He walked out of the room, and she breathed a sad sigh of relief.
It had been eight weeks since the twins had been born. It had been twelve since they had touched her in a sexual way.
Would they ever touch her again? Probably, but would it only be out of obligation? She cupped her baby’s soft head. Charlie was a sweetie. Those blue eyes kicked her in the gut every time he opened them and looked up at her. This was her baby. Hers and Nate’s and Zane’s. He and his brother were the outer expression of their inner love, but she was worried that they had changed her so damn much that she wasn’t the same woman Nate and Zane had married.
She was different. She felt it deep in her soul, and she definitely saw it in the mirror.
She just had to figure out how to keep her husbands because she couldn’t imagine living without them.
Zane looked down at Zander and felt what he always felt when he looked at one of his kids. Some place deep inside of him that had always been tight loosened and a well of peace surged. He was a dad. He’d never thought he would be a dad. His own father had cut out when Zane was ten, but he was rapidly discovering that the whole dad thing was way more about emotion than it was about experience. He loved his babies. He would do what it took.
Zander was so peaceful. A tiny little human sleeping in a bed Zane had built, his little mouth moving as though he was nursing in his sleep. His kid. Callie had given him this, given them all a family.
And now she seemed to be pulling away from him. Not a damn thing in life mattered if Callie pulled away. “What am I going to do about your momma, baby boy?”
Zander slept on. The troubles of the adult world couldn’t touch him, and Zane was happy about that. He would do anything to protect his babies from that moment when they realized they weren’t the absolute, one hundred percent, most important thing in the world. He’d always known, it seemed, but he was determined his kids had those glorious years of childhood when they were the center of the universe.
Callie was the real center of the universe. Zane had figured that out a long time ago. But she didn’t seem to know it.
She hadn’t touched him in months. He’d understood it at first. She’d been so big, so close to childbirth. She hadn’t wanted to make love, but the twins were months old now, and he wanted his wife. He needed her. He wanted to sink into her pussy or push his way into her ass. He fucking craved her. He was an addict, and he’d been off her for way too long. He thought about her every damn day. Fuck, lately he was thinking about her every minute of the day and way more when he was sleeping.
Which he wasn’t doing much of.
Damn, he needed to make love to his wife.
There was a knock on the door. He sighed and went to answer it. He was due at Trio in a few hours. Nate would be home by then and the cycle would start again. Callie would wake up and feed the kids. Nate would get up with her until three or so, and then Zane would take over so Nate could sleep.
They were all tired. He was pretty sure that even though they spent most of their time together, they were all lonely, and he wasn’t sure how to fix it.
Zane heard his wife humming softly to Charlie. He sighed and crossed the small living room and opened the front door. Caleb Burke, who lived in the cabin across the street with his girlfriend Holly, and his partner, Zane’s employee, Alexei, stood in the doorway, a frown on his face.
“I’m supposed to talk to you.”
Zane wasn’t sure what to do with that. Caleb wasn’t exactly a talker. “Okay.”
Caleb sighed, his face creasing. “It’s because I’m a doctor. I don’t know why, but Holly thinks that makes me an expert on stuff. And she’s got the boobs. You know how that goes.”
Nope. He didn’t know a thing. Caleb was a perpetual mystery, and Alexei’s English was still horrible. He was pretty sure any communicating that went on in their household had nothing to do with language. “Sure. Uhm, do you want to come in?”
“Not really. I want to be fishing, but, you know, she has the boobs.” Caleb scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I’m supposed to talk to you about Callie.”
Now Zane was deeply interested. She’d had a checkup not two days before. Was something wrong with her? Had her blood tests come back weird? Zane’s heart rate tripled. “What’s wrong with my wife?”
Caleb’s face went blank for a moment and then his head shook. “No, nothing’s wrong. Not physically. She’s fine. I mean, she’s not fine or I wouldn’t be here trying to get through this very difficult conversation. I think we need to bring in a therapist for shit like this. I’m not good at it.”
Nope. He sucked. “Will you just tell it to me straight?” Not knowing was killing him.
“Your wife needs sex. She needs sleep, too, but mostly she needs sex.” Caleb nodded as though agreeing with himself. “She’s been talking to the girls, including Holly. Holly’s worried about her. They’re all worried about her. If you don’t fix it, I’ll have to deal with the women of Bliss, and mostly they scare the crap out of me. I would really like to avoid it. Rachel yells. Nell does that dancing thing I never understand. Laura uses logic. Really, Callie is the only one I understand, but this is about her so I can’t choose to deal with her.”
Why would Callie be talking to her friends instead of her husbands? “What did she say?”
Caleb sent him that look he gave almost everyone, the one that made a man feel like he was a dumb-ass. Yeah, Zane was pretty sure Caleb had a patent on that look. “Dude, she just had a baby. What do you think she said? Have you been telling her how sexy she is? Have you been, you know, like playing around? Trying to get into her pants?”
She’d been busy with the babies. She’d been tired. He’d felt like he shouldn’t. “I’ve told her what a great mom she is.”
Caleb groaned. “Yeah. Awesome. So your wife, who just had your babies and feels out of shape and tired, heard she’s good for having more babies. Everyone is having babies, and not a one of you thinks about what happens to your marriage afterwards. I’m going to like make a pamphlet or something. You need to make her feel sexy, not motherly. You have a family. Now it’s time to work on your marriage.”
Zane took a long breath, Caleb’s words sinking in. “She’s been tired. I thought she didn’t want to make love.”
A faint hint of a smile crossed Caleb’s lips. “She’s shy right now. She went through a lot, you know. It’s hard for women. One minute they’re just women and the next they’re moms. She was a trooper. She was great in the delivery room, but I think a lot of new moms come out wondering if they can ever just be a woman again. You need to show her.”
Callie didn’t think she was sexy? She was everything. She was the whole fucking world. She needed him to show her? He could do that. But should he? Her labor had been rough. He wasn’t sure how he’d made it through, much less Callie, who had done all the actual pushing and stuff. “She’s okay from a medical standpoint?”
Caleb nodded, waving his hand in a dismissive fashion. “Oh, yeah. She’s great. Her vaginal walls have closed right back up. The vagina is really an amazing thing. And her uterus is in fabulous shape. So it’s all good to go. Pound away, man.”
Yep. Caleb wasn’t the world’s most tactful doctor. Probably why he’d ended up in Bliss. “Thanks, Caleb.”
A huge sigh of relief passed his lips. “Thank god. Now I can go fishing. And Alexei said he’ll work a double so you can”—Caleb smiled and went into his best Russian accent—“show the mothers that her woman charms be working on you.”
Zane smiled. That was Alexei to a T. “Thanks, Caleb.”
He walked back into the cabin and checked on Callie. She was asleep and so was Charlie, his little head cradled in her arms. Even in her sleep she protected her child. Her head was back, her mouth slightly open. Her breast drooped from her bra.