by Aiden Bates
But the other half of my mind was focused on this case—and Derek’s safety. The two didn’t always go hand in hand.
“I promised I’d keep you safe,” I told him softly, mopping up the spill. “Right now, unfortunately, that means I go do the big dumb hero shit and you stay put. If we’re on the move, then you’re out in the open. Not exactly where I want to put the man carrying my baby.”
“I’m not just a man carrying your baby, though. Randy knows me, Kaleb.”
“Maybe a little too well for my liking,” I grumbled.
“Oh, can it. Just because I know other Alphas doesn’t mean I go around letting them knock me up.” He smiled, smug, his eyes glinting handsomely. “Believe it or not, you’re special on that front.”
My cock throbbed. If I thought Derek’s heat made my horniness a little out of control, it was nothing compared to this new development. Shaking my head, I tried to take my mind away from how much easier it’d be to shut Derek up about this by putting my cock in his mouth.
“You really think that he won’t talk to me?” I asked.
“I know he won’t. I’ve seen how you carry out your interrogations, honey. You’re…to put it lightly, a little gruff. Beginning to think that aside from Josh, all you King boys might be.”
“Harper’s just annoyed he can’t do more right now. Rusty’s…well, he’s Rusty. And I’m a cop, sunshine. I don’t usually coddle criminals, for obvious reasons.”
“I’m a criminal, if you ask the FBI right now,” Derek countered, sipping his tea. “You seem to have no trouble coddling me.”
“That’s because I’m doing everything in my power to keep from taking you over my knee for fighting me on this,” I pointed out.
Derek smirked. “Maybe later, hot stuff. For now, I can assure you. If he’s already spooked, you’re only going to make it worse. He likes me. And…well, I might have some unfinished business with him anyway. Wouldn’t mind having a chance to smooth that out.”
“Unfinished business, huh?” Just like that, the green monster in my chest came roaring to life. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
Derek swatted my arm, rolling his eyes. “It’s not like that. Just…I, ah…I did steal his keys to get that sample I brought over here. Might have put him on Bicroft’s radar. And since he had access to that sample in the first place…”
My shoulders slumped forward as I put two and two together. “He knows something. He has to. And if you think you’re our best bet for getting him to talk…I won’t argue it. But this means another road trip, sunshine.”
Derek smiled, placing his hand over his stomach. “Not anything we haven’t done together before. The last one seemed to turn out all right.”
“The police are after you,” I reminded him. “And it’s not like another night in a motel is going to get you more pregnant.”
“So we agree you’re looking forward to knocking me up again,” he teased. “The police think I’m in South Carolina, anyway. That’s an advantage, right?”
I stared him down for a moment, deeply considering taking him over my knee after all. But as much as I would have liked to get my hands on that perfect ass of his again…he had a point.
“Okay. Fine. You’re coming,” I relented. “If you can make Randy talk, then it’s a win for us—and we sorely need a win right now. But…Ernesto’s not going to be happy about it.”
Derek rose, winding his arms around my neck. When his lips pressed against mine, his tongue flicked into my mouth. Peppermint and sugar. Sweetness and cool, fresh fire.
“Ernesto doesn’t have to know,” he said, breaking the kiss. “Especially not if we leave tonight.”
I shook my head, half out of frustration that Derek had gotten his way on this…half just to clear my mind of all the dirty things I was planning on doing to him once I got him safely into a motel and out of harm’s way.
“Let’s pack some clothes then,” I said with a sigh. “It’s going to be a long drive.”
25
Derek
We were staring down the beginning end of a forty-hour drive that night. As I packed the last of my things up in the duffel bag I’d fled Reno with, I knew that if things went badly, it could be the last drive Kaleb and I would ever make.
It almost seemed silly, going back to the place that I’d initially had to drive all over hell and back just to escape. But given everything that had happened between then and now, in a way it almost felt like fate. I’d left Reno with a vial of stolen chemicals, a car that I’d had to ditch along the way, a bag of clothes and what wits I could string together for the ride. I’d be returning pregnant with the man I loved. The man who swore he’d protect me from anything thrown our way.
I believed it, too. If Kaleb King was anything, he was a man of his word. It would have been so easy for him to abandon me during any point of our time together. His family had already been marked with targets on their backs before I showed up in Fort Greene. The last thing he’d needed was another head to count, another man to look after, another body in his brother’s house. Another mouth to feed. He could have thrown me to the wolves a dozen times or more since I’d pulled up to Harper and Nick’s house. Probably would’ve been better off for it, too.
Instead, he’d arranged safe place after safe place for me. Listened to my story. Heeded my judgment. Every argument we’d had so far was only over how he could best keep me safe. And in between, he’d shown me kindness, strength…even love. More love than I’d ever imagined for myself even in my wildest dreams.
“Welp. We’ll be driving through bum-fuck nowhere,” Kaleb announced with a sigh as he dropped his own bag on the bed next to mine, “but I’ve got a route planned for us now, at least.”
I smirked. “Bum-fuck nowhere, huh? As opposed to…what? Oral-sex nowhere, with a detour through footjob canyon?”
Kaleb quirked an eyebrow. “By the time we’re done with this trip, footjobs are going to be the last thing on your mind, sunshine. But bum fucking, on the other hand…” He matched my smirk. “S’pose somewhere along the way we might find the time for a little of that, sure.”
“Don’t suppose we’ll be staying in any honeymoon suites along the way, though. Will bum-fucking me in a seedy motel suit you?”
He reached over, pressing a hand to my belly as his smile softened into something sweeter. “Bum-fucking you in a seedy motel earned me a son, didn’t it? We can save the honeymoon suites for after this is all over. I was thinking we might do Cuba—Ernesto’s got some people down there still.”
“That’s the second time you’ve alluded to marrying me in the last few days, Kaleb King.” I squared my hips to him, taking his hand in mine. “At this rate, a man’s gonna start to think you might have certain intentions.”
“Only the second?” Kaleb scratched his head, looking as aw, shucks as I’d ever seen him. “I was sure it was more than that. If Cuba’s not to your liking, we can go somewhere else, you know. Up in the mountains, maybe. Somewhere nice and cold so I can keep you warm all winter long.”
“We’ve got a pregnancy to get through before you’re even allowed to start thinking of a honeymoon, you ridiculous man.” My smile turned a shade sadder. “But Cuba…if we don’t clear my name soon, we might end up there anyway. Whether we want to or not.”
“Ah, we’ve got three days to figure out all the details of our impending nuptials anyway. You all packed?” he asked, grabbing my bag.
I laughed. “Since when did hinting at marrying me turn into impending nuptials?”
Kaleb only grinned. “Not gonna let my son be born a bastard, am I? Besides, if we’re married, they can’t make me testify against you in court.”
“I’m hoping that it won’t come to that,” I said, grimacing. “But yes—I’m all packed. I guess at least these three days will let us get to know each other a little better, won’t it?”
Kaleb hefted my bag up onto his shoulder. “We know each other pretty well already, I think. My parents barely
knew each other before they went and got hitched, and their marriage turned out all right.”
I snorted. “Don’t tell me the King dynasty was born from an arranged marriage, Detective.”
“Shotgun wedding, actually.” He winked as he picked up his own bag as well. “But I figure if we’re already in Reno…no reason not to do Vegas as well.”
“You can’t be serious,” I scoffed, but Kaleb had already turned to head out the door. I watched him go, feeling a lump forming in my throat as the full weight of his words slowly hit me. “Wait—are you serious? Dammit, Kaleb King, get back here!”
We drove straight on through midnight, with Ernesto’s wishes of luck in our wake and one of his company cars rolling down the road along with us. It was a plain gray sedan with windows tinted just enough to make it hard to see who was inside—but not so much, Ernesto had assured us, that they would get us pulled over by any trigger-happy cops looking to issue tickets to whatever travelers passing through their little rural counties they could find.
“Okay, here’s one,” I said, turning in my seat to face him. “What’s something you’re glad you’ll never have to do again?”
Kaleb hummed thoughtfully. “I s’pose after my Alpha dad died, I would’ve said, ‘Go back to Fort Greene’. Didn’t think I’d ever have to face my past there ever again.”
“Or Justin Carlisle, for that matter,” I teased.
“Or a lot of things. Everyone in Fort Greene knew Harper as the slick, charming one. Rusty was the trouble-maker. Josh, the local sweetheart. He could talk to anyone, even the most pissed-off looking stranger on the street, for about five minutes and have them inviting him over for dinner by the time the clock ran out.”
“I remember,” I said, smiling sadly. “I don’t think he was ever putting it on either. He was just genuinely…really easy to like, I guess.” I laughed. “Hard to imagine Harper as charming right now, though.”
“Can’t really blame him. I think he’s just about sick of being cooped up inside all the time—and he’s got a baby on the way to worry about, too.” Kaleb sighed. “I’m beginning to understand where he’s coming from on that front, at least.”
“And what about you? What were you known for?”
“Me?” Kaleb sounded half-surprised. “Being responsible, I guess. When Harper made a mistake, got into trouble, people’d just roll their eyes. Boys will be boys, you know. Rusty, everyone was just holding their breath waiting for him to fuck up by the time he was grown. And Josh…Christ, if he ever even got up to any mischief at all, no one ever found out about it. But me… I was the oldest. After our Omega dad died, I was supposed to be looking out for everyone. Ended up obsessing over it. If I’d ever gotten up to anything, made one little mistake, Dad probably would’ve tanned my hide for it.”
“Kaleb…that’s awful.” I reached over to brush my fingers over his knuckles. “You were a kid too. Everyone gets into a little trouble when they’re teens. Raging hormones and all.”
“Ah, it’s in the past now. But leaving Fort Greene, it was a bit of a relief. No one was looking at me like some kind of paragon of righteousness in DC—all anyone ever expected of me there was to do my job.” Kaleb shrugged, like he was trying to shake the weight of our current topic off of our shoulders. “To answer your question, though—Josh’s funeral was definitely a rough one for me. Glad I’m not going to have to do that ever again.”
“I can’t imagine.” I curled my fingers around his as he shifted gears. “That must have been—”
“What about you?” Kaleb cut me off. “Same question.”
I paused for a moment, aware that I must’ve touched a nerve, then laughed. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever heard of the Curtiss to Beardshear run?”
“Can’t say I have. What is it—some kind of…charity 5k or something?”
I laughed again. “Not exactly. During my undergrad at Iowa State, I, ah…it’s a tradition. There’s a big clock tower in the middle of campus, the Campanile.” A soft smile played on my lips as the memory washed over me. “Before you become an official student, you have to kiss someone at midnight, while the bells are tolling. If you don’t want to stop kissing by the time the bells stop, it means that you must be meant for each other. They call it Campaniling”
“And you, ah…had a bad make-out session under this big clock?” Kaleb chuckled. “Don’t see what that has to do with running.”
“Er…well, yes, but that’s not what I’m talking about. The other thing you’re supposed to do before you can consider yourself an official student is running from Curtiss Hall to Beardshear Hall, straight across the quad, from the first bell of midnight to the last.”
“Long run, then?”
“Not exactly. You’re supposed to do it naked.”
Kaleb broke out into laughter, which proved to be infectious.
“Strange way to become official.”
“Yeah, well…” I rubbed the back of my neck. “It wasn’t so much an official official thing as it was like…an ‘it’s dead week I’m too drunk to know what a bad idea looks like’ thing.”
“Ah. Yeah, I’ve been there.” Kaleb shook his head, giving me a casual shrug. “Okay, so you went streaking. That’s not so bad, is it?”
“In the middle of an Iowa winter? It was horrible!”
When our laughter finally subsided, another question popped into my head.
“Okay. What about…baby names? Have you ever thought about them?”
Kaleb blinked. “I, uh…well, not exactly. Wasn’t expecting questions about our future, to tell you the truth. But…always liked the name Arthur. Maybe it’s a little cheesy, but I was always a big fan of the Knights of the Round Table stories when I was a kid. Read ‘em to Josh when we were younger at bedtime. For a girl…Morgan, maybe. Guinevere’s too formal sounding…but Gwen’s not bad, is it?”
“Mm. Or like Gwen Stacy.” Kaleb shot me a confused look. “Character from Spiderman.”
“You’re such a nerd,” he sighed. “What about you?”
“Oh…for a boy I like Sean or Seamus. Something kind of Celtic—my family’s Irish-American on my mom’s side. You ought to see her hair—even now, it’s bright red.”
“Ah. So if we end up with a little redhead, I’ll know where that came from then.”
“And for a girl…something like Adaline or Ariel, I think.”
“A redheaded girl named Ariel?” Kaleb chuckled. “You’ve been watching too many Disney movies, sunshine.”
“Or you haven’t been watching enough of them.” I settled into my seat, feeling exhaustion setting in a little. We still had several hours of driving left to go yet. As serious as I’d been about this whole getting to know each other thing, the questions were more for keeping us both awake than anything at this point. “We’ll fix that once the baby is born, though. You’ll be so sick of The Little Mermaid, you’ll want to throw the TV out the window.”
“Mm. Maybe so,” Kaleb mumbled, fighting back a yawn.
“Anyway. Three-syllable girl names regardless, I think. They sound lyrical.”
“You’ve, ah…put a lot of thought into this, haven’t you?”
I considered lying and saying no…but to be fair, Kaleb had a point. “I always knew I wanted a family. Just didn’t think it would come so soon…or that it would come about the way it did.” I squeezed his hand again, feeling the smooth shifting of the gear and the rumbling of the car beneath us. “Adaline King. Hmm. Ariel King.”
“Has a certain pattern to it,” Kaleb admitted. “A good rhythm. Lyrical, like you said.”
I smiled. “No offense, your parents didn’t really think your name through, did they? Kaleb King… it’s kinda concussive, isn’t it?”
“Like a curse. I’ve got about four concussions on my record to prove it. That’s not my full name, though.”
“Yeah—what’s your middle name, anyway? Not Korey, I hope.”
Kaleb smirked. “They thought it through a little better than that.
No—Kaleb Reginald King. Reginald for my grandfather.”
I snorted. “That’s it. I’m calling you Reggie from now on.”
Kaleb shifted his fingers over mine for a moment as he shot me a grimace. “What’s yours?”
Immediately, my laughter stopped. “Uh…well…”
“Say it.”
“Um…it’s Fearghal, actually. Like I said, my mom’s family’s Irish, so…”
To his credit, Kaleb didn’t laugh. But I could’ve sworn I saw a glint of wicked delight flicker through the hazels of his eyes, like the shine of an opal in the sunlight.
As far as getting to know each other went, I was certain that at the very least, he wouldn’t forget that.
26
Kaleb
By the time we reached the first motel, the sunrise was peeking over the horizon and my body felt about as tired as it’d ever been. But as Derek and I stripped out of our clothes before collapsing into bed, I felt a final rush of energy fill my chest.
Even shirtless, exhausted and tripping over his own jeans as he tried to kick them off of his legs, he was still the most gorgeous thing I’d ever laid eyes on. His belly was still flat and smooth as ever, hairless and mounded with abs, but there was some primal part of me that purred with the memory that he was mine. My baby in his womb. My name on his lips as I moved toward him, unbuckling my belt with a hunger in my eyes.
“Kaleb…you’re too tired to be looking at me like that right now.” He laughed softly, shaking his head as I reached up to take his jawline into my hands.
“What do you mean? I’m wide awake. Unless you’re…”
Derek glanced at the bed, wincing at the mustard yellow and pea green comforter. Straight from 1974. “Not too tired just yet, I don’t think. And if you’re up for it…we’ve got several days until we get to Reno still, so…”
