Duke (The Henchmen MC 5)

I had given kids thoughts here and there in my life. But it had never been a pressing thing. But being around Maze, Janie, and Summer's kids had given me a new appreciation for them. I wanted them. And at the mention of having them with Duke, however new things with us were, I felt my ovaries explode a little at the idea.

I showered away the soreness of the grueling workout and changed into my black yoga pants and a black tee.

"Water bug," Ferryn greeted me as soon as I walked out, scooting inside, closing, and locking the door.

"Lo asked if you could meet her down in..." Summer started, squinting like she was trying to remember something.

"13A," Maze supplied.

We had, eventually, figured out that all the hallways that had freaked us out upon first arrival were actually named and numbered, painted with their titles in the corners. So if you needed to get to 6B and found yourself heading toward 7B, you knew you had to go the other way. It was actually a pretty good system.

"Weird. She said she was heading out. She came herself?" I asked.

"Yep," Summer said, and if I wasn't mistaken, her eyes were twinkling a little.

Figuring she was maybe going to ambush me somewhere along the way to test my skills, I started out, hands curled into fists, aware of every creak along the way.

But she didn't jump out at me.

I went into the container in question.

It was a room.

About three months before, Lo had come upon a homeless vet on the street and had invited him to Hailstorm. But he had issues with the barracks so she had set him up a room in his own container. It wasn't much, just a twin bed and a nightstand and trunk to put his stuff in.

Unfortunately, Mike was severely unhappy and took off to go live back on the streets.

Lo still wasn't over it. She had her people looking for him everywhere.

"Lo?" I called, the container dark except the small LED sconce right inside the door.

"No baby," a voice that was decidedly not Lo's called.

My belly dropped and fluttered at the same time, a strange combination that had me going back a step on an indrawn breath.

My back slammed into someone else.

I turned my head to see Lo standing there.

She flicked on a light and pushed me forward, going back a step into the hallway and slowly closing the door with a smile.

I turned back and found him standing there.

"Duke?"EIGHTEENPenny"Did you know that Lo is a hopeless romantic?" he asked, oddly, head tipped to the side, focusing solely on my face.

Meanwhile I was drinking him in.

Every single inch of him.

He looked tired.

His hair was tied back, a couple strands had fallen free and he tucked them behind his ears. I had a sudden, almost overwhelming urge to go over there and free the rest of it, run my fingers through it.

"I have seen her with a bunch of smutty books," I agreed, leaving out the fact that I had borrowed one on my third day at Hailstorm and had maybe become the slightest bit addicted. Okay, totally addicted. I may or may not have been reading one every single day.

What can I say? I needed some distraction.

"So when Reign finally agreed to let me leave the compound for a bit and I showed up here just to be able to share some coffee with you or some shit, Lo decided that wasn't good enough. She apparently had a spare room. And she called and convinced Reign to give me the night."

"I get you for the whole night?" I asked, feeling my heart swell up and trying to push it back down in case I misunderstood.

His smile went up slow and sweet.

"It won't be nearly enough," he allowed. "But it's more than we have had in far too long." He watched me for a second. "You gonna come over here and say hi or what?"

Just like that, my feet came unstuck.

And I freaking flew at him.

I hit him bodily, his arms going around me and lifting me up off my feet, crushing my body to his so tight that my air got caught in my chest. His arms were still around my shoulders and hips, worried about my back.

"I'm not so delicate anymore," I said against his chest.

"See those guns you got now," he agreed and I could hear a smile in his voice as his hand went to squeeze my bicep. "Gonna be kicking my ass soon."

I giggled. Actually... giggled at that.

"Yeah, try calling me a nerd now," I said, with a grin. "But that's not what I meant," I said, pulling back slightly so I could look up at him. "My stitches came out a while ago."

The reaction was a mixed one. At first, I saw happiness. But if I wasn't mistaken, it was followed a bit by disappointment. And I guess, in a way, telling him that reminded him how long it had been since we had seen each other.