His Beauty_The Wounded Souls

by Leah Sharelle

  “Yeah, and now I need food. Lots of junky, creamy, sugary Stella-made goodies,” Charlotte told us, causing all of our stomachs to rumble their agreement.

  “I have fresh batches of caramel slice, vanilla slice, and apple strudel,” Stella said, laughing at our groans of appreciation. The woman could cook like no one else. God help me if I was pregnant because I had noticed Charlotte sneaking into the kitchen at all hours, only to come out with an orgasmic look on her face and what I assumed to be a well-fed stomach.

  Gathering up all of the face towels and water bottles, I started towards the door when a ruckus in the main room caught all of our attention.

  “The men are back,” Stella said knowingly.

  The guys went out on their bikes earlier this morning, leaving the prospects here to guard the compound. Steel had left with not much more than a sexy wink in my direction, but in his room, he had kissed me senseless while his hands made friends with my breasts for the hundredth time since last night. It had been hot and heavy and left me wanting more, much more, which was pretty unbelievable considering he took me again after we had woken up. Okay, so I had unprotected sex three times, but Rainn didn’t need to know about that one. It was bad enough that I knew it.

  The only thing that put a bit of a damper on my high was the fact that Steel asked me to go into the bathroom so he could put on his prosthesis. I hadn’t seen much of it during our amazing lovemaking sessions. I felt the lack of leg, of course, but he was still hiding it from me. If we were to be a couple, this was something he was going to have to deal with. Trust was a big part of a relationship. As was love. I needed both of them to be happy. I loved him, and I trusted him… mostly. Could he reciprocate? Argh, my mind needed a break. Sugary Stella goodies really did sound good right about then.

  Shiloh came up from behind me at a fast trot with her puppy following behind her, the pudgy-bodied cutie waddling as fast as its tiny little legs could carry it.

  I walked out into the main room and saw Steel and the other members all making their way to the club’s bar. They all had grim faces, and Deck looked ready to kill someone. Oh, shit, what has happened now? I turned to Charlotte to see if she had noticed her fiancé’s pissed-off face.

  I heard a cute voice loudly yelling words that were going to get me into a lot of trouble. “You are in big trouble, hot, sexy stud. You didn’t wrap it, and now you knocked up Aunt Mia. Daddy, I need a effing Fanta. Pronto.”

  Double shit, bugger, fuck.

  17

  STEEL

  “That fucking arsehole will find his face full of my fist soon.” Deck growled as he pushed through the compound’s huge door.

  Ford came up with some intel that had that fucker Shifty’s name coming up more than once. Intel that insinuated he and Rogue were in business together. Booth being Booth, and one of the smartest men I knew, added two and two together and came up with Shifty being the reason Rogue knew so much about the women of the club’s whereabouts at all times. How he knew was still an unanswered question.

  “Deck, I know you want that dickwad, but for now, I want you to keep a rein on that temper. When the time is right, you can do whatever the fuck you want to him. Until then, stay in control,” Booth warned the SAA. His tone held an air of his old role as our former lieutenant, a tone none of us had ever disobeyed. Not once.

  “You know, at some point, we are going to have to broach the fact that someone is feeding Shifty information, and they are more than likely from the club,” Creed said quietly.

  Looking at Booth, I could see he was struggling big time with this realisation. He, like the rest of us, valued the very core of respect and honour.

  This had been playing on my mind during the entire ride back to the compound. A traitor in our own club was abhorrent, and with all of us being from the military, not one of us could comprehend such a fucking insult. I knew the men in front of me—Booth, Creed, Mannix, Deck, and Darth—had no such ability to do that. They had my back, and I had theirs. I opened my mouth to voice just that when Shiloh and her pup, C.O.D, burst from the ladies’ dance room. I loved what she called her dog. Typical Shiloh and typical Darth, too. I knew that big prick had a lot to do with her decision. Deck was just relieved and happy she could be talked out of calling the bulldog Motherfucker.

  “You are in big trouble, hot, sexy stud. You didn’t wrap it, and now you knocked up Aunt Mia. Daddy, I need a effing Fanta. Pronto,” she shouted, her pixie voice echoing around the now quiet main room.

  Fuck me in the arse.

  She couldn’t be, could she? It was far too early to know that. Wasn’t it?

  Plus we used a... Oh, shit a brick.

  No, we didn’t. Three times we lost ourselves in each other, and no birth control was used. I did not wrap it. Thank you, Shiloh.

  Fuck.

  No one was talking.

  The whole club just gawked at me—members, prospects, and a few of the ladies who hung around the compound before they went to work at the Bar and Grill or the strip club.

  A small gasp of surprise caught my attention. Whipping my head around, I saw the flock standing by the pool table. They all had their mouths open, staring back and forth between Shiloh and me. I could tell Charlotte wanted to reprimand Squirt for her cursing, but the other subject matter was far more appealing to them. I narrowed in on Mia, and with just one look at her pretty blushing cheeks, I had my answer.

  It might be too early to take a test, but I would bet my new Harley that Mia was carrying my kid.

  Fuck, yes. I was a stud.

  “Got something to tell me, Beauty?” I asked her, finally finding my voice and breaking the awkward silence.

  Mia looked like she was waiting for the floor to open and suck her in, away from the situation and me. But there was no need because I couldn’t be happier. I wanted a kid. This kid.

  With Mia.

  It made no sense, none at all, but that didn’t change the fact that right in front of me, nearly in the palm of my hand, was the chance I had always wanted to have a family. Before I lost my leg, I never gave it a second thought. I had been too busy having any girl I wanted and becoming the best sniper in the history of the commandos.

  It wasn’t until the worst day of my life that I realised I might have lost my chance. But here in front of me, in the form of this beautiful, petite, chocolate-eyed woman, it was possible I was finally getting that chance.

  Mia’s mouth thinned as she narrowed her pretty eyes at me.

  “There is nothing to tell. Yet. So if you will excuse me, I am going to head back to Rainn’s place. I am on at six,” she said as she tried to pass by me, but I blocked her path to the door. She was not leaving until we talked. Did she honestly think Shiloh could drop that kind of bombshell and then not explain anything to me?

  “You aren’t on at six. Tori is rostered for tonight,” I informed her, glancing over at Tori, who was watching the drama unfold just like everyone else, but she was taking far too much interest in what was going on for my liking. I did not like Tori. As a waitress, she was okay. She turned up for shifts on time but flirted a bit too much with the patrons. As a dancer at the strip club, she was better than okay. Granted, she was no Rainn, but who was? Rainn was in a class of her own. Returning my attention to Mia, I waited for her to explain.

  Mia started to twirl her hair around her finger. Her tell. It was her go-to move when she was nervous or uncomfortable. This situation called for her to be nervous, I got that, and being uncomfortable was also understandable, but there was something else. Something I wasn’t going to like.

  “I’m doing at shift at Body and Souls,” she said quietly. Too quietly. And I got it. This would be the first time back to Body and Souls since the night Stella, Rainn, and Mia were accosted by Stella’s stepfather––who we now believed to be Rogue. The night Stella was attacked and kidnapped. The night Mia called me, and I broke her heart. Fuck, I was such an idiot.

  Ignoring our audience, I moved closer to Mia and to
ok both of her small hands in my much larger ones. I liked how perfectly she fit with me, how her hands felt in mine, even though they were extremely cold. We fit. Why hadn’t I seen this before? Callie hadn’t been a hand holder, not unless it was for a public display of affection that suited her needs, to show off to one of the other girls that she had the VP at her beck and call. But she would drop our joined hands the minute we were alone.

  Mia liked to touch me, and I liked to touch her.

  “Beauty, please come with me, and we can talk. Then I will take you to the club and wait for you to finish your shift.” I kept my voice low and gentle. I didn’t want everyone in on this conversation, and I didn’t want Mia to think she had cause to be scared of going back to Body and Souls. What happened to her that night was horrible and scary, and I hated that she had to go through it, but she wasn’t going to face this alone.

  Holding her hands to my warm chest, I tried to infuse some of my warmth into her hands. Her eyes followed my actions, and a small smile finally played on her edible lips. I waited for a few seconds, my heart thumping wildly in my chest, and then she nodded. Thank God.

  “Okay, babe,” she agreed, and I gave her my biggest smile.

  Okay then, now I started to fight. Fight for my fucking life. A life with Mia and our kid.

  18

  Mia

  I followed Steel down the hallway to his rooms. His hand was firmly holding mine as if he was worried I was going to escape and run for the hills.

  I wasn’t running.

  I would follow this man wherever he asked and back again. I was worried this made me weak, stupid, or even foolish. But my heart didn’t seem to be able to keep up with my mind. Upon entering the room, I moved further inside, trying to ignore the messed-up bed sheets, sheets that were messed up by Steel and me. My body still tingled with the memory of his hands and mouth all over me, and between my legs was still deliciously achy with the stretched feeling of him inside me.

  “Mia, are you still here with me?”

  I shook my head slightly and felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment. I was so transparent when it came to this man. Sometimes, he saw everything, and sometimes, he couldn’t see what was right in front of his face.

  “It is possible I am pregnant. I won’t know for sure for another couple of weeks,” I blurted out, not seeing any reason to prolong the conversation he demanded we have. I really wanted to know why he was smiling like me being pregnant was the best thing that could happen. Apart from the baby, it really wasn’t ideal. He was hooked on my sister, he slept with my sister, and he used to want my sister.

  Argh, I hated that word.

  Sister.

  To me, it just reminded me of a childhood full of Callie being better than me, Callie receiving all my parents’ attention, and Callie not being able to do wrong. But me? I was always in all sorts of trouble and got blamed for everything. Not getting the money for the expensive clothing shops, not getting my hair done every four weeks to keep it pretty. Every cent went on her while I just got the scraps that were thrown my way. That included my parents’ love. They loved Callie, and they never hid the fact that they favoured her. Her birth had been planned and eagerly anticipated, but I was a mistake. My mother had sailed through Callie’s pregnancy without an issue, no stretch marks, no extra weight gain, a dream delivery, and the end result was a dream baby. She was not so lucky with me, suffering swollen ankles, gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, and thirty-six hours of labour that resulted in an emergency C-section from hell. Add that she didn’t get the boy she desired, which would have given her the perfect pigeon pair, and the amount of blood loss led to a necessary hysterectomy, leaving her with no chance of having the boy she craved, she blamed me. How I knew this? Because she and my father never let an opportunity go by without reminding me. Growing up in Callie Stone’s shadow did not evoke nice memories. So to have the man who owned my heart be as into Callie as my parents just added to my heartache.

  Steel nodded his head slowly, his lips thinning.

  “Is it possible to find out any earlier?” he asked, looking directly at my stomach.

  “Um, yeah, I think there is a blood test you can get after seven days from conception. Why?” I was confused as to why he didn’t want to wait. I was torn between wanting to know now, wanting to bury my head in the sand and not find out at all, or being one of those women who magically gave birth without knowing they were pregnant in the first place.

  “Mia, we could have a life that we created already growing inside your belly. I want to know for sure as soon as possible.” There was excitement in his voice that I hadn’t heard from him before. Was he looking forward to being a father even though I would be the mother? Or did he just want to know that the results were negative so he could breathe a sigh of relief that he dodged a bullet? God, I was so confused and pathetic. Why couldn’t I be more in tune with the woman intuition thing? Reading a man, especially this man, was totally beyond my abilities.

  “Cooper, I—” My words stopped abruptly as Steel moved lightning fast and lifted me up into his arms. Then I felt myself flying through the air, hitting the bed with a bounce.

  His body instantly covered mine.

  “I fucking love it when you call me Cooper. No one calls me that except for you and Shiloh, although she calls me Unca Coop.” He smiled, and then his lips were on mine with a slow, gentle pressure that held a promise of great things to come.

  Raising my hands, I found a length of his hair and combed my fingers through it. I adored his hair, and I loved it when he wore it loose. Occasionally, he put it in a bun when he did something where his hair could become a hindrance, similar to the way Darth did, but mostly it was down and straight. It reached past his shoulders but not quite as long as his club brother. And the colour. It was a sexy dark blond with lighter blond highlights. Some might have said dirty blond, but I didn’t like that description. There was nothing dirty about Steel’s looks. Only his glorious mouth had the ability to be dirty, beautifully and amazingly dirty.

  I let out a long moan when his lips moved from my mouth and attached to the column of my throat, giving my sensitive skin the attention of that talented, dirty mouth as he licked and sucked in tandem, going back and forth between the two kisses. Arching, I gave him more access, and he took it, his five o’clock shadow scratching and leaving a red mark I was sure, as his mouth travelled over my skin. Hmm, whisker burn, another item struck off my bucket list.

  “I could fucking taste your sweet, smooth skin all night.” He growled against the top of my breast, which was still covered by my T-shirt.

  I must have stunk from the workout the girls, and I had in the dance room, so my skin should have tasted anything but sweet. Sweaty sounded more accurate. Suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed that I probably smelt, I tried to push his mouth away.

  “Babe, I probably should have a shower. Pole dancing for a couple of hours does not make me taste sweet.” I tried to put some distance between my skin and his mouth, but he was too strong, too far gone into the moment, and he wouldn’t have it.

  “I fucking love it when you call me babe, too, and I really, really fucking love the thought of you dancing around a pole, but for my eyes only.” He sounded possessive like, well, Deck and Booth. Their protectiveness of their women was something to envy, and I had always wanted to have it, but Steel feeling that way about me? My dreams were made of that. But this was not a dream. No, right now was real. His hands bunched my T-shirt and bra under my chin, exposing my breasts. The quick action caused them to bounce.

  “Another thing I fucking love. Damn, Mia, your tits are perfect. Your nipples are so pretty and made for sucking.” I couldn’t form a response as his mouth sucked said nipple into his hot, wet mouth.

  “Harder, Cooper, do it harder.” I moaned, my hands threading through his hair and pulling his head closer to me. Oh, yes, this could definitely make me come. Most definitely.

  His grunt of approval vibrated against my tem
pered skin, adding more fuel to my fire. He sucked harder and took more of my breast into his mouth, not just my nipple. Steel was making me burn. Making a meal out of me.

  Steel released my flesh with a wet pop, but I didn’t have time to protest the loss of his mouth as he dragged his tongue along the valley between my breasts and down to my flat tummy, taking his time to kiss and lick there, too. Kissing his child maybe? I didn’t want to read into the gesture too much. I just wanted to feel. If there was a baby, we could deal with that later when my head was on straight, and I was able to acknowledge we may very well be a split family. Right now and at this very moment, I just wanted to feel.

  Replacing my hands to his head, I urged him to go lower, to leave my belly and the love he was bestowing on it.

  “What do you want, Beauty?” His eyes caught mine, the green pools lit with desire. If he asked, maybe I should just tell him.

  “Your mouth on me and your tongue licking me. I want to come on your tongue,” I wantonly ordered him.

  “Fuck, Mia.” He groaned as his hands ripped at my workout shorts, taking my thong with them, baring me to him.

  I opened my legs and showed him where I wanted him. I didn’t have to touch myself to know I was soaked. I had been wet for this man for years—since the day my sister brought him to our place for the first time, riding behind him on his bike, the day I fell madly and deeply in love with him.

  His hooded eyes looked at my pussy, but he didn’t touch, not yet.

  I needed him to, though. I needed to come. My hands found their way down my body to my hot core. If he wasn’t going to touch me, I would do it myself. Spreading my fingers into a V shape, I opened my labia so Steel could see what he was doing to me. I felt the slickness of my cream, and I could hear his sexy growls for me.

  “Jesus, Beauty. That is so fucking sexy. Put your finger in, just one, Beauty.”