I wrapped my mom up in a bear hug and kissed her cheek. “Of course, I wanted you here, Mom. I was just...we were in a hurry and—”
Eva scoffed, and I threw her a pleading glance, mouthing that I loved her. After a minute, she sighed and saved my ass. “I’m sorry. Mom, Penny, I swear we didn’t do this to shut you out.” Eva’s eyes met mine, and she gave me a tiny smirk, her eyes dancing with wicked mirth. I had a feeling I’d been wrong; Eva wasn’t saving me, she was throwing me to the wolves...without getting me arrested for kidnapping. “I’m pregnant, and we didn’t want to have the baby out of wedlock.”
Son of a bitch. She’d handed my ass over to her dad on a silver platter. I didn’t know what it said about me that it made her even sexier. Her intelligence and strength were as hot as her delectable body. She winked at me, clearly following the path of my thoughts and wiggled her ass a little more than necessary when she turned around and walked over to a small sitting area and took a seat. She had definitely earned herself a thorough spanking when we got home.
“You’re what?” Blair gasped at the same time that Justice shouted, “What the fuck?”
My dad groaned and dropped into the nearest chair, shaking his head, mumbling something about me being too much like my old man. If I hadn’t been so angry and frustrated by the whole situation, I might have laughed because it was true. I didn’t see that as a bad thing, however.
Unlike everyone else, my mom was ecstatic, and she clapped while bouncing on the balls of her feet excitedly. “A baby!”
The cacophony of sound was giving me a headache, and I was about out of patience in regard to my wedding.
“Quiet!” I shouted. Then I addressed all the parents as a group. “First of all, Eva and I are adults. We don’t have to ask permission to get married or have a baby, or anything else we decide to do as a couple. We are getting married. This isn’t up for discussion.” I held up my hand when Justice started to speak and was a little astonished when he backed off for the moment. “That being said, we love and respect you all, and I know I speak for Eva when I tell you that we are truly sorry for not telling you about this and are very happy that you’re here now.”
Eva stood and ran over to throw herself into my arms, almost bowling me over. “I love you,” she exclaimed as she hugged me tight. Everyone but her faded away, and I bent low to brush my lips over hers.
“I love you too, Eva-bear. How’s about we get hitched?”
She laughed and kissed me a little harder before stepping back and lifting her chin stubbornly. Then she pivoted on her heel to face her parents. “I love Tucker. We’re getting married. I’m so happy you’re here, but if you have a problem with it, now’s the time to leave.”
Justice grumbled, but I spotted the pride in his eyes as he gazed at his daughter. Blair started crying, but she had a big smile on her face. “Oh, honey,” she sniffled. “You’re all grown up. And now my baby is having a baby…”
“Tucker,” Justice’s voice was a low growl, and a lesser man would probably have shriveled up and died under his dark glare. “You knocked up my daughter before marrying her?”
Eva looked up at me guiltily, but I just shook my head, silently telling her to let me handle this.
“Sir, you know I had every intention of marrying your daughter. I could understand your anger if I hadn’t already asked for her hand. But I respect you, and Trevor, too much to have ever married Eva without doing so. And since I did come to you, and received your blessing, I fail to see how it matters when Eva and I choose to have children. That is a decision we make as a couple. And Blair, Mom...I promise, you can throw Eva the wedding of her dreams later, but we’re getting married now.”
Eva sighed, and when I glanced down to check on her, I was captivated by the love shining from her eyes and turned on by the way she was looking dreamily at me, like I was her hero. But now wasn’t the time, so I turned my focus back to Eva’s parents. I was relieved to see a touch of admiration in their expressions. Though Justice still didn’t look all that happy about the situation.
Blair’s eyes were teary as she stared at Eva, and she smiled softly when she said, “Honey, you look so beautiful. And...really happy.”
“I am, Mom,” Eva answered, and I could’ve sworn that I actually heard her smile in her voice. “Tucker loves me the way Dad loves you. And the way Jonah loves Penny.”
If we’d been alone, I would have stripped Eva bare and worshipped every inch of her body. She’d just given me the highest compliment I could ever receive. My patience officially ran out at that moment. I turned to the judge, who’d been quietly sitting at his desk the whole time, clearly enjoying the drama. “We’re getting married now,” I demanded in more of a statement than a request. He grinned and jumped to his feet.
Our parents came to stand at our sides, and I was grateful they were there. But the only thing I would remember from that ceremony was how fucking gorgeous my bride was and the feeling of utter bliss when she said, “I do.”
I walked into the restoration room at the Met and frowned as I prowled toward the table where my wife was bent over her latest project. A young guy was hovering near her, standing a little too close for my liking. As I approached, I could hear what he was saying, and the way his eyes were glued to her chest had fury building inside me.
“You’re so talented, Eva. Maybe we could go to lunch sometime, and you can tell me about—” he broke off and his head whipped in my direction when I growled.
“Did you miss the fucking giant diamond on her hand?” I snarled.
He backed away a few steps and shook his head. “I didn’t mean—I thought maybe Eva—”
He took another step back, and I glared as I jerked my head toward the room’s exit. “I suggest you run along, boy. Mrs. Carrington”—I emphasized her name through gritted teeth—“is going to lunch with her man.” The kid swallowed hard before nodding and hotfooting it out of my sight.
When I turned to my wife, she was looking up at me and rolled her eyes. “He was harmless, you crazy caveman.”
I narrowed my eyes and cupped her elbow to help her to her feet so I could wrap her up in my embrace. “He was hitting on another man’s wife.” I blew out a harsh breath and raised my eyes to the ceiling. “I figured once I had my ring on your finger, I’d be done scaring off assholes who’re sniffing around you.”
“What are you talking about?” Eva’s tone brought my gaze back to her face. She was watching me with suspicion. I tried to smile innocently, but it backfired because she only seemed even more distrustful. I searched for something to say, a way to explain away my comment, but came up blank. “Tucker Carrington,” she hissed, “were you the reason I couldn't get a second date in high school?”
I cleared my throat and glanced around; this was not the place to have this conversation. “Let’s go home and I’ll make you some lunch,” I cajoled with my most charming smile.
Eva looked as though she was about to argue, but then she looked around as well and simply nodded. I helped her don her jacket, then took her hand as we made our way to the exit.
Once we arrived home, I guided her to one of the islands in the kitchen and boosted her up onto a stool. She was quiet while I gathered the ingredients to make her favorite cold pasta salad. Finally, she broke the silence. “Don’t think making my favorite food and looking all sexy while doing it is going to get you out of this discussion, Tucker,” she announced.
“Fuck,” I sighed in a low enough voice that she didn’t hear it. “Yes, I ran off the punks you chose to date in high school,” I admitted, a little louder. “In my defense,” I quickly added, “you were always choosing spineless little shits.”
“I think I owe Trevor an apology,” she mused before her head snapped up, and she glared at me. “What do you mean I picked the wrong guys?”
“First, not one of those little fuckers fought for you,” I explained as I finished up her lunch and set a bowl of pasta in front of her. “Second, if I hadn’t done
it, Trevor or Justice would have.” Yeah, I was throwing my best friend and surrogate uncle under the bus, and I didn’t feel a second of guilt. Mostly because it was true.
Eva gasped. “Even my dad knew?”
I grinned and nodded. “Pretty sure it gained me some brownie points for when I told them I was going to marry you.”
“I’m going to kill them,” she muttered as she shoveled a bite in her mouth and moaned.
I clenched my jaw and grabbed to the edge of the island, squeezing so hard that my knuckles turned white. Being married for three months hadn’t done shit to help my raging desire for my wife, and that little sound had me fighting the need to lay her out on the counter and eat her pussy until she was screaming my name.
“It’s in the past, baby—”
“Wait.” Eva interrupted me, her head cocked to the side, and her face adorably screwed up in concentration. “You left for London the summer before my junior year, and...it didn’t stop after high school.” Her eyes found mine, and I considered going for innocent again, but what was the point? I wasn’t ashamed of what I’d done to protect Eva, or the lengths I went to in order to make sure that she would always be mine. I shrugged and leaned my elbows on the counter, bringing our faces inches apart. “I told you, baby. I was never far from you.”
“B-but…you were in London,” she sputtered.
I grinned and winked at her. “It’s amazing what money can buy. My eyes were always on you in some way or another. I have always and will always protect what’s mine.”
“Eyes? Like bodyguards and stuff?” She wrinkled her nose in such a cute way that I had to place a kiss on the tip.
“Yes.” I was about to confess to the cameras and hacking to security feeds but thought better of it after a moment. She didn’t need to know every single detail, right? Nor did I think it was the best time to confess that I still had eyes on her all the time. “Among other things,” I hedged. “Eva-bear, you are what I live for. The reason I keep breathing. If I hadn’t been close to you in some way, I would have lost my fucking mind. And if any man had touched you—” I break off and ball my hands into fists and growled, my mind imagining the painful death of any motherfucker who dared to lay a finger on my Eva.
She sighed and shook her head, but her cheeks bloomed with pink and the corners of her lips curved up. “Such a caveman,” she muttered as she went back to eating. When she didn’t say anything more, I raised a brow and watched her in silence. She eventually looked up from her food and smiled at my questioning expression. “I know your level of obsession with me could probably be considered unhealthy.” The flush of her skin darkened, and her eyes flashed with heat. “And I know I shouldn’t, but for some reason, I think it's sexy as fuck.”
“Language, baby,” I gritted in reprimand. Although the rigid nature of my muscles wasn’t from anger, I was trying to keep myself from losing complete control and fucking her like an animal on the kitchen floor.
“Oops.” She didn’t look the least bit contrite.
I stalked around the island until I was standing between her thighs. My hands palmed her ass, and I yanked her forward, pressing my hard cock against her pussy. “Are you trying to get yourself a blistered ass, Eva-bear?” It turned my girl wild when I spanked her ass or her pussy. Which could have made it a less effective punishment, but when I turned her tender globes bright red, she felt it every time she sat down the next day. Still, she liked to provoke me and knew exactly how to push my buttons.
Eva’s legs curled around the backs of my thighs, and her arms went around my neck, pillowing her perfect tits against my chest. She buried her face in my neck, and a second later, I felt the sting of a bite. “Maybe,” she whispered.
I was suddenly starving. “Are you done eating, baby?” I rasped as all of the blood in my body rushed south. She nodded, causing her silky hair to get caught in my scruff. “Good. My turn.” I carried her out of the kitchen and up to our bedroom where I spent the next several hours feasting until I was sated. I knew I would never have my fill of her, but it wouldn’t stop me from trying.
Epilogue
Eva
One year later
Our moms had quickly taken Tucker up on his offer to plan the wedding of my dreams. They were so excited that they’d gotten right to work on it the same day we got married. They’d been forced to wait a year to pull it off, though, because the little joke I’d pulled on Tucker when we got married turned out to be prophetic when we realized I’d gotten pregnant right away. Not that it was much of a surprise, considering how many times my husband pumped his come into me.
Since I’d refused to have my fancier—but not more romantic because nothing could top the moment Tucker stood up to my dad at the courthouse—wedding with a rounded belly, we decided to make it a vow renewal for our one-year anniversary. It was a good thing we hadn’t put it off any longer because I had one heck of an anniversary present for my sexy hubby, and I couldn’t wait to share it with him. But first, we had to get through this round of toasts before we could take the dance floor for our first “official” dance as a married couple.
My father-in-law stood and winked at us before beginning. “When I first realized my oldest son was falling for Eva”—Tucker’s frantic expression made me giggle because I knew he was freaked out by the possibility that my dad and brother would realize exactly how young I’d been—“I was a little worried about how it might impact the bond between our families if their relationship didn’t work out.”
Tucker leveled a glare at his dad, making me giggle because of how ridiculous it was for him to be pissed at Jonah’s toast. Leaning deeper into his side, I whispered, “Relax, babe. We’ve more than proved that we’re meant to be together.”
“Damn straight,” Tucker muttered under his breath.
“I wasn’t concerned for long, though. Not after I realized that my son looked at Eva the same way I look at my wife.” Jonah’s gaze slid down and to the side, and the love he felt for Penelope shone brightly from his eyes, even after all the years they’d been together. “Then I knew there wasn’t any chance of them breaking up because Tucker wouldn’t ever let her go. He takes after his dad, after all.”
“And his father-in-law,” my mom tossed in, making the crowd laugh. My dad chuckled and shook his head, but it wasn’t as though he could deny how crazy he was about my mom. Everyone knew how he was with her.
“For sure,” I agreed with a grin. “When you really think about it, Dad only has himself to blame for me falling for Tucker. He’s the only guy who could ever live up to the example my dad set for what I wanted in a husband.”
“And he’d better keep living up to it or else,” Dad grumbled as he straightened in his seat and threw Tucker a warning glance.
“There’s no need to threaten the boy,” my mom chided, patting my dad’s arm before twisting in her seat to reach into the stroller where my daughter slept. She gently ran her fingers through my daughter’s fine, blond hair, being careful not to wake her since she’d only drifted off five minutes ago. “He’s as protective of his girls as you are of our family.”
“Sometimes, I think he might even be worse with me than you are with Mom,” I half-teased, knowing my dad would never believe it even though he’d seen with his own eyes how Tucker had hovered over me every moment of my pregnancy.
“Good.” My dad nodded in approval, his lips curving up in a pleased smile.
My mom sighed as I rolled my eyes, but Tucker smiled back at my dad. Before I could tease him about the male-bonding moment—one that made me happy because I loved knowing that the two most important men in my life got along so well—the DJ announced that it was time for the dance I’d been waiting all night for.
Tucker led me to the dance floor and tugged me close to his body. One of his hands cupped my hip and the other tangled in my hair at the back of my head. Bending his head to my ear, he asked, “Do you think they realize we’ve danced together before?”
Thinking about how
perfect we moved together when we were horizontal—and sometimes vertical too, like in the shower this morning—I waggled my eyebrows at him. “Considering we gave our parents a grandchild barely nine months after we got married, I’m pretty sure they know we’ve done the horizontal mambo.”
Tucker laughed and pulled me closer to his body, pressing his hard length against my belly. “I can’t wait until I have you all to myself in our hotel suite where we’ll have the whole night together without any interruptions.”
My parents were staying two floors below us so they could watch the baby. At fourteen weeks old, it was the first night she wasn’t spending with us, and my mom had known I’d want her nearby. But she didn’t know the other reason I’d wanted it to be just the two of us tonight. Tucker was going to be the first to know, and it was finally the perfect moment to share the news. “It’s a good thing we didn’t put today off any longer.”
“Why’s that, baby?” Tucker asked as he pressed a kiss to the top of my head.
I wrapped my hand around his wrist and tugged his hand until it rested over my belly. “If we’d waited too much longer, my dress wouldn’t have fit.”
He stopped right there on the dance floor, his dark eyes filled with incandescent joy. “You’re pregnant?”
I nodded, unable to get words past the lump of emotion in my throat. He lifted me and twirled me around in a circle before gently setting me on my feet. Turning toward where our family and friends were still seated, he shouted, “We’re having another baby!”
Everyone rushed over to offer their congratulations, but Tucker only waited a few minutes before he tugged me toward the door. “We can’t just leave,” I insisted, dragging my feet a bit in an attempt to slow our progress.
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