When she had finally caught her breath, Kane picked her up in his massive arms and carried her towards his bike. The thought of riding with him on the wind was always a thrill, something that she had missed in the years without him. But now, she hesitated.
“What’s up?” he asked.
Her hand went to her belly, and while the child growing inside her was most definitely the devil’s spawn, half of the baby, the better half, was hers. Kane always knew his way up every street and down every dark alley. But even as he held out his hand and managed a smile, Angeline could see the rage boiling in his eyes. What if he lost his focus and missed a turnoff or failed to see an oncoming truck? Even with Kane back, a small part of Angeline wouldn’t mind a knock out from which she might never recover.
But now she had two lives to look after.
“Kane,” she started, “why don’t we…why don’t we just walk it off? I mean… I need…”
A gasp left her lips when he seized her by the shoulders. His hands were tender yet firm, and his face was like steel, as he stared into her wide green eyes.
“We do need to talk,” he said. “But not here. Let’s go somewhere quiet.”
He nearly had her on the bike when Angeline drew back. Kane’s face contorted into a mask of frustration, but he still moved towards her with a sure step.
“What?” he challenged. “You scared or something?”
Before she could stop herself, Angeline felt her head nod. She was scared, but not of him—of what he might do.
“A little,” she confessed. “Are you…I mean are you even thinking straight right now, Kane?”
She knew that sooner or later, he would see Noel again. What then? It seemed to her that the code between the so-called Blood Brothers was shattered beyond repair. Would Kane be able to control himself and just grit his teeth, or would he push him to the ground, rip her rapist’s head off, and find his hands covered in blood until metal cuffs returned to his wrists? Punishment for such a crime would mean more than five years without him. It would be forever.
Fear raced around her heart, and she held up her hands as he tried to grab her again. “Just tell me,” she said.
Kane tilted his head to the side and avoided her gaze. “Tell you what?” he challenged.
“Tell me…tell me that you won’t do anything stupid.”
A ragged laugh left his lips, and Angeline flinched. He had sworn to her that she was safe and that he could get past the fact that the child was Noel’s. As much as she wanted to believe him, her mind was still flooded with doubts.
“Only dumb thing I ever did was leave you alone,” he said. The sweetness in his voice pulled her back to his arms, but as his embrace began to enclose her, Kane muttered into her hair,“And look what happened.”
Pushing away from him, Angeline sucked in a deep breath and fought the urge to smack his stubbled face. “I never asked you to take the fall for me,” she spat.
“I got that,” he said. “But no one tells me what to do, Angel. Kind of thought that you had that figured out.”
“And I never told you to sic your buddy on me,” she continued. “Look what happened? Figured it out? I could say the same thing to you.”
He had always sworn that he would never hold his sacrifice against her, but now she wasn’t so sure. She felt that the piece of his heart that he struggled to keep buried did blame her for the ruination of everything that he had ever believed him. No way back to the club, no way to be with her without Noel’s face coming between them whenever they lay side by side. Plus, when the baby—the small, innocent life that she was already growing attached to—finally appeared, what then?
Everything had changed, and there was no pretending or going back.
“Just forget it,” she said. “It’s a mistake. We’re a mistake.”
Turning on her heel, Angeline did not look back, and she was stunned when she did not feel him following her. When he called it their child, Kane must have been lost in the heat of the moment and the feel of her flushed flesh pressing against his. But now, as the night grew colder, he had to want to take it back. Angeline didn’t blame him for any of it; he had paid the ultimate price for her crime. As she kept walking away from him, it seemed that so had she.
“Hey!” Charging forward, Kane collected her in his arms and forced her around to face him. She squirmed in his embrace, but Kane’s hold was too strong to resist. When he clutched her face, she had no choice but to look into his eyes, as his hot breath encircled her anguished body. “Mistake?” he said. “No way. I don’t make mistakes.”
Raising his hand, a single finger brushed against her lips, and she fought the urge to taste his flesh on her tongue. She thought back to all the lonely nights without him and longed to take a chance now that he was so close. But who was she kidding? This wasn’t going to work, and she straightened, as she prepared to explain the things that only she understood and that he would have to accept in time.
“Kane, just listen—”
“Just stop talking, Angel.”
He surprised her with the force of his kiss, hungry and powerful, as his lips parted around hers. She struggled at first, her hands trying to push his broad chest away. However, as she fell deeper into his mouth, she felt his heart pounding through his shirt, and Angeline was powerless to do anything but melt into his arms. Kane’s hand spun up her back, and as his fingers hit her neck, she moaned at the feel of him kneading her skin. He lost his hands in her hair and took her curls into his touch. He had this way of making her feel like he might crush her in the space of his hard hands, but just as quickly, his hold became soft, and she knew that he would do anything for her, would do anything but hurt her.
And she didn’t make mistakes either. At least not willingly.
At the end of their kiss, they held each other in the dark of night, and Kane’s hand finally came to rest on her belly.
“So let’s talk about this,” he said. “Alone.”
A mischievous glimmer filled her eyes, and Angeline laughed lightly. “Thought you wanted me to stop talking,” she said. “So which is it?”
He nearly sent her fainting with another kiss, and when her body started to sway, he gathered her into his arms and carried her towards her bike. Settling her gently on the back of the chopper, he brought his lips to her ear, his voice a forgiving whisper. “It’s you, Angel,” he said. “Only you.”
Curling her arms around his waist, her body and soul focused on nothing but him. As the wind whipped through her hair, she had no idea where he was taking her; but, she trusted his lead, and she felt foolish for ever having believed that he would do anything that might cause her harm.
Or her baby.