“Goddamn it,” he breathes, accent thick and syrupy. He licks the side of my neck again, and I push back against him, only to be pinned to the wall by his pistoning hips as he fucks me hard and comes with a ragged, masculine groan.
Beast goes still suddenly, releasing my arm just in time for Crown to appear around the corner.
He stares at the two of us with this expression of impossible rage on his face, and I ask myself yet again how the hell I think this is all going to work.
“You animal,” Crown says lightly, reminding me, oddly enough, of Giulia Wolfe. Pretty sure she said the exact same thing to me once upon a time. The thing is, we’re all animals. Some of us are wolves, some are bears, some are rats (like Gaz). Giulia is a fucking viper.
Beast slides out of me and manages to catch me around the waist before I fall. He hefts me up and turns me around so that I’m leaning back against the side of the house, panting heavily. I don’t even bother to fix my pants just yet. No point.
I stare at Beast’s profile as he studies Crown.
“You’re back already?” he asks, like he’s annoyed by the idea.
“Gidget is right. I’m exhausted. If I don’t get some sleep, I won’t make it another step.” Crown is staring at me now, but I can’t seem to bring myself to look away from Beast. “There are still men that I trust in this club, believe it or not.”
“I don’t trust anyone,” Beast tells him, but even though I’m not looking at him, I see Crown give a loose shrug of his shoulders.
“Sin and Grainger are at least awake now; they can babysit themselves.” Crown turns away, but not before trying one, last time to get me to look at him. I finally do, and I see that his eyes … they’re blazing. He looks at me like something that should be devoured whole.
I just stare at him for a minute before he turns away and takes off.
Birds chirp in the late afternoon sunshine as I close my eyes and lean my head back against the house, feeling warm rays on places that don’t usually see the sun. The air is hot and thick with smoke from those stupid, goddamn wildfires.
“Come on, wife,” Beast says, his voice substantially less dark than it was earlier. He waits for me to open my eyes and pull up my own pants, meeting my gaze as I look up at him. He touches a thumb to my lips, and I shiver. “That’s when I knew, that night. It wasn’t right, what we did. But I wasn’t strong enough to resist you. Of everything I’ve ever encountered, every person, every situation, I’ve been able to make the right choice regardless of what I wanted.”
Beast steps closer to me, putting his big hands on my waist and drawing me close. I tilt my head back automatically, groaning and sagging against him as he kisses down the side of my throat.
“You’re the only exception.”
“Beast, I’m … pregnant,” I whisper, hating that I even have to say it, but knowing there’s no other choice for us now but pure, raw honesty. “And it’s not yours.”
“You’re my wife,” he says, kissing my neck again and giving me goose bumps. “So it’s mine. I explained that to you.”
“Grainger won’t like that,” I whisper back, but Beast just grunts, as if his opinion is inconsequential.
“Come with me,” he says, giving me such a long, studying sort of look that I know I’m not leaving his bed until tomorrow. Or maybe the day after that. Maybe longer.
Beast holds out a hand to indicate that I should move past him, and I do, loving the feel of his heavy shadow trailing along behind me. He’s got my back in a way that I’ve never had before; I trust him implicitly.
Trust.
Wow.
I make quick work of the front steps and head inside to see Grey leaning against one wall, watching us with heather gray eyes.
“That was quite the show,” he murmurs as I pass by him, just a hint of that cocky playboy he used to be in his words. Without so much as a breath of hesitation, Beast reaches out and wraps the fingers of his left hand around the mafia brat’s neck, slamming him into the wall.
Grey grits his teeth and curls his hands around Beast’s, but he doesn’t fight him. He goes perfectly still, as if he knows that’s his only chance to make it out of this alive.
“Be quiet, boy. I wouldn’t lose a lick o’ sleep putting you in the ground.” Beast shoves him hard against the wall and Grey grunts as I watch impassively, offering a silent apology with my eyes but little more. He’s on club turf now, club rules. These are my men and my house.
