65. Orion
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
ORION
E mber is capable of walking, a fact she’s informed me of no less than four times since I lifted her out of the truck and carried her to the elevators, but I don’t care.
I need her in my arms, and she’s going to get used to me working with her in my lap because I can’t see that changing anytime soon.
The doors slide open, and we find Max and Darius waiting for us, both of them wrapping their arms around my girl the second they get close enough.
I try to shove down the possessive part of me that wants to tell them both to fuck off, but he surfaces with a growl that makes all three of them laugh.
Assholes.
Elsie sits on the couch, her legs folded beneath herself, and the second Ember gets a look at her, she shoves against my chest until I let her down.
She flings herself at the other woman, and they cling to one another as their shoulders shake with quiet sobs.
Darius steps in front of me before I even realize my feet are moving, an amused smirk playing on his lips. “Give them a few minutes.”
“But she’s crying,” I argue.
“Ember is going to cry, and you’re not always going to be able to comfort her. Just give them some time.” Max guides me to the kitchen bench and pours me a glass of whiskey. “Drink this. You’re looking a bit…unhinged.”
“He always looks like that when Ember’s involved,” Killian announces as he strolls into the room, but his gaze is locked on the girls talking quietly on the couch.
Max pours him a glass and pushes it across the counter before pouring one for himself and Darius.
I take a long drink of the strong liquor, allowing it to warm me from the inside out, but my attention remains on Ember, making sure she’s okay, reassuring myself that she’s real and that she’s not going anywhere.
Ever.
“That’s a mighty big rock she’s got on her finger,” Darius comments.
“I couldn’t wait,” is all I manage. I should have waited. It would have been the right thing to do, but I’ve never claimed to be a good man.
Killian slaps a hand down on my back. “Congratulations, man.”
“Thanks,” I say as Ember glances over her shoulder at me.
“When’s the wedding?” Max asks.
“Tomorrow,” I deadpan.
He laughs. “No fucking way, bud. I’m giving my girl the wedding of her dreams, and you’re going to get with the program.”
I growl, which only makes all three of them laugh harder.
Assholes.
I turn my back on them, moving carefully toward Ember and Elsie so as not to startle either of them. “Would it be okay if I organized a doctor to come see you both?”
“I don’t need a doctor,” they say at the same time, and I sigh, running my hand down my face.
“I would feel a lot better if you’d each see my doctor. Ember’s seen him before. She can vouch that he won’t hurt either of you.”
Ember looks like she’s about to argue, but huffs out a defeated breath. “He’s a good guy,” she relents.
“When can I see my sister?” Elsie asks. “I know you’ve already done so much for me. I’m just anxious to see her. I’m scared they told her I ran away from her, that I didn’t want her, but I’ve done everything for her, to keep her with me.”
Ember wraps her arm around her shoulders and tugs her slight frame into her, offering quiet support.
“We’re working on it. I have someone who owes me a favor at CPS, and they’re working on getting everything in order, but I think you might need to do a police report, so it’s all aboveboard.”
She recoils at the sound of having to do a report, and I carefully sit on the coffee table in front of them.
“I have several people in the LAPD, including some young women. My doctor can do all the necessary tests for the report, and then you won’t have to worry about going to a hospital or the police station. If this wasn’t the quickest way to get you to see your sister, I wouldn’t suggest it.”
I’ve never been known for being delicate about anything, but right now I’m having to be. What Ember went through pales in comparison to what Elsie did in the seven months she was away, and she hasn’t even told Darius a fraction of it.
“Okay,” Elsie agrees, and my shoulders relax slightly.
“Good. I’ll get it all sorted. Why don’t you take a nap on the couch while I take Ember to get cleaned up and out of the wedding dress that she was about to marry another man in.”
She huffs out a laugh but nods. “Thank you for everything.”
I nod and pluck Ember off the couch, carrying her right past the three chuckling men in the kitchen and into our bedroom.
I don’t stop until we’re in the bathroom, where I turn the water onto the heat she likes, a.k.a. hellfire, and then carefully strip her out of what’s left of the hideous dress Lucas forced her into.
“Please don’t wear something like this to our wedding,” I murmur as I carefully lift the fabric over her head, swallowing the growl that tries to escape when I find the lingerie she’s wearing underneath, along with a lack of panties.
“This monstrosity ruined tulle for me,” she confesses as she reaches behind her and unclasps the white corset lingerie. “And maybe white. What would you say if I wore a different color down the aisle?”
“Little Flame, you could wear a potato sack down the aisle, and I’d still be the happiest motherfucker in the world. You wear whatever you want. I’ll just be happy that you have my last name.”
“Who said I’m taking your name?” she challenges, earning herself a growl that makes her smirk.
Little brat.
Once she’s undressed, I strip out of my own and carry her into the shower.
The soft moan that falls from her pretty lips tests me in a way I didn’t know I could be tested, but instead of being the asshole I am, I reach for the sponge, squirt some body wash on it, and start washing Lucas’s blood from her skin.
“I’m proud of you,” I murmur.
She smiles up at me. “Because I stabbed a guy?”
“Fuck yeah,” I chuckle. “You’re a badass.”
“But I couldn’t escape on my own.”
I shake my head. “No. But you fought until we could get to you. You didn’t give up, even when everything seemed so bleak. You survived even when I’m sure you didn’t want to.”
Her bottom lip wobbles, and she blinks past the tears that gather in her eyes. “I want to look for a house together.”
My brows rise, but I nod immediately. “Where are you thinking?”
“We’d have to stay close to the city?”
“Not necessarily. Killian can manage stuff day to day, and then I can commute in and out of the city when needed.”
She nibbles at her bottom lip, excitement appearing in her eyes. “I’ve always wanted a cabin in the woods.”
I laugh and bury my face in her throat. “Then you’ll be getting yourself a cabin in the woods, Little Flame.”
“Is this what the rest of our lives looks like? I mention there’s something I want and suddenly I get it? You’re going to spoil me.”
“Good. You deserve to be spoiled. And hell, I have to do something to make me good enough for you.”
She opens her mouth to argue, but instead, I press my lips to hers, devouring her for just a moment, long enough to satiate the ravenous part of me.
When I finally drag myself away, she leans forward and rests her forehead against mine.
“You’ve given me the only thing I’ve ever truly wanted, Orion. A home.”