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“What’s with you? It’s like you got ants in your pants.” Jupiter lounged with Emmy in the crook of his arm. The baby was thankfully asleep. Something she tended to do when in Jupiter’s arms. The man surely had the magic touch when it came to the sweet girl.

“Sat funny at work and now my back’s playing up,” he lied through his teeth. No damn way he was sharing what had really caused it. An addiction to spanking. Even that didn’t quite do it justice to how often he craved the feelings the spankings evoked in him. They centered him like nothing else ever had, not even Kari had this effect on him. Not that he would ever have asked his twin to spank him. That was just too weird, even if he’d been aware of the effects it had on calming his mind.

Then there was the other side of things that happened. Talking about it, he wasn’t sure how to effectively communicate the way Lennon made him feel during and right after, especially when he came untouched. Several times, he’d reached a kind of floating sensation. Much like when placing his ears under water and everything else became distant.

He side-eyed Jupiter who was into all things kinky. Would he get what Kodi was going through?

Asking made his throat scratch, and he coughed to clear the feeling.

“Shush, you’ll wake Emmy.”

Kodi glanced at Jupiter as if had never seen him before. “Fuck, what’s going on with you? Did Emmy’s presence do a magical lobotomy? Give you a personality change?” he asked, making sure to keep his voice down. He didn’t want to listen to wailing.

Though he would admit she was a cutie and had once or twice snuck in a cuddle at work when Lennon had brought her to the office when he needed a file locating.

Their PA’s took it in turns to have Emmy for an hour throughout the day so Frey and Booker could continue working. He’d moaned at first—nothing unusual for him—but he’d seen how happy it made Booker and Frey, along with Emmy. She loved the attention and Lennon, like the others—himself included—treated her like she was their own. Heavens, Lennon looked adorable cradling her.

Fuck, what am I thinking? No, he is not adorable. No, not in the slightest.

“Why do you look like you’re about to have a meltdown?”

Jupiter’s amused question got him giving him the middle finger and getting up to leave.

He wasn’t in the mood for fighting. He was in the mood for…

Damnit all.

Jupiter reached for his wrist, and when he glanced down at him, Kodi’s eyes widened at the concern. “You can talk to me about what’s bothering you.”

The seriousness got him sagging back on the couch then wincing at the tenderness.

Jupiter caught the look, and his brows winged up. “Has someone… hurt you?” Jupiter’s expression revealed a ton of apprehension, and with good reason.

“Not like you’re thinking,” Kodi said, rushing to reassure his brother.

Jupiter searched his expression, and moments later he visibly relaxed at what he found. The tension left his shoulders and he sank back into the cushions as Emmy stirred as if picking up Jupiter’s change in mood. “Then what’s it like?”

Kodi glanced at the large screen TV as something exploded and shrugged. “Nothing—“

“I trust you to carry my secrets, can’t you do the same?”

Jupiter knew how to aim at Kodi’s weak spot. A few months after Jupiter had arrived and remained hidden in his bedroom, Kodi had gotten up one night when his head was playing anxiety catch and release and stumbled, literally, over Jupiter. He had left his room, but he was so thin and weak, he’d not made it to the top of the stairs. Kodi had helped him back to bed and seen the scars and healing wounds. Jupiter, who was terrified of his own shadow back then, had for whatever reason trusted Kodi. It had cemented their bond of brotherhood. Oakland had appeared moments later, and Kodi had gone back to bed, but every night he would sneak to Jupiter’s room with a cookie, or a bar of chocolate to make him smile. It took four months before he had seen that first smile.

“You had to go there, didn’t you?” Kodi accused feeling boxed in.

The unrepentant grin got Kodi shaking his head and giving in to the temptation to talk when Kari was out, yet again. “Spanking, I’ve found it helps… me.” God this was hard! He tugged at the collar of his T-shirt, which felt like it was strangling him.

Jupiter ran a hand over Emmy’s cheek. “Helps with what?”

“How my head feels, most of the time.”

The man looking at him frowned, the lines marring the smooth skin of his forehead. “Is this what Popi talked about years ago?” Kodi nodded. “Christ, I’ll admit I forgot. You never mention it, and no one else does.”

“And that’s how I like it. I don’t wanna be different or treated as such!” Kodi snapped with a bit more force than Jupiter deserved. “Sorry, touchy subject.”

“We all have those, remember.”

The ironic tone had his face heat.