“Naw, papa,” Tobias replied, looking up at Brian. “Uncle Ki isna done.”
Glancing at the book Kieran held, Brian chuckled. “Ye all know this story by heart.”
“Ay, papa,” Julius said, giving Brian a sweet smile. “But we love it so much.”
Looking at the five sets of pleading eyes gazing up at Brian, Logan laughed. “You don’t stand a chance,” he murmured. “Admit it.”
“I’m almost to the good part,” Kieran said, grinning at Brian.
“Yay!” Lukas shouted.
“More, Uncle Ki!” Christos pleaded.
Standing in the doorway, Reif chuckled. Their baby nessies sure knew how to get what they wanted from their papa. Walking over to Brian, he stood behind his mate, glancing down at the scene. Love swelled up in Reif at the sight of his growing baby sea serpents. He couldn’t wait until next week when Brian and he would take their little nessies down to the loch for their first swimming lesson. It would be a big milestone for each of them. Wrapping his arms around his mate’s waist, Reif whispered in Brian’s ear, “Why doesn’t Kieran put our nessies down for their naps after he finishes the story while we have a little hanky-panky time?”
Reif’s puff of warm air across Brian’s neck had his cock twitching in response. Since the eggs had hatched, there’d been little time for sex, and while Brian loved spending time with their nessies, he also loved spending time wrapped up in his mate’s body. Nodding briefly, he looked at Kieran and asked, “Shaman, would ye…”
“That’s a great idea,” Kieran said. “Macushlacan help me. He can use the practice.”
Inwardly groaning, Logan realized what he’d just gotten roped into. “Mo anan cara, you really need to talk to my mother about all the practice I had growing up with my younger siblings,” he muttered. “I won’t have any problem when squirt is born.”
Ignoring his mate, Kieran grinned at Brian. “Happy hanky-panky time!”
Logan suddenly understood why they were in charge of the nessies’ naptime. Chuckling, he glanced up at Brian and Reif. “You owe me for this.”
“Anytime,” Reif replied, ushering Brian out of the nursery.
~/~/~/~/~
A shaft of early morning sunlight across his face jolted Groose awake. Groaning at the unexpected interruption, he turned over and buried his face in the pillow, willing himself back to sleep. But his mind wouldn’t co-operate. Within moments, the events of last night came rushing in and any hope of finding peace in the darkness of sleep became impossible.
Rolling onto his back, he opened his eyes for a moment before the bright light forced them closed again. He had no one to blame but himself, since he’d forgotten to draw the heavy blackout drapes totally together. And just that little sliver oflight had enough power to wake him up. Turning away from the window, Groose peered through the narrow slits of his barely opened eyes, cursing himself for the mistake.
Grabbing his phone from the nightstand, he checked for messages and emails, but there was only the normal work stuff dealing with assignments and scheduling. Relieved, he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. His body groaned in protest, but he ignored it and stood up. A hot shower and a cup of coffee would solve any lingering aches left over from his unexpected, late-night hook-up.
While he hadn’t planned on anything other than dinner and a shower last night, Groose had enjoyed the unexpected arrival of his friend-slash-fuck buddy. They’d become friends back when they met after being hired by Dire Enterprises. And their fuck buddy relationship followed shortly thereafter when Steel had assigned Groose to head up the new security division—which resulted in him choosing his friend to be his second.
Groose and his hand-selected enforcers had been sent to many locations on different missions, but he always made sure Turk was by his side—or under him. But when his boss found his Fated Mate, Jackson, security had to be increased due to the threat Jackson’s uncle, Josiah, posed to the Blackwood Pack. Steel assigned Groose to build an enforcer army whose sole mission was to protect every member of the pack.
At first, the number of men he needed was small, but as the pack grew, along with the threats, the number of enforcers Groose needed to provide protection also grew. Soon, the old command structure became so unwieldy that Groose divided the men into several regiments and created a new one. The buck still stopped with him, but he promoted Turk to be head of the personal protection unit which provided bodyguards anytime a memberof the Blackwood Pack left the safety of the grounds. The job was perfect for Turk, but there was an unexpected consequence that Groose had not foreseen, mainly that he rarely saw his friend anymore. So last night when Turk knocked on his door, Groose would not let his fatigue keep him from enjoying a night with his fuck buddy.
It was after four when Turk untangled himself and got dressed, but before he left, Groose pulled him down for one more bone-melting kiss. He listened for the click of his apartment door closing before he grabbed the pillow that carried Turk’s scent and tucked it under his head. He didn’t know when the next time Turk would knock on his door might be, but he hoped it would be soon.
Sweeping the memory of last night aside, Groose headed for the shower. It was time to start the day and find out what had happened to the mystery man who tried to enter the Blackwood Pack’s land.
~/~/~/~/~
Kieran tiptoed out of the nursery, glancing back to ensure all the baby nessies were snuggled together under the heat lamp. This time they were all wearing the hoodies he’d made for each of them, along with the tube socks lined with sheepskin. Closing the door softly behind him, he smiled up at his mate and whispered, “They’re all asleep.”
Tucking Kieran under his arm, Logan leaned down, burying his nose in his mate’s hair and inhaling. He never would get enough of Kieran’s scent, no matter how long they lived. He showered kisses down his mate’s head until Logan reached Kieran’s ear and, after giving the lobe a lick, he whispered, “Our Squirt is so lucky to have you as his daddy.”
Beaming, Kieran said softly, “He’s also lucky to have you, macushla…as am I.”
“I think you have that wrong, babe…you saved me, remember? I’m the lucky one.”
Kieran stretched upwards until his lips brushed lightly across Logan’s. Pulling back until there was only a whisper of air between them, he murmured, “Let’s agree to disagree who saved whom, okay?” Then, after kissing his mate one more time, he asked, “Did you get your work done?”
“Yup…sent the report off to Jackie,” Logan replied. “I doubt I’ll hear from him today, so I thought we can see Angus tonight, that is, if you and Squirt want to take a ride on my dragon.”