7. Butch

CHAPTER 7

BUTCH

Daddy Xan: Come meet me in the galley, sweetheart.

Daddy Xan: I was searching for a midnight snack, but nothing looks as tasty as you. [Tongue emoji]

Sugar…

At this point in our relationship, I'd lost count of how many times Xander had made me blush. I'd also long accepted I could never predict what was going to come out of his mouth.

His extremely talented mouth.

And tongue…

I blushed from the memory of exactly what he'd done with that tongue first thing this morning before packing the car and driving us to the compound.

Unfortunately, I hadn't been able to reciprocate, since Kai had started banging on the paper-thin wall separating our apartments, shouting about how it was bad luck for the bride to get a blowie before the wedding .

That can't be true…

Right?

"Are you in or out, Captain?"

I blinked at Zion, momentarily confused as to why he was asking about my sex life, only to realize he was talking about the round of Texas Hold ‘Em we were currently playing with Balty and Micah during our red-eye flight to French Polynesia.

To an island Wolfy bought for this event.

Because of course he did.

"Uh… fold," I mumbled, laying down my potentially winning hand to let the others carry on without my involvement.

I'm not going to think too hard about the real-life parallels…

It wasn't that I was ungrateful for all the effort being put into our wedding, but at some point along the way, it had stopped feeling like our wedding at all.

It is what it is, I suppose.

My phone buzzed again, with Xander sending nothing but a string of emojis that could either be interpreted as a threat of violence or sex.

Either way, I'm game!

Adopting a practiced air of nonchalance, I slid my phone back into my pocket and rose from my seat before strolling toward the back of the plane.

Apparently, I wasn't as inconspicuous as I thought, judging by the barely contained snickers from my fellow poker players. When I glanced back, the only ones on board not clocking my retreat were those watching Mamma Mia— mainly Vi and Kai—Wolfy on his laptop, and the two Stellarians who'd hitched a ride on the private jet.

Not that they need to ride with us.

But neither did Xan and I…

Luca was utilizing the noise-canceling headphones he often wore around this family while engrossed in a worn copy of A New Earth. Meanwhile, Ziggy was too busy directing all his attention at Micah with an alarming—some might say obsessive— amount of focus.

He fits right in.

I hadn't even told Xan that inviting Micah was a purposeful rebellion on my part. I'd known full well Simon had no intention of tracking down the "runaway bride"—specifically because of who he'd run off with—but I'd still sent a text into the ether in hopes of it reaching its target in time.

My overstep was easy enough to excuse, since the rest of the Salah clan had already been invited, but my actual reasoning had less to do with graciousness and more to do with pettiness.

I'm practically a villain!

Of course, I knew there was no difference between heroes and villains, but deeply ingrained prejudices were hard to shake. My father was a prime example of a heroic wolf in sheep's clothing and, in my opinion, so were the elder Salah's.

But what do I know?

I'm just here to look pretty and follow orders.

Just like old times.

My dark mood must have been apparent as I flung back the curtain separating the main cabin from the galley kitchen. Xander immediately straightened from where he'd been leaning seductively against the counter, his sly smile morphing into concern in an instant.

"What's wrong, baby? Who do I need to punch in the proverbial nuts?"

I rolled my eyes, even as I preened at how ready he was to defend my honor. "No one. Besides the usual taunting, everyone was mostly behaving during poker." I frowned as a thought occurred to me. "Although… now I wonder if Ziggy was helping Micah cheat somehow."

Exo-Tech did win most of the rounds…

Xander exhaled in relief. "Thank fuck. I thought you might say Wolfy, and that would mean I needed to pay Ziggy or Theo to do it." He paused thoughtfully. "I probably wouldn't have to pay Theo at all though, let's be real."

I smiled adoringly at my fiancé. Despite having seemingly nothing in common with the eccentric alien, my sexy scientist had somehow bonded with the newest addition to our ever-growing clan—and always made sure he felt welcome at family events.

Maybe because Xan always felt like an outsider himself.

That Theo and the twins had chosen to star hop to our destination instead of joining us on the plane was telling, and I suddenly felt guilty for stirring the pot.

I'm like one of those Bridezillas, making things all about her.

Snapping back to reality, I found Xander observing me closely. "Is something wrong, Butch? I was hoping you'd be 1000% horny when you got back here, but your emotions are kind of all over the place… "

I blasted him with the smile that had made Biggs Enterprises millions in endorsement deals. "I'm fine, Xan, I promise. It's just the usual b-ball-busting but… harder to ignore than usual."

Lying to my soon-to-be husband felt all kinds of wrong, but the last thing I wanted to do was stress him out before our big day.

I'll be fine.

I am fine.

Fine, fine, fine.

My finely-honed skill for burying my emotions was still sharp as Xander visibly relaxed. "I'm sorry to hear that, baby," he purred, crowding me against the counter and brushing his lips—and dick—over mine. "Is there anything else you're finding… hard to ignore?"

I quietly moaned as Xan tilted his hips to deliver a gentle thrust. It wasn't quiet enough, apparently, as someone snickered on the other side of the curtain, reminding me there was never privacy while among those with super hearing.

Including our neighbor slash surrogate normie.

That was a whole other issue. Xander's one-bedroom apartment was obviously too small for a family, but instead of finding a bigger place, he'd decided to buy Kai's unit to increase the footprint while we were away.

Never mind that he hadn't told Kai the plan yet. Xander seemed confident she'd be fine with the renovations before we all moved back in.

And Daddy knows best so…

Fuck .

We're both about to be daddies soon…

"Okay, what is the matter?" Xander huffed, putting distance between us and squinting at me. "I'm actually losing my boner over here from all these… emotions… "

Trying to ignore the sad trombone sound that drifted in from the main cabin, I sighed. "I-I'm sorry. There's just a lot on my mind—between the wedding and the baby coming… and…"

All humor was gone from Xander's face as he listened and, as usual, I felt myself relaxing under the care of his singular attention.

Daddy's here.

Daddy's got me.

"Yeah, it's a lot." He smiled kindly. "But it's all good things, right?"

The tiniest trace of uncertainty in his tone caught my attention, and my stomach dropped as I realized I was stressing him out after all.

"Of course!" I blurted out, desperately reaching for the love of my life. "All wonderful things… and everything I've ever wanted. Cheez-its, Xan. I've wanted all of this with you since we met. I wanted it so badly, I was willing to die for it."

He grimaced but allowed me to pull him closer. "You almost did —showing up at the compound as Captain Masculine to declare your love… Jesus, baby. Sometimes, I think about what might have happened if I hadn't been able to power-share with you that day…"

I cupped his gorgeous face in my hands, unable to stop the cheesy smile that stretched across my face. "But you did. You used your power to rescue me, because you're my inventus. My soulmate. "

"GAY!" someone who sounded suspiciously like Baltasar called out.

"Not everyone can be bi disasters like you!" Xander shouted back without missing a beat.

This family.

"I'm not that much of a disaster…" Balty muttered before lowering his voice. "Am I?"

Zion snickered. "I like how messy you are."

"Gross." Micah made a gagging noise. "Keep it in the bedroom, please and thanks."

His older brother scoffed. "Says the guy who got railed on the floor of the landing bay then refused to wash off the sex stank before we left."

"That's not… I didn't…" Micah stuttered.

"Why are you denying it?" Ziggy calmly interrupted. "That's exactly what happened."

"Ziiiig!"

"SHHH!" Violentia hissed. "Some of us are trying to watch a movie."

"Yes, and some of us are trying to work," Simon coolly stepped in, effectively silencing everyone. "So if you're quite done being gay back there, procure some snacks to share with the class. I'm feeling rather peckish."

That's one word for it.

Xander and I stared at each other for a moment before bursting into wild laughter.

"And some of us are trying to sleep!" Daisy haughtily shouted from the bedroom in the other direction, which only made us laugh harder.

"Apologies, little queen!" Xander called back before flinging open the curtain to the main cabin. "But we're absolutely not fucking sorry to the rest of you, assholes."

"Language!" Zion shouted, presumably because of Daisy, which reminded me again that we'd be in his shoes soon enough.

Sugar…

"Okay, let's throw together some snacks for The Rabble ," Xander huffed as he began opening and closing random cabinets. "If we can handle them, parenting should be a breeze, right?"

I wasn't convinced that was true, but I kept my opinions to myself, not least of all because it was much too late to be having second thoughts.

About any of this…

My inventus must have sensed something off in the bond again as he paused his foraging to throw me a questioning look.

"I'm fine," I repeated, not totally believing it but believing it enough to not bother worrying the man I loved.

Everything will be fine…