Wicked Lovers 06.5 Wicked All The Way (12 page)

Caleb repressed a smile and headed toward the couple. “Hi,
Jack. You look fabulous, Morgan. Really happy.”

“Thank you. Life is perfect today. My brother, Brandon,
called me earlier. He and his girlfriend, Emberlin, got engaged last weekend.
They’re going to come see us for New Year’s. You’re looking great yourself.”

He smiled. “Motherhood seems to agree with you.”

“Brice is an angel.” She grinned with so much pride at the
infant in her husband’s arms. “He’s a great sleeper and a great eater.”

“And really great at wailing for his mom whenever dad thinks
he might get lucky.”

Around Jack, most of the men laughed. Caleb nodded. “I
remember those days…”

“Tell me they end soon,” Jack nearly begged.

“Sure,” Caleb quipped. “In about eighteen years.”

He covered baby Brice’s ears. “Fuck off, Colonel.”

“Same to you.” He laughed. “Beer’s in the kitchen.

“Thank god!” Jack turned to his wife. “You all right here,
mon coeur
?”

Morgan smiled fondly. “I’ll come with you. Maybe Del brought
some sparkling cider.”

The pair drifted deeper into the house, and Caleb turned to
glance into the kitchen at the collection of family and friends, all eating,
drinking, laughing, enjoying. Carlotta stood at the center of much of it,
pouring beverages, handing out napkins, holding babies… God, she looked perfect
in his world.

A loud honking outside signaled the arrival of the food.
Caleb jogged outside, as did Tyler, Deke, and Logan, to help Luc and Alyssa in
with the incredible smelling dishes that made him want to grab a fork and dig
in now. Whatever Luc cooked, Caleb couldn’t wait to eat.

It didn’t take long before they had the banquet tables lined
up in the great room with some folding chairs from the back of Luc’s van. Del
and Kimber had brought tablecloths and paper plates. Morgan produced plastic
flatware from a bag in her purse. Tara rushed back to the car to fetch the
table centerpiece while Alyssa set up the food station in the kitchen, her
daughter Chloe hanging on her leg.

The gorgeous blonde bent to pick up her daughter and brush
some tears from her face. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

Chloe pouted, her big blue eyes expressive. The girl would
grow up to break hearts. “Boys.”

Caleb laughed. Seth and Cal were forever fighting for
Chloe’s attention, but she sometimes got pushed or insulted when she wanted
nothing to do with either of them.

“Here’s a boy who will always treat you right.” Alyssa
turned to him with a smile. “Do you mind for a minute? I don’t want her to burn
herself.”

Holding out his arms, he took Chloe from Alyssa’s grasp so
she could finish setting up the food.

The little minx threw her arms around his neck. “Hi, Unca
Caleb.”

“Hi, princess.” He kissed her cheek. “What is Santa going to
bring you?”

“Lots of toys. And no boys.”

She’d changed her tune in a dozen years, but for now, he
smiled and agreed.

The phone in his pocket vibrated, and Caleb shifted the
little girl to one hip as he reached in to find the device and read the text
from Hunter. “They’re hitting the edge of town now,” he told everyone. “They’ll
be here in less than twenty.”

The party kicked into high gear then. Kimber rushed back to
the car and produced a Christmas wreath for the front door. Deke followed with
a nail, and they quickly hung it. Tyler and Logan trounced through the front
yard, deciding at the last minute that it might be a good idea to string lights
in the bushes. Delaney and Tara stood at the window watching them, shaking
their heads.

“I’ve reproduced twice with that man,” Del murmured. “I hope
the gene pool survives.”

Tara laughed. “I’m hoping we’ll add to it soon, so we’ll
shallow it more. Then I’m sure I’ll be second-guessing myself, too.”

Del wished her good luck.

Out the big front window, Logan stopped to welcome someone
who came up the walkway. Tyler greeted whoever it was as well. Caleb frowned.
Were they expecting anyone else?

Finally, Logan opened the front door, and shouted, “More
incoming.” Then he turned behind him. “Glad you came.”

His younger son bounded back outside to argue with Tyler
about the lights, and Xander Santiago walked in the door. Caleb rushed forward.
Chloe immediately started making starry eyes at the single billionaire playboy.

Xander, who’d walked in with a weary expression, laughed at
Chloe. “That one is going to be dangerous.”

Luc strutted past, carting two more platters of food. “Don’t
I know it! Anyone got a baseball bat? I’m suddenly feeling the need to start
hitting teenage boys. Hey, Xander.”

The other man sniffed. “Hi. Smells good, man.”

“Thanks.” With a nod, Luc continued to the kitchen.

“So how have you been?” Xander asked.

“Doing good. Great in fact.” Caleb’s gaze slipped over to
Carlotta, and he felt his smile widening.

“Ah, so that’s the way of things. Do Hunter and Kata know?”

“Yep, but even if they didn’t, it wouldn’t matter.”

“Good for you.” Xander smiled faintly.

He was a genuinely nice guy, usually a bit of a prankster.
Today, he looked really damn somber.

“How is your brother?”

Xander shook his head, looking more than a little annoyed.
“God, doesn’t Logan keep anything to himself?”

Actually, Tyler had filled him in on the tragic murder of
Xander’s sister-in-law and the guilt spiral his brother, Javier, had been on
ever since.

Caleb just shrugged, and Xander sighed heavily. “Thanks for
asking. He’s not doing well. He’s trying to drink himself to death, and I had
to have his stomach pumped about two weeks ago. He’s alive and he’s not
terribly happy about it. I don’t know what’s going to make him want to live
again.”

“It will be something,” Caleb assured. “I’ve seen guys come
back from war and they’re so traumatized…”

Of course not all of them pulled through, but if they had
caring friends and families and the will to go on, they often not only
functioned again but were damn happy. Even without saying it, Caleb saw that
Xander loved his brother. Somehow, he’d pull his sibling out of the dark again.

“It will work out,” he assured.

“I hope you’re right.”

Chloe wiggled out of his grasp and lunged at Xander, who
chuckled and grabbed the little girl, mouthing a raspberry on her shoulder. The
toddler giggled.

“You’re a little flirt,” Xander accused.

The little girl just batted her lashes.

As the men laughed, Caleb felt his phone vibrate again. He
read Hunter’s text with a wide grin.

“Two minutes, gang!” he shouted above the din of the party.

Instantly, everyone crowded into the kitchen, as Tyler and
Jack killed the lights in the kitchen. Caleb did the same in the great room.
Everyone lowered their voice to a whisper in anticipation of Hunter and Kata’s
big entrance. He sidled up behind Carlotta and slipped his hands around her
waist, pressing a kiss to her neck.

“Hey, none of that now,” Logan teased beside him.

Tara elbowed her husband.

Luc and Alyssa took advantage of the dark and shared a sweet
kiss.

Jack pulled Morgan closer. In the shadows, it seemed baby
Brice was asleep.

“Like hell,” Jack groused. “This is the only time I get to
touch my wife anymore. Don’t mind us over in the corner,” he told everyone.

Morgan giggled. “Stop that, Jack. Everyone will think I
don’t give you any attention.”

“You know me. I can never get too much of you,
mon coeur
.”

“TMI.” Tyler shuddered.

A pair of headlights flashed through the front window. The
car engine cut off. Two doors slammed.

“Where are we? Why are we here, Hunter?” Kata’s voice
sounded through the door as Hunter opened it for his wife and ushered her in.

Just then, the men flipped on the lights again and everyone
shouted, “Welcome home!”

Kata turned to her husband with a stunned looked, her mouth
gaping open. “Home?”

Hunter caressed her cheek, then dropped his palm to her
nape. “Yep. Our home, honey. I bought it for us. For the future. When my tour
is up this summer, I’m going to take Jack and Deke up on their job offer. And
we’re going to have those babies.”

She didn’t say anything for a long moment, just stared at
her husband. Then she screamed and threw herself into his arms. “Really?
Seriously? You’d do that for me?”

“For us, honey. I want to be with you and I want to prove
it.”

Kata pressed a dozen kisses to his face, her arms hooked
tightly around his neck. “I love you!”

“I love you, too.” He held her tight and chuckled. “Do you
want to see the rest of the house?”

“Absolutely!” Hunter led Kata off by the hand, and most of
the crowd followed them for the nickel tour, slapping Hunter’s back and
congratulating the couple on their new place.

Their happiness warmed Caleb and gave him hope for his own
future. When Carlotta started to follow her daughter and his son down the hall,
he hooked an arm around her waist and held her back. “They don’t need you right
now, baby. I do.”

Before she could question him, he claimed her lips in a slow
kiss, taking her mouth gently and thoroughly until she melted against him. When
she was putty under his hands, her lids fluttering open and her breathing
heavy, he cupped her face and lifted her gaze to his.

“I love you, Carlotta.”

She flushed sweetly, but didn’t look away and didn’t
hesitate. “I love you too, Caleb.”

Hope buoyed his heart…even if his guts felt as if they were
running an obstacle course through slogging mud. He had been through a lot with
this woman. A lot of worrying, a lot of waiting, a lot of uncertainty. But he
was certain of this and their tomorrow.

Caleb fished into his pocket and withdrew a little black
velvet box, then popped the lid open. “Marry me.”

She gasped, her hands covering her mouth as her jaw dropped.
Her big chocolate eyes widened. Then she dropped her hands and a huge grin
curled up those red, sensual lips he was hungry to kiss again. “Really?”

“Really, Lottie. Be my wife.”

“Yes!” Her happy shout echoed all through the house and
brought everyone else running down the hall in a mass of whining toddlers,
warriors on alert, and women eager for gossip. Caleb ignored them all as he
grabbed the ring from the velvet case and slid it on Carlotta’s finger.

The crowd all stopped short as tears slid down Carlotta’s
cheeks. In that moment, she had never looked more beautiful to him. She had
never looked more his. And he could not remember ever feeling happier.

“Mamá?” Kata asked, almost as if holding her breath.

“You are not the only one in love with an Edgington man.”
Carlotta flushed.

Caleb laughed and picked her up with a whoop. Tara and
Delaney dried their eyes. Kimber darted forward to hug her and welcome her into
the family again. Logan pressed a kiss to her cheek. The rest smiled fondly,
more than happy for another reason to celebrate. Except Xander, who looked like
he might never be happy again. Caleb hoped for his sake that he could find even
a fraction of the joy he felt now.

Elation bubbled inside him as he pressed Carlotta to him for
a happy kiss.

“This is the best Christmas ever,” she whispered to him.

“The very best,” he agreed. “Let’s get married by New Year’s.”

“What?” She looked startled. “Where? How? I don’t have a
dress.”

“Vegas. Justice of the Peace. Caribbean island. I don’t care
where we are or what you wear. I don’t want to wait another minute longer than
I have to in order to hear you say ‘I do.’”

“I’m stronger and happier for having you in my life, and I
want to spend all my days loving you, Caleb. I do.”

“I do, too. Now kiss me, baby.”

To the whoops and catcalls of everyone around them, he
claimed his fiancée’s lips and held her tight, knowing this would be the first
of many magical Christmases to come they would share.

Read on for excerpts from more exciting titles by Shayla
Black and other talanted authors.

Shayla Black (aka Shelley Bradley) is the New York Times and
USA Today bestselling author of over 30 sizzling contemporary, erotic,
paranormal, and historical romances for multiple print, electronic, and audio
publishers. She lives in Texas with her husband, munchkin, and one very spoiled
cat. In her “free” time, she enjoys reality TV, reading and listening to an
eclectic blend of music.

Shayla’s work has been translated in about a dozen
languages. She has also received or been nominated for The Passionate Plume,
The Holt Medallion, Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence, and the
National Reader’s Choice Awards. RT Bookclub has twice nominated her for Best
Erotic Romance of the year, as well as awarded her several Top Picks, and a
KISS Hero Award.

A writing risk-taker, Shayla enjoys tackling writing
challenges with every book.

Connect with me online:

Shayla Black:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ShaylaBlackAuthor

Twitter: www.twitter.com/@shayla_black

Smashwords: www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ShaylaBlack

Website: www.shaylablack.com

Also from Shayla Black/Shelley Bradley:

EROTIC ROMANCE

THE WICKED LOVERS

Wicked Ties

Decadent

Delicious

Surrender To Me

Belong To Me

“Wicked to Love” (e-novella)

Mine To Hold

“Wicked All The Way” (e-novella)

Coming Soon:

Ours To Love

“Wicked All Night” - Wicked And Dangerous Anthology