Happily Ever Alpha: Until Nox (Kindle Worlds) (Hyde Series Book 3) Read online

After getting caught trying to walk out, she’d pretended she was just a confused old lady. No one had bought that excuse the second time since that’d taken skill and a watchful eye to know when the cart would be unattended.

  That hadn’t stopped her from attempting escapes three and four, which was when the nurses had finally had enough and alarmed her bed.

  Ambitiously trying to win the title of Number One Pain-iest Pain in Gus’ Ass wasn’t enough. Oh, no, not for Carol Anne Allan. She needed to make sure she was the biggest pain in everyone’s ass. She’d begun relentlessly nagging—and even attempting to bribe—everyone she saw.

  To say she was over the hospital was an understatement.

  Dr. Collins checked his beeper, worry lines creasing his forehead. “I thought she’d be back by now. I’m going to go check in with the department and make sure there hasn’t been another escape attempt.”

  “Good idea,” I said, rubbing my temple.

  Between Killian and her, I’ll have a headache for a month.

  As soon as Dr. Collins closed the door, I shifted to stand.

  Killian’s arms were still locked around me, so I didn’t get far. “He wants to fook you, ya know?”

  “Dr. Collins?”

  “Aye,” he bit out gruffly.

  I shrugged. “Yeah, maybe. But he’s not going to. Pretty sure it’s your head between my legs when I wake up in the morning.” Shooting daggers, I added, “Even if you’re a pain in my ass. I bet they’re out there gossiping about me on your lap.”

  His head dipped into the curve of my shoulder. Teasing his tongue up my neck slowly, he reached my ear and whispered, “Aye, who cares?”

  “I do,” I breathed, my tone nowhere near the forceful, assertive one I’d been going for.

  He pulled back and met my gaze. “Okay.”

  Even though I knew it wasn’t needed, I blurted, “When I told you my mom was a partier, that was a nice way of saying she was a slut. And I don’t mean that in a slut-shaming way. I’m all about sex positivity, but there was nothing positive about it.”

  “Lass—”

  “I have no clue who my dad is because she had no clue. There were a lot of guys, and she’d been too out of her mind to be picky or discreet. Which meant that, from either overheard whispers or outright teasing, I’ve heard a lot of fucked-up shit. Ever since I was old enough to understand, I’ve worked hard to never put my meema through that sort of shit again. I just—”

  “Mo chuisle, you don’t owe me an explanation. You said you don’t like it, I won’t do it. Aye?”

  “Aye,” I teased, heat surging through me when his cock twitched against my ass. “I didn’t want you to think I don’t want people to know we’re together. I just don’t want Meema to deal with gossips whose mouths are bigger than their minds.” He tried to help me up, but I stilled his hands on my hips. “But that only goes for when there are other people around.” Exaggeratedly, I made a show of looking around. “And I don’t see anyone else here.”

  Killian’s hand went into my hair, fisting as he pulled me to him. His mouth was about to hit mine, and I could almost taste the coffee and honey smoke. Before I got to actually taste it, though, there was noise in the hallway.

  I was willing to risk it, but Killian, showing he listened and understood, lifted me to stand.

  He didn’t follow, though.

  Instead, he held eye contact as he boldly adjusted himself.

  “You don’t play fair,” I grumbled, going to peek out the door. Seeing that the ruckus outside was only the lunch deliveries, and not a southern belle gone wild, I turned back, ready to climb back into his lap.

  I wanted more of the beautiful torture that was Killian Nox.

  When my gaze landed on his, the dirty talk died on the tip of my tongue.

  He looked pissed.

  Livid.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He looked up from his phone. His muscles were tight, his face was thunderous, and a storm brewed in his hazel eyes. The fact he could blank his expressive eyes so easily was impressive.

  And flattering when he didn’t bother to do so with me.

  “Work shit.” He looked back at his phone, his fingers moved quickly across his screen. “My guy, Beck, is trying to handle it, but he might need me.”

  Well, that’s a lady-boner killer if I’ve ever heard one.

  “You should go, take care of things,” I said. “I really appreciate that you’ve stayed this long, but stuff here is settling. You’ve gotta get back to Nolan and your real life.”

  One that doesn’t involve waking up together every morning.

  Man, and the depressing thoughts keep rolling.

  We hadn’t talked yet about what we were going to do. When we’d had privacy, there’d been more enjoyable things I’d wanted to do before crashing into an exhausted sleep. I hadn’t figured a hospital room during the day was the time to have such a heavy discussion.

  Yet, here we were.

  Killian’s eyes burned into mine. “My real life is with you, mo chuisle.”

  “Killian—”

  “Beck can handle it.”

  “I’m sure he can. But what about the next thing? Or the thing after that? I’m pretty sure being a PI isn’t exactly something you can telecommute for.”

  Unfortunately, Meema chose that moment to get back to her room, putting the conversation on hold.

  I moved closer to Killian to get out of the way as they wheeled her bed in. Standing between his legs, I cupped his cheek and whispered, “It’s fine. We’ll make it work.”

  I thought I’d spoken quiet enough, but either the room’s acoustics were weird, or all the scans had given Meema super-hearing. “Oh, good, did ya tell her?”

  “Tell me what?” I asked.

  “Told you that’s not my place. My decision’s made,” Killian said to her.

  I looked between them. “What decision? And when did you two even talk?”

  “When you were grabbing coffee.” Killian’s lips tipped up. “Told you she talks fast.”

  “Okay, then what decision?”

  Huffing, Meema snapped, “A shit decision that makes no damn sense.”

  “Meema! Language,” I chided, shocked since I didn’t think I’d ever heard her swear.

  “It’s true,” she said. “We get some bursts of action, like what happened with November and her evil mother, but if he moves his business here, most of his work will be from Morty’s Discount Insurance. He’ll spend his time watching to see whether morons like Hank Anderson are trying to commit insurance fraud. He is. Any idiot can see that. Then he’ll be on to the next boring case.”

  Note to self: When we’re done discussing the possible upheaval of our lives, ask Meema for details about poor November.

  Oh shit, nosiness must spread through the air and water here.

  Killian shrugged, reaching to wrap his hand around my thigh. “I’d be happy.”

  She rolled her eyes. “But we’d all be a lot happier in Boston.”

  My brows shot up. “You wanna move?”

  “Not just want to. I am moving. Dr. Collins talked to me a few days ago about assisted living facilities. He said you were adamant I’d be against it, but then you,” her gaze shot to Killian for a moment, “got distracted, so he wasn’t sure where things stood. And then when… a friend came to visit, we talked. The assisted living facilities here are filled with the same people I see all the time. I’m ready for new people. New adventures.”

  Killian was right. She had a man visiting her!

  Moody and hormonal senior citizens, with their angst and secret boyfriends.

  They grow up so fast.

  “And you’re fine to leave your… friend?” I asked.

  She waved off my question. “I’m ready to meet new friends. The pickings here are slim.”

  I rubbed my temple. “Meema, I can’t offer you a place to stay. I don’t even have a place to stay right now.”

  Killian’s hand tightened aro
und my thigh.

  “Sweetheart, here or there, I don’t want to live with you. I like my independence. I like that I can watch my shows at three in the morning without bothering anyone. I like that I can have friends over when I want.” Her stubborn expression softened as she gave my arm a squeeze. “I loved raising you. I didn’t mind one bit having you there because, after everything that’d happened with your papa and mama, I needed you more than you needed me. But things are different now.” She glanced meaningfully at Killian then back at me. “For us both.”

  I twisted to look at him. “You wanna move here?

  “I wanna move wherever you are,” he rumbled.

  My heart clenched in the best kind of way, my happiness making me feel effervescent even as I questioned, “After a month?”

  Killian shook his head. “No. After a lifetime of waiting for you. Not living states apart, mo chuisle. My work is available anywhere.”

  “Like Meema said, I doubt there’s a lot of action around here. And you hate cheating spouse cases.”

  “Aye, but I love you.”

  “But jus’ sayin’,” Meema butted in, “I’m still moving. So, you wanna move here, that’s fine. You can have my house and save me the hassle of listing it. But if you’re just moving here to be close to me, then it’s a moot point.”

  I studied my meema, looking for even a hint of doubt.

  There wasn’t any.

  She looked eager and enthusiastic about the future.

  If she could arrange it, I bet she’d form the doctors and nurses into two lines and Soul Train dance between them on her way outta there.

  “Boston is a totally different world,” I cautioned, not letting myself get too excited.

  “Which is exactly what I want,” she shot back. “My friend helped me look on his iPad, and the assisted living facilities there look like resorts. I can stay busy, meet new people, and you can come visit.” She wiggled her brows. “Just call first.”

  I covered my ears. “Scarred for life now.”

  Her expression softened again, and I was shocked to see tears brimming her eyes. “Being in Boston means I’ll be close to where my Bonnie was. Where she always wanted to be. Just like you with MIT, your mama had been planning since she was a kid. She knew she’d love being lost in the crowds.”

  Just like me.

  I wonder if we had other things in common.

  “If I’ve got to move out of my big house and settle in someplace new, it’ll be where my baby felt free,” she finished, swiping away her tears.

  Well how the hell am I supposed to argue with that?

  There was a knock at the door before someone came in. Pushing open the curtain, Dr. Collins smiled at my meema. “How’d you like to get out of here?”

  Relief surged through me. Taking a page from Meema’s and Killian’s books, I sat down on Killian’s lap, not giving a solitary fuck about any gossip.

  My mind was on the fact that my meema was okay. Alive and happy.

  It took me a minute to realize Dr. Collins was still talking, but before I could figure out what I’d missed, Killian’s accented voice answered whatever his question had been.

  The beast had my back.

  “I know you’re anxious to get out of here,” Dr. Collins said to Meema, “but I just need your patience a little longer while I draw up your discharge papers. Once the nurse brings them in and you sign, you’ll be on your way.”

  But then what?

  CHAPTER TEN

  PERFECTLY IMPERFECT

  GUS

  THIS IS GOOD.

  This is the right choice.

  Grinning, I adjusted the box I held and punched in the alarm code. When the light turned green and the lock clicked, I opened the lobby door and headed for the elevator. I bounced on my heels as it traveled up, as though that would make it go faster. When I reached the seventh floor, I was out as soon I could squeeze through the sliding doors.

  I hadn’t even made it halfway down the hall when a door opened and a beast stepped out, blocking my way.

  In two steps, he was on me.

  My back was pushed against the wall, the box plucked from my hand before I dropped it. His large hand gripped my chin, tipping it up so his mouth could cover mine. Deepening the kiss, he groaned like a desperate man.

  Since it’d been over a week since I’d tasted honey smoke and Killian, I was just as wild for it.

  He pulled away, pressing his forehead to mine. “You were supposed to call when your plane landed.”

  “I was too excited to wait so I grabbed a taxi.”

  “Saw from the balcony.” His hazel eyes swirled as he grabbed my duffel from me. “Missed you, mo chuisle.”

  After Meema was discharged from the hospital, she’d been sent to an inpatient rehabilitation facility to continue her recovery. I’d worried her escape attempts would increase—and be more successful at the lax center—but she’d enjoyed it.

  Seeing her there had made me realize I’d been wrong. She would love the assisted living home.

  Killian had also been wrong. Whatever had been happening wasn’t something Beck could handle. The day after the initial text, he’d gotten a call from Beck that’d made the storm brew in his eyes.

  Since we’d been at Meema’s packing her stuff up, I’d gotten to be the one to ease the storm while he’d fucked me goodbye on my old bed.

  Teen me would’ve lost her tiny mind had she known what the future held.

  Once Killian had left, I’d worked around Meema’s house during the day before spending my evenings with her at the facility.

  My nights had been for Killian. Only instead of being with him in his hotel room, I’d been in my old bed while we’d talked on the phone. He’d still made me come, but it’d been with my hand between my legs while he’d described the explicit things he wanted to do with me.

  It’d been hot.

  But, after experiencing everything that was Killian, a week was a long time to go with just my hand. A woman who had a beast of her own wasn’t made to go that long without him.

  It’d been time for me to head back to Boston. I missed my beast. And like him, I didn’t hesitate to share that.

  “I missed you, too,” I whispered back, soaking in the feel of him against me again.

  “How’s your nan?”

  “She’ll be out in a few days and, get this, she’s staying with a friend. Her house will be listed soon, but Miz Susan said she’d handle any issues with that. Meema’s focusing on the going away party they’re having for her. Plus, dinners, lunches—the whole nine yards. It’s like she’s on her farewell tour.”

  “Bet she’s loving that.”

  “You’d bet right. I’m surprised she hasn’t orchestrated a parade in her honor. Everything set at the home?”

  “She can move in anytime,” Killian said, officially cementing his position as Meema’s favorite since he’d pulled some strings to get her a condo in some exclusive community.

  I hadn’t realized there was anyone else in the hall until someone loudly cleared their throat.

  Releasing my jaw, Killian put his hand to the wall near my head and glanced over his shoulder. “Oh, for fook’s sake.”

  I went up onto my toes to see over his shoulder, but I was too short. Instead, I ducked my head under his arm and leaned to the side to see around him.

  Blake was standing in his open doorway, glaring at us.

  Oops.

  As much as I wanted to blame my pettiness, the truth was, I’d forgotten he lived there. I’d seen Killian and nothing else had mattered.

  I gave Blake a dingus wave from my awkward position. “Sorry, uhh, we’ll just be getting out of the way.” I sidestepped out from behind Killian and gripped his wrist.

  “Wait,” Blake said, proving irrefutably that book smarts didn’t equal real smarts. “You didn’t return my calls.”

  “Nope, I didn’t. Okay, well, good talk. Bye.” I tried again to walk away, but Blake doubled down the stupid.
<
br />   “He’s not who he says he is, Augusta. He’s dangerous.”

  No shit.

  Killian barked out a laugh. “Aye, I’ve gotta fookin’ hear this. What do ya know about me, lad?”

  Uh-oh.

  His mask was in place, making him appear bored and indifferent. But the thicker accent meant he was pissed.

  Blake fueled that fire by keeping his eyes only on me. “He’s got guns.”

  “Yup.” I spread my hands apart. “Big ones. Impressively big ones. Registered and everything, which I’m assuming is how you found out.”

  “But did your thug tell you he’s obsessed with you?”

  “Every day.”

  His face twisted. “He watched you in the lobby when you came over. After finding out about his guns, I… was worried about you,” he tried, when we both knew he was only worried about the blows to his ego, “so I looked at some lobby security footage. That morning in the hall wasn’t the first time he’d seen you. He waited and watched you, Augusta. Did he tell you that?”

  He had, actually.

  On his last night in Tennessee, he’d told me about seeing me in the lobby. About wanting me.

  I hadn’t known he’d been waiting and watching, though. Of course, when he’d admitted to having already seen me before that first morning, his cock had been gliding in and out in a slow torture, so I hadn’t pushed for any details.

  “You knew?” Blake asked, his tone a mix of accusation and disgust. “He followed you outside when you left. That’s stalking! You could press charges right now. I’d even represent you for free.”

  Killian’s arm constricted around me, his body going rigid.

  For the most part, he’d been following my lead, respecting me enough to keep quiet and be there for me while I’d dealt with Blake.

  But the beast at my back was livid.

  Just not as livid as I was.

  Hands on my hips, I fought hard to keep from having a bitchfit.

  Blake would’ve deserved it, but the simple fact was, he’d done me a favor by being a douche. Otherwise, it may have been a little longer before I’d inevitably dumped him for Killian.

  So, really, I owed him.

  Which was why I was only semi-pissy when I asked, “You mean those times when, after realizing you weren’t getting laid, you blamed early meetings and called me an Uber? Thanks for letting me know that Killian cared enough to keep me safe. I owe him an extra enthusiastic blow job now.”