Chapter Thirty-Five
Linc
His head was against her chest; her heart beat like thunder in his ears. He was mated. It was official. Madden was his whole world, the reason for his every breath. He thought he’d feel different. He thought he’d actually be able to feel their connection. He closed his eyes, stilling his mind and concentrating on his own body. Flashes of the last couple of weeks were playing on fast forward in his head. Him seeing Madden in the trainer’s office, touching her hand for the first time. The smirk on her lips when she blew him off. The way she looked when he picked her up, her scent filling his car on the drive home. The first time he was inside her perfect body, and then every time afterward. He smiled when he realized the reason he didn’t feel different in that moment. Madden had changed him the day they met. His heart had started to beat for her and her alone from that moment forward.
“Is it done?”
He pulled back, setting her on her feet and tucking his still rigid cock back inside his shorts. “It’s done.” He brushed a dark lock behind her ear. “You’re my mate.” He knelt in front of her, helping her get dressed.
“What now?” Her voice was quiet, unsure.
“Now we go out in the hallway and talk to the FBI agents. We help them get Ox somewhere where they can question him, somewhere he can’t hurt anyone else. And then we go home.” He threaded his fingers through hers. “You okay?” No matter what she said, he’d always feel guilty for taking her like that. For doing it after something so terrible happened to her. For having people on the other side of the door, waiting on them. He hated his shifter side for making him be that person. But he loved Madden even more for understanding.
She nodded, pulling her lower lip through her straight white teeth. “Yeah, I think I am.” He frowned, she thinks? She jerked his hand, pulling him toward her. “I think I’m more than okay. I’m happy, Linc.”
He let out a sigh. “Then let’s go get this over with.”
***
Talking to Brooks and Grimes had taken over an hour. Then Baze had helped them secure a location to transport him. Baze wouldn’t tell Linc or Keller where Ox was going. He thought the fewer the people who knew, the better. And the Feds had agreed.
Madden hadn’t protested when Linc insisted that she take the rest of the day off. Her cheek had started to swell and the bruise had started to bloom.
Dom and Corey came by Madden’s office before she and Linc were getting ready to leave. Corey was pissed. She demanded to know where Ox was being held so she could kick his ass. Somehow that image of a pregnant Corey facing off against Ox with her 9 mm made Madden smile, and Linc was glad something had distracted her from the morning’s events.
Dom had told them he would provide cover in case Dean McCormick asked why they weren’t at work. Since Ox had gotten on campus under the guise of being a parent, they weren’t sure who to trust anymore besides the pack.
Now, six hours later, Linc was lying awake watching SportsCenter. Madden was still asleep, her uninjured cheek on his bare chest. He leaned forward and breathed in the spicy scent of her hair. She was his. He’d get to watch ESPN like this, with her in his arms, forever. Did it get any better than that? Food. Food would be the only thing that could make this moment any better. Or a cold beer. After the day they had? Linc could use a beer.
Madden stirred, almost like she’d heard his thoughts. She let out a happy little moan. “How long have I been asleep?”
He checked his watch. “’Bout four or five hours.” He kissed her head. “How are you feeling?”
She sat up, stretching her arms over her head. “Little stiff. That fucker was built like a brick house.” Linc took a shaky breath. He didn’t think he’d ever not want to kill Ox for as long as he lived. “Other than that I’m okay.”
He rubbed her back and muted the TV. “You hungry? Thirsty? Horny?”
“All of the above.”
“Well, since we’re already here in our bed, why don’t we take care of horny first?” He grabbed her thigh and pulled her onto his lap. His hands skimmed up her skin and under the oversized t-shirt she was wearing. She leaned down, fusing her mouth with his, her body grinding expertly on top of him. “You think we could sell all our unused condoms on Craigslist? Between the two of us we probably have a hundred.”
“That’s what you’re thinking about right now?” Madden sat up, her hands on her hips, peering down at him in annoyance.
“Well, yeah.” He wiggled underneath her. “I was thinking I get to slide inside your tight pussy bareback. And then I was like, hey, I never have to wear a condom again. Ever. Which led to, what should I do with that economy-size box in my bathroom.” He made a circular motion with his hand. “Thus. Craigslist condoms.”
Madden tugged at the sheets pooled around her waist, grabbing his dick and positioning herself above him. “Enough.”
She stopped talking and Linc screwed his eyes shut. “Please tell that I’m imagining things and there isn’t someone knocking on our door. Please baby. Tell me.”
She climbed off his lap and he pouted harder than he ever had in his life. “No can do.” She started toward the living room and Linc jumped out of bed.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, stopping her in her tracks. “I’ll get the door. You put on pants, please. Some of my jealousy issues are gone now that we completed the bond, but not all of them.” He kissed her neck and then shut the bedroom door behind him. See? Manners was all it took to keep your mate from chewing your ass out. Dom and Keller should really take lessons from him.
The knocking came again, this time louder. Linc sighed as he opened the door. “Please leave.” His whole pack was standing on his front porch, plus Jasper and Jace.
Corey glanced down then smirked. “Not so funny now, is it?” Linc reached down and adjusted his hard-on. He deserved that. He cracked up every time he’d interrupted Corey and Dom. Molly and Kel too for that matter.
Fucking karma.
“What are allllllll of you people doing at my house?” He held the door wider, allowing everyone to file in. They spread out, each taking a place in the living room. Then Riley sat four giant pizza boxes on the coffee table, and Baze opened an ice chest.
“Thought you could use this.” He tossed him a cold can.
Linc popped the top and took a long swig. When Madden came out a few seconds later he pulled her down onto his lap, taking up the other half of the couch where Corey was currently sitting with her feet up. “Look baby, everyone we know came to visit us.” His smile was sarcastic, as was his tone.
“Hello, everyone.” Madden reached for a piece of pizza and stole Linc’s beer. “What’s this all about? Ox? Or does everyone want to make sure I didn’t murder Linc for claiming me against a wall on campus?”
Linc snorted into the crook of her neck. Only Madden would say something like that. She was fearless and funny and unapologetic. She was perfect, and she was his.
Keller talked around a mouth full of cheese. “Little bit of both.”
“Ox is successfully locked away. Brooks and Grimes are there with him at the safe house and questioning is going to start as soon as he’s ready.” Baze put a piece of vegetable pizza on is paper plate.
“What does that mean? When he’s ready?” Molly came from the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of wine she must have brought with her.
“It means starve him a little first, make sure he’s weak before they start trying to get answers.” Jace shrugged. “That’s what I would do.” Which meant that was what Franklin would do. He’s the one who taught Jace everything he knew about misery and abuse tactics.
Jasper turned to his brother. “How long you think they have until Franklin realizes Ox is missing?”
“Couple days, max.” Jace glanced at Corey and then back down to his plate. “I’m going to go there tomorrow after school, to the safe house.”
Linc’s eyebrows rose, along with everyone else’s. He looked across the room at Baze, the only pack member that didn’t appear shocked by Jace’s revelation. “Why are you letting him do that?” Hadn’t they agreed to keep the twins out of it? They were just kids. Linc was surprised that Corey wasn’t screaming her head off right then.
Baze set his plate down on the arm of his chair. “Like Jace said, we only have a couple days until Franklin knows something is up. Either he’ll come down here himself, or send another one of his goons. Either way, the kids, all of us, are in danger. The best thing we can do is get Ox to talk, and fast.”
“Baze is coming with me. He’s going to help. Brooks and Grimes aren’t shifters, they won’t be able to break Ox. No matter how hard they try. He’s stronger, he’ll outlast them. I know Ox—I’ve known him for years.” Jace’s eyes were still down on his plate. “Sometimes I wouldn’t see my father for weeks, but either Ox or Bull were always around to keep tabs on me.”
“Baze? You set this up?” Dom was holding Corey, who had tears in her eyes. Linc knew what she was thinking; he knew why she was upset. Corey had talked with Jace for hours, meeting with him every week, helping him learn to cope with his past. She knew better than anyone the trauma he’d gone through. He detested his father, and now he was going to walk into that safe house and have to be just like him.
“Between the two of us, we’ll get it done.” Baze raised his chin, a show of strength when Linc knew he hated this as much as everyone else.
“I should go. I’ll be able to tell what he’s feeling. What affects him the most.” Keller shook his head. “I’ll go.”
“No, then one more person would know where we are keeping him.” Baze shook his head. “The fewer people who know, the fewer people Franklin can come after for answers once he realizes Ox is gone.”
They all returned to eating their pizza, the room full of heavy silence.
How was this their life? They went from four happily single baseball coaches to discussing torture tactics over dinner with their pack?
Molly looked terrified, Corey looked pissed and sad, and Madden looked fighting mad.
The kids were in danger.
Their mates were in danger.
And fucking baseball season hadn’t even started yet.