by Leia Shaw
“Answer honestly, Sabrina,” Q said.
With a sigh, she did. “I love kids and I’m thrilled for you, Q, but…” She stared down at her half-empty mug. Was she selfish to feel this way?
“For me?” Q looked terrified.
“But?” Jude jiggled her with a hand on her thigh.
“But…I feel a little like the third wheel. I never really thought about how we’d go about adding kids to our family. I mean, it’s kind of weird. There’s only room for two sets of genes. And who am I to the baby? The auntie that’s secretly in love with its mother?” She paused, fighting back tears. “I’m just scared. Scared this will complicate things and I’ll be the first one to go.”
Jude took a deep breath. Still staring at her mug, she couldn’t face Q. Couldn’t bear to see the hurt she may have caused. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jude’s hand reach toward her. He grabbed the corner of the pillow she was sitting cross-legged on and yanked it toward him. Setting her mug of hot chocolate on the ground, he pulled her onto his lap, facing the fire.
He planted a wet kiss on her neck. “How could you ever think we’d let you go? You’re the heart of this trio. Q and I will love you no matter how complicated life gets.”
Q crawled from her spot to sit next to Jude. “Besides, we don’t know for sure that the baby is biologically Jude’s. It could be yours.”
Sabrina rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly.”
“You don’t be silly. As if I could ever live without you after it took me so long to turn you bi for me. Not gonna happen. This baby will have two mommies and need them both.”
She shook her head, trying to wrap her mind around it. Poor kid was going to be so confused.
“Two loving, nurturing mommies and a daddy that will spoil the hell out of it makes one lucky kid,” Jude said and kissed her temple.
“I guess,” she said with a shrug. A baby with Q’s bright blue eyes and Jude’s fine blond hair came to mind. She pictured summer days at the beach – her beach, where she’d grown up. Q cradling an infant tenderly in her arms. Jude carrying a toddler on his shoulders. And in the winter, Sabrina making snowballs for a rowdy boy or girl to throw at Jude.
She gazed up at their Christmas tree. Next year there’ll be presents for a tiny bundle. They’ll start traditions – visiting Santa, making Christmas cookies – this time with Sabrina’s help. How could she not fall in love with a child that looked like her two favorite people? Yes. She’d love this baby with all her heart. Suddenly, there was nothing more she wanted in the world than a baby with the two people she loved most.
She sighed happily. “Can we have the baby now?”
They laughed.
“Always so impatient,” Q teased, moving between her legs, then crawling up her body. She lifted Sabrina’s pajama shirt with her teeth, then kissed her belly. It reminded her that Q’s wouldn’t be flat for very much longer.
“You’ll make a formidable Domme, all cuckoo with baby hormones,” she teased.
“Mmmm.” Q’s hot breath tickled Sabrina’s belly and she squirmed a bit.
Jude kissed down her neck.
Breathlessly, she managed to say, “Jude will have to temper you.”
Q looked up slyly. “Or you’ll have to be extra good.”
The soft kisses and warm breath across her skin made her melt. Leaned back against Jude, she groaned as Q made her way up Sabrina’s body, licking and kissing her exposed skin – her cleavage when Jude yanked down her v-neck t-shirt, then her collar bone and up to her shoulders. Jude gave Q space as she nipped and kissed her neck. Goosebumps rose all across her skin. Q’s lips just under her ear made her squirm and giggle.
Q backed away and looked at Jude. “Can I strip her?”
After a long, quiet moment, he scooted out from under Sabrina and stood. “Wait here.” Without another word, he left the room.
Sabrina grunted in frustration. Wasn’t that just like him? Were they going to play Torture Sabrina even on Christmas night? She eyed Q, who was giving her that hazy, turned on look she loved.
She smirked and arched her back, a silent invitation to keep going.
“Don’t even think about it, little girl,” Q said, holding back a smile.
Deflated, she leaned back on her hands and waited. Jude returned quickly, holding a folded up piece of paper.
“I’ve been working on this for a while,” he said, sitting next to them, cross-legged on the floor. “I know we gave up on the matching tattoo idea a while ago when we couldn’t agree on anything. But…” he unfolded the paper and stared at it, “here. What do you think of this?”
With a nervous look, he handed the paper to Q first. Sabrina leaned forward to see as Q studied it.
It was a tree – straggly roots at the bottom and three leafy branches curled into the shape of a triskelion.
“The triskelion is the symbol for three,” Jude explained. “It represents the three of us.” He leaned over Q’s shoulder and pointed. “And the tree represents roots for our family to grow.”
Sabrina looked at Q. She was the pickiest of the three of them. Her mouth popped open. “Jude, it’s…beautiful.”
Jude smiled widely. “Sabrina?”
She looked between them as they stared at her with hope in their eyes. “It’s perfect!”
Jude tackled Q to the floor, making her yelp in surprise. “I was hoping you’d like it.” He kissed her deeply, then grabbed for Sabrina.
With a quick yank, she was underneath him. His kiss stole her breath away. She wrapped her arms around his neck and grinded against him, seeking some friction against her throbbing clit.
Q struggled to her knees. “Now, can I strip her?” she asked, eyes shining bright, her fists clenched like she was fighting not to touch.
“No,” Jude answered and Sabrina groaned. “And no kink. Tonight I’m making love to my girls.”
With a sigh, Q closed her eyes. “No beatings for eight more months. This is going to suck.”
“You’ll survive on kink and D/s until then, Brat One.” He smiled. “I guess I’ll have to build a real, sound-proofed dungeon at some point, for later. We can bring in a baby monitor.
The mental image made Sabrina snort. Several of the people they knew from the club had kids. She was sure they’d have advice on how to keep things on the low-down, to make sure they didn’t have to pay for years of child therapy.
She came back to the present when Jude lifted her shirt and pulled it all the way over her head. Q snaked a hand down Sabrina’s chest and kneaded one breast while Jude went for her pajama pants.
“I think we should keep that naughty and nice list,” he said, kissing her belly button while playing with the elastic on her pants. “Incentive for you two to behave.”
Mmmm….more.
“Wait!” she yelled before she was lost to them.
Jude stopped. “What’s wrong?” He let her up when she struggled against him.
Her toes froze against the hardwood floor as she tiptoed topless across the living room and into the kitchen. She grabbed the Naughty List off the fridge, then ran back to sit at the fire place.
Ignoring Jude and Q’s puzzled expressions, she erased the board and drew four new columns.
“What are you doing?” Jude finally asked.
With a grin, she turned the board to face them. At the top of each column were the names: Sabrina, Q, Jude, and Baby Z. In the baby’s column, she’d drawn a big smiley face. They both smiled widely.
“Baby Z?” Q said with a brow arched.
Sabrina shrugged. “It’s a placeholder. Until we name her. Er, it.” For some reason, she had a feeling the baby was a girl.
“If it’s a girl, I’m in trouble.” Jude ran his hand through his hair with a smirk.
“Yes,” she agreed. “You’ll be grossly outnumbered.”
A naughty gleam appeared in Q’s eyes. “He’s already outnumbered. And almost outmanned. He can barely handle us.” At that, she tackled him.
It caught him unaware and he fell backward onto the floor. Q straddled his chest, looking like she’d conquered Goliath. Jude didn’t seem to mind. He just grinned up at her, like a goofy, love-sick puppy.
Sabrina giggled and fought the urge to kiss both of them silly. To think, this was the very beginning of their lives together. It felt like a fairy tale – an unconventional, somewhat twisted fairy tale, but hers nonetheless. They weren’t perfect, but they were perfect for each other. Baby Z was going to be the luckiest kid on the planet. And anyone that dared fuck with their kid would wish they had a safeword.
About the Authors
Sorcha Black
Sorcha writes fantasy about women who are too busy fighting, suffering, loving, and generally getting shit done to think of themselves as heroes.
In her real life, she is married to a lazy but well-loved man and has a shoe full of children. She does her best writing on scraps of paper at red lights.
Find her at: sorchablack.blogspot.com
Leia Shaw
Leia Shaw is the bestselling author of the paranormal romance series, Shadows of Destiny. Thinking up fae politics, plotting dragon power games, and calculating how fast werewolves can change forms has given her a way to express those dark places in her mind. More recently, she’s branched out into the erotic world and has written two humorous but heartwarming contemporary BDSM romances, 31 Flavors of Kink and The Dom with a Safeword.
Leia lives in New England with her husband and two kids. Though she will go to her grave denying it, her husband insists she would be thrilled if he suddenly sprouted fangs.
Find her at:
www.leiashaw.com
leiashaw.blogspot.com
facebook.com/leiashaw
Twitter @LeiaShaw
Cari Silverwood
Cari Silverwood writes the way the world should be - dangerous and sexy with bullets piercing the darkness and lovers wrenched close by ropes. When you need escape, when you need that rough lover to bring you to your knees, here you will find stories to singe your fingers. The taste of adventure, the tang of BDSM, the burn of fantasy run wild. Brace yourselves, if you dare to read.
And...in this real world, she has a lovely family in Australia, with the prerequisite teenager who dwells in the dark bedroom catacombs…a husband who raises eyebrows when he catches glimpses of what she writes, and a furry menagerie of other animals barking, meowing, and swimming about the place.
Find her at: carisilverwood.com
The Dom with a Safeword
Badass Brats #1
Available now for all e-readers!
Late at night, on an amateur ghost hunt, Sabrina and her best friend Q are caught trespassing by the gorgeous, blonde Jude. The embers of attraction between them sizzle when they discover Jude’s kinks match their own. Jude is a Dom on his last summer of freedom before starting the prison sentence that is med school. Q is a badass bi switch who knows what she wants, and for years it’s been her cute, doe-eyed straight friend Sabrina. But the only way to get into Sabrina’s heart and panties may be with Jude’s fist wrapped in her hair.
Domming the bratty Q and mischievous Sabrina isn’t going to be easy but Jude relishes the challenge. At the end of the summer, will they find a way to stay together when everything is tearing them apart?
“There are some of the best love scenes I have ever read due to the emotions that just leap off the page in this story.” Night Owl Reviews
“Questionable choices, self-destructive behavior, beautiful friendship, off the charts sex and, finally, love... The collaboration of authors Cari Silverwood, Leia Shaw, and Sorcha Black is a three-some made in literary heaven.” Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews
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Chapter 1 Sample
Sabrina
“This block is a hot bed of activity!” Sabrina declared. She sounded like a kid in a toy store even to her own ears. Q’s eyes must be rolling out of her head. “It’s gotta be one of these old houses. There’s so much history here.”
The pin on the EMF detector bounced from point three to point six every time she pointed due north. The mansion stood out from the other houses even without her equipment going berserk. At least one story higher than its neighbors, with old cracked windows and ivy crawling up the front roman style columns, it practically screamed Haunted: enter at your own risk.
Oh, she would enter all right. This could be the breakthrough she’d been waiting for. And it looked completely abandoned – unkempt and not a single light on inside or outside of the house.
She crept closer, ignoring the shudder that rocked her. Now was not the time to chicken out.
“If there’s something strange…in your neighborhood,” a soft voice sang behind her. “Who you gonna call?”
“Shh!” Sabrina scolded, laughing. “For the millionth time, I’m not a ghostbuster!”
“Ghostbuster, ghost hunter…” Q drawled, pressing the button on the Trifield Meter hooked to Sabrina’s belt. “Same thing.”
She batted Q’s hand away. “I’m a paranormal investigator.” With an air of pride, she took out the badge she’d just received in the mail. It came with her online certification in investigating spectral disruptions to the real-world plane.
Q leaned in to take a closer look then arched a brow. “Where did you get that? Cheesy Gimmicks ‘R Us?”
Sabrina scowled at her best friend. She was so getting revenge next time they went to a heavy metal concert. Maybe she’d buy the purple punk tutu she’d seen on the fetish store website Q had left open the other day. Her other one was black.
Q nudged her, jarring her from her diabolical thoughts. “Keep going. It’s getting late and super creepy out here.” She shivered and rubbed her arms.
Sabrina smirked. “Scared? Thought you didn’t believe in ghosts.”
“I don’t. But I do believe in serial killers and rapists. And maybe zombies.” She gave her a little shove forward. “Hurry up.”
Sabrina pointed to the mansion, one house away. “It’s leading us there.”
To her amusement, Q stiffened then sighed. “Of course it is. It couldn’t take us to a cute, friendly-looking cottage, could it?”
Sabrina summoned a saucy smile. “Don’t worry Q. Lucky for you, Cheesy Gimmicks ‘R Us sells zombie repellent.” She held up a bottle of pepper spray.
“Smart ass.”
She chuckled then turned toward the house and crept along, grateful for the frequent streetlights. The house grew more ominous the closer they got. When they stood, staring up at it, mouths wide open, even Sabrina wondered if this was a bad idea.
“This is a bad idea,” Q whispered beside her.
She shook off the momentary lapse in courage. “Don’t be silly. Supernatural spirits can’t hurt us.”
“You say that, but that’s not how it works in the movies.”
Ignoring her friend, she studied the fence surrounding the property. About ten feet high and black iron, it appeared to run the length of the yard. She pushed on the gate door in front of them. Locked.
She stared up at spikes lining the top of the gate and sighed, pushing back her trepidation. “We’ll have to climb it.” Careful not to jar anything, she began removing her equipment, setting each device carefully on the ground.
“What? You’re insane!”
Possibly. “We’ll be fine. Just mind the spikes.” She placed one foot on the bottom rung and wrapped her hands around the bars.
Q stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Wait. There’s got to be another way.”
“There’s not. The fence runs the whole property. That’s how rich people protect their stupid stuff.” Sabrina pulled herself up one step.
“Wait!” Q tugged her back down. “Let me look before you go on this suicide mission.” Then she gave Sabrina that stubborn look she knew all too well. “Wait. Right here. No climbing.”
Sabrina knew not to argue with her when she got like this. She rolled her eyes. “Alright. But hurry up. We don’t w
ant the cops to come this time.”
Q disappeared into the dark and Sabrina resumed her climb. Q would tackle her to the ground before she’d let her do something dangerous. And she just had to get over this fence. Overprotective friend. She’d never known anybody who cared so deeply for her. They weren’t a couple, but something more than friends. It was strange, she admitted when she thought about it too closely. So she didn’t. We are what we are, she told herself countless times.
Sabrina made it to the top of one side then froze while she analyzed the iron spikes. If she could get one leg between the two spikes then she could straddle the fence without impaling her girly bits. She grimaced at the visual.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Q said from below.
“Shh! I’m trying to concentrate!” Her muscles ached from holding her in the awkward position.
“Don’t fall!”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, thank you. Whatever would I do without your genius advi-ahhh!” The foot holding most of her body weight slipped and she tumbled to the ground.
She landed mostly on her ass, but it knocked the wind out of her.
“Are you alright?” Q asked frantically, helping her up.
Miffed at the setback, Sabrina grumbled. “I’m fine.” A little soreness where she’d landed but it could’ve been worse.
Q sighed and turned her around, looking her over. “There’s dirt all over you. I told you this was a bad idea,” she scolded, brushing the dirt off her back and ass – a little too roughly. “What did you think was going to happen?”
“Ow! Not so hard!”
Q held her still with hands on her upper arms. “I found a broken rung. We can squeeze through. But if we do this, you have to promise, nothing else dangerous.”
“Dangerous?” She smirked. “What could be dangerous about ghost hunting?”
Q gave her an exasperated look then released her. “Smartass.”
“You already said that.” Sabrina collected her equipment off the ground.
“You go through life in a perpetual state of smartassery.”