“Do you think so?” Lainey whispered.
“We can only hope, sweetheart,” Tim told her, his eyes warm as he looked down at her. “What do you think, Spence?”
“I think I would like that very much,” Spence answered. “I think you will be absolutely beautiful when our babies are growing inside of you.” He covered her belly with his large hand and caressed it firmly. “I know I’m going to love feeling our babies moving inside of you.”
“It’s something we both want very much, honey,” Tim told her softly. “You’re going to be the best mom.”
“What about you, Lainey? Do you think you might like to be pregnant, sweetheart?” Spence asked her finally, hoping to hear her answer that she wanted to have their babies.
Lainey stood between her mates and found herself covering her belly instinctively. She looked down at her hands and found that Spence and Tim were covering her hands with their own. It felt right. It felt beautiful. And it made her long to give her men the family they both wanted with her.
“I think I would like that,” she whispered finally.
Chapter 26
The barn on McKade land was alive with excitement. Deuce and Gracie had made sure that it was decorated with the softest, most romantic lighting, with billowing white drapes that changed its rustic appearance to one of beauty and charm. Walking into the barn, Lainey felt as if she was entering heaven. Everything was stunning.
The music that greeted them wafted over them, bringing an added beauty that brought further happiness to Lainey’s heart. It was positively breathtaking. What made it all the more special was the fact that she knew Gracie and all the women of the McKade family and their friends had made this happen for her and her mates.
“It’s so beautiful,” Lainey whispered, reaching out to take Gracie’s hand and squeeze it gently. “Thank you so much.”
“The men helped,” Gracie told her, smiling at Deuce and reaching up with her free hand to touch his face lightly. “They may be tough cowboys, but all of them have a tender side, too. Don’t let any of them fool you. Inside each one of them is a marshmallow center.”
Lainey laughed and hugged Gracie once more before letting her go so that Deuce could gather her in his arms and kiss her tenderly. When she saw him stroking Gracie’s belly, something warm radiated through her as she realized just how much she wanted that same thing with her own men.
Turning, she opened her arms and found herself whisked away toward the dance floor as a slow song started and her men spun her carefully as they cuddled her against their chests. She hung on and let them glide her around the barn, enjoying the romantic music and the warmth of her mates.
“This is the best day ever,” she told them, laughing as they spun her around and took turns kissing her.
She was nearly breathless from dancing and their constant kisses, but she didn’t care. She was going to enjoy every moment and make sure that they did, too.
“Are you happy, Lainey?” Tim asked her quietly, drawing her hand up so he could kiss her wedding ring.
“I’ll have to think about it,” she told him seriously. “I could be happier.”
Spence’s bark of laughter made her giggle. “Lainey, do you really want to lie to us?” he asked her seriously, leaning forward and kissing her neck lightly.
Lainey squirmed as he tickled her with his lips. “I’m not telling you a lie, Spence,” she defended herself.
He pulled back and looked down at her. “No?”
“No.”
He just stared at her silently. He didn’t have long to wait for her resolve to stay serious to crumple and fall away.
“Okay, I’m not being honest,” she admitted.
Both men stopped the swaying of their bodies, ignoring the dancing couples that moved around them. Looking down at her, they saw the way she was biting her bottom lip.
“What’s wrong, honey?” Tim asked her softly. “Please, baby. You’re making me worry.”
“We can’t help you if you don’t tell us what it is that’s bothering you, Lainey,” Spence told her gently.
Lainey looked over to the tables set up beside the dance floor. Deuce stood there holding Gracie against his chest as she leaned her back against him and watched everyone dancing. His arms were wrapped around her body and his hands were petting her belly tenderly.
“I want what they have,” she told her men, indicating Deuce and Gracie.
“What do you mean, kitten?” Spence asked, confused. “We have each other. We’re a mated trio. We do have what they have.”
Lainey shook her head. “No, we don’t.”
“Sure we do, honey,” Tim insisted. “Spence and I love you completely. We’ve committed ourselves to you. We’re married now, and we’re going to have a beautiful future.”
“I know we will, but that’s not what I mean,” Lainey whispered, leaning toward them so that she rested her head against their chests. “I want to have a baby with you.” She looked up and saw the way they were looking at her with such tenderness, she knew she had said the right thing. She pushed aside her fear and reached up to touch their faces lightly. “Do you think it would be too soon to think about having a baby?”
“We’ll work on it tonight and every night from now on,” Spence promised, laughing softly and hugging her against his chest tightly. “What do you think, Tim?”
“I think that’s a great plan,” Tim agreed. “Be prepared to be loved, Lainey girl. Making love to you and making our babies is going to be right at the top of our list of priorities. Are you sure you’re ready to have a baby, honey?”
Lainey smiled up at them both. Seeing the complete joy on their faces and knowing that they truly wanted to start a family with her made her completely happy. Everything would work out. She just knew it.
“Yes,” she whispered, leaning forward and kissing the underside of their chins slowly. “I can’t wait to see you holding our babies. I know you’re both going to be wonderful fathers.”
She grunted as both of them hugged her tightly against their chests, completely missing the conspiratorial wink and grins they gave each other over the top of her head. She pushed away from them just enough to take hold of their hands and begin a gentle swaying to the music.
“Come on, Mates,” she told them happily. “I want to dance with both of you.”
“You’ve got it, kitten,” Spence promised, whirling the three of them around the barn.
Lainey laughed with complete abandon. She had never been so happy in her entire life. Knowing she was now committed to her two men gave her such joy. It didn’t matter what anyone else said or did. They were one now. That was all that mattered.
* * * *
Marc Blackstone stood against the far wall of the barn watching as the McKade family celebrated their newest mating. He was happy for them. It was good that the Great Spirit had blessed them. All of them deserved the happiness. They were a good and proud family who were kind and giving. They deserved every blessing that was granted them.
Turning, he looked at the group of women who had gone out into the middle of the floor and had surrounded Lainey. He couldn’t prevent the smile that crossed his face as he saw how the women celebrated together. They were unbelievable—every one of them feminine, beautiful, loving, and giving. Even more than that, each one of them was strong, intelligent, and kind. He counted his own blessings to be a part of this group of people. He knew he wasn’t worthy to be counted as part of the family, but he would be forever grateful that he was. He just hoped someday he would earn the right to be considered a true part of their group.
His eyes zeroed in on the woman he knew was fated to be his. Madison Allen was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. Her beautiful blue eyes drew him into her soul, and he knew he was lost to her despite his determination to remain distant. She was kind, had an easy smile, and greeted him every day at work with sincere pleasure. He loved her humor, he loved her work ethic, and he loved the way she loved her daughter Cooper.
Damn it! He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he knew in his heart that he already loved her and wanted her for his mate.
She showed him genuine friendship every day, and she honestly cared about him. When she had reached for his hand the day before when he had dropped his tool chest on it, he thought he would explode with the desire he had for her. It had taken all of his willpower to remain still while she held his hand beneath the cold water of the sink in the office then wrapped a cold pack around it, drove him to the doctor’s office, and had stayed with him while he had been examined.
Luckily, no bones had been broken, but she had insisted on taking him home and getting him settled for the night, making sure that he had something to eat and had taken the pain medication the doctor had prescribed for him. Even little Cooper had done her best to comfort him, brushing his hair for a long while as she told him stories about the dreams she had.
When the little girl had cuddled against his chest and had fallen asleep still holding onto a good chunk of his hair, he had finally dozed off—peaceful for the first time in a very long time. He hadn’t realized that Madison had settled on the other side of him and pulled a comforter over all of them. Her warmth against his side had settled him further, and they had slept that way until this morning when she had woken abruptly and sputtered in embarrassment, quickly getting up from the couch and gathering her daughter into her arms.
She left muttering her apologies. He missed them both immediately. It was then that he knew that he could not deny what they were meant to be to each other any longer. There was much he had to do before he was worthy of such a magnificent woman and such an adorable child, but he was going to try very hard to make himself a better man, a good and loving mate, and a caring father who would grow beyond his self-loathing to be equal to the light that Madison and Cooper offered him.
“You’re all very lucky to have such amazing women in your lives,” he told his cousin John as John stood beside him.
“That we are, Marc,” John agreed. “Spence and Tim have joined the ranks of blessed matings.”
“We have,” Spence agreed.
“I never thought we would ever have Lainey as ours,” Tim spoke up.
“Like I said. We’re lucky. What do you think, Deuce?” John asked his best friend.
“I think we’re damned lucky,” Deuce agreed. “What do you think, Luke?”
“Hell, luck doesn’t even come close to how blessed we are to have those women,” Luke added softly. “Having them as our mates is the best thing that has ever happened to any of us.” He turned to face Marc and tipped his head toward the dance floor, indicating the women who were dancing with the new bride. “Those women are much more than our mates. They’re our friends, and they’re our lovers. They’ve given us the miracle of their love, and they’ve blessed us with our children. You, Rafe, and Jake had better accept that and cherish it or you’re all going to miss out on a future that the Great Spirit has planned for you.”
“Luke, not now,” Jake warned him, standing slowly so that he was between Marc and his brother.
“Jake, I know you think you have a reason to keep your distance from Claire,” Luke told him with complete understanding. “It’s none of my business why you think that, but it is Claire’s business. She deserves to hear what you’re feeling. You owe her that, Jake. You owe her the chance to understand and maybe explain to you that what you’re thinking about that’s keeping you from your destined mating doesn’t mean shit to her because she loves you just as you are. Did you ever think of that?”
Jake grunted in frustration as he pulled off his black cowboy hat and dropped it onto the table. “Hell, Luke, you have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Not listening, dude,” Luke stopped him. He turned to his brother Rafe and pointed at him, poking him in the chest with enough force to make him take a step back. “And you, Rafe. You’d better make things right with Becca before she leaves your ass behind.” He turned to look back at Jake and shot him a look that was filled with disgust. “You, too, Jake. Claire isn’t going to wait around for you to figure things out. And neither is Becca.”
“What’re you talking about?” Rafe demanded, the usually stoic expression on his face twisted into a combination of anger and fear.
“Melanie said she had a vision of Becca and Claire moving on,” Luke told them both. “She didn’t understand why, but she said she saw that they had no reason to stay here anymore. She saw that they were both looking for a new place to live, but she couldn’t see where they were going or why they were leaving.”
“Why would they need a new place to live?” Jake asked, his anger tempered by the fear that he had that he might never see Claire again.
“I don’t know, and neither does Melanie,” Luke told him firmly. “Just understand that Melanie knows you’re meant to be their mates. Don’t be stupid and mess it up. Those women deserve someone who will love and protect them. You, too, Marc. Melanie said your hesitation to bond with Madison just may cost her her daughter.”
Rafe, Jake, and Marc looked at each other with different degrees of frustration, anger, and fear.
“You cannot force these matings,” Marc spoke up as he looked at Luke with steel determination.
“I’m not trying to force anything,” Luke told him calmly. “I’m just passing on the guidance of my mate. Melanie has never been wrong in any of her glimpses of the future. My duty as her mate is to help her with those glimpses so that others will be guided to the possibilities of their futures.”
Jake looked at Deuce and John, unsure what to say but determined to isolate himself from this new revelation of Melanie’s visions. “I will not be forced into a mating when I know it’s not in the best interest of Claire,” he told them firmly.
“See, Jake, that’s where you’re wrong,” Deuce told him, his voice deep with conviction. “None of you would have been guided to your mates if they weren’t the perfect women for you. Melanie is perfect for Luke. Jamie is perfect for John. Gracie is perfect for me. Lainey is perfect for Spence and Tim. Every trait that we think is a flaw in us is accepted and embraced by the women who have been made for us. They don’t see anything wrong with who we are and what we want. They complement us in every way. They give us what we need and don’t judge us. They’re our mates for a reason. We’re exactly what they want and need. They’re meant to be ours, just as those women out there are meant to be yours.”
“Whatever it is that you think is in you that you don’t want to show those women is probably exactly what they will cherish about you. You are destined to be theirs because you’re exactly what those women want and need,” John added. “I know I worried that Jamie wouldn’t accept who I was, but she not only accepted me, she embraced my worries and my flaws. And those women will do the same for each of you. You have to trust that it’s right and all of you are meant to be mated to your women.”
“Think about it hard,” Luke advised them. “Think about it and get your heads on straight before it’s too late.”
The laughter from the dance floor drew all of their attentions. They watched as the women surrounded Lainey and hugged her tightly between them.
Marc watched Madison, his heart filling with warmth as she lifted Cooper into her arms and leaned against Lainey, completely relaxed and happy with her friend. Cooper waved to him sweetly and he couldn’t prevent the soft smile that graced his lips as he looked at the little girl. He wanted that little girl to be his daughter, and he wanted her mother to be his mate. He wanted to feel Madison’s arms around him. He wanted to hold her tenderly as she slept every night beside him for the rest of their lives.
Rafe felt his heart skip a beat as Becca stumbled slightly before reaching out and holding onto Lainey tightly as she hugged her sister. The expression of pure happiness on her face made Rafe wish he could put that same expression there every day for the rest of their lives. He needed to hold her and love her. He wanted to take away her pain and give her joy. He wanted to see h
er filled with their child and watch her nurse and take care of each baby he wanted to give her. And he wanted to see the love that she had for him expressed in her unique eyes and soft smile that she gifted only to him.
Jake watched Claire with such need it actually made him ache. He couldn’t imagine her not being able to see the devil within him. Claire was holding Mary Grace carefully against her chest as she reached up and touched Lainey’s cheek lightly, laughing softly at the way Lainey kissed her hand without hesitation. At that moment, Jake wanted to rip Claire from the group and drag her back to his bedroom. He wanted to love her and show her just who she belonged to. He wanted to fill her body with his seed and claim her as his, making the baby with her that she had already asked him to make with her and that he ached to hold and love—because that baby would be part of her. His darker needs filled him. Instead of those needs pushing him away from Claire, he found himself drawn closer to her. He didn’t understand why he felt that Claire would embrace every bit of his desires, but he did. For the first time in a very long time, he allowed himself to have hope that maybe he might have a chance of finding all that he wanted and needed—with his angel.
* * * *
“Lainey, we wish you a lifetime of happiness,” Gracie told her friend happily as she hugged her tightly.
Lainey giggled as she was surrounded by her family and friends. She knew it looked weird to the men as they stood on the far side of the barn, but she didn’t care. These women had been her support system from the time she had been a young girl.
A sudden wave of dizziness came over her and she reached out, grabbing onto Becca’s arms to steady herself. “I need to sit down,” she told her sister quietly.
Becca lead her over to the group of chairs behind them. Lainey was grateful when her butt hit the chair, and she smiled up at her sister in thanks.
Claiming Lainey [Cowboy Mates, Psychic Connections 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 32