22. Nick

Oona swims beside our boat as we high-tail it back to the docks. We manage to evade Jonah’s men, but we have a few close calls, and it’s hard convincing my eight-foot girlfriend that no, she can’t take on twenty armed guards all by herself.

The woman thinks she’s an invulnerable superhero, and that worries me. I have a lot of faith in her, but not even she is impervious to a hailstorm of bullets. She already got hit by one earlier, and while she can heal herself easily enough, we don’t want to press our luck.

We sneak her into the back of our headquarters, and Maurice immediately calls a group meeting in the rec room.

Oona stares at the pinball machines in one of the corners and startles when the flashing lights get a little too flashy for her.

“Oona, come sit with me,” I say, and pat the sofa cushion. Oona reluctantly tears herself away from the pinball machines and sits down next to me. I take her webbed claws into my hands and rub the back of her knuckles with my thumb.

“Maurice is your leader,” Oona says in her tongue, and I can’t help but chuckle at the flatness in her tone as she stares up at Maurice.

“Yeah. Maurice is our leader,” I say in her tongue. “And my friend.”

Oona glances behind the sofa at Kyle, Dwight, and Reese sitting at the bar. “And the hatchlings? What are they? His children?”

Reese sniffles into his rum and Coke while Dwight lifts a brow and asks, “What did she just say? Come on, man. Translate!”

I turn around to look at the three and say, “She thinks you’re hatchlings and Maurice is your dad.”

Maurice, who is mid-sip of his beer, chokes so hard it comes out in a spray. Kyle and the others immediately protest. Loudly.

“I’m twenty-two!” Kyle retorts. “C’mon, lady! I can grow a beard!”

“And I have a retirement fund,” Dwight says, shaking his head. “That’s cold.”

I laugh so hard tears stream from my eyes, and Oona, who hasn’t seen me laugh this hard before, knits her brows in concern. Leaning forward, I kiss her on the lips to reassure her. “It’s okay, sweetheart, I’m not in pain. It’s just … you took them down a few pegs, I think.”

“I have no idea what that means, and I don’t know what a peg is,” she mutters.

Now that we’re back in Sugardove City, I’ll be able to get her an actual thesaurus to help her with her vocabulary. We also have the internet, so maybe language classes won’t be so difficult anymore.

Maurice dabs at his mouth, then leans against the wall and says, “All right, all right. That’s enough. We need to talk about what we learned. First of all, congratulations to Nick and Oona. I’m glad that you weren’t talking out of your ass and making shit up.”

I raise my brows. “Wait, you thought I was lying about Oona?”

“Dude,” Dwight mutters. “You were talking about a lagoon creature.”

“I’m not a creature. I am a person,” Oona growls. Dwight flinches and goes deathly pale.

“He didn’t mean that,” Reese interjects. “You’re lovely, Oona.”

I lift one of Oona’s hands to my lips and brush them against her cool skin. “It’s okay, love.”

Maurice clears his throat. “Okay, that was a jest. No need for any bloodshed. I didn’t think Nick was actually lying,” he says, and there’s a twinkle in his eye as he looks at me. “But extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, I suppose. And thank you, Oona, for offing our nastiest competition. They’ll be scrambling for months trying to pull their heads out of their asses. And we destroyed their machines in the process, so they won’t be recovering any time soon.”

“Yeah, what was that all about?” Kyle asks before I can. I’ve been wondering about the alligators in the tubes since we found them. “They were experimenting on gators?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but the gators must have something to do with their Stim production,” Maurice says as he strokes his mustache. “I don’t know. We’ll probably learn more in the coming weeks. For now, we can take pleasure in knowing we fucked them over.”

The boys behind us lift their drinks in the air and chirp variations of “I’ll drink to that!”

“What is offing?” Oona asks.

I smirk at her and say in her tongue, “Killed. He’s thanking you for killing our enemies.”

“Oh,” she says, looking up at Maurice. “It was not for you. They threatened my mate.”

“A win is a win,” Kyle says.

Maurice’s eyes twinkle again as he laughs. For a moment, everything is good. I’m not sure how long it’ll last, but right now, in this moment, I’m happy.

“Now,” he says, then takes another swig of his beer. “We should celebrate. But first….” He takes a few steps toward Oona and me. “What do you two need?”

I blink. “Uh … what do you mean?” Honestly, everything I need is right here. My Oona, safe and sound beside me. It’s all I’ll ever need for the rest of my life.

Oona tenses beside me and she casts me a concerned look. “I need water,” she says. “I can’t be without it for long.”

I nod. This is true. She’ll need access to a large body of fresh water. There’s the channel right outside by the docks, but the current is too strong for that to be a permanent solution. She needs somewhere she can relax and let her hair down.

“We have a bathtub,” Kyle suggests, but I’m already shaking my head. “Yeah, I guess that’s too small, huh?”

“And the channel is too dangerous,” I say. “It was dicey the last time you swam in it, Oona. I can’t risk anything else happening to you. Besides, this close to the city and someone might see you.”

The lagoon is the ideal environment for her, aside from all the snakes and gators that give her grief. But those snakes and gators also provide her with a food source. In Sugardove City, there’s plenty of food to be had, sure … but I’m not certain what a human diet would do to her. I guess I could visit the shops and get her fresh fish, but that’s only solving one of our problems.

I take Oona’s hands into my lap and squeeze them as I look up into her dark eyes. Right now, they’re a muted brown, suggesting she’s calm but something is bothering her. “What do you want to do, sweetheart?” I ask in her tongue.

Oona doesn’t hesitate before saying, “A future without you in it is not a future I want. I’ll stay with you, no matter the cost.” I don’t understand her, and when I take too long to respond, she says, “Stay with you.”

Romantic, to be sure, and I appreciate it, but….

“But living with me here will hurt you. We don’t have the water you need, or a suitable food source.”

Maurice runs his fingers along his beard and murmurs, “There’s Sparrow Island, just south of here. It’s smaller than the lagoon, but it’s big enough that Oona could live there in relative peace and quiet. Start over.”

Sparrow Island is ten miles off the coast of Sugardove Lake and adjacent to Pine Crest Hills, a bougie area filled with rich assholes who own yachts. But it’s remote and closed off to the general public, and since it’s a popular spot for a species of endangered birds to nest, no one is allowed to visit the island without risk of being trespassed. It could work.

“As long as you don’t eat the birds,” I say. “I think it could work.”

Oona’s lips peel back into a small smirk. “I can leave the birds alone so long as there are fish and snakes. But will you be there with me?”

My heart falls into my stomach. I just got her back, and already I’m thinking about letting her go again. It’s for her own good, of course, because she can’t stay here in the headquarters. It won’t be healthy for her, I know this, yet my heart is already breaking at the thought of sending her off to that island alone.

I shake my head sadly and say, “I can’t. I can’t live on the island.”

Her eyes flicker from muted brown to a deep navy blue. Pure, unrelenting sadness. “No. I don’t want that. I want to stay with you,” she says in English.

“If that’s the case, then you two lovebirds need a place where you can roost together,” Maurice says as he rubs his chin thoughtfully. “Somewhere else entirely. Like … Pine Crest Hills swamp.”

“The swamp?” I say, blinking. “But what about the people who live there? Don’t you think they’d notice if Oona suddenly moved in with her human boyfriend?”

“Not really,” Dwight says. “Those people are weird. And they have a bunch of local legends that keep the townsfolk away from that area. I used to go to high school out there. It’s haunted, man.”

I snort and turn around to give him a withering look. “You can’t be serious.”

Dwight nods, his expression stoic. He’s being totally serious. “No shit. It’s haunted. That bog is full of ghosts.”

“And you want Oona and I to live there?” I scoff. “Thanks. That sounds really fun, living in a haunted swamp.”

Maurice says, “No, but you could get a place near the swamp. As for ghosts … no disrespect to your culture, Dwight, but I don’t put much stake in local legends like those.”

“No offense taken. Not many outsiders do. But they’re real. I’ve seen ’em with my own two eyes,” Dwight mumbles.

I sigh and put my face in my hands. “Ghosts, swamps, local legends … this is a lot,” I mumble. “But … then again, up until recently, I didn’t think someone like Oona could exist, either.”

“True,” everyone says in unison.

Oona pulls my hands from my face and smiles down at me. “Nick. I want to go. Please. Come with me.”

My heart softens just from the way Oona stares down at me, like I’m the most precious thing in the world to her. I know she is to me. I look back to Maurice and say, “But what about the Mackenzie Brothers? Aren’t I needed here?”

Maurice grins. “We’d miss you, of course. But … we’ve been doing all right for ourselves in your absence. And to be fair, it’s not like you did much before.”

“Oh, snap,” Reese whispers. “Got you there.”

Everyone laughs except for Oona, and I laugh along with them. I know they’re joking, but there is truth in his statement. I was a glorified gopher. I’m sure they could easily replace me. Shit, they already have. “Fair. Fine. It’s settled. But how am I supposed to get a place out there? Those houses and apartments are definitely above my pay grade.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Maurice says, shaking his head. “We’ll figure it out.”

But how exactly does he plan on “figuring it out?” I don’t want anyone getting hurt because of this.

“Wait,” I say, and stand up with my hands balled into fists at my side. “If you’re going to threaten anyone on my behalf, then I don’t want it. If you’re going to use blood money, then I definitely don’t want it. I appreciate everything you’ve done for us so far, but when I ran from that job three months ago, it wasn’t because I’m a coward. It’s because I have morals, and I intend to stick by them. Oona and I will manage.” I look over at Oona and smile as affection swells in my heart. “We’ll find a place for the two of us. Somewhere we can live in peace. I promise.”

Oona smiles back at me and nods. “Yes,” she says. “We will.”

“Just sayin, there are farmhouses out by the swamp that aren’t expensive. You know, because of the ghosts,” Dwight mutters.

I chuckle as I look over at him and nod. “Okay. I’ll look for a farmhouse near the swamp. Thank you, Dwight.”

Maurice hums low as he leans against the wall, then crosses his arms over his chest. Kyle, Reese, and Dwight mutter to one another.

“Fair,” Maurice says, then looks past me to the others. “We’ve been talking about over the past few weeks. We don’t want to deal in blood money, either, or ruin anyone’s lives.”

I swallow thickly. “Wait, what?”

He nods. “We’re going clean. We’ll stick to what we do best. We own strip clubs and casinos and that’s it for us from now on.”

Reese snickers. “And maybe you’ll think about acquiring that cutie’s bakery, too? The one across from Fletcher and Sons?”

Maurice rolls his eyes. “No, Dwight. For the last fuckin’ time. No. No more acquisitions until we recover our revenue streams from the hit we took last month.”

I raise my eyebrows, but Maurice shakes his head. “It’s nothing. Don’t trouble yourself over it. Just business … which you are now no longer a part of. As of now, your services will no longer me required, Nick Chastain.”

Relief envelopes my entire body like a warm bath, and my heart hammers in my ears. Once upon a time, getting fired would have been a terrifying prospect. Now, all I can think about is how lucky I am to have Oona by my side and my mafia days behind me.

It’s stillstrange to hear car traffic instead of crickets and other insects at night. Even stranger is that Oona isn’t in bed holding me, soothing me through my nightmares. And I had plenty of those while out in the lagoon. About Luther. About my father leaving. About my mother succumbing to her Stim addiction.

I can hear the guys playing pinball in the rec room down the hallway while the steady beat of the stereo plays. I used to be able to sleep through it without any difficulty, but now I’m not so sure. I roll over onto my side and pull the pillow over my head hoping. It’s not helping. No shit it isn’t. If only I had a decent pair of noise-canceling headphones.

The door to my bedroom cracks open and a sliver of yellow white trickles in. I bolt upright in the bed and wince.

“H-hello?” I call out, startled.

Oona pads into the room, hitting her tail against the dresser as she tries to swiftly close the door behind her. “Just me,” she mutters.

My shoulders drop away from my ears, and I let out a deep sigh. “Oh, hey. You ready for bed?” I ask.

She pads over to my bed and sits down on the edge. “Yes,” she says. But her body language is telling me something else entirely. I look at her with my head tilted, and her bright eyes illuminate the darkness like two little night lights.

“Not tired,” she admits with a shrug. I nod. Yeah. I get it.

“It’s a little difficult to sleep when they’re like this. I get it,” I say, and reach out for her, hoping she’ll take my hands. But she doesn’t, and I arch my brows. “What’s wrong? Did something happen? Were they—” I look to the door, ready to head down there in nothing but my boxer briefs. “Were they mean to you?”

She shakes her head. “No! No.”

We both sigh as we stare at one another. It’s difficult to explain deep emotions when you don’t understand one another fully yet. With time, I hope to alleviate that, but right now? This is a problem. I want to help her like she’s helped me, but I don’t know how to do that when I don’t know what’s wrong. She slides across the blankets, then slithers underneath of them. Her tail thrashes back and forth like an agitated cat, and I watch helplessly as my girlfriend appears to be suffering some sort of mental hang up. So, I do the only thing I can think of, and I slide underneath the covers to curl against her body and press my head against her chest.

“It’s strange, but we won’t have to stay here permanently if you don’t want to. We’ll figure something out together. We can leave.”

Her throat vibrates against on top of my head and I chuckle. “You know I’m telling the truth. I won’t be going anywhere without you ever again, so long as you don’t ditch me again, got it?”

She rumbles again, and I chuckle. “Oona. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Her tail wraps around my leg like she’s done for the past three months, and we fall asleep to the sounds of the boys playing beer pong.

I waketo Oona nudging me in the side. When I sit upright and wipe the sleep from my eyes and check the alarm clock on my nightstand, it says it’s four in the morning. Normally, this would make me panic, but my gut doesn’t sense anything is wrong. I look up at Oona, whose normally frosty blue eyes have settled onto a deep red.

“W-What’s up Oona?” I whisper. It can’t be that someone in the house is keeping her awake, because the headquarters are pretty much as silent as the dead right now. Everyone’s gone to bed.

“I…” she starts, and scratches her cheek lightly with her claw. “Had a bad dream.”

I nod. “That makes sense. We’ve been through a lot.”

She lowers her head and drags her tongue across my cheek. “Help me fall back asleep?”

I blink at her. She nuzzles the spot where she just licked. Oh. Oh. I prop myself up against the headboard and grin at her. “C’mere, pretty girl. Let me help you feel good.” I loop my fingers under the fabric of my boxer briefs and pull them down over my hipbones, allowing my already hard-as-steel cock to spring free. Oona looks down at my length, then back at me.

“Noise?” she asks, tilting her head.

I snort. “Eh, don’t worry about them. They kept us up for most of the night. If they hear us, then that’s just their karma.”

Oona chuckles in response, then crawls over top of my pelvis to straddle me. Her thick thighs squeeze my pelvis, and I place my hands on her ample hips to grip them. God, it feels so good to have a woman like her on top of me. I run my fingernails up and down her sides as she gets herself into a more comfortable position, so that the tip of my cock nestles just against her slit.

“You’re in control, pretty girl,” I say, staring up at her through hooded lids. My heart hammers in my chest. All it would take is a buck of my hips and I’d be inside of her. But Oona doesn’t look to be in any sort of hurry. Fine by me. I don’t care what time it is. Sleep is overrated when you’ve got an eight-foot-tall lizard queen for a girlfriend, anyway. When she wakes you up in the middle of the night wanting to fuck, you fuck.

“No,” she says, shaking her eyes.

My brows slam together as I search her face. “No? What can I do for you then, love?”

“Lower,” she says, and slides off my body so she can yank me down the mattress in one fluid motion. My eyes fly open as I’m thrown across the bed like a rag doll, and I laugh.

I wipe the tears from my eyes. “Okay, okay! Whatever my queen desires, she gets. Come on board, then.”

Oona crawls on top of me again, but this time she doesn’t sit on my pelvis. This time, she parks herself directly on my face. It was already dark in the room and hard to see, but now I really can’t fucking see anything. Her musky, sweet scent overwhelms my senses, instantly driving me mad with desire. She grinds her hips against my mouth, and I oblige by running my tongue between her folds.

Oh, God. She could easily suffocate me like this and I’d die happy.

I dig my fingernails into her ass and hold on to her, and she lets out a happy rumble above me. Her hips wiggle back and forth as my tongue delves in and out of her in an exploratory fashion. After several minutes of this, her moans and pants grow in volume until I know I’m on the right track to make her come.

“Don’t stop,” she rasps. Her tail thwaps me in the stomach. It hurts, but I don’t even care. I groan against her cunt as I devour her. Finally, I’m rewarded for my efforts when her orgasm rushes forward with the power of twenty horses being unleashed on the racetrack. Her sweet cum rushes into my mouth, flooding my senses until it dribbles down my chin. She thrashes on my face erratically as she hisses and moans her pleasure.

And then her body goes still. I dig my fingers into her ass cheeks, then drag them down to the base of her tail and tug.

“Mmph, Oona?” I ask, my voice coming out muffled. Oona rolls onto her side on the mattress so hard I bounce up half an inch into the air.

I roll over onto my side as I wipe my mouth clean of her cum and smile down at her. “Did … did that help? Was that good?”

As if I have to ask. The poor girl is knocked out beside me, already snoring lightly. I blink as the little sounds wheeze out, eradicating the silence of the room. “Oh. Shit. You’re already … you’re already passed out.” I laugh, then look down at my cock, still rigid and ready for action. Oh, well.

I hop out of the bed, careful to not wake her. Let sleeping lizards lie and all that, right? Then I’m off to the bathroom down the hall to rub one out before I get back to sleep, myself.