The Twin Birthright

by Catherine Mann

  Which meant working with the Steele-Mikkelsons at Alaska Oil Barons, Inc. was his best bet for making his theories come to life. Yet another reason he had to figure out this relationship with Naomi, as they were tied together through the company. There was no avoiding each other if things went south between them again. He wasn’t budging from his plan to stay until her father returned for the party that would welcome him and Jeannie.

  Royce glanced at his watch and saw Naomi should be arriving home any minute now. She’d texted him when she left the office. He’d had the chef send up supper so he and Naomi could eat in her suite.

  Time to stretch his legs. Which was really just an excuse to check on the girls. Sure, he had the video baby monitor hooked up, which he frequently glanced at, but seeing them with his own two eyes soothed him. Tessie stood, then loped alongside him, her tail wagging. She’d taken well to the little ones, often alerting to their coos and squawks an instant prior to the monitor picking up the sounds. Luckily, the Steeles were open to dogs, one thing he had in common with them. Tessie enjoyed romping in the snow with Glenna and Broderick’s husky.

  Royce looked into the bassinet, relieved that they still slept. Didn’t even stir. God, they were cute, and fast wrapping him around their tiny little fingers. He rubbed the back of his neck and turned away.

  A grumble in his stomach led him to the kitchen, where the chef had left a mouthwatering caribou stew, and rhubarb crisp for dessert. As he lifted the lid on the pot to stir the stew, he heard the elevator whirring closer. The doors slid open and Naomi strode inside her L-shaped corner suite.

  Damn, she was gorgeous, with her legs showcased in leggings and leather boots. She was wearing one of his shirts, along with a bulky jewel-toned necklace... His mouth went dry and he reminded himself he had to stay away from her not just for physical reasons, but also for their very sanity.

  He shook off thoughts he wasn’t close to having answers for.

  “Welcome back.” He tossed a hand towel over his shoulder. “How did your meeting go?”

  “Busy.” She set aside her briefcase, a strand of hair slipping free from her topknot. “Let’s talk about yours. How are the babies? I hope they didn’t run you ragged.”

  “The girls napped. Then your sister came up. Some of the Mikkelsons were with her—don’t ask me which ones—and they took the twins downstairs.” A reminder of how soon she would realize she didn’t need him. And then what? Could he just walk away? Was closure possible? “There were plenty of capable hands to hold and feed the babies.”

  “The wonders of a big family,” she muttered, stretching her arms, the shirt pulling taught against her breasts.

  “You have a pack, for sure.” He stifled a wince at the mention of her large family. The last thing he wanted was to set her defenses up, but damn, his brain was on stun from taking in her curves.

  “What did you all talk about?” She peeked into the pot on the stove, breathing in the aroma with a blissful expression. When she stirred it with a spoon and tasted it, her sexy moan almost drove him to his knees.

  “I went to the study.” He hauled his attention away and pulled a large bottled water from the stainless steel refrigerator. “Work.”

  “Right, of course. I’m being selfish. I know how important your research is to you.”

  Something shifted in her deep brown eyes that he couldn’t quite place. But then his brain wasn’t chugging on all cylinders with his body aching to be near her.

  “It is,” he said, pouring water into two cut crystal glasses. “But for this phase, I’m through with the bulk of the heavy lifting. It’s about implementation now.”

  She turned her back to pull bowls from the cabinet, her focus on picking at the food and setting the table, his on the movement of her mouth as she licked her fingers. He recalled the day they’d first met, when they’d been alone in that tiny glass igloo-style retreat outside Anchorage. The way her eyes had roamed over him. He wanted that attention now.

  She turned from the table, facing him. “And your next consulting project?”

  “Does this mean I’m fired?” He offered it as a joke, but the answer mattered more than he cared to admit. He couldn’t delude himself. He wasn’t ready to leave.

  She glanced at him, eyes wide. “No, of course not. Just making conversation. Wondering about your future.”

  “I have files full of ideas. I’m almost considering taking some long-term time off after this project. Recharge the brain.” Get over the hellish fallout from having walked away from her for good. “That’s when the best inventions happen. Trust me, though, my entire focus is on this project. It’s important to me.”

  She chewed her bottom lip, concern for him so evident in her eyes that it reached into him, drew him closer. And even though he knew touching her couldn’t lead anywhere right now, he stroked her face...

  And covered her mouth with his.

  Seven

  Naomi gripped Royce’s shoulders, her fingers digging into the hard planes.

  To push him away?

  Or to bring him closer?

  No choice at all. A simple decision. The draw to share this moment with him was too strong.

  Her hands slid around his shoulders and up into his hair, then she leaned into him, soaking up the familiar feel of him. Starved for him after so long apart. His strong arms banded around her waist, his palms roving over her back.

  She’d missed the focus on her as a woman. Need returned with a vengeance. To indulge. To know she was an indulgence to him.

  A low growl rumbled through his chest, vibrating against her. She sighed, threading her fingers through his hair.

  He stroked her shoulders, then down her arms as he arched away. He cupped the back of her head and guided it to rest against his chest. “Naomi, I shouldn’t have done that.”

  She wasn’t sure if she appreciated him stopping or not. But she couldn’t deny every second of that kiss had been delicious. Welcome.

  “We can’t pretend the past doesn’t exist.” She searched for words to ease the awkwardness—and the pain of lost dreams. Her fingers moved against the crisp cotton of his shirt. “We were drawn to each other for a reason back then. Even going our separate ways doesn’t erase that initial pull or what we almost had.”

  “How about we agree we’re not pretending anymore, but we also shelve this discussion for now? It’s been a long day.”

  She pulled away, more stung by his avoiding the discussion than she wanted to admit. He was so very obviously escaping.

  Her pride hurt too much, though, to challenge him on that. So she embraced the exhaustion excuse. “Of course. You’re right.” She backed away from him. “I could use a catnap before the girls wake up. And please don’t offer to watch them for me. Go. Take some time for yourself.”

  He studied her for five heartbeats before nodding slowly. “I’m going to pick up some things from my place and grab supper out. Call me if you need me before the girls settle in for the night.”

  Snagging his coat from the back of the sofa on his way to the elevator, he walked away without another word. Leaving her alone with the girls and her thoughts.

  Her mind churned with memories of that kiss, the rasp of his fingers on her skin, the taste of him. She’d missed his touch, his kisses.

  She’d missed him.

  Goose bumps prickled as she rubbed her arms. The girls were sleeping, and she was alone. She should be doing something other than wandering around the living room in circles. At the very least, she should shower and sleep, two things in short supply for her these days.

  A half hour later, she slid under the covers with a hefty sigh. The babies snoozed on in their nursery and she’d placed the monitor beside her bed, even though her door was open as well as theirs.

  As sleep swept over her, her languid thoughts drifted back to Royce’s kiss, to so many ot
her kisses. Their attraction had been undeniable from the moment she’d met him, trapped together in an all-glass igloo-style cabin during a blizzard... That chemistry had drawn them into bed so quickly, so very memorably. The desire to leave the heartache behind fell away as the dream drew her under...

  Royce’s mouth and hands set her body on fire, and as much as part of her shouted that this was happening too fast, she also knew her days for having a no-strings fling were numbered. Casual would take on a different meaning once she gave birth. On a practical level, having a wild, torrid affair with him right now, in this bed made complete sense.

  Royce angled back to look into her eyes, stroking her hair with a long sweep of his hands. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

  “Are you kidding me? I very much want you.”

  He eyed her with a gaze that drank her in, launching another wave of excitement through her veins. Anticipation swirled through her until her face heated with a flush. He reached into the bedside table and pulled out an unopened box of condoms.

  Morning sunshine pushed through the snow on the glass roof, dappling them with light as she tugged at his shirt and sweatpants. His skin was impossibly warm, the hard muscles shifting under her touch while she skimmed away his clothes. The expanse of his muscled chest sprinkled with hair wasn’t that of a sedentary man. The sinewy planes of him spoke of activity, of a love of the outdoors.

  She wanted to feel him, all of him, against her. Inside her. She’d never been so hot, so hungry, for any man. She reveled in the graze of his fingers as he bunched and swept aside her silk thermal shirt, sliding around the strap of the simple cotton bra she’d never planned on anyone else seeing. His avid gaze practically sizzled the fabric away, her breasts beading to aching points by the time he freed her. She shivered as he scraped down the thermal underwear, until at last they were skin to skin.

  The warmth of him, pressing flesh to flesh as he kissed her, ramped up her need higher, hotter. He skimmed his mouth to the curve of her neck and she caught a glimpse of the heat in his eyes as he stroked her with his gaze, as tangible as his hands caressing her breasts. Then lower, kissing the inside of her thigh before moving to the core of her. Circling, plucking. Teasing a tingling flame higher and hotter until her own hands clenched into fists.

  “You’re absolutely...gorgeous. But you have to already know that.”

  His intuitive touch made her feel carefree. They were just man and woman, caught up in a feverish attraction. She’d had no idea how powerful that could be.

  “You’re making me blush.”

  Royce planted slow, deliberate kisses on her collarbone. “That sounds like an invitation to make you blush all over.”

  Oh. My.

  Breath seemed impossible as he pressed against her. Still, somehow she managed to whisper, “As long as turnabout is fair play.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” His confident chuckle heated her flesh and he angled up to graze his mouth along her ear, her jaw.

  “And by the way?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re too chatty.” She nipped his bottom lip.

  His slow, sexy smile gave her an instant’s warning before his mouth closed over her breast, one then the other, until the tingles gathered force within her to a tight urgency.

  She grabbed for the box of condoms and wrenched it open, fumbling to tear into a packet. He reached for her hand, but she nudged him aside. Wanting. Needing to explore him. She sheathed him and his groan of pleasure brought an answering groan from her.

  “Naomi, there are so many more ways I want to touch you, to—”

  She pressed a finger to his lips. “And you can. We will. Right now, though...”

  She didn’t have to finish the thought. He slid inside her, filling her as her legs glided up and around his hips, her ankles locking. In sync, they moved. She didn’t know how to explain the strength of sensations already swelling inside her, the way his caresses ignited her, knew her so instinctively. Being with him was insane and somehow so damn right all at the same time...

  * * *

  Pacing in the dark nursery, Royce shushed the fussy baby in his arms, Anchorage’s skyline twinkling in the distance. “Your mama’s tired, and she’s finally not restless. Let’s keep it quiet.” He kept walking the floor, glad he’d thought to turn off the nursery monitor and close Naomi’s bedroom door when he’d returned. “Shall I recite the periodic table to you? I could even sing it.”

  The tiny face scrunched up, feet pumping.

  “Good choice. My voice is nails on a chalkboard. So if you’re not into the periodic table, I could shuffle to Newton’s Laws of Motion, Hubble’s Law of Cosmic Expansion, Universal Law of Gravitation, Archimedes’s Buoyancy Principle? Surely I must be boring you to sleep.”

  Mary blinked again, wide-awake. Yes, Mary. He might not be able to tell one Mikkelson from another, but he could tell the difference between Mary and Anna by the way their eyebrows grew. Even their cries were a little different. The infant shoved a fist into her mouth and sucked, watching him.

  He welcomed this time alone to get his thoughts together after that combustible kiss with Naomi. And he couldn’t avoid the truth—that he’d wanted to keep on kissing her. Having her in his arms again had been incredible.

  Leaving after the gala was going to be tougher than he’d bargained on. Work with the pipeline modifications would ramp up for him, but the evenings would be lonely. Gaining closure and getting her out of his mind wasn’t panning out as he’d expected.

  Throughout the last few weeks, Royce had attempted to bury the surprise of how naturally and easily he fitted into their routine. But alone with the babies, late at night with nothing but a twinkling city skyline, the reality of how right it felt became undeniable. It was about more than fitting into a routine. It was about the joy of a daily connection.

  Mary squawked again and he jostled her lightly, whispering, “If you were older I would let you play with the abacus.” His chest went tight, that fear of a future without Naomi creeping back in. “I hope I get to see that one day, kiddo. I can’t make any promises, though, because it’s up to your mama how that plays out.”

  He thought of Naomi sleeping just a door away, that glimpse of her burned into his brain. How she sprawled blissfully under the comforter, her hair splayed out on the pillow. Not too many months ago, he would have had the right to turn his face into those silky strands. Their relationship had had a combustible start and an equally explosive ending. He couldn’t envision them finding a peaceful friendship. They were an all-or-nothing kind of couple.

  Could she have had a point? That he was pursuing her only because he wanted a replacement family? He hated to think that of himself. And damn it, he knew his attraction to Naomi was real. Her intelligence and take-no-prisoners attitude made her irresistible.

  But he also knew he wasn’t one to deal with emotions. He avoided those memories at all costs. Maybe the babies were bringing the whole of his past out again.

  But two things were evident. He couldn’t fix what was wrong between him and Naomi, and he loved the babies, had since before they were born. He was their father in all the ways that mattered, and he was going to bring the fight to them, not let go.

  He had a few more weeks to figure this out. Maybe, with time, he and Naomi would find that their connection, their shared interest at work, and yes, raising these two babies together, was more than enough to bind them together.

  Or was that just wishful thinking?

  * * *

  The L-shaped loft could not contain Naomi’s racing mind. She poked at her eggs with a fork tip, chasing them around the dish—an heirloom from her grandmother—trying to bring her world, heart and mind into balance. Trying to channel the scales of Justice. But rather than needing the scales to sort out a complex legal problem, Naomi needed them to settle the affairs of her heart.

 
Royce sat across from her in sweats and an MIT T-shirt that stretched across his muscular chest. Sitting here with him was too intimate, with the memory of that kiss and the resulting dream smoking through her mind.

  She averted her eyes, which didn’t help at all when her gaze landed on the suitcase he’d been living out of since she and the girls got home from the hospital. Now, an empty suitcase. While she’d napped, he’d unpacked everything and stowed his gear in the extra closet and shelves in her bedroom. Just as he had when they’d lived here together, alternating between her place and his until they came up with a more permanent plan. Something that never happened.

  “Royce, you have to know it’s presumptuous of you to move in here.”

  He glanced at her, raising one eyebrow, but staying silent.

  Damn, but he was arrogant. And hot.

  “Tall, dark and brooding isn’t going to work on me. We need to set some ground rules if we’re going to spend this time together.”

  And damn it, she realized she’d just conceded he was staying. Apparently tall, dark and brooding did work.

  “Royce...”

  “Yes?” His voice rumbled in the space between them, luring her.

  “Just, um, no more kissing.” She started to say more about the presumption of his virtual move-in, but that seemed silly when she was depending on him so much. “I’m taking the girls today and I insist you have the day for yourself.”

  “What if I say no?”

  She bit back the urge to snap, and reached for the decaf coffee. Surely it was the lack of caffeine while still nursing the babies that was making her cranky. “I will call you crazy if you turn down the time. Seriously, I’m spending the day with Chuck’s wife, Shana. We’re putting our heads together for the welcome home party.”