by Geri Glenn
But Anna, she’s not sitting up. She’s not even awake. Is she alive?
Anna lies at Charlotte’s side, her hands soaked with blood, her eyes closed. Ryker swoops in and holds his wife while I take slow steps toward Anna. A deep, open gash graces the forearm she’s using to cradle her belly, and the blood stain on her T-shirt is a deep red and too big to be Charlotte’s blood.
“Anna,” I call softly as I kneel beside her and take her hand. “Baby?”
“Sir,” a paramedic says from behind me. “You have to move aside so we can help her.”
“Anna?” I squeeze her hand. “Baby, please.”
A heavy hand lands on my shoulder. “Sir.”
Letting go of her hand in that moment is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.
Anna
The light shining in my eyes would be blinding if I could open them even a fraction of an inch. I can hear people all around me, talking fast and urgent. Hands push and pull at me. Needles poke and stick into me.
One quick blink shows me tubes and medical equipment all around me, and I hear the words blood transfusion and surgery, then I hear Reaper’s voice, angry and panicked. Where did Reaper come from?
“Okay, Anna,” a woman’s soft voice says from above me. “I’m going to put this mask on you now. Everything is going to be just fine.”
I feel the plastic mask settle over my face and feel like I’m fading. Reaper’s voice disappears and as my thoughts black out once more. My mind is filled with the vision of my sister holding her newborn baby.
It feels like just a few minutes pass and then I’m awake. My body is sore and my head is foggy. As my eyes slowly peel open, I take in the stark white walls and the institutional décor. A machine beeps rhythmically just behind my head, and an IV pole whirs quietly in a steady pattern.
“Anna?” I slowly turn my head toward the voice and find Reaper leaning over me. His hair is disheveled and his clothes are rumpled with dried blood all over them. He takes my hand, but I weakly pull it out of his grasp and just stare at him. My throat feels sore and raw, and my brain is taking it’s time to wake up.
Just then, the door whisks open and a pretty young doctor walks in. “Ms. Daniels,” she says, a smile on her face. “How are you feeling?”
“Dry,” I croak out, attempting to sit up and clear the fog from my head.
She hands me a cup of water from the table beside my bed. “Just small sips.” As I let the cool liquid soothe my aching throat, the doctor explains the surgery she’d performed. “You’ve received a blood transfusion, and we had to go in to repair the damage done to your liver and gall bladder. You also had a deep stab wound to your arm which we’ve stitched and repaired. The blade hit bone and veered to the side. It went through the flesh and bypassed any major arteries or tendons. A little physical therapy and it should be good as new. You’re a lucky woman, Ms. Daniels.”
“What about the baby?” I ask the doctor, not caring about all the medical mumbo jumbo she’d just spewed at me. Reaper pulls his chair closer and I force myself to not look at him. Why is he even here? Just yesterday, he’d called me a poison. Just yesterday, he’d treated me like a goddamn pariah, knowing full well that I’m carrying his baby. Just yesterday, I’d made the decision that I don’t need Reaper in my life. I don’t need any of the Kings. Except Ryker, of course, since he’s technically family now.
“We did an ultrasound while you were in surgery, and your baby is just fine, honey. Strong and healthy heartbeat.”
Relief washes over me. It’s hard to believe I’d been upset about being pregnant at first, because now, the thought of losing this baby absolutely terrifies me. Reaper may not want us, but this baby and me, we’ll have each other, and that’s the best future I could ever imagine for myself. A better future than I deserve.
“We’re going to keep you overnight so that we can keep an eye on you and the baby. If all goes well, like we expect, you’ll be going home in a few days.”
“Thank you,” I say softly, not caring one bit that they want me to stay. Where else would I go? Charlotte and my nephew are here. The house is empty and is now a crime scene with a whole lot of blood spilled. A few nights in the hospital, where I can be sure my baby is safe, sounds just fine to me.
The door closes with a loud click as the doctor leaves the room, and suddenly, the silence is deafening. Reaper is so close, I could reach out and touch him if I wanted to. Why do I still want to?
“Anna,” he says. His voice is harsh and raspy, and uncertain. “I need you to look at me.”
I sink further into the pillows and close my eyes. Childish maybe, but it’s the best I can do under the circumstances. Reaper sighs and takes my hand, squeezing it gently in his. I lie there in silence, eyes closed, focusing on my breathing and not on my hand where his thumb is gently rubbing back and forth.
“Fine,” he says. “You don’t have to look at me, but you do have to listen.” I feel the bed dip at my side as he settles himself down onto the mattress, his hip pressing into mine. “Anna, I have never felt fear like I felt seeing you layin’ on that floor, covered in blood.” My chest tightens and I squeeze my eyes tighter. “I thought I’d lost you.” His hand settles on my belly. “Both of you.”
That hand stays in place, warming my flesh, even through the blanket, warming our baby.
“What if it’s not yours?” I ask, unable to keep the nastiness from seeping into my tone.
I feel a weight land beside my arm and feel his warm breath on my face, but still I keep my eyes clamped shut. I can’t look at him, not right now. I can’t look at him and see his pain, because then I’ll just forget about the pain that he’s caused me.
“You and I both know it is, Anna. I never should have said the shit I said. I let my past with Laurie come in and twist my head all up about you, and I was wrong. So fuckin’ wrong. That’s our baby, and you’re my woman, and I’m your total asshole for treating you the way I did.”
A traitorous tear breaks free and slips down the side of my face, dripping into my ear. “And it only took me getting stabbed a couple times for you to see the light.”
Warm lips press against my forehead. “No. I saw it before. I saw it last night, but things were crazy with the shower and the party, and you avoiding me. I didn’t get a chance to make things right, but I’m here now. That’s what matters. I’m here to fix us, baby.”
Tears burn my eyes and my chest heaves as I fight back a sob. “I’d like to be alone now, please,” I say, finally opening my eyes and meeting his gaze.
Sadness sweeps across his face, but he quickly wipes it away with a nod. “All right. I’ll go, but I’ll just be outside, and I’m takin’ you home as soon as the doctor clears you, to my home. And hopefully, someday, your home too.”
Reaper
The next morning, I’m standing in Anna’s room, watching the numbers on her heart monitor flash a steady, stable number. She still hasn’t spoken to me, but that’s okay. As long as she’s breathing and still around to ignore my ass, she can give me the cold shoulder all she wants.
When the door cracks open, I expect to see the doctor, but instead, Charlotte pokes her head in, a giant smile on her face. “Knock, knock,” she says quietly, pushing the door open the rest of the way. She’s in a wheelchair, being pushed by the proudest looking biker I’ve ever seen. Ryker wheels her in, a giant smile on his face as he stares down at the tiny blue bundle in his wife’s arms. “We thought you’d like to visit with your nephew.”
“I would,” Anna says, easing herself off the bed and coming closer. I reach out to help steady her, but she levels me with a glare and yanks her arm away. Ignoring her, I pull out the chair and push it behind her, but it’s Ryker that helps her settle into it as she squeezes her face in pain.
Once she’s seated, Ryker takes the little bundle of blankets from his wife and settles it into Anna’s arms.
“Aunty Anna, meet Maddax.”
Anna beams down at the baby and
runs a fingertip across his rosy pink cheek. “Hi, Maddax.” She looks up at her sister, tears shining in her beautiful brown eyes. “Oh, Char. He’s perfect.”
“Of course he is,” Ryker says. “Have you seen his parents?”
Charlotte gives him a gentle smack on the arm and shakes her head, smiling as she watches her sister with her baby. “He wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you, Anna.”
Anna’s brow furrows. “All I did was catch. You’re the super hero in this scenario.”
Charlotte opens her mouth to respond, but Ryker beats her to it. “That’s not the way I see it, Anna. You were both heroes that day. You got through that shit together, as a team. You helped Charlotte bring my son into this world, and I will never forget that. Not ever.” He looks up at me. “If I’ve learned one thing from all this, it’s that you don’t fuck with the Daniel sisters.” The girls burst into giggles.
Ryker presses a kiss to the top of Charlotte’s head, then looks up at me. “Let’s give the ladies a minute, yeah?”
I glance at Anna, but she makes a point of ignoring me. She’s barely acknowledges me at all, but I get it. She’s pissed. I was the one that fucked this up, so now I need to have some patience while we sort our shit.
Ryker steps out into the hall and I follow behind him. “By the looks of your knuckles, I’d say you saw him?” Ryker says.
I glance down at the knuckles that were cut up by Shiv’s teeth as I’d pounded the shit out of him last night. “Yeah. Took some convincing, but Lawson gave me five minutes with him.” I smirk. “Made me promise not to kill him.” Ryker snorts at that. “Let’s just say, Shiv won’t be fuckin’ with our club again, even if he wasn’t gonna end up spendin’ the next fifteen years in jail for attempted murder.”
Ryker’s jaw clenches and he nods. “Good. I still wish the fucker was dead, but a scrawny little pussy like him won’t last long in lockup. It’s best for the girls if we just move on now.”
“Agreed.” Shiv may not have gotten exactly what he deserved, but he’d been punished. Focusing on the need to kill him wasn’t important anymore. Taking care of Anna and the baby is what’s important.
We step back into the room and spend the next ten minutes listening to Charlotte and Anna talk about breast milk and first poops, and other things a man just doesn’t need to know. Finally, Ryker takes little Maddax from Anna and gives him back to his mother, declaring it time to feed the baby. Anna promises to see them tomorrow.
Once the room is clear, I position myself in front of her chair and kneel at her feet. “Anna, look at me.” Finally, her eyes lift to mine. “Baby, I know I hurt you. I know you don’t trust me, but I’m gonna do everything in my power to make shit right with us again. We’re gonna be a family.”
Anna wipes away a runaway tear and clears her throat. “This baby will be your family, even if we’re not together, Reaper. People do it all the time.”
I grab her hand and squeeze it, leaning closer so she has to look me in the eye. “People may, but we don’t. I want you, Anna. I want us to be an us, I want our baby to have both parents. I want to crawl into bed with you every night and wake up with you every morning, preferably with a coffee in your hand, ’cause that shit is life.”
She nibbles on her lower lip, her eyes searching mine.
“Babe, I know it’s hard to trust me right now. Lord knows I haven’t done one damn thing to fuckin’ deserve it. All I’m askin’ is that you give me a chance to fix this.”
After what feels like eternity, she finally nods, but says nothing more. Who knew a nod could lift the weight of the world off one man’s shoulders? She’s going to give me a chance, and I’m going to do every fucking thing in my power to fix this rift I created, to make her trust me. To prove to her that I’m all in.
Anna
I’m just about to apply a new bandage on my belly when Reaper walks into the bathroom. “Jesus Christ,” he mutters, his eyes glued to the two-inch gash at my side.
It actually looks pretty good, considering I had a knife sticking out of it just over a week ago. Over the past few days, in Reaper’s house, I’ve been careful not to let him see it. I hadn’t been expecting him to come waltzing into the bathroom, though.
“Fuck, Anna.” The pain in his eyes takes me by surprise. “Just a little to the left and he could’ve fuckin’ killed you.”
I apply the gauze bandage, hiding the ugly, stitched flesh from sight. “Pretty sure that was the goal,” I say with a smirk.
He stares at me for a moment, then drops to his knees before me. He stares up at me, his expression open and hopeful. “I’m in love with you.”
I blink. Then I blink again. I open my mouth to say something, but I just leave it that way, gaping open because I have no response for that. I’m doing well enough to breath in and out through the shock of that bold statement.
“You don’t have to say it back, and you don’t have to believe me, but I want you to know. I want you to know how badly I want to make this work, and how badly I want you and our baby.” His soft lips press forward, just above my panty line, right on top of the tiny bump that’s barely starting to appear.
“You hurt me so bad,” I admit, choking back the emotion before it bubbles over and leaves me a sobbing mess.
He stands then and pulls me into his arms. “I know, baby. Fuck, I know. And I apologize. I don’t know where my head was at.” He pulls back a little and tilts my chin so our eyes meet. “I was so lost and absorbed in my own pain that I was too distracted to see yours. That won’t happen again.”
He means it. One look at his normally stormy eyes, I can see that this man, a man that everyone thinks is so scary, is not scary to me. He loves me. He’s mine. Yes, he’s a little broken, but that’s what makes him who he is, and I wouldn’t change that for the world. Well, except the hate speech he’d spewed at me. That I would change. But something tells me that won’t be an issue anymore.
I take his face in my hands and touch my lips to his. “I love you too, Lucas.”
His eyes fall closed and his forehead rests against mine. We just stand there, our arms wrapped around each other, our hearts beating in tandem. When I let my hands roam down his chest, his eyes pop open and we stare at each other as I let them travel lower. “Can you?” he asks, referring to my wounded belly.
“Just be gentle,” I whisper.
His lips are on mine before I can get the words out. He scoops me up and sits me on the edge of the counter. His lips roam my neck and shoulders, then back to my lips as his hands lightly trail up and down my arms, leaving goose bumps in their wake.
“You’re so fuckin’ beautiful,” he says as he unclips my bra, allowing my breasts to spring free. He takes them in the palms of his hands and kisses me with so much passion, it makes it difficult to breathe.
My hands roam his body, skimming over the smooth tattooed skin that covers his powerful frame, dipping and rising with the curve of each muscle. His chest presses against mine and I can feel his heart hammering just as fast as mine, and it makes me want him more.
“Please,” I whisper against his lips. “Lucas, I need you.” I feel an ache deep inside of me that’s desperate to be filled by him.
He presses one more soft kiss to my lips and carefully slips my panties off my hips and down my legs as I balance myself on the edge of the counter. Then he does exactly what I need him to do. He slides inside of me, and for the first time in my life, I feel whole.
He makes love to me slowly and gently, treasuring me, and I lose myself in him. I let it all go. The guilt of my past, the anger at his abandonment, the feeling of loneliness. He uses his body to claim me, to make me his. To make him mine.
When I reach my climax, Lucas kisses me hard, falling over the edge with me, two broken souls, coming together to make one imperfect, but beautiful life.
Reaper
“Babe?” I call as I bound through the door. Where the hell is she? I peek into each room on the main floor of our way too big Cape C
od style house, looking for her, but she’s nowhere to be found. Dirty dishes are stacked in the sink. A clean basket of laundry sits folded on the couch, and the living room looks like a cyclone hit it.
My gut clenches a little as I stare at the unusual disarray of our home. Anna is a meticulous housekeeper, and since our daughter was born, a total germaphope.
“Anna?” I take the stairs two at a time, anxious to see my girls. I love my club and I love to ride, but these three and four day runs are not something I enjoy anymore, since it now takes time away from my family.
I walk into the bedroom, but still no Anna. Our cat, Huey, lifts his head from his cozy nest of blankets on the bed and blinks up at me through squinted eyes. I never thought I’d like any cat, especially after Pricilla, but Huey is an affectionate little thing, and most importantly, he doesn’t piss on my shit. As much as I couldn’t stand Priscilla, I was sad when she passed, not long after Sharon’s funeral.
The faint sound of a muffled squeal drifts from the bathroom down the hall. Turning, I cock my head to the side, ears straining. Déjà vu strikes me. I’ve done this before, and it didn’t turn out good. When I hear it again, I rush out of the room, a lump forming in the back of my throat as I approach the bathroom door.
“Anna?” I call, my hand moving to the doorknob. “You okay, babe?”
There’s no answer from behind the door, and I don’t waste another second. Turning the knob, I rush inside. I don’t know what I’d been expecting, but the vision before me erases all my trepidation, and instead, fills me with joy. Anna sits at the edge of the tub, her arm draped over the side as she gently sponges the soap off of our daughter’s creamy smooth skin.
“Daddy!” she screeches when she stops giggling long enough to see me standing there.
“Hey, gorgeous. You miss me?”
“Oh yes,” she replies, her tiny head nodding, even as the tear free soap suds fall down her cheeks. “Mommy took me to the park!” she screeches.
