Chapter 24 Jo
twenty-four
Jo
An hour after we switch cars, I’m nestled into Kole’s side, breathing in his gunpowder and rain scent, my feet stretched on a sleeping Hayden’s lap.
The black SUV we have now is way more comfortable than the van we were in before.
As an added bonus, it’s not drenched in the pheromones I was pumping out when we left the safe house so we can actually relax.
A classic rock song plays low on the radio, West asleep in the front passenger seat while Sam taps his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat.
The whole thing is oddly domestic in a way that makes my heart flutter.
On the first half of the drive, I filled the guys in on, well…everything. My childhood, to killing Daddy, how Declan found me and took me to New York with him, and how he spent the next few years making sure I was ready to go to Thornfield.
Each of them had known different parts of my past, but now everyone has the whole story.
Kole’s fingers play with my hair absently while he stares out the window. I’m not sure what he’s looking at, considering it’s two hours past sundown so it’s dark as hell, but he has this thoughtful look on his face that makes me want to crack his brain open and take a peek inside.
I realize I don’t know much about Kole. Sure I know about his affiliation with the Mafia, what he’s done at the request of his daddy, and that he would kill for me…but that’s about it.
“Sugar Bear?” My voice comes out a whisper as I look up at my Russian giant, and he turns his head to look at me, the softness in his expression nearly taking my breath away.
“Yes, lyubov' moya?”
“That’s a new one,” I murmur, “I like how it sounds though.”
“It means ‘my love’.” His expression, as hard as it is to see in the darkness of the car, turns hesitant. “It…it is not a casual term.”
There go those damn butterflies in my chest. “Good.” I run my hand across his chest. Damn, this shirt is soft. I wonder if he’ll let me keep it. “There’s nothin’ casual about the way I feel about you.”
His features relax as he catches my hand with his and presses it over his heart. “Nor I, you. Now tell me, Lisichka, what did you wish to say?”
“It’s nothin’ serious,” I shrug, feeling silly all of a sudden. “I was just wonderin’...if your daddy never brought you over from Russia, if you were free from his family name…what would you be doin’?”
Kole looks at me like he doesn’t quite know what to do with me. “I…I have not really thought about it.” He frowns, his bottom lip jutting out slightly. “I…I used to want to be an artist.”
My brows shoot up in surprise. “Really?”
His expression turns hesitant as he shifts, reaching into his pocket. “I am not very talented, but I have always had a habit of sketching out anything I could think of. Until my father beat it out of me, of course. He couldn’t have me be ‘soft’.”
A folded piece of paper lands in my lap, and before I grab it, I look up at him. “Kole…you don’t have to show me if you don’t want to.”
“It is not anything special.” He shrugs one shoulder, but I can tell he’s nervous.
Swallowing, I take my feet off Hayden’s lap and sit facing forward. I pick up the piece of paper, unfolding it gently. A gasp leaves me as my hand flies up to cover my mouth. “Oh, Kole…”
It’s…it’s unbelievable. Even though it’s mostly dark, everything I can see of the sketch is breathtaking. It’s made of so many small, jagged lines, but when you look at the whole picture it’s clear who it’s supposed to be.
Me.
In the sketch, my bare back is drawn in sharp, sure lines as I look over my shoulder, my hair falling around my face in sensual waves. “This…this is beautiful.”
When I glance up at him, his cheeks are pink. “It is nothing. A quick scribble while your body was catching up on some much needed rest.” Ah, so that’s what he was doing when I got up earlier.
“This is not nothin’, Sugar Bear.” I hold the sketch to my chest. “Can I keep it? Please?”
He gives me a bewildered look, but nods, and I grin, carefully folding the paper back up and putting it in the bag at my feet for safekeeping.
“What about you?” Kole asks suddenly, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and bringing me to lean against him. “What would you have done if your sister was never taken from you?”
“I—” My words catch in my throat. What would I have done?
“I s’pose…” I trail off, frowning. “I don’t rightly know.
Our whole childhoods, our one goal was to get out of Highwater Creek.
As soon as we turned eighteen, we were gonna be outta there.
We’d both work, make enough money for us to afford a studio in the city.
Mabel was insistent that I go to school like I always wanted. ”
“What would you have gone to school for?” His voice is soft as his fingers brush my arm.
I stare at my hands in my lap. “I’m not sure. I think I woulda taken every course offered until I figured it out though. I know I’m not as book smart—”
Kole snorts, cutting me off. “Book smart. Useless in this world of ours. Your wit is the edge of my favorite blade, and your ability to eviscerate your enemies with both a knife and your words alone is something we would be sorely lost without.” There’s nothing but truth and admiration in his words, and I find myself staring up into his icy blue eyes.
“Besides, whatever you do take the time to learn about, you absorb with ease. I imagine that if you wished, you could surpass even our doctor in terms of knowledge.”
“Well, aren’t you romantic?” I breathe, my gaze lowering briefly to his mouth.
His eyes track the movement, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. “Only truthful, lyubov' moya. You are, without a doubt, the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”
“Flatterer,” I whisper, leaning closer as my heartbeat picks up pace.
Then his hand cradles my neck in my favorite necklace as he leans down to brush his lips over mine.
“I have been trying so hard to keep my hands to myself,” he murmurs.
“I know you needed time with Bratishka, and I am happy you have re-established your bond. But I…” his hand stays on my neck as his lashes flutter against mine.
“I am not used to speaking my feelings. I am finding myself even more obsessed with you than I was before. Your tortured screams as Brooks tried to get me to admit our connection haunt my dreams. I failed you.”
“You only did what I wanted you to,” I whisper, my lips brushing his as I speak. “I woulda kept dealin’ with the pain to keep y’all safe.”
A low growl leaves him as his fingers tighten slightly. “That is not something you ever should have had to do. Brooks is lucky he is being tortured by your brother’s pack right now and not by me.”
“He’ll pay,” I promise, meeting his eyes, our faces so close we’re sharing breath.
“Whatever Dec is doin’ to him…it’s just the beginnin’.
He has so much to answer for. And when we get our hands on Whitmore?
” A low laugh leaves me. “I’ve learned so many things the last five years that I would love to try out on him. ”
Because it will be a when, not an if. Whitmore will be served justice for all the harm he’s brought upon innocent people.
“I really do love it when you get vengeful,” Kole mutters before taking my lips with his.
The first swipe of his tongue against mine has me biting back a moan. I don’t want to wake anyone up, and besides, there’s something exciting about nobody knowing what we’re doing.
Kole’s grip stays firm as he plunders my mouth, one of my hands holding onto his wrist as the other clenches his muscular thigh. His gunpowder and rain scent floods my senses, and all I can fucking smell is him.
My fingers brush his throbbing erection under his jeans, making his hips jerk into me.
But then…more scents tickle my awareness. Coffee, whisky, pepper, and chamomile tinged with arousal fill my nose, and I realize that Kole and I must not have been as discreet as I thought.
Kole must sense it too, because he slows things down, leaving slow, languid kisses on my lips before giving me one final peck. A slow clap from behind us has me rolling my eyes.
“Bravo, big guy.” Hayden grins as the smoky pepper of his arousal grows stronger.
A low chuckle from the front seat has me turning sheepishly. West reaches back and squeezes my knee. “I think your little rendezvous kept Sam from falling asleep.”
“It also made me almost swerve off the road,” Sam says lightly, meeting my gaze in the mirror as mirth twinkles in his warm brown eyes.
“When was the last time you got laid, then, Stud Muffin?” Hayden yawns, stretching his arms out behind him. “If a little makeout session was enough to distract your driving?”
Both Sam and I growl at the same time, though for different reasons. “I told you to not call me that,” Sam mutters, “And I invite you to try to keep your focus when she looks and smells like that.” But Hayden isn’t listening, because his eyes are wide and trained on me.
“Fireball?” I realize then that I’m still growling, and quickly cross my arms leaning back.
“I don’t want to hear about you guys with other women. I haven’t slept with Sam, so unless he’s a virgin—” Hayden snorts but cuts off when I glare at him, “then he’s slept with someone besides me. My omega is fresh from her cage, and does not like that idea one bit.”
“As far as I’m concerned, there’s nobody else besides you.” Sam’s voice is serious as he speaks.
“So you’re a virg—” Again, Hayden cuts off, but this time because of Sam’s glare.
“I’m not—but I may as well be. That’s how long it’s been.
Okay?” The last part of his sentence is softer, just for me.
I meet his eyes and nod once, my jaw tight.
I know none of my guys are inexperienced, and really, I wouldn’t expect them to be, but if I ever meet someone who’s seen any of my men naked, I’ll rip their spines out of their assholes.
Say a prayer for Tilly-the-bitch if I ever see her again.
We pull into the driveway of a lone cliffside house overlooking the sea at ten in the evening.
The home is the only building in sight, with a grove of trees surrounding the perimeter and lining the driveway.
My breath catches in my throat as I walk past the house, entranced by the sight of the moon reflecting off the water.
The salt in the sea air fills me with a feeling of awe and wonder.
It’s better than I ever thought it would be.
“I’ve always loved the ocean.” Sam’s voice is quiet as he stands next to me. “The sound of the waves, the smell of the air…”
“This…” I stare out at the water, unable to move my eyes. “This is the first time I’m seein’ it.”
Sam stiffens, his voice restrained. “What? I know you grew up in Georgia, but surely after Declan found you…”
I shake my head. “I was determined to make sure Mabel and I could see it for the first time together. “
And now that would never happen, because I’m seeing it without her.
“Oh, Jo…” Sam’s voice is full of regret. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“You also couldn’t have done anythin’ to change it,” I shrug, my eyes still on the glistening water. “Dec knew, but I doubt that was at the top of his list of priorities when tryin’ to get me outta there.” A cool breeze rustles the air, and I shiver, rubbing my arms.
Before I can even register the fact that I’m cold, Sam is opening his leather jacket and pulling me to him. I’m enveloped in his scent, coffee and whisky making me rub my face against him. I bask in the warmth and protection his embrace brings.
“We can ask Declan to take Mabel to the beach,” he says quietly, and my heart flutters in my damn chest. It may not be what she and I originally planned, but it’s something.
I look up at him, resting my chin on his chest. “I think that’s a great idea.”
When he leans down to kiss me, it’s soft and sweet, full of longing and hope. It’s over way too soon, and he sighs, resting his chin on the top of my head. “I need to check the perimeter. Make sure all the sensors are working.”
“Thanks for takin’ care of us.” Even when I wasn’t sure where he stood, he always put my safety first. “I forgot what it was like to have someone in my corner.” I’d had Dec since he found me, but over the last year, being in and out of different facilities, and not being able to trust anyone really took a toll on me.
“Four someones,” Kole’s voice rumbles next to us, and I look over to see the rest of my mates. The moonlight reflects off each of their faces, making me more aware than ever that I must have the four sexiest men in the world at my beck and call.
“Trouble’s never seen the ocean before now,” Sam informs them, rubbing a hand down my back before Kole steals me from his grasp.
“Never?” Kole raises a brow as he holds me close.
I shake my head. “Highwater Creek is closer to Alabama than the coast. Mama tried to take Mabel and I once…that was the road trip I talked about before. But…Daddy got so mad when he figured out we’d gone that she turned around and went back.”
“Does it live up to your expectations?” My Russian giant purrs against me.
“It’s better than anythin’ I imagined.” Even now, I can’t keep my eyes off the glimmering surface. The sound of the waves crashing against the side of the cliff soothes me in a way I never thought possible.
Hayden snatches me from Kole, making a breathless laugh leave me. “Are y’all playin’ a game of pass the omega?” I tease, looking up at my Fire Demon.
“When all this is over,” Hayden wraps his flannel around me, “we’ll buy a house on the coast. You can see the ocean any time you want. And also—no. Pass the omega involves taking off clothes, not putting them on.”
“We’re playing a game of ‘Make sure Jo knows how much her pack cares about her’,” West adds, taking my hand and pulling me towards him. “It’s one of my favorites.”
“Mine too,” I murmur, getting on my toes and pressing a kiss to his full lips.
“Ah, the doctor got strategic with it. He was the last in line, so there’s no one to take her from him.” Hayden smirks, running a hand down my back.
“We better get inside though,” Sam turns away from the water, his stare going analytical as he looks the property over. “I’m not comfortable with us being out in the open too long.”
I sigh, giving the ocean one last longing look before threading my fingers through West’s and walking towards the house.
Maybe the bedroom will have a view of the ocean.