Mending the Rift (19 page)

THEY ARRIVED
at the registrar’s office, drawing lots of attention because of their security entourage. Gregory strode ahead with Nicholas, clearing the path and making sure one of the registrars would find the time to issue the license.

Luca shifted nervously from foot to foot. They were standing by a secretary in a waiting room rife with pompous magenta velvet armchairs and sofas trimmed with gold. The security personnel took up strategic positions while Luca rubbed circles on his bump, irritated at the way the bump seemed to harden from time to time. He’d recognized this rigidness of his muscles earlier in the day already but hadn’t paid much attention. For some reason, the frequency of this sensation worried him now.

“Are you okay?” Marcus asked, tugging Luca into a corner when he declined to sit down for the umpteenth time.

“Just nervous.”

“You’re white as a sheet, and you’re rubbing your belly way more than usual. Luca, if you’re not feeling well, you have to tell me.”

The waiting room door opened, and Nicholas walked in, smiling. The smile dimmed when he caught sight of Luca huddled close to Marcus.

What if something was wrong with their baby? Maybe the excitement of getting married was too much for him? Or… or maybe it was the sex? Hadn’t he read that sex could lead to labor near the end of the pregnancy? He wasn’t even close to the end, and—

“Luca? Sweetheart, what’s going on?”

“He’s been rubbing his belly ever since we got here, but so far he’s not talking to me,” Marcus complained.

Nicholas rested his hands on the bump but kept his gaze trained on Luca. In a feeble voice, Luca said, “It feels weird.”

“Weird? How? Does—” Nicholas cut himself off when Luca sensed his belly muscles hardening. He gasped, his heart beating far too fast, when his dad patted his swollen belly and said, “That’s what’s frightening you? There’s no need. Those are Braxton-Hicks contractions. Basically, the uterus is training for labor. As long as they’re not regular or painful, all is well, okay?”

“Really?” Luca asked.

Nicholas nodded. “Yes, really. Trust me, I’ve gone through this many times already.”

“Why do we have those… kind of contractions anyway? Male breeders can’t go into labor, so it’s unnecessary.” Luca breathed out and leaned heavily against Marcus.

“Well, centuries ago, males couldn’t become pregnant, and now there are as many male breeders as there are females. Maybe nature is preparing to grace male breeders with a way to push those babies out naturally.”

Luca stared at his dad, aghast at his suggestion. “You’re kidding.”

Nicholas laughed as he tucked a strand of black hair behind his ear. “Of course I’m kidding. What I meant to say was that we’ve grown an additional female reproductive system, and that obviously doesn’t know there’s no way for us to bear a baby. Also, medicine has come a long way. Three centuries ago, a woman couldn’t endure more than three or maybe four C-sections safely. Nowadays, the limit has tripled.”

Luca jolted abruptly. “Oh my God! We can’t marry, we don’t have rings!”

Marcus burst into roaring laughter, catching Luca around the waist when he stared at him from watery eyes. How could Marcus laugh at him when this was a serious matter?

“Oh, Luca, we had the rings made two months ago, remember?” Marcus asked. He pulled out a black box from his inner jacket pocket and held it out to Luca. With a wink, he said, “I even brought them with me. How’s that?”

“That’s… that’s good,” Luca croaked. He hid his face behind his palms, groaning. “I’m making a mess out of this, aren’t I?”

“You’re nervous, that’s all.”

“I’m the one who insisted on us getting married today, and I’m all over the place. Can we still chalk that up to pregnancy hormones?” Luca dropped his palms, even though his cheeks were burning.

“Of course you can,” Nicholas chimed in. “You’re temporarily insane.”

Luca wrinkled his nose. “Dad, I don’t think I like to be seen as insane.”

“It’s only temporarily.” Nicholas shrugged, and his face lit up even more when Gregory strode into the waiting room, scanning the area until he found his husband.

“How can you two still be so nauseatingly in love after so many years?” Luca muttered as he slid his hand into Marcus’s, hissing when hotness engulfed him. “You’re hot. Um, I mean, your hand’s hot.”

Marcus choked on his laughter. “That’s… fortunate, because your hands are icy.”

Luca was considering his answer when another large oak door opened, revealing Harold Whithers, stooped over his cane. “Come on in, gentlemen. When I heard that a registrar was needed to issue a marriage license for you, I offered to do it myself.”

“You can do that?” Luca asked, baffled.

“I’m not only the director of the Northern Confederacy’s Breeding Program; I’m also a registrar. How else would I’ve been able to certify Mr. Gray’s claim as the father to your baby? Now, come in, come in.” Whithers waved them forward, his wrinkled face alight with amusement.

Luca exhaled and squared his shoulders, ignoring his parents’ misty-eyed expressions. Marcus gave his hand a firm squeeze as he paced his steps to Luca’s. They’d taken a seat in front of a voluminous desk when Kyle arrived at the door, accompanied by Keith.

“If I’m to be your best man, you actually have to wait till I’m here, and since the hospital decided to make a fuss, it took me way longer than I’d thought. If it wasn’t for him, I’d probably still be arguing.” Kyle pointed at Keith.

Keith gave them a thumbs-up sign before he slid onto a chair close to the door. “I’ve witnessed all the Walker kids’ marriages. I promise I’ll be quietly sitting in my corner and just observe, but I’m not leaving.”

“No one wants you to leave,” Luca said, casting his bodyguard a soft smile.

Marcus helped Kyle into a chair close to him, ruffling his hair as he did so, which gained him a muttered protest about overbearing older brothers. Once Marcus was settled, Whithers lost no time in reading the obligatory governmental speech that also included how Marcus was supposed to treat Luca due to his breeder heritage. Luca schooled his face into an impassive mask, trying his best to swallow the urge to rant about this old, out-of-date pamphlet.

Whithers threw the paper on the desk, disgust clear on his face. “So much for the official reading,” he said. “Now, I know this is a marriage of love and not of politics, so I’m asking you, Mr. Marcus Gray, do you want to join Mr. Luca Walker in marriage?”

Marcus’s voice was strong and sure when he answered, “Yes.”

Whithers asked Luca the same question, something that was most unusual, as breeders had no choice in the matter once they sat in the registrar’s office. Luca swallowed against the lump in his throat, touched by Whithers’s consideration, even if Luca’s answer was a given. “Yes. Yes, I want to join Marcus in marriage.”

“I hereby declare you wedded,” Whithers intoned. “Please exchange the rings and come to me to sign the register.”

Dazed, Luca held out his hand for Marcus to slip on the ring. With trembling fingers, he slid the ring onto Marcus’s finger as well before he lost his composure and flung his arms around Marcus’s neck, hot tears streaking down his face as he kissed every available inch of Marcus’s face.

Marcus’s hands slid into his hair, stilling his fervent movements, though his eyes shone brightly. In a rough voice that was barely above a whisper, he said, “Let’s sign the book, kitten.”

Luca went where Marcus pointed him, laughing nervously when he signed Luca Gray for the first time. Marcus followed suit, and then Kyle and Nicholas signed too, as their witnesses.

With a flourish, Whithers certified the license and handed it to Luca and Marcus. “May you be blessed with a long and loving marriage.”

A MONTH
after their wedding day, Luca’s first movement each day was still to inspect his hand and roll the wedding band along his finger.

“You’re awfully fond of that little piece of gold,” Marcus remarked, his voice rough with sleep.

Luca shifted from his side to his back, groaning at the pain in his pelvis. Marcus’s eyes became alert in an instant. He propped himself up on an elbow before he cupped Luca’s left cheek in his hand. “Luca? I thought you were doing better with that diastasis.”

“I am. It’s just so bad in the morning. Once I’ve moved around a bit, it’ll get easier and less painful. Our boy likes to live comfortably. Makes me wonder how he’ll be when he’s born.” Luca exhaled deeply, sinking deeper into the mattress as he waited for the pain to ebb away. Their baby had decided he loved to lie in a transverse position, with his back snuggled into Luca’s pelvis and his butt on one end of it, his head on the other side. “At least we don’t have to worry about the way he’s going to be born. Can you imagine if I were a woman and forced to try to bear him naturally?”

“No one would allow a woman to try a natural birth with the position the baby’s in. But for your sake, I hope he’ll turn around soon, so you’ll be in less pain. We can ask the doctor during your appointment today whether they can do something to alleviate the pain.” Marcus dropped a kiss on Luca’s forehead before he pulled the duvet aside, revealing Luca’s baby bump.

Color rose in Luca’s cheek when Marcus shoved the shirt—one of Marcus’s because Luca liked wearing Marcus’s shirts way better than the new ones he’d gotten—aside. He caressed the bump with long strokes of his hands and tender kisses all over. Luca tucked up his legs and clenched his butt muscles. In the last couple of weeks, his sex drive had increased in a way that started to embarrass him. As soon as Marcus touched him, his cock would perk up and his hole twinge, reminding him it needed Marcus’s cock inside.

Luca jumped when Marcus pressed his legs apart, a grin spreading on his face as he, without doubt, discovered Luca’s leaking erection. “I’ve heard from others that their partners lost all interest in sex during their pregnancy, but it seems as if I’ve gotten lucky. You sure seem to glow all the time.”

“Don’t you mean I’m ready to go all the time?” Luca mumbled.

Marcus laughed as he crawled between Luca’s legs, nipping at the tender flesh of Luca’s thighs. “That too. What do you want, Luca?”

More blood rushed into Luca’s cock, and his sac felt swollen and full to the brim. “Oh God. Marcus, I… I really want you to pound my ass.”

“I thought I did that last night?” Marcus slid a finger between Luca’s ass cheeks, probing at Luca’s entrance. Luca shifted closer to Marcus’s hand, sighing in satisfaction when Marcus’s finger slid into him without any hint of resistance. He allowed his legs to fall wide open, offering himself up to Marcus in silent invitation. “Damn, Luca, you’re beautiful.”

“Right. I’m carrying a ball on my front, but you think I’m beautiful.” Luca gasped when Marcus twisted his finger, brushing over his sweet spot, and setting his nerves on fire. “Marcus, please. I need you.”

Marcus groaned, while the slapping sound of flesh reached Luca’s ears. He lifted his head to look over the bump, chuckling at the sight that greeted him. One of Marcus’s hands busied itself with Luca’s pucker, while the other hand administered light slaps against Marcus’s rigid erection.

“I’m not sure slapping your dick is going to be helpful in fucking me.”

With a strangled cry, Marcus gripped the base of his cock and squeezed hard. He withdrew his finger from Luca’s ass, huffing as he grabbed the lube from the nightstand. He drizzled a generous amount over his length, all the time keeping a tight lock on his cock.

Luca batted his eyelashes at him. “Do you need a cock ring? Don’t want you to come prematurely, you know.”

Marcus growled something as he tossed the lube aside. “How do you want it?”

Luca would give almost anything to stay on his back, his legs over Marcus’s broad shoulders and Marcus bending him in half, but with the baby bump, and the pain in his pelvis, that position was out of the question. Pressing his hands against his sides, he carefully rolled over onto his side, and from there rose onto his knees and hands. He crossed his forearms and rested his head on them, making sure his ass stuck out and he had a secure stance on the bed.

“Just fuck me already.”

A moment later, Marcus’s blunt erection nestled in the crack of Luca’s ass. “Shit, a cock ring might be a good idea next time. I could shoot just from looking at you.”

“Please don’t,” Luca said, his voice coming out muffled.

Marcus said nothing. Instead, he spread Luca’s buttocks apart and pushed steadily into Luca’s channel. Luca cried out Marcus’s name, his ass muscles contracting around Marcus’s shaft, eagerly sucking him in deeper. Once Marcus was sheathed to the hilt inside Luca, he stroked a fingertip along Luca’s spine, eliciting a heavy shiver.

“This is going to be quick, Luca.”

“That’s what I want, a quick pounding that I’ll feel for the rest of the day.”

Marcus’s shaft grew in girth inside Luca, a feeling like no other. Luca moaned and clenched around Marcus’s flesh, soaking up the warmth it radiated. Marcus shifted slightly, obviously angling for Luca’s prostate. He found it after a couple shallow thrusts, causing Luca to cry out. Marcus’s hands fastened on Luca’s hips as he set a frantic rhythm. On each stroke, his balls slapped against Luca’s, heightening the sensation. Luca panted while Marcus pumped in and out of him, marking him as his. For the first time in his life, Luca was okay, no, more than okay, with another man owning him.

He wiggled his ass a tad higher in the air, and Marcus groaned his name before he loosened his hold on his pelvis and fisted Luca’s erection. Luca’s body went taut, and he squeezed his eyes shut, only wanting to smell the scent of heady sex around him, the sound of flesh smacking against flesh, interspersed with their moans. Marcus rubbed his thumb over Luca’s slit, smearing the precome all over Luca’s cockhead. The pressure in his ass intensified and so did the pressure on his slit, causing Luca to tremble uncontrollably. When Marcus slid his hand to Luca’s rim, fingering around his pucker, Luca’s breathing stuttered to a halt.