Apollo (Cerberus MC)

He doesn’t stop moving toward me. My skin flushes with heat, tingling down to the tips of my fingers with the need to touch him, to just make sure that he’s here and he’s safe.

“I missed you,” he says, right before his lips crash to mine.

The nervous energy I was feeling fades away. The awkwardness I was feeling at having him return home the first time is a distant memory as his tongue sweeps across mine. I groan into his mouth as he pulls me closer. This kiss is sweeter, deeper, and more passionate than any other we’ve shared, and I allow myself to get lost in it, lost in the way his huge hands span my entire back, lost to the feel of his huge body pressed to every inch of my front.

“Get a room!” someone yells, and I flinch, despair and shame making a quick appearance.

“No,” he whispers against my lips when I try to pull back.

His hands are still on my cheeks, his face the only thing I can see.

“He’s not talking about us.”

I don’t believe him, and a rush of worry takes over.

“Look,” he says, turning so I can see past him.

Cannon is carrying Rivet into the house, her utility-pants-clad legs wrapped around his waist. My sister is tangled in Javier’s arms, and several other couples are splitting off.

“Emmalyn says we’re going to have a party. She said we have one every time you guys come home. They’ve been cooking all day.”

Nate chuckles, his warm breath on my neck as he nuzzles there.

“That won’t happen for at least two hours. Probably longer,” he whispers.

“They’re all going home to unpack first?” I ask, watching Hound carry Gigi across the street.

“Yeah, baby. They’re all going home to unpack about five days’ worth of stress.”

“Oh… oh!” I bury my face in his neck.

“Ready for that nap?”

I pull back and look at him, my feet digging into the ground when he tries to urge me toward the front door of the clubhouse.

“If we go to our room, they’re going to think that we’re doing what they’re doing.”

Nate waggles his eyebrows comically, and I slap him across the chest.

“No, Nate, no. We can’t. Go put your bag in the room and we can cuddle on the couch until the party.”

The smile never leaves his face when he inches me toward where he dropped his bag. We hold hands, walking into the house, and he’s only gone half a minute before he returns.

I sweep into the kitchen to ask Emmalyn if she needs any help in the kitchen, but I find her heading out the back door with Kincaid.

“Everyone scatters when we get home.”

“Apparently,” I mutter, a little embarrassed with knowing what everyone is going to be doing.

I squeal when Nate swings me up in his arms and carries me to the living room sofa. He could’ve easily carried me back to our room, and honestly, I don’t know that I would’ve argued. I draw the line at straddling his lap when he places me that way when he sits.

“Scoot down,” I tell him, taking a seat and patting my lap when he moves.

His brows draw together in confusion.

“Lay your head down.”

He does, only he faces his head toward me, not in the way I expected.

“You seem happy,” I whisper, our contact still intimate and personal even though we’re in a public part of the clubhouse.

“I am.”

I meet his smile with my own as I run my fingers through his hair.

Chapter 22

Apollo

I’m absolutely certain there’s nothing better than lying with my head in April’s lap while she plays with my head. If I weren’t wound so tight and beyond ecstatic to see her, I’m pretty sure I could fall asleep just like this, my huge body half hanging over the end of the couch.

I’m so damned glad to be home. Those two extra days sprung on us were brutal, and of course the guys gave me nothing but a constant hard time after my little freak-out in Nicaragua. I took it on the chin like a real man would, but them being well aware how I was feeling about April didn’t make the time and distance any easier to deal with. It did help to know that they were just as miserable as I was. Eating crow after giving them a hard time was easy to do.

I lean forward, pressing my lips to April’s stomach. Her fingers still in my hair, but I have no doubt she’d shove me to the floor if I were doing something she didn’t appreciate.

“Did you give your momma a hard time while I was gone?” I ask the little one growing in her belly.

She chuckles, her stomach moving in and out with the action.

“I can’t wait to meet you, little guy.”

“Guy?”

I peer up at her. “Shh. The men are talking.”