by Blue Saffire
“I go through a hell of a lot to come to see my family as it is. If I tell the family about them, they are not going to want to stay away and that can bring unwanted attention. I just need a little more time. Kwäzē seems like he is coming around and he promised he would talk to his family, but I don’t trust anyone right now. He could just be trying to help his family find her.”
“Wow, Toby. This is just …wow. I mean I understand, I think, but I also know how much this is going to hurt your brothers and your mom and dad. They’re going to feel like you didn’t trust them,” I think out loud.
“Yeah, I thought of that, but I have to make sure my family is safe above everything else. I am only telling you because it is getting harder for us. I trust you more than most. If I tell one brother, then the others will be pissed at me. You’re Wyatt’s wife. I think he will forgive me faster if he knows I told you at least,” Toby shrugs and gives me a pleading smile.
“Oh hell Toby, you just put me in a really bad position with your brother. He is going to kill me,” I whine.
Toby rolls his eyes. “He won’t stay mad at you for long,” he snorts. “All you have to do is bat those lashes and you will be off the hook.”
“Crap Toby,” I hiss. I realize I have risen my voice as TJ stirs and his little eyes blink open.
I suck in a breath as his eyes clear and focus on me. He has the Black Brothers’ golden eyes. Other than Kamara’s slanted eyes he could be a warm brown version of Wyatt or any of the other brothers, with his soft copper brown curly hair.
How did I miss the hair? That should have been my first clue when he opened the door. Lulu’s soft curls are a light copper brown, not as light as Toby’s copper blonde hair, but not far from it. The two are just stunning.
I feel a ping in my chest as I think of the glow in Wyatt’s eyes when he talks about having a baby. I don’t even realize that I have stood and picked up my purse until I see the panic in Toby’s face. TJ is looking up at me curiously when I smile at him, a bright smile stretches across his face and takes my breath away. I need to get home to my husband.
I never knew until this moment how much I want a baby of my own. I should have kept my nose out of this and gone home to talk to my husband about having our own kids. Guilt sets in heavy and I feel my feet starting to move.
“Nellie wait,” Toby says jumping up still holding Lulu in his arms. “If you won’t help us I understand, but I beg you not to put my family in harm’s way by telling anyone.”
I blink and it dawns on me that I have forgotten that Toby said they need help. My brain is just focused on getting home to Wyatt. I shake my head to clear it.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to freak you out. I’ll keep your secret and I will help as much as I can. I don’t like lying to Wyatt, but I understand you guys are up against a lot. Thank you for trusting me. I know this must be hard on both of you,” I reassure them.
“Thank you, Nellie. I told Toby you would be the one we can trust. You were always so nice to me when the others made my transition here so much harder,” Kamara says as her eyes fill with tears. “Toby is the only family I have left, other than our children. I don’t want to be apart from him.”
I nod and turn back to hug her. TJ catches my glasses and pulls them from my face. I laugh and pry them from his tiny fingers. He is so adorable as he looks up at me with big golden eyes. My heart squeezes again at the thought of a baby of my own staring at me through similar eyes.
I place a kiss on his chubby cheek and he coos. “Auntie Nellie will see you again really soon,” I coo back.
“Thanks, Nel,” Toby chokes out and I know he is feeling emotional with everything happening right now.
I know the Black family. Family is very important to them. This has to be eating him up. Joe and Cassidy are going to skin his hide over this. I just hope everyone is not too mad at me when they find out I know. I sigh before hugging Toby and kissing Lulu’s sleeping chubby cheek. I shake my head when I look at her sleeping face and notice the Black traits all over her face even without seeing her eyes.
I really wish I would have kept my nose to myself. Why didn’t I mind my own business? Now there are two of us that will be keeping something from Wyatt and stressing him out. Ugh!
“Sorry Wy,” I whisper when I am alone in my car. I am starting to feel like I have to give prayerful apologies for my friends and me too often where Wyatt is concerned.
Chapter Thirty Five
Wyatt
I have waited weeks to tell Nellie that I will be leaving for four months and a part of me wishes I hadn’t. She is keeping something big from me. She has been for about a month now.
Something else I have noticed is that she and Toby have become like peas in a pod. At first, it was just the two of them then Bean joined the crew. I know since Bean quit working at the bar and came on full time at the firm she and Nellie have been joined at the hip, but for the last week, those three are up to something.
If I weren’t so guilty about this assignment, I would have gotten all in Nellie’s ass about keeping secrets from me. We tell each other everything, well usually we do. It sucks that we both feel we need to hide something and that has been putting me in a mood.
“Nellie,” I growl as I walk out of the conference room from meeting with Dad, Noah, and Rob. We leave in two days and my skin is itching because one, I didn’t tell my wife yet, two, I have a bad feeling about leaving and three, my dad doesn’t seem to understand that I don’t think it is a good idea for me to go.
Nellie’s head pops up from the conversation she is having with Toby. The smile falls from her face as I narrow my eyes at the two of them. I could handle my little brother being weird and hiding things. He is a grown ass man. As long as he is not in danger he is entitled to wanting to have a private life.
However, that shit should not have my wife getting weird on me. I know they were good friends when they were younger, but this shit has been pissing me off. I stalk over to her desk like a raging bull.
“Wyatt, what’s wrong,” she says softly.
When she bounces up from her seat, my brain goes blank for a moment. Her tits jiggle beneath her t-shirt, causing my cock to stir in my pants. Shit, am I crazy or have they gotten bigger. I blink and wrap my arms around her waist forgetting how pissed off I was a minute ago.
I can’t hold off any longer. We need to talk. All this pent up frustration is not all her fault. I have a lot to do with it and I have been hiding this for longer than she has been hiding her secret. It’s my fault for treating her like glass. Nellie is so much stronger than I give her credit for. It’s just I want to be the one to always protect her. Her hands should never get dirty with anything.
“We need to talk,” I say against her lips.
Her nose wrinkles and her brows compress. I can see the worry in her eyes. I’m not sure if it is because she thinks something is wrong or if she thinks I have figured her secret out. I push the thought aside. Maybe my wife can read me as well as I can read her and she knows I have been keeping all this from her. Maybe she is paying me back by driving me crazy.
“Okay,” she says softly, taking my hand when I hold it out for her.
I turn and narrow my eyes at Toby, but that little fucker just winks at me. I should have kicked his ass two years ago. Our talk is long overdue, but that one is going to happen as soon as I get back from this assignment. I’m going to beat his ass until he starts talking. It’s our way and I have been too lax lately.
If you ask me, all my brothers could use a knock upside the head right now, but Toby’s ass is first on my list. I shake the thought off as Nellie moves ahead of me into my office. Again I have to blink a few times. Her curves look fuller than usual in her jeans.
Shit, when I think about it, her ass had more bounce on my cock this morning in the shower. That shit was sexy as fuck. I feel like a fucking perv right now. I need to talk to my wife and all I can think about is pinning her to the nearest wall to explore her body. We’ve
been eating out more lately and Noah hasn’t been pushing her as hard in the gym I noticed.
Maybe she’s just putting on a little weight. I like it. I shake my head and come back to what I need to tell my wife. Nellie perches her plump ass on the edge of my desk and I walk over to stand between her legs.
“Baby, before you get pissed off at me I want you to know I tried my best to get out of this. I haven’t said anything because I thought I could,” I start as I tilt her head back and look into her eyes.
“Okay you are scaring me,” she replies searching my eyes.
“You don’t have to be scared. This mission will be perfectly safe. It’s just a really long one,” I say and twist my lips as I watch her face.
Her eyes grow wide and she groans. “I knew it. I knew he was going to ask you to go on the Roxy assignment with Noah. That’s why you have been acting so weird,” Nellie narrows her eyes at me and I sigh. So she did know.
“I won’t be off the grid, but it is a long as fuck assignment. I’m going to miss you like crazy,” I say and run my fingers over her cheek.
“If it’s not dangerous I can come with you,” she says with a sweet smile. I narrow my eyes at her this time. This may not be dangerous for me, but I sure as hell am not taking her along. Things can always go wrong on this type of assignment. I won’t worry her by saying that, but she is not coming along.
“No,” I say with finality.
Her little smile falls and she pouts at me. I swear that pout gets her into so much trouble every time. I lean over her and capture her sexy lips. I’ll never get enough of kissing her.
“Wy,” she pulls away panting. “Stop trying to distract me. You are telling me this is nothing but you won’t let me come with you. That means there is some danger in it all.”
“It means I know how to do my job and I don’t like the idea of my wife being in the middle of something she has no business involved in,” I sigh.
“Fine,” she pouts again. I groan and pull her hips closer to me. “When do you leave?”
“In a few days, you have plenty of time to come clean about whatever you and Toby have been up to,” I say with a sly smile.
She snorts. “I think not. You kept this from me for months,” she gives me a pointed glare. “Just know that you should give your brother some slack. He is doing what he has to.”
“What is that supposed to mean,” I scoff and glare back at her.
“Wyatt, Babe, do you trust me?” she is giving me that sweet sexy smile of hers’ and she knows it fries my brain.
I nip her lips. “Yes, I trust you,” I say as I move my mouth to her neck.
“Then leave Toby alone for now. Everything is going to work out,” Nellie chirps happily.
I pull away and stare into her eyes. She pulls her glasses from her face and pulls the band from her hair. When she shakes it out while biting her lip, I am rock hard and Toby is forgotten.
I move to lock the door and turn back to her. “You are going to have to be quiet this time,” I say as I pounce.
Chapter Thirty Six
Nellie
Crap, crap, crap. I think as I stab angrily at my waffles. Things like this only happen to me. With the shot, my periods have always been irregular. When I missed the first one, I didn’t think much of it. Sure Wyatt and I have been trying for a baby, but it wasn’t the first time I had missed a cycle since I stopped the shot.
That was what was so frustrating in the beginning, but this time, I just felt different. I noticed little things right before Wyatt left. Like my jeans becoming a little snug. I thought it was from all the takeout we were eating. I had been sneaking off to spend time with Kamara and the twins and helping out where I could.
TJ gets sick a lot. It makes things hard with Kamara needing to be in hiding. Christ, the things Toby goes through to hide his family. I am exhausted most times when I follow the routine he mapped out for me to follow.
So far no one in the family has found out, but I felt really bad when Bean figured it out. It couldn’t be helped. Toby was out of town and Kamara needed to get TJ to the doctor. Bean was in the car with me returning to work from lunch. Kamara was in tears and I didn’t know what else to do.
Toby took it well, but he made Bean swear not to tell Noah. I think Toby was relieved to have at least one more person he could count on. Thank God TJ has been doing better in the last month or so. I haven’t been as much help.
Wyatt has been gone for two months and I have been sick every morning since he left. So now I have two secrets I am keeping from my husband, which only puts my stomach in more knots. If he would have known this before he left, he never would have gone. I know it. Crap, crap, crap.
A knife and fork clattering to a plate pulls me from my reverie. They are followed by a sharp gasp. “You’re pregnant,” Cassidy exclaims.
My head pops up, my eyes wide as they connect with hers. I look around the table to see everyone is staring at me. I drop my fork and clutch my t-shirt over my stomach.
I nod and Cassidy squeals in delight. “Have you told Wyatt,” she sings.
I shake my head. “No,” I whisper. “I didn’t know until after he left.
“He is going to be so excited. When are you going to tell him?” Her face is red with joy. I know I should be just as happy, but I am three months pregnant and Wyatt is not going to be able to focus if I tell him. His safety is more important right now.
“I can’t tell him,” I shake my head. “He needs to focus on work. He’ll bail and come straight home if I tell him.”
“She’s right Ma,” Johnathan says watching me.
Joe heaves a sigh. “Shit, the boy is going to ream me for this. He tried to tell me he had a feeling he shouldn’t go. Nel and John are right, Cass. They could blow the whole operation if they leave now, and trust me the moment he knows he is leaving.”
“But don’t the two of you skype or facetime or something every day, how are you going to keep this from him for another two months? I’m surprised he hasn’t figured it out yet. I mean look at your tits, Nellie,” Cassidy points to my top.
I can’t help but laugh. My mother in law is a hot mess. She is right though they have gotten huge. I’ve had to get creative when Wyatt calls.
“I wear his dress shirts when he calls. I told him I wear them because I miss him. I figured if I started wearing them now he wouldn’t notice,” I say and wrinkle my nose.
Joe and Cassidy roar with laughter. Johnathan shakes his head and smirks at me. Felix, Braxton, and Ryan seem to still be in shock. Toby sits quietly smiling, he already knew. He and Kamara have been as much help to me as I have been to them when I need. I look at Bean and she looks like she is trying to blend into the wall. Of course, she knew too.
Braxton is the first to break out of the trance. “I’m going to be an Uncle? Wow, he told us he wanted to be a dad, but …wow,” Braxton draws a hand down his face, his eyes fixed on my belly. “Wow.”
“We all know when he wants something he goes for it. Balls out, no regrets,” Ryan says with a smile.
“My first nephew,” Braxton beams. I wince at his words and look over to Toby. “This shit is going to be so cool.”
Toby’s smile fades a little and a distant look crosses his face. I know what he is thinking. I had joined him to talk to Kwäzē a few days ago. He seemed to be sincere in just wanting to see his sister safe. I hope things can be resolved soon. It is taking its toll on everyone.
“Well let me be the first to say what no one else has,” Felix says pulling my attention back to everyone else. “Congratulations.”
Everyone gets up to give me hugs and rub the little bump that just started to form within the last week. I feel a little better knowing I’m not the only one that thinks I should be holding this secret. I feel like a can breathe a little better.
That is until Cassidy hugs me. “I still think he is going to be pissed as a tart at a women’s convention, but you’ll smooth that over when the time comes,” she winks at
me.
I burst into laughter and breakfast goes back to normal. Just another Sunday with the Blacks, two more months to go and Wy will be home. I can do this.
~B~
Wyatt
“You’re so beautiful. Damn, I miss you,” I say into the tablet as I look at my wife’s sweet face.
She looks tired but still sexy as fuck. Her curls are spilling over her pillow. Her lips look extra puffy and she is in one of my shirts again. I don’t know if that is truly the sexiest thing I have ever seen or if I am just horny as hell. Honestly, it is both.
It has been two months without her and I need her something bad. I can’t believe I let my father talk me into taking this assignment. I have to be away from my wife for another two months.
I have thought about flying her in a few times and going over a town or two to spend time with her, but that is just me being selfish. I’m glad I didn’t this has turned into a little more work than we thought about a week ago. If things keep going this way, we may need to call in, at least, one more brother.
“I miss you too,” she says with a shy smile.
I would love to kiss her right now. I’m exhausted, horny, and frustrated. “Baby, will you do me a favor,” I ask as sexily as I can.
Her smile grows and she lifts a brow. “What do you need,” she asks.
I bite my lip knowing Nellie may not be game. She is still shy about so much. It is better when I am there to guide her. I mentally shrug thinking, what the hell, go for it.
“First, can you move the camera so I can see your tits,” I lift a brow back at her as I reach to squeeze my stiff cock.
She laughs nervously, “Really Wyatt?”
“Yeah, Baby. I miss you so much. Help me out here,” I whisper.
“Wyatt, I don’t think I can fit a better view on this camera,” she says quickly. “What if I play with myself and you watch my face. I can be vocal.”
I don’t know what turns me on more. The suggestion she is making or the shy way she makes it. My hand is already in my briefs tugging. Heck, I wasn’t expecting her to agree to this much.