Page 85 of New Nebraska Heat

We all stared spellbound at Serenity as she and Seb shared their thoughts.

“Whatever Professor X is telling you, it’s true,” Dagger rasped.

“All right, take your step already,” Hunter coughed out, then corrected, “A baby step, since you fudged your answer.” His voice dropped to a grumble. “And you kept us out of the loop by talking in your head.”

Seb was quick to obey.

“Tried to pull one over me, huh?” Dagger shook his head at Seb. “Don’t know what all the secrecy was for, first timer. I think we all could’ve guessed on our own.”

“Hey, lay off him,” I said on reflex. “There’s a lot of virgins in this room. You mess with one of us, you’re messing with all of us.”

“Yeah, big shot,” Serenity said. “I’m putting you under the gun next this time.”

“Hell, you can put me under your boot if you want to,” Dagger said with a wink. He spread his arms wide. “But go ahead. Take your shot, Cowgirl.”

She crossed her arms, but her mouth still quirked upward. “What’s the naughtiest thing you’ve ever done in the bedroom?”

“Easy. A threesome with two wolf shifter biker chicks. Man, that was a wild night.”

Serenity’s brows jumped a hurdle… and so did Dagger. His next giant leap vaulted him over the coffee table and rattled the pans in the kitchen. Good grief.

Seb belly laughed while Hunter grumbled, “You break anything, you’re buying it.”

Grinning, Serenity turned to Hunter. “Your turn, handsome.” She studied his face and said softly, “How do you picture your future, in say… ten years?”

“In an ideal world, I’d like to expand my club business just enough to save a good nest egg to invest, then live off that while I settle down. Do the whole wife and kids, two car garage dream. Just a quiet life with a big family. I can’t think of anything more fulfilling than that.”

Dagger tsked. “King of the street fighters, trading his gloves for a picket fence.”

“Wait… king of the…” Sebastian’s eyes flew wide. “Holy shit, I thought your name was familiar! My cousin was obsessed with you, dude! Are you really undefeated?”

Hunter nodded all nonchalant, but I saw his spine straighten. “Yep.”

“True on all counts.” Dagger waved Hunter onward. “Come on up, brother. If you can make it.”

Hunter abandoned his empty gin glass and made a low “oh-ho” sound, rubbing his hands together as he sank into a lunge. He popped both feet off the ground in a cat-like spring and landed just a few feet back from Dagger.

“Missed it by that much.” Dagger held two fingers an inch apart.

“You had a head start.”

“Hey, don’t make me come up there and separate you two,” I teased, wagging a scolding finger between them.

“You want a lot of kids?” The timid question trembled on the air, sobering our smiles.

We swiveled our heads toward Serenity, all attuned to the shift in her mood. She rubbed her arm like she was cold, her eyes sad.

“I…” Hunter glanced between her and Dagger. “I’d like kids, yeah, but not a crazy number. Three, maybe?”

She smiled, but a sheen of tears glossed her eyes. “That sounds great.”

“So… you want kids, too?” Hunter’s brow creased.

“I always wanted them, yes.” She swallowed hard, and her palm stilled on her upper arm, squeezing now. “But when I got out of the feeding den, I… I was worried about STDs or anything else nasty they could have passed to me, with all the biting.” She paused for a breath, eyes dipping to the floor. “I did a physical and had all kinds of tests run. I hadn’t contracted anything, but the doctor said because of the confinement and the malnutrition and everything from such a young age… my chances of ever getting pregnant are pretty low. Maybe nonexistent.”

Rage and sorrow clashed with eruptive force in my head. My chest rose with angry, bullish breaths, and my neck flaming hot. That den had taken so much from her. It had scarred her past, and now it wanted to dig its fangs into her future?

I opened my mouth to tell her if she wanted kids, I’d find all the best doctors, make sure she got all the best treatments.