out… and I’m happy I won’t have to raise her alone. Sabrina?”

“
Of course! I love kids. I don’t want to have one inside
me
yet. But…yeah. I’m happy. Happy for you.” Then she leaned in and managed to drag them back into that big hug.

Q snuggled closer, standing between his legs.
“Okay,” she said shakily.

Sensing Q wasn’t quite settled yet, he moved them to the couch, keep
ing Q tucked under his arm while directing Sabrina to turn off the burners for a bit. When all three snuggled in on their overstuffed couch, he kissed Q’s forehead, then Sabrina’s.

Q wiped her face with the back of her hand. “I had almost convinced myself that this was the end of us. I was so scared. We’ll manage, right?” She was trembling.

Jude pulled her closer, trying to warm her up. She shook like she was going to fly apart. Then, her teeth started chattering.

“I need books. I don’t know how to take care of a baby
.” She tried to bolt off the couch, but Jude held her where she was.

“That can wait, Q. We have eight months to figure things out before the baby comes. Relax with us for awhile. I want my
girls right here.”

“We’ll look online tomorrow. It’ll be okay.” Sabrina grabbed her hand and held it, their clasped hands resting on Jude’s stomach. “Knowing you, you’ll know enough about babies by the time he or she
is born that you’ll be able to write a manual. This baby will be very well taken care of.”

But
her mouth turned down. “I’m going to be a terrible mother. I’m going to forget to feed her, or change her or something. The kids at the playground are going to laugh at her because I look weird. Maybe Sabrina will have to be the one to do parent/teacher meetings so they don’t assume she was a crack baby. Sabrina looks wholesome. We’ll get her a nice 50’s dress and some pearls, no one will ever suspect her mother looks like Wednesday Adams. That could work, right?” Q’s babbling was accompanied by a wild look in her eyes.

“Q, stop.
Your mind is running in circles.” Jude smiled, doing his best to look reassuring. “We’ll get this all figured out. There’s a lot of time to get ready. And no one is going to judge you harshly when you go to school meetings. If you need help picking out something to wear at that point, I’m sure Sabrina would love to take you shopping. But that’s four years away.”

Funny thing was, i
nside, his head was doing the same thing as Q’s. He didn’t know much about babies, either.

He had a feeling they wouldn’t let him get away with not changing diapers
. He couldn’t even get out of doing dishes, even though he purposely did a crappy job – and he
was
the Dom. Apparently that didn’t excuse you from housework.

But
, babies were so stinkin’ cute. A grin overtook him. This was
their
baby. It was going to be even more amazing than regular old babies. He was damn well going to be the kind of dad that would have made his father proud.

He shifted his arms, making sure they both knew he had them. Then he let out a sigh, put his forehead to Q’s hair and breathed, just breathed. The future was looking awesome.
Scary, but awesome.

Q

The bathroom was quiet, compared to the rest of the house, although the hum from the throng of Sabrina’s family members was audible even through the closed door. Q sighed, leaning forward to look at herself in the mirror over the sink. Straight black hair, blue eyes, white skin… she looked the same as she had a couple of days ago, but she felt like a completely different person. Although she wasn’t, she
looked
too young to be someone’s mother.