by Skye Jones
The cure didn’t work too well if you’d been sick for a long time. For Emily, Slim’s sister, although the cure saved her life, it had left her sickly and weak. According to Angel, Emily spent most of her time on the sofa resting, reading, and sometimes watching old movies. She could talk but slowly, as it seemed to take her a long time to find her words. Angel said Slim thought the virus had somehow hollowed her very self out as even her personality had changed. Her vivaciousness seemed gone. She lived, but at what cost? For this reason, the cure was limited to a vaccine and only given to the healthy or as a last resort to anyone recently bitten. The long term Foamers were beyond help.
I wondered if Angel and the guys would have anymore news of Simon. My brother had stayed with the Ravens, apparently finding his place in this world with the gang. My thoughts on this were not fit for repeating, and I had to snap my mouth shut when Mum chatted on about Simon as if he weren’t utter scum these days. Thankfully, the trafficking had been stopped. The resistance fighters had seen to that and the girls sent to Russia had been retrieved, all except two who were killed. It turned my stomach to think Simon had taken any part in such a thing, and if he ever did show his face again, he wouldn’t get a friendly welcome from me.
While the main reason for our friends’ visit was to bring us medical supplies, I also knew they were coming to see us. Angel and I spoke regularly, and she’d become a good friend. I wanted to see for myself the men she raved about. They’d been through so much, and I wanted to find out for myself how she was doing.
“How’s the patient?” I asked Mum.
We only had one right now, but at our busiest, we’d had ten wounded resistance fighters needing care and treatment.
“She’s good, doing much better. I think she’ll be back in the fray in a couple weeks.”
I smiled at Mum as she gathered some supplies and bustled out of the room. She made an awesome nurse.
Jackson broke away from the game, pushing his loose hair out of his face. Like this, not tied back, it fell in waves down his back, and I loved to see it.
He came in the door and dragged in a ton of mud as usual. “You’d better take those boots off quick before I throw you outside again,” I said to him with one brow raised.
“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted.
“Not playing anymore?” I asked.
He smiled at me, came over and kissed my forehead, putting his hands over my stomach as he did often these days.
“I’m going to get some of the whisky and brandy we brought with us, and the cigars. Ivan likes a good cigar and a fine brandy, and I owe him the best hospitality we can provide.”
Ivan had killed Sienna for Jackson. Not alone, either. Slim had helped, and that meant Slim was no longer totally on Jackson’s shit list. I couldn’t see the two ever being best buddies, but at least Jackson no longer wanted to kill him.
“Had a dream about the baby last night,” Jackson murmured in my ear.
My breath stuttered. He hadn’t dreamed of our baby since I’d been pregnant, and neither had I. At times it worried me deeply that it meant something awful.
“And?”
“And she’s beautiful.”
She? Oh, wow, she. My heart soared, and I twisted in his arms, turning and kissing him hard as I said thank you to him, the words all mumbled as we kissed.
The door opened, and Ben came in, bringing the scent of outdoors with him.
“What time do our guests arrive?” He came to me and put his arms around me, kissing the back of my neck, and letting his hand rest on my belly for a moment.
This baby wasn’t someone I viewed as Jackson’s and mine; she belonged to us all. All these men would be her fathers. Jackson was totally cool with that too. He said he felt better knowing that if anything ever happened to him, our child would be protected by three other powerful males who all would love her just as much as he did.
“Not sure, but they’re en-route.” I gave him a kiss, and he smiled at me.
I sensed the excitement vibrating in him and didn’t need to get into his head to know he wanted to see them so he could change form and spend time with others who did the same. I never used my power to read my men’s minds; it would be wrong, a betrayal. Jackson and Alex agreed not to read minds either. We respected one another’s need for internal privacy.
“You looking forward to having others here who can shift?”
Ben picked a carrot from a basket by the side of the sink and took a big bite out of it. “Yeah.” He chewed, swallowed, and grinned at me. “It’s a bit lonely being the only person who changes into a four-legged creature around here.”
“You’ve got Tils and the other dogs,” Jackson said, earning a filthy look from Ben.
“You’re looking sexy today,” Ben said as he kissed my neck again.
“You always think I look sexy,” I answered.
“Want to play?”
Jackson did because he answered Ben’s question with a deep rumbling purr/growl. I responded to the noise instantly, an aching need establishing itself at my core.
“Go get Doc.” I slapped Ben on his tight behind and he winked at me, then sauntered out the door, taking another bite of the carrot.
He was back a moment later, followed by Doc. Alex wouldn’t be up for a few hours yet, and he’d miss out this time… unless we had a repeat performance later, which we often did. Sometimes I spent the nights alone with Alex when I couldn’t sleep. I’d get worried about the future, anxious in a way I never had before I carried new life. Alex would soothe me, talk about my worries, and help me see the bigger picture. Something he was good at due to having lived so damned long and witnessing so much history. Then he’d soothe me in other ways and take my mind off things with his clever hands, and even more clever mouth.
Heading up the stairs, Jackson in front of me, Ben and Doc behind, I experienced a bolt of pure, unadulterated joy. One of those fleeting but wonderful moments when you want to hug yourself with glee.
It wouldn’t last, things would happen, terrible news would reach us of casualties, or we’d get a lot of new residents all needing care. For now though, I held close to me the knowledge I was carrying a daughter.
I was about to celebrate in the best way, and this evening I’d let Jackson tell the others.
The world might still be insane and terrifying, but my men and I had carved out a small corner of something approaching happiness within it.
We’d found our own slice of contentment in a harsh world, and what more could we ask for?
The End
Thank you so very much for reading. If you enjoyed this series, have you tried my Dragon Clan novels? The series is high heat MMF paranormal romance with alpha heroes to make you sigh, and feisty heroines who fight for what they want.
Book one in the series – Ice: Dragon Clan is FREE on all vendors and you can get the buy links here: https://skyejonesauthor.com/book/ice-dragon-clan/
If you like hardened military heroes and contemporary romance so hot it will have your kindle melting, then don’t miss my Raw Heroes series. Written as SR Jones, this is a darkly delicious series of contemporary romance. Warning – these books do contain dark themes and as such trigger warnings apply.
Praise for book one in the series: “Ridiculously hot and smart.” “Lord have mercy!” “Crazy but so crazy good.”
You can get book one for only $0.99 or FREE on Kindle Unlimited here: Raw Heroes Book One
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