Page 20 of The Queen of Nightmares

When I heard the bedcovers rustling from the bedroom down the hall, I sent off one last text calling for Church later that afternoon. Then, I poured the steaming hot water into the porcelain cup before turning off the kettle. Carefully, I walked the tea and cookies to my girl.

I heard the water running in the bathroom as I set the cup on the nightstand. Instead of slipping out of the door with the mistaken thought that she needed space from me and then heading to my home office to figure out what else I could do to provide security around the compound, I reclined on the bed and waited.

It didn’t take long for the door to open and Sally to appear. She was wearing a pair of short sleep shorts and one of my T-shirts, looking fuckable with her long blood-red hair hanging to her waist in waves. But I noticed the way her head was down, staring at the floor as she shuffled back into the room. She looked miserable, and it made an ache form in my chest.

“Come here, little Queen.”

Her head jerked up at the sound of my voice, her eyes immediately going to where I was sitting with my back against the headboard on her side of the bed. Her eyes widened as if she were surprised to see me, and I cursed myself for putting that doubt there.

I jerked my chin. “Now.”

Her feet started moving then, and within seconds, she had her knees on the bed and was crawling toward me. I could see her heavy breasts hanging through the wide neck hole of my shirt. They had become larger and rounder in the last few weeks, a testament to the baby growing in her womb. My baby. The ache that had formed in my chest at the realization she still worried about me being here for her dissipated as pride surged through me. I had done that. I knocked up my woman. I marked her from the inside.

Mine.

I tugged her arm until she fell into my lap, her lithe legs straddling me, her weight settling onto my thighs. This was where we should have been every morning since the hospital. I was a fucking asshole.

I wrapped my hand around her long hair, relishing the softness as the strands wove through my fingers. With a light tug, I had her chin up and poised exactly the way I wanted her.

“Good morning, baby,” I whispered gruffly before taking her mouth with mine the way I always needed to whenever she was near. By the time I had kissed her breathless, tasting the mint from the toothpaste on her tongue, she had melted into me. All of her weight was pressing into my chest, and my cock was rock solid beneath her.

She ground her hot little pussy against my thick cock, but as much as I always wanted her, needed to feel her under my hands and have her taste on my tongue, to have my scent on her skin, and my come dripping from her pussy, she was pregnant, and I needed to take care of her. Her needs came first. Always.

I gripped her hips firmly and gently pushed her back until there was space between us. She looked at me in confusion, immediately trying to lean forward for another kiss. I placed a hand on the center of her chest to hold her in place as I chuckled. Reaching over to the nightstand with my other hand, I carefully took the cup of tea and held it out to her. She took it with a pout but immediately inhaled the sweet scent.

“Drink first,” I told her, my hands tightening on her hips as she blew gently across the surface of the tea. “Then we can play.”

Her smile lit up my dark fucking world as she lifted the cup to her lips and drank.

ChapterFifteen

THE QUEEN OF NIGHTMARES

“Idon’t see why I have to learn this since I have you to protect me,” I grumbled as Jack stood behind me. He held my arms in front of me, directing my stance until he was satisfied it was perfect. I felt him nuzzle the side of my neck, his scratchy day-old stubble rubbing along the sensitive skin there, sending goosebumps and a wave of desire coursing through me.

“Because you’re my Queen. Every queen needs to be able to defend herself. And,” he rumbled as he placed his chin on my shoulder next to my ear, “you look like my every fucking wet dream standing here holding a gun like this.” He nipped my ear with his teeth and growled. “Now focus.”

I gave myself a mental shake to rid the lust from my brain.Okay, focus.Easier said than done with the sexy man plastered against my back, holding onto me like a second skin. I let out a nervous breath as I stared down the barrel of the gun toward the two-liter bottle of soda sitting on the fence several feet away. I wasn’t scared of guns, but I also had never held one before. “Right. Focus,” I repeated.

We’d been practicing shooting with Jack’s big black handgun for a while already, and my arms were getting tired from the weight. My strength had been getting much better in my injured arm, but it still got tired quickly. I had to use my right hand to do almost everything, and holding the gun for so long was taking a toll.

Before he would even let me hold it, we’d spent at least an hour going over safety rules until I could recite them back to him.

Don’t point a gun unless you’re willing to pull the trigger.

Treat every gun as a loaded weapon.

Aim for the center of a body; it makes the biggest target, and you’re less likely to miss.

I let out one more slightly steadier breath and then slowly squeezed the trigger, already squinting at the loud sound I knew was coming. Before my eyes, a fountain of soda sprayed through the air like a foamy geyser as the bullet met the target. I let out a squeal of delight and amazement as I realized I had actually hit the bottle.

I spun around to Jack with a giant smile on my face. “I did it!”

He chuckled as he slipped the gun from my hand and thumbed the safety back on.Oops.That was another one of the rules. “You did, baby. I’m so proud of you.”

He set the big black handgun on the tree stump next to us and cupped my cheeks. I looked up into his black eyes and felt as if my insides were melting at the look he was giving me. I had been such an idiot for doubting him. When I’d woken up to an empty bed, I had immediately gone back to all those days before, thinking that he had reverted back to keeping his distance from me after hearing the voicemails. Seeing him now staring at me with so much love and pride in his eyes, I knew he would never hurt me again.

I lifted on my tiptoes to place a kiss on his lips, needing him to know how much I appreciated what he was doing for me. He made a low, rumbling sound in his throat as he wrapped an arm around my lower back to hold me against him. He didn’t take over the kiss; he simply held me tight against his body and allowed me to lead.

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