Page 39

SIXTEEN

The water pressure in the lodge wasn’t as good as on the island, but Kensley imagined he wasn’t the only freed captive needing to scrub his skin free of that awful brothel.

Even though Kensley had escaped the worst of the abuse, he still allowed the hot water to sluice over his skin, until the steam left him falling asleep on his feet.

Bishop was there, though, attentive as always, and he helped Kensley dry off.

Wrapped Kensley up in a towel and carried him to their bed.

They curled up together beneath thick, warm blankets, and Kensley slept peacefully, in his lover’s arms for the first time in what felt like a lifetime.

He didn’t dream, and he woke to Bishop dropping gentle kisses along the back of his neck.

Kensley rolled over and climbed right on top of Bishop’s big, broad, gloriously naked body, and kissed the man his soul had chosen.

The father of his child. The owner of his heart.

His erection swelled and his hole slicked, and they made love quietly beneath the sheets, moving together like they had all the time in the world.

Kensley savored the heavy slide of Bishop’s cock in his body, a claiming and a promise, and a source of absolute pleasure.

Bishop came first, filling Kensley with his gift, before sucking Kensley down and devouring his come in return.

They showered again, before joining the group downstairs for breakfast. Kensley’s stomach rolled a bit at the sight and smell of bacon, but he managed a pancake with a small pat of butter.

King briefly appeared to collect food, and this time, he left the kitchen with two plates.

After the meal, Kensley found Malori in an upstairs bedroom.

He sat upright, his left shoulder bandaged, arm immobilized, and the sight of King sitting beside him, holding a forked piece of pancake for Malori to eat, sent a jolt of joy and surprise through Kensley’s middle.

Malori tossed him a bashful, exhausted lip-twist that wasn’t quite a smile, while King focused on the plate.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Kensley said, leaning down to press a kiss to Malori’s temple. “I’d hug you, but I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Yesterday, I would have preferred dying in that apartment,” Malori replied softly. “I couldn’t see a future beyond those walls and that pain. Now, I think maybe…maybe I can smile again. One day.”

“I know you will. And I hope that when you do, I’m there to see it.”

“You promised me your brother would save us, and you were right. I owe you both.”

“You owe nothing,” King said gruffly. “The people who put you there? The people who abused you? They owe you a great debt, and we will extract it from them.”

Malori’s eyes watered, and he silently accepted another bite of pancake.

Kensley excused himself. Bishop hadn’t expressly said it, but based on the interaction Kensley had just witnessed, he knew Malori was coming wherever Kensley and King were headed.

King was enchanted with Malori in a way Kensley had never seen before—not that he knew anything about his brother’s sex or social life. But he did trust his instincts.

King had promised to avenge Malori’s pain, and King wasn’t going to pass that task off to one of his people. King was taking on that job personally.

No one was allowed to leave the lodge for safety reasons, so Kensley and the others passed the morning much as they had last evening—playing games in the dining room and main lobby, which had an enormous fireplace, multiple couches, and a plethora of board games.

The only thing they lacked was a television, but Kensley imagined that if tourists were paying for the lodge experience, they weren’t here to watch TV.

He had a brief, private meeting with Dr. Melish about his pregnancy, making future plans to do an official blood test, and then to get Kensley started on prenatal vitamins, once he arrived at his final destination.

After lunch, Kensley said tearful goodbyes to everyone he’d befriended, at once grateful they were leaving to begin new lives, and also sad to lose those connections so soon.

King promised that they were in good hands with Hartford, and that one day, they’d all be allowed to contact each other again—if they chose to.

But after a lifetime of losing his friends or having only surface relationships in the abbey, the separation still left Kensley in tears.

Tears Bishop gently wiped away in the privacy of their room.

Kensley was still nauseated and not in the mood for sex, so they held each other until Garvey knocked.

Said it was time for the last of them to leave the lodge.

Garvey drove a new van, this one with tinted windows and, like yesterday, Bishop and Kensley sat together in the middle bench seat, while King and Malori rode in the back.

Malori was awake, aware, and wound so tight Kensley worried for his physical and mental health.

An hour into the drive, King finally announced they were heading back to River City and his penthouse.

“It’s large enough that we could not see each other for days at a time, if you wish,” King said, more to Malori than anyone else.

“We’ll be safe there while we continue ferreting out Marta’s group, and whoever else was providing Decker with his victims.”

“And my children?” Malori asked, the only three words he’d spoken since the lodge.

“We won’t stop until we find them. You have my word.”

Malori nodded, and then turned his attention to the window and the landscape whizzing past.

Kensley pressed both hands over his lower belly, at once sad for Malori’s losses and ecstatic for his own joy.

He would never rub his pregnancy in Malori’s face, though, not ever.

He’d quietly tell King at some point. After that?

He would play things by ear. New chapters in Kensley’s life had been unfolding since the day “Drew Burton” walked into his cathedral and they spoke in front of the bulletin board.

But this chapter? A chapter led by his charus and their future child? This was a chapter Kensley couldn’t wait to experience. Its highs, its lows, and everything in between.

Kensley had a vague idea of what a penthouse was from movies he’d watched in his pre-Order years, and from the occasional news or magazine article he’d read about the super-wealthy.

He understood they were large, opulent apartments, usually on the top floors of very tall buildings, and sometimes they had pools, hot tubs and gardens, even!

His imagination did not do justice to the size or opulence of King’s penthouse.

It took up the top two floors (two!) of a very tall, very secure building, and the roof had not only a large patio with dozens of plants, it also had a greenhouse, a small fountain, and multiple seating areas.

Both floors had long balconies with multiple entrances from both bedrooms and common rooms, full kitchens, multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, plus an exercise room, and even a small, cozy library.

Kensley had to pinch himself multiple times during Bishop’s tour, because no way was this his home for the next unknown number of months (years?).

Except it was his home. Their home. The penthouse even had wings, and his new home with Bishop was the upper south wing, which was like its own mini-apartment: a bedroom, living space, private bathroom, a kitchenette, and its own balcony entrance.

It was quiet, private, and Bishop insisted the windows were all bullet-proof, the glass shatter-proof, and the security system as state-of-the-art as possible.

King spared no expense in his home.

Bishop produced a familiar duffel bag from the bedroom and handed it to Kensley with a shy smile on his face. “Here.”

“What’s this?” Kensley loved gifts, but he suspected something bigger, judging by the look on Bishop’s face. Bishop did not wear shyness often or well. Kensley pulled the zipper down and peered inside, his own face going slack. “Oh.”

The clothes Bishop had bought for him on the island, their favorite DVD collection, his woven sandals, and the handful of other souvenirs Kensley had bought at the market.

The only personal items Kensley had left, after leaving his old life behind in the abbey, and Bishop had thoughtfully saved more than just his necklace and sandals during his flight from the island. “Oh, Bishop, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I couldn’t leave it there. It would have felt too much like abandoning you, and I’ll never do that. I will always come when you call for me, always fight when you need me.”

“Same.” Kensley ran his hand over the butter-soft sofa fabric, in awe of what he was being given, even if only temporarily.

“I can’t believe this is ours.” Despite the decadence of a private beach house, this seemed…

more. Better suited for a mansion in the country, not the top of a skyscraper in the middle of a crime-ridden city. Or a fairy tale castle.

“King bought the penthouse before it was even built.” Bishop now stood with his hands in his pockets, seeming embarrassed by the wealth surrounding them.

“He worked with the builder to design it. I think he was hoping to fill it with family and kids, but his work just got more and more dangerous. He pushed people away too hard, so there was no one to stay and make it a home.”

“I wish he’d asked me to live here instead of the abbey. Not because I want or need millions of dollars, or luxury soaps, but because I’m his family. When my mother died, all I wanted was my brother. I wanted to be near him, no matter the danger.”

“But once you presented as omega, he chose your safety over keeping you close. Do you resent him for that?”

“Sometimes. But resentment doesn’t change what is.

It doesn’t change what we’re doing now, or who we have become.

” Kensley crossed the large living room to stand in front of Bishop.

Pulled Bishop’s hands out of his pockets and clasped them over his own heart.

“If I’ve learned anything else these last few weeks, it’s that all we have is today.

Right now. And right now, we are safe. We are having a baby. ”

“We are. When do you see Dr. Melish again?”

“He gave me his card and said to call when I’ve settled in, but I don’t have a phone.”

Bishop pointed to a desk in the corner. “There’s a land line over there, but I’ll see about getting you a cell phone. Not that you’re going to be leaving the penthouse alone anytime soon, but this place is huge. It is possible to get lost, until you get used to navigating it.”

Kensley laughed. “I believe you. But I don’t want to call him yet.

Soon, I promise. Let’s enjoy the privacy for a while.

I know King is here, and Malori’s here, and there are probably bodyguards posted in every corner, but let’s forget about them for an hour.

I want to sit in peace, until things inevitably get crazy again. ”

“We can do that.”

So they did, cuddled up together on the sofa, idly chatting about baby names, reminiscing about the island, and spinning stories about dream homes for their future children.

Creating a future that was still malleable, still unformed, still able to be so many things.

But more than anything else, Kensley wanted his future to be full of joy and love and hope.

And he knew Bishop wanted those things, too. Would provide those things and more.

Peace remained their companion for the rest of the day.

They made love before bed, and again in the morning.

They shared a late brunch in the main dining room with King and Malori, the latter of whom was less obviously stressed, but still exhausted and in pain.

He did feed himself, though, and Dr. Melish arrived in the afternoon for checkups.

He saw Malori first, and then met Kensley in his and Bishop’s living room.

Kensley looked away during the blood draw for the official pregnancy test, and he accepted the bottle of prenatal vitamins Dr. Melish gave him.

Even if the official test was negative and Marta had, in fact, been lying, it wouldn’t hurt to start taking them.

Kensley absolutely wanted kids with Bishop, be it in nine months or years down the road.

He’d never wanted anything more, or seen his future more clearly than right now.

Malori had his own room, but he ended up spending a lot of the next few days with Kensley and Bishop, mostly for the company, while he continued both his physical and emotional recovery.

King went out of town for a couple of days, which agitated Bishop, but their trio passed the time with movies, card games, reading, and hours on the rooftop terrace, as the weather slowly warmed from rainy winter into chilly spring.

When King returned to the penthouse on the one-week anniversary of their rescue, Kensley gave King a copy of the blood test results Dr. Melish had emailed to Bishop. Proof that Kensley was about four-weeks pregnant.

King stared at the paper for an eternity, his hand trembling visibly enough that Kensley feared the worst. Next to him, Bishop tensed.

But when King finally looked at them, there was no censure in his eyes.

No anger or disappointment. King smiled, and that was all Kensley needed.

Kensley opened his arms to his big brother, and King came to him.

In that first, true hug, they shared so much. They shared regret and forgiveness and love. They shared a mutual hope for the future of their family, despite the violence around them. They shared silent promises and, when King tugged Bishop into the hug, they shared a commitment to each other.

To fighting for the family they’d lost, found, almost lost again, and would now do everything in their joint powers to protect. No matter who came at them.

One day at a time.

For the rest of time.

Thank you for reading! If you’re eager to read Malori and King’s story, stay tuned for THE KINGPIN’S OMEGA LOVER, coming July 29! And if you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review on Amazon or your other favorite book review sight.