Chapter Twenty ABBIE
I’m elbow-deep in mulch when something shimmers on the horizon, tall, leather-clad, and wriggling.
I swipe the sweat out of my eyes with the back of my arm, and the vision suddenly transforms into Ark as he steps between two rose bushes with a small, brown puppy in his hands.
He has a pink nose and oversized paws, and gives an excited yip as I put down my trowel and rise slowly to my feet.
“This isn’t something you see every day. ”
“It’s from Bluff.” Ark pulls a face. “I mean, it’s a courting gift. From Bluff’s puppy refuge.”
“Ah.” This makes more sense. While I was sleeping off the last of my heat, Bluff went back to collect some things and obviously decided to include a puppy in his packing. “You’re such a cutie!” I croon, reaching out to take the wiggling dog from Ark’s hands. “What’s his name?”
“Jedi.”
I snort. “Seriously? I didn’t pick Bluff as a Star Wars fan.”
“I’m the fan,” Ark says, then shrugs uneasily under his cut. “I don’t know who named him, but he seems to like it.”
“He seems to like butterflies, too,” I note, laughing as Jedi tries to track the one fluttering on a nearby bush, his eyes crossing in the process. “So, are we keeping him? Is this the newest member of the Iron Flyers?”
“He’s yours,” Ark says abruptly. “From me.”
I look at him in surprise. Didn’t he say that Jedi was a courting gift? “How does that work?”
“Well, if you like him, we’ve got a dog crate and some puppy stuff we can put in your suite. Otherwise, he can be the club dog, and I’ll ask one of the teens to take over his care.”
I squeeze Jedi to my chest, tight enough to make him yip. “You’re not taking him back!” I splutter. “I’ll look after him. He can be a club dog, but I’m going to be his number one person.”
A hint of a smile softens Ark’s face. “I don’t see that being a problem.”
“Okay, but if he’s staying, he needs to pull his weight.” I kiss his soft, fuzzy head and place him carefully at my feet. “No mooching, Jedi.” I laugh as he instantly starts digging in the flowerbed. “Look at him go. Already hard at work!”
I’m still grinning as I lift my gaze, catching a strange look on Ark’s face. It takes me a beat to realize he’s staring at the bite mark on my neck. Or bite marks, since I can feel both of them, like a pair of extra heartbeats under my skin. “Um. Pitt and I…”
“Yep. I can see that.” He pauses, then asks in a strangely blank voice, “Was it a good heat?”
I shuffle my feet, which makes Jedi pounce on my bootlaces. “Yes. The suite is amazing.” Plus, I bonded with his best friend and his enforcer, which means it was probably a memorable experience for both of us. “But Wings said you left. A club ride?”
“It was the safest move for everyone.”
I get that, but it still stings that he took off during my heat. Wasn’t he even a little torn about leaving me? “Well, I’m sorry about the fuss. I’ll be better prepared next time.”
“No matter what, you’ll always be protected here.” I nod, and he squares his shoulders like he’s trying to adjust a heavy weight. “I didn’t want to leave, Abbie. Just so you know, if I’d had more warning…”
“I get it,” I say lightly, even though my heart is thudding in my chest. To hide my flushed face, I lean down and scoop up the puppy. “At least it all worked out in the end.”
“Wait up.” His hand on my arm seems to surprise us both, but he doesn’t remove it. “Just to be clear, Pitt is a good guy. He’s an enforcer, but he’s not a meathead. He’s got a steady head on his shoulders. Plus, he’ll make you happy or kill himself trying.”
I arch a brow, wondering if this is his version of giving me his blessing. “And Bluff? Have you forgiven him yet?”
“He’s an asshole,” he sighs, squinting around a grimace, “but he’ll also treat you right.”
His gaze drifts over my face and I wonder what he’s looking for. Can he smell my attraction, and see my pulse fluttering under my bites? Or is he just being the Flyers’ president now, checking in on my post-heat health? “Is that it, Ark? You don’t have anything else to say?”
He makes a rumbling sound. “I’m happy they’re your mates, Abbie. But I’m also jealous as hell.”
I close my eyes for a moment, breathing in his leather and violet scent. “Really?”
“So badly I can taste it.” He reaches out to rub a hand over Jedi’s head, earning him a sneaky puppy lick. “I know I haven’t courted you properly, but everything I’ve done here has been to earn back your trust.”
“I know.” It’s obvious that he’s worked tirelessly to make the club a safer place for omegas. “You’ve done an amazing job.”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t mean shit if you walk away.”
I raise my brows at him, surprised by his harsh tone. “Ark. I’m not going anywhere…”
“I mean walk away from me.” He plucks the puppy out of my arms, depositing him on the ground.
While Jedi goes back to his digging. Ark steps close enough for our chests to brush.
“I know I haven’t been clear in the past, but this is me laying it on the line.
You’re the reason I get up in the morning, and the last thing I think about before I go to bed.
You’re the only part of this club I can’t live without, Abbie, and I’ll do anything to prove it to you. ”
I’m still staring mutely at Ark’s back as he disappears over the horizon.
If he thinks that cleared things up, he has no idea exactly how chaotic my brain can be.
His reason for getting up in the morning?
The only part of the Flyers he can’t live without?
If I hadn’t seen the words take shape on his lips, I’d assume I had a bad case of heatstroke.
Luckily, Jedi is a perfect distraction, and after I finish up the flowerbed, I carry him back to the clubhouse and spend a while settling him into the suite. Bluff is hanging out with Wings in the workshop, so I breathe a sigh of relief when Pitt turns up an hour earlier than expected.
“Slow day at the gym?” I ask as he enters the suite, his eyes widening at the puppy darting around, sniffing every corner of the room.
“Oh, this is Jedi. From Bluff’s refuge.” I don’t add that he’s a courting gift from Ark, since I’m still way too confused to know if I got that part of the conversation right.
“Looks like our pack just keeps growing and growing.” He grins as he flops on the floor, Jedi bounding over excitedly and pouncing onto his chest. “Oof. The little guy is chunky.”
“Like you said, he’s a growing boy.”
I stretch out beside them, very aware of the heat in Pitt’s mesmerizing green eyes as they skim down my body.
I flick my hair back, glad I took the time to deep condition it after a long afternoon in the garden.
He leans over to wind his fingers through it, tugging just enough to pull me in for a kiss.
He tastes like mint and musk, and I can feel a purr curling on the back of my tongue.
“Hello, mate,” he says when we break apart. “Damn, I’m never gonna get tired of saying that.”
“And I’m never going to get tired of hearing it.”
He scoots closer, his body heat rising between us. “There are a few other things I wouldn’t mind whispering in your ear.”
“Don’t hold back,” I tell him, stretching my arms above my head and tilting my neck, so he has a perfect view of his claiming bite. “I’m all yours.”
His hungry gaze turns a little skeptical until he spots Jedi curled up in his puppy crate, sound asleep.
“Looks like all that growing has tired him out,” I snort.
“Perfect. Then come here while I have your undivided attention.”
I grin as he rolls onto his back and holds his arms wide open.
I’ve never objected to crawling for the right man, and I put a little sashay into my hips as I close the distance between us.
He growls as I hook a leg over his hips, settling firmly over the crotch of his gray sweats.
Pitt in leather and denim is a treat, but there’s something delicious about a heavily tattooed man in gym clothes, and I rock over his lap, my fingers hooking under the edges of his compression tee.
“Next time I’ll have to come visit you before you hit the showers. ”
“You want me all sweaty, sweetheart?” He looks doubtful, like he doesn’t always smell like an alpine forest, no matter how hard he works out. “Maybe we could shower together. We could live out our locker room fantasies.”
“Or our silk-rug-before-a-puppy-piddles-on-it fantasies,” I suggest, leaning down to give him a slow, lingering kiss.
He chuckles against my mouth, but his lips quickly turn hungry, his hands curling around the globes of my ass.
I’m wearing a denim skirt and a cropped tee, and I groan as his thick fingers slide under my skirt and pluck at the edge of my panties.
“How are you feeling?” he asks, his throat all gravel. “Still sore from your heat?”
I shake my head, smirking at the relief on his face. “I bounce back pretty fast.”
“Oh, yeah?” His hand tightens on the lace edge of my panties before pulling it aside. “You want to bounce on this?”
I gasp as he pushes two thick fingers deep into my pussy. “Oh, yes, please, Alpha.”
“Fuck, butterfly,” he grunts as I grind on his hand, my head thrown back until I can feel my hair tickling my ass. “You are a goddess, you know that?”
I hum my agreement, too caught up in the feel of his fingers stroking my walls to say anything coherent.
He pumps them until slick is pooling in his hand, then pushes a third finger inside.
I clutch the silky fabric of his tee, my entire body quivering as his thumb circles my clit.
“That’s so good, Pitt. Don’t you dare stop. ”
“Then why don’t you reach down and take me out while I keep rubbing your pretty nub?”