Page 25

“You were pretty hot, though, Luc. I wonder if there’s a video of you ripping the pool cover off like that? Do you think?” Rowan asks. “Jay, can you reach your phone on the table? You have the longest toes.”

So that’s where Gideon and Nix find them ten minutes later, Nix damp and dirty, and squirming with his pink, bare ass high over Gideon’s shoulder.

The seat of Gideon’s pants is wet, and there’s a smudge of dirt on his cheek.

He stops for a moment, wrinkling his nose at the stale pool water smell, and asks, “Everyone okay, then?”

At Grayson’s nod, he turns on his heel, smacks Nix’s ass, and heads toward his bedroom while Nix squawks and curses.

“Put me down, Gideon Carnell. Right now. Fuck you. Fuck you, I say!” There’s another smack. “You’re not the boss of me!” Nix yells, kicking his legs, but he’s wearing a sly smile and gives them a thumbs up.

The door lock beeps, and there’s a minute’s pause before Finn throws his bag over the far end of the couch.

Arms crossed, there’s a frown on his face when he mutters, “What the hell happened? And why do I smell rotten leaves, chlorine, and,” he raises his perfect nose, “slick? Did I miss the good parts again?”

He is Light (Gideon)

Gideon has a lap full of delicious-smelling kitten, and he’s so warm to the touch. But it’s the heat in his eyes that truly warms Gideon from the inside out.

Oh, there’s a sweet smile on his angelic face and a devious glint in his eye. It’s enough to make Gideon’s belly swoop when he meets his eyes.

“Gideon, you promised you were going to cook, right?”

Ah, there’s a game afoot and far be it for Gideon to be a party pooper, especially not in games of the heart.

“I said no such thing, Kitten.”

He had, in fact, offered to make him something earlier when they were waiting for the water he’d ingested for his ultrasound to make it through to Nix’s bladder, in hopes it would put some color in his cheeks. But that’s not where the fun is—so deny it, he will.

At last count, Nix still has one or two “points” up on Gideon in whatever this teasing game is called.

So far, it goes like this: Nix plays siren, brats hard, and Gideon reins him in. Usually alone in Gideon’s space—or sometimes, for “bigger” exhibitionist displays, over his knee in the living room, making a spectacle just like Nix wants.

Turns out, all of Nix’s newly discovered kinks dovetail perfectly with the pack’s, fitting together like the perfect puzzle.

There hasn’t exactly been a big “show and tell” with spreadsheets or PowerPoints; it’s just come organically, through opportunity and casual discussion.

Nix is coming at it with a huge learning curve, and he’d implied he wasn’t up for it all at once. Gideon heartily respects and encourages safe, sane, and consensual practices, and that includes good mental health.

But now, Gideon isn’t sure what Nix wants from him this time. Luckily, he doesn’t have anywhere else to be—just time to figure it out.

Even if thisisexactly where he’s always wanted to be.

Gideon refuses to let any of the guilt and shame he feels over having been absent when his family needed him distract him from his beautiful, saucy brat.

Nix’s ass cheeks fit perfectly in his hands, and—if he’s not mistaken, which he rarely is about these things—they already feel plusher to Gideon’s ass-connoisseur hands, so he squeezes for added confirmation…yup.

A frisson of anticipation shoots straight to his dick, because a juicy ass means more jiggle—and Gideon loves jiggle. If only Jay would be down for some impact play, Gideon could check something off his sexual bucket list.

For now, though, he’ll be more than satisfied with his current handful.

“I heard you had a smart mouth today,” he says, just to feel Nix moan softly and clench his thighs around Gideon’s hips.

“How would you know?” Nix snarks, and Gideon can see the tiniest tip of his very pink tongue between his teeth.

Gideon squeezes again, this time pulling those peachy cheeks apart. “Kitten, smart mouths get spanks. Do you want to say you’re sorry and try again?”

Knowing full well the answer is a resounding no, he doesn’t expect his kitten to raise the stakes.