Chapter 23 Jo
twenty-three
Jo
“Times up, love birds. We’ve got to go.” Sam stands in the doorway of the bedroom, looking at Hayden and me still tangled in the bed.
“What? Why?” I ask, sitting up, not bothering to cover my naked body.
“Cops near the perimeter.” He walks into the room and starts going through the duffel bags on the floor.
“So…?” Hayden frowns, not moving from his spot on the bed. “We’re not on the run from the police, are we? They don’t even know about the jailbreak.”
“They could work for Whitmore—or whoever is funding him. Even if they don’t, if they come to the house for whatever reason, none of you have any ID, which is the first thing they’ll ask for when they see an omega holed up in a house with four men.
It’s not a risk we can take. We were supposed to leave for the next safe house tomorrow night anyway—we’re just moving a bit ahead of schedule. ”
My heart sinks. He’s right—it’s not a risk we can take. “Have you called Declan?”
“That’s the first thing I did. Kole and West are packing up the rest of our stuff now, and we’re set with a new safe house and vehicle.
” Sam hands me some clothes and underwear to put on.
A pair of jeans and a t-shirt that says “I put the ‘HOT’ in psychotic”.
Hayden snorts as he gets out of bed and starts to find something to wear.
I raise a brow at the alpha, holding up the shirt. He smirks. “Hey, it’s true.”
“Hot, huh? So you’re done pretendin’ you’re not attracted to me?” I tilt my chin at him, going a little crazy now that I can scent him fully. The notes of whiskey and coffee I had a hint of at Thornfield have nothing of the full-bodied deliciousness of Sam’s signature.
“Trouble…” Sam approaches the bed and takes the shirt from me.
“I think that ship sailed long before I blew my load watching the pyro mark and claim you.” He pulls the shirt over my head, his eyes snagging on the twin marks under my breasts before the fabric covers them.
“And I hope you know it’s not just attraction, and it’s not just the scent match either. ”
Unable to keep away from his delicious coffee and whisky goodness any longer, I stand on the mattress, a whole head taller than Sam as I rest my hands on his shoulders. He looks up at me, his warm brown eyes sincere.
Hesitantly, his hands come up to rest on my waist. “Jo…” His voice is pained as his nostrils flare, taking in my scent. “Whatever stick was up my ass has officially been removed. I promise I’m all-in. But we really do need to go.”
I sigh, my hands squeezing his shoulders once. “I know. But when we get settled again—” Sam’s hand grips the back of my neck and he pulls me in for a quick, rough kiss.
“You can put me through whatever hell I deserve,” Sam swears, resting our foreheads together. “But for now, we need to get out of here.”
Swallowing once, I nod, before pulling on the jeans and underwear.
Hayden stares at me, mind blown, when I manage to put on a bra without taking off my shirt.
Not that I would have minded flashing them the goods again, but Sam’s gesture of dressing me was so sweet, I didn’t want to undo it.
“That’s some omega-witch shit right there,” Hayden mutters, shaking his head.
I laugh. “You’ve obviously never been a girl changin’ in the PE locker room.” This is the first time I’ve used the trick personally, but Mabel was always skittish about getting changed in front of others.
“Nope, Fireball, I’m all man.” Hayden grins, patting his crotch.
“We’re aware.” Sam rolls his eyes as he hikes three duffel bags over one shoulder.
“Awww, did you like what you saw, Stud Muffin?” Hayden taunts, and I snort as I put on my shoes.
“Do you want another demonstration of what it looks like when our omega is perfectly pleasured? You can use it for reference when you get out of your own head and finally enjoy the nirvana that is Jo’s pussy. ”
Sam gives an annoyed growl while I try to hide my smirk. “Call me ‘Stud Muffin’ again, and I’ll tie you to a chair and make you watch while I make her come harder than you ever have.”
Ah, and so the alpha posturing begins. Though I can’t pretend that I’m not on board with the threats.
“Ooh, promises, promises.” Hayden shakes his head, then cackles. “That’s actually the kind of shit I’m into, so proceed at your own risk, Stud Muffin.”
Sam stands and stares for a moment, but then an indecipherable look appears on his face as he sighs, turning around and stomping out of the room. “I’m gonna fucking kill him.” Sam’s annoyed mutter only makes Hayden grin wider.
Looks like the old Hayden is back.
We pile into the van, with Hayden on my left and Kole on my right. West and Sam take the front seat, and Turnip’s cute little box-house that West made her is sitting in the back seat. Sam looks at the burner phone Declan gave us, plugging an address into the GPS.
Being in an enclosed space with all their scents so soon after re-awakening my bond with Hayden is going to make this trip a hell of a lot more difficult than the drive up here.
I breathe a sigh of relief when I see the ETA on the screen. “Only two hours?” I observe, pulling on my seatbelt. “That ain’t too terrible.”
“Two hours until we switch cars.” Sam grimaces, putting the van in reverse and doing that sexy thing where he stretches his arm behind the passenger seat as he looks over his shoulder.
Shit. If I’m getting turned on by Sam backing out of the damn driveway, this is going to be a long-ass drive.
“Another three once we have our new vehicle.”
“Road trip!” Hayden bounces on his seat. “You know, I’ve actually never been on a road trip before.”
I frown at my alpha as Sam pulls into the road. “Never?” Even I’ve been on a roadtrip. Though admittedly, it was right before Mama died and Daddy was not happy about it when we got back.
Hayden shrugs. “I mean, do rides on a private plane to boarding school with only a nanny for company count?”
“No,” we all answer.
“Then nope. Never been on a road trip.” His tone is still light, but his hand grips his lighter hard as he fights the urge to flick it open.
“Well then,” I loop my arm through his, “We’ll have to play all the classic road trip games.”
Kole puts his hand on my knee. “Do any of these games involve your clothes coming off? Strip punch-buggy?”
Hayden snorts, and West chuckles, shaking his head.
“Sugar Bear,” I admonish, my jaw dropping. “How indecent. What kind of lady do you take me for?” Even as I chastise him, the idea of one of them taking me in the very back of the car while the rest of them listen has me squirming in my seat.
“The kind of lady that lets her boyfriends spit roast her in the craft room of an insane asylum.” My Russian giant smirks at me.
My jaw drops. “That was one time!”
“No sex talk!” Sam barks as we pull onto the highway. “None of us are going to survive the next five hours if we’re mad with lust the entire time. Talk about something else. Something not sexy.”
“So Jo’s not allowed to talk about herself?” Hayden challenges. “That hardly seems fair.”
“Oh stop that,” I can’t help but giggle, swatting his arm.
Sam huffs a breath. “A bunch of children, all of you. West, a little help please?”
West shrugs. “I don’t know, it’ll be hard to talk about anything un-sexy with Siren here.”
“You are all ridiculous.” I roll my eyes. Obviously, I’m the one who needs to direct the conversation. “West. How long have you and Sam known each other?”
My beta turns in his seat, grinning at me. “I stand corrected. There are zero sexy things about this story. Sam and I met when my dad hired his to work for him. We were ten.”
My heart warms at the thought of a little Sam and West playing on a playground together. “That’s damn adorable.”
“Aw.” Hayden leans forward slightly. “So tell me, has the stick always been stuck that far up his ass, or has it gotten worse with age?”
West gives Sam a fond look, even as the alpha flips Hayden the bird.
“He was…different. I could tell right away he wasn’t used to the prissiness of the other kids at the private school we attended, but that just meant when he came across some older kids bullying me, he stepped in. We’ve been inseparable ever since.”
“My dad started training me when I was eight.” Sam says roughly, only meeting my eyes briefly in the rear-view mirror.
“Ex-Military, though he denies any involvement with Special Ops. He worked private security for Mr. Monroe, and it was always important to him that I knew how to protect myself.” He pauses, and I catch a hint of a grin in the mirror. “He’s gonna love you.”
My heart picks up speed. “You think?”
“Oh yeah. He might like you even better than me.” He chuckles lightly. “My mom, gods rest her soul, was the only person who could put him in his place.”
“What happened?” I ask, my voice quiet.
“Breast cancer. She passed the year before I met West.”
I lean forward, my hand resting on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I know what it’s like to lose a mama.”
“What happened to yours, Lisichka?” Kole’s voice is gentle.
“I…” my voice catches in my throat. “Mabel and I…we came home one day and she was on the ground, bleedin’. I think…I think Cian had somethin’ to do with it, but now that he’s dead, I guess I’ll never know.”
“My father had business dealings with yours, years ago,” Kole says quietly, his hand tightening on my knee. “When this is over…perhaps we can see if my brothers can scrounge up any information.”
His brothers. The two legitimate sons of the Vasiliev family. “Are you on good terms with them?”
“I was not at first,” Kole admits, shrugging. “But once they figured out that I would never take the spot as head of the family from them, they eased off. We have come to an…understanding.”
“We don’t have very good luck with family, do we?” West laughs humorlessly. “Turns out my dad could be mixed in with this whole beta-supremacy bullshit.”
“I’d venture to say we have the best luck with family,” I chime in, looking around at my guys. “After all, I have all of you now, don’t I?”
“Damn straight, Trouble.” Sam smiles at me in the rear-view mirror. “Damn straight.”