Center of Gravity (Marauders Book 3)

by Lina Andersson

  Anna shook her head. “No, that commitment thing stops me from doing that,” she smiled. “But I’m not gonna lie and say it doesn’t scare me.”

  “No. Never lie about that. I want to know so we can talk about it.”

  “How can I help you?” she asked and gave his chin a kiss. “Want me to talk about something?”

  She did that sometimes, and it was surprisingly helpful. It was usually him talking to people to keep his mind off things, or his brain rambling random facts about anything to him, but he’d discovered that listening to Anna talking had a strangely calming effect on him. He hadn’t even noticed it at first, but later realized that times like when she’d talked about her shoes were moments he’d been perfectly calm. He’d mentioned it to her, and now she sometimes offered to talk to him to get him calm. He’d thought it might be slightly insulting to her that he fell asleep while she was talking to him, but she understood.

  “Yes,” he said and tried to pull her closer, but Sprout tended to be in the way these days. “Turn around.”

  She did, and he tucked her closer with his hand on the belly and rested his chin on the top of her head.

  “Talk to me,” he mumbled when he was comfortable, and she did. She talked about Russia and the ballet after the revolution. How it had been for her mother and the Russian part of the family, and he soon fell asleep.

  -o0o-

  Two days later, he, Mac, Bull, and Wrench were waiting outside the theater where Anna was still working. It was her day off, and he hadn’t told her where he was going, since she’d try to stop him, but he was really fucking fed up with her asshole of a boss making her body ache more than it had to. He would’ve wanted to do this weeks ago when she’d first mentioned it, that night when they were skinny dipping, but she’d convinced him to let it go, that she was quitting soon anyway. Unfortunately, nothing had turned up at the ballet, and finding a job while pregnant wasn’t the easiest thing even under the best of circumstances—which Anna didn’t have.

  They’d been to the lake for more swims quite a few nights after the first time, and he knew it was one of few times when her body didn’t hurt, but he was mostly pissed that her asshole boss made things so much worse for her. He was also slightly pissed that she didn’t tell him about it—not that she had to; it was still hard to miss. He’d suggested she’d quit even if she didn’t have another job, he had money, but that had led to the worst argument since they started fucking again. Apparently that wasn’t an option.

  “So, just so I get this right—no blood?” Wrench asked.

  “No. Just scare him a little,” Mitch confirmed.

  “Oh.” Wrench sounded disappointed.

  “She’s gonna quit soon anyway.” One way or another, he thought to himself. “I just want him to make sure her remaining time here runs smoothly. Or I’ll simply make sure that any pain he causes her ends up on his own legs and back.”

  Bull snorted. “Remind me again why we don’t just kill the dude?”

  “She’d get pissed, but that’s actually the only reason.”

  “We could make him disappear,” Wrench suggested.

  Mitch had considered the same thing, but had decided against it, and not because he didn’t think the asshole deserved it, but because he didn’t want something happening that close to her yet. Not with all the other things that were going on. He was still very tempted to take out all of his frustrations on her boss, though.

  “If this doesn’t help, that’s what we’ll do,” Mitch decided.

  “Is that him?” Mac suddenly said and pointed towards the doors.

  “That’s him,” Mitch confirmed. They walked up to him, and Bull put a hand on his shoulder, leading him in the direction of an alley.

  “What are you doing?” he asked with big eyes.

  “We’re gonna have a little chat about one of your employees and how you treat her,” Mitch smiled. “Because your actions are affecting my sex life, and that upsets me.”

  “He likes sex,” Bull chuckled. “But then again, who doesn’t. And I find that lack of sex makes me… pesky.”

  “What? Who?”

  “Anna,” Mitch said with a big smile once they’d reached the end of the alley. The horrified expression on the guy’s face made it very clear to Mitch that he knew exactly what they were talking about, but he’d had no idea Anna was seeing a biker. “She’s my girlfriend. I’m gonna take a wild guess and say she hasn’t told you about me or what I do.”

  “N-n-no.”

  “I’m gonna take another guess and say that now when you know about me, you’re going to be so very nice to her. Won’t you?”

  “Y-y-yes.”

  “Good.”

  “I still think breaking his fingers is gonna be a good reminder,” Wrench muttered.

  “So eager,” Mitch chided. “Not this time Wrench, but you got first dibs on his fingers if he keeps pissing me off.”

  “I won’t piss you off.”

  “She’s gonna quit, you made sure of that, just leave her the fuck alone until she does. Or I’ll come back. I’ve been really stressed lately, and I have no problem with taking it all out on you. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.”

  Bull took a step forward. “Do I need to explain what’ll happen if you mention this to anyone?”

  “No.”

  “Good, because if you do, me and blue-eyes here are gonna visit you alone,” he said with a nod towards Wrench. “I’ve been meaning to teach him some tricks and any asshole would work for that.”

  “I’ll leave her alone,” he mumbled and stared at Mitch with wide eyes. “Just take your friends and leave.”

  They left, and they’d just barely rounded the corner when Mac started to giggle.

  “What?” Mitch asked.

  “Nah, just Bull’s comment about lack of sex making him pesky.”

  “What about it?” Bull snorted.

  “Like you’d know. When the fuck did you go more than a week without sex?”

  “It has happened!”

  “When? And if it’s before you became a Marauder it doesn’t fucking count.”

  Bull was quiet while thinking. “First year when I was married to Angie I didn’t fuck with anyone else while I was in Greenville.”

  “Impressive,” Mac chuckled.

  “I was smart enough to not hook up with a brother’s daughter. You’re fucking stuck,” Bull said and pointed at Mac. “For life!”

  “Difference between you and me is that I don’t find that thought scary.”

  “Totally pussy whipped,” Wrench said and by then they were at their bikes.

  “We’re all pussy whipped,” Mac said and put his helmet on. “It’s just that I’m whipped by a specific one.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  It’s Corny

  -o0o-

  I was sitting on our new armchair in our new master bedroom, which felt good and scary at the same time, but mostly good. The plan had been to keep Violet company while she worked on the wall painting, but I quickly realized that Mitch hadn’t exaggerated when he said she wouldn’t notice me anyway. She was completely lost in her work, and it looked amazing. I’d been worried it would be something in the line with the very male, action painting Mitch’d had at his old place, but it was nothing like it. She’d painted the wall red, and now she was doing one black and one white tree standing close to each other. It didn’t take a genius to understand that she meant them as Mitch and me, and I really liked it.

  Mitch had taken the room that used to be the practice room as his office. Violet was going to do something in there, too, but I’d agreed to not butt in on what, as long as he left the photo wall untouched. He’d seemed worried when they started taking down the mirrors, but I told him it was okay. It seemed silly to keep the room as some kind of shrine when none of us would be using it. Even if our girl would want to dance ballet, we could put the mirrors back up then, but it was years until that would happen.

  April and Edie
were in Sprout’s room. They’d told me to leave it to them, and that way I could blame them if Mitch complained about how girly it was. I suspected they just liked doing a baby girl’s room, since they both only had boys. The guys had snorted about the pinkness of the room, but it actually wasn’t that pink. The crib and drawers were in a wood so dark it was almost black, and even if the walls were in pink, one wall was gray with another tree on it. It was really pretty black tree with white flowers and pink butterflies. Even Mitch was okay with the room. Or… okay… he said he thought it could’ve been worse.

  Mac came into the room, and after putting a hand on Vi’s back, he gave her a kiss and mumbled, “Hey, Katze.”

  “Ah, so the trick is physical contact?” I laughed. I had tried talking to her a couple of times, but she hadn’t seemed to notice.

  “Yeah.” Violet looked embarrassed. “Sorry if I ignored you.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I just thought it would be nice of me to keep you entertained, but you didn’t seem to need it.”

  “Painting is her favorite entertainment,” Mac said. “And you’re not fooling me. You wanted to sit in that cozy armchair.”

  “I did. Not like I’m any help, since I can’t carry things anyway.”

  Irina and I had been anxious about the moving and how it would work logistically. Her things were going to Mitch’s place, and his things were coming here, which could’ve been a mess if it hadn’t been for Mel. She’d been barking out orders, had marked everything, and had had the guys working their asses off. Irina had ended up asking if Mel wasn’t looking for a job, because her organizing skill would have made her very valuable at the ballet. It had all been done in a matter of hours, and now Mel was organizing the kitchen. I hadn’t had the heart to tell her that I wasn’t much of a cook, because she seemed so eager to make it all perfect for me.

  “Hey, Gimp,” Mitch said as he dropped a box on the floor. He turned to view the wall painting. “That’s great. I like it.”

  “She’s gonna do some butterflies and flowers on it,” I said.

  He pulled me out of the chair and gave me a kiss. “No she’s not. You’re keeping the girly shit in the nursery. That was the deal.”

  “If we ever have a boy, you’re gonna go crazy with bikes in there, aren’t you?”

  “Totally,” he smiled. “How’s the leg and back?”

  “They’re okay. I haven’t done much, to be honest.”

  “Good. You’re not supposed to.” He gave my forehead a kiss.

  “When were you going to the ballet?” Mac asked.

  That made Violet turn around. “You’ve heard something or are you just going to another show?”

  “No, it’s about a job. The shoe person is retiring in six months. She said she could do that with a clear conscience if I took over. I’m going there next month for an introduction, and I’ll take over after my maternity leave,” I explained. “She used to be a ballet dancer, and she wanted another dancer to take over after her.”

  “I guess you know a lot about ballet shoes,” Violet smiled. “It sounds great.”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “There’s a podiatrist there, a foot doctor, and a bunch of other specialists, and that feels safe. I’ll be in charge of the shoe stock, and help the dancers a little, too. Either way, I’m back at a ballet, and it beats my current job.”

  Although my current job hadn’t been so bad the last few weeks, and I had a nagging feeling it had something to do with Mitch. I’d asked him, but he told me to just enjoy my last months there, and that the option had been to have him support me because he wouldn’t accept that I was ‘in constant pain just ‘cause some fuck made my life harder than it had to be.’ My comment about how I was in constant pain no matter what had met deaf ears, but I had to admit it had been worse than it needed to be for a while, and now it was getting slightly better.

  The current plan was that I’d quit my job, have the baby, and stay at home with her until I could start at the ballet. I was going there the following month to be with Margaret, the current shoe lady, for a few days, and she’d promised to stay for a few weeks when I started, too, to make sure I got the hang of everything. I was mostly worried about the ordering and budget, but Irina had assured me it wasn’t hard, and Mitch had said it was something he could do in his sleep, so he’d help me if I needed it.

  Around ten p.m., they’d all left, and I was leaning against Mitch on the new couch. I was watching a movie while he played around with the computer with one hand and the other one stroked Sprout. It was just two more months, but given the size of my stomach, I was starting to wonder what I’d look like before this was over.

  “Wasn’t that the chick who shot him?” Mitch suddenly asked. I turned towards him with raised eyebrows. “The chick he’s banging now, isn’t she the one who shot him like half an hour ago?” he clarified.

  “You’re watching?”

  “Yeah, of course. What?”

  “I thought you were playing with your computer.”

  “Fucking hell, Gimp, you make it sound ridiculous when you say it like that—playing.”

  “Then what are you doing?”

  “Actually, I’m doing Vi’s accounting, discussing and creating a new rootkit with Mech, and I’m reading the news.” He waved his right hand in the air. “All with one hand.”

  “If you take the movie out of the equation, think you can do something more creative with your left hand than just stroking my belly?”

  With a smile he stroked his hand up my bare leg and under my nightgown. “Get rid of the granny panties and I’ll show you.”

  I’d given up on the sexy, low-cut boy shorts and had followed Violet’s suggestion to buy pregnancy panties. Mitch’s reaction the first time had been priceless—and slightly humiliating. He’d held them up with wide eyes and then started to laugh so hard he had to sit down. He’d pointed out later that he might’ve laughed, but he hadn’t lost his hard-on, so I was safe even in the unbelievably unsexy panties—I’d still get laid.

  I pulled them down and threw them on the floor, and I could see Mitch’s smile when he looked at them.

  “You still love me,” I said and closed my eyes when I felt his hand along the inside of my thigh.

  “Sure do,” he chuckled. He kept teasing me, and when I felt his other hand reaching for my breast I opened my eyes. “What happened to Mech, the accounting, and the news?”

  “Fuck ‘em.” He leaned down and gave me a long kiss while his fingers played with me until my legs shook. “On your side,” he mumbled when he began unbuttoning his jeans.

  “Side?”

  He nodded. “Wanna try something.”

  Him ‘trying something’ was usually something really damn good, so I just pulled off my nightgown and did as he’d asked. Mitch pushed my upper leg up, as much as my belly would let him, and straddled my lower leg.

  “This okay?”

  “Yeah.” And the words had barely left my mouth before he pushed inside. “Oh!”

  He leaned over me and turned my head towards him.

  “Look at me.”

  I held his eyes with mine and ran my fingers over his chest and down the treasure trail and circled his dick to feel it going inside of me. When he groaned, I moved even further down to cup his balls in my hand.

  “I wish I had the bullet vibrator now,” I murmured, and he kissed me hard.

  “Don’t talk,” he groaned when he let go for a second before fusing his mouth to mine again.

  When he let go, I took a shot, “Seksual’naya tvar’.”

  “Oh, you bitch,” he chuckled.

  “Ty tak legko.”

  “More,” he said with a big smile and started to move faster.

  “O svoyey lyubvi ya gotov slagat’ legendy,” I mumbled, and it was the first time I’ve ever said that because I’d always thought it was so corny.

  Mitch stopped. “What does that mean?”

  “Why do you ask?” I pushed on his hip. “Kee
p moving.”

  “You blushed when you said it. But start with the first thing you said, what does it mean?”

  “Sexy beast,” I laughed, and he gave me a kiss. “The second means ‘you’re so easy.’”

  “I’m still more interested in the third,” he said and slowly rolled his hips. I groaned and pulled him down for a kiss. The position was amazing. Lying on my side was the most comfortable for me, and with my leg bent it was even better. He was leaning over me, but didn’t have to be careful to not squash Sprout, which made me wonder… “Tell me,” he said with another thrust.

  “I’ll tell you if you admit that Mac told you about this position.”

  “Yeah. He told me about three others that we’re gonna try, too.” He ran his hand over my belly and squeezed my breast, pinching my nipple. “Your turn.”

  “It’s corny,” I moaned since he just then pushed harder and deeper inside of me. “Something Russians say sometimes.”

  “I like your Russian things, Zvezda.”

  “I’m ready to write legends about my love.”

  He halted and stared at me, and then he started to fuck me, but he kept talking while he did. “I love you,” he groaned. “So fucking much. And I’m sorry I can’t say it in the fancy ways you can.”

  “There are no bad ways to say I love you.” His fingers hit my clit and I was getting there. “Don’t stop, Mitch.”

  He kept it up, and I came with a cry while I felt him grow harder, and he came just after me. He stayed on top of me, though.

  “So no bad ways to say I love you?” he asked while still panting.

  “No. It’s what you’re saying, not how you say it.”

  He pulled out of me and helped me to stand up. When he threw my nightgown at me, I felt slightly insulted for a second.

  “To dry off,” he explained. I still hadn’t gotten used to this part of having sex without a condom, and I didn’t particularly like it—semen running out of me. It also smelled, and Mitch knew I wanted to dry it off. I still wasn’t sure how the hell I’d missed it the first time, but I assumed the shower had taken care of it that time. “Also, if you use that to dry off, I might be able to convince you to sleep naked.”