Brida Pact (20 page)

“What is this question?” he asked.

“The question is, ‘How would I feel if Poppy was in my
place?’ Get it?” she said with her brow raised.

“I believe so,” he replied with an expression of mild
confusion.

“Okay, let me give you a ‘for instance’… Ask yourself how
you would feel if I shared a bed with another warrior. A warrior who had been
assigned by the Council as my new mate?” she asked with an innocent smile, as
if she didn’t know what his reaction would be.

“I now ‘get it’.” His face was murderous as he responded to
her question.

“Good.” Taking off her nightshirt and throwing it back on
the floor in the corner, she turned to face him.

“Now, let’s go to bed. We have an early appointment to see
Wheaton Jr. tomorrow morning.” Walking over to her side of the bed, she glanced
behind her to see Wheaton watching her ass sway with every step.

“And no nookie. You’re still on my shit list for a bit,” she
pointed out.

Giving her a disappointed but understanding grimace, Wheaton
lay down beside her and hugged her close. As he snuggled up to her back and put
his hand over her belly, he whispered to the top of her head. Unable to hear
what he had said, she adjusted so she could see his face.

“What?”

“I said I am sorry I fucked up. Is that the correct
wording?”

“Yes and yes, you did fuck up. I’m still angry but I
understand you work on logic and not feelings so you get one free pass. Don’t
fuck up again, because we’ll have problems if you do. I won’t be able to
forgive and forget a second time. No matter how much I love you.”

Making sure that her words sank in, she leaned up to give
him a quick peck. “Now go to sleep, big guy, we have a busy morning and I am
emotionally done with today.”

As Wheaton hugged her close and tried to relax, he thought
to himself,
Thank your god for second chances.

The next morning, Poppy woke up completely entangled in
Wheaton’s arms. First thing she noticed was how hungry she was. She’d missed
dinner last night when Wheaton had surprised her at the door. Squeezing out
from underneath the arm and leg he’d thrown over her, she made a pit stop in
the bathroom before heading to the kitchen. If there was ever a day that called
for pancakes, it would be this one. When the food generator beeped, she pulled
out her plate, prepping one for Wheaton as well. Hearing him stir in the
bedroom, she peered through the doorway to see him pulling on a pair of pants
beside the bed.

“Babe? I have breakfast ready once you get cleaned up, and
then we need to head to the medical unit,” she called out.

“Let me use the facilities and we can eat before we go back
to the other apartment. I will need fresh clothes before my meetings today,” he
called back.

Taking a moment to enjoy the flavor of her pancakes and
chocolate milk, she wondered if Hannah was going to be at the apartment when
they stopped by for clothes. She didn’t necessarily want to have it out early
this morning, but she also knew that until she spoke with Hannah, she would
keep thinking about the shenanigans the blonde had tried to pull.

Wheaton joined her and before sitting down at the bar, he
leaned over and kissed her.

“Good morning, little flower,” he said, giving her another
kiss, and then licked his lips. “You taste good.”

“So do you. Now eat. We have lots to do today and the guys
asked me to get to the medical unit before it gets busy this morning. They want
me in the regen bed before the warriors need it,” she said with a smile, loving
how his eyes lit up at the mention of the med center. She was just as excited
to get more information on her pregnancy.

Quickly devouring his plate of pancakes, he didn’t speak
much other than mumbles of “so good” and “I have missed these”. When his plate
was empty, he helped her clean up and then went to get her shoes from where
they’d been kicked off the night before.

“Let me help you, love,” he murmured, holding them up for
her to slide her feet into them. Patting his shoulders before he stood up, she
ran her hands through his shoulder-length hair. Giving the strands a tug so he
would tip his head back, she stared into his eyes.

“I love you, Wheaton.”

She held her breath, unsure if he would respond to her
declaration.

“I feel love for you too, Poppy.”

Hearing the words come from him made her eyes well up with
happy tears. Hoping he truly understood what he was saying, she leaned down for
a quick kiss. He ran his fingers under her eyes to wipe away the tears that had
spouted. “These are not sad tears, correct?”

“No, these are very happy tears. Very happy tears.” Smiling
widely, she puckered her lips for another kiss.

“No more kisses, woman! I want to see our baby and those
lips will lead to us being late.” Pulling her to her feet, he swatted her butt
before ushering her quickly out the door.

Poppy played through different scenarios in her mind. Her
nerves were amped up with the thought that she would be able to finally speak
to Hannah. This could go either of two ways. She could be calm and collected.
Letting Hannah calmly know she was on to her tricks and it wouldn’t be
happening again was the first option. Option two consisted of her jumping on
the tramp like a spider monkey, taking out her aggression on her perfectly
coifed hairstyle. Hoping she could act like the sensible person she was, she
would take route one over a brawl in their old apartment.

Once at Wheaton’s apartment door, Poppy tugged on his hand
for him to wait for a moment. Taking a few breaths to calm herself, she pasted
on a fake smile and then nodded at Wheaton to go ahead and open sesame.

The apartment was pretty much like it had been the night
she’d left. There were papers on top of the coffee table, most likely Hannah’s
since Wheaton used his tablet for everything. Other than that, no personal
touches had been made to what she still considered her home.

“Hannah?” Wheaton said, clearing his throat.

“Yes, dear?” came from the direction of the bedroom.

Oh fuck no. Was that the way Hannah was going to start her
morning? Gripping Wheaton’s hand tightly, Poppy smiled up at him as he squeezed
back. She prayed for the patience not to strangle the bitch and knew Wheaton
was silently urging to keep calm too.

Hannah appeared in the doorway in what Poppy could only
describe as a silk gown she had seen in movies, accompanied by little kitten
heels with puffs on the toes. Her hair was tousled as if she’d just had a
satisfactory night in bed. Rolling her eyes, Poppy was grateful that Wheaton
had been with her all night. If she had walked in to see him stumbling out of
the bedroom behind Hannah dressed like this, she would have lost her shit. As
it was, she was having a very hard time not marching forward and grabbing a
hank of that blonde hair.

Another squeeze of her hand made her glance away from Hannah
back up to Wheaton.

“I did not require that she be naked in our bed…unlike with
you,” he pointed out quietly.

“Well, at least that’s something,” she murmured back
sarcastically with another eye roll, this time in his direction.

“Oh! Good morning, Poppy,” Hannah said with a fake smile,
acting surprised to see her nemesis.

“Good morning, Hannah,” Poppy said back with just as fake a
smile. “We need to talk.”

“Oh, of course. Let’s make some coffee and we can chat while
Wheaton gets ready for our day.” Her face was frozen in a plastic-looking
smile.

“I’ll have tea with sugar instead of coffee but yes, let’s
get comfortable,” Poppy agreed, moving to the counter.

Wheaton stared at both the women as if unsure it was safe to
leave them alone.

“Wheaton, why don’t you go get ready before I take you to
the med center to show you what I’ve been doing? Hurry back though so we can
make sure we’re all on the same page.” Poppy gave his back a push toward the
bedroom.

“Of course, let me change. I will be right back.” Wheaton
gave Poppy a pleading glance that she interpreted as
Please don’t hit the
bitch
. Poppy wasn’t going to make any promises though until she figured out
where Hannah was coming from.

“Yep, you should probably hurry.” After he walked away, she
turned to Hannah and dropped the fake face. It was starting to hurt her cheeks
to pretend to like this woman.

Taking the mug Hannah passed her, she took a few seconds to
study the woman. When the silence was too much for her to take any longer,
Poppy spoke, unable to contain herself.

“Soooo…Wheaton told me you’ve been sleeping in the same
bed.”

Hannah’s mouth popped open. Poppy figured she didn’t expect
Wheaton to have been honest with her.

“And he explained you two have kissed.”

Hannah cast a glance at the bedroom door. Was she hoping
Wheaton was a speed dresser and would suddenly appear to save her? Hannah
cleared her throat delicately, her discomfort apparent, but she still remained
silent.

“Which was your idea,” Poppy finished.

“Ummmm…well…” Hannah stammered, obviously unsure what to do
or say.

Liking the fact that she had the normally well-spoken woman
stuttering, Poppy decided to lay all her cards on the table and let her have
it.

Setting down her cup, Poppy kept her voice as calm as
possible. “Listen, Hannah, I get it. You came here expecting to have a husband
and saw Wheaton. I know how
I
felt when I first saw him,” Poppy
admitted. “However, the crap that you pulled was
not
okay. Wheaton told
me about it and he now knows it’s not okay. I expect you to respect our
relationship and back the fuck off.
Comprende?
” Poppy’s voice had risen
with each word out of her mouth, and she sat glaring at a stunned and slightly
scared Hannah.

“Well…” Hannah again cleared her throat, as if trying to
come up with something to say.

“Well what?” Poppy asked curtly.

Hannah pushed her silky strands behind one ear and tapped
her fingers against her mug of coffee.

“Isn’t that Wheaton’s decision?” she countered with a lift
of her chin. Poppy was surprised at the question. Apparently Hannah had just
grown some balls.

“What decision? You approached him with logic and he agreed
at the time, which I understand and accept. It’s the way these guys’ heads
work. What I don’t get is why. Why would you try to steal a man who is
obviously in a relationship? Is that the type of person you are? Do you even
care that it hurt someone? Wheaton and I are happy—hell, you
know
we are
happy—but that didn’t stop you from worming your way into our bed or tricking
him into kissing you.”

“I never—” Hannah started.

“Never what? Tried to break us up? You knew when you started
sleeping next to him it would be a problem. You knew that kissing him was
wrong, and yet you fucking did it anyway,” Poppy said, on a roll.

Hannah took a sip of her coffee again and set the cup down.
The way she avoided Poppy’s eyes showed how uncomfortable she was. Had she not
expected Wheaton to be honest with Poppy, or even get called out about it? Too
damn bad for her then. Poppy was not the type of person to roll over and take
shit from anyone. Especially when the fight was for her future.

“My intention was not to get in the way of your
relationship…if that is what you truly have. Councilor Demascus had mentioned
that Wheaton might have been starved for attention and acted too quickly on
meeting you without knowing he had options,” Hannah blurted out.

“Well, that was your first mistake. Fuck that asshole.
Listening to Demascus is going to be nothing but trouble for you. That guy is a
tool,” Poppy said plainly. “And yes, we truly have a relationship. What I have
with Wheaton may have happened quickly but it’s real. As real as it can get.”

Hannah seemed as if she could cry, which surprised the hell
out of Poppy. She had not expected the well-put-together woman to have
emotions, much less show them to someone. If Poppy didn’t know better, she’d have
assumed she was a fem-bot considering how perfect she seemed.

“Listen, Hannah. I was really fucking pissed last night when
I found out what had happened,” Poppy explained. “Wheaton and I have talked and
worked out the situation but I am letting you know right now that shit stops
now.”

“Okay…if Wheaton really is sure,” Hannah said in a tearful
voice, as if Poppy had just kicked her puppy.

“I am very sure, Hannah.”

At the voice coming from the door, both women turned toward
the bedroom. A refreshed Wheaton stood in the opening with his arms folded
across his chest. He apparently had been listening for a bit so he knew where
they all stood.

“I am sorry, Wheaton. I really did want you to make an
informed decision,” Hannah explained.

“My decision is final. It was final before you even showed
up in my quarters,” Wheaton said while keeping his gaze on Poppy’s face.

“Yeah, I get that now,” Hannah admitted, shooting glances
between Poppy and Wheaton with what seemed more like understanding than the
manipulation it had been previously.

“So, are you ready for the meetings today? We have quite a
bit to go over before they start,” Hannah said, obviously deciding the
situation said and done.

“I am going to escort Poppy to the medical unit this morning
but should be able to join you in Council meetings before lunch,” he said now
from Poppy’s side while he rubbed his hand up and down her back.

“But we—” Hannah interrupted.

“I
will
escort her. Missing the first meeting will
bring no harm and I am not yet ready to let Poppy go. You understand, correct?”
His tone brooked no argument.

“Of course.” Hannah backed down with that kicked-puppy look
again.

Poppy had an idea. One that would take care of her problem
with Hannah and allow her and Wheaton to spend more time together.

“Hannah?” Poppy’s voice stopped Hannah as she was walking to
the bedroom to get dressed for the day.

“Yes?” she said without turning around.

“How about when it’s lunchtime we all get together? I’m sure
the other warriors on the Council are pretty dry and I’ve met some great guys
while I’ve been working in the medical unit. It would be a good thing to meet
some new people and make friends.”

It would give Hannah someone else to set her sights on,
although Poppy didn’t say that out loud. Waiting for Hannah to think for a
moment, Poppy was surprised when she was witness to what she assumed was a
“real” smile from her.

“That would be wonderful, Poppy,” she answered, showing all
her perfect teeth in their gleaming glory.

“All right, big guy. Let’s leave so she can get ready and
then you can escort her to lunch later this afternoon,” Poppy told Wheaton.

Wheaton stopped Poppy with a hand on her arm.

“Who are these ‘great guys’ you were referring to?” he asked
with a huffy expression on his face.

“Seriously, Wheaton, you leave me alone for two weeks, and
now you get pissed because I made friends? Tone it down, Tarzan, or we’re going
to have our second fight in twenty-four hours. You should be happy I didn’t
knock Hannah the Horror flat on her ass. Not asking me stupid questions.” She
emphasized her words with a finger point.

“Okay, okay…no fighting. Just remember we agreed on no
kissing these other warriors. No matter how great you think they may be.”

Bumping sides while they walked, Poppy couldn’t help but
think that her discussion with Hannah had gone better than expected. Now to
just make sure that she found someone new and stopped eyeing Wheaton as if he
were a juicy steak and problem solved. Feeling much better, Poppy threaded her
fingers through Wheaton’s and his hand tightened on her shoulder.