“Yet,” Shane interjected with a mischievous smile. “We will ease you into that one.”
Her heartbeat tripled, and she started to pant. She’d fantasized about people watching her as one or both of her men pleasured her. But she still didn’t believe she’d ever get past her body-image issues enough to allow that kind of vulnerability. Yet, somehow, she knew that if anyone could get her there, it would be these men.
“I will trust you to know when, and
if
, I’m ready for that,” Katie-Anne told Shane. Nodding to him, she added, “You know about my past so I don’t have to worry about you pushing me beyond my limits in that regard.”
Shane smiled back at her. “I’m glad you know that we would never ask more of you than you could give us.”
“So?” Landon asked. “Is there anything that you consider a hard limit?”
She knew one thing that she would never in a million years be okay with. “Knife play,” she said edgily. “After my mother cut me, I couldn’t bear the sight of a knife. It took me years to not have shaky hands when I used one.”
“No knives,” Landon said like he was ticking it off a mental list. “That is an easy one.”
“Oh,” she exclaimed. “I love the idea of Violet Wands, but I am not overly fond of the thought of more extreme Electrical Play.”
When she said
electrical
, a giant truth hit her, and she felt like an idiot.
I’m pregnant.
How she could have forgotten that little nugget in this scenario, she didn’t know. But, since she preferred to not tell them yet, she had to get creative.
For the most part, they could do what they wanted. However, she wasn’t comfortable with heavy Impact Play as a pregnant lady. The thought of a crop or whip on her body in her current condition made her want to cry. It was irrational that she feared it, but she did.
How the hell do I tell them that without giving Kane away?
“Are you working a calculus problem in your gorgeous head?” Shane asked, his amused voice catching her completely off-guard.
Oh crap.
Shaking her head, Katie-Anne’s mind returned to the conversation that she’d drifted away from. She hadn’t even realized how far she’d gone until Shane had spoken. “No,” she replied, sounding conspicuously perky for this kind of conversation.
Landon laughed. “I don’t believe that, Suzy Sunshine.”
Sighing, she said, “Whatever. I’m just not sure that I am into crops or whips or anything like that right now. I would prefer to stay away from the heavy impact items.”
“Right now?” Shane asked, obviously having caught that portion of her statement. “Is there something we need to know?”
“No,” she hurried to say.
I sound more conspicuous than ever, damn it.
Landon eyed her carefully, his eyes like laser beams scanning and searching her brain. “Why don’t I believe you?”
“Because you’re a conspiracy theorist?” she asked optimistically. But she knew better. Landon was a lot of things. Suspicious was not one of them. “Because you’re nosy?”
Shane released her hand. Before she could move or breathe, he had a handful of her hair in his hand. Yanking on his hold, he forced her head back. “Is there something we need to know?”
Shit, shit, shit.
Now what? Do I tell them? Do I not? She couldn’t figure out the answer to her predicament. She wanted the moment she told them to be perfect, to be special. But would it be any better than now?
Special was in the eye of the beholder. And, for her, being with them was special. She didn’t need bells and whistles. She needed them.
I guess I have my answer then.
Shifting her eyes, Katie-Anne looked at Shane through her lowered lashes before switching and looking at Landon. After several glances at each of them, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m pregnant.”
Both men inhaled loudly, but they didn’t exhale. It sounded as though they’d quit breathing altogether. The room seemed to go so still, so quiet that even the smallest noise could be heard.
One second passed then another, the clock ticking louder than a gunshot in the dead of night. When she could bear no more of the quiet choking the room, she opened her eyes slowly. Choosing to avoid eye contact, she stared straight ahead at the closed door to either the bathroom or the closest. She wasn’t sure. “Are you going to say something?”
Shane’s grip loosened on her hair, his hand falling onto the back of the couch with a barely audible
thud.
“U–u–u–m,” he stammered but didn’t manage to get anything else out.
Unable to keep her curiosity at bay, she peeked at him out of the corner of her eye. When she saw his pale face and slack jaw, she found herself staring straight at him without even realizing she’d moved. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Shane replied. But he didn’t sound fine. He sounded like a man on the verge of losing his mind. Maybe she should call someone, but who? They didn’t exactly have a therapist around town to deal with telling men they were becoming fathers. Although with the overbearingly protective men in Serenity, they might need to find someone to do that job.
Landon still hadn’t spoken, not when she had and not when Shane had. Worried about Landon’s sanity, she glanced at him. He seemed as off-kilter as Shane. With his ghost-white face and his bugged-out eyes, he looked lost.
Watching Landon, she realized that she’d made a serious error in spontaneously springing this on them. She ought to have planned this announcement better. Her men seemed to be having out-of-body experiences, and she had no clue how to get them back into their sexy, earthbound bodies.
I’m fucked.
Katie-Anne hoped that silence would help the news sink in, and they would recover quickly, so she went silent again. Then she waited. And waited and waited and waited. But they gave her nothing, no words and no movements. Finally, she totally and completely lost patience with them.
“What the hell is wrong with you dolts! I’m having a baby. Not a monster, not an alien, and not even a horse. I’m having a
baby
,” she said again, hoping that the more times she said it, the more they would clue in. “Your baby,” she added, just for clarification.
And that worked. Both of her men sat up straight, their pale faces coloring quickly, and spoke at the same time.
“Of course it is,” Landon snapped, somehow managing to sound pompous and furious at the same time.
Shane appeared to be more outraged than cocky or pissed off. “Why would you insinuate any differently?” He pointed at her belly. “That is our baby in there. He or she is yours, mine, and Landon’s. I cannot believe you would even say that garbage.”
“Hey,” she said defensively. “I just wanted to make everything crystal clear for you since you seemed to be having nervous breakdowns.”
Landon growled. “What do you expect? We sat you down to talk about how we all wanted our
sexual
relationship to work, and you spring a pregnancy on us. Just give us a minute to breathe here.”
“Fine,” she huffed, leaning back in her seat and reclining on the comfortable cushions. She turned her face away from both of them and stared straight ahead. Yanking her hands from both of theirs, she crossed her arms and went quiet, refusing to give them the satisfaction of continuing to talk.
Jackasses. Men are a pain in the ass.
“We are not,” Landon snapped.
I need to keep my thoughts to myself.
If Shannon were here, she’d probably say,
No shit, Sherlock.
But, thankfully, she wasn’t here. This moment was tense enough without the help of her nosy friends.
Pretending to not hear him, Katie-Anne hummed the
Jeopardy!
song as she waited for one of them to talk about what was on their mind.
“Katie-Anne,” Shane whispered. “How long have you known?”
Oh shit. They are going to whip my ass after I have Kane.
In a normal situation, that would be a good thing. In this case, it was not. Her men wouldn’t take her next words well. “December fifteenth.”
“You knew when you left Shannon’s birthday party, didn’t you?” Landon asked, sounding as accusatory as questioning. His agonized eyes wouldn’t even meet hers. Instead, he turned his head away from her. And she was grateful. His look wounded her, almost as much as she’d apparently wounded him.
Shutting her eyes, she replied, “Yes.”
Shane reared his head back, his eyes looking wildly at her. “Were you going to tell us
before
you left permanently?”
Katie-Anne wished that she knew what to say. Of course, she’d planned to tell them—when she’d worked up the courage. Unfortunately, she had a feeling that would have been
after
she’d had Kane.
I’m such a pussy.
“I don’t know,” she told them honestly. “I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know how. At first, I couldn’t say anything because I knew you wouldn’t let me go. Then, when I started realizing that I wanted to stay and fight for us, I needed you to want
me
without having Kane thrown into the giant mess of our relationship.”
As soon as she realized her slip, she opened her eyes with a gasp. Touching her lips, she felt her face grimace.
Oops.
She prayed that neither of them caught her
faux pas
, but she didn’t hold out much hope. When Shane growled, “Kane?” she knew she’d lost.
On the other hand, Landon seemed focused on something else. “You wanted us to want
you?
Have you lost your mind? I’ve always wanted you. Kane is just a bonus.” His eyes widened slowly, going so round that she wondered how large his baby blues could get. “You said
Kane.
How do you know that? You are not far enough along to know that,” he rambled.
Katie-Anne gnawed on her lower lip as she deliberated how to answer. Brooklyn hadn’t wanted her to say something, but surely that didn’t include her men. So, after thinking for just a fraction of a second, she told them, “Brooklyn told me that I would have a boy named Kane, but you two cannot say anything. She doesn’t want anyone to know.”
“Shit,” Shane cursed, but in a way that said he was thrilled with the news, not unhappy. “We’re having a boy.”
Landon threw his head back and laughed joyously. “We’re having a boy!”
The two men surprised her as they got to their feet then threw their arms around each other in a crushing hug. They smacked each other’s backs heartily, murmuring congratulations and arrogant remarks. Katie-Anne couldn’t help but be a bit miffed at them. She was the pregnant one, and they were congratulating each other like it was all on them.
Men!
As they turned toward her, she realized she might have been a bit too hasty with her irritation that they’d ignored her. Actually, she probably should have been grateful because the men prowling toward her had a dangerous air that screamed,
Run!
She didn’t.
With Shane at his side, Landon moved stealthily back toward the sofa where Katie-Anne sat as pretty as a picture. The floor lamp behind her shone light down on her, casting a gleam onto her midnight and orange hair yet creating a shadow effect that made it difficult to see her entire expression.
Like the kitten she was, Katie-Anne looked up at them, giving them a better view of her bewitching eyes and elfin face. She licked her full, sensual lips. “Are you ready to congratulate
me?
”
In two steps, they reached Katie-Anne. Looming over her menacingly, Landon and Shane scowled at her. Suddenly, she appeared nervous, her eyes shifting back and forth between them erratically.
Landon stopped himself from snorting. After everything she’d just admitted, he didn’t feel like congratulating her. He felt like tanning her cute hide, not that he could go as extreme on her as he wanted to with her pregnant. And, if he knew Shane at all, his partner would feel the same way.
Neither of them were going to be playing Mr. Nice Guy with her. Not considering that she’d just confessed to leaving them, knowing she was pregnant with their baby. And, definitely not considering her revelation that she’d considered leaving them a second time, still withholding her pregnancy from them.
“No,” Shane growled. “We will congratulate you later—after we’ve spanked your ass.”
As always, we are on the same wavelength, Shane.
But Katie-Anne was not. Her eyes widened at Shane’s declaration, and she squeaked, “What?”
“You made a huge error in judgment, believing that we would have let you walk away,” Landon answered for Shane. “You know better. You told me so.” Standing as tall as his body would allow, he fisted his hands at his sides so he didn’t grab her and bend her over on the spot. “With or without Kane, there was no way in hell that you were going anywhere. Now, it is a given that you will stay here. If you don’t, we will follow you to the ends of the Earth. You are our woman, and Kane is our son. There is no more running.”
“I wasn’t planning on it,” she whispered, smiling hopefully at them, as though that would get her out of dangerous territory. “Love doesn’t run away.”