Seventeen
COMP
I see the devastation on Sunny’s face as she takes in the message on my chest. This, this right here, is why I never wanted her to see it. If it was up to me, I would have kept my shirt on until I could get it covered. I already plan on getting with Cutter to figure out how to cover it when it's all healed up. I refuse to let Sunny be reminded of this shit every day. I reach up for her as her face crumples, and I pull her to me.
“No, you're hurt,” she tells me, trying to pull back, but I'm not letting her go. No way in hell I’m going to let her believe for even a second this was her fault.
“Baby, listen to me. Look at me,” I tell her, but she shakes her head as the tears pour. “Sunshine,” I say in a warning, my voice deep and commanding. Her head snaps up, and I smile. Hmm… well, nice to know she naturally understands my tone.
“I need you to listen and listen good. I want you to hear every single fucking word I’m about to say,” I tell her, waiting for her acknowledgment. When she nods her head yes, I continue.
“I’m going to tell you this one time, and I want you to listen. Listen good. This was not your fault. None of this was your fault. There is no way for you to control his actions. He’s a crazy motherfucker, and not in the protective way Loki is. He’s fucking evil, baby. Nothing you can or could have done would change that. He gave you the most precious gift when he gave you Paisley, but it takes work to be a dad. It takes time, effort, and love. He may be her father, but he will never be her dad. I would take this pain, these scars, a million times over, every day for the rest of my fucking life if it keeps him from getting to you, Sunshine. I refuse to let him get to you or Paisley,” I tell her, looking straight into her eyes. I want her to see the truth of that statement in my eyes.
I can tell she doesn’t want to believe it. She’s taking this all on herself. I can't let her do that. I do the one thing I know will take her mind off this whole situation. Although it's not entirely selfless. I’ve been thinking about doing this since the moment she parked outside the compound. I lean in, taking her mouth in a hard kiss. Immediately, she opens for me, giving me a taste, and I moan at her flavor. Damn, this woman might be the death of me, but it’s a fucking amazing way to go.
I slide one hand into her hair, tugging so she slants her head, and she’s fully under my control. My other hand slides up her thigh. Fuck, she’s so soft. I want to taste her all over. I reach for her ass, squeezing tightly, but when she shifts, she brushes up against my gunshot wound, and I grunt.
“Fuck, I’m so sorry. What the hell am I doing? You’ve just been fucking tortured,” Sunny says, freaking out. Quickly, she hops off of me, stands by the bedside, and runs her fingers wildly through her hair.
“Believe me, sunshine. Torture of their kind was nothing like the torture of getting you on top of me and no shoving ten inches fucking deep,” I grind out, adjusting my hard cock. Her eyes shoot to my movements, and she blushes wildly before turning her back to me.
“I-I uh… I need to go check on the kids,” she says before rushing from the room.
I have a feeling her sudden departure had nothing to do with seeing my dick, though, and everything to do with her feeling guilty about what just happened, and I refuse to let her feel that way. That was on me, not her. Plus, I would take the pain for ten fucking lifetimes if it meant I had her pussy snuggled up tight to my cock again. I sit up and groan when the pain finally hits me, cutting through the lustful haze.
“Lay the fuck down. You realize you almost fucking died, right? I'm sure you can take a fucking break,” Grease says, walking into my room with Hitter and Swift right behind him.
“First, let me say Grease is right. You need to rest and stop trying to get out of the fucking bed. Grease has been handling your duties,” Swift says, and before I can argue, Grease speaks up.
“Yeah, yeah, I might not have the experience you do, but I know my way around a fucking computer and a wee bit of code. Believe it or not, I actually know what HTML is,” Grease says, making me try to hide a smile from his smartass remark.
“Fine, but for how long?” I ask, only prepared to give them another day at most. I need to get back to work, and recently, my priorities have changed. Don’t get me wrong, I took Sunny’s case seriously before, but I still focused on Bash’s issues, too. That shit will now have to wait. My full focus will be finding every crumb I can on Sunny’s ex and his whole fucking family. I want that family tree chopped the fuck down and turned into toilet paper so I can wipe my ass with it. I won't rest again until they are wiped from the face of this earth.
“Grim says a week at the least. You had a lot of shit happen to you, brother,” Hitter says, speaking up.
“A WEEK! FUCK THAT!” I holler, sitting up fast, then wince and groan when it hits nearly every one of my injuries.
“A week, Comp. That’s an order,” Swift says sharply. Any other time, I wouldn’t make a peep. An order from my Prez is cemented into me. I would follow him to the grave on just his word. But this time is different.
“Prez, he is still fucking out there. I can't take a week and let him get that much closer to Sunny and Paisley. With all due respect, I can't fucking sit in a mother fucking bed while he is after them,” I tell him, staring him down. He gives me a hard look.
“You won't be any good to them if you are dead because you were stubborn, couldn’t heal right, and got an infection. There are too many things that can go wrong. I won't risk your fucking health or your life,” he tells me sharply. Again, any other time I would show my respect, I would back down and give in. Not this time.
“What if it was Piper?” I counter with a hard look. He narrows his eyes back at me, staying silent longer than is comfortable. Still, I will not flinch under this pressure. I will stand my ground for Sunny and for Paisley. For my family.
“You know what and who Piper is to me. You ready to claim them? Both of them?” Swift asks, raising a brow in challenge.
It should be a simple answer. Yes, of course I fucking do. They are perfect, both of them. They are everything, and I couldn’t imagine my life without them in it, but if I claim them, they are stuck with me. I always swore I would never take an Ol’ Lady. No one could fill that role for me… but I knew the minute I saw Sunny, I knew if anyone could fill it, it would be her.
My worry isn’t if I want them for the rest of my life.
My worry is, will they want me?