Reviving Bloom (38 page)

“I wasn’t going to fight you, Tennessee.”

“You weren’t?” He ask
s
clearly surprised.

“No, I was just going to tell you I love you.”

“I love you too.” I pull his face closer to mine and kiss him letting our lips p
rove how much we mean to each other.

A cough c
o
m
ing
from behind us pull
s
us apart, “Umm I hate to break this up, but I thought you might want reminded
that
your
brother
is in full view of your little show. And he really doesn’t want to see his sister and his best friend trying to swallow each other
’
s tongues.”

I
bury
my face in Pike
’
s chest to hide my laugh. Pike stare
s
at his friend and sa
ys
, “Get over it, brother. She’s my mate and I’ll probably be kissing her in front of you a lot.”

“Ok
ay
, just saying you wouldn’t like it if I was sucking on your sister
’
s tongue in front of you
,
” Tucker
says
holding up his hands in surrender.

Price walk
s
back in and laugh
s
, “You better not suck on Emily’s tongue at all. Kit would skin you alive.”

“I was just trying to explain
the
situation
you two put me in when you latch
ed
onto each other at the mouth
. I wasn’t really going to make a move on Emily
,
” Tucker grumble
s
as he stomp
s
out of the room, apparently deciding he c
a
n’t be around Pike and my show of affection any longer.

I c
an
feel Pike silently laughing against me as he force
s
out, “Come on darlin’, let’s head home.
We wouldn’t want to sicken anyone else when we decide to become attached at the mouth.
”

“Stop being an ass!” Tucker yell
s
from outside the room.

“Tennessee, stop messing with Tucker and take me home
,
” I demand curling deeper into his arms.

“Anything you want darlin’
,
”
Pike promise
s
placing a kiss
to
my fore
head.

Louie came and interviewed me at our suite and Pike held my hand as I told him everything that happened from the time I opened the door till Pike pulled me into his arms at the motel. He told me that charges w
o
n’t be pressed against me since I
was
defending myself
. He also
promised that they’d be searching for Kyran, and then he left Pike and me alone.

I took a shower to wash away
the grim
e
of the day and gave my sundress to Pike with the order to have it burned.
After I got dressed
,
I join Pike in the living room on the couch. He pull
s
me into his side
.
I wrap my arms around his middle and la
y
my head on his shoulder.

“I’ve been in your life a little over a week and you’ve been in harm’s way twice
,
” Pike sp
eaks
to the room instead of looking at me. I c
an
feel through the bond how he
’
s blaming himself for my second abduction.

I let go of his waist and climb up to straddle
his lap so we’
re
face to face. I wait for his ocean blue eyes to meet mine and then I sa
y
, “Pike Lukas Masterson, just like you told me two hours ago, you will not blame yourself.”

“Bloom, I shouldn’t have left you alone.”

“You will not go there. We all thought I’d be safe in this room and even after what happened I still feel safe here.”

He searche
s
my face and then ask
s
, “How? After everything that happened here today, how can you still feel safe here? How can you still trust me to protect you?”

I position my hands on each side of his face and
rest my forehead against his, “
I know we’ve discussed this before but let me explain again.
Pike
,
when you found me I was dying. There was nothing but blackness around me and an empty hole where my heart should’ve been. Then you showed up and you revived me. You gave me life again and the darkness went away. If I can trust you to bring me back to life after a year of being dead to the world around me
,
I have no doubts that I can trust you to keep the life you gave me safe.”

Tears
a
re streaming down his cheeks and his hands
ha
ve
a firm grip on my waist. He capture
s
my
mouth
with his in a demanding, passionate kiss. My hands move into his hair to hold him tighter to me and we d
o
n’t break apart until we
a
re both desperate for air.

He
’
s breathing hard when he sa
ys
, “I don’t know what
happened
in my life
that made me
deserve you, but I’d go through it all again as long as they guaranteed me I’d be on this couch in this moment with you.”

Chapter 35 – Bloom

~ I think we have another mating coming on ~

“Darlin’, Bonnie’s here to see you
,
” Pike holler
s
from the living room.
It
’
s the day after I
was
abducted and we’
ve
had almost everyone in t
he pack come by to check on me, including Kit
and
Emily. But I’ve
been waiting on two people to show up and Bonnie
i
s one of them.

I g
e
t up from the chaise lounge on our balcony and walk into the living room. She r
u
n
s
up and grab
s
me into a hug as soon as I’
ve
made it in the door. I h
o
ld tight to her and s
ay
, “Bon, I’m ok
ay
.”

“If you ever scare me like that again I’ll kick your butt,” she trie
s
to threaten but her voice
i
s too shaky for it to sound convincing.

“I’ll refrain from being kidnapped again, so you won’t have to worry,” I tr
y
to joke.

“Stop being a smartass, Bloom Michael! What would I have done without you in my life?”

She’
s
barely finished her sentence when
I fe
el
the butterflies in my stomach start to go crazy. I look at my best friend and smile.

“Tennesse, I think we have another mating coming on.”
I
t
ell
him through our connection.

“Are you sure?”

“I’d bet money on it
,
”
I
confirm
confidently.

“I wonder who he is.”

There
i
s a knock on the door and I look at Pike and grin, “I think we’re getting ready to find out.” He d
oes
n’t say anything but move
s
down the hall to greet our new guest.

Bonnie look
s
at me and sa
ys
, “Bloom, I don’t like that look. It better not mean what I think it does.”

“Don’t worry Bon.
I now know what you’d do if I’m not here.”

“No, Bloom. I’m serious you can just tell that gut of yours to go to hell, because I’m not gonna be mated to one of the big bad.” She
’
s walking backwards away from me.

“Pike, you better hurry up and get whoever it is in here, because his mate is getting ready to jump out the window to get away from him.”

He still didn’t say anything but I could hear his deep laugh coming through our bond.

“Who is it?”

I hear Pike
’
s laughter coming from the hallway leading to the front door as he walk
s
back towards us. Moments after he enter
s
, still laughing, Tucker enter
s
watching his friend like he
’
s having a nervous breakdown.

“Sis, I’m not sure what’s up with your mate, but you might have to have him committed
,
” Tucker sa
ys
shaking his head.

Bonnie who up till that point
h
ad still been trying to retreat from the room sp
i
n
s
around
and c
o
me
s
face to chest with Tucker.

He grip
s
her arms to steady her and inhale
s
deeply causing her eyes to grow to the size of saucers. He look
s
down at her and his voice
is a growl when he states,
“You smell like fresh apple pie.”

“W-w-what?” Bonnie stutter
s
still in shock.

He pull
s
her closer to his chest and declare
s
, “You’re mine.”

That snap
s
Bonnie out of it. She step
s
back out of his arms and snap
s
, “I hate to tell you Fido, but I don’t belong to anyone, especially not you.
And I do not smell like freaking pie.
”

Tucker t
a
k
es
a step closer and she t
a
k
es
another step back, “You’re my mate, Bonnie Anne Harris.”

“How d
o
you know my full name?” Bonnie ask
s
stunned.

Tucker tap
s
his finger to his temple, “We’re connected now. You’re my mate, Bonnie-bean.”

She glare
s
and poke
s
him in the chest with her index finger, “Oh no Big Bad, there will be no giving me pet names. There is no Bonnie-bean. There is only Bonnie and she is not your mate.”

“Bon
….” Tucker beg
i
n
s
.

“No. You just need to forget it. I. AM. NOT. YOUR. MATE.” She turn
s
to me and sa
ys
, “Blu, I’ll see you later. Stay out of trouble.”

“I’ll try Bon
,
” I answer trying to contain my laugh.