Page 61 of Butcher

“Dickhead,” Idaho muttered.

“Who was screaming like a little bitch upstairs?” Scythe asked as he and Warrant joined us at the table. “Ow, my balls, my balls!” he mimicked.

It sent all of us into howling laughter again. Idaho shook his head, but laughed right along with us. I glanced around the table, realizing that Daryl was right. For him, loving someone was thinking about them all the time. For me? It was the fact that I would step in front of a bullet for any of these men. Even fucking Warrant with his stupid fucking smile. I’d be even more happy to go scorched Earth and kill whoever needed to be dead in order to keep them all safe. Goddamn. I was actually capable of love. I shook my head and focused on my brothers and our friends as they started ribbing each other over stupid shit and a slow grin spread over my face.

CHAPTER 21

Isla

My lips curved as Butcher kissed along my neck. It was early, but today was the day we were leaving. It was finally here. “Morning.”

He grunted and kept moving his mouth over my skin.

A delightful shiver zipped down my spine when he hit a particularly sensitive spot. He must have noticed because he quickly backtracked and spent some time there. It was enough to curl a girl’s toes.Hewas enough to make a girl lose her heart. “We should get up,” I warned, though I moved my head further to the side so he’d have full access.

“In a minute,” he said, his voice all deep and raspy.

I sighed with contentment when his hand cupped my breast as he continued to nip and lick at my neck. I could get used to being woken up this way.

A pounding on the front door madeButcher curse and me jump. I looked at him and laughed as he scowled toward the open bedroom door. He didn’t seem to like having such a big apartment, but Murder was really happy with all the space. The women were going to take care of her for me while I was gone and I was grateful to not have to worry about whether her food had run out or if she was bored. I knew between the women and the kids, she’d have plenty of food and companionship over the next couple of days. Probably too much companionship.

“Whoever did that is getting an ass beating,” he muttered. His eyes moved to me and a sexy smile spread over his face. “We have a few minutes.”

I opened my mouth to say something but someone opened the front door and shouted for us to get our asses moving.

Butcher frowned. “Not sure if that was Idaho or Lockout.”

“Does it matter?” I asked, excitement beginning to build for the trip today.

He nodded. “If it’s Lock, we’re getting our asses moving. If it’s Idaho, I’m going to tell him to fuck off.” He got off the bed, striding toward the bedroom door.

“Uh, Butcher?”

He paused and looked at me over his shoulder. I pointed and he looked down and swore. He was completely naked. He stalked back toward the bed and grabbed the sweats he’d removed last night before turning me into a pile of melted goo.

Happy melted goo. Satisfied... I shook my head and forced myself to get out of bed, otherwise it was going to be entirely too easy to let him talk me into another round of what happened last night. It wouldn’t be so bad except I didn’t want to be late. We had a schedule to keep today and I didn’t want to put us behind. Stepping into the shower, I ignored the curses Butcher was muttering as he realized sex was off the table.

He stepped into the bathroom and wiped the condensation off the mirror then started brushing his teeth. I liked the fact that this shower had see-through glass paneling. I watched him move through his morning routine. He always brushed his teeth before getting in theshower. I was the opposite, showering then brushing. It was one of the few ways I’d found that we were different. “Butcher?”

“Yeah?”

“What’s your family like?” Before he could tell me we were with his family, because that was what he’d done before, I clarified, “I mean like...your parents? Do you have any siblings?”

He set his toothbrush down in the holder and turned toward me, leaning a hip on the counter as he crossed his arms over his chest. “It was just me and my mom,” he said. It was easy to see he didn’t like talking about this, but he was doing it. For me.

My heart jumped a little at that realization. “Where is she now?”

“Alabama. She has a new family.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Married a guy not long after I enlisted and they have a couple of kids together. So I guess I have a couple half-sisters, but I’ve never met them.”

“You two didn’t get along?” I asked.

He sighed. “She tried. She’s not a bad lady. Wasn’t a bad mom, but she was busy working to make sure there was food on the table and I... Well, I wasn’t exactly the easiest kid to deal with. You know? She never really stood a chance. Even if my dad had stayed I doubt they could have handled me. I don’t hold it against her.”

I nodded because yes, I knew.

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