Epilogue
Bermuda
Thanksgiving…
I ’ve never cooked for this many people, but our Royal Bastards family keeps growing, especially now that Dragon’s family will be joining us this year too. Not that I’m complaining. I love the chaos. These guys are my brothers through and through. I’d go to hell and back for any damn one of them.
Still, it’d be nice if one of those fuckers would get off their ass and help me out. I glance out the window, searching for someone I can force to help me, but when I catch a glimpse of Cove straddling Dragon’s lap and Dragon’s hand down the back of Cove’s jeans, I groan.
Scratch that idea.
A chilly presence enters the kitchen despite the heat billowing from the stove. I don’t have to turn around to know who it is. Erin is the ice queen around here. Most days, she hides out at Copper and Stormy’s, but when she’s forced to socialize with the group, she brings her ice daggers, usually aimed for my heart.
“Bermuda,” she clips out.
“Erin.” I sigh, turning to face her. “How are you?”
She bristles and frowns, turning her glare to the floor. “Not well.”
Tossing the dish towel that was in my hands onto the counter, I prowl toward her. Though she’s an ice queen, sometimes she melts in my presence. I’ve had her naked and beneath me enough times to know it’s possible to get her hot. But usually when she gets what she wants, she moves along her merry little way.
It shouldn’t hurt, but it does.
There’s something inside Erin I want to save and nurture and heal. She, like Dragon, was a victim of human trafficking, forced to perform sexually and on camera. It’s amazing she’s still down to fuck considering her past. From what I’ve gathered from her and the others, she doesn’t fuck just anyone either. Just me. Our little secret.
“What’s going on?” I demand, using a finger beneath her chin to lift it and force her eyes to meet mine. “Are you sick?”
Her brows knit together. “It’s nothing.”
I take the liberty of kissing her pursed lips. “If you’re hurting, it’s not nothing. Talk to me.”
Her nostrils flare. “We’re not boyfriend and girlfriend, Bermuda. We’re nothing.”
Ouch.
Her barbs always cut deep, but I’m learning to look past the nastiness to find the real source of her pain. I’m an easy target because I don’t fight back. She needs protecting. Her past eats her alive from the inside out.
“We’re something , sugar,” I rumble, bringing my mouth to her ear. “I can show you how much of something we are after dinner.”
“Liar,” she whispers, but I can tell she wants me to argue.
“You wouldn’t keep coming back for more if it wasn’t the truth.” I nip at her ear. “I’ve been patient, letting you go at your own pace.”
“But,” she snaps.
“But nothing. I’ll keep being patient if that’s what you need. I just don’t know what you need because you never talk to me. You’re a fortress, sugar, and I just want in.”
Her palms go to my chest and she starts to push away, but I snake my arms around her, locking her in my embrace. She relaxes, no longer trying to escape me.
“Just words, Bermuda. That’s all this is. Words and an occasional good dicking.”
I roll my eyes at her. “We both know it’s a fan-fucking-tastic dicking when it happens. Good is for mere mortals. Like Filter and Calla. I bet they have regular good ol’-fashioned missionary-style dicking. Ours is spectacular. Who else can make you come like a wild woman with just his tongue?” I waggle my brows at her. “Seriously, Erin, talk to me.”
She bravely lifts her chin, boring her hard gaze into me. “I have something to say. Don’t speak, just listen.”
I frown but make a show of pressing my lips together.
“I’m…” She swallows and her lip wobbles. “Oh, God, I can’t do this. I can’t.”
“Whatever it is, we can tackle it together,” I assure her, not keeping my promise to keep my trap shut. “Let me in, woman.”
Tears sheen in her eyes and her voice is hoarse. “I’m pregnant.”
Gripping her hair, I tug her head back and attack her mouth with mine. She moans in surprise and melts in my arms.
Pregnant.
My mean-ass girl is pregnant.
With my baby.
“Marry me.” I grin at her, laughing when she huffs in horror. “What? I can cook and clean. My dick is magical. What more could you want?”
“You’re a cocky dumbass,” she snaps. “Maybe I don’t want to marry my baby daddy.”
“Maybe your baby daddy wasn’t asking. Maybe he was tellin’. Maybe you and I have a date with the courthouse tomorrow morning because I’m making you mine now, Erin. No more games. You gotta let me in. Trust me. I think I’ve earned it.”
She studies me with the softest expression I’ve ever seen on her face. I watch as she gnaws on her bottom lip, seriously thinking it through. I’m patient, so I wait it out. Finally, she offers me a roll of her eyes and a clipped nod.
I crush my lips to hers, sealing the deal. Then I scoop her up like she’s already my bride and stride outside where everyone is lounging around listening to Gibson play “Simple Man” by Hank Williams Jr. on his guitar. All eyes turn to us, shock evident in all of them. We’ve been discreet with our…relationship until now. Poor Nees’s heart will be broken. But that’s too bad. She’s mine and I claimed her a long time ago. Now it’s time to do it publicly.
“Hey, assholes,” I call out, grinning like a fucking idiot. “We have an announcement.”
“Put me down, freak!” Erin growls.
“We’re having a baby and I’m making her my wife.”
“Does she know that?” Stormy asks, brow arched high. “You can’t just kidnap the woman you think is hot and make her your wife. Doesn’t work like that, sweetie.”
Copper barks out a laugh. “Why not? It worked on your fine ass.”
She smacks him but not too hard because he has their daughter in his arms. I’m done answering questions. I’m ready to make us official.
“Hey!” Koyn barks out from the tree line where he stands with Halo and Payne, the three of them smoking. “I thought you were cooking the bird! Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“Man, I’m grabbing onto my happily ever after before she runs away,” I yell back. “Tag, you’re it. Cook your own goddamn bird, Prez.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Koyn growls.
I don’t hear anything else because I make it into the clubhouse and slam the door behind us. Slowly, I set my woman to her feet and kiss her lips. Her icy glare turns into a sweet smile when I palm her stomach with my giant hand.
“I’m going to be a daddy.”
“Yeah,” she huffs. “I guess of all the choices around here, you’re the best one.”
In Erin-speak, she likes me. Soon, she’ll love me. I’ve loved her since the day I laid eyes on her. And this child we’re bringing into the world is a product of something special between us.
“You promise we’ll figure this out?” she asks, her voice trembling in a rare show of vulnerability.
“You leave it to me, sugar. I’m going to take care of you and our baby. I swear to fuck.”
“That shouldn’t be romantic,” she complains. “Ugh. This is how I got pregnant in the first place. Your annoying swoony-ass words.”
I grin at her.
She thinks I’m swoony.
Erin’s in love.