Into the Blackness (Blackness Series Book 4) (48 page)

That gets us both rolling in happy tear-inducing laughter.

“Love you. And tell Shane congratulations,” I say as we wrap up our conversation after going through all the fun stuff in our shared due dates and mutual pregnancies.

“Love you too. Kiss all your boys and those hot as fuck temporary roommates you’ve got.”

We hang up and I feel lighter and brighter knowing Jess is okay. There’s a bit of sadness knowing we could have been in the same city pregnant together, but it’s fleeting. I’m so happy here in Kansas City I can’t imagine being back in Virginia. I feel like I’ve come home for the first time since my parents died. Nick’s bought us a house that’ll be the home we’ll live in until we die. The people in Shannon’s life are amazing and quickly becoming good friends. I like normal life.

“What’re you so smiley for?” Kav’s deep rough voice powers through the great room.

“It’s just a good day, Kav,” I beam brightly.

He flops down on the giant chocolate colored sectional next to me with such force my body bounces. Kav offers me a cocky grin as I snicker at his goofiness. He’s got a reputation and then some for being an asshole and a slut, but I think he’s sweet…and a slut. He runs women through this house like a Union Station turnstile. I’m impressed with his abilities, frankly. Where most guys seem to run through girls like they’re trying to prove something, Kav’s just being himself. There’s nothing to prove…it’s just him.

“So when are you leavin’ that douche Cooper and givin’ a real man like me a try?”

“What a sweet offer. I’m not sure I’ve had enough vaccinations to give you a try though.”

His booming laugh warms me to the core.

“Fair enough. Like we said the first day, you’re the marrying kind and I’m not on that program,” he assures me with a smirk, his blue-grey eyes dancing with mischief.

“Think that’ll ever change?” I question honestly.

“Not really. I know it seems like I’m just fuckin’ around all the time, but the truth is my career demands a lot. I’ve got Kid and her babies when I’m home. I can’t imagine anything beyond that even tempting me to cut down on my life. I don’t hate marriage or have anything against it. It’s just not for me. I’ve met enough women that think I just need to meet the right one and I’ll change my whole way of life. Funny, they all think they’re that woman. Why don’t women get that if you’re with a guy, you don’t want him to change to be with you? If you’re changing a man then you’re not really with the person you met,” Kav finishes pointedly.

“Makes sense. I don’t want Nick to be anyone other than the man I met back at DCA headquarters. I know what he’s done in life and what he’ll continue to do. I’d be a pretty selfish person to meet him as one thing and demand he become something else,” I agree with an easy smile.

“See, now you, I could marry,” he lies with a wry grin.

“Yes, you could. If I met you and your slut-o-licious ways and decided I was willing to be one car on your booty train, we could totally get married.”

A load chortle reverberates from his chest as I snicker along with him.

“I’m tellin’ you now. Cooper fucks up you’re marryin’ me,” he orders with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

“I consider myself warned.”

“I’ve spent a lot of time tryin’ to find someone like Kid. That wasn’t just a line I fed Cara the other day. The way that girl looks…hits me in the gut every single time. It hurts and feels amazing all at once. Then you and Quinn come along and I swear Kieran and Cooper are into voodoo. You two aren’t exactly like Kid, but you’re enough like her and then what each of those dudes need that’s just slightly different. Those motherfuckers must’ve made you two in some witch’s brew,” Kav scoffs, rubbing his buzzed chestnut head flexing his massive biceps.

“I thought you weren’t lookin’ for anyone?” I ask with a quirked brow.

“I met a girl when I was eighteen and a freshman in college. Everyone thinks one of us guys shoulda ended up with her. She’s gorgeous, funny, sweet, fuckin’ mean as hell, loyal like no one you’ll ever meet. She loves like a person who’s been through her life shouldn’t be able to and gives us each something that we need from her that’s just for us. The thing is…it’s not like that with Kid. I can’t explain it, only that she’s more than a girlfriend or a wife to me. She’s a piece of my soul. I love her. That love will never die or change, but it’s not romantic love. If I ever tried to take it there, it’d ruin everything we have and that’s nothing I’m willing to risk. So I’ve been lookin’ for the next best thing for fourteen years,” he responds with a shrug.

“So if you found Shannon’s clone you’d settle down, get married, have some kids, keep your dick in one place for the rest of your life?”

“Uh…that sounds awful,” he admits honestly.

“I don’t think you’re really lookin’ for someone like Shannon. I think you use that as an excuse to not look for anyone without pressure. Don’t be ashamed to be happy with where you are. If you’re happy in this life, own that. You’ve earned it I’m sure.”

“If I thought I could kill Cooper and get away with it, I’d marry you. You might be the first person other than Kid that gets me,” he grumbles.

“Not every person needs the traditional happy ending to be happy in the end.”

I wrap my arms around the big man’s neck and he squeezes me around the middle with his python arms.

“Dude, Cooper comes in here and finds you puttin’ the moves on Kat we got problems,” O’Sullivan says in an alert voice, coming down the stairs.

“Just a hug between friends,” I assure the sexy fighter who gifts me a Cheshire grin before flopping on the couch next to us.

“Can I get some of that friend action?” he asks with too much sex in his voice.

“Back off, O’Sullivan,” Kav growls protectively. He sounds like my older brother…if I had one.

“She’s like Kid two point oh,” Callaghan says quietly, sitting across from us with a dimple-puckering smirk.

“No shit,” O’Sullivan huffs.

“I think Cara’s more like Kid two point oh and Kat’s like double oh seven because of her spy shit. Why do we meet women that rock and then all we want to do is protect ’em?” Kav questions seriously.

“You boys are a trip. I appreciate you bein’ protective of me, but I’m all right on my own. As far as Cara goes, she needs everything you can offer her. My boys seem to have become her safety blanket and that couldn’t make me happier…or more proud. Cara’s got a chance in life now and she’ll need all of us to make that happen.”

“Nothin’ will happen to Cara ever again. That you can rest assured of,” Kav states in a primal growl. “I wasn’t the man I am today when we met Kid. Cara’ll have benefit of the fourteen years I’ve had to grow up and get fuckin’ meaner.”

“I think her boys might give you a run for your money,” O’Sullivan says with a knowing smile. “They’re all sleepin’ with her at this point.”

I gasp in horror and move to fly up the stairs and rip my kids new assholes, when O’Sullivan snags me back to the couch by my waist.

“I said sleepin’ with, not fuckin’,” he says in a smooth calm voice for my benefit.

I search his chocolate eyes for a lie, trying to cover for my boys, but I don’t find it.

“I’ve heard ’em goin’ in her room at night. I peaked in this morning and all four of ’em were cuddled together in her bed. We were the same way with Kid after her attack. Shit we’re the same way now. Somethin’ about touchin’ Kid lets us know she’s good. Your boys are doin’ the same thing. You’ve got great kids, Kat,” he assures me with a sweetness that the constant entertainer is usually missing.

“She misses Jake,” I whisper sadly.

“He’s comin’ back though, right?” Callaghan asks with concern on his face.

“I don’t know,” I answer sincerely. “He’s got a lot of shit to work out before he’ll come back. I’m afraid it might be a lifetime of shit.”

“Kid says he’s a lot like her,” Kav pushes gently.

“They definitely have a connection.”

“Then he’ll come back to his family,” O’Sullivan spouts confidently.

“You guys are pretty sweet,” I say with a teasing smile.

“Don’t spread that shit around. We’ve got reputations to maintain,” Kav replies horrified at my admission.

“I’ll be sure to spread the asshole rumor to all my new friends. Oh wait, you’re my new friends. Thankfully, I’ve got Shannon now and her and I can gossip about you all we want.”

“You two are gonna be nothin’ but trouble,” Callaghan huffs with a glint of approval in his eyes.

“You all keep sayin’ that. What exactly do you think we’re gonna do?”

“One night out and we’ll all end up in prison, I’m sure of it,” Kav grumbles.

“Why’s that?”

“Look at you two. Men’ll be sniffin’ around and causin’ fuckin’ problems. You’re too hot to be allowed outta the house often. I’ll have to talk to Cooper and see what his plans are for you,” Kav says humorlessly.

“Uh, I don’t think Nicky’s gonna have a lot of say in what I do, guys. I’m not one to be told what to do or how to do it. Nicky runs shit and I’m good with that to a point, but I’m not plannin’ on bein’ barefoot, pregnant and chained in the kitchen,” I scoff. “When Shannon and I aren’t pregnant anymore I’m thinkin’ we’ll go out on our own without the caveman convention residing here in Kansas City.”

“Bull-fuckin’-shit you are,” O’Sullivan growls.

“Is there somethin’ in the water around here that lowers IQs or somethin’? I’ve got the same skills as Shannon. I think her and I can take care of ourselves,” I say irritated, getting a bit annoyed at the constant protectiveness. I get it from Nick and my boys enough already. Taking on Shannon’s group is becoming suffocating.

“Kat, there’s no question you can take care of yourself. The thing is, when we care about someone we take on that responsibility. It’s not to demean you or to put you beneath us. It’s to take away that burden. Cooper’s got your back and that’s a good thing. We’re here to fill in the holes for him. He’s done that for us with Kid for the last year. We owe him the same thing with you,” O’Sullivan explains, back to his sweet voice.

“All right,” I say softly.

The pregnancy hormones have me all over the place, but that was sweet and comforting in a way I wasn’t expecting. I see now why Shannon keeps these men in her life and in her home. They’re more than friends…they’re family.

O’Sullivan sweeps an arm around my shoulders pulling me into his side when the alarm chirps, alerting us that Dylan and Nick are back from whatever they’ve been out doing. I move to push away from O’Sullivan’s grasp, but he clamps down on me with a shit-eating grin on his face. Here comes trouble.

Kat

“You’re gonna lose that fuckin’ arm, O’Sullivan,” Nick growls from behind us.

“Just keepin’ her warm for you,” he purrs back suggestively, causing me to roll my eyes dramatically. “Dangerous thing leavin’ a pretty single woman like this around.”

“She’s not single, dick. Get off,” Nick grumbles with a little amusement in his voice, knowing O’Sullivan is fucking with him.

“I could get off for hours, Cooper.”

That spurs me into action. I run my hand up O’Sullivan’s torso, causing him to go rigid. I look up at him with the best bedroom eyes I can muster and see panic racing through his. I stop on his pec before shooting him a seductive smile. The panic is turning into plain fear at this point. Teasingly, I trace across his pec toward his nipple with my index finger.

“How many hours?” I rumble hotly.

“Kat,” Nick says in a tone warning everything O’Sullivan fears in this moment.

“Uh,” O’Sullivan mumbles, darting his eyes around for an escape.

I reach his nipple and pinch the hell out of it as he screams, trying to get out of my grasp as the men in the room howl in harmonious laughter.

“You don’t like it rough?” I ask innocently.

“No! Fuck, let go! Ow, ow, ow,” he whimpers.

I release him and smack his chest a few times before crawling to my feet in front of him.

“Jesus you’re just like Kid,” he grumbles, rubbing his bruised man boob. “Sorry,” he mumbles the apology I was hoping for.

I wink at him before rounding the couch to Nick’s awaiting arms. He’s not laughing like the rest of them are. His features are a mask of frustration and his sapphire eyes are possessive in a way I’ve not seen before.

“Kat,” he growls, pulling me roughly into his chest, forcing my arms to fly to his chest to brace myself.

“Nicky,” I say sweetly, tipping my head up to him.

“No.”

Jesus, am I a dog? I feel like a scolded child, as I bury my face in his chest. I wasn’t doing that to make him jealous. I was doing it to make a point to the guys. One, I can take care of myself, and two, I’m not up for grabs. I know none of them would make a real move on me. All of their shit is for Nick’s benefit. Like they’re reminding him what he has in me, which is sweet is some backward fucked up way.

“That’s the funniest thing I’ve seen a chick do since Kid about ripped my fingers off the first day we met,” Kav stutters out, gasping for air through his laughter. “Lighten up, Cooper.”

Nick grunts in response, but the tension in his body remains. I fear this brings back memories of the first night Nick and I were together when he found Jason Ross with me. Now I feel like a jerk.