Nightclub Sins: A Billionaire Romance Series by Michelle Love (4)

“K.” He walked back out, leaving the door wide open.

As I dried off, I thought about how nice Nix was. Things might really work out with us. Not that I expected him to fall in love with me or anything like that, but it would be nice to get along well with him. I might be living with the guy for the next eighteen years or so, and getting along would make that easier.

Wrapping the towel around myself, I went to grab the garment bag and saw him watching television. “How are you feeling?”

“Pretty good,” I said, taking the bag of clothes and heading back to the bathroom to get dressed. I found another very expensive dress in the bag and pulled on the dark blue knee-length dress. It zipped up the back, and I couldn’t seem to get it all the way up.

Doing the best I could, I headed out and asked him to zip me the rest of the way up. I slipped on the flats and we headed out. His hand on the small of my back felt nice. The way people looked at us as we came into the breakfast area had me smiling as they gave us polite nods and morning greetings.

It was very unlike the way people had looked at us when we’d come to the same place nearly a month ago. Now we were seen differently than we’d been before—something closer to a couple than a dirty one-night stand. And it made me feel even better.

A hostess told us to sit anywhere we liked after letting us know that the cost of the buffet would be added to the hotel room bill. The food was decadent, and everything looked and smelled terrific.

Nixon led me to a table near the window. “Like this? Or want to sit somewhere else?”

“This is fine, Nix.” I placed my purse on the chair, and we headed to the buffet.

He stood close to me as we filled our plates, pointing out healthy things like the fresh fruits and telling me they’d be great for the baby and me. A smile stayed on my face as he doted on me and our little unborn baby already.

When we sat down to eat, he reached across the table, taking my hand. “Thanks again for letting me know about this so early on. I doubt most women would be as nice as you are about this. Would you like me to set up a moving service to get your things to my place today?”

“Today?” I asked, just before I put a piece of delicious hickory smoked bacon into my mouth.

“Sure, why not today?” he asked and then cut his stack of pancakes, taking a bite.

“Well, I have to let my landlord know I’m moving. I have a lease. He might not let me out of it.” I took a drink of apple juice and waited to see what he thought about that.

“I’ll pay to get you out of the lease. Should we go see him today and get that taken care of?” he asked, putting his fork down and looking at me. “I want to take you home with me.”

Flattered, I had no idea what to say. There were things I had to take care of. Not a ton of things, but there were some. I had laundry I had to get done, and I’d need to pack my things. I’d have to get boxes to do that. “Nix, I’ll need about a week to get things done.”

“A week?” He looked stunned as he shook his head. “That’s too long. I want to get you to a doctor.”

“I don’t think this is an emergency,” I said with a laugh. “And I don’t think we’ll get an appointment that quickly anyway. A week’s not that long.”

He looked at his plate then picked up a piece of bacon, munching on it as he thought about what I’d said. His brow furrowed, probably thinking about what he could say to speed me up. “I can stay with you then; help you get everything done.”

My apartment was a complete wreck. Being sick—or pregnant, I guess—had left me too tired to do much of anything. In no way did I want him to see the mess the place had become. “Nix, can I be honest with you?”

“Please do,” he said then reached out and took my hand. “You can always be honest with me, Katana.”

“Great,” I sighed as I readied myself to come clean with him. “My place is a wreck right now. I don’t want you to see it. Since I’ve been so sick…”

He gave my hand a squeeze as he interrupted me. “Stop right there. If you think I’m going to judge you about the state of your apartment, you’re dead wrong. As a matter of fact, let me hire a maid service to get things cleaned up for you. Let me take care of you.” He shook his head before changing his mind about what he’d said. “No—scratch that. I am going to take care of you. I’m hiring a maid service to clean your place. I’m hiring movers to pack your things and bring them to Malibu. And I’m going to go with you to talk to your landlord to settle any money owed for breaking the lease. No discussion.”

I didn’t know what to think or say to all that. But then my mouth opened and out came the words I’d had no idea would come. “No, I’ll take care of those things myself, Nix. I’ll be at your place in a week. And I’ll take care of any money my landlord says I owe. Thank you, but I can do this part on my own.”

Now where did that come from?

Chapter 15

Nixon

I had to admit that Katana had stupefied me when she flat-out turned down my help. But it did let me know the woman was no gold digger, not that I’d truly suspected that anyways. It’d been a week since I’d left her to take care of things on her end, and I expected her to show up at any time. The movers had already brought her things to my place the day before, and everything had already been put away. She’d come home to find she had nothing to do. I hoped she’d be pleased about that.

Before I left her in Portland, I gave her a house key and wrote down the code to the security system for her, just in case I wasn’t home when she arrived for some reason. But I couldn’t wait for her to come home, so I took off early to be there.

When the front door opened around noon, I hopped up, feeling excited about our new beginning. “Hey!”

My face dropped, and I stopped right where I was as I saw it wasn’t Katana, but Shanna who’d come in. “Hey, yourself. What in the hell are you doing home so early on a workday?”

I hadn’t said one word about my news to anyone. And out of everyone in my life, I knew Shanna would be the one to think what I was doing was stupid.

Sitting back on the sofa, I said, “I’ve got something going on. And just what are you doing here? And why aren’t you at work?”

“It’s Friday. I always get off early on Friday’s. And I often come over here to lie out on your deck and chill from the weekly grind for a few hours.” She took the seat across from me. “You did give me your key, and you did tell me to come over anytime I wanted.”

I had done that. And now I kind of regretted doing so. How would Shanna take Katana, and vice versa?

Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on my thighs and steepled my fingers, trying to think of how I should tell Shanna my news. There really was no right way to tell her about this, so I just went for it. “Okay, you need to know something. Things are about to change. And I mean a whole hell of a lot.”

I saw her eyes move across the room to the brand-new rocking chair I’d bought for us for when the baby was here. She jerked her chin at it. “Why the new rocker, Grandpa?”

She’d left me a perfect opening, and I went for it. “I’m going to be a father, Shanna.”

Her blue eyes came back to me, and her jaw hung open. “No!”

I nodded and sat back. “The woman I told you about, the one who’d been on my mind so much …”

“The mindless whore?” she gasped.

“Hey!” I narrowed my eyes at her. “Shanna, you’ve been my best friend for a very long time, but I’m not about to let you talk that way about the mother of my child. She’s not what you think she is. She’s actually a freelance book cover designer, and a sweet woman. She’d thought we’d be fine, but she’d forgotten to take her birth control pills before we met that night at the club.”

“Sure she did,” Shanna said as she narrowed her eyes right back at me. “This whore might not be mindless after all. She might be very devious. Going to a club like that, filled with rich men—she knew exactly what she was doing. You’re a fool, Nixon. Lucky for you, I can take care of this gold digging bitch.”

“You won’t be taking care of a thing, Shanna. Katana isn’t at all what you think she is. She’d had a hell of a rough week and forgot to take the pills. I believe her.” I got up and paced, trying to calm myself down. She’d gotten me pretty damn mad, which didn’t happen very often, especially with her.

“Nixon, you need to face the facts. She used you to get her broke ass pregnant so she’d have a meal ticket she could use the rest of her pitiful life.” Shanna got up too and walked toward me, grabbing me by the shoulders to stop my pacing. “You’ll need to get a DNA test done once the kid’s born. If it is yours, you should get custody of it and leave her ass out in the cold. I’ll help you raise the kid, and you know your parents would drop everything to come help you too. Don’t let this tramp screw you any further than she already has.”

As I stood there looking into the eyes of this woman who I’d always trusted, I didn’t know what to think. What if she was right?

I didn’t know Katana Reeves at all. I knew so little about her, and yet I’d already made a huge commitment to her. Shanna might be right about everything. But what could I do now?

“She’ll be here today. I asked her to come live with me,” I blurted out.

Shanna let me go and turned around, slapping her forehead. “Shit! Are you fucking serious right now? Why in the hell would you do something that damn drastic, Nixon?”

“I want to do what’s right. Look, you really don’t know her. She’s not what you think. If she were a gold digger, then she’d have let me do all I wanted to do for her. She wouldn’t let me spend a dime to get her out here. She offered to pay half the bills here, which I said no to, of course.”

Shanna spun around with a terrible frown on her face. “Nixon, please tell me you can see through all of that. Sure, why not take on the little expenses of moving all her things and whatever else she had to do? In the end, she’ll be rich—because you’re being a fool.”

I just couldn’t see Katana being that type of person. “She’d never even been to that club before. She’s a foster kid with no family she knows of. I couldn’t leave her to fend for herself while carrying my baby. She’s been sick with the pregnancy …”

“Is that what she told you?” Shanna asked as her hands went to her narrow hips. “Because people can lie, you know.”

“She’s lost weight—at least a good ten pounds, and in a very short amount of time. She’s not lying. I want to be a part of this whole thing. I want to share this with her. Understand or not, it doesn’t matter. I’m moving her in with me, and we’re going to raise this child together.”

“Are you saying you’re going to marry her?” she asked, then blew her blonde bangs out of her eyes.

“I didn’t say that. We’re not in love. We’ve only been together twice. It would be insane to ask her to marry me, right?” I asked, as it kind of had been on my mind, the idea to make things real between us. The last week had me thinking about her even more than I had been before she’d told me her news. I kept picturing her beautiful face, hearing her delicate voice, and I missed her even more than I had in the first place.

“This entire thing is insane, so yes,” she answered. “Asking her to marry you would be such a giant mistake.”

I sat down and put my head in my hands. Shanna’s reaction was the exact reason I hadn’t told a soul about what I was doing with Katana. Without other people’s input, I’d made every decision quite easily. But now I was second guessing everything I’d decided.

“I miss her, Shanna. You know I already missed her before.” I decided to do some confessing to my best friend. Maybe I’d been wrong to hide so much from her. Maybe that was why she’d taken this firm position, because she didn’t understand everything. “When we got back from Texas, I had already decided I was getting back on the jet and going to Portland to find her. But she called me before I even started heading her way. When we met at my hotel, we couldn’t keep our hands off one another and ended up in bed before she could even tell me a thing.”

She looked stunned. “You hid that from me? Why?”

“I knew you would’ve tried to stop me.” I looked at her and hoped she could see how I really felt about Katana. “I didn’t want to take Bianca to the bar that night because I had Katana on my mind. I’ve had her on my mind since I left her that first day. I have no idea if she’ll ever fall in love with me, but I can tell you this—I’m on the fast track to falling in love with her. But I won’t push her about that. I don’t want her to feel she has to love me for me to be in the baby’s life.”

“Well, fuck, dude.” She shook her head.

And her words just about summed it all up.

Chapter 16

Katana

As I drove up the hill toward the address Nix had given me, my GPS told me the next house was my destination. Someone was coming out the front door, a tall, lithe, pretty blonde—and she didn’t look too happy as she got into her car and sped off in the opposite direction.

Pulling into the driveway she’d just left, I found a bit of jealousy piercing my heart. Maybe she’s just the maid.

Shrugging off the bit of negative emotion, I readied myself to go into what would be my home for the next little while. I didn’t have high hopes of staying forever in Nixon’s home. While his intentions were good, I assumed that sometime in the future he’d find a woman who was good for him—someone clearly in his league, a thing I wasn’t.

Getting out of the car, I grabbed my purse and the overnight bag I’d packed for my brief stay at a motel in Portland, which I’d gone to after making sure the movers got everything from my old place. They’d taken off right away, aiming to get my things to Nixon’s ahead of my arrival. Now I’d have to get inside and try to get things put away so my crap wouldn’t be looming in boxes, taking up space.

When I got to the door, I went to punch in the code to disarm the security system before I used the key to open the door, just as Nix had told me to. But I thought it might be best to ring the bell instead, just in case he was home, which I couldn’t tell from out here as his garage was closed.

When the door opened, I saw Nix’s handsome face. “Hey, why’d you ring the bell? I told you to come on in.” He wasted no time pulling me inside and hugging me. “I’ve missed you.”

His arms around me did what they always seemed to do—made me wet and aching for him. When he closed the door and pinned me to it, I got the feeling his body reacted much as mine did.

He looked at me with hungry eyes, and I ran my hands over his bearded face. “It’s grown even more. You look so dangerous.”

Leaning down, he kissed me softly. “Good, that’s exactly what I was going for. Did you miss me at all?”

Only every waking moment.

I didn’t want to go that far. It was never my intention to make him feel like I wanted more than he was willing to give me. “I might’ve.”

His hands moved down my arms as he pressed his bulge against me. “You have this crazy effect on me.”

I laughed but stopped short when I heard someone in the kitchen. “Someone’s here?”

“Yeah, the maid.” He kissed me again. “Damn, I guess I should introduce you to her.”

So the woman I saw wasn’t the maid … then who was she?

I kept my thoughts to myself. “Yes, you should introduce us. After that, I really need to get to work putting my things away.”

“No need, I had that all taken care of,” he said, moving to one side and draping his arm across my shoulders.

“You had everything unpacked and put away? Already?” I was shocked and amazed and thankful.

“Yeah, I had the movers do some, and my maid and her son did the rest. I hope you don’t mind.” He stopped and pointed at a rocking chair that sat near the glass doors, which led outside to a gorgeous wooden deck. “I bought that yesterday for us to rock our baby in. Do you like it?”

The wooden rocker had been whitewashed, making it look rustic. “It’s nice. I do like it. How thoughtful you are.”

He shrugged and moved on, pulling me with him. “I don’t know what’s getting into me.” When we stepped into the kitchen, my eyes landed on a middle-aged woman who was a little red in the face from cleaning the inside of a cabinet. “Mona Black, I’d like you to meet the lady of the house, Katana Reeves.”

Wiping her hands on her white apron, she made her way to me. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.” I shook her hand and took in her friendly smile. “Mr. Slaughter has told me your good news. Congratulations.”

I looked at Nix and wondered why on earth he’d have this woman, who was clearly older than him, calling him such a formal name. Whatever his preference was, I wasn’t about to be called ma’am or Miss Reeves. “Thank you. It’s nice to meet you. And please call me Katana.”

“I’ll do that.” She went back to what she was doing before, still talking. “I’ve planned roasted chicken with asparagus and wild rice for dinner this evening. Will that be okay with you, Katana?”

I looked at Nix, who smiled at me then winked. “She works for you too, Katana.”

Not sure I liked that at all, I answered, “Anything you make will be fine with me. Just keep on doing what you’ve been doing for Nix. I don’t need any special treatment.”

“You don’t hesitate to let me know if you want anything special, Katana. That is what I’m paid to do, after all—look after you guys.” She got back to work as Nixon pulled me away from the kitchen.

“Let me show you around.” He pointed out the glass doors. “That’s the deck. There’s a set of stairs that lead down to the beach.” He had my hand in his and led me across the large living room. “On the other side of the kitchen is a formal dining room that I rarely use.” He pointed to a door under the stairs. “That’s a closet where things are stored. Next to this is the room we’ll leave as the guestroom.” Then up the stairs we went, and he pointed to the room at the end of the long hallway. “That’s my bedroom back there. The door on the left is the baby’s, and the one on the right is yours. You have access to a balcony through a set of French doors. You and I share that balcony; my room has another set of French doors that lead out to it as well.”

“This place is gorgeous, Nix. I can’t believe I get to call it home for a while,” I gushed. Then I thought about the maid we’d left back in the kitchen, and looked at him as I put my hand on his chest. “Since I’m here, I can help with the daily chores. I can wash our clothes and keep things clean up here in our rooms and bathrooms. If you won’t let me pay you anything, then I want to help out around the house.”

He chuckled. “No way. I’m paying the maid to do that work. You wouldn’t want to put Mona out of a paying job, now would you?” He pulled me along with him and opened the door to my new bedroom. “What do you think? We can change it up any way you want.”

“It’s perfect just the way that it is,” I said as I looked at the gorgeous furnishings. The bed, a small desk, and the bedside tables were all made of cherry wood. A very large flat screen television hung on the wall, making it easy to lie in bed and watch it—which I might do whenever I wasn’t gazing out the windows or doors at the perfect view of the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. “This is more than I ever expected.”

Nix’s hand went into his pocket and came back with what looked to be a credit card. “This is for you. I want you to buy whatever you want or need.”

I shook my head as I held up my hands in protest. “Nix, I can’t take that. I have my own money.”

He took my right hand and placed the card in my palm. “You will take this. I know you have your own money, but I want you to have access to more than just that. Just take it and don’t fight me on it. Please.”

I’d take it, but I wasn’t planning to ever use it.

I laid it and my bag and purse on the bed. “Thank you, Nix. Thank you for everything.”

He took both my hands in his and kissed them. “Thank you, Katana Reeves. I can honestly say that I’ve never felt more at home than I feel with you here. You and I will make a happy home for our child, I can tell that already.”

“What kid wouldn’t be happy here?” I asked as I glanced around the room again.

“I mean happy with us. You and me,” he clarified, then kissed me and pulled me in close. His hands moved over my back then down to my ass, pulling me to him.

I moaned and melted into him. This wasn’t what I’d expected, but I was happy he wanted me sexually. I wanted him that way too. But with the sex, we ran the risk that feelings might get in our way of making this work for our baby.

When he released my lips, I asked, “Nix, is what we’re doing really smart? I mean, I love having sex with you—you know I do. No one could fake that. But should we be doing this?”

His sigh was long, and his eyes drooped a bit. “You don’t want to anymore?”

I did want to. I wanted to very badly. But I didn’t know how smart it was to keep doing the things that other couples would do. I bit my lip then finally said, “I don’t want to force a relationship on you. Having sex will have some effects—on me at least. I can’t stop my feelings for you from developing if we continue as we have been.”

He let me go and turned away from me, rubbing his head. “I want you, Katana.” He turned back around. “Do you want me?”

I nodded. “But I don’t think it’s smart.”

“Then sex is off the table?”

Is it?

Chapter 17

Nixon

Katana’s eyes stared a hole in the floor. She looked as if she was contemplating actually take sex off the table. So I had to step in. I took her chin in my hand and made her look at me. “Hey, I don’t want to stop anything from happening with us, either. If that’s what you’re thinking, just stop doing that. We have some pretty amazing chemistry. Why try to act like we don’t?”

The fear in her blue eyes became evident. “I’m just afraid …”

I kissed her plump red lips with one feather-soft kiss. “I can see that. Don’t be afraid of anything, Katana. Let’s just ride this wave, doing whatever we want. Let’s not let the fear of what might happen stand in our way of being happy with what we have right now.”

“Which is what exactly?” she asked before running her hands up my arms and resting them on my shoulders. “I mean what are we, Nix?”

“Two people who happen to be extremely attracted to each other, but are doing things backward. We’re having a baby while also getting to know one another and seeing what the future might hold for us.” I kissed her again, softly and sweetly.

When our lips parted, I loved the smile that moved over her face. “Okay. I think I can handle that.” Her long dark lashes fluttered as a blush covered her cheeks. “I’ve got one more thing to ask you.”

“Shoot,” I said, then kissed the tip of her adorable nose. “If we have a girl, I hope she has this precious little turned up nose, just like you do.”

She giggled, and the blush went a shade deeper. “You’re so sweet, Nix. Being pregnant with your child, I—I don’t have any intentions of being with other men.” She looked at me, and I saw concern in her eyes. “What about you?”

“Me neither, but then again I’ve never been with any men.” I chuckled, and she smacked my chest lightly.

“You know what I mean,” she said with a scowl on her pretty face. “Are you going to stop seeing other women?”

Oh boy, things just got real, didn’t they?

Was I going to take myself off the market? Was I ready to do that? I didn’t even know Katana that well at all. What if there were things about her that just didn’t sit well with me?

She could have some nasty habits I just couldn’t cotton to. I mean, who knew if we’d actually get along or not?

But looking into her eyes I told myself that I should forgo seeing other women until I knew for certain that she and I weren’t compatible. “I think I can be satisfied with just little ol’ you. We don’t have to put this agreement in stone. We have a lot to get to know about one another before we decide whether we’re interested in pursuing more later on if we want. But for now, yeah, I’ll stay away from other women, and you stay away from other men.”

She let out a big breath. “Good.”

Then she kissed me, and we fell into that blissful state of just being together. It seemed the most natural thing to me, being with her. But as we continued kissing and my cock grew, I heard her tummy growling and stopped the kiss—if I didn’t stop now I knew this would lead all the way to the bed. “You’re hungry.”

“Not so hungry that we need to stop where we were headed,” she protested.

I wasn’t having any of that. I took her hand in mine, leading her out the bedroom door. “I’m getting you something to eat. I’ll have Mona make you a sandwich to tide you over until dinner’s ready.”

She lagged behind, whining, “Really Nix, I can wait for dinner. I’m not that hungry. My tummy has just started growling a lot—I have no idea why that is.”

I had to laugh. Was she really so clueless? “Baby, you have a little human you’re growing inside of you. You need to eat a lot more so our kid will be healthy.”

Taking her straight into the kitchen, I didn’t see Mona anywhere and figured she was doing something elsewhere. So I sat Katana down and went to the fridge to make her a sandwich myself. “Ham?” I asked.

“I kind of hate ham. Do you have turkey?” she asked then tried to get up. “I can make my own sandwich, Nix.”

I turned around and placed my hands on her shoulders. “I’ve got this. So turkey and Swiss?” I asked as I found some sliced Swiss cheese in the lunch meat drawer.

“Sounds great. And thank you,” she said, then pulled out her cell and looked at her social media while I got to work.

A beep from the alarm system alerted me that it was being deactivated again and my stomach went tight. I knew there were only four people who had the code to my system, and three of them were already in the house.

“That would be Shanna,” I told Katana, watching her eyes go big.

“Shanna? Who’s that?” she asked.

Shanna came into the kitchen before I could answer her. And she didn’t wait one second for me to introduce the two. “I’m Shanna, Nixon’s best friend. You must be the woman who says she’s pregnant by him.”

Katana got up and extended her hand in a polite gesture, but Shanna didn’t shake it. “I’m Katana Reeves. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Shanna.” When Shanna just looked at Katana’s hand for several moments, Katana pulled it back and took a seat.

Shanna did the same, sitting across the small table from her. I hated the way she was eyeing Katana and stepped in, placing the plate with the sandwich and chips in front of Katana. “I think milk would be best for you to drink.” I turned to grab a glass and then wondered if she had any allergies. I turned back, placing my hand on her shoulder. “Wait, are you lactose intolerant, or do you have any allergies I should know about?”

“No, I’m allergy-free as far as I know, and I can have dairy. Thank you, Nix,” Katana said then bit into her sandwich as Shanna stared at her. I had to hand it to Katana—she didn’t seem to be intimidated by Shanna in the least.

But then I remembered that Katana had been in an orphanage and then in foster care. She’d probably had to learn at a very early age how to deal with assholes—which my best friend was definitely being.

After placing the glass of milk on the table, I took a seat, pulling my chair closer to Katana’s than Shanna’s. “So what brought you back here, Shanna?”

“I wanted to meet her, of course,” she answered me. “So what’s the deal with you two?”

“What do you mean?” Katana asked, wiping her mouth with the napkin I’d given her.

“I mean, do you think you’re going to come in here and take over my best friend’s life?” Shanna tapped her foot as she stared Katana down.

I’d had enough. “Shanna, stop.”

Shanna’s light brows rose and she looked appalled. “Nixon, someone has to look out for you. I’m not about to let some money-grubbing bitch …”

I stood up and took her by the arm. “I will not have you speaking that way in my house, Shanna.” I jerked her up and pulled her toward the door.

But Katana stopped me. “It’s okay, Nix. She can ask me anything she wants to. She just cares about you. That’s why she’s upset right now—I understand that. Please, let her sit back down, and she and I can get to know one another. If she’s your best friend, then she’s pretty important to you, and will be to our baby as well.”

I let Shanna’s arm go and wagged my finger in her face. “You chill on the name calling. You’re lucky she’s nice, Shanna, or you’d have been out on your ass. Be nice. She’s the mother of my child. My blood. And you know how I am about blood. It takes priority over everyone else. Don’t make me cut you out of my life.”

Shanna went pale. I suppose she’d never imagined I’d actually do such a thing to her. “Nixon?”

I nodded and took my seat again. “I am dead serious. Now play nice.”

Shanna took her seat and looked apologetic. “Well, seems he’s got a protective instinct for you, Katana. I’m sorry. I’ve known this man since we were little kids. He and I were in the same classes all through our school years. I lived three houses down from his, and we walked to school together every day for thirteen years. He’s beaten up my jackass boyfriends when they hurt me, and he’s let me cry on his shoulder about them too. He’s a rare man, and I count myself lucky to be able to call him a friend, let alone my best friend.”

Katana finished up her sandwich and then took a long drink of her milk before saying anything else. “Sorry, I didn’t realize just how hungry I was until I took that first bite.” She patted my leg underneath the table. “Thanks, sweetie.” Then she turned her attention to Shanna. “I think it’s admirable of you to want to watch out for Nix. He’s lucky to have a friend like you who cares so much. I’d like to set the record straight, though. I am not a money-grubbing bitch.”

“She isn’t,” I agreed. “I have told you that before.”

Katana smiled at me and ran her hand over my bearded cheek. “Aw, you stood up for me before? That’s so sweet of you.”

“Yeah, he’s a real sweetheart,” Shanna said then shook her head. “Not. At least, not usually.” She narrowed her eyes at me, looking like she was trying to solve a puzzle. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you make anything for anybody in my entire life, Nixon. And I’ve never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you, Katana. But I want to warn you both: you don’t know one another. Try your best not to rush into things more than you already have.”

But it felt like life was rushing ahead for us—and at a staggering pace.

* * *

Chapter 18

Katana

After several days had passed, I began to feel more settled. Nix and I had chosen an obstetrician and had an appointment set up for the late afternoon. Nerves were getting the best of me, and I ended up puking three times before he arrived at three to pick me up.

Holding my hand on the console between the seats, his thumb ran back and forth over the top of my hand. “You look pretty in that pink dress.” He pulled my hand up and kissed it. “Can I assume that means you’re hoping for a girl?”

I shook my head. “I’m hoping for a healthy baby—the sex doesn’t matter to me.” I looked out the window. “I don’t know how to take care of either, anyway.”

Nix told me he wanted to wait to be sure I stayed pregnant before he told his family about our situation, but once we were past the critical three-month mark, he’d tell them about everything.

“You know I told you my mother would help you with all that. I don’t want you to worry even a little bit about that—you’ll be a great mother. I know you will.” He kissed my hand again, and I couldn’t help but smile.

I don’t know how he made me feel so much better just by being with me, but he did. “I know you’ll be a great father.”

“I’m going to try.” He chuckled. “I had to lie to my mother a while ago.”

“Why?” I asked, surprised he’d have to lie about anything.

“She wanted me to come for Christmas, and I told her I’d made plans with my business partners for that day so I couldn’t come this year.” He shook his head. “I don’t lie often. It felt pretty unnatural doing it, but I don’t want to jump the gun with our news.”

Thinking about losing the baby made my stomach roll, and I swallowed as saliva suddenly began to produce rapidly. I saw a stoplight ahead and prayed he’d make it to that before I had to open the door and hurl. I couldn’t even say a word as I felt sure I’d projectile vomit all over his expensive car.

When Nix stopped at the light, I opened the door and let it all out. “Baby?” he called out.

It took no time to expel the little that was left in my stomach, and I closed the door and leaned my head back on the headrest when I was done. “God, I hate that.”

He handed me a tissue as he shook his head. “Damn, I hate that for you.”

By the time we got to the doctor’s office, the butterflies in my tummy had turned into pterodactyls, and I had to cling to Nix for support. I’d never really leaned on anyone in my life. It felt odd—and even a little dangerous—but I couldn’t help it.

The waiting room was full of expecting mothers in various stages of pregnancy. A few small kids were playing with some toys in one corner, and I noticed only a handful of fathers there with the women. I squeezed Nix’s arm, which I had wrapped mine around. “Thank you, Nix.”

“For?” he asked as he grinned at me.

“Being here with me. For me.” I kissed his cheek. “You’re my rock.”

He kissed mine right back. “I am that. And I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”

When my name was called, we got up. He wrapped his arm around me, supporting me, and I knew he could feel my body shaking. “I’m so scared.”

“No reason to be. Nothing bad will happen to you. Come on, be brave. For our baby, be brave.” He kissed my cheek once more and in we went.

The doctor was a man in his late fifties. He passed us in the hallway and stopped to introduce himself. “You’re new.” He extended his hand, and we took turns shaking it. “I’m Doctor Sheffield.”

Nix took the lead. “I’m Nixon Slaughter, and this is Katana Reeves.”

“Nice to meet you both. Do the deal with the nurses, and I’ll come see you soon.” He walked away, leaving us to follow the nurse once more.

“He seemed nice,” I said, and felt a tiny bit better about this whole thing.

“I’m sure he’s very nice. And he had many high recommendations. I think we picked the right man for the job, baby.” He gave me a confident smile, and I had to smile back.

After an hour of being weighed and measured, and giving urine and blood samples, I was handed a paper robe and Nix and I were sent to a room to wait for the doctor.

I undressed behind a little curtain while Nix looked at the posters on the walls, which depicted the stages of a developing fetus. “Let’s see here,” he said as I changed. “It’s now the twelfth of December, and that means we’re six weeks. That means we should be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat, according to this chart.”

I came out wearing the unflattering paper robe and looked at the table I had to climb up on. Then I felt hands on my waist, turning me around. Nix lifted me up, putting me on the table. “Thank you.” I couldn’t help the smile that took over my face. The man was just too damn good.

“You look adorable. Can I take a picture of you? I swear I won’t post it on anything; I just want to chronicle everything.” He pulled his cell out of his jacket pocket and cocked his head as he waited for my approval.

“Swear to make me look good in this silly thing?” I asked.

He nodded. “You’ll look like a pinup girl, I swear.”

With a nod, I gave him approval and found him snapping a ton of pictures and taking selfies with me in the pictures too. He had me laughing and feeling a lot less nervous in no time at all.

When Doctor Sheffield came in, he wore a wide grin on his face. He pushed one hand through his salt and pepper hair as he came to us. “Glad to see you two having a good time. It’s nice to see people celebrating bringing a new life into the world.” He opened up the folder with all my information and looked it over. “Says here you two are certain about the date of conception and that some people must’ve had a fun time on Halloween.” He grinned knowingly at us.

“That we did,” Nixon confirmed. “So when are we going to be seeing our little baby’s face, doc?”

“If everything goes right, you’ll see your baby on the twenty-fourth of July. How does that sound?” The doctor walked over to the counter to put on a pair of gloves.

My heart began to pound then. I knew what the gloves meant and wasn’t real keen on Nix being there while the doctor poked and prodded me. But I guessed that would be something I’d have to get used to. Nix did seem set on being a part of every little bit of the pregnancy—as much as he could be, at least.

I must’ve had a wild-eyed look on my face as the doctor came and pushed me gently back. Nix took the place on my right, holding my hand and smiling at me reassuringly. “You’ll be just fine, baby.”

I nodded but didn’t feel just fine as the doctor placed my feet in the stirrups. Then he pushed something cold inside of me as he said, “We’ll just get this Pap smear out of the way, then I’ll do a transvaginal ultrasound and see if we can hear a heartbeat.”

My entire body tensed as he cranked the mechanism, opening me up so he could do the test. “Ow,” I whined when it pinched me.

“Almost done, Katana,” the doctor assured me.

When I looked at Nix, I saw he wasn’t even breathing as he stared at the top of the doctor’s head. He was nervous too. He never said one word about it, but I could read his body language. All the while, his only mission seemed to be trying his best to keep me calm.

I had lucked into getting the best baby-daddy in the whole world. I had no idea what I’d done to deserve all of this. But I was thankful for it all. I squeezed his hand, and he looked at me. “Thanks again for being here for me.”

He nodded. “Thanks again for including me.” He leaned over and kissed my forehead.

The doctor finished with the uncomfortable procedure then pushed something else inside me before flipping a switch on a small screen on his left. We could see the screen too, but I had no idea what we were looking at.

He moved the device inside of me as he searched for our baby. “Here we go.” He smiled at us as he pointed to a small orb on the screen. The orb pulsed as the doctor turned up the sound, and there was the tiny heartbeat.

A tear fell, and I gasped. Nix squeezed my hand and looked at me. “So there it is. Our baby, Katana.”

My heart filled with love. Love for the little orb, and love for Nixon Slaughter.

God help me, how can anyone fall in love this quickly?

Chapter 19

Nixon

A few days had passed since we’d gone to the doctor. I was having lunch with August as our other partner, Gannon, was busy with other things that day. I guessed a two-year-old could take up a lot of time, but my bet was that it was actually the hot young babysitter that had Gannon Forester so busy these days.

I’d made this vow to myself about telling as few people as possible about the pregnancy, but I couldn’t stop myself. “So, I’m going to be a little busy myself come the end of July.” I put a piece of pepper steak into my mouth as I waited for August to ask me why that was.

“That’s some time off, Nixon. You have another deal going on or something?” he asked me, then took a long drink of his iced tea.

“You remember when I left town for Halloween?” I ran my hand over my beard, remembering how that night had marked the beginning of me growing it out. I’d soon have a much more permanent reminder of that fateful night.

“Yeah, I remember you ditching us that night. So, what about it?” He stopped eating to give me his full attention. “You look different, Nixon.”

“Yeah?” I asked. “How so?”

He shrugged. “Not exactly sure about that. You just look a little different. A little happier or something. You must be getting more sleep than you usually do. You have a healthy look going on.”

I’d had less sleep than usual lately, as Katana and I had spent at least two hours of every night since she moved in engaged in some mind-blowing sex. Her bedroom was merely a place for her clothes to be kept. But I had been eating better—spending more time at home with Katana eating the healthy foods Mona made us instead of eating out so much.

“So, the thing that will have me so busy by late July is actually a baby.” I stopped, waiting for his reaction—dropping the mic, so to speak.

August blinked a few times. “Have you been seeing someone seriously that you’ve left out of our conversations?”

“Well, now I am.” I chuckled. “The woman I met on Halloween is pregnant—and it’s mine. When she called me and told me she took a test that came back positive, I moved her into my place.”

Being a wealthy man himself, August was cautious where women were concerned. “Hold on. This woman, have you had her checked out? You can’t be sure that baby is yours, not until after it’s born and you can have a paternity test done. Don’t you think that moving her in with you is jumping the gun by a whole hell of a lot?” He shook his head. “It’s not like you to do something stupid like this.”

“No, it’s not.” I fidgeted in my seat, as it never sat right with me when anyone thought I was making a mistake. “And I will have a test done after the baby’s born. But I don’t want to miss out on a thing if the kid is mine. Which I do think it is. This woman has given me no reason to believe she’s a liar.”

“And what does this woman do for a living?” August asked as he put his hands behind his head and leaned back, as if he was my therapist getting ready for one long session.

“She’s a book cover designer. She freelances and works from home.” I winked at him. “Pretty cool, right?”

He finally smiled and sat upright. “Thank God. I was pretty sure you were going to tell me she’s a stripper.”

“Damn, August!” I laughed, and so did he.

“I’ll have to introduce you to her soon. You’ll see, she’s genuine. And I must admit, I’m starting to fall pretty hard for her.” I shoved my hand into my pocket and looked down. “She sure is making me think a lot.”

“Uh oh.” August shook his head at me.

Now, why would that be considered an uh oh?

“Care to add to that, August?” I asked him as I picked up my iced tea and took a sip.

“You wouldn’t do anything stupid, right?” he asked, then tapped the tabletop with his finger. “Like marry her on a spur of the moment kind of thing, without having a prenup, right?”

“A prenup?” I asked then shook my head. “Why would I need one of those things? I don’t believe in divorce. My parents raised me right, August.”

“But did hers?” he winked at me and wagged his finger at me. “You aren’t the only one who can file for a thing like a divorce, Nixon. She could too. And she could take you for half of everything you’ve got.”

His question about her upbringing did send a red flag floating through my brain. “She was raised in foster care. She didn’t know her father and her mother abandoned her.”

“Damn,” he murmured. “That sounds like one hell of a rough life. My heart goes out to the poor thing. That said, now you really need a prenup. She’s what I like to call a wildcard. You have no clue what she might turn into. When you know a person’s family, you can get a rough idea of what the person is like and will be like later on in life. You’ve heard the saying, look at her mother to see how she’ll be in twenty years, right?”

“And her mother is a low-life,” I mumbled. The thought wasn’t pretty, nor was the vision that appeared in my head of Katana turning into her absentee mother. “Damn.”

“Look, don’t rush into anything. Just because she’s pregnant, that’s no reason to go faster than you would with anyone else.” He waved the waiter over. “Can you bring the bill?”

The waiter gave him a nod and headed off.

August’s words hit me like a punch to the gut. How could I have forgotten about Katana’s horrible past?

Something like that had to really screw with a person’s head. And Katana did have a certain vulnerability about her. Sometimes vulnerability could lead to weakness, and that could lead to self-destructive tendencies. Those were the kinds of things that can end relationships.

Maybe I was moving too fast. Thinking too much about making things permanent much too quickly.

But even as I thought about that, my heart beat harder, as if it were trying to pump more blood to my brain. It reminded of how my pulse had kicked when I looked into her pretty eyes as we listened to the first sounds we’d ever heard of our baby. That was real.

All the “what ifs” were not.

There could be a billion “what ifs.” What if she did turn out like her mother? What if she did turn into some self-destructive person, bent on ruining me? There was just no end to them.

But then I began to think about my own “what ifs.” What if I never made a commitment to her? What if I lost her to another man who would give her the stability I knew she’d craved her whole life? What if I lost her only because I was too worried about “what ifs?”

My thoughts were consuming me as August paid the bill. He interrupted my internal battle as he asked, “How about Friday? You still going out?”

I shook my head. “No. There’s no point—I promised Katana I wouldn’t see anyone else.”

His eyes went wide with what looked like shock. “Fuck! Are you kidding me, man? You’ve already made a promise like that to her? You barely know this chick, Nixon. Damn, does she have some voodoo shit on you or something? This is so unlike you.”

“She’s pregnant with my child,” I said, wanting him to understand what I was doing. “She told me she wouldn’t see anyone and I told her the same. I also told her that it wasn’t a thing that was set in stone.”

“Again, you’re making some pretty big decisions based on the assumption that this baby is yours,” he pointed out as we got up and started heading for the door. “And what about me?”

The doorman opened the door, letting us out, and we walked into the cool afternoon. A slight breeze stirred my hair, and I ran my hand through it. “What about you?” I had to ask.

“I don’t want to hit the town all alone. Gannon already called, and he’s backed out on us. And now you too?” He shook his head as we headed for our cars. “We have a nightclub to put together. That is one of the main reasons we hit the town on Friday nights, if you’ll recall. To get ideas about what people like, what they flock to.”

We stopped at his BMW, and I had to tell him something I’d been thinking about for a while anyway. “We’re not making a club for everyday people. We’re making one for the super-rich. And that means our clientele won’t have the same desires as the people who go to the clubs that are already here. Our clients will be looking for sophistication, style, and ways to rub elbows with other people with money who can help them further expand their businesses.”

All he could do was nod. But he still wore a frown. “I guess you’re right.”

“When we came up with that grand plan, we were all single and free. And we were all looking for a good time. Well, my good time is waiting for me at home. And although Gannon has yet to come clean with us, his good time is also at home. Those clubbing days are most likely a thing of the past for the two of us.” I watched August’s expression grow grim. “I hope that doesn’t upset you, man.”

With a shake of his head, he opened the driver’s side door and looked at me. “You guys are growing up on me.”

I guess we were. And it was long overdue.

Chapter 20

Katana

The afternoon had a cool, gentle breeze blowing in off the ocean water, bringing with it a wonderful scent. I sat on the deck getting some vitamin D from the sun and enjoying the gorgeous day.

Nix had had lunch with one of his business partners, then he said he’d be home after that. I loved the fact that I had someone coming home to me every day. It was so different from my life before.

A man cleared his throat, taking my attention away from my thoughts, and I pulled my shades down to see who it was. A tall man stood on the stairs looking at me. “Hi there. You’re a new addition to this neighborhood.” He gestured to the deck. “May I?”

“Of course,” I said, sitting up and making sure my dress was straight. I’d been lounging and had no idea what kind of state I was in. “I’m Katana Reeves.”

He came to me and shook my hand. “John Simmons. I live next door. You related to Nixon?”

“No—no, I’m not.” I didn’t know how much to tell the man.

“Oh, okay.” He pointed to the other chair. “You mind?”

“No, please sit down.” I pointed to the unopened bottle of water on the small table between us. “Thirsty?”

He shook his head. “Nah. So, where are you from, Katana Reeves?”

“Portland,” I told him. “But now I live here.”

He nodded and ran his hand through his thick, dark wavy hair. “And why’s that?”

I found him quite nosy, but I supposed neighbors liked to know who was living next to them. “Well, if you must know, I’m pregnant with Nixon’s baby.”

“Oh!” he said with raised brows. “Now that’s some news.”

“Are you a reporter?” I joked with him.

“No,” he said with a chuckle. “Just a nosy old man with little to do.”

“You’re not old,” I said as I looked him over. He wasn’t super young, but he wasn’t old either.

“How old do you think I am?” he asked with a smile. “And don’t sugarcoat it. I really want to know how old I look to you.”

“Forty,” I said without thinking too much about it.

He nodded. “Forty-two. But I feel much older than that. I guess going through a divorce does that to people.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. How long ago was it?” A little stab in my heart had me asking.

“It’s nearly been a year since it became finalized. But it took two years to get the whole ugly thing done.” He ran his hand over his brow. “I waited too long to leave my wife. I stayed for our two kids. I spent twenty years with the woman I thought loved me. Some six years back I caught her cheating, and only then did I find out she’d been doing it all along. I even had to get my kids tested to make sure they were mine. They were, so I stayed. I stayed and stayed until our youngest graduated from high school and moved off to college. Then I left, and that woman who’d done me so wrong tried to do even more to me. She wanted half of everything. So it took a long time to get the divorce finalized—my lawyer had to fight hers just so I could come out losing only a quarter of what I had, instead of half.”

“That sounds awful,” I said as I shook my head.

“It was.” He nodded. Then he pulled his shades down and looked at me over the top of them. “So you and Nixon, had you known each other long before this happened?”

I felt embarrassment heat my cheeks. “No. Not at all.”

He clucked his tongue and shook his head. “Damn.”

“Yeah, well, it is what it is.” I didn’t know what else to say.

“And your plan is what, exactly?” he asked as he slid his sunglasses back up his nose.

“To live together and have the baby and let life take us wherever it takes us.” I sighed, knowing that sounded like a flighty plan.

“Oh, one of those kinds of plans. Got ya.” He laughed and slapped his denim-covered leg. “I don’t envy you guys, I can tell you that.”

Although I was slightly offended by the blunt man, I found myself asking, “And why is that, exactly, John?”

“Well, my wife and I had a plan, and even that didn’t make things work out for us.” He sighed, and I could feel his sadness about how his marriage had turned out. “We started our marriage out of love, not merely because she was pregnant. The odds are stacked against you two.”

“I’m not worried about any relationship between Nix and me. What worries me the most is how our child will be affected by both of us. That’s all that really matters. I believe Nix and I have the baby’s best interest as our focus.” I leaned back, feeling great about what I’d said.

John just laughed again. “Oh, honey!”

Oh, honey?

I shook my head. “What does that mean?”

“It means you’re living in a fantasy world. That’s what it means.” He smiled at me as if what he was saying should make me feel better, which it didn’t. And I had been feeling pretty damn sure about everything before he’d arrived. Especially since the doctor’s appointment and that special moment Nix and I had shared, where I had felt my heart open up to him.

Sure, I hadn’t gone so far as to let Nix know about that little miracle, but I would. One day. Time had to pass, or he’d think I was telling him I loved him much too soon. I couldn’t have that. So I’d keep it to myself, for now.

But this guy, this virtual stranger had just told me I was living in a fantasy world, and he didn’t even know the half of it. So I enlightened him. “I don’t think I am living in a fantasy world. Well, that’s not entirely true. You see this place, this home, the man who comes home to me each day—now that is just like a fantasy. And not one I’d ever had before. I hadn’t meant for any of this to happen, and for things to have fallen into place so easily is a gift. Nix is a gift.”

John smiled. “Now that’s a pretty sweet sentiment. So, you like this guy a lot then?”

I nodded. “I love him.” I couldn’t believe I had just admitted something so huge to this man, a man I didn’t know from Adam. “And I think he’ll grow to love me. I think he and I can make a fantastic family together.”

John’s brows shot up. “Oh? I don’t suppose—since you’re from Portland—that you know much about the man you’re living with.”

“Not a lot about his past. But I’m getting to know him more and more with each passing day—and he’s a good man. A man I respect immensely.” I picked up the bottle of water and took a drink of it, as my impassioned bits of speech had made my mouth dry.

A cluck of his tongue told me John wanted to fill me in on something. “Well, you should know the man has quite the eye for beautiful women. And he’s never kept any of them around for long periods of time. Being his neighbor, I can tell you why that is. Would you like to know?”

I did, and I didn’t. What did it matter how he’d been with other women in the past? But that damn curiosity raised her ugly head and used my mouth to say, “Yes, I would love to know why. I’m assuming it’s because you think he’s quite the player.”

When John shook his head, I had to admit I was surprised. “Nope. I mean he’s been with a boatload of women, but I don’t think it was by choice necessarily. You see, Nixon Slaughter is easily distracted, and not by other women, but by business. His downfall is that he’s neglectful of people. I’ve seen him out on this very deck with beautiful woman after beautiful woman, and I’ve watched him get phone call after phone call and end up leaving them all alone on his deck with the perfect view. And I watched as he forgot he had a woman waiting for his return at all, sometimes even leaving her to go somewhere else without giving so much as a goodbye.”

It didn’t seem that he could possibly be talking about the man I knew. “Are you sure you’re talking about the man who lives here? Because the man I know isn’t neglectful in the least.”

“Maybe the baby has something to do with that right now,” John offered. “But I do believe his natural ways will kick in sooner or later. And where will that leave you, Katana? Here, home alone with a baby and no one to help you with it?”

“I don’t think …” I tried to say.

John shook his head. “I know you don’t think he’ll be that way with you or with this child,” he said. “I’ve been around the block a time or two. I’ve lived next door to this man for nearly three years. I’ve seen him. I know him. You don’t. He’s high on the fact he’s about to be a father for the first time. The man is almost thirty and probably didn’t even know himself how ready he was to be a father. Even men yearn to have children at a certain age.”

“Maybe it’s the baby that’s changing him. Maybe that is true. But I think it’s a change that will stick. I have faith in that,” I said, then looked over my shoulder when I heard the familiar beep of the security system that signaled someone’s arrival. “I’ll have to say goodbye and nice meeting you, John. He seems to be home now.”

John got up and waved as he headed down the stairs. “See you around, Katana.”

When I got inside, I found Nix coming in through the kitchen, having come through the garage after parking his car. His smile was the first thing I noticed and then his arms were around me, holding me close as our mouths met in the sweet kiss we always shared when he came home.

I loved the little ritual. But I couldn’t help feeling a little uncertain after the conversation I’d just had. John’s words about Nix’s past had me a little worried about admitting my love for the man too quickly. I couldn’t stay in a neglectful situation again. No child deserved that—and neither did I. It was a total deal breaker in my book.

Chapter 21

Nixon

Each day that passed had us growing closer. Katana and I talked more than I’d ever talked to anyone about anything, even in my business life. With only a few days until Christmas, I found myself doing things without thinking about them at all, having settled into our own little routine.

After watching a movie downstairs, I turned off the television and got off the sofa. “Time for bed, baby.”

A sexy little smile curved her lips as she took my hand and let me pull her up, and she moved right into my arms. “I’m feeling a little feisty tonight, Master.” She pulled my hand down to cup her ass. “Maybe a little punishment will calm me down.”

“I can see the healthy diet I’ve been making you eat has gotten you back in good shape. Maybe we can play a little.” I scooped her up and took her up the stairs to my bedroom—which had quickly become our bedroom, in my mind. “You know, you should just let me move your things into this bedroom.” I sat her on my bed and loved how she lit up at the idea.

“Like make this thing a bit more real?” she asked.

“Is that something you’d like?” I asked her as I unbuttoned her shirt.

Her breasts spilled over the top of her bra. Her Ds would soon become double Ds and my mouth watered for them already. Pushing her shirt off her, I took her bra off next, pausing a moment to admire the works of art I’d revealed.

Katana’s voice broke the spell her tits had put me under. “I’d love nothing more than to make things more real between us. I’ll move my things tomorrow if you’d like.”

“Nothing would make me happier.” While there was at least one thing that would make me happier, I wasn’t about to mess up my Christmas surprise.

Pushing her to lie back, I pulled her jeans off and made her gasp when I ripped her panties off, tossing them on the floor. She bit her lip as she watched me.

I took my shirt off, stepping out of my jeans as well, but leaving my tight black underwear on. Wiggling my finger at her, I had her turn over to get on her hands and knees. She moved over the bed like a tigress, appearing more than ready to play.

Her dark hair hung down, covering her tits. “How do you want me, Master?”

Without saying a word, I moved my finger in a circle, indicating that I wanted her to turn around. She did, presenting her round ass to me. I moved one hand over her soft flesh while moving the other over my growing erection.

Just the sight of her tight little ass did things to me that seemed impossible. I had no idea how she did this to me. The woman consumed my thoughts. I found myself stopping everything I was doing throughout my busy workdays just to call her and hear her voice.

Without even trying, the woman had me in the palm of her hand. And what was even crazier was that she had no clue as to how much she had me. But even if she did come to realize it someday, I didn’t see her ever using her hold over me in any kind of bad way.

Her moan took me out of my inner thoughts, and I came back to reality. Her smooth flesh flowed under my hand, and I pulled back and popped her one. She moaned even louder. “Yes, Master.”

A smile moved across my face that I thought might never go away. I gave her three more smacks, and she wiggled her ass at me, wanting more. After another three smacks, I leaned over and kissed her sweet ass, nibbling away at her tender skin.

She made a magnificent sound when I pushed my tongue into her asshole. Then she whispered, “Oh, Master, would you please fuck me in the ass?”

Hell yeah, I will!

Her request spurred me on as I tongue fucked her ass first, getting it wet and ready to be spread wide for my cock, which was growing by leaps and bounds.

Reaching around her, I pushed a finger into her soaking pussy and knew she was ready to go. I pulled my face away from her delicious ass and dropped my underwear. Pressing the tip of my cock to her asshole, I was surprised when she pushed back with a sudden jerk, forcing my cock to sink into her as she groaned.

I smacked her ass. “You’re supposed to let your Master do that, you little minx.”

“Sorry, I just wanted it so bad, Master.” She turned her head and looked at me over her shoulder. “My bad.”

I gave another smack. “You’re forgiven, slave.”

She kissed the air then turned around, moving her hands up the bed and lowering her head to get her ass up higher in the air. My cock sank further into her and I could feel her spreading even more to accommodate me.

Being in such a tight area, my cock was in heaven. I moved back and forth, using her ass to stroke my engorged cock. “Faster,” she begged.

I moved faster and thrust into her harder. My balls bounced off her pussy with each hard thrust, and soon her legs began to quiver. Her moans grew and grew until she made one shrill screaming sound as her body gave in and climaxed.

Not wanting to miss a thing, I pulled out of her ass and took her by the waist, turning her over. I hungered to lap up the juices I’d made her release. Pushing her legs up to bend her knees, I leaned over and planted my face in her pulsing pussy.

Sticking my tongue into her, I drank up as much of her as I could before the orgasm waned and the juices stopped flowing at such a high rate. Her hands tangled in my hair as she made the hottest sounds I’d ever heard.

“God, Nix! Baby, you fuck me so well,” she moaned.

I put a halt to my delicious meal to push her up the bed a bit, and then I climbed on top of her. My cock pushed into her, feeling the last aftershocks of the orgasm.

Moving fast and hard, I pulled one of her tits into my mouth and sucked her as I fucked her. Her nails ran over my back, leaving hot streaks in their wake. Harder and harder I went until she came hard, taking me with her on that journey.

I heard a terrible groan coming out of me as I shot my load into her hot pussy. Her legs wrapped around me, holding me to her as if she never wanted me to take my cock out of her throbbing cunt.

Not that I was in a hurry to leave her warm embrace. I held my weight off her as we both caught our breath. As the heat ebbed, her legs fell away from me, and I collapsed to one side of her, my hand resting on her still-flat stomach.

She ran her hand over mine as she whispered, “Our little orb is okay. Not to worry, Daddy.”

“Daddy,” I echoed her. “And how’s Mommy? Did she like what Daddy did to her?”

She giggled. “Now you’re skirting on the edge of creepy, baby. But I very much liked what you did to me. That ass kissing was a pleasant surprise. Never thought I’d get to feel that.”

“Yeah, I was waiting for a client to show up at my office earlier today and was looking for something to read. I found this smutty novel on my Kindle and scanned it for the sex scenes. That’s where I got the idea. Glad you liked it.” I was pretty proud of myself for taking the time to research new ways to please my lady.

“How thoughtful of you, Nix.” She turned on her side to face me. Her lips touched my nose. “You know, I think you’re just about the most thoughtful man I’ve ever met.”

“I haven’t always been that, Katana. It’s funny how you affect me. You’ve changed me without even trying to.” I kissed her on the forehead. “I mean, I never knew I could be like this. The truth is my business has consumed me for years. Before that, it was sports. I’ve never been the kind of guy who thought much at all about the woman I was with at any given time. But you—somehow you’ve taken over everything. It’s you who consumes my thoughts now.”

“I hope it stays that way. You consume my thoughts as well, you know.” She ran her hand over my chest, tracing my tribal tattoo. “My life has gone from one of mere contentment to one I’d never have even dared to dream about. Thank you, Nixon Slaughter.”

“No, thank you, Katana Reeves.” I pulled her closer to me, holding her tight. “I thank God every single day for taking me to you that Halloween night. I’ll never forget that night.”

Even if we hadn’t had a permanent reminder on the way, I would never forget the night I’d found Katana and changed into the person I was meant to be.

Chapter 22

Katana

Christmas Eve arrived, and Nix came home with a real Christmas tree. I met him at the door as he told me he had a surprise. “Wow, a real one, huh?” I asked as he pulled it through the door, pine needles leaving a trail in its wake.

“Always a real one, baby.” He leaned it against the wall and came to me, pulling me into his arms and giving me his usual hello kiss. “This is a tradition in my family. We don’t put up a tree until Christmas Eve, and we take it down the day after New Year’s.”

“Why wait so late before you put it up, Nix?” I asked as I ran my hand over the tree, finding it somewhat sticky and prickly.

Nix went to the closet under the stairs and pulled out a box that had Christmas written on it. He came to the tree and sat it on the floor. “Well, my family is big, I told you about that. And with a lot of kids, Mom and Dad found out a lot of begging and pleading to open just one present got to be annoying.”

“I can imagine,” I said as I helped him take the things out of the box and laid them on the coffee table to sort them out.

“So they came up with the idea of only putting the tree up on Christmas Eve, and we each got to open one present that night. The next morning we’d open the rest, giving Santa a chance to bring us more presents and fill our stockings with candy and little toys.” His eyes lit up as he pulled out the tree topper, an old star with hardly any silver glitter remaining. “This came from my gram-gram’s Christmas ornament collection. I got this out of a box full of them after she passed away.”

With a nod, I understood why he had the ugly old thing. “I see. What a sweet sentiment.” I began to notice that all the ornaments looked old and worn out. “Did you inherit all of these?”

“I did.” He stopped pulling things out of the box to pull something out of his jacket pocket. “But I’ll be adding something new this year. It’s the first ornament I’ve actually purchased.”

A small brown bag was in his hand, and he handed it to me. “What is it?” I asked. The bag was flat, almost as if nothing was inside of it.

“Open it.” His smile went wide as he watched me.

I opened the flap that closed the bag and found clear plastic inside. Pulling it out, I found a brass baby bootie inside and pulled it out too. He’d had it engraved with the words, “Daddy and Mommy’s first Christmas with their little orb.’

Tears clouded my vision as I thought that it had to be the sweetest thing he’d ever done in his entire life. I threw myself into his arms for a hug and tried to hold back the tears, but just couldn’t. “Nix, you’re the sweetest man on the planet.”

“Aw, it’s just a little something to help us remember our first Christmas together.” He looked down at the ornament I held and took it from me, placing it on the table with the rest of the things. “So, first we have to put this thing in a tree stand, and that’s no easy task.”

I’d never had a real tree before. My foster parents had had this little plastic tree they’d put up each year. It went up right after Thanksgiving and didn’t come down until sometime after the New Year. And we never got to decorate it. Mrs. Davis did that alone.

All I’d ever gotten was one present each year. I was thankful for that. And it was always something useful, never a toy. I didn’t ever have any toys that I could recall. But I’d make damn sure my kid had a ton of them.

“I nearly forgot,” Nix said. As he snapped his head up, he wore a grin. “Can you go out to my car? It’s parked in the front. Somebody left something for you inside. It’s sitting on the passenger seat.”

“For me?” I asked, surprised. I made my way to his car and opened the passenger door to find a small box and a red envelope. “Hmm, who’s this from, I wonder.”

I thought it had to be a small early present from Nix but when I opened the card I found it was from Shanna. The envelope housed a Christmas card with a lighted tree on front that wished me a Merry X-mas.

When I opened it, I found she’d written me a note inside. The first line hooked me.

To the woman who’s stolen my best friend’s heart.

I had to read it all now. How could I not?

Nixon Slaughter has been like a big brother to me since I can remember. So I might come off kind of overprotective of the man now and then.

That said, I can see that he looks at you with love-glazed eyes. And that makes me happy.

I’m sorry for my prejudice about what you two enjoy sexually speaking. (I know—not your typical Christmas card material!) Anyway, please forgive me for jumping to conclusions about you. I don’t know you well yet, but you’re my best friend’s girl so that means we will become great friends too.

I hope you can give this old friend of the man you love a chance to prove I’m not always a bitch. Maybe that could be your Christmas gift to me, forgiveness for being an overbearing, prejudice, buttinsky.

Now open the present I gave Nixon to give to you and we will consider this hatchet buried.

My heart felt full of emotion as I put the card away, making sure to put it up nice and neat as I’d keep it forever. I felt it was such a sweet sentiment and would treasure the card.

When I opened the small black box, I found a bracelet inside. It had a sterling silver charm bracelet and there were a few charms on it already. One of the charms stood out amongst them all. One in the shape of a heart that said friends for life on one side and on the other she’d had our names engraved.

I took my present and card inside and found one tear had fallen. Nix looked as me as I came inside and his smile beamed at me. “Do I see a tear?”

I wiped my eye with the back of my hand. “I’m afraid so. I think I’ve made a new friend.”

He nodded and went back to pulling decorations out of the boxes. “Good. That girl’s like a sister to me. She’s a little on the tomboy side and doesn’t like to hang with girls much. She’s kind of rough and tumble. That’s how come she and I ended up becoming such good friends. I never want you to be jealous of her. There’s no reason to. I hope you can look at her like you’ll look at any of my family, because she’s as close to me as they are.”

I came up behind him, hugging him. “I think she made a great gesture and I will accept her for who she is. I’m just so happy we can all get along. I don’t want to spoil one thing in our life. I only want to enhance it.”

He turned around, wrapping his arms around me. A sweet kiss told me he was happy with things and that always seemed to make me happy.

I knew the odds were stacked against us. I knew most people thought we’d never make it. But with that against us, I still wanted to see if we could beat those odds.

I wondered if Nix thought that way too.

Mona was in the kitchen, making us something for a special Christmas Eve dinner. I’d told her in secret that I wanted her to take the entire day of Christmas off. I’d been gathering recipes from the Internet and watching cooking videos all week long. I’d even made a trip to the store to buy all the ingredients I’d need to make Nix a proper Christmas dinner of ham, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and homemade rolls.

Nix and I managed to get the tree into its stand and were taking our time placing the ornaments on the tree. Nix told me where each and every one of them came from. His family was huge, and I had to admit that I was intimidated about meeting them all.

“How am I going to remember all of their names, babe?” I asked as I placed a pale blue satin ball on the tree. It had a large yellow stain on it and he told me that was from when it had fallen in a glass of his Aunt Rose’s iced tea as she took the ornaments down on her very last Christmas.

“You shouldn’t worry about that.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “Half the time my mother can’t even remember her own kids’ names. She’ll go through the gambit of family names then end up shouting, ‘You know who you are and why I’m calling you, dammit!’”

I laughed as he tickled my ribs. “Nix!” I wiggled to get away from him. “You’re gonna make me pee!”

He stopped and pulled me in for a kiss. As our tongues twirled, I thought I’d never had such a memorable Christmas. He’d brought things to my life I’d had no idea I’d been missing.

Mona popped out of the kitchen. “The formal dining room awaits your arrival, you two. And I’ll be on my way. You can just toss the dishes in the dishwasher when you’re done. I’ll tend to them when I come back.”

Nix took my hand as I called out, “Thank you, Mona. You have a Merry Christmas.”

“You too. Bye now,” Mona called back just before she slipped out the garage door.

A small squeeze to my hand had me looking at Nix to find his green eyes sparkling at me. “Have I told you that you look beautiful tonight?”

A blush stained my cheeks. He made me feel so out of sorts when he looked at me that way and said things like that to me. “No, you haven’t said a thing about that.” I ducked my head shyly.

He lifted it with one finger and kissed me softly. “You’re very beautiful all the time, but tonight even more so, somehow.”

“You’re very handsome tonight too.” I ran my hand over his light green sweater. “This brings out the color of your eyes.”

I’d put on a red dress in honor of the occasion. He ran his fingers over my shoulder. “Red always looks good on you.”

We made our way to the formal dining room, and there we found candles lighting up a gorgeous table that looked like something out of a magazine.

Two gold domes covered our plates, and sparkling water glistened in wine glasses next to them. “Mona is amazing,” I whispered.

How can I ever top this when I make the meal for Christmas?

But all that worry went out of my head as Nix helped me into a chair and took the one at the head of the table. We sat there, looking at everything, and then he took my hand. “You know, back home my daddy says a prayer before we eat on special occasions. I suppose as we’ll be parents from now on, we should start doing that too.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know any prayers. You go for it.”

He bowed his head and so did I as he said, “Our father in Heaven, please bless this food that we’re so thankful for. And please bless our little baby that we’re also thankful for.” He stopped and cleared his throat. “And bless this woman at my side as she’s made this all possible. Without her, I’d be lost. Amen.”

When I looked up at him, I saw unshed tears shimmering in his eyes. I ran my hand over his beard. “You’d be lost?”

He nodded and leaned over to kiss me. “You’re my hero.”

I gulped and tried not to start bawling. “You’re mine.”

He kissed me again, and I felt like I was floating on air. Would this be the right time to admit my love for him?

But when his lips left mine, he pulled the dome off his plate and smiled. “Wow, she really outdid herself. Roasted game hens, mashed potatoes and brown gravy, peas with pearl onions. Yum.”

I pulled the dome off mine and enjoyed the aromas that drifted up to me. “It smells wonderful, doesn’t it?”

“It does.” He dug right in, and I followed suit.

The moment had passed, and now it would be awkward to say the words to him. How did one say something like that—especially for the first time—when the recipient of the sentiment was feasting on delicious food and savoring every bite?

Maybe I’d tell him on Christmas. Maybe that would be the perfect time to let him know that I loved him.

Chapter 23

Nixon

After the delicious dinner on Christmas Eve, Katana refused to just leave the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. She cleaned up the dining room and did all the dishes, and even went so far as to put them all away.

While she did that, I took a glass of wine out to the deck to look at the stars. The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs had me turning my eyes from the sky to find my neighbor, John, trotting up to visit me. “Hey, John. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas to you too, Nixon.” He took a seat on one of the deck chairs and pulled a bottle of beer out of his jacket pocket. “I saw you out here and thought I’d join you for a little drink.”

I raised my glass of wine in a toast to him, and he did the same with his beer. “To new beginnings,” I said.

“Here, here,” he said then popped the bottle’s top and took a drink. “Did Katana tell you I met her the other day?”

“She did,” I told him then set my glass down.

His expression turned sheepish. “Did she rat me out?”

I froze for a second as I wondered what the hell he meant. What had he done? She hadn’t said a word about him saying anything that would have him asking me a question like that. “No. But I’d love it if you told on yourself.”

“Yeah, well,” he seemed hesitant. “After I got back home, I thought about what I’d said and it sunk in that I might have said things that might’ve put her off about you.”

“Well, if Katana’s put off about me, she’s not showing it.” I laughed and picked up my glass, taking a drink. At least whatever he’d said hadn’t affected her.

“Good. I can be a motormouth sometimes and talking to her proved to be one of those times.” He took a long drink of his beer before he went on. “You see, I pointed out how you are, or were, anyway. I told her that you could be very neglectful of people. Especially women.”

“Oh, that.” I was well aware of that major downfall. “Well, I’m not that person when I’m with her. She makes me a better person. I don’t know how she does it. She doesn’t ask me to be any certain way. I just want to be around her—with her—or at least talking to her throughout the day when I can’t be with her. She’s what I think about most of the time.”

“And there’s the baby now too. She told me about that. And how that’s why she’s here with you, so you guys can raise it together.” He took another drink. “You know about my divorce and how I’d never get married again. Plus, if I could have a do-over, I’d leave the kids out of it.”

“Now, come on, John. You’ve whined a lot about the divorce and how your wife cheated, but how can you second guess your children? That’s just going too far. There are no mistakes in bringing a child into this world. I believe that with everything in me.” I knew I’d gotten up on my soapbox a bit as I was talking a little louder than normal, but he had to stop beating himself up over this thing.

“They have some issues because of what they went through, Nixon. I don’t always let that be known. Sandy has trouble trusting people. And Brady is a womanizer. Both drink too much.” John shook his head. “If I would’ve known they would end up with problems, then I might’ve left sooner and just taken them with me.”

“As if you could’ve done that,” I said as I ran my hand through my hair. The wind had kicked up and mussed it up a bit. “In this day and age, you could’ve never gotten complete custody of them.”

“I didn’t mean like legitimately take them. I meant run off with them. Escape from the woman who ruined all of our lives. Rescue them.” He took another drink, looking like a man who had too many regrets.

“I doubt your kids are that messed up—I’ve seen them. As a matter of fact, are they going to be stopping by to visit you tomorrow for Christmas?” I asked to try to get him off his pity party and on to something better.

“Yeah,” he said then finished his beer. “After they stop by their mother’s place. She’s got a new man—poor son of a bitch. They’re having a real old-fashioned Christmas with his three kids as well. I guess she’s pretending she has a big happy family with love just flowing in the air now that she’s rid of me.”

It was wrong of me to do, and I knew it even as the chuckle left my mouth. “Sorry. I really am. I know you’ve had it rough, but listen to yourself. She didn’t get rid of you. You left her. And you did what you thought you needed to do for your kids—and that’s admirable. You did the best you could with what you ended up with. Now don’t you think it’s time to move on?”

John looked at me with a frown. “No. I don’t want to move on. And I didn’t come over to talk about me, anyways. I wanted to come over here to talk to you about your upcoming bundle of joy. Don’t make Katana think you’ll be there for her through the raising of this child. We both know you’ll get busy with some new and exciting project and she and this kid will be left alone, waiting for your attention to return to them. Which it won’t. It won’t because men like you are driven.”

I was slightly incensed that the man thought he knew me better than I knew myself. “Driven isn’t a bad thing to be—look at where it’s gotten me,” I said, gesturing around my deck. “And as far as how I was, that doesn’t matter. I want Katana and this baby. I’ve already put her and this baby ahead of everything else. And I happen to have a project on the table right now. We’re going to open the nightclub, Swank, on New Year’s Eve. And I haven’t lost sight of her as I’ve been moving forward with that project.”

“Maybe that’s because she and this baby have become your new project. You were already working on that nightclub when you met her.” His words sent my heart into a spiral.

He was absolutely right. I had already been working on the nightclub for months. John did know me well. I always had a project in mind before finishing the one I was on at the time. My mind just worked that way.

Even when I’d been a kid playing sports, I’d be near the end of football season, and already I’d be messing around, playing basketball and getting ready for that season.

I was the kind of person who always looked for the next thing.

Would I do that to Katana? Would I do that to my own kid?

“I can see your wheels turning, Nixon. I hope you’re not mad at me. But having a kid is a big deal.” He stopped as I waved my hand at him to get him to quit talking.

“I’m not mad. I know you think a lot about kids and what happens to them if their family life is sucky. And I know you don’t mean any harm.” I gulped down the rest of my wine as I tried to wrap my head around everything.

“I don’t mean any harm to anyone. But you need to be realistic about the girl and that kid you’ve got coming.” He got up and tossed his beer bottle into the small trash bin at the top of the stairs. “You’re a great guy, Nixon. I don’t want you to think I think anything else. But you’re a driven man, and men like you make lousy husbands and fathers. People get left behind by men like you. Just don’t lead this girl into thinking you can be something you’re not. Let her do what she needs to with this baby.” And with that, he left me.

Alone now, I sat there thinking about who I really was.

I knew I’d never turn my back on Katana or our child. She’d always have everything she’d ever need to take care of our kid. Always.

But was I putting Katana in a position where she’d be hurt and alone when I moved on to my next project?

When I looked up, the stars seemed to blur and spin. My life had just started to resemble the world I’d always dreamed of having. I’d never been home so much and been so happy to leave the office behind. But it wasn’t just about coming home to my Malibu beach house—it was Katana.

I’d always been a bit more than merely content with my life. But I’d never been as happy as I’d been since Katana came into my life.

Since the night we met, I’d had a thing for her that wouldn’t quit. So there was only one real question. Was this real?

Were my feelings real or just the typical excitement I always got when starting a new project?

Katana didn’t feel like a project to me. I wasn’t trying to mold her or shape her into what I wanted her to be. That’s what I did with projects. I built things, changed things, rearranged things. I didn’t stop until I was completely satisfied with what I’d done.

I didn’t look at her and think she’d look better with blonde hair. I didn’t think she should change the style of her clothes. I didn’t think she needed to have a different job.

I didn’t want to change a thing about the woman. Well, there was one thing I wanted to change about her. So I guess I was only lying to myself.

Chapter 24

Katana

Christmas Day

On Christmas morning, I woke up alone in bed. After stretching, yawning, and trying to wake my sleepy self up, I sat up and called out, “Nix?”

No one answered, and I got up to take a shower and get myself all prettied up for the day. Our first Christmas!

I’d put the presents I’d bought him under the tree last night, and he’d put some for me under there too. And I thought it was pretty sweet that we’d each bought something for our baby too and put those under there.

There was a bigger stack of presents under my very first tree than I’d ever had growing up. Everything was better with Nix.

As I showered, I noticed there was some expensive new shampoo and conditioner in there, and Nix had drawn hearts on the bottles and written, “just for you,” on them.

I lathered up my hair with the minty shampoo that had my head tingling, and I thought about what a treasure the man was. I’d take that man even if he didn’t have a dime. I’d live in a treehouse with the man. I didn’t care. I knew I’d been lucky he’d found me in that club that night.

After getting myself as pretty as I could, I pulled on the red dress I’d bought just for this day. It fit tight at the top and all the way to my still narrow waist—which I knew I’d lose soon enough. The dress flared out at the waist, making it look like I had a petticoat underneath it. The fabric came to just below my knees and when I added the flats—as Nix told me he never wanted to see me in heels while I was pregnant or he’d give me a real spanking—my legs looked long and slender.

I felt pretty, and I couldn’t wait to find Nix. I wasn’t going to let this day pass without telling him how I really felt about him.

When I walked out the bedroom door, I found something littering the floor. The white rose petals stood out, contrasting against the dark stone tiles. It looked as if he’d placed each one just the way he wanted it.

What’s this about?

I had to wonder what the man had up his sleeve. With him, I just didn’t know what he was up to.

A thought hit me, and I stopped. What if he’s bought me an expensive car?

Trying to steady myself for the shock of that, I thought about how scared I’d be to drive something so expensive. I’d only ever had old pieces of barely held together crap. Could I pull off being excited instead of afraid?

Moving on, I shook off the nerves and got to the top of the stairs. The rose petals went all the way down the stairs and on the floor at the very bottom, the entire floor was covered in a circular pattern.

It looked as if something was missing from that circle, and I had to wonder what that could be. Okay, maybe he hadn’t bought me a car. Maybe it was a really large gift, and he hadn’t gotten it inside yet to put it there.

Should I go back and wait a few more minutes?

As I stood there, thinking about what I should do, I noticed something else. Two suitcases were sitting by the door.

Now why in the world would those be there?

Was he surprising me with a trip of some kind?

I had absolutely no clue what he was up to and had no idea if I should turn back to wait or not. I didn’t want to screw up his big surprise when he’d gone to so much trouble.

No one had ever done anything nearly as grand as all this. I looked over my shoulder, wondering if I should go back to the bedroom to grab my cell so I could take a picture. I wanted to remember this scene forever.

Just as I turned around, I heard a noise—the sound of rustling met my ears and I turned to see what it was.

Down on one knee and wearing a black tuxedo, Nix held out a box. The stone in the ring was so big, I could see it all the way from the top of the stairs.

His green eyes met mine as he gazed up at me. I took each step one at a time, slowly, so I could take him all in. The way he smiled up at me. The way his eyes sparkled. His clean-shaven face, bare of the beard I’d gotten so used to. The cute dimple that I could now see he only had in his left cheek.

I could barely breathe. He was about to propose to me, and I knew damn good and well what my answer would be. Some people might think it was too fast, but I knew I loved the man and was positive there was no other one out there in the world for me. Nixon Slaughter was it.

He waited so patiently for me to get to him. When I did, he finally spoke. “You look beyond beautiful, baby.”

I was close to crying, but I managed to say, “You too.” I ran my hands over my own cheeks. “You shaved.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I wanted the pictures to be nice.”

So he planned on taking some more pictures. The man would make sure we had something to remember all of our pivotal moments. He was perfect that way.

Today would be the day we got engaged and celebrated our first Christmas. One day there would be a wedding. One day there would be the birth of our child.

“I’m sure they will be nice, Nix.” I smiled at him and loved the way his dark hair was so nicely combed, parted on one side, making him even more handsome.

“I’d like to ask you a question,” he said. “Is that okay with you?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Good, I’ve gotten my first yes, now I’ll shoot for more.” He chuckled, and his eyes shone with amusement. “Katana Grace Reeves.” He stopped and winked at me. “I snooped in your purse last night and found your driver’s license, that’s how I know your middle name.”

“I see.” I laughed lightly. “Please, go on.”

He cleared his throat before he moved on. “Katana Grace Reeves, I love you.” My heart pounded, and I felt the first tear break free. “I’ve been a fool for you since the night we met. A night I know neither of us will ever forget. I’m not asking you this just because you’re carrying our baby. I’m asking you this because I don’t want to think of a life that doesn’t have you in it—right by my side—until death do us part. And I mean that. So, I’m asking you if you love me too, and if you’ll become my wife. Today. In Las Vegas.”

Today?

I swayed a bit, feeling like I’d been knocked back. Not only did he want to marry me, but he wanted to do it right now. My mouth went dry. My head spun. And my heart lurched in my chest.

Tears poured down like rain as my lips parted. “I love you, Nixon Slaughter. Nothing would make me happier than marrying you today.”

His smile got even wider as he stood up and slipped that huge diamond engagement ring onto my finger. “Thank you, baby. I promise you’ll never regret your answer.”

When his arms slid around me, bringing me to him so our lips could touch, I knew I’d made the right decision.

Where Nixon was concerned, every decision I’d made had been the right one. From taking him up on his offer to leave that club with him on Halloween night, to telling him as soon as I could about the baby, to accepting the invitation to move in with him—everything had been right.

This had to be the right thing too.

When our mouths parted, we were both panting. “I’d take you upstairs and make sweet love to you, Katana, but we have these presents to open and a private jet to get to. I took the liberty of booking us a bridal suite already. I didn’t want to take any chances.”

We slowed down a bit and opened the presents we’d given each other. He gave me more expensive jewelry, and then there was one more small box. When I opened it, I found a set of keys with the Mercedes emblem on them. “Nix!”

“You look a little shocked, baby,” he said with a laugh. “You know my wife can’t be driving around in a clunker. I do have standards to keep, you know.”

I shook my head as I put the keys down. I picked up the special present I’d gotten him and handed it to him. “Thank you for the car and all the jewelry, among the other things you’ve given me. Open this one next.”

He smiled the entire time he opened that package, and when he found the simple paperweight I’d given him, he laughed. “An “I Love You” paperweight?”

“Well, I had no idea you were going to do all this. And I wanted to tell you that I loved you today. You kind of stole my thunder there with the marriage proposal, but I wanted you to know that I was going to declare my love for you today anyway. I knew it the day we heard our baby’s heart beating.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.

We just kept on having one perfect day after another. I was no fool—I knew some days wouldn’t be all wine and roses, but I had a feeling there’d be more good days than bad ones.

A few hours later, he and I stood in front of a preacher who looked a hell of a lot like Elvis as soft music played in a tiny chapel in Vegas. I’d never dreamt about having a wedding, but this surpassed anything I could’ve ever come up with.

When our lips met as husband and wife for the first time, I knew we’d beat all the odds and make a marriage and family we both could be proud of. Nix and I had found our happily ever after; I had no doubts about that.

The End.

* * *

Masked Indulgence Extended Epilogue

Nixon

With our two-year-old, Maximus and our eight-month-old, Serenity at home with my parents, I scooped up Katana, running away with her for the night. Our third Christmas together and third wedding anniversary had me taking her on a little adventure.

Blindfolded and handcuffed, Katana sat in the passenger seat of my Maserati. “I know I can’t see anything, but I can feel how fast you’re going, Nix. What’s the rush?”

“Baby, this is one fast machine. One does not drive a masterpiece like this little beauty slowly.” I reached over and patted her on the leg. Her fishnet stockings took me back to the first night we met.

I’d dolled her up in an outfit similar to the one she wore that fateful night, a little teddy made out of satin and lace. After covering her daring attire with a trench coat, I smuggled the mother of our two gorgeous children out while Mom and Dad had the kids on the deck feeding seagulls. If the kids saw us leave, they’d throw fits to get to go with us. And we couldn’t have that. Not on this night.

Aiming to recreate that passion we’d felt that night, I wanted everything to be perfect. So I’d borrowed a friend’s little love nest, complete with fun toys for our combined pleasure.

Pulling into the long drive that would take us to the secluded home that sat on the edge of a cliff, looking out over the Pacific Ocean, I found my cock already growing with anticipation. Easy boy, we have a ways to go yet.

“You’re slowing down, we must be there,” Katana said with an eagerness to her sweet voice that did nothing to help the state of arousal I was trying to control.

“We’re here. And now it’s time for you and me to take on our roles. It’s Master from here on out, my little slave girl.” I parked the car in the garage and got out to retrieve my wife.

After carrying her inside, I took in the small place my friend called his love shack. The kitchen wasn’t anything special, a regular old white fridge, a small stove that matched and nothing else. White and black tiles made the kitchen look dated. But I supposed that wasn’t what my friend wanted to put his money into with the place he used exclusively for playing with women who liked the same things he did.

Venturing on, I carried Katana through the kitchen and into the living area. Done in reds and blacks, the place looked like a Satanist must live there. Which thankfully wasn’t true. Spending the night in some haunted place wasn’t what I was shooting for.

Oh, I did want to hear some screams, groans, and growls but I would prefer them to come from Katana and myself, rather than angry demonic spirits. It was Christmas, not Halloween after all.

Without any lights on, the room could only be seen in shadows. When I found a light switch, I flipped it up, and the room became bathed in red light. “Spooky,” I found myself mumbling.

“Spooky?” Katana asked. “Can I see?”

I put her down and took the blindfold away from her eyes. She blinked a few times as she looked around. “See,” I said, “spooky.”

With a nod, she agreed. “I like it.” Pointing up at the ceiling, she asked, “And what are those tracks for, Nix, I mean, Master?”

Running my eyes along the tracks, I found they ended in chains that hung against the walls. “Ah! Look, I can cuff you to those chains and lift you up into the air and move you all over the place.” I winked at her. “Sound like fun, my little slave?”

She eyed the tracks once more. “Hmm. I guess we’ll have to find out if it’s fun or not, won’t we, Master?”

“Well, see,” I said then looked around some more. “Jack said his box of toys was in the closet that’s in here.” I found three doors came off the living room.

We headed to the closest one and found that was a small bathroom. The next door led to a small bedroom with nothing more than a bed in it. There were two doors off it that I guessed went to another bathroom and a closet. The last door was the closet he’d told me about, and as I opened it, I found it heavy and the sounds of chains rattled as he had several of them hung on hooks on the back of the door.

Katana gasped at the things we found after she flipped the light switch that illuminated the inside of the large walk-in closet. “Oh, my!”

“Well, we won’t use all of these, but we’ll make a decent dent in them,” I said as I ran my hand over a very nice leather strap. “I’ll grab this.”

Katana pointed to what looked like a ping pong paddle. “How about that too?” She giggled. “I’m feeling very naughty, Master.”

“Good, so am I,” I turned to her and grabbed one of her Double D tits with a rough grasp. Giving it a good squeeze that made her yelp, I added, “I can’t wait to tie you up and give you what you’ve got coming to you, you naughty wench.”

Her sexy smile told me she was up for anything and that’s exactly what she’d get. Anything I wanted.

She looked away, her eyes landing on a tall, slender chest of drawers. “What do you think is in there, Master?”

“Only one way to find that out,” I said, then pulled open the top drawer.

Blue velvet lined the bottom of the shallow drawer that held an assortment of nipple clamps, butt plugs, and some other things I had no idea what were.

Katana pointed out a silver set of nipple clamps. “Those things go on the nipples huh?”

“They do. Wanna give them a try?” I asked her. She nodded, so I got them out and felt a little thrill run through me. I had the best wife ever.

She opened the next drawer, and in that one, we found an assortment of dildos. “Oh, look at that pink one.” She pointed at the one in the middle. “It’s got a little hook thingy. I bet it hits the clit while simultaneously vibrating inside. Wanna do me with it?”

“Um, yeah,” I said with a sarcastic tone to my voice. “I wanna do you with all of them.”

There were seven of them, and I found her shaking her head. “Not all of them.” She pointed at a really fat black one. “Def, not that one. It’ll stretch me all out, I bet.”

“We can’t have that.” I chuckled and opened the next drawer. “And here we have cuffs and blindfolds.” I opened the next one. “And here’s a bunch of different gags. Wanna…”

She cut me off. “No way. I want to be able to say the safe word. No gags for me.”

Ah, she did have a line. I had begun to wonder about that. “No gags. Got it.”

So with the assortment of goodies, I closed the closet, and we turned around to assess what we had before us and plan our little session. “So, I’m thinking we use the chains and tracks first,” Katana said. “What do you think about that?”

After putting the things on the small table at the side of the room, I turned back to my mouthy slave. “I think you’ve forgotten that I am in charge. And for that, you shall be punished.” I sat in a wooden chair that had no cushion and tapped my knee. “Come, get your spanking, you naughty girl.”

A wicked smile curved my wife’s black stained lips as she came toward me. She stopped right in front of me then took her trench coat off, slow and seductively. The red light illuminated the black garment and her skin, making her appear almost like an apparition from hell.

She lay her body on my lap. I felt the warmth of her pussy as it pressed against my cock. Closing my eyes, I had to concentrate on not getting any harder than I already was. The night was supposed to be a long one for us. That meant controlling my needs until I could no longer do it.

The teddy covered her ass completely. My hand ran over the satin material that covered her round ass. I gave her one good smack, and she yelped. Then I gave her another and another. “You will be quiet, slave.” I gave her another smack. “You will do as I say, slave.” One more smack. “And in turn, I will give you more pleasure than you’ve ever had.” I gave her one more for good measure.

She moaned. “Oh, Master. I’ll be good. No more, please.”

I gave one more. “Hush now.”

Moving my hands over her ass, I felt how the spanking had heated her skin. I lifted her up off me, my cock kind of hating me for taking her warm pussy away. Then I stood and took off my jacket then my shirt, stripping all the way down to my tight black boxer briefs. “To the chains, slave.”

Katana turned to go to the wall. Her ass shook as she walked in the high heels, making me salivate over her gorgeous ass. But I had to keep myself under control at all times.

When she got to the wall, she stopped, facing the wall, waiting for me the way a good slave should. I took her hands that were still cuffed and released them only to cuff them to the chain. I found the crank on the wall and used it to move her up until her feet were just off the ground.

Taking the blindfold, I tied it back on, covering her eyes. “You can moan, groan, and scream, but no talking, slave.”

She nodded. I pulled her body, making the chain move in one of the tracks as I pulled her to the middle of the room. Something glistened to the right of me, making me look in that direction. On the floor, I found another chain and this one had cuffs already on it. When I looked to the other side, I saw another just like it.

I went to pick one up and found the small key in the lock and opened it then walked with it and found it came nearly all the way to where I had Katana. So I wrapped the cuff around one ankle and then I did the same with the other. She was spread open now and locked into place.

“Cool,” I said as I looked at her, finding her as helpless as a kitten. “Time to get to work.” I went to grab a knife and came back to her, running the cold blade over the tops of her breasts. They spilled over the top of the negligee. Cutting the material, so her boobs were freed, I kissed them both before going to get the nipple clamps.

Putting the first one on, I flinched when Katana screamed, “Ow! Fuck!”

“Should I take it off?” I asked as I felt a pang of guilt over hurting her.

She took a deep breath. “No. No, I’m okay now. It’s kind of pulsing and burning, but I can handle it.”

“Should I put the other one on?” I asked as I wasn’t sure she could take it.

“Um, let’s wait on that please, Master,” she said, and I went to put the other one back on the table. I picked up the pink dildo and turned it on to make sure it had batteries. It started right up, so I turned it off and took it back to her.

Using my knife once more, I split her teddy right down the middle, exposing more of her taut body, all the way down to her bare pussy. I’d sent her to the spa where she got the full treatment. A complete body wax, part of that exquisite treatment.

I checked her, inserting one finger into her and found she wasn’t wet enough yet. So I went to get the leather strap. I hit her thighs, making her moan. Over and over, I hit first one then the other. Red whelps raised her creamy skin before I stopped. When I checked her this time, I found her wet and ready.

Covering the dildo in some warming gel, I pushed it into her and started it up. Moving it slowly, I let it stay inside of her, the little hook thing vibrating on her clit. I made little pumps so the thing could stay in contact with her clit.

Watching her little nub blossom with the attention mesmerized me. I saw it growing, yearning for more as it moved, covering the little hook, taking it in. And as I watched, my cock thumped inside my underwear, wanting to feel more too.

I moved to get on my knees, taking in the essence her body gave off. Her sexual arousal hung heavy in the air, and I yearned to breathe it all in. She began to make little moans and whispered, “Oh, Master, I’m about to come.”

My mouth watered as I hungered to taste what she’d soon set free. “Do it, slave. Come for your Master.”

Her cries were high pitched as her body shook. I pulled the dildo out, holding the tip of it on her clit as I plunged my tongue into her, eating her delicious cunt. I felt her canal squeezing my tongue as her climax went on.

She was screaming with the intensity of the orgasm. I turned off the vibrator and pulled it away from her clit, but continued to tongue fuck her sweet pussy until she was finished.

Then I moved around her body, her ass in my face. I took the knife and split the material down her back until I had it completely cut open. Pulling her ass cheeks apart, I licked her butthole until I felt she was ready for me to put my tongue into it.

She made a fabulous groan when I pushed my tongue into her ass, tongue fucking her from behind. When I had her nice and wet back there, I got up and pushed the elastic waistband of my underwear down, letting my erect cock free.

Gripping her by the waist, I held her body still then pushed my cock into her ass. I moved her body back and forth, stroking my cock with her asshole. It was so tight around me I could barely contain my orgasm. But I didn’t want to go too fast. It felt too good, and I wasn’t hurrying up one bit.

I moved my hands from her waist, moving them around to finger fuck her with one of them and play with her clit with the other as I made deep pumps into her ass. I was breathing hard and so was she as I filled both of her holes.

When I felt her climaxing on my fingers, I couldn’t help it; I had to come too. So I shot my load into her asshole and groaned loudly as I did it. “Fuck me!”

Her body was quivering as my dick jerked and shot more cum into her. Once my climax ended, I found myself hungering for her even more. I pulled my dick out of her ass and went to my knees behind her, licking up the come that leaked out of her ass.

With a flat tongue, I licked up the cream that came out of her until she was all cleaned up then I moved to the front of her and licked her pussy clean too.

Kissing my way up her body, I ended on her lips, shoving my tongue through hers to let her taste our combination. She moaned as she ran her tongue over mine. As I kissed her, I found my cock arousing again and pushed it into her cunt. It was soaked, and I moved myself back and forth with ease, fucking her as she was chained and helpless to stop me.

My fingers dug into her ass cheeks as I held her still so I could go in deep and hard. I moved at a savage pace that had me bursting inside of her once more.

Both spent, I pulled out of her as I tried to catch my breath. Unlocking her legs, I set them free then moved her back to the wall. I turned the crank to put her feet back on the floor and saw that her legs were weak. So I put her over my shoulder, holding her while I uncuffed her. Once she was freed, I took her to the sofa and laid her down on it.

I had regained my breath, but she hadn’t. Rubbing her shoulders, I tried to make sure she was relaxed. Then I rubbed her legs and thighs to make sure they wouldn’t cramp up.

Lastly, I took off the blindfold and found her gazing at me. There was no doubt about it; the woman loved me. I could see it all there in her gorgeous blue eyes.

“Did I satisfy my little slave?” I asked her as I caressed her cheek.

She nodded and put her hand over mine, holding it to her face. “I love you, Nixon Slaughter. You’re a dream come true.”

“Breaking character,” I chided her. But I loved it when she talked this way to me. I kissed her lips then looked at her. “I love you too, Katana Slaughter. You’ve made my life a thing I didn’t know it could be.”

Three years had passed far too quickly. I found it odd how time seemed to have sped up after I met Katana.

The pregnancy went by like molasses for her, but for me, one minute she’d told me we were having a baby and the next moment he was coming into the world, screaming and red-faced.

It seemed like only a few days had passed then he wasn’t a newborn anymore, and he was this chubby little baby boy. And then his mother told me we’d gotten ourselves pregnant again. Maximus was all of six months old, and Katana was as scared as she could be.

I did my best to help her get over the fear of going through another delivery so soon after her first one. And that day came before either of us were ready for it. At midnight on a Tuesday, Serenity came slipping and sliding into this world. She didn’t come out red-faced and crying the way her older brother had. She came out with a sweet smile on her pretty little face.

We were going to name her Maxine up until we met our baby girl. Her calm demeanor had me calling her Serenity right from the start, and Katana loved the name, so it stuck. We kept Maxine, using it as her middle name.

She and I weren’t done having kids. But we were going to slow down a bit. Spitting them out like rabbits wasn’t good for my wife’s body. Mom gave her an idea about using a birth control method she’d used. It was easy to stop using it when you made the decision to have another child.

And I hated the fact that every time I looked at my wife as she glowed after an orgasm I wanted to see her belly round with my child inside of her once again.

I couldn’t help it, I adored being a father, and I loved being her husband. If anyone would’ve told me that just a little over three years ago, I’d have told them they were insane. But it had happened to me.

I met a woman who’d changed me without even trying to. I met a woman who fit me like a glove. I counted myself as the luckiest man in the world.

If I lost every dime I had, and that was a shit-ton of them, I wouldn’t care as long as I had my wife and our children. They were all I’d ever need.

Don’t get me wrong; the money made it damn easy to take care of them all. It made it so that my wife and I could enjoy taking time with our children, instead of both of us working our asses off just to put a roof over their heads and food in their little tummies.

I was thankful for everything I had, including the money that I did work hard for. But not so hard it took me away from my family for more than a few hours each day.

With the wife and kids, I took on a couple of assistants and spread my workload out so that I’d only have to give my attention to things half as much as I’d had to before I hired them. Hell, I was even thankful for those guys who helped me be the husband and father I strove to be.

“Nix, is something wrong with me?” Katana asked me.

“There’s not a damn thing wrong with you, baby,” I said then kissed her lips. “Why would you even ask that?”

She ran her hand through my hair. “Because I have these little nagging worries. Worries about how things are so perfect and how that can’t possibly last.”

Frowning, I said, “I think that’s normal, baby. And I know life will throw a few curve balls at us from time to time. We’re lucky nothing has been tossed our way yet, but things will happen. Life can’t be perfect forever. And you’ve already lived a pretty imperfect life as it is. Before I came along and pulled you into my protective arms.”

She smiled. “You sure did that, Nix. I had no idea life could be this good. I suppose my past is exactly why I have fears of things going wrong. This all seems too good to be true. Our kids were born healthy.”

“And cute as bugs in rugs,” I added. “Don’t forget that. Serenity has your eyes and Maximus has your big heart.”

She laughed and added, “Maximus also has your nose and Serenity has your hair.” Then her eyes went soft as she looked into mine. “And I want a dozen more of those little cherubs, Nix. Does that make me crazy?”

“Yep,” I said then laughed. “But I guess I’m crazy too because I’d like half a dozen more myself.”

“The doctor said to give my body a year then we can try for another. I want to do just that, do you?” she asked with wide eyes.

I had to admit something to her and now would be the best time to do that. “I want to wait two years, baby. It makes more sense. I want to have time with each child. You see, I’m the oldest of my large family. I know how lost a kid can get in a large family. The first three of us were back to back. The last ones were spaced out two years apart. I noticed things about them that are different from us older ones. They each have a special bond with our parents. Like they had some real time with them that the first three of us didn’t.”

“So you regret that we had Serenity so close to Maximus?” she asked, looking a bit regretful herself.

Shaking my head, I ran my hand through her dark hair. “Regret? No. She came to us just as quickly as Maximus did. But now that we have an idea of how to put space between our kids, we can plan them, instead of them surprising us with their presence.”

She laughed. “Yeah, they did kind of make the decisions for us, didn’t they?”

I peeled the remainders of her negligee off her body, leaving her naked and got rid of my underwear. Lying down next to her, I cradled her in my arms as she faced me.

Nothing felt better than holding my wife in my arms. If I could do it twenty-four-seven, I definitely would. But life doesn’t work that way. And with the arrival of our babies, she and I could get lost taking care of them.

I kissed her cheek. “We have to make more times like these for ourselves.”

She ran her hand down my arm, resting it on my bicep, a thing she liked to do as she told me my biceps were one of her most favorite things in the whole world. Odd, I know, but Katana was one easy woman to please. “We should do a date night once a month. Shanna could come over and spend the night with the kids. She’d love that.”

The woman who had been my best friend gladly gave up that spot so Katana could fill it. But Shanna wasn’t left out in the cold. She took the second best friend position in stride. And she had my sisters jealous of her close proximity to our kids and had coveted the role of their absolute favorite aunt. Katana was right, Shanna would love to give us one night a month off.

“Perhaps we should build our own little private love shack,” I said and found her lighting up.

“We should, Nix! That’s a great idea. I’d like one of the stockade thingies, and the motif could be dungeon style. That would be so cool.” She wiggled in my arms and squealed. “You’ve got me so excited now. Ah! We get to make our own playhouse.”

“Playhouse?” I asked with furrowed brows. “I’m the master, I get to name the place, and I like love shack.”

“Love shack it is then, Master.” Katana settled in my arms, her hand running up and down my arm as I watched her wheels begin to spin.

Giving Katana a project was always a good idea. She loved to get going on something new and interesting. That’s what made her a great book cover designer; she loved the challenge of every project she took on.

I found she and I were a lot alike in that respect. She’d be a third of the way through with one book cover when she’d start thinking about the next one. So when I began talking about a new project I was into before the other one was finished, she understood completely and actually found that to be a quality she admired in me.

Hard to imagine that she and I met as strangers with what we assumed was only one thing in common, the BDSM world. We found out we had similar interests, similar ways to deal with things, and both of us were ready for marriage and kids yet neither of us had ever realized that before we met each other.

I’d heard it said before that everyone has a soulmate. I had to admit; I hadn’t believed that when I heard it. I thought those couples were all liars. No one was put on this Earth with their destiny set in stone. There couldn’t be just one person meant for anyone.

But after I found how easily Katana and I clicked, I put that disbelief away for good. I knew it was true then.

Katana and I came from extremely different backgrounds. She had it far rougher than I did. Not that I had it that hard, but I sure as hell didn’t have it as easy as my kids would.

We didn’t have much money. We lived in a three-bedroom house. Bunk beds stacked high in two of those rooms to accommodate me and my siblings. My kids would all have their own bedrooms, even if that meant finding us another place to live.

I knew we’d find a bigger home sometime in the near future. I’d keep the beach house, because come on, who lets go of a perfectly good Malibu beach house?

But I knew we’d need more room eventually, and the kids would need a yard to play in. If Katana was this excited over finding a small house for us to convert into a love shack, then she’d be over the moon when I told her it was time for us to search for a new home.

I bet she’d never thought about shopping for a mansion on a large estate before. Growing up first in a home with a neglectful mother and no father at all, then moving into an orphanage until a foster family was found who’d take her in, Katana was sure to have never even dreamt of one day finding such a grand home for her and her family.

As I held her close and felt her breathing slow, knowing she was falling asleep right in my arms, I found myself thinking about leaving it all up to her. Letting her pick out everything.

Giving her things she’d never thought she’d ever get was a thing that made me happier than just about anything. Almost as happy as I got when I saw smiles on my babies faces. That had to be my all-time favorite thing, making my kids smile.

I’d been a rich man before I met my wife. I’d been a happy guy with no worries. I didn’t feel as if I was missing a thing in my life.

But I’d been dead wrong.

Without Katana, I’d be nothing. I don’t know how a person can come into your life and make herself a part of you the way it happened with Katana and me.

I’d heard the term, my better half, a lot, but I didn’t ever understand it completely, thinking it just a nice term married people used. But now that I’d found that with Katana, I understood it completely.

Katana was part of me, and she always would be. My kids were too, but they were blood, I’d always assumed I’d have a natural bond with my offspring. But a woman? No, I never saw that coming.

As I held my wife that night, falling asleep with her, I knew I could count my blessings and knew we’d found our happily ever after.

The End.