Her Prince (The Wounded Souls Series Book 6)

by Leah Sharelle

  The doctor explained she would be right to go within a few weeks. Once everything returned to normal for her, we went at it like rabbits. Shiloh wasn’t all that worried, but I sure as fuck was. I wanted my seed growing in her as soon as possible.

  I dumped the big-arse bag on the kitchen island and sighed. My arms might be big, but hell, that was heavy.

  A strange snoring from the corner of the kitchen caught my attention, and when I turned to look, I was surprised to see my mum’s dog, Jasper, curled up with Vader on his bed.

  “Shiloh!” I yelled out.

  “Yeah,” came her reply from somewhere in the back of the house.

  “Why is my mum’s dog here?” And why are we shouting? I added silently.

  “Ah… because your mum is here.”

  “She is?” She was? I didn’t see my dad’s Camaro out front.

  “If you stop yelling at me and come into the lounge room, you could see for yourself, honey.”

  I ignored the ‘Duh’ she muttered loud enough for me to hear and pushed through the swinging door that led from the kitchen to the lounge room to find not only Mum but Charlotte, as well.

  “Oh, hey, Mama,” I greeted her as I strode over and kissed her soft cheek. “Hi, Charlotte,” I said and kissed her, too.

  She had asked me to call her Mum the day of the wedding, but it felt odd. Growing up, I called her Aunt Charlotte, and now she was my mother-in-law. So we compromised, and I dropped the aunt, which was a good choice for both of us. It just seemed weird calling her aunt and being married to her daughter.

  Deck made no such offer to call him Dad, and that was just fine with me. He was now just starting to look at me without murder in his eyes.

  “Did you get the dog food?” Shiloh asked. She had her back to me, and an uneasy feeling crept over me.

  “Shiloh, why aren’t you over here kissing me?”

  “Because I can kiss you whenever I want. I just don’t feel like it now,” she answered flippantly.

  What the fuck!

  “Say that again?” Oh no! No fucking way was she not getting her sweet, spankable arse over here and laying those beautiful, ripe lips on mine.

  Her shoulders shook up and down, and I could hear a giggle escape from her. Even Mum and Charlotte were giggling.

  “Okay, what the fuck is going on? Spunky, what in the hell is wrong?” I asked, equal parts frustrated and worried. Shiloh’s behaviour was strange even for her.

  “Well, it’s like this, honey,” she started to say. When she turned around with a dramatic flourish, her hands were holding her T-shirt out in front of her so I could see what was on it.

  My knees nearly gave out on me when the words printed on her tee penetrated my mixed brain.

  You Knocked Me Up!

  My gaze darted from the T-shirt to Shiloh to our mothers, who were grinning and crying at the same time, and back to Shiloh again.

  “We made a baby?”

  “We sure did. I told you there was nothing to worry about. We have a guardian angel watching over us, remember, making sure all our dreams come true.”

  I vaulted over the coffee table and took Shiloh in my arms, whirling her around and shouting at the same time. “Fucking yes!”

  My mouth crashed down on hers, and I kissed her like I had never kissed her before. I poured all the happiness and love I felt right then into our kiss. Her warm, soft tongue met mine, and we danced the dance we did so well.

  “Phew, that was some kiss, Apollo. I take it you are happy?” Shiloh said with a rasped voice, just affected by the kiss as I was.

  “Fucking ecstatic, Spunky.”

  “Good, because now comes the fun part,” she announced, picking up her keys from the coffee table.

  “Baby shopping?” I guessed. Not that shopping was fun because it fucking wasn’t, but I would go with her and look at every single baby item ever made if she asked me to. We made a baby!

  “Nope, now we tell my dad you had unprotected sex with me,” she said and laughed uncontrollably with our mums.

  Oh, fuck me. There go my balls.

  ***

  Shiloh

  EIGHT MONTHS LATER

  I moved my head on the pillow and found what I was looking for.

  Beside me, a chair was pulled close to my bed, and in it was my husband with his eyes closed, the long lashes resting on his cheek. He looked so handsome despite being tired as hell after the last twenty-seven hours. In his strong arms, all wrapped up in a fluffy pink camo blanket, was our tiny daughter.

  Juliet Charlotte Stephens, but we were calling her Jewel, was born healthy and screaming like a banshee until her daddy got his hands on her. She stopped crying as soon as she was placed in his arms and hadn’t made a peep since. I barely had ten minutes with her, and if she weren’t being breastfed, I was sure I wouldn’t get to hold her at all.

  Zander and I were on the same page with our daughter’s name, her namesakes, the most amazing women I ever had the pleasure of knowing. Neither birthed me, but that didn’t stop them from loving me fiercely or protecting me as if I were their own.

  I gazed lovingly at Zander. Even in his slumber, he had a gentle but firm hold on our girl. His love for our daughter at six hours old was just as fierce, just as protective. Jewel wasn’t going to want for anything, not with Zander, our fathers, and the whole Wounded Souls MC.

  My heart swelled with the knowledge that Jewel was going to experience the same love from the men who raised me. The same deep devotion and tenderness of the rough and sometimes hard but sweet, loving men I called my family.

  A feeling of melancholy washed over me. Jewel wouldn’t know the love and devotion of one man. I wished Darth could have held my daughter, looked into her eyes and experienced the same things he did when he held me in his arms for the first time.

  I didn’t have to hold her to feel that, baby girl. I have loved her since before she was born.

  “She is so tiny, Darf. What if I drop her or something?” I whispered softly so as not to wake my family.

  Your dad and I said exactly the same thing when the nurses gave you to us, Darth said with a chuckle. We didn’t have a fucking clue what to do with the sweet pink bundle, but we figured it out with a lot of trial and error. You not only have your mum and her flock but also you have the love and support of that man right there with his daughter safe in his arms. Forever.

  I reached out and grabbed Darth’s hand, the familiar tingle of electricity flowing up my arm warming me from the inside, giving me the courage.

  “Darf?” I whispered.

  Yeah, Squirt.

  I felt a tear escape and trickle down my cheek.

  “I’m good now, Darf.”

  Yeah, you are, came his reply, echoing because he was already on his way to his Vegas.

  “Spunky? You okay, baby?” Zander asked in a low, sleepy voice. His gaze looked over me, concerned at the tears on my cheeks.

  I dropped my hand to his, which hadn’t been taken off my upper thigh since falling asleep an hour ago, and squeezed it gently. I looked at my baby girl, whose pouty lips were just like mine but other than that, she was all her daddy. I hoped she got his laid-back temperament and his easy nature. Otherwise, her godfathers and granddads were in for another wild ride.

  “I’m perfect, honey,” I told him honestly.

  Zander brought my hand to his lips and placed a tender kiss on my knuckles. “Yeah, you are.”

  THE END

  Acknowledgements

  I am not ashamed to admit that I am a crying mess as I write this. From the minute I created Shiloh, I wanted to write this book. I didn’t, however, know at the time how hard it was going to be to write it. How do you write a book about a girl who was four years old in six books, then write her as a twenty-four-year-old? Damn hard, let me tell you.

  After three weeks of writer’s block and very little sleep, I think I managed to do her justice as well as keeping the memory of Darth alive for my readers who loved him as much a
s Shiloh did.

  Thank you to the wonderful, beautiful, and incredibly evil Lila Rose for letting me borrow Talon, Saxon, and my beloved Killer (Yes, Belinda and Sam, he is mine) for a visit. I hope I did your men justice, woman.

  Thank you, too, Amanda Berry for reminding me on a few things about the Hawks. You are a wealth of information and a very handy woman to know—if you get my drift.

  Huge thank-you hugs and kisses to all my flock. Your support is overwhelming, and I don’t know if I could have written seven books without you.

  My editing team, Boss and Yoda—Colleen Snibson and Rogena Mitchell-Jones, both of Two Red Pens Editing. Thank you for all your guidance and the wealth of information you have thrown at me since I released His Sweetness. There were a few surprises in this one for you both. I do like to mess with your minds on occasion.

  Thank you, Lindee Robinson, for a beautiful cover photo.

  To Robyn, thank you.

  Julie, a.k.a. Vegas, thank you, my friend. You have been with me from the very start when Deck was just a jumbled mess on my computer. Your encouragement and friendship mean the world.

  Trina, Meagan, and Tamara (the real Shiloh), I love you three more than I can put into words.

  And I will end this ranting session by thanking the best bestie a person can have. Handsome, you know who you are and what you mean to me.

  Bring on the Firemen!

  About the Author

  Leah Sharelle loves the idea of being in love. Since her early teens, when she first discovered Silhouette Desire novels, her life has been all about reading. She would find herself rewriting scenes if she wasn’t happy with them and then would hide them under her bed. That led her to writing love stories of her own. They all ended up under her bed and are still there—where she says they will stay.

  Leah is a mum of three beautiful girls, living in Australian, and she has what most say is a weird sense of humour. She spends her free time doing movies, Sons of Anarchy, and Friends marathons. And reading. She doesn’t do angst. In fact, it drives her crazy. She loves Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain. There’s that weird humour.