Stretching as I awake, I feel the coolness of the sheets next to me. I wonder if Bjarni came to bed at all after leaving last night.  Groaning at the sensitivity between my legs, I start to sit up until I see Bjarni sitting on the chair across the room, facing me.

I don’t know what happened, but whatever it is he’s angry. I see his arms bulging as his hands are fisted in his lap. I wonder if Brandr is worse, or maybe something happened in the meeting that he had to attend. “Are you okay? Did anything happen?” I ask, starting to make my way towards him until his words stop me in my tracks.

“Why didn’t you tell me that motherfucker had contacted you?” I was surprised at the fury in his eyes.

“What? What are you talking about? Who has contacted me?” Why is he so furious?

“Who sent you the message saying, ‘I miss you’?” Was he jealous? He had sent me that message or had he?

“You did … didn’t you?” If it wasn’t him, then who was it? Oh no … he had said that motherfucker had contacted me.

“Was it him? Oh no, please tell me it wasn’t him? Did he find me?” I can hear my voice is getting hysterical. “What am I going to do? I can’t let him find me.” Turning I walk towards the drawers and start tossing clothes out. I have to run again. Where am I going to go now?”

Suddenly I feel Bjarni’s arms wrap around me from behind, pulling me tight against him. “What are you doing?” his voice is gruff against my ear, I can still feel the anger coursing through him, but his arms are gentle around me.

“I have to leave. How did he find me? Where am I going to go?” I can feel the tears coursing down my cheeks. I thought I was safe, but if he knows where I am I will have to leave. I don’t want to leave and how am I going to manage being away from Bjarni?

“Shh, Baby Girl. Stop crying, you are breaking my heart. You’re not going anywhere, what did I tell you?” One of his hands is now stroking my face, wiping the tears away.

“You don’t understand, I have to go. He’s got a lot of money so he can get someone to hurt you, to hurt your club.” Bjarni turns me around lifting my chin so I can look into his eyes. I can still see the fury in his eyes but he’s being so gentle with me.

“You didn’t answer me. What did I tell you?” he asks again. Looking into my eyes he’s still stroking the tears that are falling, lightly he kisses my forehead.

“That you don’t want me at the bakery, that I must stay here.” I answer, my voice is chocked with tears hardly audible.

“No Baby Girl. I told you that you are mine, which means that I will always protect you no matter what. My club will always protect you, this asshole who thinks he can frighten you will have to deal with me.” His voice comes out in a growl at the end but he kisses me lightly on my lips. How can such a big and dangerous man be so gentle? It still surprises me.

“I can’t, you don’t understand if he knows I’m here he is going to somehow come after everyone until he gets to me. I’ve seen how ruthless he can be, I can’t be responsible for anything happening to you or everyone that has been so good to me.” I must make him understand, I had seen what Craig had done to the people that crossed him. I wouldn’t let him hurt these people that have taken me in and treated me as if I was part of their family.

“You’re not going anywhere; you can’t. It will be physically impossible for us to be away from each other. You felt my loss last time I was away. To be without each other for long will destroy us. I will not let him hurt you Baby Girl or anyone in my club. Trust me.” He kisses me again, but this time there is an urgency behind the kiss that went all the way down to my soul.

I love this man, how had this happened so fast? I hardly know him, but he’s already the most important part of my life. Lifting my hand, I entangle my fingers with his hair, pulling slightly until I hear him groan. 

Bjarni is still kissing me, his hands on my ass lifting me off the floor, when we hear a message coming in on his phone. Reluctantly, he puts me down and pulls away. Taking his phone out of his pocket he tenses after reading the message.

“Brandr has woken-up, I need to go. I don’t want you at the bakery until we get this guy.” He’s already walking towards the door, adjusting himself as he instructs me.

Running into the bathroom, I take a quick shower. I want to be there for Bjarni and my new family like they want to be there for me. I just hope that this whole thing with Craig won’t touch them like Bjarni says. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anyone got hurt because of me.

After getting dressed I make my way towards the infirmary. Before I get there I can hear fighting. What is going on? I start running until I reach a waist-high window that allows me to look into the Infirmary. What I see stops me in my track. Bjarni and Draco are holding Brandr down as he struggles, thrashing and screaming, he seems completely out of control. I wonder what could have happened for him to be so upset, as I start to take a step in the direction of the door into the infirmary, I feel arms go around me. It was Ceric.

“I don’t think so Sweetheart. They have enough on their hands now,” said Ceric. I see Ceric glancing into the Infirmary with a concerned look on his face. I look back to see what is happening and see Bion injecting Brandr. Brandr is still fighting Bjarni and Draco’s arms, just then he brings his head back and bumps Bjarni on the jaw. At the sudden impact, I see one of Bjarni’s arms loosen allowing Brandr to move. Then Bjarni moves and takes a firmer hold of him. Blood is running down Bjarni’s lip and without even thinking I try to loosen Ceric’s hold to go to my man.

 “Oh, no you don’t!” His arms tighten around me, pulling me closer to his body, my head falling back and bumping into his jaw making me gasp.

I see Bjarni’s head go up at the sound. I don’t know if he heard me or if he felt that I was distressed but I see the rage coming over his features as he bares his teeth.

“What the fuck! Bjarni where are you going?” I hear Draco call out as I see Bjarni making his way towards us. “Wulf get over here!” Draco growls. He is now holding Brandr down by himself, but I think whatever Bion has injected him with is starting to work. His movements are sluggish and less forceful.

“Get your hands off my woman!” I hear Bjarni’s voice even before he comes around the door of the infirmary. I feel Ceric letting go of me and taking a step back. After a quick glance I see he has his hands up in the air.

“I’m just trying to keep her away from the fighting brother,” Ceric answers.

I could see the rage in Bjarni’s eyes. I know that he wants to get his hands around Ceric for touching me but I will have to stop him before he gets to him. Moving between Bjarni and Ceric I place my hands on his chest, I feel his chest rising and falling with his erratic breaths.

“It’s okay, I’m okay. Bjarni look at me!” He has stopped but his eyes are on Ceric.

“You had your hands on my woman!” His voice is low, so low that if I wasn’t right in front of him I wouldn’t have heard him.

“Bjarni!” I call, but he’s still looking over at Ceric with an angry stare, so I go on my tip toes and kiss his chin. Placing one arm around his waist I bring the other hand up entwining my fingers in his hair I pull his head down to mine until my lips touch his.

He resists for only a minute and then I feel his body start to relax and he’s kissing me back, pulling me closer to his hardness making me groan in anticipation.

“Maybe you can both postpone this until a bit later.” I hear Draco’s impatient voice as he stands at the entrance to the infirmary. Pulling back, I notice that it’s not only him but Wulf, Bion, Ceric and Cassius that are looking at us. I can feel myself flush at the look of amusement on Ceric’s face, as he looks at Bjarni’s hands that are still firmly on my ass.

“Go and find Jas Baby Girl, I will be with you soon,” Bjarni suggests, manoeuvring me towards the courtyard.

Humph damn men! I’m not too happy about being told what to do, but for now I will let him think that he can boss me around. Drawing closer to the kitchen, I hear voices, I haven’t met all the women yet but seeing as I wasn’t going into the bakery today I might as well get to know them.  

Stepping into the kitchen I notice Gloria and another woman arguing. Jasmine is sitting at the table with a mug in front of her and a brownie in her hand, ignoring them. I take a seat next to her and I see her eyes light up as a smile adorns her face.

“What’s going on?” I ask, curious at the loud voices. I haven’t seen the other woman here before, but her voice is already grating on my nerves and I have only just come in.  

“They’re fighting over something that happened last night apparently. I wasn’t really listening; these fights are frequent.” Jasmine answers as she looks over at the women.

“Who’s the blonde?” I ask looking back at Jasmine, she smiles shaking her head.

“She’s one of the Jezebel’s. Her name’s Lidia but I would keep away from her if I were you, she can be a real bitch!” Jasmine says, as she leans back in her chair and strokes her stomach. “I’m so glad you are here now and that we’re friends. I don’t really talk to the Jezebel’s, even though Gloria is okay,” she says quietly as the argument seems to be dying down.

“What’s a Jezebel? Do they belong to a company or something?” She has mentioned that before. I wonder if they are a cleaning company or something. To be honest I don’t know how their boss lets them come to work dressed the way they are. Gloria is dressed like the other day but Lidia has a shocking pink tight little dress, that just covers her ass and makes her breasts seem too large to be contained by that little scrap of material.

At my question Jasmine bursts out laughing. She laughs so hard that she is holding her stomach. “Or … something,” she gasps out, and continues laughing. Just then Cassius, Bjarni and Wulf walk in, heading straight towards us.

“What’s so funny Angel?” Wulf asks lifting her from her chair and placing her on his lap, his hands automatically going around her stomach.  Bjarni sits on the chair next to mine, placing his arm around the back of the chair he pulls it closer to his. Looking up at him I see him smiling across at Jasmine as she is still giggling. Cassius has sat opposite us looking questioningly at her.

As I wasn’t sure at the reason why my question was so funny. I also sit in silence, waiting for her answer. “Gabriela asked … if … the Jezebels are a company … or something.” She was still giggling as she tries to explain her mirth. “She thinks … they clean for the club.” And she was off again.

“They definitely clean something, I’m sure Bjarni can recommend all of them.” Cassius replies with a twinkle in his eyes, and then he also starts chuckling. 

Looking up at Bjarni I see he isn’t smiling anymore. If anything, his looking uncomfortable, with a murderous look at Cassius.

“Fuck off!” he growls.

“Okay what’s going on? Who’s going to tell me?” I ask looking around at everyone.

“Baby Girl, they are not here to clean. They are here to help the brothers out.” Bjarni answers, but he’s not looking at me. Now I know there is something he’s hiding from me.

“Help the brothers with what?” What the hell could these women help these men with? And then I realize.

“Oh, hell no! Are they what I think they are?” My voice comes out louder than I expect, looking over at the two women who are now cooking, I see them looking back at us. I look away and back at Bjarni. That’s when I know I am right. He has a guilty look on his face.

“And you slept with them?” I ask in an accusing voice.

“I’m sure he did a lot of things, but I don’t think sleep was one of them,” Cassius responds teasingly.

“Cassius!” Wulf growls.

“What? He’s with her now!” Cassius answers with a confused look on his face.

To say I was hurt was an understatement. He had sex with these women and then he brings me here and doesn’t even tell me they were lovers. I feel his fingers start stroking my neck, but I jerk forward and glare at him.

“You upset?” he asks with a confused look on his face.

“Really? You …. Ugh!” I push my chair back suddenly and get up, I can’t talk to him right now. His arm that was around the chair going back with it making him swear in pain. I start making my way out of the kitchen when I hear a commotion behind me. Looking back I see his chair on the floor and he’s right behind me, already reaching for me. Before I can even squeak he is turning me fully around to face him.

“Where are you going?” he asks in a deceptively soft voice.

“I’m leaving!” As soon as I say the words I know I shouldn’t have, not just because they are not true, but because I see the pain in his eyes. Before I can say anything else he lifts me against him and is dashing towards our room.

“What are you doing? Put me down, I’m angry at you. You lied to me.” He doesn’t show any sign that he has heard me, he just continues walking without saying anything.

Once we’re in the room he kicks the door closed behind us, placing me on my, feet he lifts my chin so I am looking into his eyes. I can see turmoil in his eyes as he looks down at me.

“You don’t ever run away from me. You are mine and I will never let you go. I didn’t lie to you, I have never lied to you. We have never spoken about the Jezebels.” I shake my head at his ignorance, he doesn’t seem to realise the reason why I’m angry at him.

“You slept with them!” I accuse in an angry voice.

“I never slept with them,” he grumbles. Sighing he continues, “We fucked, it didn’t mean anything.”

At his words, I slap his chest turning away, I can feel the tears behind my lids but I will not cry. The thought of him being with another woman, even though it was before me; makes me want to gouge all their eyes out.

“So, is that supposed to make it better? You have me living here with all the women you have done the same things to, that you do to me.” My voice is rising as I speak. “And how many of them have you had sex with, there is at least three of them here that I have met! Are there more?” I know I’m screaming, but I can’t help myself, the fury coursing through me at the idea of him having sex with those women sickens me.

“It doesn’t matter how many there were before you, I don’t know why you are so angry. What we have is special. Can’t you see that? With them it was just fucking.” Turning around to face him I see he has his hands behind his head the muscles in his arms flexing.

“Oh my God, we are not using any protection. What if you have caught something from them?” I hadn’t even thought about protection until this moment, how stupid of me.

“What!” Now he looks angry, maybe he hadn’t thought about STD’s either. “How can you think I would expose you to something that would hurt you or make you sick? Fuck! Is that what you think of me?” With that he turns and walks out of the room slamming the door.

What the hell, now he’s upset with me? He’s the one that’s a man whore! What does he expect me to think?  Damn! The tears start running down my face and a sob breaks through, I hate fighting with him. Jumping onto the bed I bury my face into my pillow, to muffle my sobs.

I’m still crying after what feels like hours, when I hear a knock on my door and Jasmine asks to come in.  Sitting up in bed, I call for her to enter, wiping the tears from my face as she enters.

“Oh Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” she calls as she comes to sit next to me on the bed.

“He’s upset with me. Can you believe it? After all, he’s the one that has had sex with half of Nature Valley’s women population. When I told him, he could have caught some kind of STD and passed it on to me, he flipped and walked out.” At the end of my tirade a sob breaks through, I really don’t like being upset with him and knowing that he’s upset with me. ‘What if he wants to break up?’

“Gabriela it’s going to be okay, Sweetheart, let me explain something to you because it seems like that fool hasn’t. Our men aren’t like normal men. They don’t catch STD’s, but most importantly Bjarni would never put you in danger. You see the moment you two bonded you became one. If you ever get hurt or die, he will follow you. We cannot carry on without our men and the same goes for them. You are now the most important part of his life; more important even than the club.” At my confused look, she reaches out and strokes my hair. “But the best part I think is that no woman will ever be able to entice them, because from the moment that we came into their lives they only have eyes for us.”

“Are you sure about that? Because it seems like mine was a real man whore. What if he gets bored?” At my words she giggles, shaking her head.

“Trust me it is the same for all Elemental men, they are physically incapable of touching another woman once they are bonded.  And to be honest why worry about what has happened in the past you are with him now and you are his future. Besides, do you want him to be upset with you about any boyfriend you might have had, and talking about that don’t ever tell him the name of any boyfriend because he will most probably kill him.” She snickers at that smiling. “Now I think it’s time you go and put him out of his misery, before he destroys the training room.”

At my uncertain look, she pulls at my arms. “Come on girl, let’s wash that face; trust me, your man just wants you, and I love that fool of a man too much to see him suffering. He’s like the brother I never had. I had to learn that the hard way, when I first came here I was also upset about the women and an ex that appeared, but Wulf is better at expressing himself then Bjarni is.”

After freshening up, Jasmine and I make our way to the training area. As we’re about to walk in Wulf steps out stopping when he sees us. Inclining his head towards the door he says, “He’s all yours,” and starts walking away pulling Jasmine along with him.

I open the door and walk in. The first thing I see are weights lying around everywhere as if they’ve been thrown around.  Bjarni is sitting on a press bench. His head is bent. His hoodie is covering his face while he’s holding two weights but he isn’t doing anything except breathing raggedly. I can feel the pain radiating from him, his shoulders are drooped in dejection. 

“Bjarni?” I see him tense as he hears my voice, but he doesn’t lift his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” At that he lifts his head, I can see his eyes shining through the hoodie but I can’t make out his features.

“I would never hurt you!” his voice is gruff, angry.

“I know, I was angry,” I whisper. I’m looking down as I’m too scared to see his reaction. What if he doesn’t want me anymore? I hear him moving and the noise of the weights being put on the floor.

“Come here!” He growls. I walk towards him but when I’m about two feet away I stop undecided on what to do next. “I’m waiting!” he grumbles. His hands take hold of my waist pulling me towards him. Lifting me up, my legs straddle his waist while he sits. I put my hands between his head and the hoodie pulling it back so I can see his face.

“I don’t like it when we argue.” I tell him, rubbing my nose against his. I feel his hand fist my hair, pulling my head back, the next instant his lips are crashing down on mine, owning me. I bite his lip pulling gently, hearing him growl.

“You are mine, no one including me will hurt you. About my past …” he kisses me again, then he pulls away reluctantly. “It’s in my past I don’t want anyone else but you. You are the only one I have ever made love to, you are the only one that owns me.” His words are gruff but I see the vulnerability in his eyes as he looks into my soul.

I know that we will have more arguments in the future, but I feel a connection with this man like I have never felt before in my life and I’m sure that no matter how upset we get with each other we will always find peace in the other’s arms.