“No! No, no, no!” Arsen’s hands grip the wheel. “Shit!”
He hits the ‘On’ star button. A friendly woman’s voice asks, “Hello, Mr. Sloan. How can I help you this evening?”
“My wife is having a baby and I’m on the 101. Is there a hospital anywhere near my location?”
“The nearest hospital is thirteen point seven miles away. With the traffic in your area, your ETA is twenty minutes,” she says.
He looks at me and I shake my head as another contraction hits me. Through gritted teeth I say, “I don’t have that long.”
The nice lady tells us, “Take the next exit. There is a convenient store where you can pull into the parking lot. I will alert 911 of the emergency and your location. I’m connecting you to emergency services to talk you through the delivery, Mr. Sloan. Good luck, Mrs. Sloan. And congratulations to you both.”
“Thank you,” we both say.
Another pain hits me as he takes the exit and I notice his knuckles are white as they grip the steering wheel.
“It’ll be okay,” I tell him. “At least, you’ve seen this done twice before.”
“I never really paid attention to what the hell was going on down there. I was always so focused on you and keeping you calm. Shit! Why didn’t I ever pay attention to all that? Crap! Fuck me, Baby. I’m so fucking nervous!”
* * *
“Arsen. You have to get a grip! I need you to be that in control man you’re so good at being. Find that guy, quick.”
I watch him swallow hard and he pulls into the parking lot and pulls to the side of the store. I can hear sirens but they’re far away. He gets out and opens the back door.
Arsen tosses the toys off the back seat and then opens my door and picks me up and places me in the back seat. He pulls out a blanket from the far back. One we used when we went on a picnic last week.
He drapes it over me as he moves my legs to bend my knees. Then he pulls me forward until my ass is at the edge of the seat. Out of the glove box, he pulls out a pocket knife and cuts my panties off at each side.
“Glad you wore a dress, Baby,” he says. “And our son has a head full of dark hair.”
“How do you know he’ll have hair? Brady was born bald as they come.”
“Because I’m looking at the top of his little head.” He looks up at me and smiles. All calm, all cool, all in control.
That’s my man!
* * *
The sirens are getting closer and a voice comes over the car speakers.
“Hello, Mr. Sloan?”
“I’m here,” he answers,
“How’s it going? I’m Donny, the EMT headed your way. How’s our mommy doing?”
“I’ve been better,” I say then groan with another contraction.
“I have the top of the baby’s head in view, Donnie,” Arsen says.
“Well then, do you have anything to catch this kid with?”
Arsen pulls a baby blanket out of the bag I packed a few days ago when I started getting things together for my trip to the hospital I hadn’t planned on taking for another month.
“How about a baby blanket?” he asks.
“It’ll help. Babies can be pretty slick and hard to hold onto. So use it to ease the baby out with the next few contractions. Do not pull on it. Are we on time or early or late or what?”
Arsen answers as I get ready to push with the next contraction. “We are a month early and it’s a boy we’re having.”
“A month, huh? Be advised we will be taking the baby and Mommy with us as soon as we get there so the child can be taken care of ASAP. Okay, Daddy?”
“Got it.” Arsen looks at me. “I’ll be right behind you, Baby. Don’t worry.”
I nod and say, “Get ready, Arsen. I think this is it!”
He looks at me and says, “I love you, Steele. Get ready to see Brody.”
I scream out with the contraction. “I love you, Arsen!”
It seems like an eternity then I hear the little cries of Brody and look to find Arsen with tears flowing down his cheeks as he looks at the red, little, wrinkly thing in his hands.
* * *
“Hi, Son. How are you doing this fine evening?” He sniffles and holds him up. “Look who’s here, Momma.”
I smile and lie back and take a deep breath as I hear the sirens pull in and stop next to us.
Thank you, God!
* * *
ARSEN
“And that’s how Daddy was the first person to ever get to hold you, Brody.” I rock my son in the nursery we made just off our bedroom.
Brody and Steele were able to come home after just a few days at the hospital and the little guy has grown to a decent ten pounds in the last couple of months since his birth in the parking lot of ‘Habeeb’s Fine Merchandise, Beer, and Cigarettes.’
Brady has told us he’s kind of jealous of his baby brother because he was on the news the night he was born. Seems the kid was born to be in the spotlight.
The sound of footsteps come into our bedroom and I look up to see Steele making her way towards us. “Did you get him to sleep?”
I nod. “He likes to hear his story. He falls right to sleep every time.”
“Glad he does for you. Man, that colic he has, drives me crazy. Thanks for taking him. I was at my wits end.” She runs her hand over my shoulder as she walks behind me and readies his crib.
“I’m glad he needs me like he does.” I get up and take him to lie him down. “He makes me feel special.”
After I place him gently in the crib and cover him up I turn to find Steele with her arms wide open. I grab them and pull her to me and hug her with a little swaying motion.
“I think you’re special too, Mr. Sloan.”
I kiss the top of her head and inhale the sweet smell of watermelon. “New shampoo, Honey?”
“Yes, Trace and I like it. Don’t you?” She looks up at me with a grin.
“All those expensive hair products I buy you and you use the kid’s shampoo.” I shake my head at her.
“Trace likes our hair to smell the same way. What can I say?”
I put my arm around her and we leave the room and go to our bedroom. “I say, you’re a sweet mommy to do that for your daughter.”
* * *
“Trace and Brady want you to give them good-night kisses, but I already read them a book and told them you were taking the Brody shift this time. I’ll be waiting for you in our bed and just a little reminder. The doc approved sexual activities for me today.” She winks at me. “If you feel like it. I get it if you don’t.”
I pull her close to me and kiss her lips softly. “You get it, if I don’t?”
She nods. “Yeah. That was pretty gross what you had to see when you delivered the baby. My doctor said sometimes it takes dads a little while to put what they saw out of their minds. I understand. I won’t hold it against you, Arsen.”
“Baby, there is not a thing in the world that would make me think you unattractive. That was a scary but beautiful experience. If anything, it made me respect you even more. Your body had to morph to bring our children into this world. It makes me love you even more to know the torture you would go through to give me children.” I kiss her again.
Steele’s hands run over my cheeks. “You are too good, Arsen. Almost too good to be true, I think sometimes.”
I shake my head. “No, I’m not. And if I am then it’s because you helped me to become that man. I am who I am because of you being a part of my life. I shudder to think what I’d be if I told Paul to take me home that night instead of stalking you.”
“I shudder to think about all I would’ve missed out on if I hadn’t gone completely against my nature and got in the back seat of your car, Arsen. Then I let you take me like you owned me. Just not me at all,” she says as she shakes her head. “Do you ever wonder what had us acting so different?”
“I try not to wonder about it, because what is the use, anyway?” I pull her in tight to me. “But I have
now and again. I was no stalker, and you were anything but my type. But there was such a strong pull when I saw you. Like magic.”
She nods in agreement. “Like magic, Arsen.”
Her arms tighten around me. “I hope each of our children find a love like we have. I hope it doesn’t have to start with such a hard time. Man that would be hard to take.”
“That’s why I’m glad your parents didn’t know a thing about us until the day before our wedding. I bet your dad would’ve stomped my ass. As he would say.” I laugh a little, but I know it’s true.
That man is tough as hell and fiercely protective over his family. I’m lucky my shit was straight by the time I met him.
“You’re going to be just like him, you know,” she says. “Maybe that’s why we clicked so quickly. I’ve always been a bit overprotected my whole life. You came in and it felt kind of normal in an abnormal way.”
We laugh and hug and then I kiss her once more before I go kiss my other children good night.
I never thought there would be a woman who would come into my life one day and make it all alright. Not even my mother made it alright. Steele is my angel and I’ll always treat her like one.
For forever and a day…
And they all lived happily ever after
THE END
* * *
Thank you for reading Arsen’s Rules.
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The Billionaire's Brother
A Billionaire Romance Series
Chapter 1
* * *
JENNA
“Rod? You home?” I call out as I come into the little apartment we rented last week.
After only a few months of dating, we decided to take it a step further and move in together. To say my parents were pissed would be an understatement.
Try furious!
But what Rod Manning and I have is as real as it gets. Even if I am just eighteen. A thing my parents tell me is a real issue. Though it’s not really.
Rod’s a few years older than I am. Okay, five of them, but that’s not a big deal to me. My father made me wait until I turned eighteen to date, Rod or anyone else for that matter.
Rod’s been after me for the last couple of years, but being underage had him waiting for me. Dad threatened all kinds of hell on the poor guy if he touched me before I turned the legal age.
The funny thing is Rod’s mother has cautioned me about their oldest son as well. At a senior party, my graduating class had at one of my classmate’s ranches just before I turned eighteen I saw Rod’s mother. She was helping chaperone the party.
She had no idea of Rod’s interest in me and took me aside then asked me if I knew her son, Reed. I knew of Reed, of course. We all live in a minuscule town in Jerome, Arizona.
Reed is only two years older than I am. And I was shocked when she told me he and I would make a perfect couple. He was away at college at that time but would be home for the summer and she wanted to know if she could give him my phone number when he got home.
Her dismay when I told her it was her son, Rod, who was interested in me and me in him, confused me. She was very open about him being a difficult person. Which I found crazy.
He doesn’t seem difficult to me, at all. Quite the opposite. He seems so rugged and manly and tough as nails, but in all the right ways.
His job as a mechanic keeps his muscles tight, and he keeps a five o’clock shadow thing going on his handsome face.
I’ll admit it. The man does have this dangerous edge to him. But I find it exciting as hell.
The way he handles me is so hot!
And he’s told me he has a surprise for me tonight when he gets home. Which I thought would be by now.
“Hey there, Baby,” his deep voice calls out from our bedroom.
I go that way, turning down the short hallway that leads off the living room. There he is, leaning his tall body against the door frame.
His dark ash blonde hair hangs to his shoulders in waves. His steely blue eyes running up and down my body give me chills. “Hey, Rod.”
Clad in only his tight black underwear I see he’s taken a shower and rid himself of the grease of the garage he works in. The smell of his soap fills my senses.
My insides are already melting as he looks me over. “I brought home that surprise I told you about, but we have something to talk about first.” He pulls me into his strong arms as I come to him.
His mouth covers mine as he thrusts his tongue into my mouth. The way it moves like he has a purpose to touch every place in my mouth makes my knees weak and I lean against him.
A handful of my ass he grabs and squeezes it as he growls. My body is hot and now I’m wet and can hardly wait to get out of these clothes and into our bed.
His other hand moves up my arm then over my shoulder and he grabs a handful of my long hair and pulls it back hard. His mouth leaves mine and his teeth graze over my neck then he bites it hard.
The noise I make has him pulling back, and he looks intense.
I love that look. Like raw power.
“I want something permanent with you, Jenna.” His words make my heart pound.
“K.”
A grin creeps across his handsome face. “I haven’t told you what it is yet and you answer already?”
I nod and he smiles. “Permanent is what I want too. I love you, Rod.”
“Love is for the weak, Baby. What did I tell you about all that love shit?” He lets me go and moves away from me. “Life is about other things. Life is hard, Baby. Love is fleeting. Commitment isn’t though. I want that from you. A real commitment.”
He moves to the bed and sits on the edge and pulls a pack of cigarettes out of the bedside table. A long neck bottle half full of beer sits on top and he takes a drink then lights his cigarette.
That’s the one thing I hate. I hate the smell of cigarettes and he knows it. Yet he’s not about to do as I’ve asked him repeatedly to, smoke outside.
But I think he might be about to propose so I’m not going to bring that up right now. Instead, I go to sit next to him on the bed. “So what is it you want, Rod?”
From under the pillow he sleeps on, he pulls a sheet of paper. I can see the large words at the top, ‘Dom/Sub-Slave Contract’ my heart stops and my eyes go wide.
I pick up the sheet of paper and look at it, then at him. His face is sterile.
No emotion. Not a thing.
“Slave? Why is the word, slave, on this paper? And what is it all about?”
His strong hand moves up my arm and tightens around my bicep. “I want you. I want all of you. I want to own you, Baby.”
My heart starts to pound in my chest. “Own me?”
He nods slowly and I can’t think. Then one thought floods my brain. “My father will kill you, Rod.”
“This has to be our little secret. This town is too small to let this kind of thing out.” He takes a drag off the cigarette and the smell intensifies and I cough.
“A secret?” I look around the little bedroom. My eyes fall on a hook that’s on the wall near the closet. A hook that wasn’t there before.
Then I look back at the paper I hold in my right hand. It’s shaking and I hold it with my left to steady it so I can read what he wants from me.
Words pop out at me. Punishments. Sexual tortures. Expectations.
“Rod, is this a joke?” I look into his eyes and find no humor there.
He shakes his head slow and easy. “It’s no joke, Jenna. It’s what I want. And I always get what I want. You know that.”
Smoke encircles his head as he taps the ashes off the cigarette into the clean ashtray on the night stand. “This doesn’t look like a thing I want to be a part of. I thought you were talking about marriage, Rod.”
A low laugh comes from him. “Marriage? Nah. I’m not into that. That can end in divorce. What I’m asking from you can’t end. It’s forever, girl. Isn’t that better than a marriage?”
“This says, you want me to stay available for your every need.” My eyes move to his and find them squinting as he takes another puff of the cigarette. “My job, though.”
He shakes his head. “That little job ain’t making you no money, anyway. See, the way I’m thinking is it’s better for me if you can come to me or I come home and you’re here and you can take care of whatever I feel I need at that time.”
“Sex?” I stare at him. “Are you saying I don’t give you enough already?”
“You don’t. But that isn’t your fault. It’s your job’s fault,” he says as he grinds the cigarette butt into the ashtray. “Like this afternoon I wanted a piece of ass so bad I nearly went across the street from the shop and found one at that little bar.”
My heart stops. “You didn’t though, did you?”
“No,” he says with a shake of his head, sending his wavy locks swinging around his broad shoulders. His eyes move to mine and pierce me. “But, as you’ll find in the contract, that is a thing I can do if I see fit and you aren’t meeting all my physical needs. And you have to take it, Baby. You can’t leave me over it.”
My stomach hurts all of a sudden and I bend over and place my hand on it. ‘No! No, Rod! No, fucking way!’
Okay, I said that only in my head.
My voice is shaking as I say out loud, “Why do you want to have sex with other women?”
“I don’t want to. But if I can’t do the things I want with you then I’ll have to. I have certain desires and if you won’t let me do those things with you then I’ll get that elsewhere with someone who will.” His hand runs over my shoulder and down my arm. “But I really want to do that stuff with you, Baby. Only you. But I’m a little afraid you’re too vanilla to do any of it.”
I turn my head slowly to look at him and my age and experience or lack thereof hits me. “I’ll let you do whatever you want to me. I’m no child, Rod. I can be everything you want. If I lost you, I don’t know what I’d do. And I can’t stand the thought of you with anyone else.”
Billionaire Games Page 65