Family Matters Read online

  LOVE SLAVE FOR TWO:

  FAMILY MATTERS

  Tymber Dalton

  MENAGE AMOUR

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage Amour

  LOVE SLAVE FOR TWO: FAMILY MATTERS

  Copyright © 2009 by Tymber Dalton

  E-book ISBN: 1-60601-441-2

  First E-book Publication: April 2009

  Cover design by Jinger Heaston

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2009 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  DEDICATION

  Thanks to all the readers who loved Tyler, Nevvie, and Thomas the first time around! I hope you enjoy this one just as much.

  LOVE SLAVE FOR TWO:

  FAMILY MATTERS

  TYMBER DALTON

  Copyright © 2009

  Chapter One

  Mail run. Argh. Nevvie didn’t mind it so much before the baby, but maybe this chore she’d slough off on Tyler. At least it was on the way home from the pediatrician’s office.

  Nevvie pulled into the post office parking lot and parked away from the building, in one of the few shaded spots. The baby still slept. Hopefully he wouldn’t wake up. She’d bought the car seat specifically because it had the detachable base.

  After Tyler had, of course, carefully researched to make sure it was safe.

  She climbed into the back seat. Carefully unhooking the baby carrier, Nevvie held her breath when baby Adam stirred. After a moment he settled and stayed asleep.

  Whew.

  She backed out of the Acura with the carrier in her arms, locked the doors and tried not to jostle the baby. Then she grabbed her tote bag from the trunk and headed for the lobby.

  Tyler always received a ton of mail. It never failed that somehow fans managed to get the PO Box address to send fan mail directly to him instead of to his publicist or the publishers. She shouldn’t complain too much, she supposed. That was a pitfall of being married to a famous novelist.

  Well, married not being the legally correct term. By law, they couldn’t be married. Thomas and Tyler were devoted life-partners for eleven years when Nevvie went to work for them as their cleaning girl. She’d always had the hots for the two cuties, but thinking they were gay, never imagined she’d be more than just friends with them. She jumped at the chance to move in with them as their full-time assistant, and then…

  Then they saved her life when her asshole ex-boyfriend attacked her.

  When months later the men finally admitted to her how they felt, she’d been happily relieved to find out they were bi-sexual. Even happier to learn they loved her as much as she loved them.

  Now, five years after she first moved in, they were parents to a beautiful two week-old baby boy.

  She sat Adam’s carrier on the floor in front of her and opened the large PO drawer. Sure enough, mail nearly filled it even though she’d checked it two days earlier. Only a few things for Tommy, bills, a couple of architectural journals, and even fewer for her. Yep, the bulk of today’s take was Tyler’s.

  Maybe she shouldn’t feel guilty about asking Tyler to take over this chore. Tommy would back her up.

  The contents of the drawer filled the tote bag. She locked the drawer, slung the tote bag over her shoulder, and carefully lifted Adam—still sleeping, thank goodness.

  Back in the car with the baby safely buckled in, Nevvie cranked the engine and turned the air up. Florida summers didn’t take long to heat a car, even in the shade. Tommy wanted her to trade the Acura sedan in for a larger car, or even swap him out and drive his Ridgeline truck, but she liked the Acura. The first new car she’d ever owned, the boys—her boys—had bought for her when she first moved in with them, before their relationship changed from friends to lovers to family.

  * * * *

  The drive home was short and the sight of Tommy’s truck still parked in the driveway surprised her. She knew Ty would be home, but Thomas usually worked at his office all day.

  She gathered the baby and the mail and walked inside. Thomas stood in the kitchen, was about to head to the back of the house to his home office.

  “What are you doing home?” she asked, kissing him.

  He leaned over and kissed the baby. “The afternoon meeting got cancelled, client had an emergency. I decided to stay home and bug the crap out of you two today.”

  “He’s not kidding, Nev,” Tyler hollered from his study.

  “Quiet, you. You’ve got line edits due to your editor in three days, buddy,” she playfully shot back.

  Thomas grinned, his sweet brown eyes playfully gleaming. “That’s it, baby girl. Ride his ass. Keep him in line.” At six feet, he stood taller than both her and Tyler. Their sweet Georgia boy, his dark, wavy brown hair barely touched by grey.

  Tyler appeared, carrying his coffee mug. “You’re ganging up on me,” he grumped. He kissed the baby, then Nevvie. “It’s not fair, I tell you.” Four years older than Thomas, he looked younger, and his boyish face and British accent never failed to make Nevvie’s heart pleasantly thump.

  “Yeah, like you mind,” Nevvie said.

  “I didn’t say I minded, pet.” Tyler smiled, his spooky blue eyes drawing her in. God, how she loved these men.

  Thomas retreated down the hall. “I’m going to do a little work.”

  “I thought you were playing hooky today,” Nevvie said.

  “No, I said I was staying home and bugging the crap out of you two,” he playfully called over his shoulder.

  Tyler laughed. “How’s the mail haul today, love?”

  Nevvie gently poked him. “You’ve got mail duty from now on, sweetie.” She set the carrier on the counter and unfastened Adam’s harness, then carefully picked him up. “Tommy and I only get bills. You get luuuurrrrv letters.”

  He grinned and kissed her again. “Ah, sweet, you know I only have eyes for you and our dear Thomas.”

  “You’d better.” She knew the truth. Neither man would ever cheat on her or each other.

  Tyler put his mug in the sink. “I’ll take him for a while, love.” He reached for the baby and she handed him over. W
hile she didn’t find out which man was the father—as far as she was concerned they both were—Adam’s deep, spooky blue eyes were unmistakably Tyler’s.

  “Thanks.” Nevvie handed the baby off to Tyler. He returned to his study with the baby while Nevvie dumped the mail on the counter. She really needed a cup of coffee, but knew she should settle for hot tea since she was nursing. While her water heated in the microwave she sorted through the mail and found an envelope from the Bureau of Vital Statistics.

  Oh, must be Adam’s birth certificate.

  She opened the envelope, glanced at the paper, and then started to lay it on the counter when something caught her eye.

  Disbelieving, she screamed. “Tyler, Thomas!”

  Both men appeared, worried. She shook the paper in their faces. “What the hell is this shit?”

  Tyler, with Adam in his arms, couldn’t grab the paper but suspected what it was. “Nevvie, darling—”

  “Don’t you Nevvie darling me. What the hell did you two do?”

  Thomas snagged the paper from her flailing hand. He read it. “Sugar, we talked to Bob and—”

  “Don’t you sugar me, Tommy! I specifically remember telling y’all I wanted both your names on the birth certificate!”

  Tyler still hoped to calm her. “Nevvie, Bob told you they couldn’t do that. It either had to be one of us or neither of us.”

  Red faced and enraged beyond further speech, Nevvie stalked out of the kitchen. When she slammed their bedroom door it startled the baby. He flinched in Tyler’s arms and woke up crying.

  Thomas sighed. “You want me to talk to her?”

  “No, I’ll do it. Here, you take him.” Tyler handed off Adam and fortunately Nevvie hadn’t locked the bedroom door. He found her crying face down in the middle of their bed.

  He sat next to her and gently placed his hand in the middle of her back. “It’s the way the laws are set up. There’s only so much we can do. You know that. That’s one of the drawbacks of our situation.”

  “It fucking sucks! You’re both his father!”

  Tyler stretched out next to her and gathered her into his arms. “Technically, no. Biologically, no. In heart and spirit, yes, of course we are.”

  She met his gaze and softly asked, “How did your name end up as father?”

  “It was Thomas’ suggestion.”

  “You didn’t play Odds and Evens, right? Please tell me you didn’t do that.” It was a common way for the men to settle disputes.

  Tyler laughed. “No, love. Even we’re not that gauche.” He hesitated. “Thomas said if we have another then we can list him. Age before beauty I think were his words.” That finally drew a smile out of her. He stroked her cheek. “There’s my beautiful angel. Why are you so upset about this?”

  “Because you’re both my husbands and it sucks that we can’t do it legally, and it sucks that you can’t both be on the birth certificate.”

  “It’s the law as it is. Bob has only so many tricks up his sleeve.” Bob was not only their personal friend but their long-time attorney as well. “We knew if we talked about this with you it would simply upset you.”

  “Darn right. Is it too much to ask that I want to be able to marry the men I love?”

  “No, sweet. No more than wanting to be able to marry the man—and woman—that I love.”

  She snuggled close to his side, drawing comfort from him. “This sucks.”

  “It’s just a piece of paper. That’s all.”

  “A piece of paper that legally cuts Tommy out of Adam’s life.”

  “Bob is working on that. He’s drawing up papers so it’s as legal as we can make it. His name is still Adam Ryan Kinsey-Paulson.”

  She fell quiet for several long minutes. “I wish he could grow up and not have to deal with bullshit like this. I wish he could say, ‘This is my mom, and these are my dads.’”

  “Maybe one day he will. It doesn’t matter.” He kissed her. “Please don’t be upset about this. We have a good life, do we not?”

  “Yes.”

  He was about to say something else when the phone rang. Tyler glanced at the bedside table before picking up the handset. “Hello, Mom.” The way he pronounced it sounded like “mum.”

  Tyler listened, then smiled and handed the phone to Nevvie. “She’d like to talk to you, love.” He gave her a quick kiss on the nose as Nevvie took the handset.

  “Hi, Mom.”

  “Hello, sugar. How y’all doin’?” Peggy Kinsey was actually Tommy’s mother, but all three of them called her Mom. She still lived in Savannah. Her thick southern accent made Tom’s soft drawl almost sound like a New York native by comparison.

  “I’m okay.”

  “Y’all don’t sound okay.”

  Tyler rose from their bed, leaving the door open behind him as he went to help Tom settle the baby.

  “I received Adam’s birth certificate in the mail today and had a little bit of a meltdown. The boys didn’t bother to tell me they listed Ty as his father.”

  “Well, sugar, it doesn’t really matter, does it?”

  “It’s the principle.” They chatted for a few minutes before Nevvie found Tommy in the kitchen and swapped him the phone for the baby.

  Tyler looked at her. “Are you all right, love?”

  She sighed. “I will be.” She spotted the birth certificate on the counter and pointed at it. “Go put that away, please, so I don’t have to look at it.”

  “All right.” He kissed her and went to do it.

  Nevvie took the baby to the nursery and put him down for his nap. Thomas caught up with her there, wrapping his arms around her from behind as she stood next to the crib.

  “If it doesn’t bother me, sugar, it shouldn’t bother you.”

  Nevvie leaned against him. “It bothers me, Tommy. You’re both his fathers. It’s not fair. I love both of you, you both love me, and it’s not fair.”

  He turned her to face him, kissing her. “Ty and I have dealt with this for, what, over sixteen years now. Give it some time, you’ll get used to it, baby girl. It didn’t bother you so much before.”

  “It was just the three of us before.”

  He guided her out the door, softly closing it behind them. “You’re our wife. He’s our son. What the rest of the world thinks doesn’t matter. It’s just a piece of paper. We’re a family, and that’s all that matters.”

  * * * *

  Nevvie was still in a funk that night when they went to bed. The men held her.

  “Love,” Tyler softly said, “life is perfect.”

  “Listen to the evil genius,” Thomas echoed. That had been Tom’s nickname for Tyler since before Nevvie ever joined their lives, a humorous endearment that fit him well. “We’ve got a great life, baby girl. We’ve got money, we’ve got a great house, and we’ve got a great family.”

  “Except Emily,” Nevvie grumped. Tom’s eldest sister had been a vocal opponent to their union. When she found out her baby brother had made her an aunt she’d gone strangely silent, having no contact with Peggy or any of Tom’s other four older sisters—all of whom had either immediately welcomed Nevvie to the family or grown to like her over time.

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass about Em,” Tommy said. “I keep telling you that. She’s a nutcase. She’s my sister, but she’s still a nutcase.”

  Tyler pulled her snugly against him while Thomas draped his arm around them both.

  “Go to sleep, love,” Tyler soothed. “You’ll feel better in the morning.”

  Chapter Two

  Nevvie didn’t feel better the next morning. Once the baby finished nursing, Tyler took Adam to the nursery to get him settled. Nevvie curled up against Thomas and was already drifting back to sleep in his arms. She’d gotten up several times during the night and felt exhausted.

  “You worn out, baby girl?”

  “Mmm hmm.”

  “Why don’t you sleep in? Let Ty take care of Adam this morning.”

  “Mmm hmm…” It was an
easy suggestion to take. He kissed her forehead. After a few minutes she’d fallen asleep again.

  He looked at the clock, ten till six, might as well get up. Thomas shut the alarm off so it wouldn’t wake Nevvie and went to make coffee without bothering to put any clothes on.

  In the kitchen, Thomas jumped when he felt Tyler’s arms encircle his waist. “You startled me, sugar. I didn’t hear you.”

  “Sorry, love.” He kissed Tom’s back. The other man turned, encircling his lover in his arms. “She’s totally shattered this morning, isn’t she?”

  “Yep.”

  “I knew I should have gotten up at three.”

  Tom laughed. “Ty, she’s a mom now. There are a lot of things we can do to help, but nursing the baby isn’t one of them.”

  Ty swatted Tom’s ass. “You know what I mean. At least I could have brought him in for her and then gotten him settled again.”

  “Give her some time. She’s still recovering physically, too.” Tom made Tyler look at him. “Let her be a mom. Let her have this. You’re a great dad but don’t try to out-mom her, Evil Genius.”

  “Out-mom her?”

  “You know how you get.” He kissed Tyler, long and gentle. “Besides, if you have an overwhelming urge to take care of someone you can always take care of me.” His cock hardened against his lover’s hip. He felt Tyler stiffen in response.

  “Oh, is that so, sweet?” Tyler gently ground his hips against Tom, making the other man moan.

  “You know what you do to me, buddy.”

  “Do we have time this morning?”

  Thomas glanced at the clock. “Yeah. I don’t have a meeting until nine.”

  Tyler kissed him again, passionate, eager, his tongue parting his lover’s lips and exploring.

  Thomas’ hungry moans punctuated the slow rhythm of his hips rocking against Tyler. “Jesus,” he finally panted, “we’d better do something fast or you’re gonna have me coming right here.”

  “Shower?”

  “Mmm. What’d you have in mind?”