“The day after, then.”

“I’m going to keep feeding you beer until you forget.”

Both she and Ramsay shook their heads.

“What? It’s a good plan!”

“How did my obedient little slave turn into such a bad girl?”

“I’m not sure, Master. I think maybe the other brats in our family might be bad influences. I’m sweet and impressionable, after all.”

“Oh, and do those other brats need to be punished?”

“Yes, Master. You should spank Mack, especially.” She winked at Winter, who chuckled.

“Saya, do you just want me to spank Mack because you’re a pervert and you want to watch?”

“Uh huh.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

The guys got up and went to clean off, but Saya crept closer. Winter held out her arm and she moved into the crook of it. Their breasts pressed together, the sensuality something that Winter always adored.

“I’m sorry for teasing. Are you really okay?”

“I’m a little rattled, but I’ll live.” She nuzzled her face into Saya’s long hair, the sensuous slide of it on her skin blissful.

“You’d better live,” Saya scolded. “You can’t leave me ever, okay?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Not good enough.”

“I have no intention of ever leaving you of my own free will.”

“Oh jeez, Winter. You’re so bad at this. Even Mack and Ramsay are more romantic than you are.”

Winter chuckled. “My brain is fried right now, baby doll.” Seriousness took over, along with the need to make sure that Saya understood. “You know how I feel. I might not have the kind of fancy words I need to explain myself, but you’re my life, Saya. You, Mack, Ramsay – this was meant to happen. There’s a reason why Ramsay answered that ‘we need a drummer’ ad, and it wasn’t about the band. It was about this.”

She brushed her lips over Saya’s, amazed that before they met, she hadn’t realized anything was missing.

*

“Mommy, Mommy, Mommmyyy!”

Winter slid into the room, socks gliding on the hardwood, heart pounding, body still aching from an hour earlier. Distract. The. Child.

“Hey buddy! Mommy is busy right now. Can I help you with something? Is there a monster for me to beat up?”

Alexandra the cat eyed her lazily from the foot of the bed, but went back to sleep almost immediately. Ramsay had tracked the cat down and sent for her not long after the adoption had been finalized, and the boy and cat spent a lot time together whether the cat liked it or not. She seemed to like it though, as much as a fluffy white rug with paws could like anything.

Winter strained to hear, but there was no noise from the others moving around downstairs. Having the battery-powered ray gun with special sound effects go off while they were stacking gifts under the tree had been a heart-stopping moment. Spider had started calling almost as soon as she got to the upstairs landing. Saya was still trying to wrap a few last-minute things while she and the guys had set everything out. Covered in tape and wrapping paper remnants, Saya had desperately waved for Winter to do it, otherwise she would have beat Winter up the stairs.

“No monsters, Mama.”

“Nightmare?” He’d had so many bad dreams for the first while they had him that it was hard to believe they’d finally stopped. Who knew when they’d start again though? Countless nights they’d taken turns walking the floor with the poor little guy, carrying himagainst their chests like a baby. He was almost too big to carry now.

“No.”