Jaded Hearts
Chapter 95

Matt

Two weeks in the sun and looking out over crystal clear water with Taylor wasn’t enough. An entire lifetime wouldn’t be enough.

But we were only one week in, so I had seven more days to have this amazing woman all to myself with zero distractions or responsibilities. We slept when we wanted, ate when we wanted, and made love as much as we possibly could.

I’m sure it was all in my head, but s*x with her was so much more intense now that she was my wife. Everything with her was more intense—it was an incredible feeling. After an extremely active night, I woke up with her naked body stretched across my stomach, still passed out.

I moved her hair from her face and just stared down at her for a few minutes. So perfect.

“Stop being a creep, babe. I can feel you staring at me,” she mumbled.

“Who’s a creep? You said, ‘I do.’ I can stare at you for the rest of our lives now.”

“Husbands can be creeps too.”

I gave her a quick k**s. “Are you hungry? What did you want to do today?”

“I’m starving. It seems like every time I pick up a fork, your d**k gets hard, and my meal’s cut short. Maybe I should just eat with my hands from now on.”

I laughed and rolled her over, settling myself between her legs.

“You don’t have to be holding anything to get me hard, baby. The sound of you breathing, or the little crinkle of your nose when you’re about to sneeze, everything about you is a turn-on to me.”

I lowered my lips to hers and slowly entered her slick folds as she sighed and wrapped her arms around me. This was my happy place; there was nowhere else on the planet where I was more content.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you more.”

I kissed her face and neck while I made slow, passionate love to her. There was no need to rush; we had all day.

Her m***s and sighs of pleasure fueled me and filled our bungalow. Eventually, we would step out into the Tahitian sun and explore, but for now, it was just me and her. Nothing else mattered.

* * *

Taylor

I didn’t think there was anything better than waking up to the man I love, then spending a couple of hours in bed wrapped in his arms. I was becoming spoiled and wanted every single day for the rest of my life to start this way.

Matt had been insatiable from the moment we left the reception, and I was more than a little sore and worn-out, but I wasn’t going to tell him to stop. He was just a man enjoying his wife, even if it was at the sake of her eating and sleeping.

So, after another perfect start to the day, we ordered room service, then FaceTimed the family back at home. I missed them all, especially Genesis and Tyson, but this was time for Matt and me alone, and I wouldn’t dwell on who we’d left in California.

“Hey, beautiful. How was your call?” Matt asked as he walked out of the bathroom.

“It was great. Giana and James are having so much fun with the baby. I don’t know if they’re going to want to give her back to us when we leave.”

“They’ve really loved being grandparents. I swear it’s been their life goal for as long as I can remember.”

“I can see that. And I called Morgan too. Home is relevantly quiet, and she says it’s boring without us there.”

He looked over to me and smiled. “Call him, tesoro.”

“Call who? I made the calls I needed to make. I’m ready for breakfast and whatever else you have planned now,” I replied.

“You miss him, and I know he misses you. So, call him, baby.”

I chewed on my l*p for a few seconds. I did miss him. Did that make me a terrible person? Missing my boyfriend while on my honeymoon with my husband? It just felt wrong, so I didn’t say anything about it.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. I stole you away for an entire two weeks, so I can spare fifteen minutes. I need to check on a contract for work anyway.”

I squealed with excitement, making Matt laugh and shake his head. “You better squeal like that for me, or we’re going to have problems.”

He opened his laptop and began working while I excitedly picked up my phone to FaceTime Tyson. When he picked up, I couldn’t help the huge smile on my face.

“Is that smile for me, sunshine?”

“Yes! I miss you so much. How are you doing?”

“I’m surviving, but I miss you too. Are you having a good time?”

“The best time. It’s so pretty here, and it’s nice to be able to wake up and get dressed whenever I feel like it.”

He listened intently as I described the water and the weather and the food, acting like it was the most interesting stuff he’d ever heard. I loved the way he paid attention to my every word. It really let me know how much he cared about me.

“Sounds like you’re having a blast. Maybe I should take you off to a tropical island soon.”

“I absolutely would not turn down sun and sand with a gorgeous man.”

He laughed, and I realized how much I’d missed the sound since I’d last heard it. Damn, I loved him.

“Well, it’s a date. You just tell me where and when, and I’ll make it happen.”

There was a knock on the door, which I knew could only be our breakfast being delivered. Matt went to go open it and rolled in the cart full of yummy deliciousness.

“I see your breakfast has arrived, and I wouldn’t dream of keeping you from it. Go eat, princess. I’ll see you next week when you get home.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too, baby. Tell the husband I said hi.”

He gave a quick salute, then ended the call.

“You feel better now?” Matt asked.

“Yes. I didn’t know just how much I needed to see his face.”

“Call him whenever you need to, okay? This is our time together, but I would never want to keep you away from Tyson.”

“Thanks.”

Matt and I enjoyed our breakfast, then ventured out to explore the island and all that it had to offer.

* * *

Tyson

I didn’t expect the call from Taylor, so when I got it, I had to play it cool. She needed to believe that everything was fine. I would not worry her, not on her honeymoon. Not after all she’d been through. When we hung up, I clicked back over to Aires.

“Sorry about that, Air. I just couldn’t pull myself away from that gorgeous face of hers.”

“My oso is in love! It’s a beautiful thing. All is forgiven.”

“Show me the picture again.”

She flipped her camera, and there he was, clear as day. Andrew Witt, alive and well.

And a f*****g vampire.

I couldn’t believe it. I’d put three silver bullets in him, then set the house on fire. How was this even possible?

“That’s him, but it makes no sense. I killed that prick; I was standing no more than ten feet away. I never miss a hit.”

“From what you’ve told me about the entire situation, and from what I’ve gotten from the guards, Edwards started working on turning him the moment he stole him from the cells. You and the wolfies f****d him up pretty bad. He was close to death when he was rescued, and it was only vampire b***d that could save him.

“At the house, you shot him with silver, but he was already more vamp than wolf at that point, so you just knocked him out. Edwards took his body from the house before the fire got to him. I don’t think it was the original plan, but it’s obvious now.”

I ran my hands over my face. “I need to go talk to Xander, and I need to tell Matt. How much time do you think we have before s**t hits the fan?”

“A few months, maybe? They’ve turned him, but he doesn’t know the first thing about being a vampire. That will take time to learn, time that we’ll use to take them all out before he becomes a problem.”

“Thanks, Air. I’ll give you a call later tonight to see what we need to do.”

“You’re welcome, mi amor. Talk to you soon.”

When we hung up, I got a text from her with Drew’s picture. He was still missing his arm—nothing was going to bring that back—but his teeth had grown back and were sharpened. And his eyes were b***d red. This was already a f*****g problem.

After a long, meditative shower, I left my place and headed over to the packhouse, where Xander and Kade were sitting in the kitchen talking.

“Hey, Tyson, what’s up, man?” Xander cautiously asked when he saw me. Clearly, the look on my face spoke volumes.

“I just got a call from Aires. It’s f****d up.”

I passed him my phone with the picture of the new and improved Drew. When he saw it, his usually ice-blue eyes went black, and a massive growl escaped his chest.

“My office. Now.”

One of them must have linked Alexi on the way because he was waiting for us when we arrived.

“Please tell me this is all a sick joke, and we aren’t still dealing with that psycho,” he said.

I passed him the phone, and he had the same reaction anyone would expect from us.

“We have to tell Matt. He needs to know what’s going on,” I said.

“Why can’t we wait until they get back? They just got married. We can’t let Drew f**k up their honeymoon,” Kade replied.

“Because Taylor isn’t as safe as we thought. She may not be on his mind this very second, but who knows how long that’ll last. He deserves to know so he can protect his wife,” Xander stated.

He sat down and pulled out his phone. None of us wanted to do this, but we knew it had to be done.

“Hey, Xan, I didn’t expect to hear from you. Is everything okay?” Matt asked as soon as he answered.

“Not really. Is Taylor around?”

“She’s getting ready to zipline; they’re strapping her in now. What’s up?”

“We’ve got a problem. Check your phone.”

I sent him the picture and waited for him to receive it.

“What the f**k is this? Is this a joke, because it’s not funny. What’s going on?”

I walked closer to the phone, then told them everything that Aires told me. I didn’t tell them that I felt this was all my fault, though. I was the best shifter-hitter in the world, and I couldn’t even kill this a*****e. That was my own cross to bear.

“What am I supposed to tell Taylor? She was finally free from all this, and now we’re right back in it with a f*****g vamp?! We’re coming home; I’ll get on the next plane.”

“That’s what you’re not going to do. You’re going to let Taylor enjoy this last week of peace—don’t take that away from her. Aires said we have time to prepare, so that’s what we’ll do,” Xander replied.

“You guys expect me to act like everything’s okay for an entire week? I can’t lie to her. I can’t, and I won’t.”

“I didn’t say lie. None of us are trying to tell you how to communicate with your wife; I’m just asking that you try to let her have this week. She deserves it.”

“I’ve got to go and figure this out. We may come home earlier, but I’ll leave it up to her.”

“Sounds good. Just let us know.”

“Tyson, thanks for telling me. I can’t protect her if I don’t know what I’m protecting her from. I really appreciate it.”

“It’s the least I can do. Keep our girl safe and happy, and we’ll talk soon,” I replied.

When we hung up, Xander sighed and rubbed his eyes. “I’m so done with these two idiots. I’m going to enjoy ripping their heads from their bodies. They want a war? Let’s give them one.”