The lamp and my glass of whiskey found their way to the floor as my panic took over and things, like always, became a blur of screaming as knife-sharp emotions poured out of my body.
‘You forgot your nightlight,’Barry had crooned into my ear like he always did when my night terrors took over.‘You can’t forget all of your sins in the dark, Bat.’
The mixture of voices was spine-chilling as I wrestled to try and keep a hold of my sanity. Juneau was just across the hall, and I would have rather done anything other than scare her.
But it didn’t matter. I collapsed into a heap of dark, twisty memories, relinquishing myself to the tremors as I disappeared into myself.
Then I heard Juneau’s voice and smelled the sugary lemon as a warm orange glow filled my vision, chasing back all of my demons until all I saw was her.
Worried blue eyes, golden hair, and a handful of light held in between us.
I collapsed against her then, relief coursing through my body as I vaguely remember apologizing before I let blissful sleep overtake my body again.
I had fully expected to wake up alone amongst the shattered remnants of my bedroom, but instead, I was in Juneau’s nest surrounded by the rest of my pack.
Juneau’s face scrunched, as if my churning thoughts had been audible enough to wake her, and her heavily lidded eyes opened.
“Morning,” she whispered groggily as she rolled to face me fully.
I stared at her sleepy face for a moment, committing it to memory in case this was the last time I ever saw it. “Thank you for helping me,” I murmured, not wanting to wake up anyone else in the nest. “I hope I didn’t scare you.”
Juneau shook her head. “No you didn’t, though I can’t help but be curious about what happened last night.”
The words hung between us and I sighed. I couldn’t continue to give her the gloves-on version of my history anymore. Especially now that she’d seen the worst of my bullshit.
“You know the big scary guy that you met that day outside of Wilde Manor? My father,” I asked, waiting for her nod before I continued.
“I mentioned that he taught me everything I know about hurting others, but that’s not all.” I reached out and threaded my fingers through hers, seeking the comfort of her soft skin as I continued. She gave my fingers a little squeeze and I had to tell my suddenly thudding heart to calm the fuck down. “He also had less than savory discipline tactics. One of which included locking me in small, dark spaces.”
A gasp slipped from Juneau’s pink lips. “And your mother didn’t do anything?”
I shook my head. “Not anything that would have helped since she didn’t have primary custody of me.” Normally, a mother would easily get custody of their child. But my mother was a hippie living at an unsanctioned commune in Louisiana. Even Tug with his on-paper bartending job looked like a more fit parent than that. So I spent glorious summers with my mother in the Louisiana bayou, only to be quickly reminded by my father where I actually belonged upon my return to Cape Cod.
Juneau sighed heavily and brought our joined hands up to her face, examining the multitude of scars that lay underneath the tattoos on my fingers.
“I can’t pretend to understand the idea of child custody, I don’t know anyone who’s ever gotten divorced before. But what Icansay is that I hate bullies with every fiber of my being.” She said it with so much vehemence that I felt my lips quirk up into a smile.
“Thank you for defending my honor, sugar, but it was a long time ago.” I wasn’t that same little boy anymore, even if my demons tried to convince me that I was. I made the decision to leave the Titans MC the night that they had hurt Podcast and that had to count for something in the grand scheme of things. My mother was a firm believer in karma, and I must have put some good things into the universe in order for my dream girl to fall out of a magical mirror.
Juneau’s mouth twisted stubbornly. “If I see him again I’ll make sure to set him on fire for you, let’s see how much of a bully he is when his britches are aflame,” she promised, her blue eyes sparkling with magical fire as she spoke.
That samesomethingin my chest that always appeared when I was close to Juneau beat an excited staccato as I listened to her. “Well then I guess that makes me the damsel in distress and you my knight in shining armor,” I told her with a cheeky grin.
I didn’t know what love was, not really, but as I watched the corner of Juneau’s lips lift into a blinding smile, I was pretty sure this was as close as I was ever going to get.
Untangling our fingers, I gently gripped her chin between my thumb and pointer finger. I leaned in close, waiting for her to pull away from me. My eyes were glued to her face as I pressed my lips to hers for the first time.
But Juneau didn’t pull away and instead gasped around my mouth, inadvertently granting me entry. Juneau tasted like sunshine as I dipped my tongue into her mouth and deepened our connection.
Juneau’s hands pressed flat to my bare chest, spreading warmth as she tried to keep up with me. I relished her inexperience, using it to test out things that she liked. My teeth grazed her lower lip, eliciting another whimpering gasp from her mouth as I pulled even closer.
“As much as I’m sure you two are enjoying yourselves, can you not bomb us with horny omega pheromones so early in the morning?” Rex’s slurred voice cut through our kiss like a knife. Juneau pulled away from me with wild eyes as she covered her face with her hands, embarrassed at being caught.
“I’m sorry!” Her words came out muffled as she buried herself underneath the blankets.
I lifted my head so that Rex could clearly see my shit-eating-grin. “I’m not, don’t hate from outside of the club when you can’t even get in,” I quoted one of my favorite TikToks knowing full well that it would irritate the shit out of him.
The other guys, who had woken up at some point, groaned. “Your TikTok habit sucks, Bat,” Doc muttered as he sat up and scrubbed a hand over his face.
