“Which one?” Riley asked. “Was it the blindfold thing?”

“Nope.”

Riley tilted his head in consideration. Then triumph lit his eyes. “The one with the chocolate. Had to be that one.”

Jack squirmed in his seat. He recalled that particular fantasy of his that Riley had been pleased to join in: chocolate sauce and Riley licking it from every inch of him while making noises that should have been illegal. “No,” he said firmly.

Riley frowned. “Was it the one with—”

“You,” Jack said quietly. He leaned even closer and whispered in Riley’s ear, right here in this cozy coffee shop. “In the barn, tied up, you couldn’t move, stretched tall, and I teased you and sucked you off, and when you couldn’t take any more I fucked your heaving body until you were so lost I could have done anything.” He gently bit on the fleshy earlobe, then moved back. Pasting innocence on his face, he waited for what he had just said to actually register with Riley. His husband looked shell-shocked, flushed, and wide-eyed.

“That…you…did…” Riley began. Then he stopped trying to form what Jack expected was a coherent sentence and instead narrowed his eyes and rested his hands flat on the table. “Next time” was all he said. A promise.

Jack smiled at the response. “Next time,” he agreed.

* * * * *

Donna scanned the information and piled it tidily with the rest. Jack paced and Riley had long since disappeared to the office. He couldn’t handle the stress. Rebecca had her first test on her hormone levels this morning and any minute now the phone would ring and they would know if they were daddies or not. This was worse than waiting for anything that Jack had ever waited for before.

They could try again, but Jack wanted it to work first time.

When the phone rang, Jack snatched up the handset. Marcus said hello but Jack wasn’t interested in hellos.

“Talk to me, Marcus?” he said firmly.

“First reports on the hormone levels. HCG is positive and is rising normally.

“So that means…” Jack stopped. Riley slid into the kitchen and almost overshot the door in his haste to get to stand next to Jack.

“You’re pregnant. No indication of whether it is a single or twin birth as yet. We’ll keep you posted.”

Marcus ended the call and Jack hugged Riley.

“We’re pregnant.”

Riley whooped and lifted Jack up off his feet, then he moved and twirled Donna around the kitchen.

“We’re gonna be daddies again!”

Chapter 10

~December~

Riley marked another day off the calendar over his desk. He and Jack both had ways of marking the passage of time. For him a sheet marking important dates was available on his phone, his computer, in the cloud, and he’d even printed it off in triplicate. Scans, tests, delivery date, and other things like his own birthday in July and Jack’s in May all laid out in a spreadsheet. Jack, on the other hand, appeared to compartmentalize things in zones. Scans would fit in after the January veterinarian visit; the baby’s delivery was early September, just before the next gay rodeo Jack had been asked to judge for. The way Jack appeared so laid-back about the whole process drove Riley crazy, but he’d been mollified somewhat when Jack turned down the rodeo gig. That was one thing.

Riley wanted to phone Rebecca at least twenty times a day that he was conscious of, probably more. Every time he tried to work on something, he instead found his mind wandering off toward how Rebecca was feeling and how their baby was growing. They received regular reports of hormone levels, which were increasing nicely. Riley craved those reports more than sugar. The singular focus was beginning to affect his work, but even when Kathy called him on it, he still wasn’t ready to admit she was right.

He looked up to see her standing in front of his desk with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Melinda in accounts?” she began. “She spends every day practicing her married name. You’re as bad as that.”

“No I’m not, I just wanted my stapler,” Riley defended, even as he rummaged on his desk.

“Riley, you have asked me for a stapler four times this morning. It’s right there under your nose.”

“I’m concentrating on the Zeta-seven exploration notes,” he said quickly. “It’s gonna make me tense. They still haven’t found the shale.”

“Riley, Zeta-seven was last month; you mean the Area Seventeen parcel.” She said it so damn patiently, but Riley swore he could see the faint hint of a smile on her face. He lost the argument and did what every boss did to his assistant when said assistant pointed out the boss wasn’t concentrating—he sulked.

The whole sulk thing lasted for at least ten minutes and morphed into feeling guilty. Deliberately he pulled the notes forward for the Area Seventeen tract and shuffled the papers. Squaring them he looked for his stapler and there it was, right in front of him. With a huff of laughter, he decided there was just the one thing he could do. He needed to get some air, and in doing so make amends with Kathy. Grabbing his wallet he left the office.

“I’m getting cakes,” he said.

Kathy looked up at him and smiled in return. He knew exactly what her weak point was, and he planned to make it up to her for his lack of concentration with a large portion of sticky toffee fudge cake.

“It had better have sprinkles,” she deadpanned. He left the building and the city air hit him full in the face. His office was air-conditioned, and he sometimes had that feeling of being closed in. Even as he crossed the street to his regular coffee shop, he resolved to get out in the field more. He missed it.

The line in the coffee shop was long, and he joined the back. Just smelling the coffee had him hard, remembering that whole Riley-tied-up fantasy of Jack’s, and he thanked the heavens he had worn loose pants to the office. The idea of the two of them alone and making up for lost time was exhilarating. Hayley had a school trip in a couple of weeks. Ideal time to see how hard he’d need to be restrained before he could snap the wood that held him. Jeez. Stop thinking.

Finally he reached the counter and ordered coffees and a box of assorted cakes. The barista was new and slow and was more interested in chatting up the girl next to Riley than actually making coffee.

“Can you sprinkle more chocolate on the fudge cake?” he asked just as the box was being closed. He wasn’t willing to leave without having thought to ask for the extra.

“More chocolate?” The barista asked doubtfully. He picked up the duster but paused as he peered in the open box. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Riley said firmly.

“There’s already chocolate on the fudge cake,” the barista pointed out.

Riley leaned forward as if to share a secret. The young guy unconsciously copied the move.

“One day you will meet my assistant Kathy, then you’ll understand why it’s important for the extra chocolate. I like my balls where they are, and if you want yours to remain intact, I would get with the sprinkling.”

The barista blinked at Riley; then with a flourish he covered everything in more chocolate and closed the lid on the box.

“There you are, sir,” he said.

“Thank you.” Riley took the box and the drinks and left, aware of the barista’s eyes on his back all the way out the shop.

At least half an hour had passed before he strolled back in the office. He felt more relaxed and focused, and now was the time to spend some time in the map room with the new ground scans and sample analysis he’d been emailed. Kathy wasn’t at her desk and he dropped the cakes and all but his own coffee on the table—she’d know who to share it all with. She was the only one who worked this closely to his own office, the rest of his staff were in and out of the office. Seemed like he had the place to himself, and he stretched tall, running his fingers on the low ceiling.