His Angel: The Wounded Souls Series

by Leah Sharelle

  “Keep doing that, Angel. Yes, just like that. Pinch that pretty nipple, make yourself come.”

  Creed’s sexy, rough voice was the jolt to my core I needed, and my inner muscles clenched around him, my head feeling dizzy as the orgasm rocked through me, causing waves of pleasure to ripple in my pussy, over and over.

  “I’m coming. Oh, fuck. Yes, Memphis,” Creed bellowed, holding himself deep inside me as he emptied everything he had into my channel, filling me impossibly full with his seed.

  I slumped, my entire body weight against Creed’s chest. How he was still holding us both up was beyond me. I knew I should get down and make it easier for him, but my legs were locked tightly around him and seemed to be staying that way.

  “Well, if we haven’t made a baby already, I think that one did it,” Creed announced. He walked us back into our room and sat down on the bed, still inside me, then pressed his lips against my temple.

  Tingles of joy pulsed through me when he said that about being pregnant. I had my suspicions that it had already happened, but he was right. That one certainly did the trick.

  “You think so, hey,” I said shyly. I ducked my head into his chest, not wanting him to see the tears forming. My dream of carrying Creed’s baby just might be within my reach, after all.

  “Memph?”

  “Yeah?” I asked tiredly. My body was happy and relaxed, sated.

  “What did you mean when you said you had kinda done it?” Creed asked, his teeth gently biting the soft skin of my throat. I groaned inwardly. I had hoped he would forget about that. Wishful thinking on my part again.

  “Well, there was a boy when I was seventeen, he got it in but not all the—” I was cut off by a chaste kiss. Creed’s lips were firm, but not harsh. A low, angry growl accompanied the kiss.

  “Stop. I don’t need to know,” Creed said then pulled me deeper into his arms, both of us basking in our lovemaking.

  We sat in silence for a few moments, and then Creed whispered “Sorry” against my bare shoulder. It was barely audible, but I heard it.

  I always heard it.

  ———

  “Do you need any help, Memphis?” Rainn asked from the other side of the toilet door.

  My eyes rolled for the tenth time since locking myself in the small bathroom belonging to Shiloh’s bedroom. Charlotte decided this was the best room to do this because there would be less chance of Creed barging in and demanding to know what I was doing.

  “I think I can manage to pee on a stick, Rainn,” I muttered.

  Yesterday, I asked Stella if she would buy me a home pregnancy test. She, of course, was more than happy to comply, jumping around until the jolts made her puke—which, of course, brought Booth running into the kitchen, who lovingly cleaned up Stella and the mess, then picked up his wife and took her back to their suite. All the time, he hummed to her. I couldn’t quite pick the song, but it sounded like Ed Sheeran.

  “Come on, Memphis. We have been in here too long already. I swear Deck has a tracker on me, so it will only be a matter of minutes before he comes looking for me,” Charlotte said, not sounding at all put out that her alpha husband was a crazy person when it came to her.

  Finishing up my business, I placed the test on the floor along with the other two I had peed on. Stella insisted we needed to do more than one, so she grabbed three different brands just to be sure.

  “Okay, I’m coming out. Rainn, can you get them for me?” I said as I opened the door. A hand was there to grab me and guide me to the sink. I recognised it as Mia’s, not only because of the size and softness but also from the huge diamond rock on her finger. Steel certainly made sure everyone knew Mia was his.

  With a little help, I washed and dried my hands, then turned and faced the flock.

  “Now what?”

  “We wait ten minutes max,” Rainn said, flapping a piece of paper near my face, the wind it created fanning my face.

  Ten minutes! Good grief. I didn’t have the patience to wait ten seconds. I wanted to know now if a baby Apollo was growing inside me.

  “Can you believe how things turn out?” Stella gushed. “I mean, won’t it be great if Memphis is pregnant. All of us having babies.”

  I laughed, nodding my head, and admitted sheepishly, “I hope I am. We have been going at it like rabbits since our first time.”

  The flock was not shy in talking about sex when Shiloh wasn’t around. I was still getting used to the oversharing, and sometimes, there was a bit too much sharing—Charlotte instantly came to mind. But all in all, I loved being part of this wonderful group of strong women.

  “I know, right? And to think it could have been Mia instead of you, Memphis,” Charlotte shared, but I had no idea what she was talking about.

  What did Mia have to do with it? She belonged to Steel, not Creed.

  “Oh, I don’t think so. Creed and I never really got off the ground. I was too in love with Steel to take that next step with Creed. Anyway, it all worked out for the best. I got the man of my dreams, and I’m having his baby,” Mia replied happily.

  My mind reeled with what I was hearing. Mia and Creed? Creed had wanted to be with Mia? That couldn’t be true, could it?

  “Memphis, are you okay? You don’t look so good. Could you be having morning sickness?” Stella put her hand on my arm, but I shook it off.

  Creed wanted a relationship with Mia was what I just heard. My heart was breaking. Here I was taking a pregnancy test, happy and full of joy, and now I hear my husband, who always said there was no one else for him but Lila, had been interested in Mia.

  “You were with Creed, Mia?” I whispered, my mouth dry.

  “Oh, shit, he hasn’t told you? What is it with these men and hiding their feelings?” Mia said and then groaned.

  “Were you with Creed?” I asked again, my voice rising. I could feel my hands shake, and my legs felt weak. Why on earth would Creed keep this from me?

  “No, honey, we were never together, not really. We have a bond of friendship—well, we had one. He pulled back after Steel and I got together. He knew I was in love with Steel, not him. One night, I got drunk and asked him to be with me. Please, believe me when I say he wasn’t interested in going there. We like each other, and that’s it,” Mia hurriedly explained, but I wasn’t buying it. If that was all it was, why keep it from me.

  “You asked him, and he said no—flat out no.”

  “Well, not exactly. He thought about it, kind of told me he had been thinking about it,” Mia said softly.

  My heart didn’t just break, it shattered inside my chest. Creed thought enough about Mia that he considered being with another woman again, willingly wanted to be with her, not forced to like he had to with me.

  My sobs broke the silence of the small room. I grabbed the first thing I felt in front of me, which was a big belly, so I gathered I had grabbed hold of Rainn, and I clung to her as I cried. I was never going to be anything other than a responsibility to Creed. The blind sister-in-law, the poor girl who was going to lose everything if he didn’t marry her, the idiot who knew nothing about her husband. Did he look at Mia and wish she had picked him instead of Steel? Was he pining after her and regretting being stuck with me? If he were able to make love to her, would he whisper sorry after every time? Fuck, I was waiting for a bloody test to show if I was carrying his child. How was I supposed to process all of this?

  “Memphis, honey, please calm down. It isn’t what you think. He never loved me, I promise, which is why he couldn’t be with me, and I was never in love with Creed. It has always been Steel for me,” Mia said frantically as she wiped my face with a soft tissue, mopping up my tears as they fell.

  I believed her when she said he never loved her. How could he when he would always love a woman he saw as perfect, his one true love, my sister.

  Suddenly, I felt bone-tired, not just from the crying but from the fear I felt every time Creed touched me, kissed me, or made love to me. Fear that he wouldn’t do those things t
o me again because I wasn’t the woman he loved. Sure, I looked like her and sounded like her, too. I was the same but for one thing—Creed wouldn’t ever love me, but he had wanted to love Mia at one time, and that hurt more than anything. The knowledge he wanted to try to give his heart to someone else was humiliating. It was over. All I wanted to do now was to go back to my house and my little bookstore.

  “I have to leave. Can someone drive Apollo and me back to my hometown?”

  Apollo’s tail started to thump against my foot. He was never far from my side and was the only one that truly loved me for me. Instantly, loud shouts of no echoed around the tiled room as all the women voiced their disapproval with my plan.

  “Memphis, you are not going anywhere. It is way too dangerous for you to be without the protection of the Wounded Souls. You need to talk to Creed, honey,” Rainn insisted.

  I spat out a laugh. “Talk to him. Yeah, sure, why not? I can ask him why he feels the need to whisper an apology to his dead wife after we make love. Then I can tell him I know he cries silently to himself even when he takes me with so much passion. Sure, Rainn, those are the things I really want to know the truth about.”

  Or why he wore his wedding band from Lila next to mine, but I didn’t say that aloud. There were enough humiliating things out there for everyone to feel sorry for me.

  I knew I was being unfair, directing my anger at her instead of where it belonged, at Creed, but sometimes a woman shouldn’t know certain things. That was me. I preferred living in denial. It was less heartbreaking to make-believe the love was there, that he felt the same way about me. Reality sucked donkey dick.

  “Oh, Memphis—” Charlotte stopped when the shrill of a timer went off.

  Oh God, the tests! What if I was pregnant? Lord above, Memphis Stephens, you really have gotten yourself into a right mess.

  “Oh, shit,” Stella whispered beside me, her hand gripping my arm.

  “Um … Memphis, you aren’t going anywhere.”

  “Why? What does it say?”

  I felt the pit of my stomach churn. There was no need for Stella to say anything because my broken heart already knew the answer.

  Chapter 18

  CREED

  “Booth, I think I may have a way to find the son of a bitch’s mobile number,” Ford announced.

  We were in the war room, and Booth had just got off the phone with his mum. She had little information about where Jerry could be hiding out. His family had disowned him after he lost the plot when Carson died, and he took up drinking heavily. Every way we turned, we hit a brick wall. How could a man who had burned all his bridges still get help from those he betrayed? I firmly believed his ex-army buddies were helping him. There was no way he would have got his hands on his old rifle, otherwise. It belonged to the commandos, and we all had to hand back our weapons after discharge. No civilian could get a permit to have such a powerful firearm.

  “How, Ford?” I asked our resident computer geek.

  Ford had been acting weird ever since Lucky came back to the club after recovering from the injuries he sustained over in the desert. He spent more and more time in his office, taking his shifts with Shiloh in there playing C.O.D with her and watching her show. The two men gave each other a wide berth for some unknown reason. The night I left to get Memphis, I had witnessed them arguing in the car park, but I didn’t stick around to find out what about. Maybe I should find out.

  “When he calls next, I can track him if I use some illegal software.”

  Booth growled from the other end of the table, the rubber band on his wrist flicking over and over. We swore we wouldn’t do anything that way, holding no interest for any of us, but Rogue was kicking our arse at every turn. Too many people had been hurt and worse. I looked at Darth sitting across from me and hated what I saw. Since Vegas died, he had become a shell of the man he once was. If it weren’t for Shiloh and his devotion to her, I believed he would have given up by now.

  “Get in contact with Linc, and see what he knows about the access to the rifles. Who has it and if there is any security footage from the base where they are kept. We do this right until we have no other options,” Booth ordered.

  I felt pride for my pres. Even with the danger, he refused to give into the darkness of the wrong side of the law. His beliefs were strong. There was no man more honourable than Vincent Booth.

  “Agreed, that isn’t who we are. We started this club believing in honour, loyalty, and respect. If Jerry doesn’t want to love like that, fuck him. He ain’t pulling this club down that road,” I said fiercely, meaning every single word.

  I wanted to protect Memphis from the bastard just as bad as Deck, Booth, Creed, and Mannix wanted to keep their wives and children from harm. No one was going to get his hands on my wife, not ever again, but I was not going to ditch my code of ethics. It was ingrained in me, in every man sitting at that table. If we did, we would be no better than Rogue.

  “He will slip up, and when he does, we will be there to take him down. Until then, we do it right. Ford, get moving. Booth is on the right track. Someone got those guns for Jerry, so find out who it was. We are getting closer, brothers. I can feel it,” Steel said, standing up from his seat.

  The VP was looking happier and happier these days, his beautiful wife and her growing belly being the reason for that. My thoughts went straight to Memphis. Earlier, when we made love spectacularly in her makeshift office, I noticed she tensed slightly every time I touched her breasts. She never said anything, but I knew they were tender to the touch, and when I sucked on them, her keen cry of pleasure was more intense than usual.

  Was she pregnant? Fuck, I hoped so, and that realisation surprised the shit out of me. After losing my unborn child when Lila Rose was killed, I swore I would never father another child, and here I was, wishing like hell I had knocked up my angel. Fuck, how things had turned in my life. Next thing, I was going to be smiling. Ha! Wouldn’t Miss Shiloh love that?

  Ford moved swiftly out of the room, avoiding any eye contact with Lucky, who was staring after Ford with a look the men of the club gave their women. Jesus Christ, was that it? Maybe things were about to get even more interesting around the compound, I mused as I made my way slowly out of the war room and into the hall. My arms were itching to have my wife in them.

  I walked into the main room, and the first thing I noticed was Memphis was nowhere to be seen. The other women were sitting on the couch, grim looks on their faces.

  “Where’s Memphis?” I asked.

  Rainn was the first to look up at me, the grim looked replaced with the fiery glare she usually gave Mannix when he screwed up.

  What the hell have I done?

  “She is in your rooms,” Stella told me with a sad smile.

  I was suddenly very confused. I knew I had been out of the loop where women were concerned, but I wasn’t an idiot. Something was up.

  “Is she writing?”

  “No, Creed, she is packing,” Rainn tossed at me, and then she turned her back on me.

  “Packing? Why is she packing? Where is she going?” She wasn’t fucking going anywhere, not without me.

  “Oh, Creed, I am so sorry. I had no idea she didn’t know,” Mia said softly, her big, brown eyes filled with tears, her hands twisting nervously in her lap.

  “Know what, gorgeous?” The endearment I once used for Mia slipped out.

  Hearing it, her eyes lit up for a brief second. Our friendship changed after she and Steel got together and then again when she put herself in danger. Mia was always going to be special to me, but she was never the right woman for me. Memphis was.

  “We were all talking about how things turn out the way they should, that I was meant for Steel and not you—” Mia paused.

  Panic flooded me. Oh, fucking hell—no.

  “No, no. Oh, fuck.” I groaned and took off for the stairs leading to mine and Memphis’s rooms. I ignored the calls from the women and didn’t hear anything they were yelling at me. My only t
hought was to get to my angel and stop her from leaving me. My heart lurched with real pain at the possibility of living without Memphis in my life, in my bed, in my arms. Not on your fucking life was that ever going to happen.

  “Memphis,” I roared and pushed open the bedroom door to find my wife throwing her clothes from the drawers onto the bed.

  “Go away, Apollo. I’m done. I’m going back to live at the house. The executors never have to know. I can keep this as my main address and return to visit the girls and Shiloh once a month, keeping the charade up for the requirements of the will,” she said without any emotion as if this was no big deal, as if leaving me wasn’t ripping my fucking heart out.

  I flinched at the use of my mission name. I hated when she used it instead of my name or baby. Hearing her call me the endearment was something I craved.

  “Angel, please, I can explain—” I started to say, but Memphis cut me off with a humourless laugh.

  “Where will you start exactly, Creed? Explain why you cry and whisper the word sorry after we make love? Or maybe you care to explain why you have on Lila’s ring as well as mine. Then after you explain all that to me, I will explain how we are going to deal with being parents to our child while living separately,” Memphis yelled at me while still tossing clothes, only they were flying all around the room instead of the bed. She was fired up and had never looked so beautiful… wait, did she say our child? Memphis was pregnant? And leaving me? Absolutely not.

  “On the dresser.” She pointed in the general direction of our dresser where a small white plastic stick sat.

  Cautiously, I stepped closer, and picking up the stick, I saw the word pregnant in the small square window. I stared at the word that had just changed my life irrevocably. One small word and one piece of cheap plastic just healed something deep in my heart—that and the love of a beautiful, blind woman.

  “We made a baby,” I whispered in awe, my eyes immediately moving from the plastic stick to Memphis’s flat stomach. Without any thought, I strode over to her and placed my hands over my child. “Holy fucking shit, we really made a baby.”