“Bet it’s ‘cause they’re boys,” he continued in that same sweet voice. “It’s probably biologically ingrained in them to not cock-block their dad, so that later on down the line I won’t do the same to them.”
Okay, maybe he wasn’t that much softer. I couldn’t hold back the snicker that escaped my mouth.
“Not polite to eavesdrop, Sugar,” Grease scolded, his mouth lifting in a small grin.
“Biologically ingrained?” I asked, raising one eyebrow.
“God, it fuckin’ must be. She won’t go to sleep and she’s tired as hell. She’s doin’ this to punish me.”
“I’m pretty sure she’s doing it because she’s four months old.”
“Yeah, well. Maybe.” He sighed and started pacing again.
“You do realize that if you lay her down and shut the light off, she’ll fall asleep on her own, right?”
“You know I don’t like leavin’ her alone in the dark.”
“She’s fine in her room.”
“She’s fine right where she is,” he replied stubbornly, as if he hadn’t just been whining that she wouldn’t fall asleep.
I tilted my head toward the boys’ room and realized with relief that all was quiet finally. We had enough bedrooms for Will and Rosie to have their own rooms while Thomas and Michael shared, but my oldest boy liked it better in with his brothers. I loved that they were so close, but three boys in one bedroom made for a frustrating bedtime every night.
“Asa, baby, I love you—”
“But?”
“But I’ve had a long ass day, so take your pacing into our daughter’s room so I can strip down and crawl into our sheets… naked.”
“That’s just fucked up.” He groaned.
I looked at him innocently as I stepped into the room, unbuttoning my new jeans. After years of yo-yo dieting between pregnancies, I’d finally made peace with the fact that I’d never be the size I was before I’d had Will and had bought some clothes that actually fit… and flattered me. It was amazing what clothes could do for your self-esteem when you weren’t trying to stuff yourself into them in the morning. Talk about demoralizing.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I finally said as I tossed my jeans into the hamper at the end of our bed. I reached up and unsnapped my bra before pulling it off with my t-shirt and throwing both on top of my jeans.
“You’re so fuckin’ lucky that the little princess just fell asleep,” he mumbled, staring at my breasts before moving toward the door and lifting one hand to flick my nipple as he passed me.
“Make sure she’s dry before you lay her down,” I warned quietly before he’d reached the hallway.
“Fuck you. I’m not wakin’ her up,” he called over his shoulder, making me chuckle. His ass was getting up in a couple hours if she woke up soaking wet.
I peeled off my underwear and climbed between our sheets with a sigh. It really had been a long day. I’d had to drag Rosie all over town getting shit for the boys’ end of the year school parties, and just as we finished doing that, it had been time to pick Michael up from preschool and race home to meet Will and Thomas as they got off the bus. After that, it was homework and chores and dinner and baths and bedtime stories and a million other little things. It felt like I hadn’t had a minute to sit down all day.
“You naked?” Asa asked darkly as he entered our room, shutting and locking the door behind him.
“I’m sleeping,” I grumbled back when he turned off the lights, leaving us in complete darkness. I heard his belt buckle clink and hit the floor, and my body softened as I heard the swishing noises of him sliding off his t-shirt and boxer briefs. Yum. I wondered briefly if he was wearing the new ones I’d bought him on my shopping spree, the ones that were so snug they made my mouth water. I’d made him model them for me after he’d asked to see all my new clothes and had complimented every single new piece and my body underneath them.
God, I loved him.
“That was a mean thing you did,” Asa whispered as he leaned over the bed, startling me. I hadn’t even noticed when he’d moved closer. “Tellin’ me you were gonna crawl into our bed naked when I was tryin’ to get our girl to sleep.”
“Just a little incentive to move it along,” I breathed back.
“Big fuckin’ incentive. If she hadn’t already been noddin’ off on my shoulder, I woulda smacked your ass for every minute you were lyin’ in here naked alone.” He pulled the blankets and sheet down the bed, leaving me bare to the cool air coming through the air conditioner.
“That’s not fair,” I groaned as he crawled onto the bed, his knees resting outside my hips and his arms braced above my shoulders.
“What’s not fair is you teasin’ me when you know I don’t wanna leave her in there awake in the dark.”
“Asa—”
“Drop it, Callie. You do it your way, I’ll do it mine,” he replied warningly.
“Fine,” I huffed, turning my head away from him even though I knew he couldn’t see me.
“Don’t fuckin’ pout.”
“I’m not pouting, I’m tired,” I retorted. “Make sure you unlock the door before you fall asleep.”
He was still on his hands and knees above me, so I couldn’t really move, but I closed my eyes and relaxed my body against the mattress, all arousal gone after the tone he’d used to speak to me. It wasn’t just that it took forever when he tried to get Rose to sleep, or the fact that when he put her to bed that way it was a struggle the next day to get her to fall asleep on her own. What really bothered me about the whole thing was the implication that I was some sort of horrible mother because I put her in her bed if I knew she was ready to fall asleep. I wasn’t doing anything wrong. All the kids were different—they’d always done better with different routines before bedtime. It just so happened that Rosie was out like a light if I laid her down in a dark room by herself.
“Sugar, what’s the problem?” Asa asked in frustration after he’d leaned down to kiss my neck and I’d jerked away from him.
“I’m tired.”
“I’m not doing this with you, Calliope.”
“Good, go to sleep.”
“Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me?”
“No, I’m not.”
“You were shakin’ your tits in my face not ten minutes ago.”
“And now I’m not.”
“Fuck this.” Before I could brace myself, Asa had grabbed my hips and flipped me over before reaching for the light on the bedside table. As soon as the low light filled the bedroom, he pulled my ass into the air.
My entire upper body went boneless as his long fingers dug into my ass cheeks, pressing and rubbing deeply. Just the way his hands had pulled me into position seemed to center me.
“You wanna tell me what’s goin on?” he asked again, pausing to see if I’d reply before lifting his hand and slapping my right ass cheek.
“You ready yet?”
I shook my head and a second later, another smack seemed to echo through the room.
“Sugar, what the hell?” he asked softly as my eyes began to water.
“She likes falling asleep on her own,” I whispered back, my breath leaving me in a long whoosh. “I’m not mean because I lay her down on her own.”
“Fuck,” he mumbled. Then he leaned down and curled himself around me, resting his forehead against my temple.
“Calliope, you’re the best Mama I know. I don’t lay her down because I feel like an asshole when I do. I don’t care when you do it. Shit, I like when you do it, because that means you’re comin’ in here to me and I get to spend some time with you that’s just us.” He kissed my jaw tenderly. “It’s my deal, okay? Got nothin’ to do with what you’re doin’.”
“It makes me feel like shit and she has a hard time falling asleep on her own the next day.”
“Shit, why didn’t you say somethin’ before? She’s fuckin’ four months old!”
“Because it’s sweet that you do it.”
“No
t makin’ much sense, Sugar.”
“I just—I’m just tired, and it usually doesn’t bug me, but it fucking bugged me tonight! You’ve been gone for four days and you came back and I was already worn out, but now I know tomorrow is going to be hard because her routine is all messed up.”
“So, what you’re sayin’ is, you’ve been overwhelmed while I was gone and you missed the fuck outta me, but I’ve just fucked up your routine?”
“Fuck,” I sighed. “Yeah.”
“I’m sorry, baby. I’ll let you lay her down. Just hadn’t seen her in a bit and I wanted to spend a little one on one.”
“I know, which makes me feel like even more of a bitch.”
“Nah, you’re just tired and need my dick.”
“I can’t believe you just said that.”
“Yeah, you can.”
“Yeah… I can.”
“And I’m right,” he whispered into my ear as his hips ground forward. “I bet you’ve been wet all day, waitin’ on me to get home. I’m not even sure if you’re actually mad or just wanted to feel my hand on your ass.”
I groaned as he leaned up and away from my back.
“You gonna let me in there?” he asked gruffly, “Just like this?”
His hands moved into my hair, pulling it away from my face and twisting it before dropping it against the sheet behind my head. Then his hands began to roam, his fingertips barely sliding over my shoulders and back, then digging into my thighs and hips before finally reaching underneath me to pull me up until I was kneeling between his thighs, my back to his chest.
“I love you,” I said with a sigh, relaxing backward until my head rested on his shoulder.
“Love you, too.” His hands slid up to catch my breasts, lifting them in his palms before tugging on my nipples with his fingertips.
I rubbed my hands up the light hair on his thighs and felt my entire body flush. He was home. He was wrapped around me. There wasn’t any place in the entire world that I’d have rather been in that moment.
“Up,” Asa rasped, tapping my thigh so that I’d kneel up on the bed. As soon as I was no longer resting my weight on him, he moved my knees outside his—spreading me so wide it was almost uncomfortable. “There,” he whispered against my neck in satisfaction.
He pulled my hips into the cradle of his and slid his hands down my belly until they met slick skin.
“You shaved,” he murmured, smiling against my neck.
“Welcome home,” I replied huskily, reaching up behind me so I could grasp his wet hair in my hands.
“Fuuuuck. You’re so fuckin’ sexy. Jesus Christ.”
He moved slightly and used a hand between my legs to position himself. In a dance we’d done a thousand times before, he slid inside me until my back bowed and my jaw clenched.
“Move,” he grunted, latching onto my neck and sucking hard.
My man had never gotten over the need to mark me, and I’d grown used to the odd looks I got when I helped out at the boys’ schools.
I rolled my hips against him while one of his hands wrapped lightly around my throat and the other zeroed in on my clit, rubbing in slow circles as we moved. Sometimes, the sex was just okay. It wasn’t over the top crazy every time, how could it be? But it seemed like any time he came home after a few days away, the sex was so fucking good that I had a hard time catching my breath.
“Four kids later and you still fuckin’ blow my mind,” he growled as his hips began to thrust up hard opposite mine. “Me and you against the world, Callie.”
His fingers pinched my clit and I came hard, grinding my hips down while I tried to keep my moans quiet.
Before I’d even finished coming down from my orgasm, Asa was pushing us forward until my forearms were braced on the bed. He thrust wildly for a few moments and then came, biting my shoulder as he groaned.
“You’re gonna need another shower,” I said, laughing lightly as his sweaty skin stuck to mine.
“Fuck that. I’m gonna go into the shop tomorrow smellin’ like you—make all the boys jealous.” He pulled away and dropped hard on his back beside me.
“You’re nasty.” I smiled when I turned my head to see him licking his fingers clean.
“You like me nasty.”
I shook my head and dodged his hands as I climbed out of bed and took care of business. I unlocked our bedroom door on my way past it to our private bathroom. Who knew if one of the kids would need us during the night? When I climbed back in beside him, he was still lying on his back, his arms crossed under his head and his eyes closed.
“I’m glad you’re home,” I said with a sigh, curling my body into his side. I’d come to terms with the fact that sometimes, the Aces had to come first with him. It was the life I’d chosen when I realized that I didn’t want to live without Asa, but that didn’t mean I liked it when he was gone, doing God knows what all over the country.
“Me, too, baby.” He kissed the top of my head, his beard catching in my hair until he reached out to smooth it down.
“Everything go okay?”
“Piece of cake.”
“Gonna be home for a while?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Good.”
“Yeah, good.” He turned his head, and shrugged his shoulder so I’d look up to meet his eyes. “You think there’ll ever be a time when I come home to you and you don’t start bitchin’ the minute I walk through the door?”
My face heated. “After all these years, I doubt it.”
“Yeah. Probably right. Wouldn’t feel like home if I didn’t have to spank your ass just to calm you down.”
“You like it,” I argued, frowning.
“You kiddin’? I fuckin’ love it—and goddamn, it makes you wet.”
I laughed and tilted my head back down, closing my eyes as he reached one long arm out to turn the lamp off.
“Love you, Asa.”
“Love you too, Sugar. Get some sleep, some asshole messed up Rosie’s routine and she’s gonna be a pain in the ass tomorrow.”
I pinched his side and listened to him chuckle quietly as he pulled me tighter against him.
Casper and Farrah
“Harder!” I gasped against Cody’s skin, my fingernails digging into his lower back.
“Ladybug, I go any harder, I’m gonna wake the house,” he mumbled back, snapping his hips forward. “Take what I give you.”
“I need it harder.”
“No, you don’t. You need to relax and let it come. So fucking impatient.”
“But I want it now,” I whispered, turning my head so I could suck his earlobe into my mouth.
“Christ.”
He leaned back, pulling me with him until I was seated in his lap. The change in angle had my eyes practically rolling back in my head, and I arched back as he began to grind his hips into mine, his thumb pressing against my clit with just the right amount of pressure.
“I love your tits when you’re nursing,” he mumbled against my breast before pulling one of my nipples into his mouth. “Fucking huge.”
He lifted my hips and dropped me down hard a couple of times and I finally came, whimpering as he sucked hard on my breasts.
“You good?” he asked smugly, pushing my shoulders back down to the bed again.
I swirled my hips in response, and he groaned, his thrusts becoming erratic as he followed me over the edge.
“Best way to start the day,” he sighed, dropping down beside me.
“Big day,” I replied, reaching up to smooth the long hair of his Mohawk away from his face. It needed a cut, but I tried not to nag. He’d ask me to fix it when it started to bother him.
“Shit, thought it would never come and I’d have to kick his ass.”
I laughed. “I’ve had my doubts, too. He did good, though.”
“Barely passed.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Yeah.” Cody closed his eyes and relaxed his head into the pillow beneath him.
?
??Do you—I mean… are you disappointed?”
“What?”
“Are you disappointed? You know, that Cam didn’t do better?” I asked quietly.
“Nah. Some kids are good at school, some are good at other shit. One isn’t better than the other.”
“But you went to Yale. I just—”
“Dropped out of Yale, Ladybug,” he said, turning his face toward mine.
“You still got in,” I mumbled back.
“Where’s this coming from?” He leaned up on one elbow and cradled my cheek in his palm, searching my eyes.
“Just wondering if you wished you’d done things differently, that’s all.”
“What things?”
“Me. The kids. Our lives.” His face dropped in shock at my words.
“You’re outta your mind,” he bit out, his nostrils flaring.
“This isn’t what you imagined your life would be like—I know it isn’t,” I argued, reaching out to rest my hand on his chest.
“Are you shitting me right now?” he asked menacingly, his brows furrowed.
“Forget it.” I shook my head, annoyed that he was getting angry.
“Hell no. I’m not forgetting shit.”
I pulled away and tried to roll off the bed, but was soon pinned under his weight, our faces just an inch apart.
“I was just trying to have a normal fucking conversation with you,” I griped, pushing on his stomach. “I wasn’t trying to piss you off.”
“You ask me if I wish I didn’t have my family and you didn’t think that would piss me off?” he asked dubiously.
“Forget. It.”
“No! Jesus Christ, Farrah.”
I clenched my jaw and stared at him while he obviously tried to rein in his temper. I hadn’t meant anything when I’d asked him the question, I was honestly curious. It was a big day for our family, and I guess it had made me feel a bit nostalgic.
“I would never do anything to change the life we have,” he finally said, his hands cradling my head. “I love our family. Love our life. If I’d stayed at Yale, I woulda ended up working for the same rich fucks that paid me to do their work in school—same shit, different day. I didn’t want that life then, don’t want it now. Okay?”