Cold Fury (Royal Bastards MC: Minneapolis, MN), page 18
“So much death,” she intones in a hollowed-out voice. “So much pain.”
“But you caused none of it, babe.” I reminder. “You brought none of it on yourself. Repeat it over and over in your head until you know it, beyond a shadow of a doubt.”
Kat doesn’t answer. I know it’s going to take her a while to process all of this. She’s got a long road ahead of her. But she’s got me to help her through it. Me, and the rest of the club, and the old ladies. We’ll be there for her, no matter what.
Wishbone comes back with a pair of fluffy fuzzy socks that Reenie brought from home to protect her feet. She pulls them on, and I pick her up and carry her out to the main room, against Kat’s protests. I deposit her on one of the couches, and from there, she holds court like a queen for several hours. The men come up one after the other, to make sure she’s okay, and tell her what a badass she was. The women flock around her, hugging her and taking their places around her like ladies in waiting. Rael even goes over to meet her. Kat looks a a little freaked out by his appearance, but she does a pretty good job of just rolling with it.
After Rael spends a few minutes talking to her, he saunters over to me at the bar, where I’m watching the whole scene from a distance.
“Seems like she’s worth all the fuss,” he says cryptically. “Glad you got her back.”
I get the feeling that’s a hell of an endorsement, coming from him.
Gigi shows up, later, too. While Wishbone was tending to Kat, I decided to call her and tell her the bare bones of what happened to Kat — leaving out enough of the details to keep my sister safe. When Gigi bursts through the door of the clubhouse, she’s crying — a sight I haven’t seen since she was a little girl in pigtails.
“Oh my god, Kat!” she wails, flying to the couch and enveloping her in a hug. “You could have been killed! God, I couldn’t have taken it if my brother had lost you a second time! I’m so glad to see you, you have no idea!”
The two share an emotional embrace that lasts several minutes. Mack comes up behind me, looking taken aback. “Shit, Fury,” he says, shaking his head. “It looks like your sister is capable of human emotions, after all. Who’d have guessed?”
Everyone in the clubhouse is in high spirits, and pretty soon a spontaneous party breaks out. Someone turns up the music, and Little Big Mama starts slinging drinks as fast as she can at the bar. We stay for a while, but when I can tell Kat is getting tired, I grab her off the couch and carry her out to my truck, saying our goodbyes as we go. I take Kat straight to my place, and she doesn’t argue. I insist on her letting me carry her inside.
“You can’t carry me around for the rest of my life, Connor,” she teases me as I transport her over the threshold and through the house to my bedroom.
“The hell I can’t,” I growl. “You underestimate me, woman.”
She giggles. “I think that might make doing my job at the hospital a little difficult.”
The laughter dies on her lips. Her face gets a faraway look.
“You okay, babe?”
She nods, looking pensive. “I guess I’m glad Quad and his club are in jail rather than the alternative. But Connor, I’m scared this really isn’t all over. What if the Eagle’s Talon implicates the Royal Bastards to the cartel? What if they come after you?”
I shake my head. “Not gonna happen. The Talon’s got no proof. And besides, the Bastards have steered well clear of Sinaloa over the years. We have no beef with them. But there’s a long history of conflict between the Talon and the Bastards. We can talk our way out of it if we need to. The cartel will buy it if we tell them the Talon were trying to use them, to strike out at us. The cartel won’t like that at all, thinking the Talon used them. Anything the Talon — or what’s left of them, anyway — says about us to Sinaloa would end up backfiring on them. And I’m pretty sure they know it.” I kiss her deeply. “It’s over, baby. I promise.”
Gently, I set her on the bed, and then pull off her thick goofy socks, and then her clothing. She’s oddly silent as I lift her shirt up and over her head, and then I realize why.
“Let’s burn those clothes.” Her face is pale. “I don’t want to wear them again. They’ll remind me of…”
I capture her next words with a kiss, silencing her. “We’ll get rid of them, I promise,” I say when the kiss is over. “Right now, the only thing that matters is us. Okay?”
A wave of exhaustion crosses her features. She gazes up at me. “It is over, then? Really, truly over?”
“Yes, baby.” I lean forward and plant a soft kiss on her forehead. “It’s really, truly over.”
Seconds later, my girl is naked, lying on the bed, looking up at me with those eyes I could drown in. “Jesus, you’re so fucking beautiful, Kat.”
“Even all banged up and bruised?” She reaches up to touch the scar on her cheek that’s still healing.
“You have always been the most beautiful woman in the world to me.” I kneel down on the bed. “You always will be, Katrina.” My throat gets tight with emotion. “I was stupid as hell to ever let you go, Kat. You know, I think when I was young and dumb, I was looking for a father figure, someone to admire and to try to make me proud, since my dad was too busy drinking himself to death. I guess I joined my first MC because of that. I gave up the one person who loved me for who I was, for what?” I shake my head. “I was a damn fool back then. But I swear to you I ain’t that fool anymore.”
“Oh, Connor.” Her eyes grow wet with tears.
“I love you so much, Katrina. Shit, today I was afraid I’d lost you for real this time. You’re not gonna be out of my sight for a good long time, you know that?”
She lets out an amused groan. “You’re not going to start following me to work again, are you?”
“I might,” I concede. “But you know, there is something you could do, to ease my mind.”
“What’s that?”
“Marry me.”
“What?”
I climb over on top of her, so she’s staring up at me. “I mean it. Say yes. Say you’ll be my family. That we’ll have a lifetime together. We’ll have every morning, and every night, and everything in between. That you’ll let me keep you safe.” I bend down and kiss her stomach. “That you’ll let me put a baby in you. Hell, a whole football team of babies.”
Happy tears are streaming down her face. “I don’t know about a whole football team,” she laughs.
“Is that a yes, then?”
She sighs, sniffles, and wraps her arms around my neck. “God, yes, that’s a yes, Connor. It’s all I’ve ever wanted since I was sixteen years old. You’re all I’ve ever wanted. And football team of children or not, I’ll take a life with you over anything else in this world. You’re the only family I need.”
I look down at her in wonder, and I can’t help but thank the fucking universe for giving this woman back to me. “You have a whole big family now, babe. You’ve got me, and Gigi, and every last damn person in the Royal Bastards. And you couldn’t get rid of any of us if you tried.”
“Stop talking and fuck me, Connor,” she says, eyes flashing.
I groan. “Oh, Jesus, baby. That mouth is gonna be the death of me.”
I move between her thighs, my cock throbbing for her. In one thrust, I’m inside her, holding myself deep for a few seconds just to close my eyes and feel her heat around me. Kat locks her legs around my hips.
“My wife,” I rasp.
“Yes. Connor. Fury. I’m yours.”
I know I can’t hold on for very long. I need her too much. I need to fill her. To lose myself inside her. Kat’s arms tighten around my neck as she moans and rocks her hips up to meet each of my thrusts. Jesus God, she feels good. “So close, baby. Can’t stop.”
“Connor… I need you… I’m going to come…”
Her words set off the bomb inside me. Seconds later I’m shouting her name, erupting inside her white-hot as she shudders and comes apart around me. We ride out the aftershocks together, holding on for dear life, both of us knowing it’s just the beginning for us. The beginning of a lifetime of this. Of us.
Later, we drift off to sleep, still locked together. Her presence fills every corner of my mind, pushing away everything else. I could drown in the softness of her skin. The scent of her hair. The contented sound of her breathing as she falls asleep in my arms.
My Kat. Kat. Kat. How did I ever live without you?
She’s always been it for me. There’s never been anyone else.
It’s not often you get a second chance with the person you were supposed to be with all along.
And this time, I ain’t about to let her go. Ever again.
EPILOGUE
KAT
“Oh my god…” I stare at the ultrasound screen in disbelief, gripping Connor’s hand. “That’s our baby. It’s really our baby.”
“It is indeed,” the technician says cheerfully. She moves the wand around to get a better view. “And it looks like everything is going great. Hear that?”
A rapid, whooshing thump comes over the little speakers. “Is that the heartbeat?” Connor asks in wonder. His fingers close over mine as I struggle not to cry, I’m so overwhelmed. Somehow, as a nurse, I thought I wouldn’t be this amazed, but I was wrong. That little baby is Connor plus me. We made that. Our love did that.
“It is. Sounds strong and regular.” The nurse turns from the screen to look at us. “Do you want to know the sex?”
At home, Connor and I had discussed it and decided we didn’t want to know. But now, he turns to me, and I can see that we’re thinking the same thing. He cocks an eyebrow, and I nod.
“Yes, please,” I beg.
“Your little one is being very cooperative, so we’re getting a nice clear picture. And here, you can see…” She moves the wand some more, and the angle of the image changes. She reaches up to the screen and points. “See there? Looks like you’re going to have a little girl.”
The rest of the appointment passes in a blur, as the technician works to get all the images they need to make sure all of baby’s organs are looking good. The OBGYN comes in to talk to us next, explaining all the images in depth and telling us everything is going perfectly.
By the end, when the doctor hands us a couple of images of our baby to take home with us, she asks us if there are any questions.
“Only one: where’s the bathroom?” I squeak. “I really have to pee!”
Minutes later, I go out into the reception area where Connor is waiting for me. He’s holding the ultrasound pictures, and seems completely unaware that pretty much everyone in the room is staring at him in awe. I guess he doesn’t exactly look like the typical father-to-be.
“Ready to go, babe?” he rumbles as he reaches to take my hand.
“I am. But I’m also starving. Could we stop for a quick bite on the way home?”
“Your wish is my command.”
Connor leads me out to the truck and gets me situated in the passenger seat. “You know,” I remark as I sink back against the headrest, “I could get really used to this ‘your wish is my command’ stuff. Maybe I need to keep getting pregnant so you keep waiting on me hand and foot.”
“Sounds like a pretty drastic solution, babe.” He chuckles as he starts the truck and puts it into gear. “But hell, if you want to keep gettin’ pregnant, I’m all for it. Not only are you beautiful as hell when you’re carrying my baby, but I’m a pretty big fan of what we gotta do to get you pregnant in the first place.”
Connor takes me to my favorite fast-food drive-through, patiently ordering for me even though I keep second-guessing all my decisions. I wolf down half of my chicken sandwich and fries, and then suddenly I’m full and have to stop — not to mention incredibly sleepy all of a sudden.
Connor must see my eyes drooping, because he starts the truck again without a word and drives me home, actually carrying me from the vehicle to the door and then to the bedroom.
“Remember the first time you carried me in here?” I ask.
“Sure as hell do. Could never forget it. I was still sweating bullets after how close I came to losing you to…” he trails off, not wanting to bring back the memories that he knows are always right there.
But I brought the past up for a reason. “It’s okay, Connor. That was a hard time in our lives, but it’s in the past. Everything we’ve been through, good or bad, is what brought us here. And I’m a pretty big fan of here.” I smile up at his handsome, sexy face, before a huge yawn suddenly threatens to split my face in two. “Oh my god, I’m so tired!” I say, covering my mouth. “I swear before I got pregnant, I never even knew what tiredness was.”
“You lie down here,” he says, depositing me on the bed. “And get some rest.”
“But there’s so much more to do before tomorrow!” I protest.
Connor shushes me. “Everything that needs to be done before tomorrow can be taken care of by other people. Your job is to sleep enough that you won’t be too tired to enjoy the day.”
“Connor, I can’t just expect everyone else…”
But he’s whipped his phone out and is punching a number on the screen. A second later someone answers, and he says, “Gigi, will you tell my wife that she needs to take a damn nap and that you’ve got everything under control?”
He hands the phone to me, and Gigi repeats into my ear. “Kat. Seriously. Take a nap. Everything is under control.”
“See?” Connor smirks.
I flip him off and hand the phone back to him.
When he has made sure that I’m comfortable and gotten my repeated assurances that I will not get out of bed until I’ve slept for at least an hour, Connor leans down and places a soft kiss on my belly. “Hey, sweetheart,” he croons at it. “Tomorrow you’re gonna go to your first wedding. Your folks are tying the knot.”
“Now that we know she’s a girl, we need to start thinking about names,” I say as I close my eyes.
“We’ve got time, darlin’. Now hush.”
I hear the click of the door as it shuts behind him. And that’s the last thing I remember as sleep overtakes me.
“Kat, are you ready?”
Gigi, my maid of honor, bites her lip in excitement and looks at me expectantly.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I say, taking a deep breath.
She peeks out toward the assembled crowd and makes a signal with her hand.
Seconds later, an acoustic guitar begins to play softly.
“You look so beautiful,” she says, her eyes glistening. Then, turning to Mack, Gigi shoots him a sour look. “Okay, let’s go,” she mutters to the best man. “Try not to step on me feet.”
Mack looks back at me with a snort. “She’s just a ray of damn sunshine, isn’t she?”
Gigi points down the aisle. “Shut up and walk, loser.”
The two of them step through the archway made of vines and flowers in time to the music and start walking down the aisle. Next to me, Choppa sticks out his arm. “You really do look pretty as a picture, girl. You’re gonna do Fury proud.”
“Thank you.” I beam up at him. “And thank you for walking me down the aisle.”
“It’s an honor, darlin’. Truly. I think of Fury as my son, and so you’re my daughter now.”
We proceed through the arch and down the aisle of Choppa and Reenie’s beautiful backyard. Reenie’s master gardening skills have made it into an almost magical place. Even though I saw it all decorated and done up this morning, my breath still catches in my throat as I see it now, filled with friends who are all looking at me with smiles on their faces.
And then, at the end of the aisle, is the love of my life.
Connor. Fury. Brother. Club member. Friend. He’s so many things to so many people.
And today, he becomes my husband.
Magnus does the honors. He officiates solemnly, like a man who takes the responsibility seriously. There’s a quiet undercurrent of joy and reverence all during the ceremony. But Connor keeps looking at me and trying to make me smile or laugh, which does the trick of calming all my nerves. By the time we get to the “I do’s” I’m giggling. And by the time Magnus gets to the “You may kiss the bride, Connor announces, “Finally!” and sweeps me off my feet with a kiss that leaves me breathless and blushing.
From the back of the garden, a whoop erupts, and then everyone is shouting, clapping, and laughing. Rice and streamers are tossed at us. Christy and the other guests from the hospital take out little bottles of bubbles and start blowing them. Country and Reed, the two guitarists, play an acoustic version of “Speechless” by Dan + Shay as Connor takes my hand and we walk into the crowd for the first time as husband and wife.
The rest of the day is a blur of music, laughter, food, and love. And family. Throughout the reception, which goes on long into the night, Royal Bastards dance, drink, and even sing. At one point, I even see Black take Christy’s hand and lead her out onto the dance floor. She shoots me a look that reads somewhere between I can’t believe I’m doing this and Help?
I just laugh, grab the hand of my own biker, and head into the fray.
Not everyone is here, of course. Quad is still in jail, and probably will be for some time. I don’t know if I can ever forgive him for what he put me through. For now, I’m just going to hope that he’ll be okay on the inside. Maybe when he gets out, there will be a path forward for us to reconcile as brother and sister. It’s a long shot, for sure. But lately, I’ve been learning to appreciate the possibilities of long shots.
Carla, Quad’s baby mama, isn’t here today, either. I did send her an invitation, but she declined it, saying weddings weren’t her thing. She is coming over to our house for dinner next week, though. And she’s bringing little Kelly with her.
When Quad went to jail, I reached out to Carla again, offering to help with Kelly as much as she’d let me. Amazingly, she broke down crying, saying that if I was serious, she could really use someone in her corner. I’ve been babysitting for her about once a week since then, to give her a break if she needs to go grocery shopping or just have a little time to herself. Recently, little Kelly has started calling me Auntie Kat. Every time she does it, I get a little teary. I finally got to be an aunt, after all. And now, my daughter will have a cousin.
