Chapter Thirty-nine
Josh had never been prouder of his little mate than he was at that moment. She had nerves of steel and hands as steady as they came. Her knowledge and expertise had let them do the near impossible. Hopefully, that wasn’t all for naught.
He climbed from the passenger’s side and was met by three huge Russians. Damn, they grew them big in that country. They rivaled him in size and they were human. As he looked at one of them, the other bashed him in the head.
Pain zinged through his scalp and neck, taking him to his knees. He heard Candy screaming over the cheap shot, not far away. He pretended to stay down so they would think him less a threat. He needed to get his bearings and come up with an escape plan.
They dragged him through doorways and down stairs to a cell made with iron bars welded to the floor, walls, and ceilings. His hope was that his mate would be with him. One of the men spoke in a language he didn’t understand. The cage door opened and he was thrown in. Candy was pushed in behind him. Thank god.
He had to laugh at her. She was chewing them a new asshole and was pretty damn good at it. If they’d understood her, they might be afraid. When the men had left, she was at his side in a second.
“Dammit, Josh.” She tore off a piece of her shirt and pulled the bottle half full of water from her pants pocket. She soaked the scrap of material. “Sit up. You need to drink.” Her hand slipped behind his back to help. She held the bottle as he sucked in lukewarm liquid.
She dabbed at the sore spot on the back of his head. His wolf had sealed the cut, but the area was still a bloody mess. “Can’t you go anywhere without getting into trouble?” she said. Exasperation and humor flitted through her voice. “Seems everywhere you’ve been the past eighteen hours some disaster has occurred.” She lay his head in her lap.
He smiled. “If I’m correct, you happened to be in all those same places. You sure it’s not you attracting trouble?” The top of his skull was incredibly close to her hot folds where his face had been hours ago. He couldn’t help but breathe deeply, taking in what she offered.
“Me?” she replied, “I’m completely innocent.” Her eyes were drooping.
He did laugh at that. “That’s not how you were in your office earlier. You seemed quite the wanton sex goddess.” Yes, just what he hoped. She was aroused by his statement and she flooded the air with her want. Her face flooded red, her eyes wide at his comment. Damn, she was so cute. And his. Her shoulders slumped. Not normal for her.
“You know,” he started, “when we get back home, you’ll have to move in with me.”
Her brow rose but eyes remained closed. “Why can’t you move in with me?” She had a point. His apartment was still a bachelor pad with mismatched furniture, and his dinnerware consisted of Hefty paper plates. He had real silverware, though. It was impossible to eat a steak with a plastic knife and fork.
“Okay, I’ll move in with you,” he agreed.
Her head was back, breathing slowing. They had been going nonstop for a long time. Geared up on adrenaline and fear, they had been sharp and in the zone for hours. Now his mate was crashing hard as adrenaline drained. Humans couldn’t sustain that heightened state of existence shifters could. Her mind would be shutting down, insisting on sleep.
He’d let her rest, but not sleep. He needed her to be ready to go on the spot. “Would you like a big wedding or something simple?” he whispered.
She sighed but remained quiet, which unnerved him. She wasn’t having second thoughts, was she?
“Josh,” she said, “you are as perfect as they come. I’m about as fucked-up as they come.”
“And your point?” he said. “Opposites attract.”
“Oh, Josh,” she sighed again. “You’ll get bored of me quickly and want to leave. I don’t know the first thing about love or how to love someone the right away.” A tear trickled down her cheek. She was too tired for this topic to frustrate her that much.
He raised his head from her lap and moved her around until she sat against him with his back to the wall. This was so much better. Having her in his arms after all this time. She felt so good. Perfect.
“You spent all night watching the president and first lady, didn’t you?” he asked. She nodded, her head back on his shoulder. “You even tried to get close to me, but I messed up both times.” She nodded again. “But you tried.” He kissed the side of her head. “I think you want to be loved. To love. To know what it feels like. And now you have it from me.” Her head bobbed.
“But when you find out who I really am, the hard-nosed sergeant bitch, you’ll run screaming. I have temper issues like my father did.”
“But how many times did you purposefully quell that anger? I saw you controlling it,” he said. “You have techniques to call on when you get into those situations. You are so strong, Candy. You’ve lived through what would have killed others.”
He rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “And see this. Almost a day ago, you would’ve kicked my ass for touching you this way.”
She barked out a laugh. “You are so right, there.”
“So see?” He kissed her hair again, loving her smell. “We are meant to be. Your body accepts mine and mine more than accepts yours.”
She smiled at the comment, eyes still closed, head back. “Maybe.”
“No maybe about it, love. Your body is made for loving and we’re going to have our own pup yard.”
She sat up and turned to him. “Our own what? You don’t mean pets, do you?”
“No,” he shook his head, “that’s what wolf shifters call their children. Pups.” The smell of fear stung his nose. Gently, he brushed back hair from her face. “What do you think about having children?” Shit, he should’ve waited to bring up this subject. He was just so ready to move on to the next stage of his life. She wasn’t resting anymore, either.
“Josh.” Her eyes turned to the floor. “I’m . . . I don’t think I want children.” Her fright ramped up more than ever. She was calmer during the bombs.
He pulled her back into his arms to lean against him. With what she’d told him about her past, he knew why she held this fear. Question was, did she understand it?
“Why don’t you want kids?” he asked.
She shrugged, but didn’t say anything. Her pulse was slowing and her breathing was returning to resting mode.
“Raising pups is a community thing where I’m from. It’s not just the mother alone with the kids from dawn till dusk. I will be there a lot of the time. In fact, I plan to be there most of the time. I want to be a big part of our pups’ lives. You never have to worry about becoming too rough or . . . violent with them. It won’t happen.”
In a tiny whisper, he heard her say, “How do you know? How can you be so sure?”
“Because you know what it’s like and won’t let it occur,” he responded. “You won’t be saddled or overwhelmed with stress. When it’s playtime, a lot of the neighborhood kids get together and play outside or go to the pool, or jump on the neighbor’s trampoline and break their arms.” Her body cringed against his. “But we heal super fast, so the arm will be fine after an ice cream cone and chocolate syrup.”
“Or a DQ chocolate Blizzard with M&Ms,” she said.
“No way. Reese’s peanut butter chunks blow M&Ms out of the water,” he came back.
“Huh,” she retorted, “I’ll show you blowing chunks, buddy. Get you and me back in my chopper.”
He laughed. The return of her smart ass meant she was about rested enough to help get them out of here. Just one more thing he needed to know. He snuggled her tighter to him. “Tell me about your life after your mom passed.”
She stiffened then relaxed into him. Her throat cleared. “I would’ve run away, except I couldn’t leave my younger sister and brother behind. I knew if I told anyone about my father, we kids would’ve been taken by Child Protective Services and probably split up.
“I did my best to feed my siblings and hide them when needed. Kept Dad’s attention on me when he needed to rage and vent.” She sighed and paused.
“On my eighteenth birthday, I had my brother and sister pack the few things they had and we snuck out of the house when Dad finally passed out. I drove them to our aunt and uncle’s a couple of towns over and dropped them off. I gave my aunt a journal I’d kept since the day Mom died.
“In it I wrote down everything that happened, everything I felt, and chronicled my dying childhood dreams. That way she would fight to keep my siblings if Dad came around wanting to take them back.”
He asked, “Did he?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. After I dropped them off, I went to the recruiter station and signed up for the army and left for basic training that day. I haven’t talked to or seen any of my family since then.” She sniffled. “Happy birthday to me. Freedom.”