Ruled by her Daddies (Harem of Daddies)

“I don’t need it to sleep,” she told him.

“But you sleep better with it, don’t you?”

“Do you think I’m weird?” she asked after a moment of silence.

“Yes.”

She sucked in a breath.

“But not because you need a stuffed toy to sleep.” He climbed from the bed and opened the closet door. He grabbed the pig from her bag. The toy was worn. Obviously old and well-loved. He walked back and handed it to her.

“But your hatred of lime jello, now that’s weird.”

She shot him a hesitant smile.

“My stuff is in there?” She eyed the closet.

“We sent it all to be washed. It was wet and filthy.”

“Oh. Thank you.” She grasped the pig and held it cautiously while watching him, waiting for his reaction. He deliberately gave her a bored look before resuming his position next to her so he could continue to rub her head.

“How did you find me, Wolfe?” she asked.

“Guess we all have our secrets. You tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine.”

She was silent.

“Relax. Sleep.

Nothing bad is going to happen to you.”

“Now who’s lying,” she muttered sleepily as he massaged.

“I never lie, Genevieve. You should know that.”

7

She awoke to the sound of something crunching.

Opening her eyes, she turned her head to find Aleki with his hand in a bag of potato chips.

“Still got hollow legs?” she asked before she could think better of it.

He shrugged. “Something like that.”

Sadness filled her. He was so closed off. She got it. She’d be that way too. But it didn’t stop her from missing their old relationship. He hadn’t changed much. His hair still curled at the end when he let it grow out. He was thick with muscle. There were wrinkles around his eyes but that was it.

He was the same. Except for the cold look in his eyes as he watched her.

She tried to roll over a bit and Piggles suddenly tumbled off the bed. Whoops. She hadn’t even realized he was lying there.

Aleki caught him and placed him back beside her. “Careful there, pig. Don’t want you hurting yourself.”

She wished she could hug the toy for comfort, but she didn’t want to look like an immature dork. Aleki studied her quietly. Then he nodded at the toy. “Give him a cuddle if you need to. I won’t think you’re weird.”

Funny, Wolfe hadn’t either. Most people would. William certainly had.

But she didn’t need prompting twice. She cuddled Piggles close.