Raiseduponanelbow, I look down at my babies between us on the bed. I’m sure all mothers think their babies are the most beautiful ones ever, but mine truly are. At least in my eyes. Even with the cradle cap that dusts their little heads and their deep blue eyes that are slightly crossed.
“She looks just like you.” Sleep still heavy in his husky voice, Connor locks his gaze to where Ana’s tiny fist clings to the tip of his finger. “They both do.”
I murmur an acknowledgement, but then cringe internally when I see his naked chest. The evidence of my anger faded away throughout the night, but the shame hasn’t. Though I felt justified in the moment—all things considered, I was pretty fucking justified in my feelings, but not in my actions—I felt terrible afterward, and still do.
After I collapsed on top of him last night, emotionally and physically exhausted, he told me more about the tradition that seems like a darker version of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I can’t believe that some man in their family decided to start this and the rest of them have just gone along with it for centuries.
When he began to tell me about what his dad and brother did, I stopped him. I love his family, but I don’t want to know any details about what they may have done. One crazy Shay man is enough for me, and I don’t want to look Mitchell and Amos in the eyes at the next family get-together while knowing what they did.
That’s just too freaking much to ask of me.
But when I really think about it, that vow they say is surprisingly sweet.
“Did you hear that, Rosanna?” A goofy grin splits his face. He’s absolutely smitten with our babies. “She just cooed at me. What is it, baby girl? Tell Daddy all about it, princess.” He rolls to his back and props Ana on his bare chest. “You know what we’re gonna do today? We’re gonna go to the aquarium to see all the pretty fishies, and then—”
Tiny head wobbling on an unsteady neck, Ana draws her dark eyebrows together before she gives a little grunt. Then a noise of another sort altogether fills the room.
I smirk, grateful to have something funny to sweep away any residual tension. “Uh-oh, Daddy. Better add a diaper change in those plans of yours. Isn’t that right, Eli?”
He waves his fists in the air as I lean over to kiss his little nose. A wince crosses my face at the pain that shoots through the side of my left breast. A light red spot bloomed on it sometime in the night, and the tenderness that I felt yesterday has multiplied.
“Are you okay, kitten?” Connor looks up from where he’s changing Ana’s dirty diaper.
“Yeah.” I cautiously prod the area. “It’s pretty sore, though.” Feels a bit denser than the other one, too. Like Eli didn’t drink enough, even though he nursed for as long as he usually does.
“Hold up a sec and let me look at it.” He puts Ana in a bouncer before heading to the bathroom to wash his hands. As if the man needs an excuse to look at my breasts.
Reluctantly, I roll off the bed and put Eli in the other bouncer beside his sister. We need to be getting dressed soon if we want to beat the crowd and be one of the first ones to the aquarium. Connor was right about that, too. Staying tucked away inside only served to worsen my depression and anger, so when he mentioned a little family trip just for us, I jumped at it, not going to throw this olive branch away again.
When I turn around, he’s right there. “Okay, Mrs. Shay, Dr. Connor’s here.” He rubs his hands together and waggles his eyebrows like a lecherous doctor. “What seems to be the problem?”
“Oh, stop it.” I lightly push his chest. “That’s creepy.”
“Creepy?” he protests. “Fine. You can be the hot nurse, and I’ll be the patient with a perpetually hard cock and swollen balls that need drained. By hand or by mouth.”
“Mhm. If I were the nurse, I’d jump at the chance to drain you. But I wouldn’t stop until you were done.” I raise an eyebrow and trail a finger down his chiseled abs, putting last night’s event behind me as his stomach twitches in response. Then further still to his boxer briefs, circling the head of his cock before gripping his balls. “Completely dry with no more left in you. How many rounds do you think you could go with my hands and mouth before you tapped out, old man?”
“Old man?” he scoffs. It feels good to tease with him like this again. Like we’re back to normal. “You vicious wildcat. I’m only thirteen years older than you. And how dare you do me like this when the babies are awake?” His dark gaze promises retribution as he gestures to his growing bulge. “You naughty, naughty kitten. Now, let me see about you.”
He turns surprisingly serious as he runs his hand over my left breast, gently palpating it before comparing it to the right. “I wonder if it might be...” Brown eyes look off to the side as he thinks about something. “Remember when the lactation specialist mentioned the possibility of clogged milk ducts?”
Is that what this could be? I suppose it makes sense. “Vaguely. But how do I get rid of it?”
Connor shows off his teeth in a slow grin. “Seems one of us wasn’t paying attention.” With a lingering press of his lips to my chest, he leaves the room. A minute or two later, I hear the sound of the microwave, and then he reappears with a heat pack and a hand towel. “Let’s try using this first.”
“Then what?”
“Then you’ll get the pleasure of a massage. Courtesy of your husband’s hands and mouth.” Stealing a kiss from my open mouth, he grips my waist and pushes me to the edge of the bed. “Sit.”
Butt firmly planted on the mattress, I watch dubiously as he takes my tank off and kneels between my legs. Good God, that’s an image worth keeping. No wonder men like to see women on their knees giving blowjobs.
Warmth, delicious warmth, covers my naked breast as he places the towel-wrapped heat pack over it. I tip my head back with a relaxed sigh and close my eyes, listening to the occasional cooing of my babies. This feels good. Really good.
All too soon, the heat leaves me and I open my eyes to see his big hand encircle my heavy breast and slowly massage, dragging his fingers down to my areola. “Does this hurt?”
“Not too much. Still a little tender.”
“Keep your eyes on Ana and Eli.” Connor dips his face in the valley of my chest, nuzzling me with his nose. “I love these sweet tits. These pretty little nipples that feed our babies”—he thumbs my puffy tips—“but it’s Daddy’s turn now, and you’re gonna give me every last drop of milk. Aren’t you, little mama?” He laughs as I groan, his hot breath tickling me. Then he takes me into his mouth and nurses from me, tongue firmly massaging the tender area.
