August Heat (Men of August 4)

“We make them ask.” Cade kept his voice low. He had no desire to disturb the baby’s slumber.

Brock moved from the window until he could face his brother.

“And we do this how?”

Cade watched the other two men. The changes in them all in the past two years were amazing. They laughed. They even hugged sometimes. They had even found a way to discuss the events that had nearly destroyed them so long ago. They had healed. And it was the tender acceptance and fiery love of their plotting wives that had sealed the open wounds in their souls and allowed them to live again.

“Easy.” Cade smiled. He had been planning this one all day. “We force it out of them.” He looked over at Brock. “You know what makes Sarah the wildest. Stop having mercy on her and playing with her. Let her know the game is being played in earnest now. If she wants something, she has to trust you enough to ask for it.” His voice hardened, as did his own resolve.

He loved Marly more than he loved his own life, but like Brock and Sam, it bothered him that she hadn’t realized how he had drawn back from touching the other women, how he no longer needed any touch but hers. He didn’t like the thought that she felt she had to lead him through a decision this important. He wouldn’t allow her to play with their lives that way.

“When?” Sam was, of course, the most amused by the whole deal.

Cade shot him a chiding look. “You’re enjoying this too much, brother.”

“Of course I am,” he chuckled. “I’ve not had this much fun out of Heather in months. It pisses me off she wouldn’t come to me, but I figure once it’s all said and done, she’ll realize the error of her ways.”

Cade winced. He had a feeling if Sam wasn’t careful his little redheaded wife would be waving her gun under his chin. Damn, she could get mean when she wanted to.

“Tonight,” he decided, rising to his feet to place Drace in his crib.

The baby was spread out in innocent abandon, chubby little legs sprawled, his arms thrown back above his head. He refused to sleep on his stomach any longer. Cade drew a light blanket over the sleeper-covered body and swallowed past the knot of emotion building in his throat. His son. It never failed to amaze him that he was a part of anything so perfect.

“Now.” He changed his mind as he smoothed his finger over Drace’s cheek once again. He was as perfect as his mother was. But unlike his mother, a hell of a lot easier to manage. For now.

Chapter Five

Heather knew trouble was brewing when the door to the living room opened and the three men walked in. Damn. Separately, they were too good looking for any woman’s peace of mind. But together they were dangerous. Tall, dark-haired, bodies built like sin and gazes as wicked as hell itself.

Dressed in jeans, scuffed boots and T-shirts that showed their perfect muscles in stark release, it was enough to send her body humming. But when she looked at Sam, it kicked into overdrive. He was hard. They all were. But that hard-on was for her. She could see it in his eyes; in the way his gaze went over her body, lingered at her breasts, her thighs, then moved back to snare hers.

They stopped just inside the doorway, arms crossed over their chests, staring back at them with cool, arrogant expressions. Confidence seemed to vibrate around them. Control. Resolution. Hell, she had a feeling her, Sarah and Marly were in a shitload of trouble now.

Cade shook his head as he tsked at them softly. “Ladies,” he sighed patiently. “I can see we’ve evidently not been keeping you well occupied.”

Heather’s brow snapped into a frown. Oh, she really didn’t like that tone of voice.

“And you figured this out all on your own?” She almost winced at Marly’s confrontational tone.

Cade shot his wife a chiding look. “Beloved.” His grin was wolfish. It made all of them nervous. “You are, I’ll assume, the ring leader in this little farce.”

Marly snorted. “You know what assume does, babe. Makes an ass out of you and me.” The cliché was delivered with more than a little heat.

Cade’s gaze flared with lust. Hell, Marly was going to be screaming louder than the rest of them would be.

“Bad move, girlfriend,” Sarah muttered from Marly’s side.

Brock’s brow lifted sardonically. Usually not a good sign. His gray/blue eyes were glittering with lust, a hint of anger, and a possessive glitter that should be curling Sarah’s toes.

“Nothing to say, sweetness?” Heather’s attention was caught by Sam’s sardonically voiced question.

Heather shrugged lightly, fighting the grin that curled her lips. Hell, it wasn’t like he would divorce her. Right?

“Oh, I have plenty to say, hotshot,” she murmured as she let her gaze heat and drift over his body. He was one damned fine looking man, she thought. It never failed to amaze her just how she had managed to gain this man’s love. “I’ve just been practicing patience.”

Sam grunted. It seemed he wasn’t buying that one.

“You ladies ready to state your demands yet?” Cade asked them, his voice hard, his gaze hot as he watched his wife. “The game is getting old.”