Page 132 of Labor of Love

Don’t think about it!

There were other things to think about, like how to replace Ledger until he decided what he wanted to do. Ledger, a tremendous asset to their business, from the wine tastings and to his extensive knowledge of what foods went with each wine,had brought in a deluge of additional bookings. They were still in the considering stage of hiring someone else to replace Ledger and someone to help in the wine shop. Right now, they’d made no decisions, just that Thorn was taking an indefinite amount of time off to be there for Ledger and the girls. His brothers and the existing staff would cope for the next two months.

“Don’t look at me. I don’t know what he’s talking ‘bout.” Dacian interrupted his thoughts, having gone for innocent and if it had been anyone but them, he’d have succeeded.

Thorn jabbed a finger at his brother. “Weren’t you the one who said Ledger was going to burst? My poor sweetling is so big he can’t even get up without me helping him.” The panic was back, clawing at his innards, making him glad Ledger was up at the house and not close enough to sense it.

Could they hear how close to tears he was? Were pregnancy hormones catching?

Calvert gave him a sympathetic look before glowering at Dacian. “Why would you say that? Let’s hope when you find your dhampir that Thorn doesn’t tug your balls!”

Dacian roared with laughter, head thrown back, light caught in his dark locks making them appear like spun silk threads. “It’s taken centuries for one of us to find a mate, there’s very little chance I’ll find mine for decades, by which point he’ll have forgotten.”

“Fuck you. I hope you are the one who gets pregnant!” Thorn muttered, his attention returning to the task at hand. Time was ticking down and those senses he had attuned to Ledger said he would wake soon, and Thorn wanted to be there.

“Like that can happen! We can’t get pregnant, remember?”

He lifted a hand, giving Dacian the middle finger, still typing out the last email with the other.

“The universe also doesn’t give us male dhampirs either,” he pointed out, because he wanted to pay back Dacian just a little.

Calvert cough-chuckled behind his hand. “If you could see your face, Dac.”

“Whatever!”

Thorn shut down his computer quickly, already rising with the sensation of Ledger waking and immediately getting pissed off. “Shit, I gotta go.” He was out the door and running for the house before either brother could utter a word.

Please let him be in a better mood today.

2

LEDGER

Ledger attempted to roll over on the sumptuous mattress as words he’d spoken a year ago—‘prove it’—rampaged through his mind, but his swollen belly prevented him from getting very far. His eyes slitted open, looking at the empty spot beside him. He reached out and felt the soft cotton, finding it cold.

Light peeked beneath the closed drapes. “Thorn,” he yelled, moodily, struggling to shift himself into a sitting position. Their babies immediately tap danced on his bladder and he groaned at the urgency that came with it. Being the size of a house, and just as unwieldy, his body had long since stopped him from doing anything quickly. The twins he was expecting any day made everything a mission. One his husband should be there to help him with, seen as it was him that got him up the duff!

Prove it.He shook his head at his own stupidity. Thorn had done more than ‘prove it’. He’d whisked him out of the café and…

“Why couldn’t I keep my dick in my pants? I’m never having sex again, I swear it!” Scowling when his cock perked up at exactly how Thorn had proved they were mates and not once had a protest come from his lips. He’d damn well begged, hadn’t he!

It was embarrassing, even now, howhe should feel, but didn’t, at allowing Thorn to take him against a wall down a dirty alleyway at the back of the café when they hadn’t even exchanged names. It was…

Mind blowing.

He squeezed his dick when it plumped up at how desperate he remained for Thorn’s touch. He’d discovered his cock had a mind of its own when it came to his glorious mate. Thinking about the last time they’d touched, which had been weeks ago because of the two little terrors inside him, wasn’t at all helpful when all it did was make the need to pee increase exponentially.

Ledger rolled like a beached whale onto his side and wriggled to the edge to get his feet under him. Long since having lost the ability to actually find them or his center of gravity, he huffed and puffed like he was carrying a ton of weight. Which he was.

The curses were loud and plentiful as he made his way from the enormous fourposter bed to the bathroom. Thorn’s part of the house had a traditional and modern feel to it. His bedroom was decorated with decadent and sumptuous furnishing that made it look more like a boudoir in a brothel. Ledger loved it.

Though the external aesthetic of the winery looked pretty much the same as it had done since Thorn and his brothers had built it a millennium ago, the inside was a mix of old and new. The bathrooms were modern, navy marble glittered with flecks of silver.

Ledger rubbed at his aching back as he padded to the toilet at a snail's pace. More curses followed when he couldn’t stand to pee and had to sit, which made the girls protest and kick out at being scrunched up inside his body. Being five feet and carrying twins had become more difficult as the pregnancy progressed. He tried every day not to think about how his body was going to cope with getting the babies out. He most definitely wasn’tgiving it any deep thought because when he did, the panic was very real and made him feel faint.

Not prone to that kind of behavior before pregnancy, it had become his new normal, and it was all Thorn’s fault. He was going to kick his ass as soon as he appeared. He choked back a sob at how he wanted Thorn right there with him, telling him everything would be fine.

The girls became super active, like they were picking up every one of his thoughts. His belly looked as if he had aliens inside it trying to escape. Naked, because he was always too hot these days, he rubbed circles over the prodding feet and fists.

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