“Next time tell us,” Carter told her, reaching up to touch her breast and finding it warm and firm. “We can help you, honey. We can express your milk and save it for when we take you out on a date and our baby needs to eat.”
“We’re going on a date?” Suzie asked, her eyes sparkling as she perked up and lifted her head to look at Carter with excitement.
“How about dinner and a movie?” Carter offered. “Or we can go dancing.”
Suzie growled and reached out to tug on Carter’s long hair, fisting it in her hand and pulling him closer so that his lips were directly in front of hers. “I would love to dance with you and Drew,” she whispered just before she kissed him, opening to him immediately as his tongue licked at her lips.
She pulled away as the baby squirmed in her arms. She looked down at her daughter and touched her head gently. “Did you hear that, Elizabeth? Poppa and Daddy are going to take me dancing. You’re my witness, baby girl.”
“You don’t have to worry about us not following through with that date, honey,” Drew told her, leaning toward her and kissing her forehead lightly. “Dancing is a great way to hold you close so that the whole world can see that you belong to us. We would be idiots not to want to feel your body against ours.” He winked at her then, making her smile.
“Do you know how happy you both make me?” she whispered.
“We make you happy?” Carter asked her, feigning shock.
Suzie sighed with frustration. “You’re such a brat, Carter,” she told him finally. “I’m trying to tell you how much I love my life with you both.”
Carter’s soft smile disappeared slowly. “Baby, we know,” he told her, emotions making his voice gruff. “I’m sorry for teasing. We love our life with you, too. You’re precious to us. You’ve brought us such joy.”
Suzie looked down at their daughter, seeing that she was nearly asleep again. She removed her from her breast and handed her to Carter. “Burp your baby, Poppa,” she told him, smiling as he instantly took the soft material diaper from Drew’s hand and placed it across his shoulder before lifting their daughter to place her against him and patting her back gently.
Drew settled himself so that he lay across her lap and lapped at the dribble of breast milk that surrounded her nipple. Suzie held his head lightly as he latched on and suckled, drawing more of her milk into his mouth.
Suzie sighed contentedly, loving her men more with every moment she spent with them. She couldn’t imagine being happier.
“I think we can help you out with your extra breast milk, Suzie,” Carter told her, leaning forward and nuzzling against her cheek. “We’ll make sure we give you exactly what you need, honey.” He growled softly against her face, loving the way their baby purred against him as she felt and heard his growl, responding with a tiny growl of her own.
“Look how Elizabeth loves to hear your growl,” she whispered, reaching out to touch their daughter’s little foot. “She’s growling back at you.”
“She is her fathers’ daughter,” Carter whispered, looking down at their cub and smiling.
Suzie laughed and reached up to touch his head gently. “Yes. She is. She’s amazing just as her fathers are amazing. I think both of you are exactly what I need,” she told them.
Drew growled as the vision raced through their minds. Carter looked over the top of Suzie’s wolf and smiled.
“Well, now we know what our daughter’s name is,” he told Drew. “And it certainly is not Fred.”
Drew chuckled, his smile slowly leaving him as he looked down at their mate as she lay between them. “Did you see that vision, Suzie?” he asked her, his voice strong. “Did you see our beautiful daughter? Did you see how amazing our future is going to be, honey?”
“Come back to us, baby,” Carter told her softly. “We need you to allow your human side to have control. Now that you’ve found your wolf again, you won’t have to be afraid that she won’t be able to run free when you want her to.”
Suzie’s wolf whined and moved restlessly. Both men moved away from her as she fought to call on her magic. Surrounding herself in a swirl of blue, she struggled to call forth the change.
“That’s it, Suzie Q,” Carter encouraged her. “Come back to us, honey.”
“Search for your magic and be strong, Mate,” Drew told her as the blue started to waver and dissipate. “We need you with us so we can make that beautiful baby and have that amazing future.”
Their golden wolf whimpered, kicking out with her back legs and twisting her body in frustration. Both men remained still as she fought to draw on her magic once again. After a few seconds of struggling, her paws twitched slightly. The blue swirl of magic surrounded her again, growing stronger with each moment that passed.
“Good girl, Suzie,” Drew encouraged her. “Keep reaching for your magic, honey.”
“Don’t give up, sweetheart,” Carter whispered. “We need you. Our baby needs you.”
In that instant, Suzie’s wolf relinquished her hold on her, and her human side was allowed to emerge. She stretched as her muscles and bones reveled in the freedom that her body was now experiencing. She opened her eyes and looked toward the two men, trying desperately to focus.
“I’m here,” she told them, exhausted, reaching out to touch their cheeks tenderly.
“Did you see the vision of our baby?” Carter asked her, covering her hand with his.
“I think so,” she whispered, trying to muddle through the confusion in her mind.
“Our baby is beautiful, honey,” Drew whispered, kissing her lips lightly.
Suzie leaned into his kiss and sighed contentedly. Reaching out, she searched for Carter and found her hand taken by his immediately. She pulled away from Drew’s kiss and reached out her hand, not satisfied until Drew took it gently within his own.
“You know what I see?” Suzie asked them softly.
“What, Suzie Q?” Carter leaned in and kissed her temple lightly, leaning back so he could look down at her.
“I see both of you.”
Chapter 22
Drew reached up and grabbed Suzie’s face, holding it tightly between his two hands. He searched her eyes carefully, almost afraid to believe when he saw the clarity there.
“You can see us, sweetheart?” he whispered, as if speaking the words would make the reality of them disappear.
“Yes. I can.” Suzie’s voice was soft as she looked at her mates.
“Thank the Fates,” Carter spoke up, his reverence obvious.
Suzie’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at the men that she had loved for nearly her entire life. They were handsome and strong and looked exactly as she had seen them in her dreams. Although they looked very much as she had remembered them in their youth, the gray in their hair showed her how they had suffered from the silver that had poisoned their systems just as the silver had poisoned hers.
She saw the scar on Carter’s handsome face and remembered how he had suffered the night Randall had hurt him and had poured the silver into his open wound. The scar hadn’t marred his looks. He was still gorgeous. When she looked at him, she saw the man who had desperately tried to save her.
She looked at Drew and saw the gray that populated his black hair at the temples and knew he had also suffered from the silver knife that had been used on him when they had come back for her. His face still held the open love and devotion for her that she had always seen there.
“I can see you,” Suzie told them both again, smiling through her tears of happiness. “I can see the two most wonderful men on the planet.”
“Yeah, we’re pretty wonderful,” Carter told her, laughing.
Suzie grabbed for Carter’s hand and drew it to her mouth. “Yes. You are,” she told him with conviction.
“Baby, you’re the one who’s amazing,” Carter told her gently. “You’ve been through so much, and we weren’t there to protect you.”
Suzie grabbed his hair and tugged on it, pulling him toward her. When hi
s face was close to hers, she snuggled against his throat, opened her mouth, and bit down firmly. His immediate growl of need shot excitement through her. She released her hold on him and laved at his neck, sniffing deeply to inhale his scent before pulling away and looking up at both him and Drew.
Drew’s expression of guilt combined with Carter’s expression of need was almost too much. She could feel the sorrow emanating from both men despite their desire for her.
“I see you,” she repeated calmly.
“You see us,” Drew echoed, his voice gruff with the happiness and the relief he was feeling.
“I also saw a beautiful vision of us having a baby,” she told them, looking from one man to the other, her brow furrowed in confusion as she fought to remember the entire vision. “I don’t remember the whole vision. We did have a baby, didn’t we?”
“Yes, Mate,” Drew told her, finally smiling. “The vision showed us our beautiful baby. And it showed me drinking the milk from your breasts.” He growled softly as he leaned forward and nuzzled the side of her face. “I really want to taste your milk, honey.”
“Me, too,” Carter told her honestly. “Are you okay with that, baby?”
Suzie laughed softly, lying back and resting comfortably against her pillow. Both men looked down at their mate’s gorgeous face as it mirrored her complete joy.
“I just saw our beautiful baby in our future,” she told them, smiling up at them. “How can I not be okay with sharing everything about having a baby with you?”
She became serious, her eyes suspiciously moist as she looked at the two men who held her heart. Her emotions were strong, and she couldn’t prevent her happiness or her worry from transmitting to Drew and Carter through their bond.
“I thought you were lost to me,” she admitted. “I was sure I was going to be alone for the rest of my life, and I truly didn’t think I would live for very much longer.”
“Suzie,” Drew whispered, taking his place beside her and wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Please, Mate,” Carter pleaded, leaning forward to kiss her shoulder lightly before taking his place on her other side and reaching out to keep her within his embrace. “Don’t talk like that.”
Suzie ran her fingertips across the forearms of both men as she thought. So much had changed for her in such a short time. The Fates had certainly had a hand in her miraculous healing as well as the reconnection to her mates. She would never doubt her future again.
“When I was alone all those years, I really thought both of you were dead,” she told them, her voice soft but strong. “I only made it through each day because I had to take care of my mom and Mitchell. And then I found Meeka. We had to take care of her and help her have her baby. When Eric was born, I knew that the Fates had kept me alive so I could protect him, too.”
She turned to each man and smiled sadly. She accepted the gentle hugs each man instinctively gave her to encourage her and support her, so she could tell them what she needed to.
“I never thought I would find out that both of you were alive, and I would be with you again. I certainly never thought there would be a possibility of having a baby of my own.”
She sighed softly and squeezed their arms tightly. Both men moved closer to her, rubbing their whiskers against her cheeks to soothe her.
“Please don’t think about the time we were apart anymore,” she told them gently. “We’re together now. And, if we can judge by the vision we just shared, we’ll be having a family together.”
“What do you think about that, Suzie Q?” Carter asked her quietly.
“I think it’s freaking wonderful!”
Both men smiled widely, leaning in to bite down on their mating mark on Suzie’s shoulder. Suzie squeezed their arms tightly, pulling them toward her and kissing their necks lightly, breathing in their scents deeply.
“You both smell so good,” she told them, growling as she inhaled. “I’m so glad I can scent you again.”
Both men pulled back and looked down at her with complete happiness. Suzie reached up and gently cupped their faces, caressing the scruff on their cheeks that always served to heighten her need for them. It was then that she saw that her left hand was missing the ring the men had put on her finger so many years before.
“Where’s my ring?” she asked, her voice filled with panic. “Why don’t I have on my ring?” She sat up quickly, her heart racing at the thought that she might have lost the symbol of Carter and Drew’s love for her.
Drew reached toward the end table to the left of their triad bed. He picked up the piece of jewelry and brought it to Suzie quickly. “You didn’t lose it, Suzie,” he told her calmly. “When you shifted it was left behind.”
“Every time we let our wolves free, we know to take off our rings first,” Carter explained. “It wasn’t exactly something we thought about telling you to do when you were shifting, sweetheart.”
Drew reached out and took Suzie’s hand in his. Carter’s hand joined his, and together they placed Suzie’s ring back on her finger. Carter pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed the ring tenderly, smiling as Drew took her hand and pulled it slowly to his mouth so he could do the same.
“Now it’s back where it belongs,” Drew told her softly. “Just like you’re where you belong, Mate.”
“This popcorn is delicious,” Suzie mumbled as she cupped another handful of the snack in her hand and brought it to her mouth to eat it.
She looked at both men as they sat beside her on the couch and blushed at the way they were both looking at her with distinctly amused expressions on their faces. She lowered her hand to her lap, wiping it quickly on the hand towel Carter had brought her.
“Am I making a pig of myself?” she asked softly, suddenly embarrassed.
“Of course not!” Drew assured her instantly.
“Then why are you both looking at me?”
“Because we never thought we would ever do anything so mundane with you, baby,” Carter told her, his grin wide. “Sometimes when I thought about having you back in our lives I thought about loving you or having children with you, but I never thought about the little things that we could share—like watching a movie together and popping popcorn.”
Suzie smiled at him and reached out to touch his cheek gently, rubbing her thumb across his whiskers. “So what do you think about times like this?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I love it,” Carter answered without hesitation. “Every moment we’re together makes me love you more. We could be doing laundry or cleaning the bathrooms, and I would count each moment as a blessing that we’re together.”
“I vote Carter does the laundry and cleans the bathrooms for the rest of the month,” Suzie said quickly, raising her hand to vote.
Drew’s bark of laughter filled the room. He raised his hand to add his vote to Suzie’s, laughing harder as Carter looked at him with disgust.
Carter returned his gaze to Suzie and melted at the pure enjoyment on her face. Her sweet laughter was a balm to his tired soul, and he couldn’t hold on to his irritation.
“I think you both are brutal,” he told them firmly. “See if I open up and tell you how I feel again.”
“Oh, my Carter,” Suzie told him softly, pulling herself off the couch and turning so that she was kneeling on the floor in front of him, easing her body between his legs. She lay down on his right leg, rubbing her face against his massive thigh as she reached up and rested her hands on his waist.
She rubbed her thumbs soothingly across the waistband of his black sweatpants to arch up onto the warm skin of his upper torso. She was so glad both men had decided to watch the movie with her with only their sweats on. It was much easier to touch their skin as often as she needed to.
“I wasn’t making fun of you. I promise,” she told him, rubbing her cheek against his thigh, needing to comfort him as well as herself. “I was just enjoying you.” She sat up and leaned toward him, her eyes clear as she faced him. “I lov
e you, my Carter. And I enjoy every moment I’m with you, too.”
She looked at him calmly, her eyes shining bright with the love she felt for him. Without being aware of doing it, complete love and adoration was pushed from her soul and raced through Carter’s body.
“Do you understand how much you mean to me?” she asked him, wanting to make sure that he would never doubt her feelings for him.
He reached up and palmed her face gently between his large hands. “I can feel what you’re feeling, Suzie,” he whispered. “Thank you for loving me so deeply.”
“My pleasure,” she told him, winking.
Carter’s wicked smile made her happy. She leaned forward and kissed him gently, sighing against his lips as he pulled her toward him and took control without hesitation.
“By the Fates, I love you so much, Suzie Q!” he told her as he pulled back and looked down at her with undying love in his eyes.
He pulled her against his body and wrapped his arms around her as she laid her head gently on his chest. He smiled as she rubbed her face against his chest hair, growling softly as she covered herself in his scent. He would never get enough of this woman.
Suzie breathed in deeply as she lay against Carter’s chest. She looked up to see Drew watching her with the most peaceful expression on his face. She reached out and smiled as he took her hand in his at once.
“My Drew, I love you,” she whispered softly.
“And I love you, Mate,” he answered tenderly.
She leaned into Carter’s chest, kissing the four scars that covered his torso. She felt the way he tensed under her lips and knew he was self-conscious of them.
She turned to Drew and saw that he was watching her very seriously. She leaned over and kissed the scar on his right side that was the result of the silver knife that Randall’s enforcer had stabbed him with when he and Carter had tried to come and save her. She rubbed her face against his chest, gathering his scent and smiling with satisfaction.
“I can feel how you both are uncomfortable about your scars,” she told them quietly, sitting back on her feet as she knelt before them.
Susannah's Saviors [Beckett's Wolf Pack, Triad Mates 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 25