Without another word he drives us through The Fallen compound. And even though we don’t get the grand tour it’s pretty easy to see the set up. After the gate, there’s a clearing, anarea free of trees and buildings which would make it impossible if people were trying to sneak into the area, but the bar looks like it’s open to the public which makes sense too and right now it’s acting like a parking area and there’s chrome and black leather as far as the eye can see.
The club house is bigger than I expected, but King doesn’t stop to give us a tour; he’s more like a man on a mission. He’s stressed and I pull his hand up into my lap so I can wrap both my hands around it. “You okay?”
“Fucking got all freaked for a second, killer, pretty sure I’ve still got jocks on the floor.”
He makes me giggle at how cute he is, because it is not an act at all. He’s suddenly anxious, his scent confirming it.
I stretch over and cup his face, bringing him back to me and not letting him get caught up about houses and material things. I kiss his lips softly, groaning at the way he slams his bourbon lips to mine. “Yeah, well for the record, pretty sure I’m not going to care.”
The garage door opens but there’s no place for us to park because this grumpy asshole has already got a couple of bikes in there, and it’s not hard to figure out whose they are by the intake of surprise from Steel and Maverick.
“Hope you boys didn’t mind, they’re staying in here until I get them in for a new paint job. Can’t have you riding down this side of town with reminders of who you were.”
“Fuck, King,” Maverick says, “you really didn’t have to do that.”
“Pretty sure I did. Besides, Steel needs the practice.”
I swing around to watch Steel shake his head at King’s weird comment. “What?”
“As soon as you’re back on your feet, you start your apprenticeship. Pay’s going to be fucking awful, but I heard you got a sugar-momma to help you out there.”
“Why?” Maverick cuts in.
“Pretty easy to work out ain’t it? You’ll be too busy training in the mornings, Tyson will be working double shifts at the local hospital, now I’ve got a job sorted for Steel… I get to wake up every day with my knot in my Omega.”
I laugh at King, and his damn near perfect impersonation of a bulldozer. And it is amazing—especially the part of everyone having their own careers and roles.
“Since you’re in such a generous mood, now is a good time for me to let you all know I’ve accepted a shoot in two weeks. Overnight job.”
There’s a vacuum of noise and the mood plummets before I pull on King, stopping his growling protests and then twisting around to glare at the other three idiots in the back.
Tyson recovers quickest. “What other surprises you got up your sleeve, King?”
And then it’s King’s turn to chuckle under his breath. “Tristan’s first surprise is inside waiting for us.”
My stomach drops to my feet before it dips even lower. “Raney’s here?”
King’s chuckle grows into him having to wipe the tears off his face from laughing so hard. “Yeah, not yet. Ass out now, Tristan.”
And then he’s on my side of the truck, pulling me out of the seat and into his waiting arms. “Carrying my little queen across the door of my house is something I’ve wanted to do for too fucking long.”
Of course, being the true romantic he is, he throws me up over his shoulder. He slaps my ass so hard I squeal but it turns into a laugh as I get all caught up in the mushy and very public display of ownership he’s showing the whole damn world, because all his men are waiting at the front of his house making it a line of honour.
Joker is the first we walk past, and I can tell it’s him by the size of his shoes.
“Don’t let anyone hurt my pack, Joker!”
Except I get another, harder slap on the ass. And King is not joking around, his Alpha voice joins the party in case I’m hard of hearing apparently.
“You don’t get to say another man’s name ever again, killer. If it isn’t mine or Tyson’s, Maverick’s, or Steel’s it does not pass your pretty lips. Stain here is going to help you remember that.”
He nearly runs down his hallway, but I twist so I can make sure my pack is following. But King is a man of his word, and I get a third whack for not trusting him.
“Gonna have so much fucking fun with you.” He chuckles dirty, low enough for it to be just between us. “Joker, the boys can go around the back and get the grill going. We won’t be long.”
Once Tyson, Maverick, and Steel are inside with us, he shuts the door then leads the way down through his house, still not letting me walk but it’s not a hardship, and never has been.
“Hey, boss, I set up in here, that good?”
