It wasn’t a sensual declaration. There was too much heartache straining the words.
I slid my mouth away from Roark’s and kissed the breast of his trench coat. “I missed you, too. We have so much to talk about. I…” I looked up and fell into Roark’s glimmering eyes. “How did you find me?”
Jesse stepped to my side and stuck two fingers in his mouth, releasing a high-pitched whistle.
I heard him before I saw him. The scrabble of toenails. The low whine. My pulse raced as I spun.
Link stood some thirty feet back and let go of Darwin’s collar. In a blur of black and tan fur, Darwin tore away from the group of men and raced toward me, his tail straight out and his tongue swinging from his panting mouth.
I met him half-way and fell to my knees as he leapt against me with his paws on my shoulders. I fell back, laughing at the feel of his slobbery tongue on my face, his thick coat between my fingers, and the whip of his tail as he drove his big head against my neck.
Gripping his furry cheeks, I pressed my nose to his muzzle. “You found me, huh?”
“He rode with his nose out of the window.” Jesse ran his hand lovingly down Darwin’s back. “He went crazy whenever we missed an exit or turned the wrong way.”
I kissed the space between Darwin’s huge brown eyes, smiling at the mystery of this amazing animal.
My smile grew bigger when a curvy pair of long dark legs stepped beside me.
Shea gripped my arm and yanked me to my feet. “You look like shit.” She pulled me into a hug and said, softly, “But I’ll take this over the alternative. Oh honey, your boys…” She sighed. “They’ve been out of their minds.”
I closed my eyes, my heart sinking with the news I’d yet to share with them. I should just blurt it out. Rip off the Band-Aid.
When I opened my eyes, Jesse and Roark were watching me, each wearing his own private smile. They felt what I felt, that overwhelming joy of completeness. The Drone was dead. We stood on a fortress that would protect us indefinitely. And we were all alive, breathing, together.
With two words, I was going to decimate their peacefulness.
I’m pregnant.
Say it, Evie.
With a quick scan, I glimpsed a number of familiar faces. Link, Paul, Eddie, and Hunter, they were all here. Dozens of men lingered in the distance. Link’s legendary army. I shook my head with a small grin, then leaned around Shea, seeking out Michio.
He stood across the street that traveled over the dam, enveloped in Roark’s hug. Fuck, my chest swelled at the sight of that. But when Michio raised his head, his eyes were still hardened with torment. He was waiting for the bomb to drop, knowing that Jesse and Roark were moments from feeling the anguish he felt now. I swallowed around the ache in my throat.
“I need a shower,” I announced, stalling. “And a toothbrush.” Such a coward. “And a bed.” Large enough for four people. Good God, how would that work?
I reached down and ran my fingers through Darwin’s hair, seeking his strength. It was going to be a long night.
I stood in a large public restroom beneath the surface of the dam and stared down at the filthy rags that hung from my body. After the near-death events of the day, a cocktail of hormones and adrenal fatigue tingled through my system and numbed my limbs.
The Drone was dead. The cure for nymphs had been dispersed. My guardians were here, with me, all of us together. And I was pregnant. Now that my life was no longer in immediate danger, my focus had radically shifted. I needed a place to safely have my baby. And I needed my guardians to be her home.
Walking through the bowels of the dam without restraints or guards had allowed me to look at its monolithic, protective wall with new eyes. Elaine had said I would love it here. Maybe the rapist bitch was right. I ached to tell her so while I cut out her tongue and stuffed it up her foul ass.
On the way down here, Shea and Darwin had run off to investigate the dozens of rooms and miles of tunnels. I wanted to explore with them, but my guardians and I had more pressing matters. Like washing all the death from our bodies. And talking. We all had questions.
The door to the hall was propped open, and there were no barriers blocking my view of the three of them. The rumbling of their voices floated over me as they ironed out security details with Link. The barricades needed to be rebuilt. The guards needed rotation schedules. And the breeding facilities needed to be found.
I’d kept the cotton wrap secured around my neck and torso to ward off questions about the bite mark and bruises until we were alone. God, I both longed and dreaded to be alone with my guys. If only we could skip the how’s and why’s of what had separated us and jump straight to the part where we made up for lost time.