Since he could only take so many episodes of Big Bang Theory in one sitting, Parker muted the TV and stretched to wake up his body. Snooki rolled off his stomach when he arched. He forgot the damn fuzzball was using him as a pillow.

She sat up and yawned. He eyed the black and white menace with a bit of forbearance. After all, it was his bright fucking idea to get Angel a dog.

Unbuttoning the cuff of his shirt, he rolled the sleeve a few times and repeated the same on the other sleeve. Checking his watch, he noted the time and wondered where his wife was. It wasn’t like her to come home so late.

Snooki sneezed, and her whole little body jolted.

“Shut up.”

She snickered at him—he was sure of it—and then walked in a circle before curling into a ball of fluff.

Recently, a small spot on his left shoulder had started to tingle at odd times. Reaching up, he rubbed the spot with his fingers. Reflex worry shot into his senses.

The situation with Alex and Justice was beyond maximum density. Everyone was on pins and needles. No one harbored a single doubt that an explosion of epic proportion was building and could go off at any moment. It was making them all understandably jumpy.

He replayed his interview with Roman Bishop. Alex demanded the man come to Arizona to do the honors. Was it disconcerting to be on the receiving end of an interrogation by a professional inquisitor? Fuck, yeah. Roman knew how to probe. Some of what he pulled from Parker’s memory was arcane and obscure, but other things clanged a bell. It had been a powerful experience. Exhausting and surreal.

As the pieces started to make some sense, he doubled down with worry and decided that from then on, his wife would never be left alone. So, today while he had to appear in court and do his lawyer thing, he arranged for her to spend the day with Sophie.

Angie objected vociferously to being babysat. Her wifely tether was fairly loose to begin with, and he generally allowed her as much leeway as possible, considering the current state of things, but she was hugely pregnant, and whether she wanted to admit it, she needed looking after.

He asked for Sophie’s help and shut down his wife’s complaints. The house Jace whipped out of his butt along with a proposal of marriage threw all the ladies into an ecstatic dither. The two sisters were going to look at paint colors and whatever else females do when given a decorating challenge.

In the kitchen, he wandered in mindless circles because nothing interested him. The smell of coffee drove Angie up the wall, so he put the coffeemakers away for the duration of her pregnancy and satisfied his java urges at the coffee shops in town.

He glanced at the drinks cart. A cocktail wasn’t such a good idea either. Not until she was home and he could climb down from the ledge.

The refrigerator handle took some abuse when he yanked it harder than necessary. Slapping his gut, he surveyed the contents, grabbed a cheese stick, and checked out a container of Carmen’s newest kick. Something she called jam pennies. The small rounds of doughy cookie with homemade jam spooned into an indented thumbprint were way too easy to pop in your mouth. He gobbled three and then snapped the lid into place before he lost his shit and ate all of them.

Snooki trotted into the kitchen and went straight to her water dish. Personalized, of course. Parker ripped open the cheese stick and pondered the mind-boggling array of insane doggie crap littering his house. He supposed this explosion of excess and round-the-clock ordering would only get worse when the baby came.

He grinned. The baby. God, he couldn’t wait! Halloween was here, and Thanksgiving was fast approaching. That’d be the last holiday for just the two of them. By Christmas, they’d have a newborn to celebrate along with the year-end holidays.

The pup sniffed around the kitchen door that led to the garage. He wondered if she wondered where Mommy was.

“Fuck it,” he mumbled. He was an expectant father, and everyone could suck his dick if they didn’t understand why he was jumpy. Pulling a phone from his pocket, he tapped the security icon and instantly connected with the Justice on-call center.

One of Alex’s hyper-professional security team answered immediately. “How can we help you, sir?”

“I need the location of my wife’s car.” Short and succinct. He owed no one an explanation.

“Passcode, sir.”

They’d each been assigned a special, individualized passcode as a second layer of security—in case a phone was compromised. He stated the passcode and waited for an answer.

“Thank you, sir. According to location data, your wife’s car is in the driveway at the Marquez home in Sedona. All cars at this address are stationary, sir.”

Good. She was with Sophie at Uncle Cris and Aunt Ash’s place. A surge of intense relief swept through him.

He thanked him and asked if they were in contact with Angie’s security detail.

“Yes, sir. Agent Fuller and her team are within eye range. Nothing out of the ordinary, Mr. Sullivan.”

Satisfied but only marginally relieved, he ended the contact and considered his options. He could call her and request she get her ass home—something he suspected would go over like farts in church since it was his idea to foist her off on her family to begin with.

Or he could call his uncle to ask some innocently horseshit question only to find his wife right there! Cue the surprise! At that point, he could politely suggest she get her ass home.

Yeah. Also a bad idea.

He looked at Snooki. There was one surefire way to get her home in a hurry. “Mommy always wins.”

Composing the text in his mind before typing, Parker chose careful words for peak impact. His cock throbbed as he spelled it out and pressed send.

Playroom. One hour. Bring strawberries.

Sniggering, he imagined how fast Angie would close out whatever she was doing. He could get her to do almost anything if the playroom was unlocked in the process. A sobering thought.

“She’ll be here soon,” he informed the dog. “With strawberries,” he added on a laugh.

They’d consumed a container ship amount of the sweet red fruit over the summer. Angie was obsessed. She put strawberries on everything, and since there always seemed to be an abundance of the berry in the fridge, he’d found some interesting and very sexy uses that had nothing to do with nutrition. Knowing she’d imagine all sorts of kinky stuff made him laugh because he had something tamer in mind.

He took out a pan of lasagna he spied in the refrigerator and turned on the oven. Being pregnant challenged Angie’s appetite. Some days, she ate everything in sight, and on other days, she barely picked at her food.

“Come on, fuzzball. Let’s take you out.” He secretly hoped the damn sprinklers came on while the stupid yipper tore around the backyard. The last time that happened, he fell over laughing and then had to put up with Angel’s snarling displeasure because her precious wittle Snooki wookie got wet. If he got caught in the sprinklers, she’d laugh and toss him a towel. When the damn dog got wet, she went into meltdown mode and took out the fucking hair dryer!

Like a well-trained husband, he dutifully exercised the stupid dog, grumbled under his breath while cleaning up her puppy poop, and somewhat begrudgingly pet the tongue-wagging canine.

When she was finished being a doggie diva, he shooed her inside and begged her to get in her monstrosity of a bed and stay there. Fat chance. She’d make herself comfy on the Cleopatra-style velvet lounger until Angie came through the door. Then all bets were off as to which one of them got her attention first.

Jesus. He was competing with a damn fuzzball.

The clock on the stove told him to get moving. He hurried into their bedroom and grabbed the playroom key from his nightstand. Five minutes in the closet and he’d changed into jeans and a T-shirt.

At the playroom door, he unlocked it and left the door open, then Parker chuckled as he made for the living room. He liked playing with her because every reaction was unique. Whether the door was open or closed, her pulse raced. Closed suggested wickedness and submission. She trembled so sweetly when he made her wait. An open door could signal an invitation, usually for something playful but intensely carnal. She trembled for that too.

The pan of lasagna went into the preheated oven.

With just minutes to spare, he mussed his hair and unbuttoned his jeans. He also adjusted his hard-on for maximum effect. Angie got off on his “waiting to fuck you” appearance.

Plopping onto the sofa, he grabbed the remote control, turned on the sound, slapped his bare feet on the coffee table, crossed them at the ankle, and lounged as if nothing at all was on his mind.

In no time at all, he heard the garage open. His cock throbbed.

“Easy, buddy.” He sniggered. “Ladies first.”

“Oh, for god’s sake!”

Angie grunted and groaned as she squirmed out of her car. A task made difficult courtesy of her baby bump.

Landing on her feet with her dress around her waist from the frantic effort of extricating herself from behind the wheel, she smoothed her hands down the loose, flowing fabric. Patting her tummy, she spoke softly to the baby.

“Sweetie, Mommy and Daddy are going to play, okay? Why don’t you have a little snooze, hmm?”

She hurried to the other side of the car to grab her purse and a bag from the market off the front seat. The folder of fabric swatches and paint chips for Sophie’s house was left behind. She had other things on her mind.

Parker’s text that he wanted her in the playroom in an hour made her instantly giddy with excruciating anticipation. What did her sexy dominant husband have planned?

The strawberries were a clue. Or maybe that was just her clever mate being smart. It wasn’t exactly a secret that she was in the midst of a berry love affair, courtesy, she was sure, of Princess Sullivan.

Clicking the remote on her key ring, she heard the car lock and hurried into the house, nearly breathless with excitement.

“Parker? I’m home!”

Snooki’s excited yips warned her of the furball assault coming her way. Groaning when she tried to stoop, she used a chair instead. “Hi, girl! Were you good for Daddy?”

“Don’t like being relegated to the cheap seats by a goddamn dog.” Parker’s deep, sexy growl from the living room made her grin like a lovesick twit.

She wasn’t fooled. He loved Snooki. And he also loved pretending they were adversaries. The dog played along, which only made it funnier. Such was the Sullivan household. A little bit off center but definitely overflowing with love.

She pranced into the living room and tossed the bag of strawberries at his head. “Maybe you wouldn’t be in the cheap seats if you put some freakin’ effort into pretending to care.”

His amused bark of laughter and wicked leer triggered a flood into her panties. “Kiss your husband hello, Mrs. Sullivan,” he growled with a playful smirk on his handsome face.

Angie liked the dominant edge her husband brought to their marriage. She stopped questioning why she found such freedom in their unusual arrangement. It didn’t matter. Call it by any name you like—husband, master, Sir, whatever—but it all meant the same. She was his and only his. Parker’s pleasure was all that mattered.

However, that did not mean she was any good in her role as obedient submissive. Ha! As if! The man was arrogant enough—no need to make it any easier for him.

With a dramatic, long-suffering sigh, she pushed her hair behind her ears and bent forward to kiss his delicious lips. She was surprised when he demanded entry but quickly succumbed to the carnal tongue duel.

He ended the possessive kiss and stood. Taking her hand, he led her to the sink and pressed the bag into her hands. “Wash and pat dry. Leave the tops.”

An involuntary shudder raced along her nerve endings. Leaving the tops suggested all sorts of hot and sexy things.

“Did you have fun with Sophie?”

Oh. He wanted to converse. Okay. Angie turned the water sprayer on and concentrated on the berries.

“The house doesn’t need much except some personal touches. My sister has great instincts. I can’t wait to see what she pulls off.”

“She seems very happy, don’t you think?”

Angie smiled. Her husband genuinely cared about Sophie. They’d been friends for a long time. He always understood when she put Sophie’s needs ahead of hers and didn’t argue with her about it.

“Jace is fabulous. My dad couldn’t be happier.”

A warm hand slid up her leg, under her dress, and caressed her butt.

“Hurry, baby girl. Your hour is almost up.”

She gasped and graced him with a sulky pout. “And here I thought you actually cared.”

He casually slid his hand between her thighs and cupped her mound. “I care,” he growled a second before he bit her neck. “Now be a good wifey and pay attention to me.”

Obedient wife rule #1: a proper submissive tends to her husband’s pleasure first.

She liked having a game plan.

Turning to face him with the bowl of washed berries in her hands, she practiced a few deferential moves to see where it got her. Eyes lowered, she lofted the bowl. “Where would you like these?”

His silence almost broke her, but she held firm and never raised her eyes. He was testing her. They didn’t play this scene all that often, but when they did, she quivered with pleasure. Taking direction and serving Parker’s needs unleashed a side of her husband that never failed to leave her undone.

“Playroom.”

She noted the direction but didn’t move. He hadn’t given her permission.

The pleasure in his voice was unmistakable when he finally broke the tension. “Run along, baby girl. Take off your clothes. Everything,” he growled. “Get on the bed and wait for me.”

“Yes, Parker,” she murmured. “Whatever pleases you.”

She turned to leave, and he swatted her ass. “This ass pleases me, and when you’ve recovered from giving birth to my baby, I plan to reintroduce you to my cock. In all the right places.”

She couldn’t help but giggle, causing him to smack her ass again.

“I see the idea excites you,” he husked in a deep, sexy voice that made her bones melt.

Her eyes flew to his. He was looking at her with a deeply covetous expression.

“It does,” she admitted as color bloomed on her cheeks. Parker’s hefty manhood taking her ass was something he did with such care and concern for her pleasure that she found the act enjoyable. And erotic as fuck.

“Are you remembering our honeymoon?” he asked.

She was sure her sly smile told him what he wanted to know. “Yes.”

He chuckled. It had a lewd sound to it that turned her inside out. “Hurry, baby. My cock is hungry for your pussy.”

That was all she needed to know for her to practically run for the playroom. The door was open. She grinned.

Finding all the light in the room on the bed, she quivered with excitement. Parker was a showman Dom. He liked to set the stage and then drive her crazy wondering what would happen next.

After putting the berry bowl on the table next to the bed where he usually set out equipment, she struggled and somehow managed to get the zipper down on her dress. It dropped to the floor when she pushed it off her shoulders. Her bra was next. Groaning softly as she freed her breasts of the confinement, she tossed it on top of the dress and quickly shimmied out of her panties.

Her considerate husband had a wide step stool available that made it easier to climb on the bed. It also came in handy from a height perspective when he bent her over the side of the bed and fucked her from behind.

Lying down, she took some deep breaths and rubbed her belly. Calm found her, and she tuned her mind to the present moment. And Parker.

She turned her head when he entered the room and shut the door. The distinctive snick as he closed them inside their kinky playground made her tremble with need.

He came to the bed and studied her naked body. Angie never worried that her pregnant shape turned him off. Parker was turned on by her pregnancy. Maybe it was a guy thing, but he took enormous delight in the fact that he fucked a baby into her belly. To him, the bump was evidence of his virility.

Next, she felt his hands in her hair. He was at the top of the bed above her. Gathering her mass of long locks into a bunch, he spread it out around her head. This caring for her that he did never failed to engage her soul. It was truly amazing to be naked and vulnerable while enveloped in so much love.

He moved her arms open wide and pressed her hands into the mattress as a reminder that she wasn’t to move.

“Close your eyes.”

His fingers glided gently across the bump where their baby waited patiently to be born. He teased a ticklish spot just above her mound and made her giggle. The teasing also caused her nipples to peak and delicious goose bumps to spread to her legs.

When he slowly pulled her legs open with his hands by grasping her ankles, her pussy responded with a surge of heat and strong need.

“Parker?” she asked on a sigh.

“I’m here, baby. Relax. Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he breathed next to her mouth before giving her a soft kiss. “I’m going to take care of you.”

A shudder raced from head to toe. Parker taking care of her generally involved multiple orgasms.

She lay quietly for a few minutes. He was nearby. Her mate’s presence was hard to ignore when his desire for her filled the air she breathed.

Something soft and wispy floated across her skin. A beautiful feather. She sighed when he focused on her nipples.

Parker was going to be one of those fathers who got off on watching his child suckle her breasts. He was endlessly fascinated by the changes brought to her body from pregnancy. Her husband had an earthy realness about his attitudes. While they were shocked to discover that her breasts leaked when pleasure overtook her, he’d done the honors that their yet to be born child couldn’t do and lapped at the fluid with his eager tongue.

He teased her belly and the inside of her thighs. Before long, Angie couldn’t help her whimpers and moans.

The devil also made her tremble and shake when he moved to her feet. The wispy tickling on her ankles and soles brought her close to an orgasm.

As if that wasn’t enough, he informed her while she squirmed that he hadn’t gotten started yet.

Oh.

Oh, my.

Oh, my god.

“Open your mouth.” She responded to the guttural growl, and he placed a strawberry on her tongue. “Small bite, baby girl. Just the tip.”

Her teeth sank into the succulent berry and tore off the end of the sweet fruit. As she chewed, his mouth closed over hers, and they shared the delectable berry.

When he took the berry and painted her nipples with the fragrant juice, she moaned.

He continued stroking the fruit on her breasts and followed up his strokes with his tongue, teeth, and lips.

“Bite,” he instructed. She did, and again, they shared a berry kiss.

Parker walked slowly around the bed, touching her here and there. Sometimes intimately; sometimes with teasing caresses.

“We have a busy evening tonight, Angel.”

She waited till he was at the side of the bed to open her eyes and meet his gaze. Her reluctance to party and socialize with their friends faded. The band challenge was a big deal to her husband. Standing with him as he and Thunder crushed his nemesis Josh Gordon and the Chixie Dicks was what she intended to do.

“I know,” she murmured. It was a simple, uncomplicated response that let him know she was on board.

Parker nodded. “Good. I want you with me, Mrs. Sullivan, but you’ll have to do as you’re told.”

“What the hell does that mean?” she asked with amusement. “I can’t go if I don’t comply? That doesn’t sound fair.”

With the intense focus of an artist mapping her breasts for a work of art, Parker boldly fondled her. She was putty beneath his hands. The pleasure of his touch filled her with need.

“Fair?” He chortled. “Never mentioned fair. This is dominant’s choice. I’m going to spell out what I want, what would please me, and you will exercise your freedom of choice with obedience or …”

He was offering her a choice to either make him happy or act contrary to his wants? He was kidding, right?

A memory from long ago, during their earliest days, came crashing into her. She’d dreamed, wished, and longed for the chance to be truly his for so long that when it finally happened, despite being sexually overwhelmed by his passion, she had found the experience excruciatingly erotic. The way her body responded had fascinated her. Their first time was sexy hot. She loved every second especially the experience of Parker coming inside her. The profoundly intimate moment when his orgasm shook the earth was imprinted on her soul.

He remembered the experience a different way. Instead of luxuriating in her bliss, he focused on the end game. Now that she knew who he really was, she understood that his dominant needs where she was concerned couldn’t handle the fact that she hadn’t climaxed during her first time. It hadn’t made a lick of difference to her. Not when the whole thing had been unbearably mind-blowing.

Of course, she’d do anything to make him happy, including playing nice in public even if she wasn’t feeling it. But the same was true for him. He might make noises about her serving his pleasure, but for Parker, his pleasure was emotionally entwined with hers.

Putting herself totally under his control was an act of pleasure, so she went with it.

“I’m yours.” That was all she said. No further words were necessary.

He wasted no time spelling it out.

“Dinner is in the oven. You will please your master and be a good girl by eating everything.”

Ah, shit. She grimaced. “But—”

“No,” he said brusquely, cutting off her argument. “I will serve, and you will eat.” He waited while she decided what to do. “This isn’t a discussion, Angel. You surrendered. There’s no more negotiating. I want you to eat. Where I can see you.”

He arched a brow. She acquiesced at the speed of light with a mumbled, “Okay.”

Her husband’s warm smile made her tingle. He stroked her bump and shaped it with both hands. “Just to be clear, baby girl, you’re getting the be-all and end-all of push presents.”

She hissed at him. “Don’t say that. It’s horrible. Shut up, Parker. I hate that expression. It’s so crass.”

Being pregnant had its good and bad days. It wasn’t her favorite thing by a long shot, but their blinding passion and deep love created a new life. Carrying Parker’s child was too special for words, and she hated the trend of playing it off like it was no big deal. To her, it was a very big deal. The biggest of deals. A healthy baby girl swaddled in Parker’s arms was the only reward she was interested in.

Her emotions fluctuated, and she felt a full-blown snit building until he swooped in and claimed her mouth. She lifted her arms, wrapped them around his neck, and clung.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured softly after pulling back slightly. “Clumsy words. What I should have said was that I talked to a jeweler to inquire about the December birthstone. I thought you might like that. Turns out that tanzanite is one and turquoise another. So blue. I thought we might start a tradition. Each baby will get a match to whatever bauble you want.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, I suppose that’s fine.”

“Why does everything with you get so complicated?” He complained like a grumpy old man. “I’m trying to assert myself here, and as usual, you’re topping like a motherfucker.”

“Well, you talk too damn much,” she shot back. “I’m fucking naked, and you’re performing like this is a court case.”

“I just want you to agree to fucking eat,” he snapped. “I’m trying to take care of you, goddammit.”

“There’s a much easier way to get me to eat than lecturing me to death.”

He gasped, and his eyes narrowed. Uh-oh. Had she stepped over the line?

“Well, excuse me for trying to sweep you away with kinky romance. What do I have to do to get you to eat a full meal?”

She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. “Take your clothes off,” she snarled. With a hand stroking her belly, she gave him a solid dose of wifely shade. “I’d help, but you got me pregnant, so you’re on your own.”

He lost his clothes in record time.

“You want me to eat something under your watchful eye? Fine. Then you get your sexy ass on the bed and, keeping in mind that I’m hugely knocked up, do me.”

He gawked at her and laughed. “Excuse me, what? Did you say ‘do me’?”

“Hey,” she drawled. “Sometimes a lady just needs some dick. Is that really too hard to understand?”

“Let me get this straight.” Parker sniggered. “In exchange for my dick, you will be a good girl and eat? And this strawberry seduction was unnecessary?”

“Honey”—she chortled—“I was good to go the minute you texted and told me to come home.”

“I love you, Angel.”

She eyed him with teasing dubiousness. “Is that so? Then why are you still standing there?”

Parker laughed, climbed on the bed, and drew her into a side embrace. The kissing started, and she didn’t hide her need.

Mindful of her belly, they rolled around on the fancy Egyptian linens. She loved touching him. His muscular arms held tight. Angie rubbed against his sexy torso and sighed with pleasure.

His touch between her legs made her quiver. She stroked his hard shaft. The logistics of pregnant sex had a lot to do with how far along she was. Parker was too big to enter her from a missionary position, and she wasn’t comfortable on her belly. Through exploration and honest communication, they found penetration on their sides easier and meltingly pleasurable. Face to face was nice and so was spooning. For her, it was all about the closeness and wanting him inside her.

Angie wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face. “I can’t breathe without you.”

Breathing heavily, his eyes glazed with lust for her, he husked, “You’re never without me, baby girl.”

“I don’t like it when you send me away. Please don’t do that again.”

Parker peered at her with concern etched on his face. “Baby, I didn’t send you away. I just didn’t want you to be alone all day.”

“Parker,” she whimpered. “I’m serious. I can’t breathe, and it scares me. I just want to be here. With our things and your presence all around me.”

She wanted to tell him that each time she left the safety of their home, she felt something that wasn’t right. But then he’d ask for specifics, and before she knew what was happening, she’d be giving a deposition. The mood would be killed, and that would be that, so she kept that part to herself.

He took her face in his hands. “Shh, my angel. It’s okay. I will take care of you. And the baby. If you don’t want to leave the house without me, we’ll work it out, okay?”

She nodded, and whispered, “Thank you,” as tears swam in her eyes.

“Come here,” he growled and took her mouth in a claiming that left her breathless and quivering.

As they kissed, his hands were everywhere. She rubbed against him and moaned with pleasure. When he pulled her hips forward and draped her leg over his hip, her belly nestled between them. He shifted and angled his body until his shaft probed for entrance. Eager to feel him inside her, Angie wiggled her hips and urged him on.

As he carefully slid into her, she sighed as his hard cock rubbed her in all the right places. In this position, he could control her movements, and while he penetrated pretty far, the depth of his strokes never caused any discomfort.

Parker held her hips and rocked in and out. Almost immediately, her body clenched around his cock. She was breathing heavily and whimpered when he held her still while he throbbed inside her.

Needing only him, she became desperate for more, but he wouldn’t allow it.

“Be still, baby girl. Relax. Feel my cock inside you. Then let it happen. Ride the wave, Angie.”

Tall order but she was mesmerized by the sound of his voice. She gave up the fight and went limp in her husband’s capable arms. He shifted them, and a sweet tingle of primal awareness made her gasp.

“Good girl,” he growled before kissing her senseless.

She let it happen. With each shallow stroke, her whole body melted with unimaginable pleasure. His earthy grunt signaled his awareness of her impending climax. Holding still was difficult but she did, and when the orgasm tore her apart, she shook violently as wave after wave after wave of unimaginable pleasure took her away.

Barely lucid after the powerful climax, she groaned when Parker pulled out. She protested with a whimper until he finished on her swollen mound. She didn’t find the act disrespectful. Not at all. In her mind, only a confident man with supreme control could deny his cock the pleasure of coming inside her body. When he stroked his flesh, she moaned with pleasure and watched until his beautiful cock anointed her with the result of their lovemaking. To her, the intimacy of their coupling was just what she needed.