The Biker Alpha Who Became My Second Chance Mate Chapter 153

Tristan

I felt tears forming in my eyes and tried to blink them away but they fell anyway.

"I will protect these babies with my life," she continued, her voice fierce now. "Anyone who tries to hurt them, anyone who tries to take them from me, they'll have to go through me first, and I promise you I will fight harder than I've ever fought for anything."

"I know you will," I said.

"And I trust you to protect me while I protect them," she said. "We're a team, we protect each other, that's what mates do."

"I know," I said again.

"And Tristan, it's not your fault that Jess died," she said, her thumbs wiping away my tears. "That was all on Daxon, he's the monster who killed her, he's the one who should carry that guilt, not you, you did everything you could."

"I should have done more," I said, the old guilt rising up.

"You did enough," she said firmly. "You loved her, you tried to protect her, that's all anyone can do, Daxon is the one who failed, not you."

I pulled her into my arms and held her tight, burying my face in her neck and breathing in her scent, letting it ground me and calm me.

"I'm sorry," I said after a moment. "For getting so angry, for overreacting to a joke."

"I understand why you did," she said, her fingers running through my hair in a soothing gesture. "And I'm sorry for not realizing how much that would affect you, I should have been more sensitive."

"You couldn't have known," I said, echoing her words from earlier.

"Still," she said. "I know now and I won't joke about things like that anymore."

I pulled back to look at her. "I'm also sorry for treating you like you're made of glass, for trying to control what you do."

"You're not trying to control me," she said. "You're trying to protect me, there's a difference, and honestly, I love that you care so much, I love that you want to keep me and the babies safe, it makes me feel cherished and special and loved."

"You are all those things," I said. "And so much more."

"I know," she said with a small smile. "You tell me every day."

"I'll keep telling you every day for the rest of our lives," I promised.

She leaned in and kissed me, soft and sweet, and I felt some of the tension that had been coiling in my chest finally start to ease.

When she pulled back she was looking at me with that expression I'd come to recognize, the one that meant she wanted me.

"I love you," she said. "So much it scares me sometimes because I've never felt this way about anyone."

"I love you too," I said. "More than I thought it was possible to love someone."

She kissed me again and this time it was deeper, more heated, her hands were in my hair and mine were on her waist, pulling her closer.

When we finally broke apart we were both breathing hard.

"I feel like I'm going into heat again," she said with a breathy laugh.

"Already?" I asked, grinning despite everything. "Didn't we just deal with that?"

"Pregnancy hormones are apparently no joke," she said. "Everything is more sensitive and I just want you all the time."

"Well," I said, kissing her neck and feeling her shiver. "It's nothing I can't handle."

"Is that so?" she asked, her voice getting breathier as I continued kissing along her neck.

"That's so," I confirmed, finding that spot just below her ear that I knew drove her crazy.

She made a sound that was half moan, half laugh and pulled me closer.

"We should probably go back downstairs," I said against her skin even though I made no move to actually leave. "Derek and Orion are going to think we're up here fighting."

"Let them think that," she said, tugging at my shirt. "I want my fiancé."

I couldn't argue with that logic so I didn't, I just kissed her again and let myself get lost in her, in us, in this moment where nothing existed except the two of us and the love we had for each other.

I kissed her slowly, my lips sweeping across hers, my tongue sliding against hers in a dance that was familiar but never boring, her mouth was soft and warm and tasted like what she'd had with breakfast, and I could have kissed her forever and it wouldn't have been enough.

My hands moved from her waist to her back, pulling her as close as possible, feeling the warmth of her body through her thin shirt.

She made small sounds of pleasure that drove me crazy and her hands were everywhere, in my hair, on my shoulders, sliding under my shirt to touch bare skin.

"Tristan," she breathed when I finally moved from her mouth to kiss along her jaw. "I need you."

"I know," I said, continuing my path down to her neck. "I need you too."

We stayed like that for a while, just kissing and touching, taking our time because there was no rush, nowhere we needed to be except right here with each other.

Eventually we did have to stop, both of us flushed and breathing hard, looking at each other with matching expressions of desire and love.

"We really should go back downstairs," Athena said, though she made no move to get up from where she was straddling my lap.

"Probably," I agreed, my hands still on her hips.

"In a minute," she said, leaning in to kiss me again.

"In a minute," I echoed against her lips.

It was another twenty minutes before we finally made ourselves presentable and headed back downstairs where Derek and Orion were watching some game on TV.

"Everything okay up there?" Orion asked, trying to look innocent and failing miserably.

"Everything's fine," Athena said, her face still flushed.

"Uh huh," Derek said with a knowing grin. "Took you long enough to work things out."

"We're complex people," I said, pulling Athena down onto the couch beside me and wrapping my arm around her shoulders. "It takes time."

"Right," Derek said, clearly not buying it. "Complex."

"Speaking of complex," Orion said. "You two want to tell us what actually happened up there or are we going to pretend we don't know?"

"We talked," I said simply.

"Among other things," Derek added under his breath.

"Derek," I warned.

"What?" he said innocently. "I'm just saying, you were up there for almost an hour, that's a lot of talking."

"We had a lot to talk about," Athena said, then changed the subject before they could push further. "So what were you saying about racing?"

Derek looked at me like he was checking if this was still a touchy subject, I nodded slightly to let him know it was okay.

"Right," Derek said. "So like I was saying before things got interesting, I'm planning one last race this weekend, Saturday night, thought you might want to come watch. You've been busy, didn't want to disturb you."

He was looking at me and I felt Athena perk up beside me.

I trusted Derek to run the racing center while I'm taking care of other things, I'd the same.

"You want me to come watch? Or you want me to race?" I asked.

"Mmm," Derek said like he didn't know what he wanted, but we all knew. "I know you're done racing but figured you might want to see it one more time, plus everyone would love to see you, they've been asking about you."

I was about to decline when Athena spoke up.

"Can I come too?" she asked, looking between Derek and me with excitement in her eyes.

"You want to watch me race or you want to watch others race?" I asked, with a knowing smile.

Athena loves to see me race, she wouldn't want to come along if it's not to watch me race.

I know I said I was done racing, but I could do it one last time if she asks me to.

"I know you're not racing anymore but I'd love to watch a race one last time before I leave it all behind."

"You sure it's just to watch a race I'm not included" I asked with a teasing brow, I could see the look on her face.

And I know that look, she might plan with Derek to include my name into the list.

"I actually don't mind" she let out a laugh.

"I know you don't" I pulled her close and place a light kiss on her forehead, I didn't withdraw immediately. I stayed there for a while with my eyes, when I pulled away, I pecked her lips.

"Just watching," I clarified. "I'm not racing."

"Just watching," she agreed. "I promise I'll stay far away from the racing lane, and I won't try to convince you to let me race."

"Not funny," I said but I was smiling.

"Too soon?" she asked.

"Way too soon," I confirmed.

"So is that a yes?" Derek asked. "You'll come?"

I looked at Athena who was practically vibrating with excitement beside me, then at Derek and Orion who were both waiting for my answer.

"Fine," I said. "We'll come, but we're not staying long and Athena stays with me the entire time."

"Deal," Derek said, grinning. "Saturday night, I'll be expecting you."

"What about me?" Orion asked. "Am I invited?"

"Of course," Derek said. "Bring Sarah too if she wants, make it a whole thing."

"I'll ask her," Orion said. "Though I'm not sure she'll want to leave the kids."

After Derek left, Athena turned to me with that excited look still plastered across her face.

"I can't believe I'll be visiting the racing center," she said. "I've missed it a lot."

I groaned. "You're going to make me regret this."

"Probably," she agreed cheerfully. "But you love me anyway."

"I do love you," I confirmed. "God help me."

She laughed and kissed me, right there in front of Orion who made a gagging sound.

"Get a room," he said.

"We tried that," Athena said. "You made us come back downstairs."

"That's because you were up there for an hour," Orion said. "We thought you'd killed each other."

"Almost," I said. "But we worked it out."

"Obviously," Orion said with a knowing look as he stood up, going to meet his wife, I guess.

We settled back into the couch and she shifted to face me more fully, tucking her legs under her, there was something different in her expression now, something softer and more thoughtful that made me curious about what was going through her mind.

"Can I ask you something?" she said.

"Anything," I said, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

"What kind of wedding do you want?" she asked, "Like, have you thought about it at all?"

I had actually been thinking about it quite a bit since I'd proposed, lying awake at night while she slept and imagining what our wedding day would look like.

Imagining her walking toward me, imagining the moment I'd get to call her my wife in front of everyone we knew.

"I want one that lets the whole world know I'm marrying you," I said honestly, watching her face carefully.