Chapter 30 Willow
WILLOW
The next morning, I wake up to an empty bed.
I know the guys came to sleep last night because I half remember waking up in the middle of the night to them coming in, whispering amongst themselves.
Which means that they’re already up and getting started for the day.
I curse under my breath, throwing the blankets back and shuffling out of bed. I don’t want to be the weak link in the team just because I’m pregnant. I don’t want them to think I’m too weak to help out now.
There’s a little nausea as I get dressed, but I take some deep breaths, pushing it down. I don’t have time to be sick right now.
When I step into the kitchen, Vic is already there, and it smells like he’s been cooking. I wait, wanting to see if the smell is going to turn my stomach, but surprisingly, it doesn’t.
“What’s all this?” I ask him.
He smiles a little. “I did some research on foods that are supposed to be good for settling morning sickness. And healthy for pregnant women. You’ll have to let me know if it helps.”
I can’t help but grin at that, taking in the small spread he’s laid out.
There’s a fruit plate laid out, each piece of fruit cut into neat, equal pieces.
Toast with peanut butter on another plate, next to more toast, smeared with what looks like avocado.
Next to all that is a steaming cup of tea that smells gingery when I pick it up.
“Thank you, Vic,” I tell him, taking a small sip of the tea.
I sit and start eating some of everything, relieved when it all stays down and the tea helps settle my stomach.
Ransom and Malice come in a bit later, already dressed as well.
“Are you ready?” Malice asks Vic, who is loading the dishwasher in his precise way.
“Five minutes.”
“Wait, where are you going?” I ask.
“I made a list of people who might be able to help us with the Olivia situation,” Vic says. “We’re going to try to recruit them today.”
“Then I want to come,” I say, stuffing a piece of toast in my mouth. “Just let me—”
“No,” Malice cuts in. “You’re staying here.”
“But—”
“No buts. You’re not coming.” He folds his arms, and I glare up at him.
“I can still do stuff, you know. I’m not some helpless flower just because I’m pregnant. We didn’t even know I was before, and I was still doing stuff. It’s not like I’m that far along yet.”
“It’s not safe,” Malice insists.
“Are you just worried I’ll slow you down?”
He shakes his head. “No, it’s not about that. It’s about the fact that your fucking crazy grandma wants you dead. We were trying to keep you safe before we found out about the baby, and that hasn’t fucking changed. Olivia is still out there, planning to kill you.”
I hate that he’s right, and I sit back in my chair, trying not to pout about it. Because he is right. And I can tell that he’s not going to budge. As much as I hate feeling coddled and cooped up, I do like the fact that he cares so much.
“Fine,” I mutter. “I’ll stay here.”
“Good girl,” Malice says. He comes over and threads his fingers into my hair, pulling me up to my feet so he can kiss me. It’s not a soft goodbye kiss either. It’s hard and biting, the way Malice always seems to be. The heat of it washes through me, and I have to swallow hard when he pulls away.
“We’ll be back before you know it,” he whispers in my ear. “You behave.”
I give him a little shrug when he draws back, and he slaps my ass lightly in warning, making me grin.
Once he and Vic are gone, it’s just me and Ransom left in the penthouse.
“If it makes you feel better, they’re going to be insufferable out there together,” Ransom says when he catches me staring at the door after them. “Vic’s going to want to do it his way, and Malice is going to be Malice, and they’ll be bickering constantly.”
I laugh, finishing the last of my tea. “That does sound like them, you’re right.”
“I know my brothers,” he replies with a shrug.
With everything that’s been going on lately, I’ve turned into a stage five clinger. I really hate having any of my men out of my sight, the same way I know they feel about me, so time seems to move extra slow while Malice and Vic are gone.
Ransom spends some time maintaining their weapons, cleaning guns and sharpening knives, and after checking the programs Vic has running to alert him to any unusual movement or activity from Olivia—monitoring her bank accounts and the security feeds around her place, things like that—I kill time reading one of the romance novels from the pile I’ve been working through.
“Is it a good part?” Ransom asks, waggling his eyebrows when he comes back into the living room a while later and sees me with my nose buried in the book. “What’s the brooding hero up to now? Has he ripped his shirt off yet?”
“I don’t know what you think I’m reading,” I say, shaking my head. “No one’s ripping any shirts.” Then I reconsider and add, “Although he did rip her panties off once.”
Amused approval gleams in his eyes. “Fuck, yes. Now I see why you like these books so much.”
Leaning on the back of the couch, he reads over my shoulder. I wait for more teasing to come, but instead, he actually seems to be intrigued by it.
“Okay, this is actually better than I was expecting it to be,” he admits.
I smile, putting the book down. “Come over here for a minute.”
Ransom grins, half vaulting over the couch so he can settle in next to me. “Hi.”
“Hi.” I reach up and run my hands through his hair, searching his face. He looks more comfortable and collected than he did yesterday, his ocean-colored eyes clear and untroubled. “How are you doing?”
Turning his head a little, he kisses my palm. “I should be asking you that. You’re the one going through a lot right now.”
I just smile, shaking my head. “I’m asking you though.”
He blows out a messy breath. “I’m okay. I’m glad I talked about it all yesterday. Glad I told Malice and Vic the truth. The part of me that knows them and trusts them knew it wasn’t going to go badly, but I guess I just needed the nudge. It feels good to have it off my chest.”
“I’m glad you did it. And I’m glad they reminded you they’ll love you no matter what. You deserve to hear that.”
Ransom reaches up and touches my face, stroking his fingers over my cheek.
“My sweet, beautiful angel. How the fuck did we get so lucky to have you fall into our lives?” he murmurs, then pulls me in for a kiss.
It starts out soft and a little chaste, mostly just him kissing me because he wants to. His mouth is warm, his lips firm and sure as he brushes them over mine.
But then his tongue flicks out, teasing and exploratory, and that makes me smile into the kiss, parting my lips for him.
There’s a second of hesitation, like he’s not sure yet what he wants to do, and then he goes for it, pressing his tongue into my mouth, sweeping it through like he’s been dying to taste me.
His hands roam over my body, sliding over my clothes at first before slipping under them. I can feel the callouses on his palms as he drags them over my hips, and the feeling makes me shiver against him.
When we break apart to breathe, his mouth finds my neck, nipping at my pulse point and licking along the sensitive line of my throat.
“Ransom,” I moan, squirming on the couch. “Please.”
He chuckles, and the sound is low and deep, enough to have my body tightening with need.
“I know what you want,” he murmurs, lips brushing over my skin. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you, angel.”
I moan again as he bites down on my neck and then pulls the collar of my shirt out of the way so he can do the same to my shoulder. It hurts just the right amount, and I can feel my pussy throbbing.
But when I start to clamber onto his lap, desperate to grind against him and get all the friction I need, he stops me. I give him a quizzical look, panting slightly, and he chuckles.
“Don’t worry, pretty girl. I’ve got a better idea.”
“As long as it involves your cock in me, I’m all ears.”
He tweaks my nipple, making me hiss. “Listen to you and your dirty mouth. I fucking love it.”
I smirk, because every filthy thing I know, I learned from him and his brothers. And they’ve been extremely good teachers.
“Then fill me up with your cock,” I tell him. “I want to feel every piercing. I want to feel you every time I move tomorrow.”
He groans. “Oh, I’ll make sure you do.”
I can tell my words have gotten him fully hard, ready to grab me and drive into me—but instead of doing that, he gets up from the couch. I scrunch up my nose, tracking him with my gaze as I try to figure out what he’s up to.
But it all becomes clear when he pulls me up to stand and then pushes me down until I’m draped over the arm of the couch from one side.
My heart races at the confident, commanding way he positions me, my pulse picking up even more as I realize how exposed I am for him like this.
My feet are on the floor, and I’m hinged at the waist over the couch arm, my ass perfectly presented to Ransom.
If he pushed my face down, I’d be muffled by the couch, but everything else would be there, open and ready for him.
Behind me, Ransom drags my pants and panties down. He doesn’t even bother to take them all the way off, leaving them bunched around my ankles. That just adds to the delicious feeling of vulnerability in a way, and I moan when he slides his hands up my thighs and then squeezes my ass.
“You have no idea how good you look like this,” he whispers huskily. “Fuck, angel.”
“Show me,” I beg, arching back as much as I can. “Show me how much you like it.”
He presses his crotch against the seam of my ass, letting me feel how his dick is hard as steel for me.
The roughness of his pants against my skin and the hot brand of his cock behind the fabric makes my clit throb.
He gropes my ass thoroughly and then pulls back, and I can hear him shoving his pants down to fetch out his cock.
“You gonna be a good girl and take my dick like you were begging for?”