Chapter 21 #2
By the time I’d ridden back to the clubhouse, I’d had to stop three fucking times to puke my guts out.
The first time I thought it was just nerves.
Adrenaline crash from the confrontation.
But by the second time, bile burning my throat, stomach cramping so hard I nearly fell off my bike, I knew something was wrong.
I spent the next twenty-seven hours shitting my brains out along with my guts. Every muscle in my body ached. My head pounded like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my skull. Sweat poured off me in waves, soaking the sheets, leaving me shivering and burning at the same time.
Thank God we had a doctor in the club, because for a while there I wasn’t sure I’d make it. Asclepius asked what I ate, but I hadn’t had anything the other guys hadn’t.
Except for the fucking tea Lettie made me.
The realization hit me like a freight train. She’d poisoned me. My sweet, beautiful, gardening queen had fucking poisoned me. And instead of being pissed, instead of wanting revenge, I found myself grinning like a goddamn idiot through the pain.
Fuck, she was perfect.
I sat on my bike and stared at her house.
Cerberus hadn’t come running around back, and I didn’t hear him scratching or snarling at the front door.
My mind spiraled to the worst possible outcome.
I swung my leg over the bike, trying to steel myself for what I might find.
My heart slammed against my ribs hard and fast. Fear clawing at my chest in a way I hadn’t felt in years.
What if she’d taken too much herself? What if she was lying in there sick, dying, or worse? What if I’d pushed her too far and she’d decided to end it all rather than deal with my bullshit?
I walked up the front steps, anxiety building with every heartbeat, and knocked on the door. A moment passed. Then another. No answer.
Inhaling deeply, I braced my arms on the doorframe and tried to control the thoughts racing through my head. The panic rising in my throat. The violence simmering just beneath my skin, ready to explode if something had happened to her.
I pushed off, jogged down the steps, and walked around to the back door.
Her mother’s room was at the back of the house.
I didn’t know where Lettie’s bedroom was, so I couldn’t be sure if she’d hear me knocking from the front or back, but her mother should.
If I had to, I’d break into her house. Kick down every goddamn door until I found her.
As soon as I cleared the corner of the house, I saw her walking through an iron gate. Relief flooded through me so fast my knees nearly buckled. She was alive. She was fine. She was fucking beautiful in the morning light, her hair catching the sun, her skin glowing.
I stayed quiet as she turned to close the gate, locking it with a heavy padlock that left me wondering what she was hiding. More plants, probably. Special varieties she didn’t want anyone messing with. My sweet little gardener with her flowers and vegetables and herbs.
She turned and locked eyes with me. Her smile lit me up inside, and I shook my head. This woman would be the death of me. Literally, apparently, if I kept pissing her off.
“You look well-rested,” she teased as she walked closer, Cerberus at her side. He didn’t growl or show his teeth, but he didn’t come near me either.
I reached for her, and she stepped back. “I need to wash up. Come inside and we’ll talk.”
I followed obediently behind Cerberus into the kitchen and leaned against the counter.
She removed her gloves and tossed them in the trash before scrubbing her hands at the sink.
Steam billowed up from the scalding water, and her skin flushed pink when she’d finished.
The smell of soap filled the air. Clean and fresh and so fucking domestic it made my chest ache.
“Would you like some tea?” she asked with a smirk.
“What the fuck did you do to me?”
“Just a little lesson in humility.”
I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her against me. The feel of her pressed close—those soft curves and warm skin—was everything I’d been craving for the past day and a half.
“So you were jealous.”
“Jealousy implies you want something that doesn’t belong to you. I’m territorial. I protect what’s mine.”
Mine. The word sent a jolt of pure possession through me. My cock hardened instantly, pressing against her belly. She felt it. I saw the way her pupils dilated, the way her breath hitched.
“That didn’t feel like protection.”
Her hands grasped the edge of my cut, and the teasing tone in her voice disappeared. “It definitely was, because if you had gone back to the clubhouse and let that woman touch you again, you wouldn’t be standing here now.”
Her expression was hard. Her eyes danced with something all too familiar. Something dark and dangerous and absolutely fucking perfect. I knew her threat wasn’t metaphorical. She would kill me. Would poison me properly next time. Would make sure I didn’t survive.
And fuck if that didn’t make me want her even more.
“Territorial, huh?”
“Were you spouting bullshit when you called me your queen?” she asked, sadness flashing in her eyes.
“No, baby, that wasn’t bullshit. You are my fucking queen, and I am your king.” I cupped her face in my hands, forcing her to look at me. To see the truth in my eyes. “You’re mine, Lettie. Mine. And I don’t share what’s mine.”
“The King of the Underworld,” she whispered, and I smiled.
“Damn right. Now what the fuck did you give me?”
Lettie threw her head back and laughed, and it was the most beautiful fucking sound. It wrapped around me, sinking into my bones, making something warm and possessive bloom in my chest. She shook her head. “A girl has to have her secrets.”
Her eyes fluttered closed as I dipped my head to press my lips against hers. The taste of her exploded on my tongue, sweet and tangy and addictive. I was nearly home when her mother yelled, “VIOLET!”
Lettie groaned and stepped out of my arms, grabbing the tray I hadn’t noticed on the counter. “What’s the deal with your mom? Is she sick?”
Lettie snorted. “She’s lazy.”
I followed her down the hall. She stopped before opening the door. “What are you doing?”
“I want to meet her.”
“Not a chance,” she scoffed. “Wait for me in the kitchen, please.”
“Lettie—”
“Brock, please.”
I licked my lips and ran a hand through my hair. My jaw clenched with the effort of not pushing. Not demanding. Not taking what I wanted because she’d asked me nicely. “Okay, but at some point, I need to meet her.”
“Not today.” She balanced the tray on her hip and pointed down the hall.
She was so fucking cute with her stern look as she tried to shove me away. I couldn’t wait to see her as a mom. God knew if we had boys, they’d need her to rein them in because if they were anything like Zeus and me, they’d be holy fucking terrors.
And what about girls?
Fuck that. My girls would be perfect like their mama. Protected. Loved. Spoiled rotten by their father who would kill anyone who looked at them wrong.
My hand grasped the back of the chair, pulling it away from the table. I sat facing the hallway and waited for her to return. Cerberus sat next to the doorway, watching me. His dark eyes tracked my every movement. Calculating. Assessing. Deciding whether I was a threat.
“Hey, boy. Think we can call a truce?”
He growled low in his belly. His answer was a solid no.
I blew out a breath and sent Aspen a text asking her how to win over Cerberus.
She answered pretty quickly: Don’t be a dick to him or Lettie.
That wasn’t fucking helpful.