His Beauty_The Wounded Souls

by Leah Sharelle

  Discretely, I reached down and palmed my dick through my pants. The fucker was so hard that there was no way I was going to be able to get back on my bike anytime soon.

  “They left the compound without a detail? Booth, you better tell me someone has eyes on my woman and Mia,” Deck shouted into his phone again, catching Darth’s and my attention.

  “Brother.” I growled. Something was wrong. Deck was sitting in front of me, losing his shit with Booth. My gut knew it had something to do my woman going out with Teach. A cold shiver of dread ran down my spine. Rogue was out there somewhere, and he had a big, red target on my beauty.

  Deck pulled in a harsh breath, and I could almost hear him mentally counting to ten. He dropped the phone from his ear and tapped on the screen to put it on speakerphone, setting it down between us on the table.

  “Pres, what’s going on?” Using all my training, I tried to keep my voice calm and in control, but my heart was beating so fast that I could feel the beats in my throat.

  “I took Stella to the baby furniture shop today. I left the compound in the hands of Ford, Seb, and Squid. Mannix and Creed have been crisscrossing between all the businesses today.” I could tell Booth was pissed off. This whole Rogue situation had him feeling completely out of control, and control was what Booth was all about.

  “Where is my woman?” Deck shouted again, his teeth grinding, and his jaw ticking. I had no doubt that he was remembering the car accident she had been in and her car exploding in the car park of the same clinic Mia had an appointment at today. I could understand his unease. My woman was more than likely with Teach at that very clinic.

  Alone. And without detail.

  “Why the fuck didn’t Squid or Seb go with them?” I asked. I swore those fucking prospects had dropped the ball one time too many lately.

  Booth let out a frustrated sigh. I could picture him pacing in the war room and running his hands through his hair in desperation. I understood his pain. I couldn’t lose Mia, not now. Not ever.

  “They were busy, and the girls apparently didn’t want to bother them, so they went on their own. Shiloh is with Zoe’s parents and Jason for two days, so Charlotte must have thought it was okay to go,” Booth muttered. “I sent Creed to the clinic. He just called and has them safe and sound. The prospects are under a club inquiry, and Ford will be getting his arse kicked as soon as he climbs out of his tech cave.”

  Fucking Creed. Of course, he was riding to Mia’s rescue. When wasn’t he? I didn’t care if it was irrational or just plain old-fashioned jealousy. I didn’t want him near Mia while I was not around to keep an eye on him. Mia was mine, and I would be telling him that as soon as I could get my arse back home. Then I was going to spank my beauty’s delicious behind.

  “I will deal with them when Creed escorts them back to the compound. It is time we sit our women down and tell them more than we already have. It’s time they understand just how much this guy wants to hurt them,” Booth said ominously.

  Booth’s last statement hit me right in the heart. I knew he was right, but I was scared as fuck Mia would panic and run off and take our baby with her.

  “Don’t yell at Charlie, Booth,” Deck warned, fury radiating off him.

  “I suggest you stand down, sergeant. I will conduct myself in my club any way I see fit. This is not the first time the girls have taken off without detail, Charlotte and my wife included. It’s time they understood their stupid actions could have dire consequences. And may I remind you, Deck, my own wife is pregnant, too, and I would never yell at her, so why would I yell at yours?” The line went dead, and Deck picked up his phone and locked the screen.

  “Fuck.” Deck groaned. His handling of the conversation had not been ideal, obviously clouded by his obsession and love for his wife. Another thing I could understand completely.

  “Brothers, I think you should both call your women, and then let’s get on with the mission. I don’t know about you, but I want to go home and kiss my girl,” Darth declared as he stood up and walked out of the gas station café we’d stopped at for a lunch break. Darth refused to call Vegas his woman, but he did just refer to her as his girl. If I weren’t consumed with worry, I would consider asking Darth his reason for that.

  Maybe I would later.

  22

  Mia

  “It’s possible we are in trouble,” Charlotte muttered, sitting beside me in the war room.

  This was the first time I had ever been in the men’s meeting room. It was not what I expected. Not that I ever imagined the room before, but being in here now, it was not what I thought it would be.

  “I was expecting lots of computer screens and those big glass walls that you can write on with black markers. You know like on Blackhawk Down,” I whispered, or at least I thought I did, but when Booth let out a growl of utter annoyance, I knew I was busted.

  “Mia, that is a transparent plotting board in an operations room. This is not an operations room, and the only plotting being done is me plotting how to keep you two under control until your men get back. And yes, you are both in trouble,” he told me with a growl as he narrowed his eyes at both Charlotte and me.

  I knew Steel wasn’t coming back for a few more days because he called not long after we arrived back at the compound, escorted by an extremely pissed-off Creed riding our bumper all the way back. Creed still hadn’t spoken to me. He walked us into the main room and took off straightaway. When I called out to him, he had merely shaken his head, not looking me in the eye once, and Creed always made eye contact, it was his thing. He was like a human lie detector that saw into your soul, or at least, that was how it felt, and Steel had the same ability. It was rather annoying most of the time. This time, however, I missed it. I may not be in love with Creed, but I did love him. And Creed being mad at me was not sitting well.

  Steel, on the other hand, was flat out furious with me. His call had not been fun or a loving reunion, nor was it a phone-sex call. It was just a pissed off, growling, ex-sniper, possible baby daddy not happy with the possible mummy for not using her brain and putting herself and possible baby in danger. It had gone on for some time with me not getting any chance to say anything at all, and then I hung up on him. He didn’t even ask about the blood test, not that there had been much to tell. I mean, a nurse came in, put a tight thingy around my arm, stuck me with a needle, took two vials of blood, and that was it. Results would arrive in two days, end of story.

  “Mia, you are working the bar here in the compound until further notice. Teach, you are helping Stella with anything she needs help with. No heavy lifting,” Booth added and pointed his finger at her belly.

  “That fucking man of yours is losing his shit, and I do not want to deal with his arse anymore today. So, for the love of God, behave. Mia, where is your phone? Steel is blowing up mine with text messages saying you aren’t answering him.”

  Pouting, I crossed my arms. “I turned it off. He yelled at me and said I was stupid. He wouldn’t let me talk, so I hung up on him and turned it off,” I admitted, feeling how Shiloh must feel when she got suspended from day care on a regular basis.

  Booth moved from his position at the front of the table and knelt down in front of me.

  “Sweetheart, this is serious stuff. There is a man out there with an alarming grudge against the patches of the club. He is trying to get to us through our women. He nearly achieved that when he attacked Charlotte, Shiloh, and my wi… my wife.” Booth stopped and took in a deep breath, his jaw clenching, showing how hard this was for him. To remember the horrible things that happened to Stella at the hands of Rogue, her stepbrothers, and stepfather. He’d come so close to losing her and the happiness of becoming a father.

  Reaching out, I placed my hand on his shoulder. It was a small touch, but it seemed to be enough to help him to go on.

  “You are next on his list, sweetheart. All of the evidence points to that. You have to use that brain of yours, and be more vigilant. I am severely down on manpower he
re, and I can’t keep eyes on you, so I need you to help me out. Taking stupid chances like you both did today has to stop. Worrying Steel and Deck unnecessarily has to stop.” Booth glared over at Charlotte, who had the decency to look contrite. Booth was right. Our actions were just making the stress of the situation worse.

  “I’m sorry, Pres, you’re right,” I conceded, hating the fact I was acting so childish over this and the whole Callie shit.

  “Mia, Steel is with you all the way. Whether you are pregnant or not, he is with you. Not Callie. You have to accept that even though he was once with her, he is not anymore.” Placing his hands on my lower belly, he pressed gently. “Cut Steel some slack, Mia. This is new to him. Since he lost his leg, he has taken the safe path, the easy path, which was Callie. You are his true path, but if you can’t walk it with him, then let him go and let him find someone else who can.” Booth pressed a kiss to my forehead and then got to his feet in one fluid motion.

  “Call him, sweetheart. He needs to hear from you. Come on, Teach, you need a nap according to your fiancé,” he informed her, rolling his beautiful grey eyes in exasperation, but the glint in them told me something else. The women of the Wounded Souls men may give them conniption fits and severe headaches, but they loved us and would protect us with their very lives.

  I needed to call Steel and eat a very large serving of humble pie.

  Then maybe after that, some phone sex may be in order. Most definitely.

  23

  STEEL

  “I just want you safe, Beauty, that’s all. I am so far away from you and useless if something was to happen. Please, Beauty, please do as Booth asks,” I begged, my hand gripping the phone so tight, it was possible I might crack it.

  “I will, babe, I promise. You won’t have to worry anymore.” Her sweet voice coming across the phone line warmed me like her arms would if she were here with me. After she hung up on me earlier, I’d let out my frustrations on Darth. The big prick offered to let me try to kick his arse, and, unfortunately for him, I did. Just. He got in quite a few shots, one hitting me in the eye, and now I had a nasty shiner. Bastard.

  But it helped. I burnt up a lot of my anger, and I started to think about why Mia hung up on me, which made me realise I would have hung up on me, too. I went completely alpha male on her, yelled, demanded, and commanded her. Then I realised I didn’t even ask her how the blood tests went or how she was feeling. Nothing.

  “I will always worry about you, Mia. Always,” I whispered into the phone.

  Fuck, I wanted to hold her in my arms, lie down with her, and listen to her heartbeat, the most soothing sound in the world.

  “How was the test? Did it hurt?” I asked the questions I should have asked her instead of yelling at her.

  Mia’s soft giggle filled my ears. “No, babe, it didn’t hurt, just a sting and a few minutes later, two vials of blood. I asked the doctor if she could rush the results, so we should have them in a day or two.”

  Another kind of warmth moved through my body. I liked the way she said we, not I.

  “When are you coming home?”

  Home. I liked that, too. I liked it a lot.

  “Argh, I’m not sure. Lucky’s recovery is pretty slow. We met with him yesterday but didn’t bother questioning him. He was tired and in pain, so we are meeting with him again the day after tomorrow. He is keen to find out not only who shot him but if there is a connection between that and Rogue. So what have you been up to?”

  I heard rustling coming from her end, and I imagined her in my bed.

  “Not much. Booth has me working here at the club behind the bar. He says I can’t go out again until Deck, Darth, and you get back. Although he is allowing a quick outing tomorrow so I can buy some more clothes and personal stuff. He has Tori and some of the other dancers covering my shifts at the Bar and Grill, and Rainn is covering their shifts at the strip club, which, for some reason, is turning Mannix into a crazy person. Shiloh gave me a timeout because Trigger is sleeping on our bed with me while you are gone. And I miss you,” she said all in a rush. My sniper mind catalogued all the information she threw at me and filed away the not as important stuff for later, but there were a few things she said that I wanted to explore more.

  “You miss me, eh?” I teased. I liked that. I liked that my dog was protecting her and that she thought of my bed as ours already.

  “Yeah.” She breathed softly, making my heart skip a beat. “Cooper?”

  “Yeah, Beauty?”

  “Why didn’t you have sex with me that night after you made me come with your mouth and my fingers?”

  Fuck, fuck, fuck. This was not a conversation I wanted to have on the phone with Darth sitting mere feet away in a small motel room playing Call of Duty. This needed to be done in person as I looked into her beautiful, chocolate eyes and listened to her heartbeat against me.

  “Beauty, please don’t do this. It wasn’t what you think. When I get back, we will talk, okay?”

  God, how could I have been so stupid? I knew the night I dropped Mia off at work she had been upset.

  Even as I kissed her goodbye, I felt her pulling back from me. Making her come was at the top of my list of favourite things to do, but fuck, I had wanted to make love to her that night, and I should have. But I wanted to have sex with me on top, only my leg had been aching so badly after our previous sexcapades that I just couldn’t.

  I loved her riding me, fucking love it. I wanted to prove that I could still be the man I once was before I lost my leg. I wanted to feel like a man. Pound into her, get up on my knees and lose control with her, but I didn’t want to fail at it, either, by stumbling my way through it only to have her laugh at me.

  Callie laughed at me. I got over it.

  But Mia? I couldn’t handle it if she did. I knew she wouldn’t, well, the logical part of my brain did but my heart... Jesus, I was fucking up with Mia left and right.

  I had to stop comparing Mia to Callie. Stop measuring one against the other. Otherwise, I could possibly lose the best thing in my life. My chest started to ache. I wouldn’t lose Mia. Wasn’t happening.

  “Okay, Stud, we will talk when you get back,” Mia whispered, but I knew better. I could see her trying to put a bright smile on her face. I had seen her do it many times when Callie was at the club, or she and I were playing pool or sitting on one of the couches in the main room. She would smile, but it never reached her eyes. And that was a shame because when Mia smiled, her eyes shone like melted chocolate. I wanted to be the one to keep those eyes smiling.

  “Mia, I love you,” I murmured, keeping my voice low—one, so that Darth didn’t hear, and two, because this moment called for gentleness. Ideally, Mia should be in front of me or underneath me when I said those words to her for the first time, holding her close and hearing her heart beating against my naked chest, but I had hurt her. And that stopped now.

  She gasped in shock. “Cooper—”

  “No, don’t say that I don’t. Don’t say that I don’t know what I am saying. I know my heart, Beauty, and my heart belongs to you. Baby or no baby, you own me, Mia Stone. And only you.” I growled, desperate to halt any protest she created. “I love you. I am in love with you so fucking deep, there is no way to get me out,” I pressed.

  She had to say it back. She just had to.

  Please, love me too, Beauty, I prayed into the silence.

  “Oh, Cooper, I love you so much,” she cried, her sobbing breaking my heart and making it beat harder all at the same time.

  “Say it again,” I demanded.

  Laughing, she did just that. “I do love you, and I have for so long now, a deep soulful love.”

  Groaning, I closed my eyes and took a breath, letting the words and feeling roll through me, warming me like a blanket.

  24

  Mia

  “Congratulations, Ms Stone, according to your HCG levels, you are definitely pregnant. It is quite early in the pregnancy, but it looks to be roughly two weeks. In a coup
le of weeks, we will perform an ultrasound to get a more accurate gestation and possible due date. If you like, you can hold the line, and my receptionist can make a booking for you, or if you would prefer, you can ring back after you have digested this information.”

  “Um, yes, that would be best. Bye.” Disconnecting the call, I sank to my butt on the edge of the bed.

  Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

  “I’m pregnant,” I whispered aloud. Trigger was the only one to hear me. She rested her muzzle on my knee and looked at me with drowsy eyes as I absently stroked her ears. “You miss him too, hey, girl.”

  Her whimpered answer made me laugh.

  “Oh, Trigger, what are we going to do? This was not supposed to happen so quickly.” Hell, I never thought it would happen at all! Sex with Steel, then his super sperm gets me on the first try. The baby is an unexpected, lovely surprise, not that I ever seriously thought of having a child before. My childhood was fraught with being second best and living in the shadow of my older sister. My dad showed signs of loving me until Mum stepped in and reminded him who the boss was in their relationship. Eventually, he just accepted the status quo and rolled with it.

  That had hurt more than anything my mother or sister threw at me. I felt love from my father, so when he stopped, I felt that loss. I never forgave him, and when he and Mum passed, I mourned what should have been. It had been his love I wanted back. There was nothing I wanted from my mother.

  “Hey, preggers? Daddy, Darth, and Unca Coops are nearly home. Ford said that their trackers are close.” Shiloh’s excited voice interrupted my melancholy mood. Did she—did she just call me preggers?

  “Shiloh Johnston, get your little tush in here now,” I called back to her. I waited for a few seconds as I listened to the clicking sounds of nails on the hard floors, then the stomping of size three shitkickers. Holding back my grin to my newest nickname, I put on my sternest face as she slunk through the doorway. When her fat puppy, C.O.D, saw Trigger, she bounded into the room, grunting and yapping at the German shepherd, who took it all in her stride. Such a good dog.