Vulnerable [Suncoast Society] (Suncoast Society #29)(75)

“Ready?”

“Yes, Sir.”

Leo delivered ten really hard whacks across Jesse’s ass. That was all Leo could manage for now. But when he finished, Jesse dropped to his knees in front of Leo and rested his head in his lap.

Leo couldn’t help but think about their first night playing together…which lead into their first night sleeping together.

He held out a hand to Eva and she stepped over, taking it. “I will always love you, sweetheart. You know I will. You’re family.”

She nodded. “I know. This is the way it’s supposed to be. But thank you for taking care of me.”

Jesse nodded, where his head was still in Leo’s lap. “Always. We take care of family.”

“Always,” Leo said.





Chapter Twenty-Seven


“ I hate this damn thing,” Leo grumbled.

“You might hate it, but it’s allowing you to be mobile now. You know what happens if you try to stand for too long and wear yourself out.”

“I hate it when you use logic on me,” Leo grumbled again.

Jesse beamed. “At least you’re here for me to use logic on,” he reminded him.

“True. You’re awfully mouthy for a slave, you know that?”

“Yes, and you wouldn’t want me any other way.”

“No, I wouldn’t.” He caught Jesse’s tie in his hand and pulled him in close, kissing him. “Thank you for standing by me.”

A knock sounded on the bedroom door before Eva pushed it open. “Are you ready, Sir? Everyone’s gathered in the backyard.”

Jesse adjusted Leo’s tie before readjusting his own. “I think so.”

“Then get your butt out there, Jesse,” she ordered, jerking her thumb at the door. “I’ll bring him.”

Jesse snapped her a salute and leaned in to kiss her cheek on his way out the door, closing it behind him.

Leo had hoped for this moment. He held out a hand to her, beckoning her over.

“Are you really okay?” he asked when she took his hand and stepped in close.

“Yeah.” She let out a sigh. “Who knew there was a name for this stuff all along?”

“Yeah. Really.”

“And Tilly and Eliza reminded me I’m their new priority.”

He laughed. “Sorry.”

“No, don’t be.” She smiled. “I trust them. Hey, you were the one who said something about having family dinners. Who knew it’d be a leather family?”

He pulled her into his lap and held her for a moment. “I know this hasn’t been easy on you, and I’m sorry. I wanted to make it easy on you, not harder.”

She draped an arm around him. “Yeah, well, listen.” She poked him in the chest. “We have a daughter to raise. You think you’re getting out of that job, think again, buster. I still have dibs on you, you know.”

“And I still have dibs on you.”

Their eyes met and she leaned in and kissed him.

Ironically, kissing her still felt the same as before. But missing was that spark he felt now when Jesse kissed him. It only reaffirmed to him that this had been the right choice.

She sighed as she sat back. “I get it now,” she said. “You know I always hated it when you were right and I was wrong.”

“I know.”

“When you first bombed me with all of…this…I thought dammit, you’re wrong, because you are good in bed.”

He smirked. “So I wasn’t good in bed, huh?”

“No, you were. But I see that spark you have with him and I realize that, okay, you set the bar damned high, so that just means it’ll be an extra-special guy who can clear it. You were right that we needed to do this, even though I hate like hell that we had to.” Another soft sigh escaped her. “We weren’t on the same paths. We paralleled each other for a lot of years, but I never realized that while we were walking alongside each other, we weren’t walking together.”

“I only want you to be happy and safe.”

“I know. I will be. On the plus side, it means I’ll have three men helping me out with Laurel when she gets to be dating age instead of just you. I suspect we’ll need strength in numbers to scare the crap out of the boys she brings home to meet us.”

“That’s what Aunt Tilly, Aunt Eliza, and Aunt June are for.”

“Oh. True. Still, it’ll be nice having in-house backup.” She carefully climbed out of his lap, smoothed her dress, and stepped around behind him to push him. “Now I want you and him to be happy. Then you guys can help Tilly and Eliza find me a guy.”

“How’d I get roped into that, again?” he teased.

“Hey, it’s your fault I’m single, Sir.” She gently poked the back of his shoulder as he reached forward and opened the door again. “And someone mentioned something about me being under their protection. That means you get to help them by default, buster.”

He reached back and patted her hand. “Gladly.”

She wheeled him out to the backyard of Lucas, Leigh, and Nick’s house, where all their friends had gathered. Because of Laurel and the other kids, this was a family-friendly affair.

He’d told his parents about this, but both of them had seemed less than impressed. They couldn’t understand why he was doing this, why he’d divorced Eva in the first place.