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The bite of his fingers kept her from speeding up and rushing the enlightening experience of sex with no one at the helm. For once, neither of them was the one with all the authority, and neither of them acquiesced to the other. If he dared think it, he might believe they were making love. “A higher power than us, sugar.”
Connie cupped her breasts, tweaking her nipples, kneading the supple flesh he loved to get his hands on. His touch drifted up her sides, skimming over her curves until he covered her hands, urging her to pinch and tug on the peaked buds just a little harder, feeling the answering clench around his shaft. One spasm turned into two, two into a half-dozen. The orgasm breezed through her, stretching out as the steady rhythm of his hips nurtured it further.
“Oh, shit,” she whispered. “Oh shit, oh shit, oh—”
“Shit,” Thane finished breathlessly, a second orgasm seizing her internal muscles and milking the cum from his balls before he even realized his own release was within reach. With a shocked laugh, he caught her as she tipped forward onto his chest, then kissed her sweetly. “That was sneaky, Connie.”
“What the hell was that?” she asked with no small amount of befuddlement. She made no move to slide off him, but her eyes met his, still glowing with her climax. The vibrant flush along her cheekbones and throat might as well have been a brand claiming her as his. “I never…I don't come that quick.”
“Apparently, you do. I suppose I should carry you to the shower, get this beautiful body soaped up and washed off.” His palm ran down her back, then he froze. “Oh, fuck me, I'm an idiot. Condom. I forgot the fucking condom.” He nudged her chin up, panic squeezing his chest as he thought of the repercussions of his stupidity. “I'm sorry, Connie. I'm so sorry, I wasn't even thinking. I'm clean, I promise you. I—”
Connie slapped her fingers over his mouth to halt his anxious ramblings. “I got tested last year, and there was no one between then and the night Atticus topped me. He used protection, and the only person I've been with since then is you, exclusively. Relax, stud. It's not the first time someone got carried away and engaged the mini-brain instead of the big one. Aside from the mess we're making on your sheets, there's no harm, no foul.”
“Pregnancy?” he mumbled from behind her hand. The thought of Connie knocked up with his baby was a punch to the gut that made him quiver with excitement. Kids had been the goal when he was younger, when he was immersed in war and dreaming of leaving a legacy to follow in his footsteps, the way his father had. He'd surrendered that dream when he’d taken the leap into the classified project, and again when he’d gone out on his own with only his rifle and his reputation.
Could this be a resurrected dream, fueled by new love and an old yearning?
Did it matter he was forty-six? Not to him. He would love and dote on a baby, no matter if he was ninety-three and sucking down Viagra smoothies to keep Connie satisfied. But did she feel the same? She was only thirty-four, she was mired in her career, and up to her neck in classified information that could sink her.
She smiled and settled back on his chest. “I guess that's something we haven't talked about. I'm on the Pill, Thane. A pregnancy isn't likely, but no method of birth protection is fool proof apart from abstinence. Is being a father something you want?”
More than winning the lottery, he thought. “Yeah. I'd take the opportunity with both hands if it was offered.” Not sure if he was ready for the answer he was about to ask for, he added, “How about you? Motherhood on your agenda for the future?”
“I've never been with anyone who I'd consider father material. Kevin and David were too immature to even think about starting a family with. They were young and their heads were screwed on right, but that didn't mean they weren't full of the chase. I was enough for them when they needed me, but when I let them go, they didn't hesitate to walk out of the door. I imagine they'd have done the same had a baby materialized into our midst.”
Thane bristled. “That's not me, sugar. I don't shirk my responsibilities, and if we ever find ourselves with a pint-sized Connie, I won't be walking away from you or the baby. There'll be a ring on your finger if there isn't one already.”
A tremor rippled through her, but her voice remained calm. “Marriage and family, that's where you're aiming for?”
No point in lying, even by omission. He couldn't deny he was leaning in that direction with her. Dedicating nearly two decades of his life to the military hadn't deterred him from believing there was someone out there who deserved the love he had to give, and fate had dropped him off on Connie's porch, ringing the doorbell to get her attention.
The army was no longer part of the equation. He had memories he would treasure, and he'd be grateful to his superiors, his buddies, until the day he died for what they’d given him. But his time there was done. There wasn’t enough money or a dark enough threat to make him consider walking away from Connie, no matter how short the job.
Thane drew a cross on her back with a fingertip. “X marks the spot, sugar. I'm aiming for everything I can get my hands on from you. Your heart, your life, your memories. Marriage, babies, a goddamn Golden Retriever and a white picket fence. I want it all, to share it all with you, if that's what you want too.”
“Who's wearing the collar?”
“We'll take it in turns. Hell, we'll get matching ones and wear them all the time. I won't ask you yet, Connie. There's so much more I need to know about you, and God knows there's a whole load of my shit to tell you. But I have no doubts about where we're heading in the long run.”
“I like that you're sure. Let's get that shower and some lunch, then I guess…I need to make some phone calls. I'll give you my secrets, Thane, because I want the same as you. The house with the fence, weddings rings and baby clothes to coo over. Even a Golden Retriever. But before I can do that, I need permission from the people those secrets affect most. Okay?”
“Absolutely, sugar.” He stroked her hair and dozed for a little while, feeling her fingers trace his ribs in the same absent manner. His heart was full to bursting, despite the cloud of his past hanging over his head, and he was processing the amount of trust it was costing Connie to take this step for him.
But there was one thing spinning around in his head that he couldn't stop thinking about.
She was his, for better or worse.
*
Ninety minutes later, Connie paced around Thane's living room as her lover opened his door to Atticus, Jasper, and Anarchy. The phone calls she'd made had instigated a group meeting, although half the group was absent. Braun would be joining them via speakerphone while Bodie napped, Liam was overseeing a deep clean at Avalon, and Loki was working his ass off at his friend's tattoo shop in Phoenix.
The questions and doubts she'd thought about last night were slapping at her. Was it too soon? Who could it backfire on? Would Thane deem them all criminals and kick them out of the house she was growing to love, with orders never to lay eyes on him again?
“Hey, guys. Come on in, welcome to my humble abode. Can I get you anything to drink?”
Jesus, did he have to be such a gracious host? Connie ran her hands through her hair, unconcerned she was dressed in Thane's T-shirt and a pair of his clean boxer shorts. They covered her to mid-thigh, and she was slightly amused by Thane's tactics. He was using his shirt and her state of undress as a statement to the visiting Masters—she belonged to him, period. She believed her Dom had given serious thought to marking her in other ways—peeing on her leg or adorning her with his cum—but apparently he'd reconsidered that course of action.
Connie let him be possessive because, well, she kinda liked it when he growled and snapped at the other Doms. It made her feel special, as though he'd truly claimed her for his own, and although her dominant side was sincerely pissed at being displayed as submissive, both halves of her were finally united in their need to be loved.
