His Beauty_The Wounded Souls

by Leah Sharelle

“Babe? Are you okay?” I asked, placing one hand on his soft hair and one on his cheek.

  Steel turned his mouth and peppered my palm with soft kisses.

  “We are having a baby, which fucking makes me so happy, Beauty. I love you, and that makes me fucking ecstatic. You love me, and that makes me beyond all kinds of happy and ecstatic. But, Mia, there is a guy out there, and he wants to take you and our baby away from me. And I won’t let that happen, because there is no happy and ecstatic without you, Mia. There isn’t anyone else for me, no other woman I want to have my kids, no other woman for the back of my bike.” Pressing his face into my lower belly, Steel gave it an open-mouthed kiss, and I sank to my knees.

  Raising my hands, I captured his face between them. This man loved me, he loved our child, and he would protect us with his life. Of that, there was absolutely no doubt.

  “Babe, nothing is going to happen to us because you won’t let that happen. I trust you, I love you, and Cooper Steel, I believe in you.” I didn’t get time to say anything else as his mouth descended on mine, his lips warm and seeking, soft and gentle. There was no tongue, but it was the most passionate and romantic kiss I had ever had with my man. Every pass of his lips showed me how much he loved me, how much I meant to him, and how scared he was that something was going to happen to the baby and me.

  Suddenly, I found myself on my back on the floor with Steel looming above me. Most of his weight was on his elbows, avoiding my tummy. Steel’s eyes bore into me, his beautiful green eyes so expressive and brimming with love. Love for our baby and me, and I could see his pain, his frustration, his need to protect me. Choking back tears, I ignored everything going on around us. It was something I was now used to. When Steel wanted to have one of these moments, it would happen wherever he wanted it—bedroom or the main room in the compound, it didn’t matter. Steel wanted me when he wanted me. Of course, he knew I drew the line at public sex, so that wasn’t ever going to happen.

  I reached out with my hands and pushed my fingers through his beautiful, long hair—I couldn’t get enough of his silky strands—and waited for him to speak. He needed a moment to get himself under control, not that he would ever hurt me, but this out of control situation with Rogue wasn’t sitting well with him. His first instinct was to take this guy out as quickly as possible, but his sniper training to find and eliminate as soon as possible just wasn’t going to work this time. They were working blind, and in the meantime, the women were in the firing line, which was something that the men of the Wounded Souls weren’t swallowing well.

  “Beauty, do you feel my heart beating?” he asked.

  He took one of my hands from the back of his neck and briefly kissed my knuckles before placing it against his chest. The warmth of his skin heated my hand, and I nodded slowly, nose to nose. At that moment, words were impossible.

  “It beats for you, Mia. Only you and our baby. Protecting you, Beauty, is my priority for you are my reason for breathing, my motivation to be a better man. You, Beauty, are the love of my life,” he whispered softly, his breath tickling my lips.

  Tears ran down my temples and into my hair at my ears as a choked sob left my mouth. Oh, God, any minute now, I was going to snort cry and ruin this perfect moment, a moment I was never going to forget, nor would I would ever let myself. Every time Steel pissed me off, annoyed me, or I wanted to choke him for his stupid caveman tendencies, I was going to pull this very moment from my memory and remember how wonderful he was, how romantic he was, how much he really loved me, and then I would forgive him for whatever he did wrong. Eventually.

  Smiling through my silly girlie tears, I pressed my lips to his.

  “You are everything to me, Cooper Steel, the beat of my heart, the alpha caveman I adore. And you are going to be a fabulous daddy to our little girl, babe,” I whispered softly, my lips still on his. “Now take me to bed and give me no less than five orgasms,” I said, lightening the mood. His grin was infectious and made me smile.

  “Anything you want, Mia, but let’s not set the bar too low,” he quipped, giving my lips a chaste kiss before pushing his luscious body off me and pulling me up off the floor.

  33

  STEEL

  “Steel, now I know you think it is risky, but I believe it will work.” Mannix tried to calm me, but it was way too late for that. Never in our years in the military would I have ever asked this of one of my brothers, and here I sat with this stupid fucked-up plan put on the table, and I was supposed to agree? No fucking way. Wasn’t fucking happening.

  Turning hard eyes on my president and former CO, I glared at him.

  “Pres? Got anything to say,” I ground out, my tone harsher than I had ever used with him.

  Booth had his lips pursed in contemplation, and I knew just from that look that I was fucked.

  Fuck!

  “I see no other way, brother. We will have eyes everywhere, and every contingency imaginable will be put in place,” he answered, making my blood run cold and boil at the same time. “We won’t let anything go wrong.”

  I wanted him to promise me that, but I would be waiting a fucking long time for that to happen. Nothing could be promised here except for shit to go wrong.

  “If you were in my position now, would you be jumping up and down to volunteer for this? Deck, would you?” I nailed Booth and Deck with what I hoped was a look that would change their minds on this absurd mission. Deck dropped his head for a second before looking back up at me.

  “No.” One simple word. One word I wanted to fucking yell at all of them.

  Booth looked at me, and his gaze never wavered. “No,” he admitted quietly.

  Throwing my hands up in the air, I growled in frustration.

  “Then why am I meant to agree to this?”

  “It’s too dangerous. There are far too many variables for things to go wrong. We can’t ask this of anyone.” Creed’s voice broke into the silent staring match.

  I whipped my head around and faced my road captain. Instantly, I knew where his head was going, and with one look between us, he had my back on this. Lifting my chin at my brother, I returned my glare back to the other men at the table. Darth was missing from this meeting. Normally, he would be there, and I also knew he would have my back with this, but Vegas had wanted to go home to see her mother and sisters, so he went as not only her man but as her detail. He would never admit it, but Vegas was his, and he would never see her go alone.

  “Booth, please. There has to be another way, please,” I begged my president. I sounded like a girl, but I didn’t give a shit. This was my fucking life on the line here, a life with my woman and my unborn child—and it was one fight I wouldn’t stop until I won.

  Booth scrubbed his hands down over his face. The man was stressed the fuck out. Being second in the club hierarchy, there was no one more than me—well, now Stella—who knew his struggles to keep everyone safe. When we started the club, we knew from the get-go that we wanted to stay on the right side of the law. The whole illegal guns and drugs thing were never going to be our thing. Our gun shop and range were operated strictly under the letter of the council by-laws, and our strip club had a strict ‘no sex, no touching’ policy. For years, we had prospered financially from these and our other businesses. Other MCs in our area had never bothered us with all that territory bullshit because they knew we were no threat to them or their dealings, so when Rogue popped up and started terrorising us, Booth’s stress levels multiplied.

  “Cooper, I have tried to come up with another plan of action. Do you think I really want to put you through this? I have a wife and child on the way, too, so I feel your trepidation and your pain, brother, but I am fucking responsible for the whole club—every member, every employee, every child. Deck is getting married tomorrow here, and I have two fucking men with automatic weapons positioned on the roof so no one takes pot shots at the fucking wedding party. This is happening because of me. This cunt is doing this because of me, so trust me, brother, I haven’t taken t
his decision lightly.” Booth’s voice was low and pained, his tone weary and tired, and his face looking much the same. Since Stella and he officially got together, Booth had dropped all the personal guilt he had carried since Afghanistan when his blood brother was killed. He had been, well, happy. It was fucking awesome to see, not just him but Deck and me as well. We were happy for the first time in a very long time.

  I gave all that credit to my beauty, and I was sure Deck and Booth credited their women for their chance at happiness, as well. Being in love was something I never expected in my future, but I had it, and there was no fucking way I was giving it up for anything or anyone. Losing it would kill me. Mia was my other half, the most important part of me that made me whole. Her beautiful smile stole my breath every time she graced me with one. She made my heart beat.

  Suddenly, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and the tingling sensation was something I knew well. Before I could turn to see the most beautiful woman in the world, I heard her sweet voice saying the worst thing that I never wanted to hear.

  “I’ll do it.”

  Fuck.

  Jumping out of my chair, I rushed over to Mia, who was standing in the doorway of the war room. She had to have been lingering to know what she agreed to, and that earned her a spanking. The women had slowly become more involved in the business of the club since Rogue came into the picture. We all decided they needed to be included, so they were better informed and aware of the dangers following them, but they knew the war room was off limits unless they were invited in, which was mostly when they needed a dressing down for doing bad shit. Stella and Charlotte knew that better than anyone since they’d copped a dressing down when they hid Stella’s injuries and the whole horrible story of being brutalised by her stepfamily from the club.

  “Mia, first off, you know you shouldn’t be anywhere near this room. And two, there ain’t no fucking way you are doing anything, so don’t even go there,” I told her, my face only centimetres from hers.

  Her beautiful chocolate eyes sparkled with fire, and I waited for the inevitable argument coming my way, but I didn’t give a shit. She wasn’t putting herself in danger.

  Pulling away, Mia narrowed her eyes at me before walking around me and moving further into the war room.

  “Booth, will it help if I do this?” she asked, completely ignoring my deep growl of frustration.

  If this were under any other circumstances, I would be proud as fuck the loyalty and love she was showing my club, but my heart couldn’t take this. We had no idea how stable in the head Tori was. She was hiding from us—that much we knew—since she hadn’t shown up for her shifts at the Bar and Grill or the strip club. She had to be on to us, not to mention her close ties with Callie. That scared the shit out of me because Callie hated her sister, with a passion, so I didn’t want Mia within spitting distance of that bitch.

  I glared at my president, but the arsehole refused to look at me. Because he was going to ask her to be involved in this stupid plan. Fuck!

  “I believe it will, yes. But this is totally up to you, sweetheart. The brothers are split with your participation in this plan. Deck, Mannix, and I are for it. Creed is against it, and I know Darth would vote against it if he were here. And, of course, your man has voiced his displeasure, loudly, but ultimately, it is up to you, Mia,” Booth replied quietly. Finally, he looked at me, his eyes resigned, but when those chocolate orbs turned to me, my stomach dropped. Because in them, I saw her decision. She was going to do it.

  “Cooper, your club deserves to be safe, and looking over our shoulders is getting old. Shiloh deserves to be able to play at the park without the possibility of someone sitting in a car with a high-powered rifle pointed at her. Our child deserves to be able to do the same one day, as does Charlotte’s and Stella’s babies.” Coming back to me, she lifted her hands to my face and cradled my cheeks between them. Her soft hands were like a balm to my torment.

  “I trust you, babe. You would never let any harm come to our baby or me, and neither will any of these men in this room. Let me do this. I promise to do everything you say, and I won’t play the hero. I just want this over, for everybody.” Her heartfelt words hit me exactly where she wanted them to hit.

  The club was growing, and it was a good thing. All the babies were due to be born in the coming months, and Lucky was coming back into the fold after recovering from being shot—more than likely by the hands of or the go-ahead from Rogue. Then there was the loss of Dundee. I knew we had to do this to get closer to Rogue, but fuck me. Wiring up my woman and getting her to lure Tori to the Bar and Grill after hours screamed clusterfuck in my book.

  Pressing my mouth to the inside of her soft palm, I groaned in defeat as I took her into my arms and crushed her curvy body to my hard one. I held her tight and looked over her head at Booth and Deck. As VP of this club, I had equal decision-making abilities. They could be vetoed, but then again, Booth’s could be, too. And I dared any fucker to veto any of the stipulations I was about to put down.

  “I want Creed and me positioned close with our sniper rifles, and I want to be able to hear every word Mia speaks. I want Mannix in the club, hiding somewhere so he can get to Mia if Tori starts to suspect anything. I mean, the fucking second I think Tori is onto her, Mannix shows himself and gets Mia out of there. We are all going to have communicators so I can hear every single word exchanged. And I want Mia in a bulletproof vest,” I demanded, silently daring anyone to disagree with me.

  “Absolutely. Anything you want,” Booth agreed straight away.

  “That’s good because I also want the lead on this one.” I challenged my president and former CO. This demand was non-negotiable. If my woman was putting herself and my baby at risk, then I was going to be the one to call the shots.

  Booth nodded his head slowly. “Fair enough. This is your mission, your plan, your call, so you are in charge,” he promised, which I knew wasn’t easy for him to do. As our CO, Booth had taken the responsibilities of that title very seriously. He directed us through hundreds of missions and kept us whole—until the last one.

  I waited for the panic to set in and the need to run off to the workout room to exhaust myself physically until the memories disappeared, but I only felt fear for Mia and this crazy-arse scheme to get Tori to confess. Despite all that, I literally felt my shoulders lift, free from the weight of all the shit from fucked-up day in the desert. I had Mia to thank for that. Her unwavering support even when I had been a dick to her, flaunting Callie in her face, the mixed signals I’d sent her, and then going back into her sister's arms. Fuck, Mia stayed and helped me see the light even when I lost all my facilities and proposed! Then with my injury, she made me see that it was a part of me and not something to be ashamed of or something to hide.

  Without her, I would have gone back to being a shell of a man who loathed himself, wallowing in the pity parties I loved to throw myself with the faceless women and emptiness. I didn’t want that anymore because Mia had shown me the sunshine, the beauty of living again. I wanted Mia, and I wanted our baby, but I wanted it without shadows lurking in the background—Rogue, Callie, Tori. To be rid of that darkness, I had to follow through with this plan, no matter how bitter the taste was in my mouth from it.

  Taking a deep breath, I pushed my face into Mia’s, nose to nose. Her brown eyes swam with emotion. Emotion for me.

  I took her hand and pressed it to my chest where my heart sat beating for her. I placed my own hand in the same spot on her chest, and the steady staccato beneath my palm was a balm to my wounds.

  “We do this my way. You do everything I tell you, no questions, no sass. If Tori is the one giving out intel on the club, then that means she knows Rogue. And that cunt isn’t getting anywhere near you,” I said firmly. On this, I wasn’t budging. Mia’s safety and the safety of our child depended on her following my every directive to the letter.

  “I promise, Cooper, but nothing is going to happen because you will be there.”
Her smile—my smile—was wide and bright, but it was her trust that floored me, bringing me to my knees.

  “Fuck, I love you, Beauty. I love you to the fucking moon and stars and back,” I whispered before I crashed my mouth to hers, nipping, and sucking at her lips. She opened for me immediately, and our tongues found each other. Fuck, I wished we were alone. Fucking my woman on the war room table would make for some pleasant daydreaming during future meetings.

  “Okay, before you start ripping her clothes off and traumatising us for the rest of time, maybe we should get to the details. I still have to get married tomorrow,” Deck said drily.

  Not removing my lips from Mia’s, I lifted the middle finger of my free hand, which earned a round of chuckles from my brothers.

  Mia giggled against my lips, but because we were so lost in each other, we both missed the look of pain that flashed across Creed’s face.

  34

  Mia

  “I now pronounce you husband and wife. Deck, go on, and kiss your woman for the fifth time since standing up here,” the chaplain said, and we all laughed as Deck gathered Charlotte up into his arms and laid a kiss on her that would have been frowned upon by normal wedding standards. But not here at the Wounded Souls’ compound.

  The kiss continued for long seconds, causing the wedding party and guests to hoot and holler, stamping their feet in congratulations for the blissfully happy couple. I glanced over at Steel, who stood on the other side of the makeshift altar, looking handsome in his new black slacks, new white body-hugging tee, and, of course, his cut and gave him a happy smile. This was where I hoped we ended up, sooner rather than later. I hadn’t voiced this to him yet, but I wanted to be married before our bub arrived. It wasn’t a deal-breaker or anything like that because, honestly, I would take Cooper Steel anyway I could get him. But my dream of being his wife burned in me like a craving.

  Steel winked at me, and his stunning green eyes sparkled with happiness, but I still saw the trepidation in them. After tonight’s festivities, the happy couple and their daughter would leave to go on their honeymoon. Well, Deck and Charlotte were going on their honeymoon, but Booth and Deck had made the decision to send Shiloh off to Deck’s parents while he was away. The men’s plan for tomorrow would leave Stella, one of the prospects, and Vegas, who arrived back first thing this morning with Darth, here. It was decided last night in the war room—which, I might add, I was allowed to stay in while they planned—that Jason, Deck’s brother, needed to be kept out of this one. His brother status gave him an affiliation to the club, but his dedication to his job and the rulebook meant the men weren’t too sure where he would land on the whole ‘two snipers with big-arse rifles keeping me safe’ issue.