Chapter 1

1

Rimmel

The slight creak of the bedroom door barely registered, but the beating of several tails against my legs and feet were more persistent.

A light giggle turned the beating tails into full-on body wiggles and happy breaths from the three dogs tangled in the blankets around us. At the end of the bed, another dog trampled his bed impatiently.

“Domino,” a quiet voice whispered, turning into more giggles. “Eww,” she squealed. “Slobber!”

I smiled against the pillow, sleep clinging to me like an old friend but not enticing enough to lure me under and away from the little girl padding over the carpet and fending off a million drooly kisses.

“Morning Ralph,” she whispered, and the beating against my leg intensified. “Good boy.”

I listened to my daughter love on each of the four dogs in the room, opening my eyes just in time to see her pajama-clad body come around to my side of the bed, a stuffed white bunny clutched under her arm.

Her dark hair was tangled around her shoulders, cheeks still pink from sleep and nose shiny, likely from the dog kisses.

Trying not to smile, I squeezed my eyes closed and feigned sleep, going as far as to let out a little snore. London giggled, but I continued to pretend to be unaware of her presence.

The dogs followed their girl, moving around the mattress in her direction and trampling me in the process.

“ Umph .” My breath whooshed out of me underneath Ralph’s well-placed paw.

London giggled, and my lips twitched. “Mom,” she whispered.

I snored.

More giggles made my heart light. I would never get tired of hearing that sound.

“Mooommm,” she called. Her breath stirred my hair, and I knew without having to look that she’d propped her chin on the edge of the mattress to stare at me intently.

The call of the Anderson blue eyes was too tempting, especially when they filled a face that looked like a small version of what I saw in the mirror every day.

A physical representation of Romeo and me as one.

Smiling, I blinked as my eyes focused on her heart-shaped face whose chin was indeed resting on the back of her hand that was poised on the edge of the bed.

“I knew you were faking,” she said.

“I would never!” I protested.

Her wide blue eyes rolled before focusing intently on me once more. She had the same stare as Romeo. All three of my kids did. The one that made you feel like you were the only person in the entire world when they looked at you.

“Domino slobbered on Betty.” London informed me, holding up an oversized white ear on her bunny. I squinted at the pink fur lining the center. It was definitely wet.

“And on you by the looks of your nose.”

Her eyes crossed, trying to see her own nose, and it made me laugh. “That was Ralph.”

Hearing his name, he plopped himself across my middle, thumping another grunt out of me as he pinned me to the bed.

Without any hesitation, he slurped his big tongue up the side of London’s cheek. She squealed, and I laughed. “He got you again.”

Hearing my amusement, Ralph lunged at me, swiping his tongue across my face too.

London laughed. “You too, Mom!”

“I’m going to have to cancel pancake Sunday,” I declared. “I can’t possibly cook when I’m covered in drool.”

“It wipes off!” London swiped her damp face across the sheet.

I gasped. “Did you just wipe that all over my bed?”

“It goes with the dog hair.” She reasoned.

A low growl from the other side of the mattress rumbled overhead, and London’s eyes widened. “What is all that racket?”

A well-muscled arm reached for me but found Ralph instead. Ralph licked it too.

“Ralph!” Romeo grumped.

London laughed, bouncing on her feet beside the bed.

Romeo propped himself up, peering over my body to look at our daughter. “What are you laughing at?” he asked, arching a blond brow.

“Daddy got dog drool!”

“Oh, you think that’s funny?” he mused and shot up.

She squealed, but my football player husband was nothing if not athletic, and he snatched her up, lifting her over me and into the bed. His defined arms held her up in the air even as his back hit the blankets.

London laughed, kicking her feet in the air as her bedhead hung around her face, concealing her smile but not her laughter.

“Daddy!”

Romeo roared and tossed her up. She squealed, and he caught her, holding her in the air some more. The bunny dangled between them, one of its ears pooling in the center of Romeo’s bare chest.

Roscoe barked and shoved his head in the space between Romeo and his daughter, then barked again. I laughed.

“Help, Roscoe! Help!” London yelled.

He barked more. The other three dogs bounded back on the bed, trampling us and joining in the chaos. Romeo ordered them off the bed, and as soon as they were gone, London kicked her feet.

“Again!” she demanded.

Romeo tossed her up into the air again, and my heart leaped into my throat. It didn’t matter how many times I’d seen him do this; it always made me nervous. But he caught her just like he always did and pulled London down into a hug. His hand got lost in her wild mane, and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Good morning, strawberry.”

He’d been calling her that since I was pregnant and craved strawberry milkshakes constantly. After she was born, the nickname continued, and now I knew she would forever be Romeo’s strawberry.

“It’s pancake Sunday!” she declared, her dark head popping up from his shoulder.

“Yeah? Well, I’m too hungry to wait for pancakes,” he announced and rolled, tickling her stomach. “I’m gonna eat you instead!”

She laughed and hollered when he buried his face in her stomach and blew out a breath, making a horrible fart sound.

“What is going on in here?” Blue demanded from the doorway. His blond hair was sticking up on one side, and he was rubbing the sleep from his face.

“Blue! Help me!”

Ever loyal to his little sister, Blue launched himself onto the bed to tackle Romeo. The three of them got into some kind of wrestling match while the dogs barked and ran around the room.

This house was completely unruly.

I loved it so much.

Asher appeared, his blond head streaking by the foot of the bed. Not quite as big as his brother, he had to climb onto the mattress, plopping himself in my lap and then scrambling in front of me.

He held his arms out to his sides like a little shield. “I’ll protect you, Mom.”

“My hero.” I ran a hand through his blond locks. He was the only one of my children that didn’t wake up with wild bedhead every morning.

My protection lasted all of three seconds before Romeo reached out and snatched him away so he could tickle him too.

A pillow went flying, and I narrowly missed a little foot to my face. “I haven’t even had my coffee yet, Roman Anderson.”

“Uh-oh,” Romeo told the kids. “Mommy feels left out.”

I shook my head adamantly. “N?—”

I was dragged into the foray as little fingers came from every direction to tickle me. Thankfully, it only lasted a moment before I was tucked beneath my husband’s large body as he planted himself over me, his arms on either side of my head.

“That’s enough,” he mused. “Your mother is prone to injury.”

“I am not!” I hollered, indignant.

“Yes, you are!” all three of my traitorous children answered.

I gasped. “Roman Anderson, did you teach them that?”

“Now, smalls, you know I’d never.”

I harumphed. After ten years, his charm didn’t work on me.

Romeo nuzzled his face against my cheek. The blond scruff on his jaw tickled the corner of my lips. “I told them you were the most precious thing and we had to protect you at all costs.”

Fine.

His charm still worked on me. Every. Single. Time.

“Romeo.” I sighed.

He dipped his head, and my fingers pushed into the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Ew!” the boys yelled.

His rumbling laughter vibrated his lips against mine. I felt his growing erection against my hip, and I opened my eyes, meeting the ones already staring into mine. Even after all these years, chemistry swirled between us. The want I had for him never waned.

“I’m hungry,” Ash announced.

“Me too,” Romeo echoed, a familiar dark glint in his eyes.

“I guess I can’t cancel pancake Sunday after all,” I told the room.

“It’s tradition,” Blue stated.

“You’re right, son. It’s a family tradition,” Romeo replied.

“Why don’t you go see if Jax and Nova are up and meet me down in the kitchen?”

The boys leaped off the bed and ran for the door, the dogs hot on their heels.

London stood on the edge of the bed, bunny at her side as she judged the distance to the floor. “Daddy…”

Romeo was up and over the side of the bed in no time, grabbing her up and swinging her to the floor. The second her feet touched down, she was running off after her brothers.

Romeo turned back, his eyes drifting over my body still lying in bed. Holding my stare, he leaned forward, shoving his arm under the covers to wrap his hand around my ankle. Dragging me across the mattress, he made it so my legs were hanging off the side and he was wedged between them.

He was coming up on his ten-year anniversary of playing in the NFL. Most quarterbacks didn’t last this long, but Romeo was an exception. He was considered one of the greatest quarterbacks in history and the best in Maryland Knight history. His body was still honed and lithe, his skill and experience making him even more of a powerhouse on the field.

“Where were we?” he murmured, coming over me so we were chest to chest.

My legs wrapped around his waist, and he shifted, pressing his cock against my core. Tingles of awareness shot through me, my toes curling in as my body responded to him the way it always had.

“I’m supposed to be making pancakes.”

His hand pushed between the back of my head and the mattress, cradling me in his palm as his mouth swept against mine. I forgot about breakfast. The noise of the kids down the hall muted, and my lips parted on a sigh. Our tongues tangled, stroking against each other languidly, stealing a moment in time when only the two of us existed.

Even though my eyes were closed, my world was alight with color, the love between us so vibrant it was never really dark.

I arched, back lifting off the mattress as I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing closer. Under the tank top I wore, my nipples turned sensitive as I rubbed them against his hard chest. A garbled sound rumbled deep in his throat, and his hips thrust, making me gasp.

He was so hard that if the clothes weren’t between us, he would already be inside me. As it was, the shorts I wore were damp, and I wiggled against them, wanting them out of the way.

Ripping my mouth from his, I pressed my face into his neck. “ Romeo .”

The muscles in his back rippled. Against me, his abs flexed when he lifted me off the bed and carried me into the bathroom. He kicked the door closed, then turned to lock it, pressing my back against the door and kissing me once more.

Bold, I rocked against him while dipping my fingers into the waistband of his boxer briefs. He pulled back suddenly, eyes like blue flames, the tops of his cheekbones flushed.

I leaned in, fusing our mouths together again, and our tongues lashed together, more aggressively this time as he walked backward to reach into the shower and turn it on.

When he didn’t step inside, I paused, and he pinned me against the bathroom door once more. “Hopefully, it will cover the sound you make when you moan my name.” Holding me with one arm, he shoved his boxers down with the other.

“Are you gonna moan for me, baby? Hm?” he asked, nibbling on my lip as he spoke. “I want to hear you say my name.”

“Romeo,” I said, chasing his lips for more.

He didn’t even bother pulling down my shorts. Instead, he dragged the crotch to the side and pushed his hot, pulsing head inside me.

As he wished, I moaned, tingles racing over my entire body as my arms went slack around his shoulders. My head hit the door as I sighed, wiggling and trying to sink farther onto his length.

A firm hand grasped my chin, pulling my face down. Everything was slightly out of focus but not because my glasses were still on the nightstand. Romeo had the power to blur everything else.

“I love you,” he said, the blue fire in his stare burning me to the core. “There will never be a love like ours ever again.”

He thrust up, punctuating his words by claiming me completely. He was so deep it almost created an ache, but before I could think about it, he pulled out and thrust back in. My body slid up the door, and I moaned again.

“Hold on to me, Rim. Hold on and don’t let go.”

I fell into his chest, locking my thighs and arms around him as tight as I could. Pressing my lips against his ear, I whispered, “I love you.”

He started to move then, pumping into my body like a man with only one goal. My fingers dug into the firm muscles of his shoulders, anchoring myself as my body tightened until I felt like a band with no more give, ready to snap.

I made a light sound, and he growled in response. “You know what I want.”

“Please, Romeo,” I pleaded. “ Romeo .”

His dick swelled inside me, pulsing as my body stretched to accommodate his domination. Grasping my hips, he pulled me down at the same time he thrust up, and I burst apart right there in his arms.

Ecstasy stole everything for long moments, and when I came back, my cheek was pillowed on his shoulders, sweat smeared his chest, and light aftershocks still rippled his abs.

I didn’t know how he held me up so long, but we stayed as we were, his cock buried inside me until our breathing returned to normal and there was a small knock on the other side of the bathroom door.

“Mommy!” London called. “We want pancakes.”

“Mommy will be there in a minute,” Romeo called. “She’s washing off the dog drool.”

London laughed, her feet pounding as she ran from the bedroom.

I lifted my head to meet his stare, both of us smiling.