86. Chapter 86

Nicole stared at the key nervously and quickly shut and locked the drawer of her desk it was sitting in. It looked just like any other key, plain and innocuous. Maybe even a little too plain as there was no make or number stamped on it to indicate what kind of lock it might fit.

Just the sight of it, just knowing that it was around, filled Nicole with dread when just hours before she’d been desperate to find it. And now it had been found… she was just as desperate to hide it again.

Unfortunately though, everywhere she picked over the last couple of days felt too damn obvious. Nicole couldn’t help but wonder if keeping it hidden in a picture frame on his desk for so many years had had Nedley feeling as haunted by it as she was?

“Nicole,” Waverly huffed. “If you open that drawer just once more I’m going to tie your ass up!”

Looking at her tiny Omega all curled up in her nest on the couch with C.J. and an intimidatingly thick and ancient looking book ‘borrowed’ from Black Badge in her lap, Nicole waggled her eyebrows. “Promise?”

Rolling her eyes, Waverly crooked a finger at Nicole and patted the couch in an order disguised as an invitation. She watched with eager eyes as Nicole’s lithe frame crossed the width of the room with that easy gliding stride that made Waverly want to lift her head and praise the moon. Muscles shifted, tensing and straining the fabric of her tight jeans and she lowered herself onto the couch and settled beside her with a smile of invitation dimpling her cheeks and a twinkling in her eyes.

Shifting around, Waverly melted into the heat of Nicole’s body and sighed in contentment as Nicole adjusted the thick blanket around her. She loved how her Alpha was always willing to endure a little more heat than she found comfortable for her. Waverly had offered to put on more clothes but Nicole had begged for her to do what made her comfortable and she would wear less if she needed to and be her bonus blanket as though understanding that sometimes it was the weight as much as the heat that she found peace in.

“So has that key given up any of its secrets while you’ve been glaring at it?” Waverly teased gently. She knew it had Nicole on edge even more than not knowing where it was hidden had.

“Haha,” Nicole poked Waverly gently at her teasing. “All that thing is telling me is that it’s trouble… or at least one step closer to trouble.” Nicole’s smile and humour left her on a sigh, her body stiffening as she looked towards the drawer. “The logical side of me knows that if Bulshar is coming, then he is coming no matter what but the other side feels like every step we take to finding the ring is drawing him closer too.”

Nicole knew she couldn’t hide her feelings from her mate even if she wanted to. The knowledge freed her to speak her mind even as she tried to keep the trembling from her voice and the tears from falling. “I’ve never had a reason to stay in one place before, Waves. Even coming here, a fresh start, a new job… it’s always been in my mind that from one moment to the next I could be on the move again. I don’t want that life anymore. I want you… our baby… family… all the craziness that comes from living in a quirky town called Purgatory. I’ve finally got a reason to stay and fight,” sighing, she breathed in Waverly’s scent. “The thing is, now I’ve got a reason to fight I feel like I should leave to keep it all safe.”

Panic rushed through Waverly at her Alpha’s words. She tried to turn around but Nicole’s hold on her, whilst as gentle as always, was firm and unyielding. “Nic…”

“Maybe if I left and found Bulshar I could put a stop to all this before he got anywhere near…”

Finally managing to gain purchase, Waverly turned in Nicole’s embrace and she pinned her stubbornly noble Alpha back and grasped her face between her hands to force her eyes to meet hers. “Nic… You promised. And if you think… Ohhh,” she gave Nicole’s shoulder a hard slap. “I’m not defenceless, Nicole and if you think for one second that I need protecting because I’m pregnant!”

She had, but she hadn’t… not really, and now, frankly, Nicole would have almost welcomed the sight of Bulshar bursting through the door just so it would save her from the intimidating fury that was Waverly Earp. What scared Nicole the most though, the thing that felt like a sword piercing her heart was the sudden wash of tears rolling down Waverly’s face and the anguish in her eyes after her brief outburst of anger and frustration faded.

Wrapping her arms around her, Nicole held Waverly tenderly and let her rain down all the cuss words Nicole deserved to hear and all the tears Waverly didn’t deserve to shed. “I am so, so sorry,” cupping her face, Nicole kissed away every tear upon her face in an effort to erase every trace and memory of them. “I am so scared that I might lose you, Waverly. Scared that you might get hurt because of me. You are the most precious thing I have ever known in my life. So smart, beautiful, fierce,” gazing deep into her eyes, Nicole willed Waverly to see and feel everything she did for her, to know just how much she was loved. “You are extraordinary and god knows what I did to deserve you as my mate, but I’m glad you are in my life and that we belong together,” brushing her thumbs across Waverly’s cheeks, Nicole kissed her softly trembling mouth. “I love you so much, Waverly Earp and I’m sorry, I was a jerk.”

Waverly plastered herself to Nicole’s chest, fingers wrapped tightly in Nicole’s clothing as she flattened her Alpha beneath her on the couch. The soft scent of vanilla and lavender rose up strongly, wrapping around her like the thickest of blankets as Nicole deliberately rubbed against her. “I love you too… and that’s cheating,” she grumbled softly as the wall of Nicole’s chest vibrated soothingly against her own and she felt her hands loosening and flattening out against Nicole in response to the calming sound and sensation.

Chuckling gently, Nicole ran her hands up and down Waverly’s back until she relaxed even more. “I really am sorry, baby,” she whispered softly.

Lifting her head, Waverly smiled wryly. “And I’m sorry I reacted badly then. I know you’re just worried and want to protect me and this little one. I just feel sometimes like I’m not good enough…”

“Not good enough?!” Nicole growled. “Whoever said anything to make you feel that way…? Names now and I’ll beat the hell out of them for it!” she snarled.

Waverly quickly kissed her Alpha’s anger away. “Just childhood stuff… our mama left when I was four. Even before then daddy wasn’t the most attentive and when she left he just got worse and would hardly even look at me let alone talk. And then there was Willa… Wynonna tried but, well… she kind of rebelled a little after Gus and Curtis took us in and then she left too…” And that had been the worst loss of them all to Waverly. All she’d had left was Wynonna and she had just walked away without even asking if she would want to go too.

“Despite all that, maybe because of it, you are perfect in every way, Waverly… I wish I could have been around to protect you from everything though.”

Waverly couldn’t help but wiggle at the thought of what it might have been like to have known Nicole for that long. For them to have grown up and played together through all those awkward teenage years… Just thinking about it made her feel like it would have been an endless summer of picture-perfect moments, filled with laughter and stolen kisses. “We would have gotten into so much trouble together,” she grinned.

“Only the best kind,” Nicole smiled back as she tucked a strand of hair back behind Waverly’s ear and trailed her fingers down across the line of her jaw to caress her lips. Those beautiful lips curled into a smile that became a chuckle as Nicole’s pocket suddenly buzzed and sent Nicole’s hips shooting upwards in shock.

“Damn it!” Nicole fished around, grumbling at the interruption as Waverly seemed quite content to just lay on her and ride her thrashing as she reached for her phone. Hooking an arm around Waverly’s body, a thumb circling a bare strip of soft, warm skin at her waist, Nicole checked the message and then had to read it a couple more times before it sank in.

“It’s Wynonna, are we still up for a run later?”

“And knowing Wynonna she said more than that.” Waverly plucked the phone out of Nicole’s hand. “Hey! HaughtDaddy! Stop bangin’ my sis, you already knocked her up. Wanna run later? Gus and Curtis coming over. I mean it, stop bangin’ for a sec and answer!” Rolling her eyes, Waverly tapped in a reply, reading it aloud before hitting send. “Yes, AuntNonna, WayMomma and HaughtDaddy will see you later.”

Nicole groaned at the belated realisation that the message had gone from her phone… and if Waverly hadn’t looked so adorable and sexy sitting on her with the tip of her tongue playing across her lip as she was typing it out, Nicole might have thought to stop her. Mostly though the groan was because of the ‘HaughtDaddy’.

As nicknames went there were probably worse that Wynonna could have chosen, much worse knowing Waverly’s sister. It was the way Wynonna’s eyebrows waggled when she emphasised the ‘daddy’ part of it and somehow managed to make the word sound kinky and disturbing at the same time. Nicole figured that Wynonna would get bored with it eventually though and was trying to let it run its course without too much comment. It was a tactic that wasn’t working yet. Over texts was one thing but in person, even though it was early days, Nicole was finding it difficult to control her eye roll each and every time. And as they worked in the same building, Wynonna was proving more than adept at popping up everywhere just to slip it in.

Seriously adept!

God knows how she had found the right vent to whisper in to get it to echo out through the break room ventilation but Nicole had nearly thrown the coffee maker across the room when ‘HaughtDaddy’ had whispered out at her on a ghostly moan.

Setting the alarm, Waverly slid Nicole’s phone on to the table. Smiling down at her love, Waverly spread herself out fully along the length of her Alpha’s body with a wiggle and sigh of pleasure as Nicole pulled the blanket back around her. “No more silly talk about running off and doing anything stupid?”

“All depends.”

Lifting her head, Waverly narrowed her eyes at Nicole. “On?” she gritted out warningly even as she noticed the little teasing smirk playing along the plump curve of her lips.

“If Gus and Curtis try to kill me for getting you pregnant.”

“They’ll be fine,” she assured her.

Nicole certainly hoped so. She didn’t really care too much about what anyone else thought but Gus and Curtis had been mother and father to Waverly for more years than her actual parents had. Which was why they were getting to hear about it first… assuming that was that Maggie at the drugstore was not the gossiping kind.

Waverly lay her head back down, snuggling her face against the softness of Nicole’s breasts. The soothing vibrations of a purring hum started off beneath her again and Waverly felt her eyes drifting shut in response. “Cheat,” she mumbled.

“Practicing for those long nights when our baby is restless and you’re worn out from changing all the diapers,” Nicole lulled.

“Aww, that’s… hey,” Waverly poked her in the ribs as Nicole’s body moved beneath hers in barely suppressed humour, “you will be changing diapers too.” The vibrations started off again and once more, Waverly settled into them. “Sneaky Alpha superpower,” one that she wasn’t both aching to see their baby experience and also jealous at the thought of.

The being pregnant thing was still so new. Literally, it had been a couple of days since the drugstore craziness but every time Waverly went past a mirror she found herself stopping and checking to see if there was any sign of a bump showing even though it was too soon for anything like that. It felt like there should be though. She was carrying a new life… surely there should be something other than the nesting and crazy hormones she would have gotten anyway to show for it?

One thing she had gotten though was a deep longing and ache to find out what their baby would look like and be like. Was it too soon to plan out schools and colleges? “Wonder if our little one will be an Alpha like you?”

Nicole shrugged slightly a smile playing across her lips as she ran her hands over Waverly’s back. Waverly’s musings about their baby seemed to find a voice more as the day wore on, the stillness of night giving her time to release all her dreams and fears. Boy or girl? Bookworm, jock or both? Education? Alpha or Omega? There was a seemingly endless amount of questions going through Waverly’s mind that were impossible to answer but one thing that Nicole was pretty sure about…

“Our baby will have me wrapped around their finger before they’re even born, and they will be loved so very much… in other words, they’ll take after you. And if they’re also smart and tough as nails… then they’ll also be taking after you.”

“Nicole Haught, are you saying I’m manipulative?” she teased.

“I’m saying, I love you,” Nicole chuckled lightly, refusing to fall into Waverly’s trap. “What was that book you were reading anyway?”

“It’s nothing,” Waverly blushed.

“If you were reading it, it was something. Tell me, please?”

“It’s a collection of poems.”

“Black Badge had a book of poems? That doesn’t really sound like their style.”

“How about if I said they were written to a young lover called Elle, by a person they believe to be a vampire.”

“Now that sounds like something Black Badge would be interested in.” It would be like them to collect information on everything, even things that didn’t exist. “So… Dracula?”

“Dracula was a story, silly. As well as predating that… this vampire was a woman, Carmilla.”

“Lesbian vampire love poems? Cool! Anything racy?”

“Oh, I should have known that would get your interest,” she smirked at the eagerness in Nicole’s voice. “There are mentions of long skirts, corsets and lip biting so yeah, pretty racy for the times.” Picking the book up off the floor, Waverly propped it up where she could see it better and read a couple of lines about the scent of freshly plucked flowers.

Nicole wasn’t sure if it was just racier than she’d expected or if most of it was down to the huskiness of Waverly’s voice and her wiggling but… “That was… yeah,” clearing her throat she tried not to blush under the weight of Waverly’s knowing glances.

“Oh, wait until you hear this one,” Waverly flicked back through a couple of pages. “This one Carmilla wrote like she was describing a dream. Reads pretty normally but I noticed that the last line of each verse was written a little different than the rest, see?” she angled the book so Nicole could see the subtly thicker penmanship. “Putting them together it says, ‘You are mine… You shall be mine… You and I are one, forever’.”

Nicole squirmed as Waverly finished off her little reading by nipping at her throat with sharp teeth. “Very… gothic vampire,” she chuckled breathlessly.

Waverly caught the sparkle of mischief in Nicole’s eyes but was still left breathless at her speed as she found their positions reversed and looked up into that bright smile as Nicole gently settled between her parted thighs. Even when she was sure that Nicole would consider herself as being ‘rough’ she was always so gentle and considerate with her no matter what form she was in. And it just made Waverly fall in love with her more and more.

“How long have we got?”

“Forever,” Waverly breathed softly as she tried to claim the lips hovering just out of reach.

“Hmm, I love the sound of that but I meant until we’re supposed to be at the Homestead?” Nicole reminded her.

“Oh,” Waverly grinned and looked at her watch. “Not long enough for what we want,” she sighed. “You know if you would just readjust your idea of how long a quickie should be…”

“Two hours is the lowest I will go, Waves.”

“And it’s not that I don’t appreciate that… a lot. And I’m not complaining as such, but does every quickie has to be ten mutual orgasms and the inability to walk or think for the rest of the day?”

“And what happened when I tried less? Who was it that dragged us back to bed?”

“I believe that was a mutual return.”

“Mutual? Really? Waverly, you ripped the shirt off my back… I liked that shirt,” she chuckled softly.

“It was in the way and needed to die,” Waverly growled. “Just like this one is,” bunching her hands up in the fabric, she started to pull teasingly.

Waverly froze, her hand releasing its grip on Nicole’s shirt to free up Alpha’s movements as Nicole’s body went stiff above her, her face settling into a cold mask. “What’s…?” Nicole was gone in a graceful bounding leap, her body shifting so fast that Waverly was left blinking at the tattered remains of Nicole’s clothing pooled against her body. “… Wrong?” she finished. “Well, that’s one way to remove clothes fast,” she muttered with a small nod of grudging admiration as she scrambled out from the tangle of clothing and blanket Nicole had left her in.

Waverly hurried into the kitchen, her eyes falling on the open back door. Before she was even halfway across the room Waverly heard a scuffling at the door and Jeremy stumbled in, tumbling backwards with his arms raised as Nicole’s wolf filled the door with a lethal snarl curling her lips.