Blake, Abby - Keen Inclination [A Bride for Eight Brothers 4] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) (7 page)

Swallowing down his anger, John finally managed to speak in a level voice.

“We need to see the doctor again day after tomorrow, and then we were planning to head back to home.”

Lachlan nodded, relief obvious on his face. “Good,” he said, “we’ll hire female security staff as soon as we can, but with the vitamin supplement, we should at least be able to protect Mikayla if things get out of hand.”

“I’ll let you know when we’re leaving,” John said carefully, hopefully giving Lachlan the message not to call while Mikayla was around. Jessie Evans had already done enough damage, and until they knew what the hell was going on, he’d rather Mikayla not be involved. Considering the way she’d reacted when Brock had basically hidden her in the clothing store while John dealt with Jessie’s unexpected appearance, he felt fully justified in protecting her this way. She’d been angry when they’d hidden the original court case from her, but that was before she’d had several months of doubting herself. She was just beginning to find her true self again, and John was determined to give her time. They’d explain it all later, hopefully when it was all sorted out.

Chapter Six

“Welcome home, little one,” Lachlan said as he pulled her into his embrace. “I’ve missed you.”

She smiled happily and very nearly bounced from husband to husband as she greeted them all after stepping off the cruiser. She looked happier than she had in months, and Lachlan smiled gratefully at Brock and John. Whatever they’d said or done had worked. She was back to being the woman they’d married, not the stressed, timid woman she’d become in the past few months.

Ryan and Ty wrapped themselves around Mikayla and did their usual disappearing act. Lachlan smiled. Hopefully, Mikayla had gotten some sleep on their trip because she wasn’t going to get any with those two. She waved over her head, obviously more than happy to go along with the twin’s plans.

* * * *

Mikayla giggled happily as Ryan and Ty rushed her from the room. She suspected that the others were merely waiting for her to get out of earshot before they discussed their trip and her reactions in minute detail. She loved that they cared so much, but even now, when she knew that most of her emotional issues and concerns had been blown out of proportion by a lack of vitamin D, she couldn’t help worrying that she wasn’t the woman they needed.

Surely they deserved a woman braver than her. She’d never considered herself a coward before, but everyone had a breaking point. Maybe she’d found hers. Put simply, the thought of becoming pregnant again filled her with mind-numbing dread. Somehow, in her head, pregnancy had become synonymous with fear and anguish, not the beginning of a new life. Even knowing on an intellectual level that her anxiety was higher than the situation warranted still didn’t give her the ability to overcome it. She just hoped she could hide it long enough from her husbands to get over the damn problem.

Finally reaching Ryan and Ty’s quarters, the twins wasted no time in getting all three of them naked. Hands roamed over every inch of her skin, relearning her shape, igniting the flames of her arousal. She moaned as Ryan took a nipple in his mouth and Ty stroked a hand over her already dripping pussy.

“We missed you, darlin’,” Ty said in between soft kisses and stinging little bites on the back of her neck. She moaned as Ryan bit down on the nipple he held captive and then swirled his tongue around and around the aching nub.

“I missed you, too,” she managed to gasp out.

“Can’t wait,” Ryan said as Ty lifted her up and Ryan grabbed her knees, encouraging her to wrap her legs around his waist. His hard cock pressed against her, sliding into her pussy slowly as Ty dripped lube against her ass. Incredible tingling sensations skittered all over her as Ty finally pushed his cock into her back passage.

They stayed that way, just breathing, Mikayla simply enjoying the feeling of being one with her men. Gentle kisses and soft sighs filled the moments, but then Mikayla’s muscles pulsed of their own volition, and her men began to move.

In and out, harder, deeper, but in slow rhythm like they were savoring every sweet stroke. Mikayla could feel her orgasm building rapidly. Ryan and Ty started moving faster, their coordination perfect as they built the speed, the motion, the friction. Mikayla ground her teeth, trying to hold back her climax, but then Ryan whispered three little words and she was lost.

Every nerve ending tingled as energy exploded outward. She held onto Ryan, crying out as orgasm overwhelmed her and her men’s movements faltered. They held her tight, their breathing rapid as she pulsed around their cocks, dragging their climaxes from them.

“I love you, too,” she managed to whisper in response to Ryan’s words.

Swallowing hard, she held back the tears that threatened. It was so silly to feel this way when her men so obviously loved her, but she couldn’t hold back the worry that maybe she didn’t deserve them.

“Shower time,” Ryan said happily. A moment later, Ty moved away from her, and Ryan, still intimately joined with her legs around his waist, carried her into the bathroom. By the time they finished “cleaning” her, she was so exhausted that she had no more time to worry. She slept soundly for the first time in a long time.

* * * *

Finally able to talk without fear of Mikayla overhearing, John and Brock filled their brothers in on what they’d learned in their limited amount of investigating while on Earth.

Basically, Mikayla Noone hadn’t been born.

She existed. She had social security records, job and travel history, and taxation records, but they only went back to her eighteenth birthday. Everything before that was a blank. No school or medical records could be located. It was possible that she’d been born off-world, but those records were always transferred to the central human database, so there should’ve at least been some trace of what Mikayla Noone did or where she’d been before she’d suddenly appeared at age eighteen.

The momentary uncomfortable thought that Mikayla wasn’t human flitted through John’s head. But he quickly dismissed it.

Of course, he knew that none of his brothers would love Mikayla any less if she wasn’t human—they weren’t that narrow-minded—but there were few species compatible with humans in a reproductive sense. The brief moment of anger that she might’ve been lying to them quickly melted into guilt for not trusting his wife.

“So now what?” Peter asked, looking about as confused as John felt. “If Jessie can get this information in front of a judge, the last verdict is liable to be overturned. I really, really don’t want Mikayla to have to go through that again. Surely Jessie would find a way around the eighth brother issue this time.

“I guess we need to ask her,” Brock said. He didn’t look happy about it, but did they really have a choice?

“No,” Peter said stubbornly. “We’ll figure it out without upsetting Mikayla.”

“Fine,” John said, feeling caught between protecting the woman they loved and needing to know the truth. “We won’t ask her unless Jessie manages to get a court date before we can figure it out.”

His brothers nodded in agreement.

* * * *

“Time to feed you,” Ryan said as he rolled off the bed and offered Mikayla a hand up.

“What time is it?” she asked, still feeling very relaxed and lethargic.

“Dinner time,” Ty said with a wink. “Although considering that it’s Peter’s turn to cook, we’re considering renaming it to ‘inedible, jaw-breaking, unidentifiable-goo-on-a-plate’ time.”

She giggled quietly but didn’t say a word. As much as she loved him, Peter really was an awful cook, and she sincerely hoped there never came a day when they had to rely on his culinary skills to keep them alive.

Mikayla barely made it to her feet before Ty lifted her into his arms and carried her into the bathroom. “I missed you, darlin’,” he said as he lowered her to sit on the vanity while Ryan adjusted the water temperature in the shower.

“I missed you, too, but didn’t we already have a shower?”

“That one didn’t count,” Ty said as he pulled her close and kissed her breathless.

When she could finally get her voice working, she nodded in agreement. Was there such thing as too clean?

“Anything interesting happen while I was away?” she asked, as Ryan fiddled with the water pressure and Ty gathered some towels.

“Not really,” Ryan said in a suspiciously neutral tone. She glared at him a moment before turning his answer into a question.

“Not really?” she asked, waiting for one of them to expand on the non-answer.

“Well,” Ty said, shrugging casually, “we did have to untangle a raider who got stuck in a tree.” Almost as if he was warming to the diversionary story, he smiled and began to fill in details. Mikayla winced when she heard what part of the poor man had been held captive by a tree knot.

“Anything else?” Mikayla asked when Ty finally finished his story.

“I wonder if the others would notice if I kept you in my bed all week,” Ty said, obviously avoiding answering her question. She kissed him, ready to demand a real answer, but then reality intruded, and she wondered if she really wanted to know. Uncomfortable with the self-revelation, she tried not to overthink it as she took the coward’s way out and stuck with the current topic.

“As much as I love the idea, I’m certain that your brothers would not only notice but probably be a tad upset.” Completely pissed would be closer to the mark, but Ryan and Ty managed to look crestfallen all the same. “Besides,” she added, trying to ignore their feigned miserable expressions. “I’ll be back in the lab tomorrow.” They both brightened considerably.

“That’s true,” Ryan said with a wicked expression, “we’ll need to find time for several coffee breaks.” Mikayla rolled her eyes at his lascivious expression and waggling eyebrows.

“True,” she said, already looking forward to doing some actual work tomorrow,

She laughed happily as Ty lifted her and the three of them managed to step into the shower stall together. Within moments, she was on the verge of climax, and by the time they’d finished making love to her again, they were very late for dinner.

* * * *

“They’re hiding something from me,” Mikayla said to Tracey over the subspace communicator several days later.

“Maybe it was just them excited for you to be back,” she said thoughtfully, “but knowing how much they worry about you, I think you’re right. It’s probably more than that.”

Mikayla nodded as she slid onto the chair in front of the screen. “Trouble is I don’t think I want to know.”

“Mikayla,” Tracey said, sounding concerned. “Do you have any idea what it could be about?”

“Jessie Evans.”

“Seriously? I thought the courts settled that already.”

“So did I,” Mikayla said, “but we ran into her in New York and Brock and John hid me in a clothing store, and I sort of…well I sort of let them.”

Tracey looked at her as if she’d grown a second head.

“I know,” Mikayla said in answer to the unasked question, “but I was just feeling so worn out, and it seemed easier to let them take care of me than face whatever vitriol that woman wanted to hurl.”

Tracey leaned back in her chair and watched Mikayla for a moment. “I’ll accept that. You were tired and sad, but what’s your excuse now?”

Mikayla grimaced at Tracey’s easy summation of her current predicament. How many times had she explained her need to retain her independence amid eight husbands? Yes, she’d been tired and unhappy, but that wasn’t the case anymore, and she really didn’t have any excuse for remaining in the dark.

“I guess I need to go hunt down some answers,” she said, feeling a rueful smile spread across her face.

“Now that’s the Mikayla I know.”

Mikayla waved to her friend as she leaned over to close the connection. “Thanks for reminding me.”

Chapter Seven

She marched into his office just the way she used to. Lachlan sat back in his chair and threaded his fingers together as he waited for her to say what was on her mind. She looked beautiful. The fear and stress she’d struggled with was gone and the vibrant, passionate woman was back—at least for the moment.

“I need to know,” she stated bluntly.

“Agreed,” he said and watched as her determination morphed into delight. As much as he wanted to protect her, she had a right to know the accusations that were being launched in her direction. Knowing that she wanted to know made it so much easier to treat her the way he always had.