Something pinged in the corner of the room. A laptop was propped open in an overstuffed recliner, the screen lighting up with a notification. Lore glanced at it, sighed, and pulled away from beneath my hand. Her right hand scooped it up to cradle in her palm while the left began tapping against the keyboard. Lore’s vibrant eyes darted across the screen as she idly paced the floor.
Finally, after watching her scowl grow deeper and deeper with every moment, her head snapped up to the door and she called for Taylor. “Get our contact with the private airport on the phone! Elio tried to have air control release his jet for takeoff. Feckin' idiot, thinks he can just come into my city and try to fuck with me, and then fly off like nothing happened! And leave his son?”
Her accent was so thick, if there had been any doubt in my mind she was Irish, it would have been thrown out the window. It struck me now just how much Lore hid from the world, from her appearance to her voice and everything in between. And how much she was willing to let her guard down for me. Some kind of twisted, demented emotion twisted in my chest. It wasn’t really pride, but that vindictive satisfaction that Lore was willing to go to war for my sake. I was certainly no saint. And at this point, I would never assume Lore couldn’t be a ruthless mob boss just because she was a woman. Andrea certainly never got his hands dirty, and he hadn’t taken a tire iron to someone’s knee for as long as I’d been employed by him.
But the rational part of me feared for Lore’s safety. I tried to call out to her, but a weak croak was all I could force from my injured throat. Still, her attention snapped right back to me, and she hurried to my bedside to pick up my free hand. A deep crease dug between Lore’s brows and she looked me over with renewed concern. “Are you hurting now? Do I need to get Doc?”
Her phone was already in her other hand and pressed to her ear before I could answer. “Hey, Doc. Can you come in and check on Grant?” Lore’s gaze tracked along the bulky bumps hiding beneath the thin blanket as she listened. I hadn’t had the courage to lift it and see the full extent of my injuries. Just the thought of moving my arms made my eyes prickle with tears. Both shoulders throbbed a steady, painful beat at the joints where they had been popped back into place. “Uh-huh. Okay, thank you. Yeah, I’ll be here for a few minutes.” She ended the call and slipped the phone into the tight-fitting tank strap beside her left collarbone, so her other hand could join the one wrapped around mine. “Doc is coming in soon. He’ll stay with you while I go take care of Elio and Gabriele.”
She didn’t say it, but the ‘for good’ was implied. “Who’s that?”
“Gabriele?” Lore glared at a spot over my head. Her jaw slid like she was grinding the rage that darkened her face between her molars. “Elio’s son. He was there the night I escaped, and—”
“Got it.” He was someone else who violated her. Someone else who needed to die. My throat screamed at the hard swallow as I tried to get my own emotions under control. I knew she needed to face him herself. But a part of me worried that she would get caught again and dragged back into whatever hell she managed to escape from under Elio’s control.
“Grant?”
My vision was still a bit hazy around the edges, but I was able to focus enough to see the soft expression on her face as she leaned over me. The bed gave under her knee and she reached over to brace her hand beside my pillow. This close, I could see every striation reaching out from the gold halo surrounding Lore’s pupils that bled into that mesmerizing green. The color was quickly eaten up by black as they blew out.
What she whispered against my lips was not at all what I expected to hear. “I want your bite.”
What breath I managed to pull in under these layers of bandages around my lips threatened to choke me now. The coughing fit I broke into had Lore’s hands fluttering over my chest, her expression growing more worried by the second. Desperate, I tried to compose myself and save what little dignity I had left from getting laid up in this hospital bed. “Pardon?” I finally managed to gasp out.
Lore’s eyes shot to the monitors beeping away, tracking all my vitals, just like in a normal medical setting. Besides my heart rate spiking, everything seemed fine. Still, she brought a cup with a straw to my mouth, and I gratefully sucked the water down. Her other hand brushed through the long hair on top of my head, probably greasy and stringy from missing a couple of days’ showers, like she was soothing herself as much as me.
“You trying to have a heart attack so you can get yourself outta this?” Lore’s voice sounded strained, and… wait, were theretearsin her eyes? She ducked her head to avoid eye contact, but I didn’t miss the two wet drops darkening spots on my light blue blanket. “Are you in or out? I’m not gonna ask again.”
I tried and failed to hold back the massive grin pulling my lips back. Sure, it hurt like a bitch when my skin pulled against the bandages and stitches littered across my face, but hearing Lore sound so petulant about being mates did something to me. Something that made my insides twist and chest warm at the same time. Conflicting feelings, just like anything else to do with Lore Brennan. With her head bent, she didn’t see my hand reach up and across for hers. The little jump of shock when I pulled it to my lips to kiss her palm had me chuckling until I winced from the pain.
“I’m in,” I pulled her arm just enough, so she got the idea and moved closer. Lore’s hip pressed against mine when she leaned over, freeing her hand to wrap both under my shoulders as gently as she could. “I’m all in with you, Lore Brennan.”
The curve of her neck was littered with old bite marks only visible this close, healed over with time to flat, shiny scars. I could feel her body practically vibrating with tension. I pressed my lips to her hot skin in a silent assurance, even as she flinched a little from the light contact. With my better hand—the left one was wrapped in bandages from elbow to fingertips—I reached up and placed it in the middle of her back to bring her as close as she’d let me. Lore’s body shuddered heavily under my palm.
Was she… nervous?
I didn’t want her to feel pressured into doing this. “Lore,” I began. “Is this something you— “
“Yes!” The answer was immediate, muffled into my chest where she seemed to be trying to bury herself. “Yes,” Lore said again. “I want this with you. No matter what happens after today, I want everything with you.”
“That doesn’t sound ominous at all,” I muttered drolly. "Don't pretend to be excited on my account."
She sniffled, even as she huffed a small laugh. The vulnerable sound had every muscle in my beaten body tensing in response. As carefully as I could navigate the wires snaking around me, I lifted my head just a little to nuzzle higher up under her jaw. “Move up a little?” My voice was soft. I knew it pained Lore to seem this weak around me, but the truth was she was the strongest, most vibrant person I’d ever met. Her giving me this gift, this promise of being mated to her, was so far outside her comfort zone it may as well be in a different state. And I respected the hell out of her for that.
I loved her. But even that was too mundane a statement for what I felt.
Lore shifted again, conscious of where she placed her weight, and brought the rest of her neck and shoulder within reach of my mouth. Pressing more gentle kisses down the side of her throat, when I stopped at the bend of her neck, I traced the slopeof it with my nose, inhaling so deeply I filled my entire body with her scent. It was so strong now without the pheromone blocker. That spicy, chai-and-leaves smell that I now associated with Lore warmed me from the inside out. It reminded me of my childhood, running through Washington forests in the fall as the trees turned vibrant shades of oranges and reds. As much as I wanted to drag this out forever, my arm was starting to scream from holding it up this long. Other parts, like my ribs, began to throb in a steady rhythm.
Opening my mouth wide, I bit down hard and sure into her skin, right at the bend. Blood flooded my mouth and dribbled down the corners, and I swallowed to keep from choking. Lore’s breath stuttered against my ear as her arms wrapped around my back to support me. I could tell she was restraining herself from clinging too tightly. And while every cut and bruise and broken bone screamed from the slight movement, this was the happiest moment of my life. Lore’s blood filled my mouth, and as I gulped painfully, it felt like I absorbed a bit of her strength too.
As gently as I could, I loosened my bite and licked the wound to start the healing process. One that would scar over all the other marks that represented the worst moments of her life. A visible shiver shook Lore’s body, and she pulled back to kiss what seemed to be the one spot on my cheek that was free of bandages. It was the only part that didn’t throb in pain. “Thank you, puppy.” She sniffled, and the sound made my heart swell and overflow with the love it couldn’t contain. I rubbed my cheek gently against hers with affection.
“Go fuck them up.”
Despite the tears Lore wiped away, a bitter chuckle burst from her tight lips. She slid off the bed slowly enough to not jostle me too much. “You bet your ass I will. For you.”
Good Fucking Riddance
Lore
