You Only Love Twice (Masters and Mercenaries #8)(123)

“Are you ready?” Simon asked.

“I was born ready for this.”

He followed Simon out and took his place, surrounded by brothers but with the knowledge that two were missing. Ten and the brother he’d known so briefly, the only other man who knew what it meant to love Phoebe. He wasn’t here, but Jesse could feel his presence. Jamie Grant’s memory would always have a place in their home.

The music began and there she was. She wore a white dress and carried a bouquet of flowers, but all he could really see was her beautiful face.

“Hi,” she said with a glorious smile when she reached him.

“Hello, baby.” He took her hand.

They turned to the pastor and there among their family, Jesse and Phoebe began their forever.



Later that night…



Ian Taggart reached out and placed his hands on his wife’s belly. Smooth and round and one of the little f*ckers kicked him firmly. “Charlie, that’s not a foot. It’s a horn. We’re having a demon. I know it.”

He couldn’t help it. He loved to tease her. It was his greatest joy in life.

She rolled her pretty eyes and sighed. “They’re your girls so they’re probably slightly demonic. Are you all right?”

He took a deep breath. He’d faced down a lot of shit in his time and nothing scared him quite as much as the feel of that baby kicking against his hand. The problem was there wasn’t just one set of feet in there. “I think the doctor was high and it’s just a really big boy.”

“With four legs?”

“Maybe that’s just his boy parts. Maybe he has two.”

“You’re insane, but I love you.”

He tugged on her hand, bringing her onto his lap. This was his favorite part of the day. He would pull her on his lap and just sit and watch the night while he cuddled his wife. Now he cuddled his children, too. It wouldn’t be long before they were squirmy little things, so he relished the peace of holding them all in his arms for the moment. His girls.

“It was a beautiful wedding.” Charlie leaned into him, nuzzling his neck.

“There was a Harry Potter cake, Charlie. And mai tais. Those two were made for each other.”

“I just wish Ten could have been there.”

He stilled because there were still some secrets he couldn’t tell his wife. Not yet. “If the bastard had shown up, I would have slapped him with the bill for Sanctum.”

She sat up and grinned. “I know that having the club blow up was horrible, but the new Sanctum is going to be so beautiful.”

He agree with her on that point because this time around, he’d built his personal heaven with one person in mind—her. Every piece of furniture and equipment had been chosen with her comfort and pleasure in mind. Every tiny detail selected to delight her. She was his queen and she would have her personal castle. A perverted castle, complete with a human hamster wheel. “It’s f*ck all expensive.”

He noticed something out of the corner of his eye and realized the time had come. Someone was on his land and they’d managed to get around his security system. There was only person he knew who could manage that. He needed to get Charlie to safety until he figured out what was going on with his guest.

She helped him out by sitting up and stretching. “I’m going to take a shower and get out of this dress. You want to join me?”

More than anything. There was nothing he wanted more than to get in a shower and worship his reason for living. He stood and crowded her as much as he could with her big belly between them. He leaned over and brushed his lips against hers. “In a little while. I need to call Sean about something. I’ll meet you in bed and rub your feet and go over all the ways I’m going to torture your sweet ass when you’re able to play again.”

Her hands came up, sinking into his hair. His Charlie never shrank from a challenge. “You better come up with something good, Taggart.”

She walked away, the sway of her hips calling to him.

He stepped inside, grabbed the Scotch and two glasses, and then walked back out. He heard the shower turn on and settled down into one of the Adirondack chairs that sat on his big porch. He looked out into the trees that surrounded his house. “You can come out now. We’re alone. Did you enjoy the wedding?”

“It was beautiful. I wish I could have come to the reception.” Tennessee Smith came out of the woods like a wraith melting away from the camouflage and finding his form. He was dressed in black with a ball cap on his head and a backpack over one shoulder. And his face had exploded.

“Dude, you look homeless, and what’s all that shit on your face?”

Ten stopped and stared for a moment. “You know, I’m gone for months in a hostile place with everyone in the Agency looking to drag my ass in and your first words are about my beard?”

“Is that what that’s supposed to be? Because it looks like a f*cking poodle died on your face.” He poured the man a Scotch because he really looked like he’d been through hell.

Ten shook his head and then laughed. “Fuck you, Tag.” He dropped the backpack and then stepped up, taking the glass Ian offered. “Damn but it’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you, too. You could have written. Maybe a call letting us know you’re all right.”