Jaded Hearts
Chapter 35

Taylor

Matt and I left the hotel early Saturday morning for our flight back home. I slept the entire night, but I still woke up exhausted. Matt had to carry me from the car to the plane because I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

He buckled us in while we waited for takeoff, but I just wanted to eat something, crawl in the bed, and pass out. Shane walked into the cabin a little after we sat down, full of way too much energy.

“Italy was incredible. The men here made me easily forget about my man problems back home. I almost didn’t want to leave. So, why are we leaving early?” he asked, looking over at Matt accusingly.

“That’s my fault. I’m not feeling too well, so we decided to head back home,” I admitted.

“Aww, well I hope you feel better soon. What can I get you?”

“Orange juice, please?”

“Sure! You know what, the Luna lived for orange juice when she was …” Shane stopped speaking mid-sentence and looked back at me from the kitchen area.

“Goddess?”

The look on his face made me chuckle. “What, Shane?”

“You don’t feel well, huh? And you look tired too.”

“Thanks for pointing that out. Can I have my juice now, please?”

“Is it a boy or a girl?! I don’t know which one would be sweeter. Maybe one of each! That would be perfect!”

“It would not! I’d have to carry and deliver them. One is fine, thank you.”

“So that’s it, right? There’s a little baby on board?”

He was bouncing on his toes and smiling so big I was afraid his face would split in two.

“Yes. Now, orange juice … PLEASE!”

“Here, doll, have all the juice you want. I’ll go get your breakfast ready. And Gamma? Congratulations, you’re going to be one of the sexiest daddies.” He winked at Matt before he walked back to the kitchenette.

“I’m not sure how to take that,” Matt said, confusion all over his perfect face.

“Definitely a compliment. Don’t worry.”

Matt reached over and took my hand, then began to softly massage it. “Did you enjoy yourself, baby?”

“Yes, I really did. Besides the horny check-in clerks and the run-in with the Tyson, it was perfect.” Then I remembered what Morgan had told me about Tyson. I forgot to tell Matt.

“Speaking of Tyson, he asked Morgan if the three of us could go out for lunch when I get back home.”

“No. She’s free to go—I doubt Kade would try to keep her from her family, but not you. No.”

Normally, I would be annoyed at someone telling me what I can and can’t do, especially after dealing with it the entire time I dated Drew, but this was different. It wasn’t possessive; it was protective. And sexy.

“I’m happy I had already decided against going. Morgan told me what they talked about. This lunch would just be a waste of time. I can’t and won’t give him what he wants.”

“And that’s you, isn’t it?”

Matt’s voice had an icy edge to it, which sent chills down my spine. When I just looked at him, he spoke again. “Are you what he wants, tesoro?”

“Yes.”

I could barely speak, not with the way he was looking at me. Or the way his hand was slowly moving up my thigh.

“That’s too bad for him then, isn’t it? Who do you belong to, baby?”

“You. I belong to you.”

By this point, he had reached up and cupped one of my breasts in his hand, gently squeezing and massaging it through my shirt.

“That’s right, my sweet girl. Now stay away from Tyson, at least until we get Drew taken care of. I can only handle one horny a*****e after my fiancé at a time.”

“Keep your hands to yourself, Matt! It that sexy s**t you’re doing right there that cut my vacation short. Make sure you’re buckled up. We’re about to take off,” Shane yelled over to us.”

“I swear, sometimes he’s worse than Kade!”

I laughed and stroked his face. “Yet you miss him, don’t you? You miss all of them.”

“I really do. Those guys are my family, and they mean everything to me. Even the little ones. I love them all.”

“I know they feel the same way, so let’s get home to see them.”

* * *

The flight home didn’t seem as long, probably because I slept the majority of the time. It wasn’t even noon when we landed, and I couldn’t understand how people could constantly travel without going crazy.

“Did the call with the Sporazos go alright?” I asked. Matt sent me to lie down after I had breakfast, so I really had no idea what went on after that.

“Yes. Xander joined in, and we were able to easily pick the locations. Hopefully, we should break ground by the end of the year.”

“That’s good. Do you need me to do anything? Send any emails, confirm something, maybe?”

“No, baby. You did exactly what I needed you to do. But on Monday, you can do all the emailing and confirming you’d like. How about that?”

“Works for me. You know who I’m so excited to see?” I was sitting in the passenger seat of Matt’s truck, bouncing and quietly clapping my hands.

He glanced over at me and laughed. “I thought I was the only one to make you this excited, so I have no idea.”

“Alex! I missed him so much. His smell, his laugh, and his chubby little everything.”

“He’s already got you under his spell, huh? That was quick.”

“We just understand each other, that’s all.”

I looked out the window as we passed the woods where Matt had first shifted into Logan. It seemed so long ago and made me realize that I hadn’t shifted into Ariel yet.

“Matt? Is it safe for me to shift since I’m pregnant?”

“This early on, yes. But once you start to show, it’ll be dangerous for the baby, so you maybe have a month before you’d need to stop.”

“Cool. Will you show me how to shift tonight? I’m ready now, and I’d really like to do it at the waterfall.”

He smiled, then pulled my hand to his lips for a k**s. “That where you first met Logan.”

“That spot is special. I want it to be special for all four of us, so that’s where Ariel should make her first appearance. What do you think?”

“It’s perfect. I’ll be happy to show you.”

When we pulled into the garage, I couldn’t help the smile on my face. This place had so easily become my home, and I was happy to be back. We walked in to the sounds of Alaia yelling at someone, but I didn’t know who. When I walked into the common room, the guys were sitting on the couch with their backs to me, but I could tell they were in trouble.

“What is wrong with you three? Is Matt the only one here with any f*****g sense?!”

I leaned over to Matt and whispered, “What’s going on?”

He just shrugged and walked over to Alaia. “Hey, bean, what’s got you so fired up today?”

He turned to look at the guys, and his mouth almost immediately formed an “O.”

“Damn, that’s brutal. I’ll just leave you to it then.”

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head before taking my hand and pulling me upstairs. I saw Morgan out of the corner of my eye, and she just waived and signaled that we would talk later.

“What did I miss? She’s about to murder them!”

“Probably a sparring session gone wrong. Xander prefers bare-knuckle fights when we spar. It’s more realistic, but it’s also hell on your face. Alaia hates it when we spar and end up bloodied and bruised, so we’ve really cut back on the face shots. Someone probably got carried away this morning because all three of them look like s**t right now.”

“You’re wolves. You’ll heal.”

“Not Alexi. And we heal pretty fast, but not immediately. If she doesn’t heal them, it’ll be a day or two before they’re back to normal. A couple of weeks for Lex.”

“They looked like they had been sent to the principal’s office,” I laughed.

“They had. Bean can be scary when she’s in mama mode. But as the Luna, she’s always in that mode, so …”

“Why are you the ‘golden child’?”

“She’s only had to heal me once; I learned my lesson quick. Alexi and Xander are too competitive when it comes to one another, and Kade’s a ‘bad boy’ who does whatever he wants. So, they stay in the principal’s office.”

“Aww, so my baby’s the sweet teacher’s pet?” I asked while straddling him on the bed.

“You know that’s one of my fantasies. You dressed up as the sexy teacher while I’m the student staying after class for some extra tutoring.”

He grabbed on to my a*s and pulled me closer to him while grinding his bulge between my thighs.

“Anatomy tutoring?” I leaned down and gently bit his mark, making him growl.

“f**k yes, I love anatomy.”

“Maybe s*x education too?”

When my tongue traced the outline of his lips, he snapped and jumped up to spin and pin me to the bed. Before he could, Kade rushed in the room and tackled him, leaving me falling to the floor. Luckily, both their reflexes were lightning-fast, so they each reached out and grabbed on to one of my hands before I had the chance to land.

“Kade, what the f**k man?! I swear, if she or the baby had gotten hurt, I would’ve murdered you. Are you alright, tesoro?”

Matt slapped Kade’s hand away from mine and lifted me to sit on the bed.

“I’m fine, Matt. There’s no need to murder anyone.”

“My bad, Taylor. I didn’t mean to knock you over like that. I just missed my buddy and was happy to see him.”

“I’m not too happy to see you, at least not right now. We were busy,” Matt said, clearly annoyed.

“You’re always ‘busy.’ I’m actually proud, man. Anyway, your dad’s on the way. There’s an update on the trackers, so get your a*s up to Xander’s office. Fifteen minutes.”

Kade leaned over and kissed the top of my head before he turned to leave the room.

“I’m still going to murder him. Either that or I need my own place.”

“Can you get your own place? I thought you had to stay here?”

“We could, but it would have to be close by. But I’m not leaving. I love it here.”

“Looks like Alaia healed him. I’m sure Morgan will appreciate that.”

“She should’ve left him how he was. A*****e.”

“Don’t worry, baby, we’ll pick up where we left off. Meet me in your office when you’re done with your dad, and I’ll give you all the extra tutoring you can handle.”

He scooped me up, and this time, successfully spun and pinned me to the bed.

“Wear your highest heels and that skin-tight, knee-length black skirt of yours. Oh, and make sure the girls are up and on full display.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “This really is a fantasy of yours, isn’t it?”

He buried his face in my cleavage and rubbed his hands down my sides and up my legs.

“God, yes! Once I get rid of my dad, it’s just you and me.” He lowered his face to mine and captured my lips in a deep, delicious k**s that stole my breath away.

“Wow. Um, let me go say hello to James, then I’ll get into character.”

He pulled me up to my feet and rushed through the halls and up to Xander’s office. When we burst in, James wasn’t there, but everyone else was.

“Hey Taylor, I didn’t know you would be joining us,” Xander said, looking over at Matt quizzically.

“Oh, I’m not. I was just hoping to see James and say hi, but I don’t want to interrupt. I’ll just see him another time.”

“Nonsense, sweetheart. You’re not interrupting, and I’m actually glad you’re here,” came a voice from behind me. I turned to see Matt’s father standing behind me. He really was ridiculously handsome. I could see where Matt got it from.

I walked over and gave him a big hug while a few other guys came in behind him and found seats. The room was packed with wolves, and to be honest, it was really intimidating.

“Maybe Matt can bring me by the house tomorrow, and we can all have lunch? I don’t want to keep you from your meeting to long,” I said, looking up at him.

“That sounds perfect, sweetie.”

He then turned to his son. “Matt, would you mind if Taylor stayed for a few minutes? I have something I’d like her opinion on.”

“She has things to do, Dad. Is it necessary?”

“Very. We’ve tracked down someone who was hired to spy on her.”

A few low growls could be heard in the room, which made the hairs on my arms stand up. Matt came over and pulled me behind him, shielding me from the already neutralized threat. “Who was it, and where are they?” he asked.

“He’s a hitman and a very good one at that. One of the best, actually. Professionally, he goes by the name Hades, but I believe Taylor here knows him as Tyson.”

I felt myself stagger and sway. Tyson was a hitman? And he had been hired to kill me? But why would he do this? He was always so sweet when we were kids.

“Where the f**k is he?!”

Matt was livid, and he was ready to rip Tyson to pieces. And James? Cool as a cucumber.

“My men picked him up at the airport today. He’s down in the cells. He’s been in better shape for sure, but he’s still alive. For now.”