The Serpentine Butterfly Read online

  Barron looks to Gage a moment. “Why would she volunteer this information? Do you think that brother of yours is trying to plant a mole?”

  Emma’s head twitches toward Gage as if her own son were the mole in question. Really, Emma? Oh, ye of little faith.

  But God—what if he is? At this point, I’m just so thrilled to have him back I probably couldn’t care less. My one-track mind is screaming clothes off, Oliver! Hell, I’m ready to bark out all sorts of physical demands, and I just pray his poor back can take it.

  “What do you think, Logan?” Gage leans in. “Do you think Lex is setting you up? Or do you think she’s heard how vulnerable you’ve been and is ready to offer up a little physical comfort?”

  The room quiets down to a deafening silence.

  Giselle raises her hand as if we were in school. “I think that’s very nice of Lexy to offer Logan some physical comfort. Especially now that Gage is back, and Skyla can’t physically comfort him anymore.” She gives a few innocent blinks, and her mouth opens again.

  Oh my fuck.

  “I saw you behind the bowling alley.” She bites down on a nervous giggle. “Ellis says people don’t usually do those things outside, but I caught you!” she says it with the pointing-laughing enthusiasm of a three-year-old.

  Emma tweaks her head like a bird. “What did you catch them doing?”

  “We were going over numbers.” Logan clears his throat. “End-of-the-month stuff. I really should hire an accountant.”

  “Me, too,” Barron chimes, obviously trying to cover for our fictional coital misdeeds, and now I wish the ground would open, and I could fall through. Leave it to Chloe to humiliate me and ruin my reputation in one fell swoop. “Gage, if you need a supplemental income, I’m willing to bet you can earn the business of the bowling alley along with the mortuary. Just a thought. Isn’t that right, dear?” He glances to Emma, but she’s still too busy shooting her beams of destruction at me to notice. Not only am I the daughter-in-law she never wanted, but now I’m the female version of a philanderer as well.

  “I’ll think about it.” Gage rises, and everyone in the room follows suit.

  “You weren’t talking about numbers,” Giselle blurts out while looking at Logan. “She said you were checking her internal temperature with a special thermometer.” She turns to me accusingly.

  Oh God, I can’t breathe.

  Giselle widens her doe eyes at me. “Are you still hot-to-trot, Skyla?”

  Emma lets out a roar and tosses up her arms. “Oh, for God’s sake!”

  Logan opens his mouth as if to rectify the situation and swats the idea down before it ever leaves his lips.

  “Save it, Logan,” I sigh, exasperated. “She already thinks the worst of me.”

  Gage says his goodbyes as we speed the hell out of the house. Logan calls after us just before we get into the truck.

  “I’m sorry.” He looks from me to Gage. “I swear, I would take it all back if I could. Forgive me.” The hurt in his eyes is painful to witness. Logan meant those words with every cell in his body. I could feel the apology etching into my heart like fire over stone.

  “We’ll talk later,” Gage says rather unimpressed as he helps me into the truck. “Get what info you can out of Lex. I’ll talk to Wes. We need to shut this shit down. He’s moving faster than I thought he would.”

  Gage gets into the truck, and we take off for the Landon house.

  I watch as Logan grows smaller in the rearview mirror, and my heart breaks for him.

  Damn Chloe. As soon as she spits that child out from between her legs, I’m going to go off on her ass with a spirit sword.

  There has to be a way to kill the devil.

  Gage growls out a tiny laugh and shakes his head as we leave the Paragon Estates.

  It was as if he heard me.

  And I wonder.

  My world stopped the day my father died. It did. Time went on, I went on, but nothing was ever the same. Tad came into our lives, we moved to Paragon, all hell broke loose in this realm and the next, and I wish I could say the end, but I’m still here, moving through time without my father. The safe little girl that knew nothing of pain was forever erased the day we lost him.

  Gage and I head straight upstairs. He tries to hide his noticeable limp, as if his cane was merely for show, but I see it. I’ll be as mindful as I can of his injuries. Now that Gage is human—according to the father of lies—I’ll have to see where his thresholds are. I’m so very thankful I haven’t lost Gage. I’m not sure what’s brought him back to us—hell, he’s not sure what’s brought him back to us, but I am sure about one thing, this is indeed my husband.

  The rhythmic squeak of a mattress comes from the left just as we hit the top of the stairs, and Gage and I cast a suspicious glance at one another.

  “What the—” Drake’s room has been empty for a while, ever since he and Brielle moved into a trailer in the backyard. Drake and Bree are rolling in it. They have no need for cheap mattress sex in the Landon house anymore. I swing the door open, bracing for just about anything—even a chubby-cheeked toddler with a carpet full of blond hair.

  “Baby Beau!” I say, relieved. It looks like Mom and Tad finally gave him an eviction notice from his casket-slash-bassinet. He’ll be two in a few weeks, and he’s absolutely huge.

  He offers a toothy grin as he bounces up and down in a bona fide crib.

  “I can’t believe this is what we have to look forward to.” In truth, it terrifies me. Babies can be very demanding. All they do for the livelong day is dangle from their mother’s boobs and poop. Gah! My boobs!

  “Kyla! Out!” he coos, trying to latch on to me so he can hitch a ride out of baby prison.

  “Sorry, buddy. This is exactly where Mee-Maw wants you.” I offer a kiss to his forehead before we step out of the room again.

  “Think he’ll go to sleep?” Gage winces as we leave him in the dark to his own devices.

  “He’s a Count. He’ll probably think of ways to rule the world until he passes out.”

  We share a brief, quiet laugh on behalf of the Countenance, which isn’t really fair since we’re on the friends and family plan with that rotten faction. Speaking of which...

  Gage and I step into my bedroom, our bedroom, and I push my dresser over the door, old school.

  “I’ve got a faction meeting coming up, and I want you to come with.”

  “No.” Gage closes his eyes as if the thought of attending physically pained him. “I’m not allowed, and from what I remember neither are you.”

  “Well, I’m going, and I’m hoping you will, too.” I peel off his T-shirt in one quick motion, and he leaves his hands in the air as if daring me to inspect him.

  The breath vacates my lungs at the sight of him.

  “Holy, wow,” I marvel at Gage’s newly ripped body. Gage was muscular before, but this is definition beyond reason. “Being human suits you well.”

  “That’s exactly what’s happened.” His features sag for a moment. “I needed to rely on my own strength—all of that Levatio power—the Fem in me is gone, sort of.” He winces. “I’m only human in theory. Demetri doesn’t have the authority to strip my DNA, and apparently neither does your mother.” He pulls off my sweater, and a dirty grin blooms on his face.

  “I’m just glad you’re back.” I work his jeans open and glide my hands into the back of his boxers. Gage Oliver is hot both physically and literally. I let my fingers smooth over his flesh, his tight as a rock ass, and then grin up at him. “Speaking of back, how careful do we have to be?”

  He shakes his head. “Don’t think about it. I’ll be fine. It’s really just my leg that needs to heal now. My back can take anything you dish out. Mostly.”

  I cock my head to the side and crimp a smile. “Guess what you don’t have to dish out?”

  “A one-liner to get you into bed?” His lids hood over so low, all I see are two blue slits.

  “A condom. So, if that’s your pick-up line, you�
��re right.” I poke him hard in the stomach, pulling him out of his sexed-up stupor. “And how the hell did this happen anyway?” There go my emotions again. It’s like I’m ice skating, gliding a million miles an hour without a bit of control, from one end of the emotional sphere to the other.

  His mouth opens with promise, then closes with defeat. “I’m sorry. It was something Ellis said.” He walks me backward until I fall over the bed with him landing beside me.

  I swat him over the chest. “You know the first rule of dealing with Ellis is never listen to anything Ellis says.” I bury my face in his chest a moment before looking back up. “What did he say? I’ll need this info while I’m beating him later. Harrison is not going to get away with knocking me up—inadvertently.”

  “It was a back-to-front issue.” He winces, and those adorable dimples dig in, and I die at the sight of them. Dear God, have I ever missed this boy.

  “Front-to-back? Is this a condom thing? Is there another way to put them on? Wow, have we been using them inside out the entire time? I’m totally confused.”

  “No, actually, it was the night we tried—I tried—something new. You were quick to evict me, and, well, I couldn’t take the condom to the front so I flicked it off and went commando.” More wincing.

  “Oh. I do remember that.” I gently knock my forehead to his. “I guess Ellis was technically right, but he forgot one crucial detail—put another condom on.” I scratch his chest as the memory of that night swims through me. “You’d better fill Ellis in on that little detail, or your poor sister is going to be incubating a miniature Harrison before you know it.”

  “Ugh—no.” His hands ride to cover his face. “Let’s not talk about Giselle and Ellis. The visual—I can’t.”

  “Apparently, he can. We both know they’re doing it. You caught them firsthand, and I know for a fact Brielle has been mentoring her for months. And don’t even say you’re going to kill Bree because this is all that stoner’s fault to begin with. He’s the one that corrupted her—is still corrupting her. And how the fuck did Ellis manage to knock me up again?” I fall back and pull a pillow over my face.

  “Whoa.” Gage runs his finger up my belly. “I hate to sound like Dudley, but you might want to watch the language. And believe me—Ellis had nothing to do with landing that tiny being in your body.” He bows his face to my belly and delivers a searing hot kiss to my flesh. “It was all me.” He looks in my direction, his eyes tugging with sadness. “Skyla, I know this is life-changing, that perhaps you’re upset, but the baby, it’s already here.” He rubs a finger over my stomach. “I think we should find joy in this moment. I’m glad to be back, for you and for the baby.”

  “Gage.” I knot my fingers up in that slick, glossy mane of his. How I have missed every hair on his body. “I think you’re right. My head is all over the place, but I get what you’re saying. And I want to. I want to embrace this magic—this miracle—that we get to share together.” It comes out uncertain.

  “Have you been sick? Are you having cravings? I couldn’t stop thinking about those things while I was in Demetri’s hostage hospital.” His mouth covers mine for a moment.

  “I’ve been kind of sick, and, yes, I’ve been craving anything I can get my hands on. I’m sort of an equal opportunity foodie at this point.” I bite down on my lip, hard, as all kinds of paranoid thoughts run through my mind.

  “What’s the doctor say?”

  “I just took the test. I haven’t seen a doctor.”

  “That means I haven’t missed an appointment yet.” Gage is relishing this, and it warms my heart to see it. “We’ll find a doctor together.”

  “Perfect. And we’ll have to devise the perfect way to tell our parents. We should probably sew Ellis’s mouth shut in the meantime.”

  “Agree and agree. And we’ll have to figure out where we’ll live.”

  I glance around my tiny room. “I guess the butterfly room isn’t exactly the best place to have a nursery, but, hey, it’s all we can afford right now. Babies aren’t cheap.”

  That smile he’s been wearing all night deflates. “I’ll figure something out. Something that doesn’t involve Demetri.” He gently pushes my hair back. “I promise, I’m going to take care of you, Skyla.”

  “I’m not a hamster.” I give him a playful tickle. “We’ll do this together.”

  “I like the sound of that.”

  “How about less talking, more fucking?”

  “Language.” He gives a deep-dimpled smile, and my insides melt.

  “You do sound like Dudley.” I gurgle out a dark laugh. “And, actually, I have had one strong craving that I, nor anyone else, wasn’t able to fulfill.”

  “Anything. Name it, and I’ll have it here by midnight.”

  “You between my legs.”

  He raises a brow, amused. “Which part of me?”

  “This part.” My hand reaches down and caresses the blooming hardness in his boxers. “And this part.” I trace out his perfect, full lips. Gage’s lips are the envy of the world. His hair, those sea glass eyes—every part of him is the envy of the universe.

  “That’s funny. Those were the exact parts I planned on latching on to you with first.”

  “Really?” I tease. “Well, you just made this part and this part extremely jealous.” I point to the girls, each in turn.

  He leans over and offers a simple kiss to each of them over my bra.

  “My efforts are being hampered.” Gage reaches back and unhooks it, tossing the fragile lace across the room like a missile.

  “We forgot to turn off the light.” I glance up and try to will it off, but it simply dims and comes back full strength, mocking me.

  “Leave it. Everything is better with the lights on.”

  I suck in a quick breath. “Gage! You’re going to see all my bits and pieces.” I make a face. “I’m going to jiggle.”

  “Looking forward to it.”

  “I’m going to die of embarrassment.”

  “You’re going to love it. Besides, you’re beautiful. I want to watch you.” His eyes melt to mine, drunk off the idea of seeing me exposed.

  “That means I get to watch you.” I ride a finger up his rock solid chest, skin over steel. “But I’m still going to die of embarrassment.”

  “I’m going to worship you with my body.” He takes a gentle bite of my lower lip and pulls out slowly. The thought of Gage Oliver in all of his unearthly sexual perfection worshiping me with those rock-hard abs makes me heady in a whole new way. “And you keep breathing—no dying of embarrassment allowed.”

  “Sounds good.” My voice squeaks when I say it.

  His hand slips between my thighs, riding slowly home to where it belongs, where I need him to be, and his finger plunges deep inside me, inciting a dizzying rush that sends me into a high like I have never known.

  “God, I love you,” I pant as we struggle to evict the rest of our clothes.

  Gage and I put those carpeted, soundproof walls to the test as we start in on a wrestling match fueled by passion. His kisses drip with honey as I drink down the maddening wine of our love straight from his mouth. Gage moans into this kiss as if he’s waited a lifetime to place his lips over mine. It feels as if an entire eternity has passed in these last six weeks. My limbs secure over his body, my legs riding up over his back. I take the length of him into my hands—marvel at how hard, how outrageously long he is as I navigate him home, deep inside me. This right here, this moment with Gage, with his love filling me in every possible way is what it feels as I was born to do.

  I find it perfectly romantic that he was wondering how I felt with the baby, what I was craving while he was incarcerated in that light-driving, light-traveling nuthouse. Then it occurs to me—how did Gage know to wonder about those things when I didn’t get a chance to tell him that I was pregnant until today?

  And now it’s me who’s left to wonder.

  Morning comes with a violent roll of nausea as I groan my way to the bath
room. Gage finds me naked and retching into the toilet—worst nightmare affirmed. I suppose he was right. I had nothing to be embarrassed about last night. It’s this morning that would bring me ripe humiliation. Afterward, I gargle with that blue poison Gage likes to use religiously and moan my way right back to bed.

  “Here.” He sweetly hands me a bottle of water he found in the less-than-hygienic stockpile I’ve amassed in the crevasses of the bed. I wasn’t exactly keeping our room tidy while he was away. It wasn’t my top concern. “Is it bad?”

  Gage is so achingly handsome I once believed that just looking at his beautiful eyes alone had the power to heal any ailment—now, not so much.

  “No. It’s—” Another hard roll of nausea treks through me, and this time I simply groan my way through it. I’ve already given that damn toilet everything I’ve got. “It’s bad.” My voice shakes as I say it. I pull him in until his arms wrap around me. I’ve never needed Gage like I do now.

  “As soon as you’re able, we’ll head to the doctor’s office. In fact, I’ll look up a few right now.” He reaches for my laptop. “Only the best will do,” he says it with an uptick to his voice, because unlike me, Gage is blissfully excited about this baby. Not that I’m not blissfully excited—I am—it’s just hard to convey while my intestines are so diligently struggling to swim up my throat.

  “My insurance is Alta Pacific, so just those providers.” My voice is graveled and weak. I sound as if I’ve spent the last twenty years smoking a thousand cigarettes.

  “We should look into our own insurance. We’re married now, so it’s probably the best time to break from our parents’ policies.” He slides the laptop back onto the nightstand. “I’ll talk to my dad about it this afternoon. We’ll get something quick.”

  “No.” I twist into him, shivering from my naked jaunt to the loo. Gage tucks the covers around my back as he pulls me into the warmth of his body. “I want us to tell everyone at the same time. We’ll do it soon, I promise.”