by K E Osborn
A slow smirk crosses my face as footsteps make their way up the stairs. Scrubbing at my face, I turn to see my woman walk in with a tray of fruit and bacon, and I smile wide.
“Have I told you how fucking lucky I am?” I state.
She grins, placing the tray on the bed next to me and leans in kissing the tip of my nose. “Well, you haven’t gotten your Christmas present yet, so…”
I widen my eyes. “You mean the best fucking sex ever and breakfast isn’t my present?”
She laughs. “Well, that was part of it, but the biggest gift comes later.”
I pick up a piece of bacon, the crispiness is not lost on me—my woman’s a damn good cook on top of everything else. “You spoil me!”
“I’ll be right back!” She spins with a pep in her step taking back off down the stairs.
I shrug, grabbing more of the crispy bacon and shove it in my mouth as I wait.
A few minutes later I hear her footsteps again, but she stops before she comes into the room. “Okay, close your eyes.”
Fuck’s sake.
“Okay, they’re closed.” They’re not, I want to see what she’s up to.
She pops her head around the corner. She’s obviously holding something heavy as she glares at me. “Close your fucking eyes!”
I let out a laugh and concede, closing my eyes. “Fuck! Fine! They’re closed. Happy?”
“For real this time?”
“Hurry up, Ash, my bacon is getting cold!”
She laughs, stepping into the room. I hear something rustling, and I desperately want to open my eyes, but I wait as patiently as a man can.
“Okay, open!”
My eyes snap open, and in her arms is a little puppy, golden brown in color with curly fur trying desperately to get away from her and to my damn bacon. I don’t share! He has floppy ears and a little white patch on his nose.
I scrunch my brows as she cuddles into him. “What the fuck is that?” I chuckle.
She grins. “He’s our puppy! Merry Christmas.”
I let out a laugh. “What happened to you wanting something huge and gnarly looking? This guy is tiny, and the only thing he will do is make you die from the cuteness overload.”
She slumps her shoulders. “I know, but isn’t he adorable? I couldn’t resist. I went in to get a Rottweiler or something, but this little guy stared up at me and… well, just look at him. He’s so freaking cute!”
I stand and walk over to her, and the little guy wags his tail like mad as I lean in and pet his soft fur. “Okay, so we didn’t get a big dog. I get it. I’ll tell the guys you chose him.”
“Oh no, he’s gonna be big. He’s a cross-breed.”
“Jesus Christ. What the fuck is he?”
“He’s an Irish Doodle.”
I burst out laughing. “You’re fucking kidding me? My dog is a fucking doodle. Jesus, Finley, the guys are gonna have field day with this shit.”
She lifts him closer to me, his little tongue comes out licking up the side of my face. “But he’s so cute, though!”
Side-eyeing her, I groan. “Yeah, the little fucker is… but we gotta give him a strong name. He can’t have a prissy name to match his prissy-ass breeding.”
Ash covers his ears. “Don’t you listen to Daddy. He loves you. He does. He just needs to realize that.”
I let out a laugh. “Who are you right now, and where’s my fucking woman gone?”
She leans in kissing the top of the puppy’s head. “I’m Thor’s mom.”
“No.”
“Bruiser?”
I laugh. “No.”
“Psycho?”
“You just might be.”
She reaches out slapping me across the back of the head. “Asshole!”
I let out a laugh. “What about… Blaze.”
She tilts her head looking down at him. “Yeah… I like that.” She hands him over to me, and I take him in my arms. He snuggles into me, and I wrap my free arm around Ash. Our little family.
“Thanks, baby, he’s perfect for us.”
She leans up on her toes planting a kiss on my lips, and Blaze moves in licking right up the center of us both. We crack up laughing as we both cuddle our new family member.
After breakfast, we locked Blaze up in the crate that Ash had bought for him—she was so prepared with everything—and we went over to the club for Christmas lunch.
It wasn’t the same without Wraith and Prinie there, and now that Prinie has woken from her coma, we all decided to make our way over to the hospital and spend Christmas afternoon in Prinie’s room with her and Wraith.
So that’s where we are, all filing into her room as she sits up in bed, looking like a hot mess, but still as sassy as ever. With Wraith by her side, we all sit around telling her what’s been going on at the club.
“I can’t believe I missed you asking Fin to be your Old Lady. And I can’t believe you’ve moved out of the club. I wasn’t there for your farewell!” she states.
“Just means we will have to have another party when you’re back up to full strength then, won’t we?” I tell her.
She smiles, though I see the sadness in her eyes. Wraith grips onto her hand. “It’s so strange not seeing Sephy today. It’s Christmas, her parents should be with her.”
Everyone grows quiet, feeling the sorrow Prinie feels. Wraith doesn’t want Sephy coming into the hospital and especially not seeing Prinie when she still isn’t one hundred percent.
Wraith leans in and says, “Next year, she will be older, and we will give her one hell of a Christmas. Her and her brother, I promise.”
“They said I could go and see him soon. That I am stable enough to be wheeled down to the NICU.”
Wraith nods. “It’ll happen, in fact...” he stands and walks out of the room. We all look at each other as Prinie tries to sit up a little taller, and we all wonder what the fuck he is doing.
Not a minute later, he’s back with a wheelchair, and we all chuckle. “Let’s do this, now!”
Prinie instantly lightens up, like every fiber of her being comes alive. “Really?”
“Yeah, really! Chains and Ax, help her out of bed. River, grab hold of her drip.” The guys get to work, helping Prinie out of bed, making sure to grab everything we need. I walk out of the room, checking the coast is clear, and I signal for us to move. We all take off, the entire club, taking Prinie to meet her baby boy.
We race, all of us laughing almost at a sprint, Prinie smiling so fucking wide as we make it to the NICU. The nurses all look at us wide-eyed.
Zero and Wraith step up to them. “Prinie is here to see her son. It’s Christmas, and we all wanna be here with her. You got a problem with that?”
They all look at each other like they don’t know what to do.
Wraith takes a step closer, and they all race off in the other directions letting us all inside the unit. We file in, taking up the entire space. I’m sure they’re calling security, and we will be out on our asses before we know it, but in the meantime, Prinie will see her boy.
Wraith wheels her up to little Cub, and her face lights up when she sees him.
Her hand rushing to her mouth. “Oh my God, he’s so tiny!”
Wraith kneels beside her, wrapping his arm around her as she places her shaking hand on the incubator. “You can reach in and touch him now,” Wraith states, and Prinie snaps her head up at him for confirmation. “I can touch him?”
He nods. “Sanitize your hands, then put your finger into his little hand.” She sits forward, her shaking hands smothering the sanitizer on, then moving into the side hole, and she rests her finger in her son’s hand. He grips on, and Prinie completely loses it. She sobs as Wraith holds her. I grab Ash as the rest of us watch on at this amazing moment.
“He’s so beautiful,” Prinie somehow murmurs through her tears.
“He’s a fighter, the heart of a lion. I’ve been calling him Cub until you came down to see him so we could name him together.”
S
he looks up at Wraith wiping her tears away. “One of our shortlisted names goes with that.”
Wraith nods his head. “I know. When I saw him for the first time, I thought it suited him, but I wanted to wait for you to be sure.”
Prinie turns back, looking at her son in awe. “I’m sure.”
Zero beams in pride. “So, do we have a name?”
“Leo,” Wraith and Prinie both say in unison.
And we all smile wide, so desperately wanting to cheer, but this is a NICU, and disturbing the babies is not a good idea.
“Merry Christmas, Leo,” Prinie says, her finger still inside the incubator. “Mommy loves you… very much.”
Wraith turns to Prinie. “I have a present for you. Well, kind of a present, more of a question.”
Prinie doesn’t even look at him, completely in awe of baby Leo. “Ah-huh?” she murmurs.
Wraith pulls something out of his pocket and grabs her hand to place it in her palm. She finally looks down to see the ring box, and her eyes light up. She gasps as we all stand back watching.
“Kharlie ‘Princess’ Walker, I’ve loved you for longer than I even knew. We’ve had our ups and downs, and we fought like hell to get here. We have two fucking amazing kids, and I can’t imagine my life without you by my side. And before you ask, yes, I asked Zero’s permission to do this.” Everyone laughs as a tear slides down Prinie’s cheek. “Prinie, you’re my addiction, now and always. I fucking love you… marry me?”
She lets out a small sob and leans forward in her wheelchair embracing Wraith, then winces from moving too much as she lets out a small hiss through her teeth. He helps her back into the chair and stares at her.
She nods her head. “Yes, of course, I’ll marry you!”
He kisses the top of her head, and we all quietly celebrate.
A single security guard comes rushing in, then stops, his eyes wide, then he takes a step back like he’s unsure of what to do next.
“Don’t worry, dude, the majority of us are leaving, but Mom and Dad are staying with their son a little while longer. It’s Christmas, let them enjoy their time, yeah?” Zero calls out to the guard, and he subtly nods his head, then backs out of the NICU.
“We’ll meet you back up in Prinie’s room. Take your time,” Zero states.
We all turn, heading out the door, Zero slapping Neon on the back. Poor guy must spend his Christmas and the next few of months away from his Old Lady, Shiver. She’s gone on a promotional tour for her racing team. Thank God for technology, which Neon is a whiz.
“That was intense!” Ash says as we all make our way up.
“For sure. I’m just glad Prinie got to see him. And now he has a name,” I state.
“Yeah… little Leo. And the proposal was so sweet!”
Zero turns around facing us as we walk. “Texas, Phantom, go to the cafeteria and grab us all some snacks. I think we’re in this for the long haul tonight.”
“Yes, Pres,” we both call back.
I lean in giving Ash a quick kiss as Phantom rushes over, and we take off in the opposite direction.
“Crazy shit, hey?” Phantom says.
“I’m glad we were there for that.”
“Yeah, me, too. It’s a real family we have here.”
“Yeah, you trying to tell me something, brother?” I narrow my eyes on him.
“Maybe that I miss your ugly mug around the place, is all.”
I wrap my arm around his neck, pulling him to me. “Fucker, I miss you too. But it’s not like I’m not at the clubhouse every single day.”
“Yeah, just not for breakfast and dinner. That’s when we chat.”
“You getting all fucking sentimental on me?”
“Shut up! Ash get you anything for Christmas?”
I snort out a laugh. “Don’t even get me started on that.”
We walk into the cafeteria to order a heap of coffee for everyone.
It’s going to be a long night.
“Well, I need to congratulate you on making that big step and moving in with Ash. I always knew you had a spark. It’s good to see you getting your shit together.”
“It feels good, man. You should try it.”
Phantom snorts out a laugh, then turns to the clerk. “Twenty coffees to go. Thanks.”
“Twenty?” she replies.
“Yeah, it’s a thing.”
Her eyes widen. “Umm… okay. Yeah, gimmie a few minutes.”
“We’re in no rush. Take your time.”
The poor girl flounders about on her own. It’s Christmas, so they have a skeleton staff, and here we are making her work extra hard. Poor girl.
We stand back when a young woman about the same age as Phantom steps in line next to him. He eyes her up and down, and I follow his line of sight. We both spot the disheveled state of her hair. How her bottom lip is cut and swollen, teamed with the giant bruise reddening across her face. Not to mention the intense bruising on her arm. Her jeans are torn like she’s been dragged across the ground. She pulls her sleeve down, trying unsuccessfully to cover her bruising. She glances over her shoulder suspiciously, and Phantom furrows his eyes turning to me, like he’s checking for my permission. I nod, then he turns back to the woman. “Hey, miss, you all right?”
Her big doe eyes meet his, almost glistening in fear as she licks her lips. “I… I mean, yeah.”
“You sure? You look a little… lost?”
She gnaws down on her bottom lip again, glancing over her shoulder one more time for good measure. “I… I just don’t want him to find me.”
Phantom and I jerk our heads back. “Who?”
She exhales. “There was this guy outside, he was following me. He assaulted me and tried to pull me down an alley, but I kicked him in the balls and ran in here. I’ve kind of been wandering the halls of the hospital for a while now because I’m too scared to leave.”
Phantom steps forward, his eyes darting around. “What does he look like?”
“Umm… I’m not even really sure. It happened so fast. I dropped my bag on the ground and ran.”
Phantom reaches out, placing his hand on her arm.
She doesn’t flinch, her eyes meeting his, a sparkle igniting in them. “Don’t worry, my brother here and I… we can protect you.”
She shakes her head, her green hair flowing over her shoulders. “Oh, no. You don’t have to do th—”
“I want to. Please. Let me help you.”
She glances over her shoulder again. “Okay… there’s no way I am going to the police.”
I furrow my brows.
That’s a strange thing for someone to say who isn’t into some sort of shady shit of their own.
Phantom dips his chin. “That works out for us, too. What’s your name?”
She hesitates, but then her eyes meet Phantom’s again. “Billie.”
He nods with a genuine smile. “I’m Phantom. This here is Texas.”
Her lips finally turn up. She’s pretty, real pretty, and Phantom is definitely having a hard time keeping his shit together.
“Those like your nicknames, codenames, or something?”
Phantom smirks. “Or something.”
She looks Phantom up and down, then picks at his cut. “You guys going to a Sons of Anarchy dress-up party or what?” She raises her brow.
Phantom tilts his head. “Or what! We’re from the local Defiance MC.”
She gnaws down on her bottom lip. “Right, so now I know why the no cops.”
“And why we can protect you. I need to check with my president for the all-clear, and we’ll need to run a background check, but we should be able to help you out.”
Billie exhales. “Okay, sounds good. God knows I have nothing else going for me, but I won’t be one of those women who, you know… service the club members. Sorry, that’s not me.”
Phantom and I both laugh.
“You’re definitely not club girl material, Billie.”
“Glad that’s settled. So, what doe
s this entail, exactly?”
Phantom puffs out his chest. “We’ll guard you, keep you safe, make sure this guy’s assault was just a once-off. But we’ll need to know details. If there’s anyone out there who could be targeting you, we need you to be honest with us.”
Billie nods hesitantly. “Will I be able to go home?”
Phantom glances at me. “It’s probably best to keep your distance right now. If this was a targeted attack, your home might not be safe.”
She slumps her shoulders. “Shit! I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t bump into you guys.”
This does seem a tad convenient—something feels off.
But stranger things have happened.
Phantom takes her hand in his, his eyes lighting up. “Maybe it’s fate?”
Rolling my eyes, I smirk as Billie lets out a small giggle. “Yeah… maybe it is.”
Oh shit! Here we go again.
NEXT IN THE SERIES:
Deceptive: The Houston Defiance Series Book Six
Click here
The force of Billie hits me head-on like a freight train. I have no idea what I’m in for when she runs right into the arms of the Defiance MC while fleeing a violent attacker.
Even though she’s terrified, my attraction to her is instant. My need to protect her, overwhelming. So I step up to the plate and offer the club as her guardian. Me, as her personal savior.
With her safely at the clubhouse, our connection is real. It’s intense, but something is happening at the club that we can’t seem to figure out. Locations and secrets are being leaked, and maybe the war we think is coming has already started right inside our very own doors…
From USA Today Bestselling Author K E Osborn comes the highly anticipated sixth book in the Houston Defiance MC Series.
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