She was moaning as they collapsed. Somehow, Briggs managed to pull her into his arms. She was resting against him, wrapped in the comfort of his body, as she slowly came back to consciousness.
Bliss. Briggs’s chest and strong arms. Chase breathing roughly with his face buried into her back and his arm wrapped around her waist. Gio curled up below, hugging her legs to his chest.
They were all panting, rough breaths slowly finding even footing.
She loved it. She loved them. This was exactly what she wanted.
Chase’s hand stroked over her belly, and she smiled. She knew he was checking the growth of her pregnancy, assessing. But it didn’t bother her anymore, knowing that he believed her, trusted her. She’d be happy now for his caring concern. When she put her hand over his, he gave her a squeeze. He’d be aware, as she was, that soon her body wouldn’t accommodate such wild lovemaking. There would be both pleasure and regret as their babies grew.
But in the meantime…Briggs lifted his head and smiled into her eyes. He pulled her up so she covered his body. His hard cock rutted into her round belly. He tugged her a little further so his cock could find its way to her pussy. He gave a little groan that signified his satisfaction.
He got a lot of satisfaction. They all did.
Epilogue
Three Years Later
Chase grinned, rocking gently in the glider on the back deck of the farmhouse. They were celebrating Maisy’s tenth birthday and the sun was setting, casting a soft glow on the tail end of the party.
Maisy was helping Evvie wrap one more slab of cake to send home with the last of the Victorys. Charlene and Ted had their kids—four of them now—corralled and nearly out the gate.
Briggs and Gio were playing a little two-and-a-half-year-old soccer with the triplets, working off their sugar highs with the hope that they’d all have a chance for sleep that night. Skyla was already down for the count, curled up on the grass with her blankie and Fluffy. But the boys were tougher and still on their feet.
It was time for Evvie to be off hers. She was pregnant again, this time with twins. She’d given birth to the triplets at the medical center. As Chase had hovered over her, she’d been entirely compliant with her high-risk care, knowing how honestly worried he was. The only exception was when she’d insisted on labor and vaginal births rather than a C-section. She’d assured Chase there would be no problems, and she’d been right. But her hours of labor had been hell for him, even while she was in the hands of the best high-risk ob docs.
She was trying to soften him up about having the twins at home, and he figured she was probably going to win that one. It was hard, knowing what he knew about risks and still trying to respect the confidence and trust she had in her body.
Just like a woman, she turned to clean up the moment the last of the guests were gone.
“Come here, Ev. Briggs and I will take care of that later.” Gio and Preston were flying to Italy in the morning, trying to make a deal for some special vines they wanted. Chase figured Evvie would spend the night with Gio, so he and Briggs would have time for cleanup.
She looked up from the food table and smiled. He held out a hand, and she walked to him while Maisy ran over to join the soccer deal.
He settled Evvie along the length of the glider and took her feet into his lap. He rubbed them, eliciting soft moans from her, and enjoyed the view. His favorite—his woman’s lush body, a yard full of dog and kids and friends.
Gio held Lucas’s hand as the toddler took a too-big swing at the ball. The kid had those charming dimples from birth, so he was a Diorio. Jakey had Chase’s blond curls, so they’d given him Gregory as a last name. Skyla was a Henriksen. She’d been born with Evvie’s straight black hair, but luck was on their side and those gray eyes she’d had at birth had turned bright green to exactly match Briggs’s.
Each of the trips had Charles as a middle name. Evvie kept her own last name—during the three years she was technically married to Gio, and now, when she was Chase’s wife. Chase had grumbled a bit about that, as had Gio before him. But he had to admit it made the most sense, what with her professional role and the fact that Maisy had decided to stick with Charles, too. Maise said she didn’t want to go changing her name every time one of the guys convinced her mother to add a band to her finger.
Evvie was working less now, though, and Chase was happy about that. She’d resigned from her job and did editing for only two clients—Briggs Henriksen and Maisy Charles. She had three men to take care of, and four kids, and two fetuses. She was busy enough.
What with his best-selling books and his blockbuster trilogy of movies, Briggs was almost too big to tolerate. But he paid a lot of attention to Maisy and the children’s books they wrote together, like they were the most important things he did. And he hung around the farmhouse in jeans and tees like he was the regular guy they all knew and loved, so that was working out okay, too.
Fluffy left Skyla’s side to help Luke with the ball. Pretty soon Luke tumbled, and then Jake piled on, too. Then it was a free-for-all, and everybody was rolling on the ground laughing. Chase didn’t think he and Evvie would be missed.
So, before it was too late, before she dozed off against his chest and he would feel too guilty to wake her, he stood and lifted her into his arms. He’d let Gio have her for the night. That didn’t mean he couldn’t have a little of his own time with her before then.
He carried her into the house. When he used his foot to push the door closed behind them, he saw Briggs watching. He wasn’t so occupied with the kids that he didn’t see what was happening with his woman.
Chase figured he and Evvie would have company soon.
That would leave Gio to put the kids down on his own.
Tough luck, dude. Small price to pay for a night alone with Evangeline.
THE END
WWW.RACHELBILLINGSNY.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rachel Billings has three children, though she gave birth to them the hard way—one at a time. At home. She lives in Western New York with her husband, a scientist who practices Chi Gong. She writes pretty much whenever she’s not working or sleeping. And when she’s doing none of those things, you can probably find her in the garden.
For all titles by Rachel Billings, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/rachel-billings
Siren Publishing, Inc.
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Three Men and a Woman: Evangeline (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 24