Free Punishing Petra [Locks and Chains 3] by Sara Kingston

turnaround. From disappointment to excitement in five seconds flat.
    “Sure, they’re quick to make as long as you help me.”
    “I will.”
    The interaction reminded Petra of how much she wanted children and how fast her biological clock was ticking now. Maybe she needed to stop waiting for Mr. Right and instead get herself a Popsicle daddy. She chuckled at the term, who came up with calling a sperm donor a Popsicle daddy? Look at Kyle, he was a single dad of a young son. She had options. No longer did women of her age have to miss out on the opportunity to have children. She could get artificial insemination. She could adopt if that wasn’t an option or maybe even consider surrogacy. So many options were available to her. She could support a child. Her books were selling well, and she had a secure financial foundation. This could be a typical morning in her house. Waking up and cooking pancakes for her son. The both of them laughing and chatting over the meal. Yes, there would be sleepless nights and mountains of work, but she couldn’t put it off much longer. She was no spring chicken anymore. In her twelve years of dating, she hadn’t met the one. Maybe there was no such thing, maybe it was a myth. Not everyone could be lucky right? Why wait? Why sit back and be alone and lonely when she could have an adorable child like this to wake up to each morning? She resolved to make an appointment with her doctor this week and start gathering all the information she needed. It was time.
    “Okay, let’s get these in the oven.”
    “They smell so yummy.”
    “Well, my little buddy, we now have the job of cleaning up while they cook.” They both worked as a team to return the kitchen to its previous state.
     
    * * * *
     
    Kyle woke up in a cold panic. They had all slept through the night and it was already seven o’clock. Joel! He should have already come into his room by now and crawled into his bed like he did every Sunday morning. He looked around the room and saw Petra had left. Damn it, he really wanted to talk to her and ask her out on a date. He walked out of the room, leaving Caleb sleeping in his bed. God! He really didn’t want to have therapy about the fact that he had bathed and then slept with another man last night, but he knew he should.
    He walked toward the kitchen shaking his head with a wry smile on his face when he heard two voices. One was Joel’s and the other he was guessing was Petra’s. Shit, his son had found a woman in their house and a one-night stand at that. God! What was he thinking? He never brought women home for this very reason. He moved quietly toward the kitchen so as not to disturb them. He also wanted to gather as much information as possible on what he would be dealing with. What he saw shook him. His son sat at the island breakfast bar, madly eating the pancakes that Petra was cooking him and they were talking and laughing. She was doing such a good job with his little boy. He leaned against the wall, hidden by the arch, enjoying the domestic sight. When he heard his son ask Petra to be his new mom, he started to lift away from the wall. It was time for him to step in. When she tried to calm him and not get his hopes up, he knew Petra was a better woman than any he had dated in the past three years. All of them, if given the chance, would have used his son to gain an advantage in his life. They would have jumped at the chance to cement themselves in his son’s life. But Petra didn’t, she distracted him with the offer of brownies.
    He leaned back again and continued to watch them cooking. This was what his son missed, this interaction and the feminine contact. This was what his son craved. This is what he craved. He wanted to be married again and to come home to a wife and kids. He wanted it all. He also wanted to be able to tie up his wife, spank her, whip her, paddle her, and so many other kinky delicious things, and Petra loved them all. If they could make a relationship