Page 16 of Jinx

“I’m…pregnant.”

He looks at me for long seconds, long enough that I can hear the tick of the clock hanging on the wall. “And you’re not happy about it?”

“You want to take me away. You want me to leave my family. There’s not even a clubhouse to take me from anymore.” My voice ends on a jerky sob that gets higher and higher until I’m sure he can’t even understand me.

“No. Not anymore, baby.”

“What?” I don’t understand.

“I see you.” He brushes my hair back from my face and holds my face between his hands. “I see that you’re the glue that holds the club together. If you left it would only fall apart. And it’s not gone. The club is still there, baby, because the people are still here. It’ll be back open before you know it - before our little one comes.”

I sniff and look at him as he stands up in front of me. “Why? Why did you change your mind about wanting to take me away.”

“Because I realize…if I took you away, you would never love me the way I want you to love me. Never be able to forgive me for making you choose.”

“But I do love you. I love you, Fury…which is why…I’ll leave with you. For you.” Tears start leaking down my cheeks again.

“But, angel…I’m never going to make you. I could never hurt you like that. We’ll stay. For as long as you want to stay. Forever if that’s what you want.”

“But…won’t you, I don’t know, get bored or annoyed.”

He chuckles a little before finally picking me up and sitting on the bed with me in his lap.

“No. There is no doubt in my mind that you will keep me on my toes enough that I will never be bored. I was only worried for you…about you. I was…,” he stops and it’s like he is looking for the words or he’s struggling to tell me something. “I was afraid.”

“Afraid?” Him? I don’t believe a man like him could ever be afraid of anything.

“I didn’t want to bring something bad to you, something that could hurt you, especially with the career I’ve chosen.” He was afraid for me? “But here…you’re safe here because of all the people that love you. I see that love and how important you are to everyone in how they care for you, how they want to make you happy and keep you safe. I saw it when the club was attacked, and they wouldn’t leave without you.”

His words have a warmth settling in my belly. I didn’t think about things the way he sees them. I didn’t know…

“Talking to Odin and Poe and Pyro has given me a different perspective on life too. They’ve shown me there’s another way, a way other than moving on and not stopping. A way I can keep you safe and stay.”

A glimmer of hope lights in my chest and I can’t help but hold my breath…figuratively. I'm too snotty to do it literally. “So…you’re okay with us staying.”

He nods and brushes his lips against mine. “I am okay…with making you happy and doing whatever it takes to keep you that way.”

I wrap my arms around him and pull him in close, “I want to stay.”

He smiles, “I know. It’s why we’re here. And, baby, I…bought the house.”

“What?”

“I bought the house.”

“This house?” He nods. “You bought this house?” Why is he telling me this like I might be mad about this.

“It’s got a couple of spare rooms to fill with babies, It’s right in between and within walking distance of your parents’ house and your brother and his wife’s house so they will be close, and we can still stay involved with the club. I hope that’s alright. I know we should have made this decision together but I kind of wanted it to be a surprise…a gift…,” he kisses me again, “a wedding present.”

“You’re going to marry me?” Surprise has me held in suspense with my body going leaden and my tummy fluttering. All the air in my body comes out on a shocked breath to ask the question.

“Uh, yeah!” He looks at me with just as much surprise that I would be unsure about whether we would marry or not. “That was always the outcome with you, always my end goal. Well, that and making you want to love me for the rest of our lives.”

My heart swells, “I do. Love you. I love you, Fury. I love you.”

My mouth crashes down on his and our tongues clash and tangle. I fall back with him as he rolls us and comes over me. I pull back and run my fingertips down his beard-stubbled cheek. “I was scared too. I thought if I gave into you, you would try to take over and then I wouldn’t have any say, any voice, of my own. I wouldn’t be in control of my life. I didn’t trust that you would listen to me and treat me like I was a partner instead of just someone to take care of and…own.”

His stare is intense. “And do you still feel like you can’t trust me?”

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