Music of the Soul (22 page)

did a one handed removal of my panties and tossed them over the side of the bed. He was out of his

boxers in a flash. Since his hand had done a pretty good job getting me ready for him, he spread my

thighs and nudged his erection at my center.

“Oh Angel, I love when you’re so wet for me,” he murmured, as he nuzzled his face into my

neck.

I widened my legs and brought my hand between us to ease him home. When he was buried deep

inside me, we both groaned with pleasure. While the twins continued sleeping soundly in the crib

across from our bed, Jake pumped hard and furiously in and out of my body. Our roles of husband and

wife were momentarily taking precedence over those of mommy and daddy. As I ran my hands over

Jake’s bare shoulders and back, our eyes remained locked on each other. The frequency of sex had

certainly changed with the arrival of the twins, but when we were together, our connection was still

as strong. It was something I knew I wanted to work on—I was a mother, but I was still Jake’s wife.

Since we had always had such a deep, physical connection, I wanted to continue making love to him

as much as possible.

Although I knew Jake was close, my mind kept overriding my pleasure whenever I would feel

the tingles begin. Sensing my need, Jake’s hand reached between us, and his deft fingers sought out my

swollen clit. He rubbed and tweaked it until I no longer trapped by my mind—I was completely

surrounded by pleasure. “Jake!” I cried, as I tensed and came. He followed shortly with me.

After he was finished, we lay entangled in each other’s arms. I drew lazy circles with my fingers

over his taut back muscles. “Pretty good way to start a morning, huh?” he asked, breaking the silence.

I giggled. “I’d say so.” Grasping at the strands of his hair, I tugged, pulling his face up to look at

mine. “I love you, Jake.”

“Mmm, I love you, too, Angel.” He brought his lips to mine. Just as we were getting carried

away again, Jax’s agitated grunt came from the crib. It was shortly followed by a wail, and then Jules

started in with him.

“Guess that’s our cue,” I said, after I broke off the kiss.

“You go get cleaned up from our morning exertions, and I’ll get the hellions changed,” Jake said.

I laughed. “Okay.” As he rolled out of bed, I took in an appreciate eye-full of his delicious ass

as he slid on his boxers. I then got up and padded over to the bathroom as Jake headed to the crib. For

the moment, our bedroom was doubling as a second nursery. It just made more sense to have the twins

close to us, rather than upstairs.

After I finished my morning business and cleaned up, I went back into the bedroom. My heart

warmed at the sight of Jake standing over the crib, singing to the twins as he changed diapers. He was

truly a sight to behold with all his muscles and tattoos. Of course, the twins were not appreciating his

performance. Instead, they were wailing so loud that Angel began to howl along with them.

“Don’t encourage them,” I said to Angel, patting her on the head.

Once I was back in bed, I started unbuttoning my pajama top. Jake’s singing ceased as he leaned

over the crib’s edge. “Shh, it’s okay. Daddy’s here, and he loves you,” Jake murmured. No matter

who was closest to the edge, he always picked Jules up first. I don’t know if it was because she was

tinier, the youngest, or he felt that protective Daddy vibe because she was his baby girl.

“That’s my pretty little angel,” he said. He tenderly kissed the top of her head before passing her

over to me. We had two weeks to go before we were back on the road, and I had no idea how I would

be able to keep breast feeding like this. At almost four months, I felt they were more than ready to be

weaned, but Jake was pretty insistent that at least Jules keep on as long as I could.

Once Jules latched on and nursed heartily, Jake picked up Jax. “Okay, chunky monkey,” he said,

with a grin to Jax’s scrunched red face.

“Hey now, don’t be giving him a weight complex,” I chided.

“Ah, he’s pure muscle, right Jaxy?” Jake asked, kissing our son’s chubby cheek.

Since Jake had nothing to do with his feeding, Jax continued wailing as he strained for me. He

outweighed Jules by a good five pounds. Whatever he’d had on her in the womb, he had maximized it

now that he was out. Usually, we had to give him some formula after a feeding because he just never

seemed to get enough. He was going to be built just like his dad when he grew up. But regardless of

his size, he was terribly protective of Jules. Whenever they slept, he always laid as close as he could

to her, and he wasn’t satisfied unless he could touch her with his fist or feet.

Once Jax was in my arms, his cries quieted, and he snuggled in beside Jules to start feeding.

Jake eased back into the bed. Lying on his stomach, he propped his head on his elbow and stared up

at me. “You sure about going out on the road?”

I smiled. “Never more certain about anything. I can’t wait to prove that I really am Wonder

Woman, and I can be a Grammy-award-winning songwriter and performer, as well as a mother.”

“Can I get you to wear a sexy Wonder Woman costume?” Jake teasingly asked.

“Maybe. If you play your cards just right,” I replied, with a wink.

“I’ll try my best.”

“Keep doing what you’re doing when it comes to helping me with the twins, and you’ll get lots

of nice rewards.”

His brows then furrowed. “Do you really think Allison is going to be able to handle Jax and

Jules?”

I laughed. “I think she’s going to do the best she can. I mean, sometimes we have a difficult time

handling them.”

Jake’s expression lightened. “That’s true.”

It had been hard deciding on a nanny or a babysitter for the twins. Jake and I both had been

raised by very hands-on mothers, and I planned to be the same way, even when on tour. Having

Allison along with us for the summer tour happened almost too divinely to believe. Since she was

about to finish up her last semester at SCAD, or the Savannah School of Art and Design, she needed

some internship and field experience in her major—fashion design. What better way to have her kill

two birds with one stone than to have her work on costumes for Jacob’s Ladder and Runaway Train

while watching the twins during rehearsals and shows.

“I just hope your brothers don’t get any ideas about her,” Jake said, his fingers rubbing over one

of Jax’s crocheted booties that Mia had made him.

“I think they value their manhood too much to mess around with your baby sister,” I replied, with

a smile.

“They sure as hell better.”

As I shifted Jax onto my shoulder to burp him, I resisted the urge to tell Jake that it wasn’t my

brothers and Allison he should be worried about. At the twins’ christening, the unresolved sexual

tension between Allison and Rhys was palpable. Something had definitely happened between them,

but there was also a hell of a lot unsaid and unspoken going on. They worked their hardest to stay

away from each other, but at the same time, they were constantly looking at each other. Since I wanted

her along with us on the tour, I didn’t dare pry. I knew the truth would come out when the time was

right.

“What are you thinking about?” Jake asked.

“Nothing,” I lied, diverting my gaze to Jules who had just finished eating.

“Oh, no, I saw that expression of yours—the one you get when the wheels in your head are

turning.”

“I’m just excited and nervous about the tour, that’s all.”

“We’re going to be a full house on the bus with Allison and the twins.”

“And Angel,” I said. Hearing her name caused Angel to raise her head and wag her tail.

“You really think it’s a good idea bringing her along?” Jake asked, as he took Jax from me, so I

could burp Jules.

“I couldn’t bear leaving her behind. Do you know what that would do to her if she saw us and

the twins leaving her?”

Jake grimaced. He knew as well as I did that Angel was so attached to Jax and Jules. She slept

at the foot of their crib every night. If we let one of them cry too long while trying to get their diaper

changed or bottle ready, she started howling and barking. “Fine, fine, we’ll bring Angel.”

As Jules emitted a giant burp, I laughed. “Thank you, babe.”

He shook his head. “I have no willpower when it comes to you.”

“I know, and I love it,” I teased.

Jake laughed. “Now that the little hellions—”

“Angels,” I corrected.

“Fine. Now that the angels are fed, what’s on tap for today?”

“Hmm, maybe baths for all of us, and then a nice, lazy movie day?”

“I like the sound of that. I bet I could get Papa to run down to Two Brothers for some BBQ for

us.”

My stomach growled appreciatively. “Yes, please.”

Jake grinned. “Who would have ever thought my favorite things in the world would be lounging

around in bed with my wife and kids?”

“You’ve come a long way since I first met you.”

“And I have you to thank.” He kissed Jax and then Jules. “And you two.” Jax grinned while Jules

seemed to reach out for Jake. As he took her into his arms, I couldn’t help the happy tears that filled

my eyes at the sight of Jake with his son and his daughter in his strong arms.

Jake sucked in a harsh breath. “What is it?” I asked.

He closed his eyes. “I’m getting another melody…oh yeah, definitely a new song.”

“I’ll get your guitar and notepad,” I said.

This was our lives, after all. The music of our heart and soul.

After her former boyfriend left her pregnant and alone, Megan McKenzie swore off men. She

spent the last eighteen months focused solely on her son, Mason, along with finishing nursing school

at the top of her class. Although she’s not ready to complicate her life with a long-term relationship, a

nice no-strings attached hook-up is just what she needs. At her godson, Noah’s, baptism, she finds the

perfect candidate in the soft-spoken godfather, Pesh Nadeen. After all, the widower could use a good

time too. But after drinking too much, the night doesn’t end the way she thought it would. Forced to

leave Pesh’s house through a walk of shame, Megan hopes to never, ever see him again.

For Pesh Nadeen, the very sight of Megan sends him into an emotional tailspin. Since she

reminds him too much of what he has lost, he wants to be out of her sight…at first. But the more he

gets to know her, there's something about the diminutive blonde that causes his protective side to go

into overdrive, and he finds himself wanting more. When Megan is assigned to him to complete her

nursing clinicals, he sees it as fate, but she’s having no part of it. She only wants a physical

relationship while he wants far more.

What happens next is a sexy game of cat and mouse to see who will break first or if both of them

will eventually get more than they ever bargained for.

Twenty year old, Allison Slater has been in love with her brother’s bandmate, Rhys McGowan,

since she was fifteen years old. But to him, she’ll always be Jake’s little sister and off limits. Now a

college sophomore and licking her wounds from a bad breakup, she sets her sights on making Rhys

see her as someone he could date…maybe even love. Her opportunity comes when Rhys visits his

parents in Savannah where she is attending college. But the night she’s dreamed of turns to heart-