Swamp Kings 2 (Bayou Bishops #20)

CHAPTER TEN

Beth strangled Maggie’s hand on her left and Bishop’s hand on her right as they rode in silence toward Breaux Bridge after midnight. It felt like years since she’d been out of the swamp, not months. “What do you think we’ll see?” she whispered to Bishop, trying to hide her fear.

“Probably nothing. I called our people ahead to let them know we’re passing through.”

“Why would you need to tell them?” she wondered.

“So they don’t think we’re a threat.”

She considered it with absent nods. That made sense. “Are they having a lot of that?”

“Every town looks like a war zone, I’m told,” he muttered. “But this vehicle is armored if we run into trouble. ”

“What about Spook?” Maggie leaned and asked. “I think it’s stupid he’s on a bike. That’s not armored,” she said, like he didn't know that.

“He’s got that sneaky bike,” Bishop assured softly. “Nobody’ll hear him coming or going. He’ll be fine. Oui?”

She stared at him then leaned back against the seat, not convinced and Beth couldn't blame her for the terror she could feel with her own emotions in hyper overdrive. And now sure wasn’t the time to tell Bishop about the flourish of symptoms that erupted after their last fun time with his teeth. She would keep close track of them and let him know when they weren’t in the middle of possibly dying. All of them weren’t terrible, just… mostly different. Her only real concern was the baby. He seemed to be moving a lot more and she couldn’t help but worry why. That initial ability to feel he was safe was being swallowed up by all her other symptoms. Especially dread, terror and fear for their lives.

They finally made it to town to find Bishop’s description to be exactly right. Dark as can be, no sign of life other than the boarded up remnants of a once flourishing community. She strained to see out the tinted windows while all her symptoms picked up. Horny, hungry and hot—literally hot. With a hyper at the front of each. Every nerve in her body decided it was a good time to ache and throb and demand to be fed till her vagina cried about it to the point of needing an effing pad. Which she did not have.

“Ten and two,” she heard Fathom mutter.

“See them,” Fetch said as they all peered in those directions.

“Ten and two?” Maggie whispered.

“Ten o’clock and two o’clock,” Beth whispered. “It’s military language for giving direction.”

“Are they okay?” Beth wondered, watching the ten o’clock one stagger as they passed.

“I don’t really know and can’t stop to check,” Bishop muttered, still craning his neck, watching.

He finally turned forward, the hard expression on his face pushing all the wrong buttons. He was distraught and needed her compassion and support, not her hand on his cock like that could make all the bad stuff go away.

He suddenly looked at her and moved his mouth right against her ear, his hand holding her head. “You are driving. Me crazy. I can feel your need to fuck.”

“Oh God,” she barely gasped as he moved back, his dark eyes locked on hers as he did. Now she suddenly needed the bathroom! Having his hot breath and those words in her ear was apparently a new sex move and she was on the verge of something. “I need the bathroom, I’m so sorry,” she barely whispered at him. “I used it just before we left.”

“We’ll be at the Creole King’s in ten minutes. You can wait?”

She nodded at the part question, part command, hoping she didn’t develop some new symptom that proved her wrong.

He leaned and put his mouth to her ear again, sending all her symptoms through the roof. “The next vehicle will have privacy. I will see to your needs there, Ma Petite. Oui?”

She nodded, feeling like a frickn horny baby. “I’m fine, I don’t… have to have it,” she sputtered quietly, shame adding a hundred more degrees to her already overheated skin. Was she running a fever? God, she hoped not.

She peered through the windows next to them, seeing the dark shadow of trees moving quickly by. “Where are we?”

“About five miles from their estate. From there, we’ll get east bound and zigzag slightly along rural roads.”

She recalled the way he looked at her when he’d said that stuff in her ear. She’d read it as horny angry, but was it for real angry? Did he think she could help what she was feeling and just being dramatic and emotional? She needed to tell him that wasn’t the case, but if she did, he’d start pressing for all those other symptoms and likely drag everything out, giving him more to worry about.

The vehicle turned onto another road finally, and she peered around heads in front of her to see a wall of dense foliage open up to let them in. “I can't imagine who would be traveling this late,” she said to him. “This was a good time for a trip.”

“Oui,” he muttered, taking her hand in both of his. The contact was electric and brought a wave of warmth through her body that slammed into her hormones which then triggered a random onset of crying.

She quickly hid her face, turning it toward Maggie, only for her to see it. “Are you okay?” she panicked.

Beth nodded because her throat was sealed shut, fat sobs pushing to make a complete childish fool of her. Not now. Hold it. Hold it!

“It’s just...my nerves, my—”

“What’s wrong?” Bishop demanded, of course hearing.

She turned to him, wiping her face, fighting to even her breaths. “I was just telling Maggie it’s the pregnancy and the excitement, it’s all normal,” she barely choked out, getting her head and face pulled into his shoulder. “I'm sorry,” she said in his neck as he shhh-shhh’d and whispered, “Nuh plur pah, ma- beh-bay. Nuh plur pah, nuh plur pah.”

****

Once out of the vehicle, Beth took several deep breaths of the sharp cold air. The sudden urge to strip naked and get some of that on her burning skin literally bulldozed her.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Maggie asked while texting then sliding the phone in her back pocket and hurrying to her. She took both her hands and Beth closed her eyes, suddenly exhausted.

She was too scared and too tired to hide. “I don’t know what’s happening.”

“Neither do I,” she whispered, her tone catching oddly. “Usually when I touch you, I can… sense things, see things, but now…” Her narrowed gaze brought a sudden panic in Beth. “Ouch,” Maggie whispered, tugging out of her hold.

Beth gasped, bringing one hand to her mouth and tucking the other under her arm. She glanced around her, making sure Bishop wasn’t around before barely whispering, “Something’s wrong.” She clenched her eyes shut as the horrible words left out of her head and went into the world .

Maggie quickly embraced her, petting the back of her head and cooing softly. “I don’t have bad feelings,” she said, sounding confused still. “I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

“What do you see, anything at all?”

Maggie continued petting her, keeping her close. “It’s like… a blank canvas. Very puzzling to me.”

“Are you sure it’s never happened before?” She felt her nod as the sound of Bishop’s voice yanked on her guts. “He’s coming.”

“Everything will be okay,” Maggie whispered, keeping hold of one hand. “Have you talked to him?”

She shook her head. “I will though. When things settle down.”

Maggie gave a gentle scolding look at that bullshit.

“When we’re not on a death mission,” she clarified in a whisper. She turned and wrapped her arms around Bishop as all her excitement for the trip became a bitter drip in her stomach .

“They’re bringing our rig around.”

Rig? A deep revving hum filled the air behind her, growing louder. She turned to see the giant…something with huge tires and black armored body the size of a bus headed their way. “Holy moly,” she whispered, getting Bishop’s deep chuckle.

“You’ll be able to sleep soundly through the whole trip in that.”

She looked at him, smacking his chest. He gave his sexy grin then pressed his lips so very softly on hers, making her forget what she was fussing about. “Talk to me, angel,” he said, sliding the back of his fingers along her face. “I know something’s wrong and you’re not telling me because you’re trying to be strong and not worry me. But I swear to you, not knowing only makes me create the problems myself and...” He tilted his regretful look at her. “My creative powers are kind of a big deal, so I’ll make up a lot worse than any reality could.”

She wanted to laugh but the idea of telling him made her nauseated and regretting she had to even go on the stupid trip. The large truck-mobile pulled to a stop behind her, and she turned, staring in amazement as Maggie grinned with a wow expression.

The door opened and King Dalk sauntered over to the triplets and held the keys up.

Fetch plucked them from his fingers like delicate fruit, while the three of them gave a “thank you” in that neat trio way they sometimes did.

The King gave a single nod and turned to Bishop. “Safe travels, brothers. Keep communications open. We’ll have birds in the sky in five minutes should you need.”

“Merci Bou coup,” Bishop said as the triplets climbed into the front driving part of the machine while another Creole King stood at a middle side door.

“A quick tour before you leave,” he said as they made their way over with Seer and Zodak.

The Creole King took five minutes showing them the luxury on fourteen wheels but it was the door at the rear leading to a private master suite that brought a gush of tears to her stupid eyes. The world is ending and you’re crying over a bedroom! You’ve got to stop! Stop it now!

She discreetly wiped off the disgrace and jacked her big girl panties up real high. Not too soon, either. Bishop’s gaze found her, a probing hot dagger to her vagina. Jesus. She couldn’t. Too much.

She turned entirely away from him and inspected the rest of the space, then decided to move toward an amazed Maggie on the other side of the room before her muscles got froggy and jumped on him. Belle Eveque. Mature wife. Strong wife. A shield .

“Isn’t this amazing?” Beth whispered to her, feeling Bishop behind her as Maggie nodded in awe.

“Sit,” Bishop urged her when the vehicle slowly moved forward, his hands directing her into the seat next to Maggie. “I’ll be in the front,” he said, eyes hard pins on her. “Text me if you need anything. Don’t get up unless you absolutely have to, we’re not sure what we’ll be encountering. I’ll send Seer to keep you both company, oui? ”

She nodded at him, forcing a normal smile as Maggie whispered, “Sure.” Bishop eyed the lie on Beth’s mouth, and she smiled bigger right as the baby punted her kidney, her gasp getting his frustrated muttered French then a quick kiss on the cheek before he headed to the front.

The second he was out of sight, she released a breath and closed her eyes.

“What is wrong?” Maggie demanded, pulling her phone out and looking at it, then quickly texting.

What wasn't wrong. “Is that Spook?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “He swore he’d keep in contact every five miles.”

Beth nodded, steadying her pulse and breaths as she leaned back to give the baby room to do the same.

“Are you hurting?”

Beth shook her head. “No, but… I worry he might be for some reason. God, I wished he’d been able to do the ultrasound.”

“I’m sure they’ll have it fixed by the time we get back in two days.”

She did her slow breathing exercises, exhaling with a, “You’re right. I need to stop worrying, it’s not helping.”

“Are you hungry, maybe?”

Her mind suddenly lurched, like it had forgotten it was even a thing to be. “I…” She paused to consider, and her body erupted like a forgotten prisoner, starving to death. She looked around. “What do you think they have?”

Maggie shot off the couch and took the two steps to the little kitchen. “Let’s see,” she sang, trying to lighten the mood. “Oh!” She presented a can. “Fruit cocktail for the little momma?”

Her stomach churned as her hunger reared. “Yes, sounds amazing.”

“I’ll get a fork,” she hurried, finding one in the second drawer. “And a little bowl.”

After searching two cabinets, Beth said, “I can eat it from the can.”

“Found it,” she announced, then quickly popped off the lid and dumped the contents into a little metal bowl. “I’ll keep looking for more while you eat this. See what all we’ve got in our happy fancy camper.”

Beth gobbled up the food, feeling like it had to do something good for her all while Maggie called out her findings. “Chips, please,” Beth said when they appeared in the list. “Do they have anything with vinegar?”

“How about dill pickle?”

“Chips?”

“Yep.”

“Yes, please.”

She opened the little fridge. “Water, juice, orange, apple, some kind of mango.”

“I’ll take an apple. And orange.”

She brought them to her. “I saw crackers too if you want that.”

“Do they have anything with protein? Something… meaty.”

“Let me keep digging,” she said, like a kid on a quest. “Hey, we should see what they have to watch on TV. Would be a good distraction, let you relax. Oh! You could take a shower!”

“I doubt Bishop will want me doing that while driving through the end of the world.”

Her eyes popped. “Definitely not.”

Beth felt like a dead end problem. “But… we can se e about that movie if you want.”

“Yes!” Her childlike excitement took a bite off her tension. She needed something or somebody else to focus on, she realized. Somebody with needs she could actually figure out and do something about.

The door at the front opened and all her tension returned in a flash. Just Seer. The sight of him sent more tension on the run. She gave him a smile and patted the seat near her. Ever since she’d gotten pregnant, his presence always had a soothing effect. Almost like something inside her had opened when she became a mother. Something drawn to spiritual things. Probably the responsibility of another human’s soul. She was glad, though. She’d been meaning to get to the whole God part of life. He was always near, but in the background or on the back burner of things you needed to do, even intended to do which was why they were on a burner to begin with. Many things in her life didn’t even make it to the burner, they sat in some weird mental storage, waiting to be sorted and trashed.

“Babysitting duty?” Maggie asked as he sat next to her .

Beth smiled at his signature humble grin that no doubt caused many women to fall immediately in love with him. “Was ready for more entertaining conversation.”

“We got snacks,” Maggie leveraged, listing off the goodies she found.

“I’m fine,” he said, with a hand raise. “How’s our favorite mothers faring? Enjoying the accommodations?”

Maggie appeared horrorstruck. “How do you know?"

He eyed her with an angled head. “I saw.”

“I haven't told Spook yet.”

“I know,” he said, his tone gentle and understanding. “Congratulations.”

Her exuberance tripled till her face beamed. “Thank you!” She went super serious. “What did you see?”

He let out a big chuckle, putting his arm on the back of the couch. “That you carried life.”

Maggie hurried to the couch, sitting next to Beth. “What else! Did you see the gender? When did you see? Can I touch you to try and find out?”

“Whoa,” he laughed, shaking his head. “Please forgive me but I don't feel right doing that until Spook knows.”

She sagged a little, her smile still beaming. “Fine,” she surrendered then shot up. “Getting a text, excuse me!”

She hurried to the other side of the room and Beth smiled at Seer while opening her chips.

“Can I do anything for you?” he asked, his gentle, knowing tone busting right through her flimsy tough act. “Oh, mah ange,” he soothed when her face crimped with torment. He pulled her against his shoulder and cradled her head, opening the flood gates.

“I'm falling apart,” she sobbed into his chest.

“You're not falling apart,” he assured.

“I am, I have all these weird symptoms since... since...”

“What symptoms?” he gently pressed, petting her head. “Did you tell Bishop?”

“No,” she wailed through jagged sobs. “He doesn't need that kind of stress, it’s... silly stuff I'm sure, I’m just... I’m more everything, more whiney, more needy, more everything he doesn't need me to be while the world is burrrrning," she finished on a wail, feeling Maggie now in on the comforting. “This isn't me, I'm not this weak,” she cried. “I'm stronger than this.”

“Yes, you are,” Maggie assured. “Maybe a shower will help, would you like to try that?”

“I can't!”

“Why, mah ange?” Seer pressed softly.

“Because it’s too dangerous to do that while driving, he told me to stay put and not move unless I had to.”

“Let me talk to him, mah-mah par-fay,” he urged, getting her immediate head shakes.

“No, please.”

“Just that you need a shower, nothing else. The hot water will relax you. You and your baby need all the extra help when stresses are high. Let Nonk Samuel help, oui?”

There it was. The way out. Helping Seer feel better was the lifeline. Nonk Samuel. The sweet title brought a smile and she sucked in controlled breaths and nodded. “Okay. But... just about the shower.”

“Oui, oui,” he cooed, still petting her.

She suddenly didn't want him to move. “Can you wait a minute? Let me... catch my breath.”

“Take as long as you need, petite fleur.”

Beth couldn't bring herself to move from where she was, so she didn't. And somewhere between catching her shit and calming her nerves, she slipped into dreamland and found herself watching their baby, building again. Only this time, he was older. Like ten! As she watched his handsome face, earnestly building on a strange tower as tall as he was, so much warmth filled her and peace. He was so beautiful. He had the exact hair as Sahvrin and skin coloring. He suddenly paused building, staring at his work before his eyes slowly turned to her. He had mommy’s eye color with daddy’s shape. Their gazes connected and she gave a gasp of awe at the sharp tug in her chest. His eyes turned dark then, just like Bishop’s. Full of so much passion and power. He was seeing her. And letting her know that he was and could. He returned his attention to his project, the earnest determination settling on his handsome features again. “I’m hungry, Mah-Mah.”

Beth jolted awake, immediately hearing Seer’s “shhhhh, you're okay.”

She eased back, disoriented. “Did I...”

“Fell asleep, oui.”

She eyed Nonk Samuel’s peaceful, contented face.

“Remember my superpowers when my nephew is born and being la-frawnsh. Bring him to me.”

“La-frawnsh,” she mumbled, her mind cloudy.

“Means fussy. How do you feel?”

She considered that, searching herself for the accurate answer. “Hungry. How long did I sleep?”

“A power nap of fifteen minutes.” He got up and went to the small kitchen. “What can I get you?”

She realized she wasn't hungry for food. “Can you get Bishop? I need to talk to him.”

He eyed her briefly from the fridge, concern edging his blue gaze. “Oui mah-ange.”