“I can hear your mind whirling,” he growled, only inches from my face.
I swallowed.
“And to answer that unspoken question in your eyes, you’re mine.”
My eyes flared.
“I made you, so you’re mine.”
My heart fell.
“I made you because I wanted to. I made you because without you, I’m not sure that I could think coherently any longer.” He moved closer until our foreheads were touching. “I’m not saying that this is going to last forever, because my life is a dangerous one. But for now, for my always, you have my heart. I’ve said I love you, but I’ll say it again. You mean the world to me.”
A squeak of emotion slipped through my lips.
I felt him grin rather than saw him.
“We can make it as official or unofficial as you want,” he added. “But to the vampire world, you’re my mate, and I’m yours.”
A tear slipped down my cheek, and he caught it with his lips.
“Don’t cry, baby,” he ordered softly. “When you cry, it makes me want to kiss you. And when I kiss you, it makes me want to do other things that involve my cock and your pussy. And let us not forget that you don’t like it when I make you come with our people just down the hall.”
“Our people?” I teased, brushing a kiss against his cheekbone.
“Yes, our people,” he agreed. “The moment that you became the new you, my blood was tied to you. That means that they’re tied to you, too, through my blood. And let us not forget your brothers.”
I shuddered. “Set me down, big boy. I have some cleaning up to do. Then we have some ‘splainin to do.”
He chuckled and let me be.
By the time I came out of the bathroom, refreshed, fully dressed, and ready to face ‘our people,’ Con was waiting for me.
“You ready, baby?”
I nodded.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
• • •
“So let me get this straight,” Pavlov said lazily, stretching out in his seat like a lazy, contented cat. “They accused you of killing Acadia. Your ex-wife and your ex, whatever the fuck she was to you, come out of the shadows, try to kill you, and Acadia incapacitates them instead? Then, when the douchebag tried to arrest you again, Acadia tells them no, challenges their authority, and winds up leaving with you because she wasn’t so dead after all?”
“They couldn’t charge me for a crime that I obviously didn’t commit,” Con added.
“In all technicality, she was dead,” Adelaide pointed out. “This is going to get ugly before it gets better, and there were about twelve thousand reporters out there waiting for us to leave.”
“Try five,” Abraham said. “But continue.”
Adelaide bared her teeth at him.
“Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted, what I was trying to say was that this isn’t going to stay in our small town. This is already on the verge of something bigger.”
“Something bigger that’ll draw more attention,” Fox agreed.
“Something bigger, that’ll draw more attention, and not in a good way.” Pavlov didn’t look so lazy anymore. He looked pissed.
“So was anyone able to find out who sent the chicks?” That came from Abraham.
“That was what I was searching on before I left for your old place,” Adelaide said, ignoring Abraham’s use of the word ‘chicks.’ “Your maker. He’s been busy.”
That was directed toward Con, and Con growled.
“Carrion has always been a douchebag,” Con agreed. “But what have you found that’s different from any other time?”
“You’re too powerful,” Adelaide said bluntly. “That was what I was able to gather from my sources. The council doesn’t like what you’re building here with Pavlov, Render, Fox, and Abraham. Essentially, y’all are your own council, and by doing what y’all are doing, you are forming a web of trust within the vampires all around this region. When they have problems, they don’t go to the council. They go to you because they know you’ll take care of it a heck of a lot faster, and with a lot less hassle, than the council will.”
“That’s true,” he agreed, then sighed. “Well, then if my guess is correct, we have a war on our hands, and this is only the beginning,” Constantine said into the silence.
Adelaide stood up and walked to the door, Abraham watching her every move.
“I’ll have everything on your desk that I can find out within the week.”
With that, she left, and the rest of us stared after her with varying degrees of awe.
“I think I want her to have my babies,” I said into the silence.
Con snorted. “You can’t have babies, but even if you could, I’m not sure that’s how it works.”
“What did you say?” I asked, going very, very still.
“Oops.” Fox stood up.
Abraham and Pavlov did the same, and soon, everyone in the room was gone except for Con and me. My brothers discreetly leaving us be without saying a word. And for that, I was thankful.
“I can’t have babies?”
Con looked at me.
“No.”
“How do you know?” I asked, being very careful about how I let my anger show.
“Because when you were in that car wreck, your organs were compromised,” he said carefully. “That was likely why you lost your baby when you did.”
I looked away, a feeling of loss hitting me so hard that I could barely breathe.
“You’re not joking, are you?”
He shook his head.
“No, baby,” he whispered. “I wish I were.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and cried for the kids I would never have.
It hurt.
But what hurt worse, was that Con wouldn’t ever have them either.
“It’ll be okay, baby,” Con whispered sometime later.
My eyes hurt. My throat was scratchy, and my abs were sore.
“How do you figure?” I asked, looking away.
He brought my eyes back to his.
“Because I have you.”
“How did you know that was what I was upset about?” I challenged him, wiping my eyes.
He stroked his hand down his beard. “It’s the Viking way. We just know.”
I punched him in the shoulder.
“That’s the biggest bullshit answer I’ve ever heard.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. But for right now, it’s the only one you’re going to get.”
And for some reason, I was okay with that.
“I love you, Con.”
His grin was wide.
“I love you right back, woman.”
• • •
I hope you enjoyed Suck This! During 2020 and the Covid lockdown, I had a lot of free time on my hands, and I decided to write something outside my comfort zone. Something I am terrified to release to the world.
But I pulled my big girl panties up and said…let’s do it. And I did!
If you’re looking for more from me, check out the Battle Crows MC series starting with Always Someone’s Monster!