Unleashed (43 page)

Ezra and Cortez have found a happy medium. There is still tension between the pair because of Cort’s resentment towards Ezra’s behavior. It’s no longer underlying resentment
, so that means we can fix it. Nothing worth fixing happens overnight. Cort still refuses to make love to his lover. He does everything short of sex, and for the time being and that pleases Ezra. I noticed an increase in affection between all three of us. I don’t know if it’s my close call or my pregnancy. The bond feels stronger between the three of us.

The media is so horrible that there isn’t a new
s broadcast that doesn’t mention the Zeitler name. We’ve changed our phone numbers several times in the past few weeks and they still manage to get them. The worst is when a paper reported our number and our place of residence. The Edge building and Restraint have a posse of paparazzi that never leave, therefore, I never leave.

My arrival home from the hospital made national news. I walked inside
Edge and haven’t left since. I’m working from home for the unforeseeable future. If I want to see someone, they come to me. I may not leave until the paparazzi do or until I have prenatal appointments. Ezra is seriously considering a midwife. National news brings out the crazies, and I’ve had just about enough of crazy for a lifetime.

“Are you having a good birthday, Ava?” I swat Cortez’s hand away. I love that Ava is affectionate now. It seem
s the more affectionate I’m with the Ezes the more she is with me. We both had issues with casual touch before they drew us into their lives. It’s like we were starved for contact. Now it’s a natural occurrence for Ava to cuddle up with us on the couch. The feeling almost makes me cry.

“I am. I got the best present. I get to be a big sister. I get to boss someone else around.”
The evil glint in Ava’s eye makes Cort snicker.

“Forget calling Ava
the lil monster- she’s the mini-boss,” Cort groans out.

“Hey, there are worse people she could take after,” Ezra calls from the foyer. “When baby Abernathy is born
, he’s going to be a moody bastard.”

I hear a familiar laugh as Marcus
and Diane come into the room. “Cortez was a moody little kid. His mother was the sweetest person, but he was a charming grump. If we broke him out of some play he was writing, he was just awful. Good luck with that, Katya. May your children gain their grandmother’s personality,” Diane nicely says, but a sadness lurks beneath the surface when she mentions Cort’s mother.

“I love that everyone assumes th
e twins are Cort’s. What am I- sterile?” Ezra complains as he takes his chair before Marcus can sit in it. It’s a thing they like to play- who gets control of the chair- King of the hill, Zeitler style.

Marcus rolls his eyes at the chair and Ezra sitting in it. He comes to me and kisses me on the cheek. I look up to watch Diane’s reaction. She smiles sweetly at m
e and sits on the love seat. Diane is a woman who keeps a bubble of personal space around her. I’m thankful that Ava and I broke out of that habit.

“Oh- shit, I forgot Ava’s gift in the foyer. Can you go get it, Ezra?” Marcus po
ses his command as a question. Ezra hops up to collect the gift and Marcus promptly steals the hill. Marcus brilliantly smiles at me. I laugh and blush. Sometimes having all of them in the same room is entertaining- sometimes, it’s exhausting.

“Nice,” Ezra
sarcastically mutters as he hands Ava her gift. I watch my child open her gift with a surprising amount of restraint. Her eyes get huge and she squeals when she sees the digital camera that we all discussed to death before its purchase. Ava runs up to all of us and hugs us in turn, even Diane tenderly embraces Ava while wearing a fond expression.

“I thought it was perfect for our budding pap
arazzi… or is it gossip reporter? You can snap pictures and capture video. Ava, if I find out you recorded me in any capacity, I will give you consequences. You may only have candid shots that I know you are taking. Grandpa loves his privacy,” Marcus warns. Ava just shakes her head at him in response. Marcus’ commanding personality affects Ava, too.

“We forgot a gift,” Ezra says. I gasp as Ezra gets down on one knee and presents me with a box on his palm. His face looks hopeful, but worried. His gray eyes glow like the sun peekin
g out between storm clouds. “Katya, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Join me, Cort, and our children in our happily ever after.” His voice is low and smoky. I can hear a little edge of Master Ez.

“Absolutely, I thought you’d never ask.” I smirk at him, the bastard.

Ezra lunges at me, cushioning the blow before he tackles me to the couch. He passionately kisses me enough that I blush from the tips of my toes to the roots of my hair. I look into his eyes and see the world ahead of us- a world of possibilities.

“I love you, Ezra. You’ve own
ed a piece of my soul since that day in the woods so very long ago,” I profess between sniffles. 

Ezra
slips the ring on my finger and I’m shocked by his choice. It’s the ring that I drooled over in all the wedding magazines that Kayla and Ava were obsessed about during the wedding preparations.
The Round Brilliant Ribbon Ring
from
Tiffany’s
. I fell in love with it because the two arches of the bow look like two separate rings- one for Cortez and one for Ezra. I never told anyone my reasoning for choosing such a ring.

I glance up and notice Cort wiping his eyes. He tries to hide the expression marring his beautiful fac
e but fails. I know the look. Cortez sees this as Ezra marking his territory and leaving him behind. Cort will never go down on his knee and ask the person he loves to marry him. He’s in a marriage of convenience. I briefly wonder which of us Cortez wishes he could’ve asked to marry. Does he want to go down on bended knee in front of Ezra or me? I hope the answer is both. I wish it were possible to seal our union between the three of us. It would remove most of the resentment.

I smile at Co
rt and extend my hand to him. Cort immediately comes to me, and I gently kiss him. “Would you like to know why I was so obsessed about this ring? It wasn’t price or size, or even design. It was that the setting looked like two separate rings- one representing the father of my children and husband, Ezra Zeitler. The other representing the father of my unborn children, and no matter what the state says, my husband, Cortez Abernathy. I love you both, so wipe that dejected look off your face and give us a kiss.”

The three of us seal
our engagement with a kiss in front of our child and Ezra’s parents. It is a beautiful moment.
 

Epilogue

~One year later~

“I pledge my undying love to you, Ezra
and Cortez,” I announce with pride. I think back to the past year: The difficult pregnancy with surprising results and the media storm surrounding our nuptials. We outsmarted the press thanks to my ingenious thirteen-year-old. Ava came up with the idea of a decoy wedding. We sent out a press release with the time and place. While the helicopters were circling overhead ShadowHaven and the paparazzi were casing The Edge Building and Restraint, we eloped in our living room with a Cortez and Ava as our witnesses. When the media found out, they were deflated. But the paparazzi are still in place.

A few hours ago
, our family drove away from Edge and waved at the paparazzi on the way by. We are just your atypical family going to visit the folks for Sunday dinner with two hundred of your nearest and dearest.

I stand as a bridge
between Cortez and Ezra on the dais in the backyard of ShadowHaven. What is the theme when three Masters of Restraint marry? Pink, it is not. I wear a form-fitted black gown with blood red and silver accents. My Ezes are dressed respectfully in black pinstripe suits. Cort with a blood red shirt and silver tie and Ezra with a silver shirt and blood red tie. The white lattice arbor is also absent from this wedding celebration. I designed an arch that had the same feel as the front doors to ShadowHaven with their medieval presence.

Ava stands next to me in the position of Maid of Honor. She is now several inches taller than me and is filling out into a beautiful young woman. She still has the ethereal look of Diane, but my personality is shaping her face.

Ezra’s best man is Marcus and Cort’s best man is Aaron. I feel complete as I stand on the dais. I have finally arrived at my destination with my favorite travel companions. We have a long and happy journey ahead of us. I wipe the tears from my eyes and broadly smile at my Ezes as I finish my vows.

“Cortez and Ezra
, you complete my soul. I would feel incomplete without the both of you. I spoke with Cort a very long time ago about how there are some people in this world that you can’t live without, and that would be the pair of you. I promise to love, honor, and cherish you both, for richer, for poorer, for as long as we three shall live.”

“It didn’t escape my notice that you left obey
off that list,” Ezra chuckles.

“Sorry, my m
aster forbids it,” I smile back. I hear a throat clearing from one of the best men and almost burst out laughing. “I apologize.” I smirk.

“I love you both and word
s cannot express how including me makes me feel. I was prepared to live my life by your side as your lover while you both are a married couple. I know that in the eyes of the law this union means nothing. Thank God for partnership laws. Just standing here in front of everyone as you both declare me your husband is so overwhelming I want to kneel at your feet and weep. I felt as a third wheel for so long, and funny that Kitten felt that way, as well. Now, I truly feel as necessary as both of you. I don’t believe that Ezra and I could have been happy without you, Kitten. We three are necessary to complete our souls. I promise to love, honor, obey you, Ezra, and cherish you both, for richer, for poorer, for as long as we three shall live.”

I laugh how I was excluded from the obeying.

“You both have painted me into a corner. You’ve covered just about every emotion I feel. I think we perfectly complement one another. Katya is correct. She holds all the good traits we possess. You truly are our bridge, for without you, our sides would never meet. I promise to love, honor, and cherish you both, for richer, for poorer, for as long as we three shall live.”

“I noticed you didn’t say obey either,” I tease to lighten the
emotional climate.

“I have no master,” Ezra
arrogantly says.

Another throat clearing from the
best man, “that’s just a matter of perception, son,” Marcus mutters underneath his breath. 

“Since no one is officiating
, I say you guys should kiss and seal the deal,” Aaron offers up. I agree. I grab a tie in each of my hands and yank my Ezes to me. I draw them both into a soul-searing kiss.

The crowd erupts in
to shouts of glee. The noise startles my five-month-old babies. Azriel, my red-haired, gray-eyed, golden-skinned baby girl screams like a demon, inciting her brother to join the fun.

“Oh, my baby girl is already acting like her mother,” Cort croons to the infant. He cuddles her close
, and she immediately quiets. Personally, I think Azriel acts like her father- Cort.

Baby Ez stops
crying the second Azriel does. He learned from day one that Az is in control and he happily submits. Ez’s white blond hair is the same color as his skin. It’s his brilliant green eyes that hold a depth of wisdom like his sister Ava. It’s like Ez is silently saying
why bother, just give into Azriel, and we will all be happier.
My smart little man.

~This isn’t the end of Katya’s story. Follow
her journey through the experiences of the other characters of Restraint. Katya has more story to tell near the end of the series. Please be patient~

Restraint’s resident sadist is next-
Dexter, Master of Restraint
. & for a less edgy, dark and twisted read, try the Playroom series.
Good Girl
. Coming summer 2013,
Widow
, & winter 2013/2014,
Wayward
.

About the Author

Erica Chilson spends most of her time inside her own imagination, whether awake or asleep. Her love of reading and writing for her book review blog, Wicked Reads, inspired her to begin writing again. Not one that enjoys the norm, her favorite things to read, write, and dream about are on the edge, claws and fangs, and wickedly entertaining things.

www.ericachilson.wordpress.com

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