Hanging On 2: Surreal Neal [Awakenings 6] (Siren Publishing Menage and More) (32 page)

Danny shook his head. The lamplight gleamed in thin stripes on his deep brown hair. “This was the sixth one. The doctor said we’d be risking her health if we tried again.”

I hadn’t been aware of the other five pregnancies. I sat heavily on the couch next to my brother and rested my head on his shoulder. A shoulder, it seemed, that was carrying far more weight than I knew.

He hadn’t said a word to me, and that hurt. However right now was the wrong time to point that out to him. I squeezed his wrist. “I didn’t know.”

“Nobody knew.” He leaned his head against the back of the sofa with his eyes closed. “Every time, she insisted on waiting until the second trimester before we said anything to anybody. This was the first time she made it to four months.”

A response from me was unnecessary. Danny needed to talk.

“One of the first things she said to Evan and me when we decided to get married was that she wanted kids. We didn’t have to think about it. Kids with Lainie? Hell, yeah. We both wanted that. But now…” He put his hand over his eyes. “The one thing she wants more than anything in the world, and we can’t give it to her.”

Now that he’d broken his silence, words poured forth. He told me about all the other times, visits to an endocrinologist, tests and more test, and the bliss of finally getting to the second trimester.

I sat next to him, snuggled against his side, and listened as my brother, the man who’d been my rock for so many years, let loose the pain in his heart. I had little else to offer him.

Several hours later, as we sat in silence, Danny slapped my thigh hard.

“Ow!” I punched his arm and scooted to the other end of the sofa. “What the hell was that for?”

“Mom called me last night to vent about your hedonistic lifestyle, and I had to defend you.”

I was surprised he’d defended me, and I said so.

He snorted. “Do you know what Lainie said to me on the way home? She said that you and Drew were in love with Neal, and I, of all people, should understand what it’s like to be in love with two people.”

“He’s different,” I said. “Drew and I have agreed we won’t see submissives anymore. Just Neal.”

“Great,” Danny retorted. “Anyway, Mom settled down after I agreed that you’d gone about introducing him to us rather badly. She’s willing to forgive you, but you’re going to have to call and apologize. I know how hard humility is for you.”

He was back to teasing me. That was a good sign.

“I’ll call her.”

He got to his feet. “I have to go home. I’m only here because Lainie made me come. She said I had to talk to you about last night. I don’t see why I couldn’t wait, but I wasn’t going to argue with her. They gave her some pain pills, but she wouldn’t go to bed until I left.”

I hugged him. “Tell her I love her, and that I’m here if she needs me. I’ll be over tomorrow with some comfort food.” Alaina didn’t really have family. Her mother had passed away, and her father was a dickhead. Her brother was twelve, and though he was likely to be sensitive to her upset, she probably thought she had to hold it together for him.

That left me for the sister role, and it suited me just fine. She was a decade older than me, but so were Ellen and Jonas. Some people said I had an old soul. It certainly had enough scars to accelerate the aging process. Whatever the reason, we’d formed a tight, sisterly bond, and I was going to be there for her.

Danny helped me lock up, though I told him to go home. I was removing the till from the register—Danny sold bottled water, snacks, and assorted merchandise—when a pounding on the front door startled me. Or scared the shit out of me. Adrenaline injected my system, and my heart went into overdrive. Through the reflection on the glass, I made out two tall figures.

At that moment, Danny turned off most of the lights in the studio, throwing the shadows into sharp relief. It was Drew and Neal. Puzzled that they would show up like this, I hurried to the door and unlocked it. The bell tinkled as they came inside. Daniel liked to have distractions around so he could teach his more advanced students to filter environmental stimulation.

Drew yanked the door before I could push it open. His brows were drawn together, and his lips were pressed ominously. Lots of people thought Drew didn’t have a temper. They were wrong. He had seemingly infinite patience for all sorts of things, but once his fury was activated, get out of the way.

It seemed I was squarely in his path. Drew wasn’t violent or mean, but he definitely appeared that way.

He advanced on me, pushing me back against the glass panel next to the door and caging me with his arms. “I expected you home two hours ago! Where the hell is your phone? Why aren’t you answering it?”

My phone was under the merchandise counter, and I hadn’t checked my messages since my short dinner break. “Drew, calm down. I haven’t checked my messages.”

Telling someone who is pissed off to calm down is not on the top ten list of the wisest things I could have said.

Ice crystals formed in his cloudy blue eyes. “Calm down? For fuck’s sake, Sophia! I called all over looking for you. Nobody has seen or heard from you.”

And so he’d driven here looking for me. Damn, but he was handsome when he was angry.

Neal clamped his hand on Drew’s shoulder and pulled him away from me. “Drew, look at her.”

Drew turned his fury on Neal. “I am looking at her.”

Neal didn’t seem impressed. Likely he’d worked with more than one temperamental chef. “Then look closer. She’s been crying.”

Drew whirled, inspecting me with a ferociousness I hadn’t seen before. “Who made you cry?”

“I did.” Danny stood off to the side in the doorway leading from the foyer to the rest of the studio.

One look at him drained Drew’s anger. I watched it flow out of him, replaced by concern. Judging from Drew’s reactions, I didn’t look half as bad as Danny.

“What—”

I tugged on Drew’s arm, cutting him off. “Dan, go home. I’ll finish up here.”

Now that my men were here, Daniel probably felt it was no longer his duty to make sure I made it safely to my car. He nodded and turned, and then my brother was gone.

Drew faced me.

“Alaina had a miscarriage. It’s apparently her sixth. Danny’s not taking it so well.” I felt hot tears welling in my eyes.

Drew pulled me into his arms and held me too tightly. “God, Sophie. I’m sorry. When you didn’t call, I got worried. And then you didn’t answer, and I got really worried.”

Neal embraced me from the back, sandwiching me between the comfort they offered. “When he called me, I made him come get me to go looking for you.”

“I didn’t mean to worry you.” My tears came in earnest now. I’d held back for Daniel’s sake, focusing on comforting him in his time of need. I sobbed, hiccupping for my brother’s loss and the pain I hoped he’d never feel again.

They held me, my men, while I let loose my emotions.

When I finished, they took me home. We left my car in the parking lot. Neal climbed into the back seat of Drew’s SUV, and he held me for the drive home.

As I rested my head in the crook of Neal’s arm, I began to make plans for the next day. “Drew, I’m going to see Alaina tomorrow. I was thinking she’d like some of your sweet potato soup.”

“Sure,” he said from the front seat. “I’ll make some for her. Neal, how about some of that linguine you made today? Alaina loves pasta.”

“Yeah,” Neal said, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “No problem.”

“And I’ll make pie,” I said. My mother had taught me all her secrets, but I disliked making the crust, so I almost never made pie.

“Make three,” Drew said. “And leave one home. Your brother is a wolf around pie.”

I laughed, a small chuckle in the somberness of the moment.

Neal chose that moment to slide his hand up my stomach and close it over my breast.

I looked up at him. In the flash of the passing streetlights, I saw his grin. “Speaking of wolfish, you’re taking advantage of a woman who is sad.”

His grin morphed into something tender. “I want to make you happy.”

Tilting my neck back, I stretched my body so that I was close enough for a kiss. “Being with you makes me happy.”

“Neal,” Drew interrupted, “am I taking you to your aunt’s house or our house?”

I wanted him to come home with us, but he’d asked for space, and we needed to respect his wishes. I didn’t say anything, and I hoped the nearness of my body proved too much temptation to resist.

“Your house,” Neal said.

His lips met mine. Tenderness and love flowed through me. I couldn’t tell whether they originated with me or with the both of us, and I didn’t want to analyze it. I moaned louder than I meant to.

“Save it for when we get home,” Drew said. “Otherwise we’re going to get into an accident because I keep watching the two of you instead of the road.”

I broke it off, but I didn’t move away from Neal, and when he slid his hand up my shirt to better play with my breasts, I let him. He experimented with pinching and rolling my nipples, and I found it was difficult not to squirm. My breasts were sensitive. They could take a lot, but they needed the right kind of stimulation first. Neal was good at providing the right kind of stimulation.

As Drew pulled into the garage, I let loose with a series of kittenish squeaks. My breasts felt swollen, and my pussy throbbed with jealousy.

The SUV came to a halt and the motor went silent. Neal abandoned my nipple and slipped his hand down the elastic waist of my martial arts uniform. He petted my pussy lips through my panties.

The door next to Neal opened, and Drew stood there, passion turning his eyes a darker blue. “I see you two decided to start without me.”

“We won’t finish without you,” Neal said. “If we’re going to do this commitment thing, then I think we also need to revisit the rule about neither of you being with me unless the other one is present.”

“Agreed,” Drew said. “Now hand her over. We’re going to do this in a bed.”

They were talking about me as if I was a submissive. “Hey, I get a say in this.”

Neal lifted me and placed me in Drew’s arms. I could get out of this if I wanted, but I didn’t want to. Being coddled like this felt nice, especially coming after the sympathetic heartache I felt for my brother and his loved ones.

Drew kissed the top of my head. “Yes, you do, honey. You can say whether you want Neal to make love to you first or me.”

I kissed a line up his neck and nipped at his earlobe. “At the same time.”

He’d begun carrying me into the house, which was two steps up from the garage. He faltered. Neal’s arms came around us both.

“Careful,” he said. “I can’t have you damaging my Mistress.”

Drew set me down slowly, letting my body do a sensual glide down his. He tilted my face until I met his gaze. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

He kissed me, and his hands played up and down my back, holding me closer. Neal pressed his chest to my back and lifted my hair to kiss the sensitive spots on my nape. I shivered in their arms. Drew broke away to trail hot kisses down my neck. I let my head fall back against Neal’s shoulder, and I tangled each of my hands in their hair to keep them on track.

“Neal,” I breathed. “Are you okay with taking me at the same time as Drew?”

He ground his cock against my ass. “More than okay, Mistress.”

Somehow we made it up the stairs and to our bedroom. Clothing did not. It littered the floor, marking our path from the garage door to the bed. We touched and tasted one another. I couldn’t tell where I left off and Neal or Drew began.

When I couldn’t wait any longer, I pushed Neal onto his back and straddled him. Drew held Neal’s cock as I lowered myself onto it, then he pushed me forward. Neal’s hands never stopped moving. He rolled my nipples, caressed my thighs, and ran his thumb in circles around my clit.

“Mistress,” he whispered. “You are unlike anyone I’ve ever met. Beautiful, inside and out, sexy, caring—utter perfection.”

“Yes, she is,” Drew said.

I felt the bed dip behind me, and then Drew’s fingers were at my back entrance, smearing lubricant. I looked back over my shoulder at him. “You’re going to give me a big head.”

His grin said that he didn’t mind. He positioned his cock at the tight ring around my anus. “Relax, honey. I’ll go slow. Once I’m in, you set the pace.”

I found it hard to believe I could set the pace from my position. Still, I did as he’d directed. Drew pressed forward. Fullness. Glorious fullness. I’d never felt so alive, so vital and sexy. New colors revealed themselves to me, and my head buzzed.

Neal and I both moaned.

I rolled my hips, testing out this new position. Both men slid in and out, a slight movement, but I was so stretched, so sensitive that it was all I needed. I went faster, still keeping the circular motion small. Tingles shot from my pussy and my ass clear to the top of my head and the tips of my toes.

I became a sexual being. I went faster and widened the bucking of my hips. Drew and Neal both gripped me, matching the timing of their thrusts to the rules I unconsciously set with the way I responded.