by L. A. Casey
Tears spilled over the brims of my eyes and streamed down my cheeks like a collapsed dam.
“Love, no,” she pleaded. “Please, don’t cry. Please.”
She leaned up and kissed away my tears, pressing her lips all over my face, landing lastly on my lips.
“I love you,” she said, pressing chaste kisses to my mouth. “I love you; I love you; I love you.”
My forehead fell against hers, my hands dropped to her waist, and I hugged her body to mine so tightly.
“Alannah,” I rasped, my voice tight. “I’ve loved you since we were kids.”
A sob tore free of her throat.
“Me too, I just didn’t realise it.” she said. “God, I love ye’ so much it terrifies me, Damien.”
“Don’t be scared,” I said. “I’ve got you. For as long as you’ll have me, I’ve got you.”
“How does forever sound?”
I squeezed her. “It’s sound fucking heavenly, freckles.”
“Everything about ye’, Jack Frost,” she said, “is mine.”
“Jack Frost?”
“You’ve just been upgraded from snowflake. Congratulations.”
I smiled. “I’m yours, Lana. Only yours.”
Only. Mine.
“I’ve never looked forward to the future as much in me life,” she declared. “You’re movin’ in with me, and we’re havin’ sex every single day at least three times. I want to have babies, five of them, ten of them. I don’t care how many. I just want babies with ye’. I want to get married, but ye’ hafta ask me da first, otherwise he’ll kill ye’. When I want ye’, I’m havin’ ye’, and I don’t want to hear a feckin’ peep outta ye’ on the matter. Are ye’ clear on all of that?”
I leaned down and pressed my forehead against hers.
“Yes. Fucking. Ma’am.”
When we kissed, it was to the cheers, hooting, clapping, and laughter of our friends, our family. We may as well have been kissing to fireworks at midnight on New Year’s Eve because it was just as sweet, just as tender, and just as perfectly perfect as a moment could be. It was the start of a beautiful forever.
“Endgame, freckles?”
“Yeah, Jack Frost.” She smiled, rubbing the tip of her nose against mine. “We’re definitely endgame.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Present day ...
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I opened my eyes as immense pleasure pulsed between my thighs, pulling me into consciousness. I sucked in a breath when I lifted my head and locked eyes on my wife as she bobbed her head over me, my cock sliding in and out of her hot, wicked mouth. My lips parted as I reached for her and buried my hands in her thick black hair. I leaned my head back against my pillow and tried my hardest not to moan out loud.
“Christ, baby.” I breathed. “Fuck.”
Alannah sucked my cock harder, faster, and without warning, pressure built in my balls and deflated as I came. Bliss spread out and covered every inch of my body. Alannah hummed around the head as she milked me dry. My muscles became lax, my breathing remained laboured, and my heart slammed into my chest.
“It’s time to wake up,” Alannah said. “We napped for over an hour.”
I couldn’t move. “Give me a minute.”
My wife giggled as she righted my boxers and pants, then returned to her spot next to me.
“I haven’t done that in a while,” she said. “I love the look on your face when ye’ wake up and realise that I’m suckin’ ye’.”
“Let me return the favour,” I said, reaching for her.
She laughed and shook her head. “I can hear the boys downstairs arguin’, so we have to go and parent them. We can have some fun tonight.”
“I’m holding you to that,” I said and tugged her towards me. “Give me a kiss.”
She granted my request, and when I tasted myself on her tongue, I hummed.
“I can’t wait to have you.”
“I know.” Alannah smiled against my lips. “You’re obsessed with me.”
“Always have been, and always will be. There is a reason you’re wearing my ring.”
She raised her head and brushed her lips against my nose.
“You’ve made me happier than I could have ever imagined,” she said. “Wakin’ up with ye’ everyday and tacklin’ our horde together ... ye’ve no idea how much that means to me. I’m still so in love with ye’, Jack Frost.”
I lifted my hands to Alannah’s face, and said, “I’ll always be madly in love with you, freckles. My life didn’t begin until I met you.”
My wife smiled and kissed me. We separated when my phone rang in my pocket. I took it out and answered it when I saw it was Dominic calling.
“Do you want to hit up a bar or ten with me?”
I winced. “What did you do?”
“Why do you automatically assume I did something?”
“Because I know you.”
Dominic sighed. “Shit has hit the fan, and it’s got nothing to do with me and Bronagh.”
I sucked in a breath. “The kids?”
“Georgie,” he said, defeated. “She has a boyfriend, and Bronagh won’t let me kill him. He’s Gavin’s boy.”
“Fuck.” I cringed. “Fuck everything. I’m on my way.”
I disconnected the call, looked at my wife, and said, “Georgie has a boyfriend, and he’s a Collins.”
Alannah widened her eyes. “Jesus Christ, go deal with ‘im before he kills the lad.”
I kissed my wife hard on the mouth, jumped up, pulled my sneakers and sweater on, then ran out of the room, and down the stairs. With one shout for my kids to behave, I grabbed my jacket, keys, and wallet, then I was out the door. I reached Dominic’s house in ten minutes flat.
“Are you okay?” I asked when he slid into my car.
He shook his head. “I will be tomorrow, but right now, I’m heartbroken.”
“I’m heartbroken, so I can only imagine how you feel.”
“Tonight my eyes were opened to Georgie being a young woman and not a little girl anymore. The thought of some excited little boy near her makes me murderous.”
“I’m itching to break the kid’s hands and his dick. You aren’t alone, brother.”
Dominic grunted. “Nothing short of his death will please me.”
“He’s a Collins kid, too?”
I didn’t see them often, and if I did, they blended in with my nephews.
I nodded. “Gavin’s boy ... You want to know the kicker?”
I bobbed my head.
“Indie is the picture of Gav.”
“He is a good-looking bastard.”
“Don’t I fucking know it!” Dominic balled his hands to fists. “I almost lost Bronagh to him once upon a time, and now I’m losing my baby to not only his blood, but his lookalike? Fuck. I want to kill him. I don’t even care that he’s a child.”
I snorted. “You’ll be hell bound for killing him.”
“I’ll explain at the gates. Don’t worry about me, I always get what I want.”
I grinned. “A certain Murphy sister is a prime example.”
A smile stretched across his face. “Can you believe I married my high school sweetheart?”
“No, considering I called dibs on her first. I’m still pissed you messed with bro code for a chick.”
Dominic laughed. “What do you think Alannah would do to you if she found out that you wanted to take Bronagh for a round of mattress dancing when we first met her?”
I shivered.
“Don’t ever tell her.” I winced. “She wouldn’t have given me five sons if she knew, that’s for damn sure.”
“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.” He laughed. “I’ll take it to my grave.”
I smiled as he pulled away from the curb and drove towards our local pub. When we got there, we settled inside an empty booth, and I ordered a pint of cider, Dominic did too. He stared at the table, then looked at me when I clapped my hand on his shoulder.
“We’ll get
you through this, buddy.”
He nodded. “I’ll be good tomorrow. I’ll take one on the chin ... but now ...”
“You just want to be sad that your baby girl isn’t a baby anymore?”
He leaned his head on his forearm. “Call the others ... I need their bullshit right now.”
“I’m on it.” I chuckled, then he added, “You might regret this by the end of the night.”
I spend a few minutes calling my brothers, and both Dominic and I had drained our pint glasses by the time the three of them got there.
“Okay,” Alec said, as they took their seats around our table. “Who is okay with going to prison for murdering a child?”
Every one of us raised our hands.
“Fantastic,” Alec continued. “Now we just need to fairly pick who gets the pleasure of sending this little asshole on to be with Jesus.”
Dominic sighed. “Bronagh would know it was one of us, and she would kick my ass.”
Alec considered this, and said, “We’ll just have to accept you as a casualty. Every war has them.”
I laughed and shook my head. “How does she have a boyfriend? I don’t understand. She’s fifteen.”
“We had sex a hell of a lot of times by fifteen,” Dominic reminded me. “That’s why I’m so torn up. I don’t want her having sex. It makes me sick.”
“Me too,” Kane said. “It’s not right. She’s the only girl of all our kids. She has twenty-four males looking out for her ... This little fucker should have been terrified to look her way.”
“Maybe he thought being your kids’ cousin gave him a pass.”
“Yeah,” Alec butted in. “This is all Aideen’s fault with her stupid family.”
I laughed again, and this time, the others joined me. I got a round of drinks in, and halfway through those pints, we still couldn’t wrap our heads around what was happening.
“Someone tell me something shitty about their kids so this doesn’t seem so awful, please.”
Kane groaned. “I’ve got a fucking kicker.”
“Jax mentioned that you’d have something to tell me earlier.”
“I fucking do,” Kane grunted. “Me and Ado got home from shopping earlier, and we heard a noise coming from one of the kids’ bedroom. Everyone was supposed to be out, so I assumed it was an intruder, but it turns out Jax was just getting it on with some girl.”
“Get the fuck outta here!” Ryder stated. “For real?”
“For real.” Kane shook his head. “We showed up before he could finish, thank God. Aideen was all kinds of upset, but we’ve talked about it, and he is aware of the dangers of sex past a pregnancy.”
“Man.” Alec whistled. “That’s rough.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I don’t have anything kid related, but I did save my wife from a man-eating spider that died, came back to life, then died again because I squashed the shit out of it.”
We all looked at Alec and laughed. He shrugged his shoulders and grinned.
“I’ve something kid related,” Ryder chimed in. “I came home today from the boys’ soccer game to find Branna throwing water on Nixon and Jules in an attempt to stop them from beating the shit out of one another on the kitchen floor. They stopped when I shouted, and it turns out it was over a girl. Jules has a girlfriend who kissed Nixon because she thought he was Jules, and Jules overreacted before Nixon could explain. It all ended in apologies, but fuck, this is only the beginning. I know it.”
I shook my head. “That’s a doozy.”
Dominic looked at me. “Do you have a kid related story?”
“Yeah, but it’s nothing bad. I got to the bottom of why Kailen has been so out of character these past few months, and it turns out he’s bisexual and has a boyfriend who Leland absolutely hates.”
Alec focused on me. “Did he tell you that—”
“That you know? Yeah, he did.”
My brothers looked back and forth between us silently.
“Are you mad?” he asked.
“No,” I answered. “I get it. He felt comfortable talking to you about it ‘cause you’re bi too. I understand that you had to respect his decision on when to tell people. I’m just glad he could turn to you. I feel like crap that he felt scared to tell me.”
“He knew deep down you wouldn’t care. It’s just the initial fear that stopped him.”
“I know.” I nodded. “He told his brothers at dinner, so all of your kids will be next. He’s worried they won’t accept him.”
“What?” Kane blinked. “Our kids love each other. If anything, they’ll protect Kailen just because they’ll know other people can be assholes about non-straight people.”
“I know.” I smiled. “I’m not worried.”
“Funnily enough,” Dominic chimed in. “I’m not worried about Georgie either, I trust her.”
“It still sucks,” Alec said. “Thank God in heaven she was the only girl. I couldn’t go through this more than once.”
“Amen,” we all agreed, then laughed.
We talked about anything and everything then, our stories cracking each other up, our teasing going one step too far when Alec threatened to sleep with all our wives ... once he got Keela’s permission, of course, to adding new chapters to Dominic’s Man Bible. We simply talked and enjoyed each other’s company just as we always had. We had a bond that no one could sever, and those who tried over the years only made the bond stronger. We all came from a dark past, but each of us had bright futures and we all knew it.
“A toast,” Ryder announced. “To our wives.”
“To our kids,” Kane added.
“To our health,” Dominic said.
I smiled. “To our happiness.”
“To sex,” Alec shouted. “And to Manchester United!”
We laughed as we all raised our glasses and together, we toasted to the most important thing in our crazy, blessed lives.
Family.
Acknowledgments
This is the first time I’ve cried while writing the acknowledgments to a book. Not sniffling, or whimpering either, I am currently sobbing like a baby. BROTHERS isn’t just any book, and deep down I know that. This is the final main book in my Slater Brothers series, a series that has completely changed my life.
The series is, as of right now, officially complete. I have THE MAN BIBLE to release in December 2018, but BROTHERS is the last story for our Slater brothers. I honestly never thought I would see this day. It took me four years to get the eleven books in the series written and published. It took me countless days of tears, endless laughter, self-doubt, fear, stress, and worry to get to this point, and you know what? I wouldn’t change it for the world. Not a single second of it.
To my daughter, my sister, and my family, thank you for the support you’ve given me since the second I told you I wrote DOMINIC. If I didn’t have you guys in my corner, I don’t think I’d be writing these words. You have truly made the difference by not only being interested in the words I write, but for supporting me while I write them.
Mark Gottlieb, thank you for being a kickass agent, and having my back. You found me through KANE, so I have this series to thank for our paths crossing. You’re awesome. Thank you for all you do for me.
Mayhem Cover Creations, thank you for giving me a series full of covers that reflect my beautiful characters, and their stories, perfectly.
Editing4Indies, thank you for all the hard work and endless hours of scanning through many pages and reading hundreds of thousands of words. You’re fabulous, Jenny.
My best friends, Yessi and Mary, you ladies are more than just my friends, you are part of my family. From our venting, to our rants, to our uber weird TMI discussions, to our one liners. I love our friendship, and I love you both more.
My readers, you guys are the reason I am able to write these words. From the second DOMINIC released, to now, you have had my back, and encouraged me to write on days when I didn’t want to. I love your love for my lads, their la
dies, and their babies. This series isn’t just mine, and it hasn’t been for a long time, it’s ours, and I’ve never been happier to share something so important to me in my life.
Look out for our beloved Slater couples in the upcoming Collins Brothers series and the Slater Legacy series. I’m so glad I have those spin off series’ to continue on with this world, because I would honest to God miss the families I have created. I’ve said this many times before, and I’ll say it again, you guys make my world spin.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you <3
About the Author
L.A. Casey is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author who juggles her time between her mini-me and writing. She was born, raised and currently resides in Dublin, Ireland. She enjoys chatting with her readers, who love her humour and Irish accent as much as her books.
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Casey's first book, DOMINIC, was independently published in 2014 and became an instant success on Amazon. She is both traditionally and independently published and is represented by Mark Gottlieb from Trident Media Group.
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To read more about this author, visit her website at www.lacaseyauthor.com