Chapter 35
CHAPTER 35
T he kitchen was filled with the scent of sizzling burgers as King stood at the stove, flipping them with an easy rhythm. A rare, satisfied smile tugged at his lips. The house was quiet and peaceful.
Joey had stayed the night at the compound, watching endless Rambo movies with Adam and Steve. Slade had wanted to run some x-rays today to check how Joey’s leg was healing before bringing him home later.
Which meant King had Amara all to himself. His grip on the spatula tightened as he thought about just how much he had enjoyed that. After everything she’d been through the day before, he had expected her to need space, to shut him out while she processed it all. Instead, she turned to him, and he opened his arms to her.
He had only planned to feed her and to keep her mind off the whirlwind of emotions still clawing at her. But one moment led to another, and before he knew it, they were tangled together right here in the kitchen. Then in the living room, the damn staircase, and finally his bed.
A deep, satisfied rumble vibrated in his chest at the memories from last night. A part of him was tempted to wake her, pull her back into his arms, and lose himself in her all over again. But he knew she needed the rest. His cock stirred, surprising him a little. As many times as he fucked the beauty last night, he still wanted more and more of her. It wasn’t enough.
She was still sleeping upstairs, wrapped up in his sheets. She belonged here with him. His Mate. Soon, he would make that official. The thought struck him hard, a slow, powerful realization that settled deep in his chest. She was it for him. No other woman would ever be enough, only Amara...his forever.
The memories of her laying in his bed, spread open for him, made him moan as grease popped around him. The visions of her wet pussy while he took the tip of his cock, rubbing it over every inch of her pussy and exploring her as he watched made him shake with need. The hamburger he was ready to flip fell off the spatula, sending grease spray onto his stomach. Cursing, he glanced down, noticing his cock was bulging to break free of his underwear.
“Fuck!” King cursed, forcing himself to think of other shit because having a hard-on around popping grease was not a good thing for one’s cock.
Finally, to get himself under control, he took the hamburgers out of the pan and placed them on paper towels to drain. He hated to wake Amara up, but she needed to eat, and if she wanted to go back to bed afterward, she could. His cock stirred again, making him glare down at it.
“To sleep and nothing else.” He hissed at his own cock. Okay, she was making him talk to his cock now.
“Who are you talking to?” Amara’s voice had his eyes flying from his dick to her.
Yeah, he was going to pass that question right on by. “You hungry?” His eyes soaked her in. Her hair was wet and slicked back, the white waves tumbling down her back. She wore an oversized hoodie, jeans with holes in the knees and was barefoot. She looked absolutely...fuckable. Cursing himself again to chill the fuck out, he leaned against the counter.
“Starved.” She said, then sniffed the air. “Did you make hamburgers?”
“I did,” He nodded and grinned when she did a little fist pump, which was adorable.
“I’ve been craving hamburgers.” Amara clapped her hands as she walked to him, wrapping her arms around his bare waist. “How did you know?”
“My goal in life is to always please you.” King teased, then realized that wasn’t far from the truth.
Kissing his chest, she smiled up at him and then walked over to where the hamburgers were cooling. “They look and smell delish. You could give Sid a run for his money on the cooking gig.”
“Yeah, I’ll pass.” King shook his head. “Warriors are picky eaters, and I really don’t want to deal with their shit.”
Amara laughed. “I can see that. It was nice being able to talk to the Mates. They are all so nice.” Amara went toward the refrigerator. “Can I see if you have some cheese?” She stopped, putting her hand on the door handle, waiting for his permission.
King frowned, his brows lowering. “Amara, you do not have to ask me if you can do anything in this house. I’ve told you that.” King didn’t like the fact she wasn’t comfortable enough to do what she pleased here. Yeah, it really fucking bothered him. He had touched, kissed, and fucked her in almost every way possible, so yes, she could open the refrigerator door.
“Sorry,” She frowned at his sudden change of mood. “Habit.”
Sighing, King walked over, took the cheese she had pulled out, and tossed it on the counter. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.” King tilted her face to his. “I just want you to feel comfortable here. That’s all.”
“I do,” she said quickly. “It’s just a habit of asking. I even did it at Lee’s. I drove him nuts. And I see it drives you nuts also, so I’ll be mindful next time.”
Pushing away from King, she walked over to one of the drawers, opened it with a flourish, pulled out a knife, and held it up. A grin spread across his face.
“How’s that?” Amara cocked an eyebrow. “I just opened up that drawer like a boss without asking.”
“Smartass.” King chuckled, shaking his head.
“Another one of my flaws you will see once you get to know me better as I become more comfortable.” She gave him a sideways glance, then her eyes roamed down his chest to his crotch, but she didn’t say anything.
King smirked but also didn’t mention her checking him out yet. “You’re not comfortable here?” he questioned, watching her dump a glob of mustard on a bun.
“I didn’t say that?” Amara said as she focused on making her hamburger.
“Yeah, you kinda did.” King cocked his eyebrow when she grabbed the pickles he had set up and tried to open the lid. He grabbed it from her and twisted it effortlessly, taking note that she should have been able to open it easily, being a half-breed.
“This isn’t my home, King,” Amara said, piling pickles on the mustard. “It would be rude of me to snoop around, opening closets and drawers like a nosey nilly.”
“Then why don’t you get rid of your apartment and move in here?” He threw that out there, watching for her reaction. “Then you won’t be a... nosey nilly.”
She stopped moving, a pickle in her hand as she turned to face him. “What?”
“You heard me,” He glanced at the pickle, then gently grabbed her wrist, bringing the pickle to his lips. Without apology, he opened his mouth, devouring the pickle as he used his tongue to clean the pickle juice off her fingers. “Move in with me.”
“King,” She shook her head, but he saw the hope in her eyes before doubts clouded them. “You barely know me.”
Again, he cocked his eyebrow at her. “I think I know every single inch of you very well.”
A blush heated her cheeks as she rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I’m talking about.” She frowned. “I snore.”
“No, you don’t.” he countered. “And if you did, I don’t care.”
“I take long showers and use all the hot water.” She tried again.
“Don’t care.” He countered once more.
“I, ah, I have conversations with myself.” She grabbed another pickle and pointed it at him.
“Once again, I don’t...” King frowned. “What do you have conversations with yourself about?”
“See!” She looked victorious with the pickle jabbing at him. “I’m weird.” She frowned at that, then shrugged.
“I still don’t care.” King chuckled, liking this side of Amara, a side he hadn’t really seen before. She was funny, cute, and irresistible, trying to make him see her flaws, but all he saw was perfection. “You also use an obscene amount of mustard on your hamburger, but I don’t care, Amara.”
He reached out and pulled her into his arms.
“You can tell me every flaw you think you have, and I won’t care.” King leaned down, kissing her softly. “Do you not want to move in with me? I would never try to change you, Amara. I will even set up a dark room in the basement for you to use.”
Amara sighed, looking up at him. “King?—”
He didn’t let her finish her sentence. “I can get Joey on my side, and well, you know the pull I have with that kid.” He teased with a serious face.
“You wouldn’t,” Amara growled, then chuckled at the look on his face. “You would. And then it would be two against one. It’s just...I obviously have a lot of baggage, King. Are you sure you want that here? I don’t know what my future holds, and neither do you. What if it gets too much, and you want out? I already rely on you for so much, and well, my heart...”
The conversation just turned very serious, and so did King. “You’re heart what?”
“Couldn’t take that.” Amara looked away from him, afraid to see any truth in his eyes, but he forced her to look at him.
“Look at me, Amara.” He demanded but didn’t use his strength to make her do that. Once her eyes met his, he opened himself up to her. “I have never been more sure of anything in my life. I come with baggage also. I have more enemies than you can imagine, so maybe you need to consider whether you want to live with me. But I want you to know that I would rather die than hurt you. I would take a bullet for you with a smile on my fucking face knowing that I saved you from hurt. So never again question if I would hurt you because that, Amara, will never happen.”
King’s body was tense as he waited for her response; her eyes searched him as a smile broke across her face. “When can I move in?” She whispered, squealing when he picked her up, just as his phone buzzed.
“Dammit,” King grabbed his phone, setting her down. Looking at his phone, he headed toward the stairs. “Slade is coming up the drive with Joey. I got to get dressed.”
“Bummer.” Amara sighed, looking at his butt as he walked away.
King growled, rushing back to her and kissing her hard before taking off again. “I saw you checking me out earlier.”
“I was not,” Amara called back.
King quickly climbed the steps with the biggest fucking grin on his face. He grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt, pulled them on, and then headed back downstairs as soon as there was a knock on the door. Opening it, he saw a smiling Joey with no cast and no crutches.
“I’m healed!” Joey did a little dance as he passed King.
“Seriously?” King frowned, watching Joey head for the kitchen, then met Slade’s concerned stare. “He’s completely healed?”
“No sign of ever having a break, and with the break Joey had, that is unheard of. Even years later, there would be evidence of callous, but there is nothing on the x-rays.” Slade said, then answered the question King hadn’t even asked yet. “It has to be her blood, King, and if this gets out, she will have more problems than we can even imagine.”
“Then it can’t fucking get out.” King’s protective instincts kicked in as he stepped aside and walked toward the kitchen, where Joey had helped himself to a hamburger.
She looked at him with concern, then glanced at Slade. “He’s really healed already?” She asked, putting her half-eaten hamburger down.
“Yes,” Slade replied with a nod. “With no restrictions.”
“Then that doctor was right.” Amara went pale. “My blood could possibly save people’s lives. Could heal them?”
“It could,” Slade replied, then frowned. “Or it could have a negative effect.”
“Huh?” Joey said with a mouth full of hamburger, his eyes wide. “You mean my leg could fall off or something?”
Slade actually grinned at that. “No, your leg isn’t going to fall off.” He chuckled, then turned serious again. “We already know that your blood can heal broken bones, even realign, which is mind-blowing for me, and I’ve seen a lot of crazy things. But we have no clue how someone with a certain disease like cancer would react to your blood. It could either help them or make it worse. Without further studies, there is no way to know.”
“Oh,” Amara poked at her hamburger, and King knew her mind was going in all directions.
"Amara, we may never fully understand what happened to your blood." Slade's voice was steady, but there was an edge of frustration beneath it. "For years, I’ve searched for the formula Jill was given—the one that turned her into a half-breed and nearly destroyed her. It almost killed her and so many others." He exhaled, shaking his head. "Even now, she still carries human traits. So do Adam, Steve, and the others."
King watched the emotions flickering across Amara’s face as she took in everything Slade was telling her, and it killed him that he felt helpless. He didn’t fucking like it.
Slade’s gaze locked onto Amara’s, filled with something that almost looked like regret. "I have no way of knowing what was done to you, why your half-breed status is unstable, or if tomorrow your blood will have the same effect on Joey as it did today. We’re dealing with too many unknowns."
Glancing at Joey, he saw that he was hanging on every word and looked worried for Amara. Fuck, if he ever got his fucking hand on the people that did this, there would be no saving them.
The words Slade spoke pressed down on everyone in the room. Then, with a sharp finality, he added, "What I do know is that this stays between us. The fewer people who know, the safer you’ll be."
King and Slade looked at Joey, who took another bite of hamburger. “What?” He said after he chewed and swallowed. “I’m not saying anything to anybody. Do you think I want Amara poked and prodded by a bunch of medical dudes in white lab coats? No offense, doc.”
“None taken,” Slade said with a smirk, then added. “Though I would like to continue to run even more tests.”
Joey snorted, raised his eyebrows, and said nothing, figuring everyone knew his assumptions about medical dudes wanting to probe her were correct.
The fucking kid was smarter than any of them gave him credit, King thought with a grin.
“You can do whatever you want.” Amara finally answered, then shrugged. “I’d like to know what in the hell has been put into my body and what it’s doing to me. It’s a little discerning and a lot scary. I don’t want to turn out to be some monster or something.”
“Hey,” Joey pushed his plate away. “A radioactive spider bit Peter Parker, and look how that turned out for him. Superpowers and a hot chick. Not a bad deal.”
Amara rolled her eyes. “And Peter Parker is a fictional character.”
“And so were vampires,” Joey said, pointing back and forth between King and Slade and then to her. “But...here...we...are. Don’t worry, Amara, if you turn into a monster, I bet that you’ll be a good monster that saves the world.”
“Thanks,” Amara snorted, shaking her head.
“No problemo.” Joey hopped off the stool, taking his plate to the sink. “If you need any more enlightenment, I’ll be in my gaming chair kicking ass and taking names.”
They all watched Joey disappear. Slade was the first to break the silence. “I’ll need to x-ray him again next week.” He informed them. “I already talked to Joey, but if he has pain or starts limping, I want a call immediately.”
“Thanks, doc,” King reached out, shaking Slade’s hand.
“Yes, thank you for everything.” Amara smiled at him, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
Slade nodded as he made his leave. King walked over and pulled Amara into his arms.
“We’ll figure all this out.” He made that promise to her, but what secretly killed him was he didn’t know if he could keep that promise. But he knew one thing for sure, he would die trying.