Scars of Yesterday (Sons of Templar MC #8) - Anne Malcom Page 0,126
brakes and putting a bunch of snakes in my underwear drawer was slightly chaotic, sure. But it was small potatoes compared to what the Sons of Templar had been through.
As soon as the door was closed, locked and the alarm was set, I was in Kace’s arms. His mouth on mine, his violent need palpable. He carried me to the bedroom, where he did glorious things to me. Things that made me forget my own name.
It was only after I got my breathing under control, managed to stumble to the bathroom to clean up and brush my teeth, did Kace ask the question about my night.
“Yeah, it was... reassuring, I guess,” I replied, voice husky.
“Reassuring?” he repeated. His hand was drawing lazy circles on my back.
“Yeah, with everything going on.”
“I’m guessing you mean me and you, not the faceless killer looking to end you?” he questioned dryly.
It was a point of contention between us, that I wasn’t taking the threat seriously. Or that’s how he saw it. I saw it as carrying on with my life and not letting some nameless, faceless asshole ruin a life that I was just figuring out how to put back together.
“What did you need reassuring with about us?” he asked. I knew Kace wasn’t pissed about me talking to someone else about us. About the fact I needed reassuring. He accepted that I couldn’t dive into this with the same confidence he had.
“You’re young,” I answered honestly.
He grinned, in that wicked way that he had. “Noticed that, did you?”
I pursed my lips against the effect that grin had on my thighs, and in between them. “I did. Noticed that you’re young. That you’re good with kids. That you are great with them. And you don’t have any kids.”
“Not that I know of.”
I scowled at him. “Do you want them?”
His eyes darkened ever so slightly. He understood what I meant. And he didn’t answer straight away. No more quick quips, no more teasing tone. “I mean... yeah. My lifestyle doesn’t really accommodate kids. But I figured I’d meet the right woman, it would all fit into place and I’d become a dad.”
I bit my lip in order to keep my expression neutral.
Not that it helped. He knew me far too well to be fooled by my forced expression.
“But,” he continued, moving me so I was laying right on top of him. “I’ve met the right woman. Fallen in love with her and her beautiful children. I never want to replace their dad, but I’d like to think he’d approve, that I’ll do things for them that he’d want. If you’ll let me, stop holding me at arm’s length, I’ll be happy with that. More than that. My cup runneth the fuck over with all of that, baby.”
We didn’t say anything after that.
Even I didn’t have an argument for that.
“Mom?”
I glanced up from my computer screen to see my son standing in front of me looking hesitant. Tentative. Two words that I’d never used to describe my son. He was confident, ready to try anything, do anything, say anything. He’d always felt comfortable in his own skin, and I was so proud of that fact. That Ranger and I had given him enough room and love to feel like he could fit into this world however he wanted to.
Lily was the same. But she was quieter about it. Still discovering. I loved that curiosity.
It unnerved me to see my son like this. And, of course, my first instinct was panic. To get hysterical. But whatever this was, it wasn’t life and death. He wasn’t bleeding from anywhere. Nothing was broken. Therefore me panicking would only make him feel worse.
I forced my face to neutral. “Hey, dude. What’s up?”
Jack looked to the ground. Fidgeted a little. Then his eyes found mine. “Is Kace going to die?”
It was only through pure determination that I didn’t flinch at the question. At the even, almost jaded way he asked that.
“Everyone dies, sweetheart,” I explained, forcing myself to give him the true, realistic answer instead of placating him with a lie that everything was going to be fine. “But most everyone lives to be old, gray, wrinkled. Kace has many, many years to wait for that to happen. He’s young and healthy. It is definitely not something that’s going to happen soon. Surely not something that you need to worry about.” He was worried, that much was clear. “What makes you ask that?”
He sighed, looking out the window. “Because Dad died.”