Yeah, well, welcome to my world, buddy.
Twins.
I should be sweating bullets and freaking out, and I kind of was a little, but I also felt elation. Two babies. Two beautiful pieces of Mannix and me that I get to keep forever. I didn’t want to go back to the compound just yet. I couldn’t avoid it forever, and I didn’t want to. I loved the atmosphere there, the feeling of belonging and family, but the biggest question mark, and the reason I had Darth escort me to my house instead, was Mannix. He had left the clinic on Darth’s bike, leaving the car. Darth was waiting for me in the car park, no sign of Mannix. Where was his head now?
Me having twins had to make him see I was telling him the truth, right? After he ran out of the room at the clinic, I asked the doctor about tests that could prove paternity before the babies’ birth. What she told me had every maternal instinct I never knew I had rush to the surface. The doctor’s description of the two main types of tests chilled me.
“Ms Marcus, you are at twenty-two weeks. Normally, we like an amniocentesis test to be done between fifteen and twenty. There is a low chance of miscarriage, and the other test has a bit more risk with a much higher chance of miscarriage. It can also carry a danger to the mother. It’s totally up to you if you would like either test.”
Wrapping my arms around my belly, I mustered up a smile for Darth despite the horror of the doctor’s words swirling in my brain.
“I’m fine, Darth. Seriously, go home. Vegas is probably in desperate need to be saved from yet another viewing of Frozen or Tour of Duty,” I joked, knowing all too well I was right.
Darth grunted as he grudgingly got back into the car.
“Frozen I understand. When will that kid get tired of that shit?” he asked, but the corners of his mouth curved into a smile. Shiloh could watch Elsa and Olaf every day of the week, and Darth wouldn’t care. As long as Squirt was happy, then so was he.
Wistfulness tugged at me. Darth would make a great father one day, and I hoped he and Vegas could come to some kind of agreement about their relationship. They both deserved nothing but the best.
“You love it,” I admonished him. I took the few steps to him and pressed a kiss to his bearded cheek. “Thank you for today, but I will be fine. My garden needs some attention. Thank God Mannix came around and took care of the watering for me, but the weeds have formed their own community.” I rolled my eyes, knowing full well what Darth was going to say.
“So you knew Mannix did it, hey?”
My laugh was drowned out by the roar of the SUV’s engine.
Chapter 15
MANNIX
I loved the open road.
It was the one place I could just let all my shit go and think clearly. Every time I came back from a deployment, Steel and I would jump on our bikes and head off. If any of the other guys were off at the same time, we would meet somewhere on the road and do what we did best—ride and forget.
Today, it wasn’t as easy. Too much was running around in my head to enjoy what was normally my escape. At the top of the list was Rainn. Rainn carrying my babies. Rainn. Always Rainn.
Also, I was thinking about Ebony and James and everything from Alannah’s pregnancies and births. Becoming a father for the first time was one of the most wonderful moments of my life. Ebony, my beautiful, stubborn little girl, who, from the minute she was born, had given me grief, and I loved every second of it. I loved James, too, although he was an easy baby and never gave us a sleepless night. Everything was perfect—until it wasn’t.
And now Rainn was carrying twins. My twins. A small smile formed on my lips at the thought. Steel wasn’t only my twin but also my closest friend. He was always there for me. In our early childhood, we were inseparable, and we even joined the army together because the thought of being apart was unbearable. We felt each other’s happiness, sadness, and pain. That day in the desert when our lives were irrevocably changed, I’d felt Cooper’s pain like it was my own. His struggles afterwards were my pain, too.
My babies were going to have that same connection.
Looking behind me, I made sure no other vehicles were coming before I made a U-turn. I had to get back to the compound, take care of a few things, and then I needed to go see Rainn and apologise. Or beg. Yeah, she was probably going to make me beg. Maybe ask for my balls on a platter. I didn’t give a shit what it was going to take as long as the end result was for her to forgive me and be back in my bed at the compound where she belonged—as my woman, my lady.
———
“Hey, Squirt, what ya doing?” I walked into the compound and found Shiloh sitting on the pool table with her bulldog, C.O.D., chasing the balls she was rolling around on the felt. It would have been weird for any other kid except Shiloh.
“Chillin’, enforcer man. Mummy speaked on the phone then ran off to find Daddy. She tolds me not to move my feet, buts she said nothin’ ’bout my arms,” she informed me as she continued to roll the balls for the pup, giggling each time C.O.D. stumbled over a ball. The nickname she used for me was a new one. Normally, she went with ‘pirate man’ or ‘motorcycle man. The kid was unique, that was for sure.
“Okay, then. Now that I’m here, how about we get you and the dog off the expensive felt-covered pool table and play on the ground.” I suggested as I leaned over, hefted the fat pup off the table, and deposited him onto the floor.
“Catch me!” Shiloh squealed, giving me just enough time to turn and catch the small body that hurled itself at me, hitting me with enough force to make me stagger back slightly.
“Oomph. Hells bells, kid. Give me a little warning next time.” I laughed, my arms tightening around Shiloh.
“Youse wouldn’t drops me, Unca Mannix,” Shiloh stated confidently, and she was right.
“Nope, never, Squirt.” Kissing the end of her nose, I shifted her to my hip. “Let’s go find out why you were left alone to play snooker with a dog.”
Whistling for the pup to follow, I walked into the kitchen where I could hear voices.
“Hey, anyone know why Shiloh was playing pool while sitting on the table with her dog?”
Booth, Deck, and Charlotte all stopped talking, looking at Shiloh with looks ranging from disbelief, amusement, and pride.
“Umm, okay?” Charlotte shook her head as if dumbfounded by her daughter’s behaviour. Why I had no idea. Like I said, Shiloh was unique.
“Mannix, where the hell have you been? I have been trying to call you,” Booth said, frustration and worry colouring his tone.
Instantly, my senses went on alert.
“Riding. Needed to clear my head. I never heard my phone, brother. Why?”
“Brother, Rainn, had an accident. She was taken to the hospital. Darth, Vegas, and Steel are there now, she is okay—”
I didn’t wait for any more from my president. Quickly, I transferred Shiloh over to Deck and rushed out of the kitchen through the main room and out to the car park. Jumping on my bike, not bothering with my helmet, I tore out onto the street. Rainn was at the hospital, which meant she was hurt. The babies? Fucking hell, this was my fault. If I hadn’t reacted badly at the clinic, she would have gone home with me. Hell, if I hadn’t reacted badly at the start, she would have been living at the compound, and I would have seen that she didn’t do anything that could have got her hurt.
The pit of my stomach churned with every stop sign and traffic light I had to stop at. Rainn was hurt. No fucking way.
Chapter 16
RAINN
How stupid could I be? My hands sat on my belly as I listened to the steady thumps of my babies’ heartbeats from the cardiotocography machine, reassuring me that they were okay. The doctor had gone off to get the ultrasound machine so I could see for myself that my babies were definitely safe and sound.
“Rainn, do you need anything? Water or something to eat?” Steel asked from his seat beside the bed I was currently lying on.
I wanted to say Mannix, but instead, I shook my head. “I’m fine, Cooper,
really. You should go back to the compound. Mia needs you more than I do. I’m sure there are better things you could be doing with her right now,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows at him.
When I tripped over the weed bucket in my garden—luckily with my phone in my pocket—I called the compound and Steel had answered the phone. After he hung up, it was only minutes before I heard the sounds of an ambulance siren. Then the sound of two bikes had calmed me enough to answer the paramedics’ questions. To be honest, I had been upset that one of those bikes wasn’t Mannix.
After Darth left me at my house, I had gone inside to change into some old clothes and then went out into my garden. I loved gardening. Some might find it funny that a stripper liked something as mundane as pulling weeds and growing roses, but I did. My grandmother and mother got me into it when I was a rebellious teen. They thought it would take my focus off boys. It didn’t work. My focus remained firmly on the opposite sex, and gardening was my way of dealing with the frustrations boys brought my life. It had grown from there, and it was more like a labour of love now.
“Mia is asleep in our rooms. Well, she had better be. Now, I’m going down to the cafeteria for something dec—”
Loud voices and shouting coming from the hallway outside my door stopped Steel from finishing what he was saying.
“Listen here, I’m going in that room, so you can either step aside, or I can move you, but the outcome will be the same.”
Oh, boy. I knew the voice behind the shouted angry words, and he meant what he was saying. He would forcibly make his way in here, no doubt about it. I looked at Steel and waited.
“Yeah, okay, okay. Christ, he already paid for a door to be repaired here after the last time,” Steel muttered as he made his way to the door.
I remembered that time very clearly. Stella’s ‘step-arseholes’ got a bit rough with Mia and me. I had received a hard slap to the face, which left a red imprint on my cheek. Mannix lost his shit and broke a door of the ER at this very hospital.
I couldn’t hear what Steel was saying, but it must have been the right thing because seconds later, Mannix barrelled in. His presence filled the room as his eyes searched for me, his breathing coming out in heaving pants. Was he worried? Mannix wasted no time making his way to me.
“Fucking hell, Lady, fucking hell.” Mannix groaned as he dropped to his knees right beside me. His hands cradled my stomach, and his head dropped to the part of my bare belly not covered by the tight, stretchy belt holding the monitor in place that allowed me to hear the heartbeats.
With no conscious thought, I ran one hand over his rumpled hair, the soft strands feeling good between my fingers. One of Mannix’s weaknesses was me playing with his hair and back rubs. He also loved when I danced my fingers over his back during our cuddles. Mannix Steel was a cuddle junkie, and the big, bad enforcer of the Wounded Souls liked it when I drew pictures on his back. He would try to guess what I was drawing. It became our game, our thing, and I missed it.
His head stayed there as gentle kisses played across my stomach, his lips warm and lingering.
Oh, God.
“What is that noise?” Mannix asked. He lifted his head slightly, and with brows furrowed, he looked around the room.
“The babies,” I answered softly. I pointed to the monitor sitting beside the bed where the paper feed scrolled out patterns in black ink, which represented my children’s healthy hearts.
“That’s their hearts?” The wonder and awe in his voice brought tears to my eyes.
“Yeah. When I fell, I landed on my side pretty hard. The sound, it’s comforting, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is,” Mannix whispered, his eyes glued to the paper.
The moment was beautiful, and I hated to break it, but the question I wanted to ask was burning on my tongue.
“What are you doing here, Mannix? After the clinic and the way you left—” I couldn’t finish the rest of the question. I didn’t want to really because, if I did, he would have to answer, and then I would get pissed off or upset. Most likely upset since I seemed to be the queen of tears lately.
“Rainn, I know—”
Before he could say anything else, yet another important moment was interrupted by another doctor entering a room.
Seriously? Was there some kind of curse cast on me? Why couldn’t Mannix just be allowed to finish his bloody sentences? Shit a brick.
“Okay, Ms Marcus, we are going to do an ultrasound, and then we will discuss the tests you requested be done to determine paternity and their risks for your pregnancy.” The doctor bustled around the room, plugging in the portable machine.
Mannix jerked his head and glared at the doctor. “What fucking tests?” His brown eyes met mine. “Rainn, you aren’t having tests that could hurt the babies or you.”
“Isn’t that just like you to tell me what I am or am not doing?” The nerve of this guy. He refused to believe he was the father and more or less accused me of sleeping with other men. Then he worried about me, took me to a clinic, only to leave me alone there. Then he disappeared for hours before barging into my hospital room and acting all sweet and caring towards my belly.
Seriously, I need to talk to the girls. They all have a far better grasp on the whole alpha man thing. Plus, they’re all pregnant, and maybe they could explain the hormone thing to me, too.
“Rainn, it’s not necessary to have any tests. I know I was a dick.”
“A complete and utter dickhead,” I interrupted him.
“Yes, okay, I’m a dickhead, an idiot. But, Rainn, I know now. I know, Lady.” Mannix dropped his forehead against mine, his breath warm against my skin.
Oh, God. How I craved his comfort, but his declaration confused me. What did he know? Pulling back, I looked at him.
“What do you know, Mannix?”
“I am a twin, Rainn. This can’t be a coincidence. I know I am the father.”
Anger like I had never experienced boiled inside me. “Really? Just like that,” I asked, mentally counting to ten. He knew he was the father? What happened to ‘who is the father because I know it’s not me?’
“Mannix, twenty-four hours ago, you said there was no way it was you. Now, all of a sudden, you’re claiming paternity? What the hell, Mannix?” Now I was really pissed off. This emotional back and forth shit was giving me a headache, and I didn’t know if it was the hormones or his stupidity. “These are my babies, Mannix. I will go through this pregnancy alone, and I will raise them alone. You believed the worst of me, Mannix, and that hurt. My babies deserve a father who accepts them no questions asked. I deserve a man who can put his faith in me. Maybe one day, I will find both qualities in a man.” I knew my words were going to have the desired impact. I knew I was poking the bear or, in this case, the alpha biker.
Mannix’s feral growl penetrated deep into my core.
God, I loved it when he growled.
“Let’s get one thing straight, Lady. No other man is going to raise my children. My children will be raised by their mother and me. And Lady?” Mannix leaned in real close, his eyes narrowed and as serious as I had ever seen them. “No man is ever going to have his hands on you but me. My lips on your breasts. My mouth on your pussy. My cock buried deep in your tight heat. You are mine, Rainn. I will give you the time you need to accept that, but you better get there soon because it has been too long since I have been between those luscious thighs, and I want in.”
My core wept. The memory of just how his mouth felt in those places flooded me, bombarding me with sensations and making me feel things I thought gone months ago.
I should have told him to go to hell. I should have made him leave. I should do this alone. But did I? Oh, no. I let my hormones talk for me.
“Mmkay.”
Idiot.
Chapter 17
MANNIX
Twin girls. I wore an ear-splitting grin, and I had been since the doctor confirmed the gender of my babies. I threw the blankets off me and pulled myself out of bed. Care
ful not to make too much noise, I made my way to my en suite to grab a quick shower. Today was going to be a new day. Today, I was going to succeed in my mission. Today, Rainn was going to finally know and believe that she was mine.
I walked into the kitchen at the compound. It was early morning, way too early, but I wanted to surprise Rainn with breakfast in bed. She’d been living here at the compound for three weeks and was now five months along in her pregnancy. She point-blank refused to sleep in my bed with me, but I managed to get her to sleep in the spare room in my suite. Her stubbornness to accept my apology for not believing that I knocked her up was starting to do my head in.
Rainn wouldn’t let me touch her. At all. If there were an instance when we were close, she would take a different route. She made sure we were never alone together, and Shiloh was becoming her personal body shield. Her bedtime was hours before mine, and she was asleep when I got there. We were together just not together. Not in the way I wanted or craved. Memories of us together plagued my dreams, torturing me with the sound of her moans ringing in my ears. When I closed my eyes, I could feel her tongue trace my tattoos, which she loved to do. Oh, fuck. The things Rainn made me feel.
My hand reached down and pushed against my dick. The poor bastard was definitely being tested. It had been months since he had experienced anything but my hand.
“Please, don’t touch your cock in the kitchen, brother.”
I jumped at the voice that interrupted me from possibly rubbing one out.
“Creed, you fucker. You scared the shit out of me,” I grumbled, ignoring his comment about my cock. He may be able to get along without a woman, but me? I loved sex—kinky sex, sex on my bike, sex on the pool table, sex in the store cupboard, and normal in bed sex. As long as it involved Rainn.
“You’re up early, Mannix. You had a late night at the table last night. I figured you would still be in bed.” Creed filled his cup with coffee from the pot and leaned against the bench.
His Lady: The Wounded Souls Page 8
