Theirs (22 page)

She was every bit as wonderful as I originally pegged her to be and more. “I love you too, Ellie May.”

Jerry cleared his throat.

Ellie spun us, pressing my back into the bed as she stole one last kiss. She gave Jerry a shit-eating grin before dropping to her side on the right of me.

Jerry immediately moved in, angling himself atop me. His elbows held the bulk of his weight. He caressed my cheeks. “I love you. I’m always here, so long as you want me.”

“
I’ll always want you, Jer. The first day I forget to take my meds you might not want me-”

“
Never.” He shook his head adamantly.

I hoped he meant it. My gut said to trust him. But even the most certain of things were uncertain. It didn’t mean we should stop living though.

Love is all about risk, about wagering your heart. Happiness is choosing to embrace that risk day in and day out.

I was happy, and therefore, I would happily risk my heart every day with them until.

I knew my smile touched my eyes. “I love you, Jeremiah Elliott.”

“
I love you too, sweetie.” His eyes illuminated; flashes of honey flickered like firecrackers in the dark. “Now, about breakfast. What does a man have to do to get a home cooked meal around here?”

Ellie and I both smacked him. “Try asking politely, asshole,” she snarled.

“
What she said.” I pursed my lips, turning my nose up.

His voice was sweet as sugar. “Sweetie, darling, beautiful sex goddess-”

“
Oh, brother.” Ellie rolled her eyes, grimacing.

“
Curvy temptress, honey, delight of my day-”

“
Overkill.” I shoved him off of me. I wasn’t actually strong enough, but he moved anyways. “I’ll make breakfast tomorrow on one condition.”

He narrowed his gaze suspiciously. “I’m listening.”

I looked directly at him, unashamed of what I wanted. “You have to tie me up and eat me afterwards.”

“
Deal.” He didn’t hesitate.

“
El, if you want breakfast, you have to let me eat you at some point tomorrow.”

Her hand dove for my pussy, circling my clit. “What’s mine is yours, babe, anytime you want it; no asking required.”

“
Does that include razors? I’m forever losing mine.” I was only half joking. I used to always steal Billy’s when we lived together. He used to get so mad when I did that.

“
I’ll do one better and shave you.” She kissed my neck, sending a shiver of delight down my spine. There was something erotic about the idea.

“
You two are spoiling me.” I wasn’t the least bit upset by that.

“
Good,” they both stated in unison.

“
I’m ruined for anyone else.” I frowned.

“
Good,” they repeated.

“
How would you feel about adding a fourth?”

They both froze, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

I snickered. “I’m kidding!” My titters morphed into full fledge laughter as I rolled onto my stomach. “Goodnight. I love you both.”

“
You damn near gave me a heart attack. I can barely stand sharing you with Jer and he’s my best friend. The third wheel would be a target on my dartboard. Not gonna happen, sweet cheeks. I’ll eat you up and down every day, I’ll add a second dildo to my strap on, but I am not letting any other man or woman touch you. I won’t hesitate to chop off limbs and sell them on the black market. I’m a cop. I have a rolodex of dealers with warrants holding out for a deal like this. I have no-”

I lifted up and captured her lips to shut her up. I drew back with a rough bite. “No more. Got it. Clearly we all have triggers. I get it. I was just kidding, but feel free to go down on me whenever you want.”

“
I plan to,” she snapped.

“
Well so do I,” I growled.

“
Put away your kitten claws and go to bed,” Jerry grumbled.

I looked at Ellie. She looked at me. “You thinking what I’m thinking?” I asked, lifting one brow.

“
Yup.” She nodded. “Now!”

We pounced on Jerry. Without missing a beat, he trapped both of us in his arms. “I thought humans tire easily,” he teased.

“
Apparently when you’re sleeping with sexy werewolves you recover quicker.”

“
Convenient.” He smirked.

Ellie escaped his hold and punched him hard, the pop of flesh-to-flesh echoing. “Jerk!”

“
Brat.” He scowled at her.

“
You love me,” she declared, giving him a cheeky wink.

“
Sometimes,” he conceded, his features smoothing out.

“
I love you guys.” I smiled, slumping against Jerry.

“
Love you too,” they replied.

Another thing I learned was that Ellie and Jerry were in sync in many ways, but most important, they both loved me, bi-polar, leggings, excess sexiness and all. They were double the love, double the orgasms and double the fun. And what girl in her right, or wrong, mind would give that up?

Not this one.

Happiness didn’t see labels. Love didn’t care about sex, race or size. They both were beautifully blind and absolutely wonderful. Yeah. I learned that from Ellie and Jerry too, and it was my favorite lesson of them all.

—

EPILOGUE

2 years later…

December 24th

KATE

“
Massage harder, Jer. Her poor feet still look like over-stuffed sausages,” Ellie commanded. She furiously worked her fingers into my flesh, doing the best she could.

He cut his eyes at her, issuing a warning growl, but never stopping his movements. He continued to rub my feet with force and vigor as Ellie did the same to my shoulders behind me.

Truth was, I needed this. My muscles ached and my feet did feel like over-stuffed sausages, ones that were about to explode out of their casing.

Abruptly, I felt an enormous amount of pressure in my lower abdomen. My mouth fell open, my face contorting as I gripped my belly.

“
Kate?” Jerry analyzed every part of me, pausing his hands.

“
Oh shit.” Ellie drew soothing circles over my back.

My eyes widened as the pressure increased. “Stand me up! Stand me up!” I yelled. I blew out a breath slowly, but beyond that, I remembered nothing the Lamaze teacher had said.

“
Ellie, time this,” Jerry ordered. He slid me out of bed. He positioned me before him, my face nestled in his chest, allowing him to reach over me and caress my lower back.

I heard commotion around the room, but was too focused on my sudden urge to pee. Whoever said pregnancy was beautiful had never gone through it.

My stomach muscles relaxed right as a huge gush of liquid soaked my clothes before splashing to the floor.

“
Showtime!” Ellie squealed. “I’ll drive!”

“
No!” Jerry and I yelled in unison.

Ellie threw some towels on the floor, eyeing both of us. “You can’t drive, sweet cheeks.” She winked, pressing a loving hand to my belly. She turned on Jerry. “And you! You shouldn’t drive because I’d be punching the shit out of you every time Kate had another contraction.”

“
Speaking of.” I hunched over, squeezing whoever was there. I think I had a hold of each of them.

“
Shit. They’re coming close.” Ellie ran a hand up and down my back.

“
That’s it, sweetie. Just breathe through it. You’re doing great.” Jerry drew circles over my belly.

It was more irritating than relieving though. “Hand off!” I snapped.

He instantly jerked it back.

“
Someone’s in the dog house,” Ellie tsked.

Jerry snarled. “Not now, Ellie!”

The painful pressure faded, allowing me to straighten. “Can I please get some dry clothes?”

Jerry jutted his chin at Ellie. “Get them.”

Ellie gave me an encouraging smile. “He may be to blame, but I’m not leaving you.” She kissed my temple.

I smiled at her. “You never have.”

Ellie had been at every doctor’s appointment and indulged in every craving with me alongside Jerry. She shopped for maternity clothes with me; she even worked with Maggie to throw me a baby shower.

Maggie had been just as wonderful. If I ever missed my mother, Maggie was there, bossing everyone around for me. And, she and Ellie had been thrilled to help me decorate the nursery in pink.

I took a deep breath as she left to grab clean clothes for me. I rubbed my protruding belly. I grinned up at Jer. “You ready for another girl to boss you around?”

His eyes shone with love. “Absolutely.” He caressed my stomach, right as she began to kick. He kissed me softly, ending it right as another contraction took over.

He helped me through it, just as he helped me through everything. I was truly a lucky woman. Our wallets weren’t bursting, but our hearts were. I didn’t want for anything.

“
Hurry up, Ellie!” Jerry called. His features twisted with concern.

I exhaled a final time before righting myself again. “You’re not really going to let her drive, are you?”

“
You just worry about Isabellah May and yourself.” He glanced back with a huff aimed at Ellie, who rushed through the bedroom door with an armful of choices.

“
From what I read, they’re gonna be all up in your cooch, so I brought you dresses. But I didn’t know which one would be most comfortable,” she babbled. I could tell she was nervous. My heart warmed. We all were, but Jerry showed it the least.

“
Any!” I hissed as another contraction hardened my belly. “I thought they said these suckers started small?” I hunched over, grabbing my stomach, as if I could somehow hold it up.

They both averted their gazes.

I scowled at them. “Talk. Now. Because I feel like my spine is about to snap before my belly splits open, and I swear all my organs are getting squashed right now as pain swallows my lower body, and, dang it, I deserve answers for that kinda torture!”

“
It may happen quicker for a were mating.” Ellie pursed her lips, avoiding my glare. “Upside is Bellah will be here sooner. Downside is it might be a tad more intense.”

Another bout of pain consumed my womb and lower back, eliciting tears. “I don’t know if I can handle this intensity for much longer.”

Jerry cradled me to him, as much as possible with my big belly. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but I promise you’ll get through this. We’ll be here every step of the way. And, before you know it, our baby girl will be the best Christmas gift we ever received.”

“
Says the jerk who feels none of this,” I snipped.

But the truth was, I did survive. And Isabellah was the best Christmas gift we ever received.