Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 142818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
My readiness to argue drained out of me.
“I’ve never been more scared in my life,” he whispered, eyes searing into me. “Hearing you cry out like that, hearing you fight off that fuck and knowing I wouldn’t get there in time.” He shuddered. No, shuddered was not the right word for it. Something cracked in the core of him, like a massive earthquake, destroying everything. And this was just an aftershock.
“I’m okay,” I told him in a whisper, trying to fight back tears at seeing my strong man unraveling before my eyes.
He was still grasping my hands, like they were his only lifeboat in the middle of a storm.
“I wasn’t there,” his nostrils flared. “I should’ve fuckin’ been there.”
“How could you have known that a serial killer would be lying in wait when I was innocently getting brownies?”
The joke didn’t land.
“This isn’t your fault,” I told him firmly. “And you were there. You were with me. You helped me fight.”
Elden shook his head, lips still at my hands. “No, you fought for yourself. For me.” His hands went to my stomach. “For us.”
My eyes filled with tears that I fought not to let fall.
“Did someone call Jenna’s family?” I asked weakly.
Elden blinked at the change in subject.
Jenna. The girl whose smile I couldn’t remember now because she was coated in blood. All I could recall were those barren eyes that saw nothing.
Elden squeezed my hand. “Yeah, baby. Hansen did. Macy was with them when they arrived.”
I nodded once, still fighting against tears. “Will you find him?”
Elden’s gaze instantaneously filled with bloodlust. “Oh, yes. We’re gonna fuckin’ find him and pull him apart, piece by piece.”
The promise in his tone ran over my skin, cold but also comforting.
I wanted revenge. Wanted the person who could do that to women to suffer in a way that the judicial system was not capable of delivering.
“Good,” I whispered. I searched his face, the man I loved. The father of my baby. The man who had been there since that night on the roof. Who had traveled to another country to punish someone for putting their hands on me. Who called me when it rained. Who was mine even when he wasn’t.
My ideas on marriage were a knee jerk reaction, informed by my own past more than anything else.
I knew that the marriages within this club did not even resemble the contract or the prison I’d been convinced matrimony was. Knew it was because these men wanted the world to know in every conceivable way that they were taken. Owned. It was not the men who owned the women, it was the other way around. Even if, upon first glance, their unions looked like some bullshit patriarchal structure, I’d come to understand that this club was one of the most progressive organizations in the country.
“Okay,” I said.
He stiffened. “Okay?”
“We’ll get married.”
His expression shifted. All of that fury melted in an instant. Something akin to … joy took its place.
I cursed myself for fighting it this long when this was what I got. This was what I could give Elden.
Joy.
“We’re not doing it in this hospital, though,” I added, envisioning him running through the halls to find someone to marry us. He had that alpha urgency about him.
His mouth ticked upward. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” he murmured. “Want to do it before the baby’s born, though.”
“Of course,” I rolled my eyes. “You couldn’t wait until I’m not a whale and won’t have pictures of me with five chins and giant ankles in our house for the rest of our life.”
His eyes darkened, but only slightly. “First off, you’re the most stunning creature I’ve ever seen carrying my baby. Not gonna listen to you talk about yourself like that.”
I pursed my lips against my smile. Elden had made it clear, very clear, that the changes my body was going through were very attractive to him.
“Second,” he continued. “We don’t have to have a big ceremony; we can do the courthouse thing and wait for whenever you want to have the big wedding. What’s important to me is that you’re my wife.”
“Fine,” I sighed, holding his gaze.
His beard parted, presenting me with a dazzling grin. “That’s a story to tell our daughter. What did your mother say when I proposed? Fine.”
“Well, considering the start of the proposal was her father ordering her mother to marry him after being attacked by a serial killer, it tracks.”
His expression faltered.
I reached out to brush his beard. “We’ll find a more PG story,” I promised.
He didn’t look convinced as he nodded.
We didn’t have time to say anything else, though since that was then the doctor came in.
And unsurprisingly, Elden transitioned into a scary, protective biker, peppering him with every question under the sun.
I had no end of visitors, even though I was due to be discharged the next day. Me being in the hospital was merely a precaution, and I had the option of being discharged sooner, an option Elden would not even consider.