Page 22 of Own

“Guys, bedtime.”

Scarlett’s about to pout, but a yawn interrupts her. She’s already up an hour past usual, so she’ll be out like a light in no time.

“We’re almost done, though,” Nate argues, but gets up to do as I say anyway.

“We’ll finish in the morning,” Hester whispers to him. I’m shocked by the lack of stutter until I remember Nate saying that she doesn’t typically do it with kids.

“I’ll be up in a minute to say goodnight,” I tell them as they put their things away.

Scarlett stops next to Hester to ask, “Can Hester read me a story?” I’m already shaking my head no. “Ah, man.” Her head drops, and the amount of guilt I feel saying no to that little girl is ridiculous.

“A short one,” I concede. Her triumphant smile should be studied; she knew exactly what she was doing.

“Sucker,” Nate snickers as he runs by before I can swat him.

Once they’re both on their way up the stairs, I corner Hester against a wall, pinning her in place with my body, my dick throbbing, ready to hammer into her soft cunt. “The things I want to do to you are probably illegal, but I have to know, kitten…are you on the pill?”

Slowly, her head moves side to side as her breathing picks up. Wrapping a hand around her throat, I hold loosely as I rub up and down, caressing her delicate skin. A rumble rolls through my chest; I’m losing control of myself.

“Daddy?” The warm puff of air from her lips across my jaw snaps me out of it.

“Am I scaring you, pretty girl?” Her lip trembles, but she says no. Leaning forward, I lick along her jaw, up to her ear, and warn, “You should be. I’m holding back a beast from ravaging you, and all he wants is for you to scream, cry, and plead with him. He’s unreasonable and territorial, and he’ll take so much more from you than you might be ready for.”

She audibly gulps; her body shakes, so when she breathes out, “I’m ready,” clear as day, not a stutter in sight, it’s like winning the fucking lottery. Too stunned to stop her, Hester slips from my hold, heads up to read to Scar, and I need to get ahold of myself before following her up. My kids don’t need to know what a beast their father is, especially when it concerns the woman they’ve grown to love.

“Cato.” Zaiden appears, and I growl in frustration. He has the worst fucking timing. “Meeting with Arturo is tomorrow.” The way he says it catches my attention.

“He in town?” I ask, sliding him a look and getting a nod in response. “Not here.”

“He wants it here.” He knows how much that pisses me off, so his hesitancy is telling.

“Find somewhere else, Z.” He opens his mouth to argue, and I snap. “Somewhere else!” My tone takes him off guard, and if it were anyone else, they’d have run.

“He’s not going to like it.” He crosses his arms.

Facing him directly now, I mimic his stance. “Do I look like I fucking care what he wants? I may be smart enough not to fuck with the cartel, but I’m not cowering to him either. This is my home, my children’s and mother’s home; he is not welcome here. Find somewhere else.”

He opens his mouth again to argue, but he wisely shuts it when I spear him with a withering glare before passing by him to go upstairs to say goodnight to my children and ravish the woman I hope to turn into a mother as soon as humanly possible.

Going to Nate’s room first, I knock on the closed door and wait for him to give the okay to enter. He’s involved in a game on his computer while music plays softly from the speakers.

“You brush your teeth?” I ask, walking in and watching him for a few minutes.

“Yup, flossed too.”

Grabbing a chunk of his hair, I gently pull his head back. “Let me see.” He grins up at me while still keeping his eye on his game. “Looks good. You’ve got thirty minutes, then I want you in bed, lights out.”

“Ah, man, how about an hour?” He pauses to turn and look at me.

I make him wait a minute. “If you get your pajamas on now.”

Like a flash, he’s up and running to his dresser to grab a pair of shorts and a fresh shirt.

I’m about to leave him when he calls, “Hey, Dad?”

“Yeah, son?”

“Are you gonna marry Hester?”