Page 25 of Whips and Chains
We reached the top of the car line, and two dark-haired little girls ran over. Scythe got out of the car and rounded the hood to the sidewalk, scooping both of them up in a hug.
He opened the back door, setting down the oldest to wriggle over to her seat, and helping the younger one into hers, strapping her in tightly.
The older one looked at me curiously and then held her hand out to me. “Hello. I’m Lexa.”
I took her little fingers in mine and shook them seriously. “X.”
She nodded at that. “X is a weird name. But so is Scythe. And that’s one of my dad’s names.”
Scythe chuckled beneath his breath. “Hey, Lex? X likes Taylor Swift too.”
Her eyes widened. “You do?”
I nodded. “Sure do. What’s your favorite song?”
Lexa launched into a detailed description of all of her favorite songs, which turned out to be pretty much every song on every album Taylor had ever recorded.
Scythe got back behind the wheel and got us onto the road again. He glanced over at her proudly.
“You love her, huh?” I asked him, watching him stare at his daughter.
He grinned and nodded. “Mila too. And Ridge, our son. They’re the best kids.”
I envied him, and the family he’d created for himself. He and I were similar in a lot of ways, but I couldn’t see me ever getting to where he was. He had Vincent, his other personality, to offset his crazy and keep him in line.
What I wouldn’t give for a second personality I could just trade out with. One who wasn’t as messed up in the head as I was.
A saner personality would have been able to stay away from Violet. But I knew I couldn’t.
I didn’t want to share her. It had been fucking torture watching her with Whip and Levi last night.
But it had kept her safe. Their presence had been the only reason I could be with her at all. Because I’d known and trusted neither of them would let me hurt her.
I wanted what Scythe had with Bliss. I wanted to be alone in a car with her, and to have her watch me reverse it and find it so sexy she couldn’t wait to have me and had to blow me right there.
I couldn’t have that without Levi and Whip.
But right now, none of us had her.
Which was a problem we really needed to fix.
8
VIOLET
My brother’s house was pure chaos. There were toys strewn across the floor, sippy cups and bottles on every available surface, and a stack of brightly colored plastic plates waiting to be piled into the dishwasher.
But there were also four gorgeous kids running around, and a baby who was barely old enough to smile but who lit up the moment Vaughn placed her in her mother’s arms.
Rebel brought the baby’s head to her lips and inhaled her scent, smiling down at her youngest daughter before thrusting her in my direction. “Smell her head. It’s like crack. So good.”
“Uh…” I was pretty sure I’d never smelled a baby’s head before and it felt a bit weird to do it now, but Rebel was dangling the kid beneath my nose like a carrot, so I leaned in and took a whiff.
Surprisingly, she did smell quite good. Somehow sweet. Rebel practically tossed her into my arms, and I only minorly freaked out about dropping my youngest niece. I settled on the couch with her and took another sniff of her head to calm myself.
Rebel wrangled a little boy who had launched himself at her as soon as her arms were free, and a younger girl trailed with a blanket dragging behind her.
Fang sat across from me in an armchair that seemed too small for his huge frame, but then he picked up the tiny dark-haired girl who immediately curled up on his lap and stuck her thumb in her mouth, while she watched me with big eyes from the safety of his lap.
