She laughed and pushed at his chest. “We have to plan how we’re going to break our children out of that horrible place. So don’t get me going until we know they’re safe.”

“I’ll do my best,” he promised and dropped his arms, allowing her to escape.

She dressed with efficiency, but it didn’t matter. Every movement was sensual. She was a living monument to the female body. He waited for her and inspected her carefully, making certain there were no marks showing on her skin where others could see. Making certain he kissed her several times. He even smoothed the tangles from her hair with a brush and handed her the clip she wore to pull it back.

“You ready?” He held out his hand.

She threaded her fingers through his, smiling up at him. He liked how relaxed she looked after having sex with him. They walked back to the kitchen together. Nonny was already outside, sitting in the rocking chair, holding Ginger. Clearly the boys had been a little too loud and had woken her up. Nonny glanced at their joined hands through the window and nodded her head, sending Wyatt a pleased smile.

“You two good?” Trap greeted, glancing at Wyatt and then turning his cool gaze onto Pepper as they entered the room. He was standing at the kitchen table looking down at several large blueprints.

“We’re good,” Wyatt said.

“I’m sorry about before,” Pepper said. “You talked about the babies the same way Braden talked about them. As if they aren’t human.”

She kept her gaze steady on his, no remorse, even a challenge. Wyatt reached out and caught her hand in a warning hold. She didn’t relent, didn’t stop focusing on Trap.

Trap blinked. “I did?”

“Yep.” It was Malichai who answered. “Like they were little rats in a lab just waiting for you to come along and study them.” There was the smallest bite to his tone, as if, like Pepper, he hadn’t liked what Trap had said earlier about studying the babies.

Trap shoved his hand through his hair. “Pepper, I don’t think like that. Wyatt’s family to me. That means those kids are family. If you’re his choice, you are. That’s the way it works with me. I can’t help the way I am. My mind solves problems, and I don’t think how to word something when my brain is running a hundred miles an hour.”

“That’s true,” Malichai agreed. “He’s like a processor running at top speed.”

“And he’s clueless when it comes to social skills,” Draden added.

Trap scowled at them. “The point I’m trying to make is, I would never experiment on babies or children. I just wouldn’t do it. But I’ll find a way for the girls to live as normal a life as possible. When I’m being insensitive, kick me in the shins or something. Eventually I’ll figure it out, but know I’d never use those babies.”

There was no way to miss the sincerity in Trap’s tone.

Pepper nodded. “Thanks for explaining, Trap. I know you didn’t have to. Unfortunately you triggered the mama tiger in me.”

“Um, no, darlin’,” Wyatt corrected with a small grin. “That would be the mama snake.”

Pepper laughed softly with the others, just as he’d wanted her to do. She turned her attention to the blueprints, the smile fading as she bent closer to look them over. Immediately the team surrounded the table.

“These blueprints are all wrong, Trap,” Pepper said. “The first floor is probably the closest to what this looks like, but the rest of it…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “The outside follows the blueprints, but the inside, not so much,” she continued.

“Can you fix them, babe?” Wyatt asked.

Pepper nodded. “I studied the place, I can give you pretty good details. Why don’t you go put Ginger back to bed? She’s getting used to you doing that, and I’ll sketch the floor plans and put in all the changes. I should be done by the time you get back.”

Wyatt had been putting Ginger down at night, hoping she would get used to him. He liked holding her in his arms and rocking her while he gave her a bottle of warm milk and looked down at her little face. Love had taken hold sometime around the first or second time he’d done it.

Nonny handed him the baby as soon as he stepped outside with the bottle and a blanket to wrap her in. He was grateful the bayou was rarely cold. Ginger had trouble holding on to her body heat. She lifted her face for his kiss and snuggled right into him when he dropped into the chair beside his grandmother.

“That’s my girl,” he whispered to the baby. “She’s so beautiful, isn’t she, Nonny, just like her mama.”

Ginger didn’t like to hold the bottle. She liked him to hold it for her as she cuddled against his warmth, the blanket snug around her.

“She’s beautiful,” Nonny agreed. “Looks just like you when you were a babe. Glad you finally figured out what you needed in a woman, boy. Joy didn’ belong here. She would never have made you happy. That one in there” – she indicated the kitchen – “she’s the kind that will stand by you.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured that out.” He watched in awe as Ginger’s little fingers wrapped around his index finger.

“Pepper is a woman of great courage. She fought for them even when she knew if she did those people in that lab would probably kill her. She braved the swamp with a child in tow. Tha’s a woman who will stand with you through anythin’. She’ll walk through fire to get to those she loves. She’ll sacrifice anythin’, even her own happiness, to protect them.”