CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
– FOSCA –
The scent of coffee pulls me from my sleep. Stretching my arms above my head, I keep my eyes closed for a few more heartbeats. I feel well rested and completely energized.
“Mornin’, beauty,” Sevrin rumbles.
Beauty? I open my eyes to see a mug of coffee within my reach. Pushing myself up, I scoot back to lean against the headrest and accept the mug Sevrin is holding out to me.
“Thanks.” I shoot him a smile and wrap my fingers around the steaming mug.
He sits down beside my legs. “Take your time getting dressed after you’ve finished your coffee. I’ll be in the main room of the clubhouse waiting for you.”
After taking a delicious sip of coffee, I ask, “Are we going to question the genie?”
“You wanted to be there, so we waited.” He pats my leg. “Like I said, take your time.”
This nice behavior is kinda weird. Sweet, but different for sure, as if something shifted between us.
Sevrin gets to his feet. “Let me know if you need anything.”
He’s walking toward the door when I feel like continuing our sexual teasing the way we started last night. “Even when it involves your dick?”
Turning to face me, I can see his silver eyes gleam while his nostrils flare. “Especially when it involves my dick.”
Closing the distance between us, he reaches out to cup the back of my neck to hold me steady.
His mouth takes mine, and he nudges my lips to force his tongue between them.
I moan when he fucks my mouth with his tongue, reminding me how well we collided yesterday.
Sex might not be the answer to everything, but it sure feels that way.
Blindly, I manage to place the mug on the bedside table and use both hands to grip his denim vest. Tugging, he lets me pull him over me, but everything comes to a stop when someone starts to knock on the door.
Sevrin groans, pulls away from our kiss and bellows over his shoulder, “Not now.”
“Yeah, now, Prez,” Karev’s voice rumbles through the door. “We need to get ahead of things, otherwise the fucker will slip through our fingers again. The window of opportunity is closing the longer we wait.”
“I guess the whole ‘take your time’ is put on hold.” I let my hand linger on his naked chest underneath his denim vest. “Give me five minutes and I’ll be dressed and ready to go.”
Both of his hands are gripping my head in a flash. He gives me a hard kiss, one that’s over within two freaking blinks.
Shoving off the bed, he stalks to the door. “Rain check it is. I’ll wait for you in the main room.”
The door falls shut behind him when I slide out of bed and reach for the mug. I manage to finish my coffee between handling my business in the bathroom and getting dressed. It takes me a few minutes more than the five I said, but soon enough I’m strolling into the main room of the clubhouse.
“Do I need to bring my bag?” I question, earning all eyes to land on me.
Levan snorts, Triton chuckles, Karev shakes his head, while Sevrin simply grins.
“Nope, we have everything we need at the warehouse,” Shock says from behind me and holds his hand up to balance electricity when he adds, “And we’re bringing the best shit with us.”
Now it’s my turn to snort. It’s clear these men are used to nefarious activities while I’ve been living a mostly human life. We all go outside and while the others straddle their bikes, Sevrin guides me to the SUV.
The first few minutes are in silence, until a question forms inside my head as I watch two bikers riding in front of us, and two behind us. “Wouldn’t you rather be riding your bike? I mean, I could have driven the SUV myself.”
Sevrin doesn’t take his eyes off the road.
“Doesn’t matter how fuckin’ bad I want to feel you pressing your tits against my back.
What we experienced yesterday shows how easy they could follow us, and strike.
The mere thought of not being behind the wheel?
Watching helplessly while I’m riding a bike behind you?
Fuck. The need to protect is burning hot through my veins.
I’m not risking our twins, or your safety. ”
Our twins, or mine. Is the focus of his concern for what’s inside my belly? Silence fills the air between us again while my mind takes a moment to process his words. The fierceness in his voice about the safety of our twins, it flares the need to have some twisted form of confirmation.
His actions since yesterday, after we were followed by a truck. Did he have a change of heart due to the possibility of an attack where I could be hurt and lose the twins? Is he treating me differently because of it? Is it just about the twins or did he genuinely start to care for me?
“The twins are the priority. Gotcha,” I mutter under my breath.
“The fuck?” Sevrin throws a frown in my direction. “Your safety is tied with them, you are my one and only priority. Until you pop out our kids, then we both need to put them first.”
Wow. This man has some serious skills to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Here I had a fragment of hope that he started to care about me. Cold seeps back into my bones.
I refuse to let him become aware of my shattered hope and force a smile on my face when I state, “Good thing they won’t pop out any time soon.”
Sevrin chuckles. “Thank fuck for that. At least it will give us enough time to get to know one another before we become parents.”
He reaches out and takes my hand, lacing our fingers and letting them rest on his thigh.
“I want us to leave everything behind us, Fos. Really separate the bad shit from what we could be together. After last night I realized I needed to be fully in for this to work, and for that to happen I have to let go of the past. Easier said than done for fuckin’ sure, but I’m in. ”
My throat clogs up and I have to blink a few times against the burning in my eyes. Shit. I refuse to cry. Dammit. Hormones suck, and especially with the load of emotions being yanked all over the damn place.
All I manage on a croak is, “I’m in,” and squeeze our joined hands.
It’s an easy choice, and quite sadly? The only one for both of us. We had a different future in mind until my oldest brother ruined a lot of lives. At this point we’re already forced to walk the same path. And the way I woke up this morning is how I want to feel every damn day.
“Good.” Sevrin’s gaze hits mine for a heartbeat. “Then let’s get this shit with your brother dealt with, because somehow I’m thinking those twins inside your belly are going to bring a whole new level of havoc to our lives.”
A chuckle slips from me. “Are you saying if my brother doesn’t kill us, our offspring will?”
Sevrin shoots me a wink and focuses back on the road in front of us when he states, “We’re here.”
Our discussion might have come to an end, but I do feel we made a monumental change. A relationship built on an understanding creates a foundation. This is what I needed to put my mind at ease.
The focus Sevrin gained from the truck incident yesterday triggered something inside him, allowing this to happen; allowing us to happen. A fated mate bond doesn’t automatically come with love, but the commitment Sevrin asked for gives us a chance to grow stronger together.
Sevrin’s four club brothers take in our surroundings as we get out of the SUV. Karev opens the door to a warehouse and we all slip inside.
I glance around the place. It’s filled with crates of beer. Sevrin mentioned how the club founded a brewery here due to another chapter they recently visited. We walk to the back and go through three doors before we come to a stop in front of a large, tinted window.
It seems to give them options to hide things for the club as well. There’s a young woman tied to a chair, and she’s blindfolded. The power of a genie is in her eyes, it’s something my neighbor shared with me.
“Have you questioned her already?” I wonder out loud.
“Prez wanted us to wait,” Karev grunts. “Not an unusual request, ’cause it mostly works to our advantage when you lock someone up and let them stew in their own shit.
Staying in a dark, silent room for hours on end.
..not knowing what’s going to happen next?
Yeah, it fucks with the mind and makes people chatter as if they got a serious case of mouth diarrhea. ”
“Thanks for the visual,” I mumble.
Levan snorts. “You’re a medical examiner, shouldn’t you have a strong stomach for bodily fluids.”
I shoot the shark shifter a glare. “Want me to give you a personal experience what bodily fluids I can stomach when I make diarrhea come out of your mouth?”
Levan jerks his chin in the direction of the window. “Save it for the genie minus the bottle.”