Redemption Road (Vicious Cycle #2)(76)

“Babe, you don’t even have to ask.”

NINETEEN

ANNABEL

Getting home to Georgia took a little longer than we had expected. While I had bought some warm clothes and boots to make the drive, it was still blistering cold to be on the back of the bike for any length of time. But even with the extreme cold, I grew to enjoy riding with Rev. It didn’t take too long to see the allure that it held for him—the freedom, the adrenaline rush. More than anything, I enjoyed wrapping my arms around him and squeezing him tight. Although I’m not proud to admit it, I might’ve played on his sympathies a bit with worrying about me and the cold. The truth was I wanted nothing more than to stay in bed with him for a few days.

I don’t know who was more surprised by my insatiable appetite—me or Rev. But I couldn’t seem to get enough of him. I loved learning all the little things about him, like what made him groan with need or pinch his eyes shut with passion. It felt like I was discovering sex for the first time. In some ways I was—at least the new Annabel was. I knew there was still a wolf looming at the door, and at any minute this newfound perfection could come crashing down through flashbacks. But for the moment, I chose to be optimistic and happy.

Three days later, we pulled up at the Raiders compound. I was never so glad to see a place in all my life. Still, I was more than a little surprised to see the twinkling Christmas lights. “Who would have thought bikers would be so festive,” I remarked as I handed Rev my helmet.

He chuckled. “Trust me, we aren’t. That’s all for Willow.”

When we walked through the front door, a roar went up in the room. “WELCOME HOME!” everyone shouted. At first I felt completely overwhelmed, but the feel of Rev’s hand on the small of my back gave me the courage to smile and move closer to my new family.

As if they had been given a pep talk on how to treat me, they hung back and let me go to them. I was hugged and kissed by more people in the first few minutes than I had been in my entire life. At the back of the main room, Rev’s blood family stood anxiously awaiting me. I couldn’t hide my shock at seeing Mama Beth. She was never one to be in the roadhouse. I ran into her waiting arms. “I’m so glad you’re home, sweetheart,” she said, her voice wavering as if she was about to cry.

Her warm welcome and words caused tears to burn my eyes. “I am, too.”

When I pulled away, there were quick hugs from Deacon and Bishop, and then a lingering one from Alexandra, whose enormous belly looked like she was ready to deliver at any moment. When I said as much, she shook her head. “I still have six weeks, if you can believe it.”

“He’s going to be a very big boy.”

Alexandra smiled as she patted her stomach. “He already feels enormous when he’s kicking me.”

I then turned to a very impatient Willow who I was surprised had waited this long to give me a hug. “Wait until you see Poe. He’s huge!” she said after she’d clung to me for several seconds.

“Thank you for taking such good care of him!”

“It was mainly Uncle Rev who took care of him, but I had to help because he was such a mess over missing you.”

I couldn’t help the laugh that erupted from me at the pint-sized girl talking about relationships like a grown woman. When I looked at Rev, he appeared to want to strangle his niece. “Well, I missed him pretty bad, too.”

“I figured you did.” She grinned up at me. “Did he tell you he loves you?”

“Willow!” Alexandra and Deacon admonished.

“What?” she questioned innocently. “You guys said you wondered if he did earlier.”

While Deacon and Alexandra gave Rev and me sheepish looks, I couldn’t help laughing at the situation. “Yes, he told me he loves me, and I told him I love him.”

“Are you gonna get married?” Willow asked.

Now it was my turn to be speechless. Although there had been no proposal or discussion of marriage, the idea of Rev and me living the rest of our lives together seemed to be a given. While it seemed that we knew each other down to the deepest and darkest parts, there was still a lot of relationship building we needed to do before we thought of marriage.

“I think it’s time we got you something to eat,” Alexandra suggested.

“Yeah, that’s a helluva good idea. Let’s stick something in her mouth to shut her up,” Deacon muttered under his breath.

Once Willow had been ushered over to the food table, Rev and I exchanged a glance. “Well, um, that was . . . intense,” he said.

“Very. Who would have thought we would get the marriage question already?” I said, giving a laugh to try to ease the tension.

“I meant more the inquisition by Willow.”

“Oh,” I murmured. What did he mean by that exactly? Had he been thinking of marriage? I swallowed hard at the thought.

With a smile, Rev said, “I think I could use a drink.”

“You and me both.”

He took me by the hand and led me over to the bar. This time I settled on a Corona rather than my former buddy Jack Daniel’s. The house band went up onstage, and it wasn’t long before they were cranking out tunes, including some rock versions of Christmas carols.

After we finished our beers, Rev steered me over to the kitchen. The old ladies and other women had put on quite a spread of food. “All this for me?” I asked as I was handed a plate.