by Zoey Parker
She was quiet for a moment, reflecting on what to say. He sounded as though he were starting rethink things. Rethink them? “Your life is definitely more colorful than what I’m used to.” She nodded. “But, I know you’ll always keep me safe, keep us safe.” She moved his hand to her belly. He pressed the flat of his hand against her, staring at their hands connected, covering their baby.
“I love you, Lucas, and I was an idiot for not saying it earlier and for thinking there was any way I could possibly live without you.”
His eyes snapped up to hers. “You aren’t worried that my life is too unsafe for you and the baby?”
“You’ll do whatever you have to in order to keep us safe. I grew up not having my father, and I don’t want that for my kids. I don’t want that for me. I want you. And if the club comes with you, it comes with you. They are your family, so they are mine.”
He cradled her face in both of his hands and brought his lips down on hers, stealing her breath and crushing her at the same time. “I knew you loved me, but now I know you want me,” he whispered against her lips.
“Excuse me.” An older gentleman walked into the room. “Sorry, but the nurses let me know she was awake.”
“I think they want you out of their hair.” Josephine laughed. Lucas released her and stood up from the bed.
“It’s not, I mean, how are you are feeling?” The doctor gave Lucas a wary smile and straightened his glasses before finally looking at Josephine.
“A bit tired but otherwise okay. Lucas said the baby’s okay? Are you sure? I’m worried about the blood.”
“You had some spotting, but when I did my exam, there was no evidence of a miscarriage or any other trouble. Some spotting during the pregnancy is okay.” He looked down at his chart. “Uh, the girl that brought you in said that you were having pains in your stomach?”
“Cramping. Yes.” Josephine ignored Lucas’s tense expression and focused on the doctor.
“Okay, well, we will want to watch you. I’ve spoken with your OB/GYN, and they want you to go in to see them in a few days but agree that you should be on bed rest until then. No getting up except for the washroom. You can shower, no baths, but other than that, resting.”
Josephine groaned. “You couldn’t tell me that without him here?” She tried to smile at the doctor, but he didn’t get the humor in her voice and gave Lucas a worried look. How much trouble had he caused while she slept?
“She’ll rest. No worries there. She works as a dental hygienist. Should she stop?”
“Well, I’ll leave that call up to her OB/GYN.” The nervous doctor scribbled something in the chart.
“And she should stay away from caffeine, right?” He gave Josephine a quick warning glance, then focused back on the doctor. Josephine grunted.
“Well a little…no. I mean, right, no caffeine.” The doctor nodded while keeping his eyes on Lucas.
“See?” Lucas gave Josephine a cocky grin, and she wished for the strength to get out of the bed to smack him.
“When can I go? My mother is somewhere in the hospital, and I want to go see her. She’s having surgery today, I think.”
“No, Josephine. They moved the surgery up. She had it yesterday. We’ll go see her on the way out but only for a minute, then it’s home and to bed.”
Josephine gave the doctor a pleading look. “I don’t have to actually stay in bed, right? I mean, I can sit on the couch, on the porch, something?”
“Well, the couch would be fine, so long as you aren’t walking around or doing any sort of lifting.”
“Not a finger. Do you hear me?” Lucas kept his glare on her, now completely ignoring the doctor.
“Can I go now?”
“I’ll have the nurse come by with the discharge papers and a wheelchair.” The doctor nodded once, curtly, and left.
“You scared him,” Josephine accused Lucas and swung her legs over the side of the bed.
“Where are you going?” he demanded, picking her legs back up and pushing her back in place.
“I want to get dressed. It’s going to take them a minute to get the paperwork. By the time they get in here, I’ll be ready to go. So, move.” She tried to shove his big hands away, but he wouldn’t have it.
“No. Just hold on.” He walked to the chair in the corner and brought back a folded item. “I had Cherry go get this. It will be easier than dealing with all that underwear and pants.” He gave her smile that suggested he would have his way no matter what her complaints were and showed her the cotton sundress, one of his favorites.
“No underwear?”
“Nope.” He grinned and started to help her change into the dress.
An hour later, Lucas wheeled Josephine into her mother’s recovery room. The sound of Reaper’s voice made Josephine put a hand out to stop Lucas from going all the way in.
“I can’t believe…I mean, I guess I should but so many years wasted.” Her mother’s voice cracked.
“Don’t worry about that now, Meredith. Right now, we’re going to worry about you getting better so we have the rest of our lives to make up for lost time.”
“You really never left?”
“I tried to. I tried to forget you, but I couldn’t. You were my life, all these years, all this time. But, I’ve done horrible shit. Bad shit that I won’t tell you about. You were right to send me away.”
“I should have tried. It hurt when you left, and when you came back, I just couldn’t—” A sob broke her words, and Josephine signaled for Lucas to push her the rest of the way in.
When they rounded the curtain, she found her father sitting on her mother’s bed, holding her. The bandage around her head was securely in place, and he was gently cradling her. Reaper must have seen them, because he sat up and helped his wife lay back against the pillows, being sure to wipe his eyes before turning to them.
“Josephine,” he said, standing from the bed.
“Hi.” She smiled weakly. She didn’t know this man, not really, but she knew one thing, he’d spent his whole life looking out for them from a distance. From what Lucas told her, he bought her mother’s house years ago, so she wouldn’t have to worry about the mortgage. He made the bank send her a letter—spewing some bullshit about financial aid to single mothers—and a fake application, which was “granted,” eliminating her debt on the house. Josephine understood then the lengths the men in her life would go to be sure they were safe, loved and cared for, even if they had to strong-arm a few people to get the job done.
“Honey.”
“Mom.” Josephine pushed out of the chair, ignoring Lucas’s growl and threw herself onto her mom’s bed, wrapping her arms around her. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here. How are you feeling? You’re talking so good.”
“She’s still sort of weak, Josephine. Be careful.” Reaper gently touched her shoulder.
Josephine released her mom and sat on the edge of the bed.
“I’m doing pretty good, actually. I thought I’d be all out of it, but whatever those doctors did, my thoughts are clearer already. I’m just tired.” She wiped away tears from her eyes. “What about you? Your dad…I’m sorry I didn’t—”
“Enough of that now.” Reaper used the same stern voice Josephine was coming to expect from Lucas. “Both of you need rest. Josephine, you get home and get to bed, and I’ll take care of your mom. They are going to release her tomorrow or the next day.”
“Josephine’s going to be in bed for the next few days,” Lucas told Reaper.
“I’ll be by tomorrow.” Josephine promised her mother, ignoring the two bull-headed males in the room.
Her mom smiled at her. “You do what you have to do to keep that baby healthy. I’ll keep. Besides, your father is going to be taking care of me.” She gave Reaper a smile she hadn’t seen on her mother before, genuine and full of hope.
Josephine let Lucas get her back in the wheelchair and take her out of the room. He left her with a nurse, though it seemed to pain him to do so, to go get
his truck. She was going home.
Her mother would mend; she had to believe that. Her father was back, and she had Lucas. In only a short few months, she’d gone from having next to nothing in her life to a fully rounded family.
Epilogue
Lucas had finally gotten his way. Josephine tugged her arms but still couldn’t move. The ropes he’d bound around her wrists and secured to the bedposts kept her from escaping him, not that she would want to. She needed this as much as he did.
“So, again I’ll ask you, did you or did you not promise me that you would be home before midnight last night?” The dark voice behind coming from behind her should probably have terrified her.
After all, she was naked, lying face down on their bed and bound, spread open for him. And if the sound she’d heard was correct, he was holding a belt in his hand.
“I did.” She nodded and looked over her shoulder at him, giving him a wink. “But Cherry wanted another drink, and I was the designated driver. You know, because I still can’t drink.” She didn’t even try to hide the pout about that. Breastfeeding their little girl meant she had to stay away from alcohol, and Lucas was still convinced she couldn’t have caffeine, so that was out, too.
“I’m not talking about Cherry. I’m sure her ass is tender already. She’s not supposed to be out drinking like that, and you knew it, too. I’m not sure you two are good influences on each other.” She’d heard Cutter say the same thing a few times, and both Cherry and she had a good laugh over it. They’d gotten quite close as the months passed. Now that Cherry was married to Cutter and Josephine had finally toted herself down the aisle with Lucas, the two couples spent a lot of time together.
“Pfft,” Josephine scoffed.
He tapped the folded leather against her bare bottom. It wouldn’t be the first spanking she’d gotten, but it would be the first time she was bound and couldn’t scoot away. He wouldn’t hurt her, and she wasn’t in any trouble, not really. This was play, his way of getting her hot and gooey before he sank into her. He’d get the fire burning out of control before he would put it out the way only he could.
“Nothing you want to say, bad girl?” he asked with that tone of his that sent shivers through her body.
“I should have called. I’m sorry. But you said Bridgette was sleeping when I called at eleven, so I didn’t want to wake her up.” Their baby girl had just started sleeping through the night. And she knew better than to wake a sleeping baby.
“Uh, huh.” She could hear the chuckle in his voice when she wiggled her butt.
The belt came down hard on her cheeks. A warmth spread through her just as the second strike hit, then the third. By the fourth, she was done with the leather and wanted the flesh.
He must have thought the same. The belt fell to the floor, and she heard him chucking his clothes off. She expected him to untie her, to flip her over to her back, but he apparently had other ideas.
He climbed on the bed, spreading her legs and pulling her hips up so her ass was in the air for him. “Fuck, your pussy is so fucking wet.” He slid one finger through her folds, teasing her clit and making her moan. “Such a little horny girl you’ve become, Josephine.” He adjusted his positioning and used the head of his cock to toy with her. “Tell me you want me. Tell me you want this.”
“Fuck me, Lucas. Fuck me hard.” She didn’t need to play a role for him. It’s exactly what she wanted from him at that moment.
“Anything for you.” He gripped her hips and drove into her with one quick motion. She cried out from the sudden fullness, but her mind was quickly filled with nothing but lust and pleasure as he continued to thrust into her.
While one hand gripped her hip, the other wrapped around her, playing, teasing, and pinching her clit. Quickly, she was at the edge, teetering on the cliff of heaven.
“Fuck. Lucas.” She moaned into the pillow, pulling on her restraints. He plowed into her harder, the sound of their flesh slapping against each other filling the room.
“Now, Josephine.” He gave her hip a slap, and within two more strokes, they both fell over the cliff together.
After their breathing normalized, and they started to relax, he untied her and took care to check her wrists and backside. “Maybe someday I’ll be able to give you a few more lashes before I have to dive into you.” He laughed as they settled on the bed, snuggling into one another.
“No, I think that was the right amount.” She feigned injury and rubbed her bottom.
“Uh, huh.” He sighed. “We should get up soon. Your mom will be here in an hour. And Bridgette isn’t going to nap forever.”
“No, she won’t.” Josephine sighed. “Dad said he’s bringing lunch with them. He’s worried Mom’s been doing too much lately, so he’s swinging by to get some sandwiches on the way.”
Lucas kissed her head and held her tighter. “The doctors seemed pretty hopeful last time you went with her, right?”
“Yeah. They said the tumor’s gone. Between the treatments and the surgery, it’s gone. He’s just overprotective, like someone else I know.” She pinched his stomach and leapt up from the bed. “I need a shower.”
“Cutter is coming with Cherry, too.” Lucas rolled out of bed. They both heard the baby cry at the same time. “I’ll get her. You go shower.”
“When’s the vote?” Josephine asked as she walked to the bathroom.
“Tomorrow.”
“You worried?”
“Nope. Cutter will make a great president, and your Dad getting patched-in won’t be an issue, not after he saved you and Cherry.”
“He won’t tell me about what he did with the Iron Rebels.”
“Good.” Lucas pulled a t-shirt over his head. “It’s none of your business, and he shouldn’t have to relive that shit. That was a different life.” He yanked on his pants and opened the door, the crying getting louder as he did. “Get in the shower, and I’ll get Bridgette.”
She watched him leave, then heard him start talking to their daughter. With a soft voice, he soothed her, even made her laugh. He was right, all that happened before. This was a different life, and it was this one that mattered.
In this life, she had her father back, her mother was healing and on her way to a full recovery, her daughter was safe, and her husband would see to it that they always stayed that way.
She turned the shower on and stepped under the water. Who knew getting a coffee in a hospital could lead to the treasure that she’d found? It didn’t matter. She would forget the past, just like Lucas said. That was a different life.
And she had a whole new one, a better one, to live now.
THE END
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Books by Zoey Parker
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The Devil’s Scar: A Mafia Hitman Romance (Owned by Outlaws Book 2)
I can’t say no when he tells me to bend over.
Going home with him was my first mistake.
But the bad boy set my insides on fire.
Now, he’s back at my door – but for a different reason.
This time, he’s here to kill me.
MADELINE
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
I came to the city with big dreams and the belief that people were good at heart.
But I’ve been here long enough to learn the truth:
Deep down, we’re all just animals.
He seemed different at first.
A gentleman, almost, in a weird enough way.
But I was too drunk and too foolish to see the beast that hid waiting inside him.
And by the time he let it out, it
was too late to run away.
I did the only thing I could do:
I submitted.
I’m not proud of this, but I fell to the floor and did everything he told me to do.
And here’s the sickest part of all…
I loved it.
At least, I did back then.
But now, the chickens have come home to roost.
And when I wake up with a sick feeling in my stomach, I know exactly what it is.
I’m pregnant with Nikolai’s baby.
NIKOLAI
I laughed when she answered the door.
