by Kathryn Moon
“I’m so sorry,” she answered. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”
We leaned away from each other, and I searched her face for any anger. I would understand. Instead, I found shame and nervous anxiety. She forced a smile on her lips and another apology slipped free. I kissed her cheek and then Bullet pulled me back to his lap, purring, but clearly out of patience.
“Eat,” she said. “We’ll talk later.”
I wasn’t ravenous, or even fully hungry, but I wanted to replace the flavor of bile in my mouth. Bullet and Ryan competed to feed me fresh fruit and bites of scrambled egg and buttered toast until I was pushing back their forks.
“I’m ready for that shower,” I said. Bullet nodded and scooped me out of the booth, my alphas scrambling after me.
“Wait! Wait!”
Bullet growled at Jonah’s interruption, but I pushed at his chest until he set me on tender feet.
“Baby…I…” Jonah was hunched and frowning, and I thought at first he was about to object to Bullet bonding me. He filled the space in front of me, bending and taking my face in his hands, pressing his cheek to mine. His sigh caressed my ear and neck, ruffled my hair. “I love you,” he whispered, turning just enough to kiss my jaw. “I need…”
I relaxed and swayed into him, nodding. “I love you too. Can you wait?”
I didn’t mean to throw his own request back at him. But Bullet was a giant rock of tension. He had been since the drive back to the city. I wasn’t trying to take revenge on Jonah, I just didn’t think Bullet deserved to wait on me to sort things out with someone else.
“Yeah,” Jonah said, nodding and pulling away. “Of course.”
I bit my lip. He looked hopeless, and I knew what he was thinking. I’d made up my mind against him. Nothing was further from the truth.
“Go on, precious,” Seth said, stepping between us and catching a brief kiss from my lips.
Bullet had had enough, he lifted me from the floor and marched me to the back of the diner.
“Take her to her place, not yours,” Ryan called. “The guys need to be with her after.”
Bullet grunted, and I smiled at a narrow-eyed Ryan over his shoulder, offering a thumbs up.
“Shower first, handsome,” I said. “And you can’t knot me in the shower.”
“I haven’t completely lost it,” Bullet said, lips twitching, and pushing open the door to the back hall.
I smiled at the tacky stained carpeting from a million years ago, at the chipping paint, the flickering fluorescents overhead. It wasn’t marble and roses and stained glass, but I’d missed every inch of this place.
“We’re gonna fix this place up pretty for you, kitten,” Bullet murmured. I tucked my smile against his beard and breathed him in as he purred.
41
Baby
“Close your eyes, kitten,” Bullet said, gravel lacing his voice now that he was at the edge of his patience.
I closed them, listening to the sound of water rushing from the showerhead. Bullet lifted Ryan’s sweater up over my head and took my hand, guiding me carefully into the tub. “Keep ‘em closed till I say, right?”
I tipped my head and nodded, and it took me a moment to realize why I had to keep them closed. He didn’t want me to see the blood rinsing down the drain. He stepped in, crowding my back and turning me to face him, water running down over my head. The tub was barely big enough for the both of us, but Bullet crouched, lifting my hair off my shoulders to rinse clean, scrubbing me gently with a soapy washcloth, no inch of me untouched.
I heard the squirt of the shampoo bottle and then hummed as he stood and wrapped himself around me, digging thick fingers through tangled strands. I reached blindly between us, smiling as his cock twitched against my hand until he batted it away.
“Wait, Baby. Barely hanging on.”
“That bad?” I asked, smile growing.
He growled and pushed me further under the water so I couldn’t tease him, then he started with my conditioner, working it into my hair like he was going for some kind of hairdresser award.
“Alright. Open.”
He pulled me out from under the water, but I wasn’t ready to look down and see what he saw, the bruises on my stomach, the cuts from glass. “You take such good care of me,” I said, reaching to tilt his chin up and force his eyes to mine.
“Baby, I almost let them—“
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “That’s not on you, handsome. I am safe, and I am safe because of everything you taught me. And how much you love me. And how determined I was to get back to you.”
“Kitten,” he sighed.
I rose up onto my toes, ignoring the burn and pull of my stitches, and Bullet’s arms wrapped around my waist, drawing my lips to his. The kiss was rough, needy, Bullet growling with every tease and trade of control between us until he had me pinned to the wall. He pulled away abruptly, setting me back on my feet and stepping under the water, cock red and stiff and bobbing in my direction.
“Touch yourself for me, kitten. Get yourself ready for me.”
I moaned at the order, and at the sight of him stretching and washing under the dripping water. My fingers slid over my own slippery skin, down between my legs, petting gently at my sex, teasing my clit.
“Stretch yourself,” he growled. “‘Cause I dunno how slow I’m gonna be able to go. Fuck, I thought we might lose you.”
I whimpered and fit two fingers into my opening. The angle was awkward with me standing and I propped one foot up on the ledge, so Bullet could watch. He shook himself, rinsed his hair with basic efficiency and then stepped closer, his other hand joining my fingers. When he added one of his to mine, my mouth dropped open at the stretch.
“Oh, Bullet, honey, yes,” I whined as his thumb pressed to my clit. “You, I want you!”
I pulled my fingers free, grasping at his shoulders, and he filled their place with another of his, thicker and deeper than my own. I moaned and rode his hand, pinned between him and the wall, rocking into his touch.
“Faster,” I breathed.
Bullet growled and arched over me, teeth wrapping around my shoulder in a quick, firm snap. He didn’t bite but the grip was enough—fingers plunging and thumb rubbing—that I came with a bright, surprised laugh within another minute.
“Now,” I said, wrapping my arms around him.
He hadn’t been kidding about his patience running thin.
Bullet pulled me out of the shower, leaving the water running. He didn’t bother with towels, simply hauled me out of the bathroom and into the chilly bedroom. I laughed at his rush, shivered at the cold sheets beneath me as he climbed onto the bed, fitting himself between my legs.
“I’m here,” I said, running my hands over his shoulders. “I’m yours. I’m safe, handsome.”
Bullet’s growl and purr tied together as he started to rut on top of me, cock heavy and sliding against my sex, arousal slicking over his length. “I need… Baby, I want…”
He lifted his head, brow furrowed, and I smiled, pulling him back to me and taking his mouth in a deep kiss, sucking on his tongue until his hips kicked, pushing me up the mattress. I pulled away with a gasp, grinning at him.
“Does my alpha want me to present?” I asked.
Bullet rumbled and reared back, knot fully swollen and cock bobbing. I laughed and scrambled to my knees. “I’m with you,” I said to Bullet.
His hands cupped my thighs and he dragged me back to him. With one guided nudge, my head dropped forward and I sighed as Bullet entered me briefly. He pulled out and then thrust, deeper and rougher.
“More!” I cried.
His next thrust dropped me to my elbows, my fingers gripping the sheets as I moaned.
“Fuck, kitten, I…I need you,” he said, all breathless and sudden.
I tipped my head to see him, smiled at his wide eyes and bitten lips. “Take me, Bullet. I’m yours, alpha.”
He growled, expression sharpening and then retreated slowly, slammi
ng home on the next thrust. I collapsed into the mattress with a cry, knot filling me and sending me into a trembling climax as Bullet landed over my back. His weight was the perfect security on top of me, surrounding me in his scent. I arched my back and begged and pleaded for more as he bucked and snarled over me.
“Throat,” he growled. “Baby. My girl.”
I twisted my head and bared my throat, and Bullet nuzzled at the bend to my shoulder, swiped my hair out of the way. His hand stroked down my front, burrowing beneath me, and then he had my sex spread, two fingers framing and rubbing at my clit. His tongue lapped at his chosen spot, mouth sucked, and teeth scraped over it.
“Bite, alpha,” I rasped, breathless as he seemed to be expanding in my core, fingers driving me to a third orgasm.
Bullet snarled, but there was no hesitation after my command. His teeth gripped and then dug, sinking into my shoulder. It hurt more than the others, a deeper wrenching pain, but the sudden shock contrasted with the dense sweeping pleasure coiling through me as he worked my clit and I clasped around his knot. Bullet came inside of me, heat and flare, and then released my shoulder, licking the wound immediately.
I was swallowed under roses, surrounded by my alpha, and filled up with Bullet’s overwhelming adoration. I was this man’s home. He purred and lapped at my shoulder, body heavy on mine, enveloping me in an embrace so thorough there couldn’t have been a single part of me untouched. I pressed my face into the mattress, a sudden hurricane of emotion threatening to smother me—residual terror and disgust from the abduction, confusion and shame, and love so deep for this pack it bordered on paralyzing me.
Bullet shouldered it all as if he found it strangling me in the bond, and was able to take it on himself, letting it pass through him. His purr shook my tears loose, and I accepted the shift with a soft collapse, tension pouring out of me.
“The shower,” I murmured, hearing it run in the background.
Bullet huffed. “I love you, Baby.”
I turned my face so he could see my smile, hear my soft laugh. He grinned and then mouthed at his mark, making me shiver. “I love you too, Quincy.”
“The others will get the shower,” Bullet said, smiling. “For now, I just want to take care of my incredible, badass, beautiful, perfect mate.”
I swooned at the word and let Bullet roll us into a soft spooning position. I softened and let him lull me back into pleasure, wrapping me up in the bond, tracing every sensitive spot on my skin with his touch.
Hands and knees. Present. Good little omega.
Buzzard’s mouth hung unhinged as he loomed over me, blood and gore spitting out with every word, licking at my skin and sizzling like hot fat.
“Love.”
Present. On the floor. Little omega.
The bedroom I was locked in smelled like salt and rotten fish and vanilla. It was too dark to see, but I felt the warmth of whoever was watching me every way I turned.
“Baby, you’re safe. Wake up, love.”
I whined as orange flared in the dream and I got one brief glimpse in my mind of Cole, pocked with gun wounds, watching me from the doorway. I gasped and sat up, eyes flying open, warmth at my side.
“Shh. That’s it. You’re here, love. You’re safe.”
Tornado, curling around me in our bond, hands guiding me to lean against him. Bullet was sacked out on the bed, snoring louder than my gasps, but I was surprised he hadn’t felt the nightmare like Tornado had. Then Bullet twitched, frowned, and growled, rolling to me and curling around my back.
“It’s the bond,” Tornado said. “Puts you in a heavy sleep. Are you alright?”
I twisted and pressed my face to Tornado’s throat, drawing in deep lungfuls of his scent to wash away the memory of Cole. “Better,” I said, although I could still see the men I’d killed when I closed my eyes. “Does it go away?”
Tornado’s arms wrapped around me, surrounding me in warmth, purr faint and whispering in his chest. “I don’t know. Not yet. But you can learn to accept what happened and move forward.”
“I don’t think I have regrets,” I whispered.
“You shouldn’t. You took care of yourself. Took care of Emmy. Buzzard never did any good for the world.”
I thought of the women they’d found in the other houses. Had I imagined those hollow faces and thin bodies wrapped in foil blankets? Or had I seen them coming out as the medics checked me over? The day was already being buried in my head, and I wasn’t sure if that was a bad thing or not.
“Cole,” I said.
Tornado shuffled, pressing his forehead to mine. “He could’ve waited for you. Made himself worth bonding you. Could’ve stuck with this pack.”
“Is that enough, though? To kill a man?”
Tornado sighed. “It’s gonna be enough for anyone in this pack that he was planning to force you. To let Buzzard force you. To take you away from us and hand you to a pack that would’ve…”
I swallowed as Tornado growled, and then wrapped my arms around his shoulders. Cole wanted my mates dead. That was what motivated me to pull the trigger. I knew my pack would do anything for me, and that conviction went both ways.
“Will you stay?” I asked. I might not sleep, but I wanted Tornado holding me anyway.
“Love, it’s going to be a long time before any of us will be comfortable with you out of our sight,” Tornado said, pressing a kiss to my temple.
“Text the others then,” I said, sliding down into the bed, pushing Bullet back into place. “I want to have you close too.”
A good day was lost. Or not lost, but cherished. In spite of the nightmare, I fell asleep again, too tired to really resist. I woke up to Tornado soothing his mark on my breast, Books kissing and licking my hand. Ryan was reassembling the nest around my bed, but when my eyes opened he climbed in and slid between my legs, head resting on my stomach so I could run my fingers through his hair.
There were just two very significant people missing, and I wasn’t sure if it was right or not to ask for them. By the following evening, the question was solved for me.
All four alphas bristled as the apartment door opened and then relaxed as Seth called out, “Is it safe to come in?”
“Yes!” I sat up, shaking off grumbling men, and scrambled over Bullet, hunting through the room. “Shit. Where are all my clothes?”
“Here,” Seth said, stepping inside the bedroom, my duffle over his shoulder. His lips quirked as he saw me. “Not that I mind the view.”
And since I didn’t really care what he saw either, I launched myself at my beta and ignored my worries about a shirt. Seth dropped the bag to the ground and groaned, scooping me up and holding me to him, face buried in the riotous mess my hair had dried in after the shower.
“God, Baby, I missed you,” he said, words cracking.
“I missed you too! So much.”
“Never fuckin’ wished I was an alpha so bad in my life,” he muttered, and I leaned back just enough to give him a quizzing look. He smiled, and touched briefly at the new mark on my shoulder. “I would just really like to be able to share that connection with you.”
I whimpered and pressed myself into his hold again. “I want that too.” Even though I knew he had come alone, I couldn’t help looking over his shoulder, waiting for Jonah to enter the room.
“He’s downstairs in his office. Probably banging his head against a wall and writing to Santa to ask for coal for Christmas,” Seth said.
“I’d say leave him to it,” Ryan muttered, slipping out of the bed. He pulled a t-shirt on over his bare chest and winked at me. “But I’m guessing our girl missed him just as much as she missed the rest of us.”
“You don’t have to deal with him if you aren’t feeling ready, precious,” Seth said, kissing my temple.
I drew myself free and went to dig into my bag. “It’s not— I’m not dealing with him, I just…” I found a pair of panties and sighed as I slipped them on. It was alright to be naked with my alphas and Seth, but
somehow getting to put on underwear again after the abduction and being so vulnerable around…
I shook the thoughts out and dug for more clothes. In our bond, Tornado reached out and shored me up as if he knew where my thoughts had traveled. Of course he had. I sent him a grateful smile and he nodded.
“I want to reconnect with him every bit as much as the rest of you,” I said, tugging on a sports bra and a t-shirt dress. “I just have some things I need to say first.”
Some of them were words I’d said before. Jonah was still going to have to listen.
42
Baby
The bar was closed but the pack was gathered together, helping themselves to drinks from behind the counter. Someone had ordered what looked to be an entire Chinese restaurant, paper cartons open all down the length of the bar. A cheer went up as I entered with my men. Chef and Emmy were still bundled together, curled up in a booth with Tiny and Brody. There was happiness in the room, but also tension, and I wasn’t sure if it was Cole’s betrayal, the stress of the days, or their absent Prez.
I grabbed an egg roll from the bag in Dusty’s hand and received a wink. I just needed a little bit of sustenance before facing Jonah. The words were all in my head, but there was still a twist of worry in my chest. This alpha had turned me down more than once. What if he did again?
I took a bite of the egg roll, whined as I realized it was still hot—thanks, Dusty—when the office door banged open, Jonah braced against the frame with wide, panicked eyes.
“Baby!” He rushed forward, hands wrapping around my shoulders, chest heaving. “Baby girl, I fucked up. I shouldn’t have left the house. Shouldn’t’ve trusted Cole with you. You are one of the most important people in my life,” he said, eyes drifting to Seth before snapping back to me. “And I should’ve listened when you said you were sure about me, about us. I never wanted to give you any reason to doubt that I was five hundred percent certain about you.”