Keegan POV:
We sat side by side as she read a few chapters of some new book while Claire continued to write.
“You were married to Brant for so long… but he didn’t mark you. Wolves usually mark their wives when they get married, to force a mating bond,” I thought out loud.
Her eyes flashed toward me. “Oh yes. The mark… No, he thought it was too primitive. He didn’t like that he was a wolf and needed to take care of extra things. He thought that the practices of wolves were animalistic, so he forewent that,” she shrugged.
I frowned. I would never understand this sentiment. But still, I was glad Brant never marked her. It would have been near impossible to get her out of the situation if that was the case. It would be very bad to keep a mated wolf away. The lack of proximity might have killed her before he got her hands on her again.
Silence followed and Vianne decided to get started on dinner while
[WARNING: This chapter contains explicit sexual content. Read at your own risk.] Keegan POV: “Only PG-13 rated, huh?” I growled, nipping at her lips and skimming my hands along her sides. “I don’t know. I have trouble keeping my hands off of you as it is.” Vianne looked at me and I could see that she was grateful. I had successfully pulled her from the dark part of her mind. Her hands moved to grip my arms, her nose scrunching lightly. “You are all sweaty,” she said, wiggling underneath my body and unraveling me. “Yes, and you will be soon, too,” I said as I ground my length against her thigh, licking her bottom lip. She moaned softly, her hands gripping my arms tighter. “Really?” she taunted. “And why would that be?” I pulled away slightly, causing her to arch toward me, seeking my lips again. I threw open her robe. She was nearly naked underneath it, just a bran and tiny panties. I snapped my eyes back to hers. “Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?” I asked, groaning and le
[WARNING: More explicit content smattered around the chapter. Read at your own risk!] Keegan POV: She frowned. “I want to know that I can take care of myself if something were to happen,” she said quietly. “Just in case he finds us again.” “He won’t and if he does,” I said firmly, running my hand down her smooth back. “He would have to go through me to get to you and Claire. It won’t happen.” She didn’t say anything again for several moments, only continued to draw patterns with the pad of her fingers on my chest. “Any chance we can spar naked sometime?” she asked innocently. I shook my head. I knew she was trying to break the tension that settled around us at the mention of her husband again. “What? It will help burn calories and increase muscle tone.” “Okay. Naked training tomorrow at ten in the morning.” I had a feeling she would wake up the following morning and distance herself yet again. But that I would have to wait and see. I felt her lips form a smile against my skin,
[WARNING: More sexually explicit content in this chapter! Read at your own risk!] Keegan POV: I stood behind her and grabbed her hips. I leaned in to whisper in her ear, “You look delicious like this.” My calloused hands roamed over her delectable ass, the small of her back, and ghosted along her shoulder blades. I caressed both of her arms and ducked under the bar to explore the front of her body. Her eyes locked with mine. I kissed her temple and each eyelid before stopping just at the corner of her mouth, making her whimper. I chuckled, earning a glare. “You’re not in any position to mess with me, Keegan.” I felt her knee touching my cock. I gulped and backed away. I knew she had it in her. Her playful smile a second later allowed me to take a tentative step forward and peck her lips once. She threaded one of her hands through my hair, but I took it quickly and placed it back on the bar. “Leave them there,” I scolded lightly. Her eyes widened but she nodded in consent. I k
Keegan POV:The next several days were some of the best in my life. I knew it was cliche to think like that, but it couldn’t be helped. My girls had me whipped. I would do anything for them. We established a routine that worked for us early on. Early mornings were spent doing cardio with Vianne. After that, we had to deal with a crabby Claire and have breakfast before dropping her off at school. When Vianne and I returned to the house, we would swim several laps and I added a bit of weight training. I was skilled on back massages, so I worked on stretching Vianne’s back muscles, even though I knew it would hurt like a bitch. But she had been experiencing so much pain, likely because of the blows she had taken from that bastard husband of hers. Vianne and I reserved our nights after putting Claire to bed in each other’s arms. She was incredible and I would never have enough of her. The three of us had spent that particular Friday celeb
Keegan POV:Then nurse nodded and left through the double doors of the room. “She will be fine, um—” Troy trailed off, waiting for Vianne to answer. “Veronica,” she answered robotically. “She has been anemic before. She has never had a nosebleed, though.”“It’s uncommon for wolves to be anemic,” he commented. “Has she been under stress?” he asked Vianne as he looked at me. “Yes, a little. I think she had a nightmare, too. We moved recently and—” Vianne started off, but I stopped her. “That’s enough, Veronica,” I said firmly, garnering a glare from my cousin. He was fishing for information.“Mommy,” Claire murmured. Vianne gasped and quickly hovered over her, kissing her cheeks and running her hands through her hair. “Claire, baby, you scared me,” she whispered against her daughter’s hair. Claire
Keegan POV:My eyes widened and I snapped, “Which room?”“Relax, he won’t try anything with her,” Jarred reassured me as he pointed at the room across from us. I strode toward the door and walked into the dimly lit room. Ricki was leaning against a wall, looking toward the corner. Behind the fabric-covered screen, I could see Vianne’s silhouette. I glared at the punk. “Get out.”He turned to look at me with a smug grin, his grin widening when he faced me. He pushed himself off the wall before brushing past me. “She has a nice ass,” he murmured. I turned with clenched fists, reading to beat the crap out of him. “He didn’t see anything, Keegan,” Vianne said, walking out from behind the screen. “He is an idiot, thinking he needed to be in the room with me.” She shook her head as she picked up her robe. “No, he doesn’t think that. He
Keegan POV:“Why?”“My first reaction to you asking to take her to the hospital was that we would have to leave.”“Oh.”“She comes first, Keegan,” she whispered, her voice tight as if trying to hold something back. “I can’t risk him finding us before I’m ready. And even then, I will not let him within a hundred miles of her.”The only reason I could see that she was beating herself over it was that she didn’t want to leave me. But that was wishful thinking.“Nothing or no one should come between you and your daughter, Vianne. When the time comes and you have to leave to protect yourselves, you won’t have to make the decision. I will make it for you,” I said firmly. I meant it. If the best option for survival was for them to leave, I would send them away. Unless…She looked up from the cup she was clenching. Her eyes had become misty
Keegan POV:I carried an emotionally drained Vianne to her bedroom after her episode in the gym. I hated that I had done something to trigger memories of a horrific ordeal. I knew training her would be difficult, not only because of who she was but because it would scare her.When Edwin and I trained Tess to protect herself, it had taken over a week before she would even allow us to remain in a room alone with her. Her eyes had always darted around. Looking for escape routes, always alert. She had trembled with fear whenever Edwin or I had come within ten feet of her. We had our work cut out for us, but in the long run, we had taught her to fight back. Afterward, she never let anyone belittle or hurt her in any way without giving that person a piece of her mind—sometimes a black eye or two. But with Vianne, it was different because I had allowed myself to become more emotionally involved with my trainee. I couldn’t find it in me to tell her to suck