The Strength of the Pack (Suncoast Society #30)(51)

She slowly laid her head against his chest and began to talk.

Unfortunately, he quickly found out how tragically, horrifically accurate he had been, pretty much across the board.

And that it had been far worse than he’d expected.





Eventually, Nate carried her into his bedroom. On his bed, still fully clothed, he held her, rocked her as she cried more tears than he’d known it was possible for a human being to cry.

Which, considering what he and Cherise had endured, was saying a lot.

She clung to him, her faced pressed against his chest to muffle her agonized screams as she relived her nightmares and finally took away their power for good.

As he soothed her, Nate desperately wished he’d known all this before they’d gone to her parents’ house.

He wouldn’t have been nearly as gentle as he had been with the man.

Grief and anger and pain poured from her, her energy dim and waning as her soul finally cast a healing light on all those secrets so desperately and poorly hidden within her.

He’d been spot-on. All of it.

And more he hadn’t thought of.

As he closed his eyes and held her, he knew the next time he saw Jesse and Leo that he would hug them both and tell them thank you for keeping her alive for him to meet her.

No, she wasn’t being coerced into having a baby. He got it.

She trusted Leo and Jesse. Two men who had absolutely proven to her they could be trusted.

And now, it seemed, she trusted him, too.

It was hours before she lay still and trembling in his arms, cried out. Shattered.

He pressed his lips to her forehead. “I love you, sweetheart. And I think despite everything you’ve survived you managed to keep a beautiful, loving heart in your soul. I’m not going anywhere unless you ask me to leave. I promise you that.”

She shuddered as she took a long, ragged breath. “I want to wear your collar, Sir,” she whispered. “Please collar me.”

He tipped her chin so she had to meet his gaze. “It’s for life. And I have rules.”

She nodded.

“You will be my slave, not just my submissive.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“I agree with you and Jesse having a baby, but we are all going to live in the same house. We’ll have to arrange that.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“I will not overrule that agreement you’ve made with Jesse. I will also not interfere with you as a parent. I do, however, expect to be a full co-parent to Laurel and the baby, with rights of parenting within our household.”

She nodded.

“In all other ways, my rule is law when it comes to you and me. Issues that impact all of us as a pack are, of course, something we all deal with. But you will obey me.”

“What about safewords?”

“Those still apply for play, but not for our relationship. You will obey me. For example, had I known all of this before this afternoon, we would not have gone. I would have arranged an alternate opportunity for you to see your sister, but you would not have had contact with that man.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Under no circumstances are you to have any contact with your father without my permission, or allow our children to have contact with him. Not on the phone, not in person. Your mother and sisters and other relatives, you can talk to them on the phone or e-mail or whatever. You may not, however, meet with them, or your other relatives, other than your grandmother, without my permission first. And if I tell you no, you obey me without question.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“If you disobey me about any of my rules, you will be punished. Not while you’re pregnant, but believe me, you do not want to bank punishment strokes for nine months.” He smiled, happy to see it drew a smile from her.

“Yes, Sir.”

“And we will get married before the baby’s born.”

She frowned. “What about the baby?”

“What about it?”

“The birth certificate. If you’re my husband they’ll think you’re the father.”

“We tell the truth, that Jesse’s the father. There’s nothing wrong with that. Surrogacy is very common.”

“Yes, Sir. But…why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you want to get married before the baby arrives?”

“Because I’m in this for life.” He cupped her cheek with his palm. “That’s what I’ve said all along when I knew how I felt about you. I didn’t know if you’d ever be able to trust me enough to confide the full truth in me, though. That would have been the main barrier.”

“Do you want to have children?”

“I told you, it is a non-issue for me at this time. That will not change. We will discuss it later, if you even want to or can try to have another child.”

“Yes, Sir.”

He kissed her. “So, will you marry me?”

She nodded, finally smiling, one that reached her beautiful sweet brown eyes. “Yes, Sir.”

He got up and went to his dresser, where he retrieved the tag. He brought it over and reached out, taking the old tag off and replacing it.

She looked at it. “It’s…the same.”

“Not quite.”

She looked at the back, her expression softening when she realized what he’d done. “All three of you?”