Chapter 22

Road trips are not my style, under the best of circumstances. Being trapped in a confined space with a perfuming omega, two psychopaths, and Ward makes the trip even less tolerable.

I briefly consider banging my head against the window until I pass out. Unfortunately, my mind has always been my greatest asset in life. It's not worth the risk, even if I'd like to claw my own eardrums out.

If Grady and Kane aren't fighting, then Annika is moaning so loudly, my cock feels like it might explode.

After Kane busted Ward's lip at the first rest area, I decided to keep the tidbit of information about Ranger supposedly wanting Annika and me to marry to myself. The two had a lovely tumble in the grass. I told them they should watch out for dog droppings, but I'm surrounded by cavemen.

I do intend to tell Ward at the first moment of privacy that we get. He's bonded to my future wife, if Ranger has anything to say about it. At some point, I should likely come clean to Annika as well. It probably doesn't matter one way or another. We had to leave, and the ceremony never took place.

That's not to say he won't try to force it again in the near future, but once we make it to Virginia, he can explain his ludicrous plans himself.

"We're stopping for the night, and that's the end of it," Kane growls.

"Or you could give me a little trust and let me drive?" Grady offers, pulling on his T-shirt. His jeans are still undone. I'm still baffled at how he, Ward, and Annika have managed to have such copious amounts of car sex. Neither of those alphas are teenagers, but they sure do seem to have the stamina to bounce back like one.

Not that I have issues with performance.

Christ.

I'm losing my mind.

"I could take a turn if you prefer." Ward twists in the front seat to look at Kane.

"It's dark. We still have nine hours to drive, and I haven't slept in two days. I have a friend who is expecting us," Kane growls. "End of discussion. We all need rest, or we won't make it to Kentucky to begin with."

I frown, trying to determine who made him the boss. It feels safer to deliver her directly to her brother in Virginia, but my family's estate in Kentucky will have to do while Ranger gets his house in order.

"Got it, boss." Grady chuckles.

Good God, I need some space from all of this.

Kane stops at a small hotel in an even smaller town in Kansas.

We end up with two adjoining rooms.

Kane and Grady head to grab food from a nearby restaurant and touch base with Kane's contact. Ward passes out face-first on his bed before he can even shower.

Annika is in the attached room, but I believe she hops in the shower, based on the sound of the water running.

My phone rings, and I pull it free from my pocket. I'm expecting a call back from my father. He handled my frantic call, begging for help cleaning up my home, as well as I could expect. His fury was palpable, even through the phone. I'm not sure what his plans are, but he's on the warpath with the Andrettis as his target. My only concern is what he'll expect from me in return for his assistance.

A frown crosses my face as Ranger's name taunts me. My head shakes, but I click the button to answer. "Hello."

"I've heard from Kane, but not a peep from you," Ranger says in a humor-lined tone.

"I was under the impression he would be updating you on our movements."

"He has." Ranger chuckles. It's an eerie sound that makes my stomach drop. "I just wanted to congratulate you. It's not every day you get married."

"What?" I choke out. "We had to leave before?—"

"The minister was just a formality. Mostly, I needed Sparrow to come to terms with things. It's always best to show her, not tell her," he says. "The paperwork was electronically filed, and we should have copies with the fancy little seal by the time you make it to Virginia."

"You know your sister is about to go into heat any day, right?" I say to distract from the fact I'm pretty sure I'm on the verge of having a panic attack.

I am physically attracted to Annika, but marriage is not something I take lightly. It's very difficult not to tell him where he can shove his outlandish ideas.

"I have been warned," Ranger says blandly. "I would like to never be told of such matters again, but I've got an omega in my home currently in the same state. The smell is horrifying. Worse than a three-week decaying corpse, or even the time I accidentally perforated the small intestine while?—"

"Yeah, I get the idea," I say, combating my own queasy feeling. And this is why I have to keep my mouth shut. I have no interest in being his next victim.

"Well, you should likely inform my sister of your marital union. I'll update Kane once it's safe for her to be in Virginia." He hangs up, and I toss myself down on the edge of the empty bed.

This is a disaster I don't even begin to know how to fix. It's been a long couple of days, and traveling all day didn't help a thing.

I need a shower.

Maybe to jerk off a time or three. My system is still all out of whack from scenting Annika's pussy all fucking day.

Shoving myself off the bed, I aim for the bathroom and start the water before moving back into the room to undress. I toss my watch on the nightstand and pull off my clothes, piece by piece. My duffel bag is next to Ward's near the chairs at the small table. I dig around for sweats and toss them over one of the chairs.

A shriek fills the air coming from Annika's room. I stride over to grab Ward's gun from the table and jog through her hotel room. The bathroom door is open several inches, and my forearm slams against it.

"What's wrong?" I growl, yanking back the shower curtain.

"Oh, thank God," she says, pointing at the wall a few inches over her head.

There's a substantially sized spider, and Annika's soapy form flies at me as she tries to climb out. Shoving the gun down on the counter, I help her wet body safely out of the tub.

"A spider?" I chuckle, shaking my head.

"A seriously giant spider on steroids," she says, tossing an arm over her soapy breasts. "Yes."

I saw her stab a guy in the cock. She claimed it was accidental, but she also wasn't afraid of murdering someone. It's kind of adorable seeing her afraid of a medium-sized arachnid voyeur.

I twist the shower head until the water runs over it. It is stubborn, so I cup my hands and dump a fair amount over it until it falls and disappears down the drain.

"Well, that's great," she says with a huff. "What am I supposed to do now? I'll never be able to pee in this bathroom, let alone step into that shower again."

I snort, cutting off the water. "I was just about to pop into the shower in my bathroom. The water is already running."

"So, you've already checked for creepy crawlies?" There's an adorable smudge of soap on her cheek.

"I'll check for you before you climb in," I offer, grabbing Ward's gun. Clearing my throat, I gesture toward the door. She strides off without bothering to wrap herself up in a towel, and my head falls back, shaking at the ceiling. It sure would have been nice if Ranger could have clarified if I'm supposed to be treating her like my real wife.

I drop the gun back on the table I pulled it from and guide Annika into the small bathroom.

Yanking back the curtain, I give it a solid once-over. "I believe you're safe."

"I thought that last time too," she grumbles, throwing a leg over the edge as she climbs into the shower.

I extend an arm, offering it to her since there's no bath mat.

She takes it, a sly smile crossing her face as her gaze slides down my chest. "I don't want to take up all your hot water. Want to share?"

My God, do I ever.

I'd also like to avoid being slaughtered by Ranger for touching his sister. Grady's bondmark is still red on the side of her neck. If anyone is going to suffer, it'll be him.

"Or not," she whispers, moving to grab the shower curtain.

I block it with my forearm and shove my boxers down with the other hand. "I need to speak to you, anyway."

This might be the perfect opportunity, since she won't be able to run away. Her lips turn down, but she shrugs and turns to rinse off her front. My half-hard cock sways as I climb into the small shower behind her.

She's got a perfect ass, and the sight of the little creases under each cheek isn't helping my dick to behave. Then again, if what Ranger said is true, she's my wife. Dealing with that man is a mind fuck, under the best circumstances.

"Okay, so, say what you need to say." She spins to face me as steam billows around her shoulders. The way she looks up at me from under her dark lashes seems to steal all thoughts from my mind.

My instincts don't like that Ward and Grady have claimed her, even if I have no right to be annoyed. Her thick lips push together, like she's waiting for something.

Christ.

She's going to hate me—to completely blame me for her brother's actions.

No matter how hard I try to force the words out, they won't come.

Maybe I've been spoiled in life. She hasn't even offered me a hint of the hot water cascading around her lithe shoulders.

"Might I rinse off? You did offer to share." I quirk an eyebrow.

"Yeah." She laughs awkwardly. Her bare skin presses against mine as we slide by each other in the tiny shower. My head tilts back into the warm spray. "Okay, so speak. It always puts me on edge when someone says we need to talk."

Well, that's a completely reasonable feeling. "I spoke to your brother shortly before coming to save you from the spider."

She nibbles at her lower lip, where Ward put his fucking bondmark. "Okay, and?"

"And he said something that I can't confirm, but I think it would be a mistake to keep it to myself." I frown as she grabs the provided bar of soap, ripping it from its packaging and making a lather in her hands.

"I feel like I'm going to get gray hair before you elaborate on what that is," she says, putting the soap down before planting her hands on my pecs.

"The night my home was attacked, I spoke to Ranger. He stated that my marker had not been paid in full and wouldn't be until I delivered you." My eyes widen as her soap-covered hands work down my abs.

"Okay, that's logical. What part can't you verify?" Her fingertips tease over my hip bones, and my cock jolts.

"He said a minister would be arriving the next morning to officiate our wedding." My face twists into a grimace. "Only, we were attacked and left in a hurry."

"Why would he want me to marry you in the first place?" she asks, squinting up at me.

"He believes my last name will provide you with additional protection from your enemies."

"Okay, huh." She swipes her hand over my pelvis as her forehead wrinkles. I'm convinced she's too distracted by what I said to notice she's dangerously close to touching my cock. "What did my brother do for you that you owe him such a substantial favor?"

I'm supposed to be staring at her face. This is an important conversation, and we haven't even gotten to the biggest part yet. So, why are my eyes glued to her tight nipples? Even the curve of her hips seems burned into my peripheral vision.

Her head tilts even farther as she pats my lower stomach. "Cas?"

Jesus Christ.

Hearing her call me Cas does something strange to my chest. The overpowering urge to grab her shoulders and push her to her knees hits me out of nowhere. It's such an inappropriate thought, but that doesn't stop my cock from throbbing with a painful ache.

"Cassian, what did my brother do for you to make you owe him such a huge favor?" She repeats her question, looking slightly annoyed.

That look only succeeds in making her more attractive, even with her wet hair plastered to her face. I've always dated very agreeable women. I thought I liked that they allowed me to take the lead and rarely pushed back.

So, why do my thoughts fly to the way she yanked me down in my kitchen? I was shocked but impressed by the way she handled herself.

I don't even think I'd mind if she wanted to shove me to my knees to eat her delectable pussy.

"Cassian?" she prompts again.

I sigh, spinning around to rinse off.

"When I first branched out on my own, I wanted nothing to do with my father." It might have been hypocritical because I took the first half of my inheritance, which was technically dirty money, but after that, I built my empire on mostly legal business ventures. "My father's enemies didn't care that I wasn't him, or that I wanted no part of any of their grievances. Your brother helped me remove one particular threat." I turn back to face her, grabbing her hips and reversing our positions once more.

She groans, tilting her head into the spray of still-hot water. "That's not exactly confidence inspiring, considering you just said he thinks your last name will give me a certain level of safety."

I chuckle, grabbing the bar of shitty hotel soap.

"I made a similar point." I nod to her. "May I return the favor?"

She licks her lips as her blown pupils meet mine. "Yeah, go for it."

My fucking God.

I ache to toss her against the wall and kiss the fuck out of her. My mouth waters as visions of her pinned to the tile with her legs over my shoulders while I devour her cunt run through my head. My dick is equally enamored with the idea of knowing what it would feel like to slide inside her. Once my beard is thoroughly coated in her pussy, I can pop up, spin her around, and mount her doggy style.

Annika's chest rises and falls rapidly, and I finally remember I'm supposed to be helping her clean up.

I reach out, brushing the soap over her stomach. She's not thin, nor would I consider her overly curvy.

Essentially, she's fucking perfect.

My fingertips work over her soft skin, and my heart races.

"I guess we're lucky that attack happened, huh?" She laughs, looking up at me from under her lashes.

Something in my system snaps.

I growl, lifting her, using her soapy hips as leverage. She doesn't fight me as her back slams against the wall. My mouth dips to hers. Her scent is potent, despite the soap and water. I growl into the kiss as my cock slaps around her thighs.

Fuck me.

She really is trouble.