“Are we still invited to dinner this evening?”
“Yes. I’ll pick the three of you up around five-forty. Gen likes wine so I’ll bring her favorite brand, and some beer as well.”
She grinned. “Wow, you know to take something when you’re invited to dinner. I’m impressed.”
I rolled my eyes, stood, and offered my hand. She put hers in mine and I pulled her up and then into my arms.
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out last night.”
“He didn’t kiss like—”
I pulled away so I could see her face, and asked, “Like what?”
She rolled her eyes. “His kiss was gross, like the guys I tried kissing in college.”
Ah, so he didn’t kiss like me. I pulled her back into my embrace so she wouldn’t see my smile, because this pleased the wolf immensely.
She walked me to the door and I told her, “You never know if Gen will dress in fancy designer clothes or jeans. Harmony will most likely be in jeans and a t-shirt, but she might wear something nicer if she’s in the mood. I don’t know what to tell you to wear, just do whatever makes you feel comfortable.”
* * *
Gen’s housekeeper had prepared the meal, and I loved that she never tried to take credit for it when people complimented the food. She’s so honest it’s almost painful sometimes, but it’s one of the things I respect about her.
Her housekeeper had made a divine sausage and buffalo lasagna for the adults, and a huge pot of mac-and-cheese for the kids. It turned out the twins liked both dishes. They decimated the mac-and-cheese, and helped the adults wipe out the lasagna.
While we ate, Randall asked the kids what animals they’d smelled outside. They looked hesitantly at Connie before Chloe said, “The people next door have a dog, I think a big one, and he poops in the back yard. A little animal has been on the back porch. I think it’s called a raccoon, with the circled eyes and the cute little hands?”
“Yes,” said Randall. “That’s a raccoon and I smelled it, too. What else?”
“A big bird. The kind that eats rabbits. I don’t know what kind. The big ones smell different than the little ones.” Declan answered this time, not as hesitantly as his sister, but still not too sure.
“That’s because the big ones are meat eaters and the little ones eat seeds, berries, and maybe some worms. This one’s a hawk, and I smelled him, too. Why did you look at your aunt before you answered?” Randall asked.
“She doesn’t think we can smell stuff. She thinks we make it up,” Chloe said.
“I did, and I’m sorry,” Connie told them. “I was wrong and I hope you can forgive me. Most people can’t smell those things, so I didn’t understand how you could.”
Chloe jumped down from her seat and ran to her aunt, who picked her up and hugged her. “I forgive you Aunt Constance.”
They hugged a moment and I stood to help Chloe back into her seat when she jumped down from Connie’s lap.
Connie looked at Declan, and he said, “I was mad when you didn’t believe me. You thought I was lying but I wasn’t.”
“You’re right, and I’m sorry. If you can’t forgive me for it right now, that’s okay. We’ll talk later and figure it out. I love you even if you’re mad at me.”
“I love you, too.”
When dinner was over, Randall opened a window and had them tell him what they could hear outside. As they told him of things farther and farther away, my heart dropped into my stomach at the possible ramifications.
Their hearing was as good as mine.
Gen and Harmony took the kids into the kitchen for ice cream, and Duke led everyone else to his garage out back. He turned a radio on and told us we could talk freely.
“Whatever you learn here falls under your oath,” Randall told Connie. “I understand Abbott witnessed it, so I’ll accept it and will talk in front of you, but I want to be clear that the things we talk about can’t be shared with anyone. Not even the twins until they’re older, and then it’ll be Gonzo’s responsibility to tell them, not yours.”
She nodded and I put my arm around her. I didn’t like Randall scaring her, but I understood why he did and I knew better than to say anything. Fear is good if it keeps you alive.
Randall looked at Duke and then us. “Twins have a special bond, one that allows them to be more powerful together than they’d be without the bond.” He shook his head. “If together without a bond they’re three plus three equals six then with the twin bond they’re three cubed equals twenty-seven. I think you need to be prepared for them to possibly change when they’re in the seven to nine range, but it’s also possible they won’t gain their wolves until eleven or twelve, like most other kids born to it.”
I propped my ass on a sawhorse and crossed my arms. “We aren’t sending them to you.”
“I’m the only one who can help them navigate the twin bond.”
I looked at Duke, who said, “I’m not Pack, so I can’t legally use the kind of energy necessary to show them the way. Randall’s right — he’s a twin so he lived it, plus he can help them learn to navigate it. We had to figure it out for ourselves. Werewolf twins are rare, and no one told us we changed early because of the twin bond.”
He was glaring at his brother as he said the last part, and Randall said, “I found out when I went to Europe a while back. It was while you were in Atlanta, and we hadn’t spoken in so long I couldn’t just pick up the phone and tell you, though I wished I could.”
Duke sighed and his anger left the air to be replaced with regret. “Yeah, okay.”
“Brain? Do you have anything to add?” I asked.
“No. If Randall hadn’t explained the twin thing I’d have been worried they were about to change any day now.”
“Their scent isn’t even close to smelling like they’re approaching it,” I said, “but with the abilities they were exhibiting I didn’t know what to think.”
“If you want my help,” said Randall, “then I’ll need to see them on the full moon closest to their birthday for probably the next two or three years, and I’ll let you know when I need to see them more often. They aren’t ready for the things I can teach them yet, and likely won’t be for two to four years.”
Chapter 27
Connie
I invited Gonzo in to help put the kids to bed, but I was hoping he’d stay after they were down.
He’d made it clear he wasn’t interested in a relationship, and yet… I still felt as if he were considering it.
We worked together as a team getting them clean, dry, into pajamas and their teeth brushed. They wanted a shower instead of a bath, but Gonzo told them he’d had to get wet with them in the shower and that wasn’t happening tonight. Amazingly, that shut them up and they didn’t ask again.
They wanted a book he’d read them last night, but he told them he didn’t have his tablet and it’d be too small on his phone. He must’ve seen my confusion because he explained he’d had to buy ebooks on the fly because everything he’d bought was at his house.
My heart warmed as I realized what he’d done to make sure the twins got as much of their routine as possible while away from home. Our gazes met in what I thought was a moment of understanding, and then he began reading to them with that deep, soothing voice of his.
I didn’t bother checking to see if they were asleep when he stood from our seat on the top step and headed toward the den. He sat in the recliner, pulled me into his lap, pushed the button to make it recline, and tucked me in around him until we were both comfortable.
I have no idea how he does it, but he makes me want him. I’m not even sure what it means to want him, but I do.
“Tell me what went wrong last night.”
It was almost an order, but I didn’t complain because I didn’t intend to answer no matter how he asked. “I don’t want to talk to you about other men. I guess I understand how you feel now when I ask about other women. I’ll try to stop.”
He sighed. “Dammit, there
hasn’t been another woman in at least a week. Or maybe right at a week. I can’t even fucking remember.”
“Why not?”
“Partly because I’ve been so damned busy, but in the past I’d have still gotten a few quickies in, at least. I just haven’t been… I can’t explain it. No one enticed me.”
My heart wanted to soar with the idea he didn’t want them because he wanted me, but I didn’t let myself get my hopes up. “I missed you last week.”
“I missed you, too, but it couldn’t be helped. I know Duke, Brain, and Bash are making relationships work, but I’m beginning to wonder how. We were all busy for most of the week.” He rubbed my arm as he thought, and finally said, “I saw all of their wives at the clubhouse quite a bit. They ate meals together and had some time here and there, I guess. I don’t think any of my brothers went home for several days, though.”
“It’d be hard for me to come there with the twins, wouldn’t it?”
“Kids are welcome during the day, they just can’t be there once the partying starts at night. During times of security alerts kids are there all the time, though. If you ever want to stop by and you have the twins, you should warn us you’re coming about ten minutes ahead of time, so anyone having sex or getting a blow job in the front room can either finish or take it elsewhere.”
My face flamed hot and he chuckled. “Yeah, sometimes sex happens in the main room in front of people. Never with an ol’lady… well, almost never. It’s mostly with the club sluts and sweet butts.”
I might need to understand what he’d just said eventually, but I wasn’t up for it tonight. “Chloe told me she met a princess.”
His chest moved as he chuckled, and it made me want to run my hand under his shirt and feel his skin. I didn’t have the nerve to do it, but I was tempted.
“Bash calls Angelica his Princess, and Chloe ran with it.”
No one said anything for a long while, but it was a comfortable silence. I felt so safe and cared for in his arms and I never wanted the moment to end, though I knew it would have to, eventually.
“I don’t know what we’re doing, but I think we should explore it a little and see what happens.”
It took me a minute before his meaning registered, and I pushed up and met his gaze to see if he meant it. “You’ve changed your mind?”
“I have no idea where my mind is, but you appear to want me, and even though I keep trying to insist I can’t emotionally handle a relationship, my heart and wolf seem to feel otherwise. I’m not making any promises except I’m willing to explore things — slowly — and see where we end up.”
“Your wolf?”
“If we’re being honest, he hated the idea of you with someone else.”
I closed my eyes a second at the idea of his wolf having an opinion of me. “Can I see your wolf?”
“Yes, but not here and not now. It’s been a long day and I need more food before I change, and then while I’m the wolf, and then again when I come back.”
“What does the wolf eat?”
“If he can’t hunt then raw beef or buffalo work best.”
Ick, but somehow I knew it would be bad to make the face I wanted. He needed me to accept all of him if this was going to work. “Will you come to bed with me?”
“You have to work tomorrow, and the twins have school.”
“I’m about to fall asleep, but I don’t want to lose your warmth. I’ve missed you more than I realized.”
* * *
Gonzo
I’d missed her more than I realized, too. As much as I didn’t want to have to wake up early, I also loved spending time with the twins in the morning.
Plus, I wouldn’t mind sleeping with Connie.
Damn, considering all we’d be doing was sleeping, I had to wonder if I’d lost my mind.
Yes, that was exactly the problem. I’d lost my fucking mind.
I sat up with a sigh and helped Connie up before I stood, and we walked hand-in-hand to her bedroom.
We were both apparently exhausted because we fell asleep within minutes of going to bed, and I didn’t awaken until the alarm went off. I’d left my small safe in her nightstand, so I took it and the rest of my things to the guest bedroom and wallered around in the bed before finally settling in.
I was truly asleep when she sent the twins in to wake me this time, but Chloe was so sweet with her little hand on my face, my heart melted when I opened my eyes to see her and Declan looking at me with so much contained excitement. They clearly wanted to jump up and down on my bed, but Connie must’ve told them to wake me nicely.
I sat on the side of the bed and put them each on a knee, and we had a great big good-morning hug. They told me it was time for breakfast, and I told them to go on down and I’d be right behind them. I got dressed, settled my gun in my holster, and went down barefoot.
“Why does your bed smell like daddy, Aunt Constance?”
I wasn’t in the kitchen yet and I was tempted to creep back up the steps, but with their hearing I didn’t stand a chance. I rounded the corner and told them, “I sat on her bed for a little while and we talked, and then I went to the guest bed to sleep.” Not a total lie since I went to sleep in the guest bed this morning.
They looked at each other, considered it, and seemed to accept it.
Breakfast was loud. There’s never a dull moment around the twins, but I noted Declan was talking a lot more. Up until this morning I’d had concerns with the way his sister sometimes steps all over him, but he interrupted her as much as she did him, and I had to wonder if it just took him longer to warm up to me than it did his sister.
Chapter 28
Gonzo
Angelica had been giving me updates on Britches, but I was pleased to get a phone call from her just before noon.
“Maggie says if she brings me to your house in a van, I should be able to clean for you.”
“Because if you lose control, she and I will be there to help?”
“Yeah. If you’re good with that, I can clean.”
“If you want to do it and you think you’re ready then I’m good with it. I’ve had someone else cleaning for me, but I’m not replacing you. They know you’ll be doing it again when you get better.”
“Get better? Oh, because I’ve supposedly got mono, right?”
“Yeah. You aren’t sick, you just have to learn control, but sometimes I think those words are unhelpful, because you kind of have to work with your wolf, too. If you just try to control her she’s going to fight you. Sometimes, you have to compromise — give your wolf something she wants that you don’t mind giving in on, so she’ll agree to something you want that she’s against.”
She was quiet a few moments and said, “Thanks. No one’s told me that but it feels right.”
“There won’t be sex, Britches. If you’re ready to see if you can have sex without changing, you’ll have to go to someone else.”
“I thought you liked doing wolves more than humans because they can take more?”
“That isn’t it.”
She was quiet, waiting for me to tell her, and I finally said, “I have no fucking idea what I’m doing, but my wolf has chosen someone, and no matter how much I try to argue, he’s insisting. So, until I figure this out it seems…” It seems I’m celibate, but she didn’t need to know that.
Fuck, I’d go crazy without sex, but I didn’t see an alternative.
“I never thought you’d settle down, but if you’re happy then I’m happy for you.”
“What time will you be here?”
She laughed, “There’s my grumpy Gonzo. I think we can be there in about thirty or forty minutes, if that’s good for you. I was the wolf a while last night, and I just ate about five pounds of beef, so I should be able to stay human long enough to clean a house.” She sounded more hopeful than sure, but I figured this would be a good first outing for her.
A few weeks after I’d been bitten I was bitter and angry, and I had no desire to learn to contro
l the wolf. I wanted to be the wolf all of the time — I wanted to stop being human.
Britches had wanted this for years, and she reveled in her increased strength, hearing, and smell. She adored her wolf and loved who she was in her two legged form as well.
I worked in my yard again while she cleaned. Maggie stayed with her in the house but she sat in my living room and read, and gave Britches space to work.
I went inside as I figured she was finishing, and I pulled some more cash from my safe.
Dawg had let Randall’s people in to do the door between the twins’ rooms, and stayed while they’d worked. I’d drawn a big X on the wall where the kids wanted it, and after more talk with the contract manager who’d called, we’d decided on a pocket door. It was more expensive than a regular one, but I liked not having a door come out into one of the rooms.
“What are you doing with the two rooms?” Britches asked as she came into the kitchen where I was figuring out what to eat.
“Bedrooms for my kids. Most of the furniture will arrive next week, I hope.”
“You haven’t been here much since the last time it was cleaned.”
“No, things have been hectic, and on the nights I’ve had time to come home, I didn’t want to be alone.”
“Yeah. I get that. Randall wants me in the Pack, and my wolf yearns for it, but I just… can’t.”
“I made the same decision, but it’s hard being a lone wolf. I have the MC — without them I’m not sure I’d survive on my own.”
I handed her the money, she pocketed it, and I hugged her.
I smiled as I watched them drive away, because I hadn’t wanted to fuck her. I’d been assuming I’d have a hard-on the whole time she was here, thinking about how it felt to sink into her ass and pissed it was off-limits, but I hadn’t wanted to fuck her.
I’d been holding off on taking things farther with Connie because I worried I couldn’t follow through, but in that moment I realized I didn’t want to take this slow.
Gonzo (Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club Book 7) Page 21