“Mel and Calvin miss their flight in the process of Tyrone having to call airport security to help out. Meanwhile, Carbry turns around, Primes the gate agent in LA to book him a return ticket, getting someone else bumped in the process, and literally steps back on the same damned plane he just stepped off of. Tells Tyrone to stay there at the airport with them while they wait for a rebooked flight to Seattle, because there aren’t any others to Spokane tonight. Carbry lands—again—meets up with Tyrone, Mel, and Calvin, and here’s where I was finally brought into the fray, because the flight to Seattle got cancelled.”
“Why?”
“Oh, someone called in a bomb threat. Foreveryplane departing for Seattle for the rest of the day. Meaningeveryflight got cancelled. Not just all the ones to Seattle—allthe flights.”
“Are youshittingme?” Come to think of it, he had heard something about a disturbance at an airport out there.
“I shit you not.” She smiled. “So I just gave Carbry and Tyrone carte blanche authorization to take any and all steps necessary to shut this shit down.” Her smile faded. “Including and up to taking out any of Calvin’s relatives, if needed.”
“What?”
“Yeah.” She played with the hairband. “Not my preferred method of handling situations involving clueless humans. Usually, I prefer the enforcers to be as subtle as possible, using just enoughoomphto get the job done, and if it looks bad to call me or Badger. If we’re heavy-handed, we take the responsibility. Badger and Da are, obviously, way older than me with a lot more experience. If Da wasn’t out of the area I would have already put Badger on a flight.
“But this is a unique situation and now the girl’s father is pissed off and threatening legal action. Which is bullshit, because while I guess youcansue for selling off your underaged daughter, obviously he’s not going to win. Except he has a lot of money and contacts, and apparently has Calvin’s dad’s nuts in his back pocket. So step one is safely transporting Mel and Calvin to the pack compound tomorrow. Meanwhile, Carbry can take care of some of Calvin’s family members, but there are so many of them, and as the story gets spread around, more of these assholes keep inserting themselves into the situation. I guess the church Calvin’s father helps run is controlled by a bunch of these uptight fuckers who are apparently also doing a bit of money laundering. And marketing underaged girls to each others’ sons. And they run some sort of homeschooling scam curriculum bullshit.”
“Oh…wow.”
“I know. So that’s where we’re at. I’ve got the Enforcer in Seattle, Bob Axelrod, meeting their early flight in Seattle in the morning and driving them to the compound. Meanwhile, once Calvin and Mel are on the flight and in the air, Carbry and Tyrone will start working their way through all this other bullshit. And help the Argyros family find a new place to live ASAP and help them move on the pack’s dime. Priority case. Karolos and Bethany were due to move soon anyway, because they’re nearly aged out of that area. Right now, Mel, Calvin, Tyrone, and Carbry are in a high-end suite at a hotel by the airport and Carbry Primed the hotel manager to station security in the lobby and on their floor, just in case.”
She hooked the elastic band around her left index finger and used her right hand to pull it back and launch it through the bathroom door. “So my tomorrow just gotfun. I’ll be monitoring this situation and coordinating as needed. I’ll have to stay close to my laptop. I really don’t want to have to bring Peyton into this with everything he’s already got going on.”
Ken pulled her into his arms, kissing her. “Sounds like someone needs a distraction.”
He felt her already starting to relax as a happy sigh escaped her. “I do.” She played with the collar of his T-shirt. “Ladies’ bathroom in a sports pub is sounding pretty good now, isn’t it, huh?” The right corner of her mouth crept up in the adorable smirk he loved.
“Hey, I have declared, many times, that I have no regrets whatsoever about how things turned out.” He slanted his lips over hers again, slowly teasing her with his kiss, loving how her hand slipped up, hooked around the back of his neck, and pulled him against her to deepen their kiss.
No, zero regrets about how things turned out. It was a culture shock, to be sure. But once he understood andknewat a cellular level that Dewi loved him as much as he loved her, he didn’t want to look back, only forward.
To build their future, theirfamily, together.
Her eyes dropped closed as she pressed her body tighter against his, trying to grind against him, except her tummy was in the way. He shifted position slightly, so he could wedge his thigh between hers, and her happy moan vibrated through their kiss. Making her makethosenoises was one of the things he lived for. To know he could make her feel good, drive her out of her mind for little breaths of time, and give her a mental respite from the pendulous weight of her responsibilities.
She was a dream come true and he knew he’d live and die for her, to make her happy.
To protect her.
In whatever ways that required.
CHAPTERSIX
Dewi
Dewi knew exactlywhat Ken was trying to do for her and she loved the hell out of him for it. He absolutely was her safe harbor.
Aaannnd that’s when the hormone-fueled flashover from exhausted to horny finally slammed into her.
Thankfully.
She didn’t want to think about work, didn’t want to stress out over the new situation on the other end of the country, or stress out about the unsuccessful Faegan Lewis hunt, and definitely didn’t want to stress out over becoming a mom—all she wanted to do wasfeel.
To bask in her mate’s love and adoration and make a concerted effort to see herself through his eyes.
Because the Goddess knew she damned well had spent her entire adult life unable to see that aspect of herself.
She ground against him, further deepening their kiss. Her baby bump made it tricky for her to stretch out against him the way she liked, and he couldn’t lay his body on top of hers the way she loved, but as her body changed they’d adjusted their technique and made do.
One thing Dewi had learned about being pregnant: when her desire hit, it slammed into her like a runaway train. It felt like every nerve ending in her body lit up, amplifying Ken’s touch, his scent.
