Wearily, we pile into two cars, me and the guys in one and the Shadows in another. I’m so tired, so strung out and bone weary that even the excitement of finally being reunited with my guys isn’t enough to keep my eyes open. I fall asleep sandwiched between Ash and Loki, each one of my hands tangled with one of theirs.
I wake up a couple of hours later as we arrive outside a warehouse-type building next to the river Thames, the late night sounds of London filtering into my consciousness when a blast of cool air hits my face from an open door.
“Where are we?” I croak out, rubbing my gritty eyes then grimacing when dried blood flakes off my fingers.
“A safe place that no one else knows about,” Ash tells me, pushing some of my hair back, his fingers trailing down my cheek and sending tingles racing across my skin.
I look around to see that it’s quiet, although it appears that the other warehouses have been converted into apartments, much like the one before me. Ash helps me out of the car, and I lean on him as Kai leads us up the steps to the large, solid, wooden door.
“Who else lives here?” I question as he opens it, the door making no sound.
“Just us, Pretty Girl,” Loki grins, taking my hand and pulling me away from Ash just as the place floods with soft light when Jax hits a touch panel on the wall.
The place is breathtaking, all exposed brick and wood and industrial metal, a mezzanine level creating an upstairs, with the downstairs completely open-plan. It feels light and airy, yet homely and cosy all at once, and huge windows look out over the Thames, lights twinkling on the opposite bank. I can spy a pool in a large courtyard on the other side of some glass doors. There’s even a lawn and what looks like raised flower beds made from railway sleepers.
“I love it,” I breathe out, feeling like this could be a place I settled. A home for us all. Although, I would miss the mountains of Colorado.
“We hoped that you would, darling,” Kai tells me with a smile. “That’s why we bought it.” I beam back, a yawn quickly overtaking my smile. “Let’s get you cleaned up and to bed. Would you like something to eat?”
My stomach chooses that moment to grumble loudly, and he huffs a laugh, kissing my hand and passing me over to Ash, who guides me towards the stairs. Suddenly, Ash sweeps me up into his arms, carrying me bridal style.
“Ash!” I yell, laughing as he proceeds to carry me up the metal and oak staircase.
“It’s not quite a threshold, but it’s better than nothing, right?” he queries with a tilt to his lips that leaves the butterflies in my stomach all aflutter.
We walk down the open corridor, and he takes me through a huge bedroom with an enormous bed up against one wall. I don’t get to see much of it as we quickly enter the en suite, where Jax already has the shower running and is beautifully naked, washing off the blood from earlier. The water is tinged pink as it runs off him, but I feel no revulsion knowing where it came from and how it came to be splattered all over my Viking Knight. Loki is dressed only in sweats, placing a towel on the heated rail and he gives me a cheeky smile and wink when he notices me staring at Jax. My mind goes back to the first time that I met him back in the bathroom at Highgate and he helped me dry off. Fuck, that feels like forever ago, but it was only eight months ago. Jesus, my life is crazy.
Here with Me by Susie Suh plays softly in the background as Ash sets me down, his hands going to my waist, well, what was my waist before I was pregnant. It seems to be disappearing somewhat. With gentle, worshipping hands that are covered in dried blood, he starts to strip me of my maxi dress, the stretchy fabric sliding down my shoulders and pooling on the ground around me. Knowing that these were clothes which Adrian bought for my pregnant mother sends a shiver across my skin, and I feel the tension release from my body as they fall off me.
Next goes my maternity bra, a cute, navy blue one with lace, and matching knickers until I’m standing naked, looking out of the huge window that takes up a whole wall and shows me the river. His fingers skate down my side, goosebumps following in their wake as he caresses my skin.
“I missed you so fucking much, Princess,” he whispers in my ear, his breath tickling me and making my nipples harden. I let the sensations wash over me, pushing aside what happened at my uncle’s house, just focusing on the here and now.
“Time for that later,” Loki chuckles when I gasp as he takes my hand once more and pulls me away from Ash yet again. A growl sounds behind me, which makes Loki grin wider, but Ash lets me go, and I hear the sounds of him undressing too.
I step into the massive, glass shower, Jax turning round and giving me one of his half smiles as he takes my hand and pulls me under the blissfully hot spray. He steps in close, the heat from his body warming my back as a huge arm moves past me to grab the bottle of shower gel from the built-in shelf. Squeezing a generous amount into his hand, I am surrounded by his sweet lemon scent as he lathers up and proceeds to run his large palms all over my body, washing me from top to toe.
I groan and squirm when he bypasses where I really want him to go yet again, as he gets up from washing my feet from behind, not letting me turn round once.
“Jax…” I groan, my core desperate for touch, my skin alight and pulsing.
“Yes, Baby Girl?” he questions with what I can feel is a smirk against my shoulder. I hear another shower start and look beyond Jax to see Ash start to wash under another shower head on the opposite side of us. “You were saying?” Jax reminds me, and I push back into his front, his hard length pressing into my lower back.
“I need you, Jax. Please,” I beg, not above pleading, the band of his arms not allowing me to turn fully and give him puppy dog eyes.
“I’m here, baby, I’ll always be what you need,” Jax whispers in my ear, his rinsed hand sliding around the swell of my stomach, his whole frame leaning over me as his fingers play with my damp, lower curls.
I grasp his forearms, and he glides a single thick digit between my slicked folds, finding my clit instantly and circling it teasingly. A deep moan falls from my lips at the heady pleasure as he plays with the nub, the feeling of his long-awaited touch almost bringing me to climax then and there.
“Jax…fuck, Jax…” I murmur, my eyes closing and his finger strumming a tune that I never want him to stop playing.
The swipe of a tongue on my pussy has my lids snapping open again, and I look down but my bloody baby bump stops me from seeing whose head it is. His fully tattooed back is clear, however, and I know that it’s my husband, my dark Knight on his knees in front of me. Looking to the side, I see Loki watching us with heat in his emerald eyes, his image wavering in the droplets that drip down the glass. He’s got his dick gripped in a tight fist, and I swallow hard at the sight of him pumping his hand up and down, the metal of his Prince Albert piercing glinting.
Ash opens my legs wider, and I lean on Jax as Ash’s tongue dives inside my cunt, shooting stars flashing in front of my eyes as pleasure overtakes me with every stroke. Jax growls his appreciation as his finger moves faster on my nub, my breaths panting out of me as the tingles from their combined attention race all over my body.
It doesn’t take long for my climax to detonate, and they hold me as I shatter into a thousand particles, crying out incoherently when the pleasure consumes me. I stay in Jax’s arms, Ash’s tongue making me twitch as he gives a final few licks before getting up. He looks at me with a fire turning the grey of his eyes molten, and a second later his lips are on mine, his tongue delving into my mouth.
The taste of my own release on his lips and tongue has me mewling and squirming once more, my fingers tangling in his wet locks and pulling him closer, trying to inhale his very essence.
We break apart slowly and reluctantly, his forehead pressing to mine as his solid member presses into my stomach. The baby gives an almighty kick, causing him to jerk back with a laugh.
“All right, I’ll leave your mother alone,” Ash murmurs, his hand coming to rest over the place where the kick was. “For now, anyway,” he tells me, looking up with a wink, and I damn near swoon.
He turns around, shutting the shower off, and Jax unwinds himself from my back, helping me out of the shower where Loki waits with the biggest, fluffiest towel that’s toasty and warm.
“Thanks, love,” I tell him, my eyes darting down to see that his dick is back in his grey sweatpants and no longer looks hard.
“Don’t worry, Pretty Girl,” he assures me, “he’ll be back later.”
I laugh as he leads me out of the bathroom still wrapped in the towel, feeling a lightness inside myself that I’ve not felt in weeks.
LOKI
A piercing scream wakes me a few hours later, my heart racing as I bolt upright in bed.
Lilly struggles next to me, sheets tangled around her legs as she thrashes and whimpers, her head moving from side to side.
“Hey, Princess, shhhh,” Ash whispers from her other side, his hand reaching out and stroking her face gently.
Another cry leaves her lips as she sits upright, her eyes wide like moons in the darkness. I can see her pulse beating a fast rhythm in her neck, her cheeks wet with tears that continue to fall down her face. She swallows, blinking, her eyes focusing on mine, and my heart shatters at the lost look in them.
“Loki?” she rasps, voice hoarse, and she coughs to clear her throat.
“I’m here, baby,” I assure her softly, reaching out my own hand to brush the tears away. She flinches, and my hand stops, a lump forming in my throat. “You okay, Pretty Girl?” I ask, begging with my eyes for her to let me in.
“I–I’m fine, just a bit hot,” she mumbles, awkwardly getting to her knees and crawling to the end of the bed.
“Lilly?” Kai questions from beside me, and I turn to see his forehead creased, his tired eyes dull with worry.
“I just need some air,” she replies, getting out of bed and putting on one of Jax’s shirts, the huge, black garment covering her completely, though her rounded stomach is starting to push the fabric out.
“Want some company, Baby Girl?” Jax asks from the other side of Ash, his voice thick with sleep and an undercurrent of concern.
“I’ll be fine,” she says, racing out of the door, not even turning to look back at us.
We all watch her leave the room, and there’s a tightness in my chest, an uncomfortable feeling slithering over my skin. The feeling increases as Panic Attack by Liza Anne filters up from the speakers downstairs.
“Ash?” I inquire, biting my lip as my throat constricts.
“She just needs some time,” Kai interrupts, ever the peacemaker, his hand stroking soothingly down my arm.
“She needs us,” Jax growls out, and I glance at him in time to see him run a jerky hand through his long hair.
“Ash?” I repeat, looking to our leader to see what he thinks, needing his calm control as I can feel the edge of my world spinning out of control at the thought of losing her again.
He looks up at me, the grey swirling in his eyes, his brows pinched and neck tight.
“Let’s do as Kai suggests and give her time. She needs to know we’re here for her, but have the space to process what she’s just been through.” He sounds more confident by the end of his speech, though the way he swallows and looks down tells me that he’s not a hundred-percent certain.
We all settle back down, my arm going to the gap that should be filled by our girl, the bed cool and no longer as inviting as it was when we all lay down together several hours ago.
