Page 24 of Four Calling Birds

“Fuck!” I said under my breath. I still wasn’t willing to wake her up. Not for this, because there was nothing she could do about it. It was best to let her get her rest.

“Yeah, fuck. And I can’t get my men to you in time, we’re all hemmed up in the city.” I was shaking with a newfound rage as he kept on talking. “Judging by their pattern, you’re looking at them getting to you by nightfall. I won’t be able to get there on time to mount any defense with my team–”

“Fuck!” Again, I said it under my breath, trying to keep her asleep. She adjusted, coming closer towards me. Then she resumed her light breathing as she went back to sleep.

“Fuck, indeed.”

“Thanks for nothing, ass wipe,” I said, “I’ve got it handled from here.”

I wasn’t thoroughly sure how. But I would get it handled.

“Listen, I…” Brett tried to speak, but I stopped him.

“Send me the intel you have,” I blurted. “I’ll get a team together. You know how to reach me.”

I hung up on him. I had phone calls to make. A lot of them. I didn’t have time for any of this jaw-jacking.

15. The Family’s All Here

Lotte

Ifelthislipstracing their way down my throat, over the pendant that dangled between my breasts. He grabbed my wrists and pinned them to the mattress before he took one nipple into his mouth and sucked it until I moaned. My hips bucked of their own accord, trying to create some friction for the growing ache.

“Mmm,Mack,” I whispered, my eyes shut to better handle the sensations he was invoking in my body. “Will you wake me up like this every day for the rest of our lives.”

“It depends,” he let go of my nipple with a loud pop. “What’s your name?”

I had expected him to say something like that. Being married to a man for a decade, you learn a thing or two about their habits.

“Mrs. William McClanahan.” I smirked, knowing that this was an even better answer than the one I gave him the night before.

He groaned again, biting on my throat. “Say it again.”

And I did. But then I felt the tingles of pain. The soreness from last night, and the familiar tug and bruised tenderness on my ribs. I was slow to realize how much it hurt. It happened with every pulse, the ache getting sharper as my mind became aware of the world.

“I’m not sure I can go again.” I was practically pouting as I said it. “I’m hurting.”

He kissed my nose, nipping the tip of it before he got up. When he came back, he had water, and a beautiful white pain pill in his hand. I swallowed it, and waited, trying to breathe through the ache in my ribs. Instead of feeling that, I decided to concentrate on the ache between my thighs.Thatwas a much more pleasant pain.

His finger started to trace my shoulder blade. The familiar lines he followed made me stiffen.

“Where’s this scar from?” he asked.

I suppose that it was time to finally catch up after all the years that we had been apart. If we were going to be husband and wife, then he should understand the last few years. After all, the consequences of them would affect him. It was only fair he knew what he was signing up for.

“It was from the gauntlet.” His fingers paused. “I had to go through it to join the Scorpio Network.” I grabbed a pillow and put it under my face, as I turned away from him. It would be easier to talk about this if I wasn’t looking right at him. It was easier to stay disconnected. “For almost an hour, I had to fight their commanders. They kept coming at me, again and again. I must have been knocked out three times, but I got up. And in the end, I got in.”

He resumed tracing my scars, his fingers lightly grazing the skin, and sending warmth down my spine. His touch was dulling the pain.

“There was this huge Viking of a guy, Magnus,” I chuckled at the ridiculous name. Though, I suppose it was appropriate. “He really had it in for me. I don’t think he liked women in his command.” I could still see him. His neanderthal features, and his looming size. “He always watched me like a hawk.”

“Any of these scars from him?” Mack had been so quiet for so long that his voice almost made me jump in surprise.

“The one on my bicep.” Mack leaned down, searching for it. When he finally saw the white, jagged mark, he started to trace it as well, soothing the entire arm with his attention. “He lost his temper about a shipment that the feds picked up… he threw a knife and it went in my arm.”

His touch paused, then resumed, as he probably took that information in.

“I got him back. I took out his right eye.” I smiled up at Mack who lifted one brow in question. “To be fair, the shipment was found because of me. So… he was kinda right.” I smiled to myself. “In fact, their operations should be seized up and put away before Christmas. They just don’t know it yet.”

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