"And if I were to propose? Would you be okay with her as your stepmother?"
"Yes!" She had beamed. He swore her to secrecy since he hadn't asked Nefertiti yet. He wasn't sure how he would ask her, but he planned on it. It was time to put part two of his plan in motion while he diligently worked at part one.
One day while he sat in the kitchen with Tayla, Nefertiti cooked dinner. "It smells o...sweet," she said of the crème sauce right before she threw up in the trash. Tayla had been talking to his mother at the time. Being a woman she had no doubt long ago realized he was having sex with Nefertiti. He wasn't surprised when Tayla handed him the phone and professed, "Grandma wants to talk to you."
"Mom." He said absently.
"Did you knock her up?"
"I hope so," was all he would say.
"Well are you sure she wants children?"
He wasn't. He hadn't expected she didn't until his mother asked him. He needed to find out so he waited until Tayla went to sleep before going upstairs to Nefertiti's room.
"I wasn't expecting you tonight." She sat up in bed.
"Are you feeling better?"
"Yes. I don't know why I felt so sick. Maybe the milk was bad."
He suspected something else. "Do you want children?"
She looked taken aback for a moment. "Of course. I'd like a couple. A boy and a girl, but it doesn't really matter so long as they're happy, healthy and free." She stopped suddenly. "You don't want more; do you?"
"I do," he said. "It's just...well we've had about two and a half months of uninterrupted sex."
"Three," she corrected. Then he saw the understanding look on her face.
"I never used a condom."
"Oh my. I'm not on anything. Oh, but it couldn’t be." She counted on her fingers. "I'm so sorry. Tayla..."
"Seeing as though I've already cleared marrying you with her I think she'll be fine with a brother or sister." He placed his hand to her stomach. "Besides, there's no need to apologize. I got you pregnant deliberately."
"What?"
"I wanted you to marry me and I thought it might help you say yes."
She laughed. He thought she would be furious, but she wasn't.
"First comes baby, huh?"
"I was hoping we could get married in a few weeks. Baby takes about nine months."
"Yes," she threw her arms around him. "I will marry you." She pulled back and hit his arm. "You are sneaky. I would have said yes without your getting me pregnant...if I am. I think I might be."
"I know you are," he pulled her close. "But I'll buy a test tomorrow anyway."
She leaned in and kissed him. "I love you."
"I love you too," he wrapped his arms around her. "Come on," he pulled her up.
"Where are going?"
"My room," he said and they did just that.
Within the month he had a wife, a beautifully pregnant wife, and his family felt complete again. He no longer worried about losing her because she was his and she was home in America to stay.
Hello Reader. Educating Australia was never officially released as part of the Men of Action series, but Australia is the first female character from the series that I actually wrote.
If you have been following the Men of Action series then you know that Australia is Zenya and Geneva’s cousin. She’s also a drummer. In her story she’s a handful; one Kyle Donovan must learn how to work with. Kyle may be a master martial artist, but when it comes to Australia’s quick thinking he’s met his match. When an obsessed admirer stakes a claim on Australia can Kyle tame this beauty long enough to keep her safe?
Chapter One
Kyle watched Australia attentively. She was by far the most exasperating woman he had ever met. Most times she was quiet, but when she did open her mouth she rarely knew how to shut up. She analyzed every sentence, explained things in more detail than anybody needed and her logic, by God trying to follow her logic was like trying to follow a jack rabbit on speed. She didn't want a black belt; he could understand not wanting to have to register her hands as a lethal weapon. She was far from a black belt anyway so it wasn't an issue. But she also didn't want a green belt because she didn't like the color, blue because it wasn't her most flattering color, or even the red belt. He wasn't sure why she didn't want a red belt because he had stopped listening somewhere between, "When I get there just keep me on yellow," and blue not being flattering.
Talking with her took energy—a lot of energy. Somehow each conversation managed to turn him on. It wasn't her big brown, almost black, eyes, or even her exotic features. High cheekbones from her Native American history, Cherokee and Choctaw, he'd heard her say, or even the smooth brown skin from her black ancestry. It wasn't how her hair framed her face and fell softly on her breasts...her breasts were beautifully shaped. Small, thirty-four B if he guessed right. He had a nice view every time she walked into the Dojo wearing her fitted button down shirts. It wasn't even her behind, though Lord knows she had the sexiest butt on the planet. She had altered her uniform to fit more snugly and though her rebellion annoyed him, seeing her tight behind aroused him. The physical was the icing on an already delicious cake. She turned him on. Her tenacity, her ability to shut him down mid-sentence, to make him have to fight to hold back a laugh when he knew he should be serious, all of it made him want her.
From the very first day she walked into his office she had rambled on about wanting to learn self defense without having to take off her clothes. He held his hand up trying to get a word in, but she simply held her hand up too and kept talking about needing to learn how to fight wearing her regular clothes.
"I'm trying to get you to stop talking," he had said. She smiled and said, "Oh. I just thought you were trying to say hi."
He needed a moment of escape to regain his sanity. He made the pretense of needing water, but she couldn't be stopped. "I can walk and talk," she had said. Much to his horror she could indeed walk and talk as she followed behind him.
Six months of two hour classes once a week and he knew he liked her.
"Okay. Australia and Tony," he called for the next two to practice. "No kicking and no below the belt," he reminded them.
He stepped back and they began. Tony would attack and she blocked each of his moves. She got in a couple hits of her own in the process. She learned fast and she was doing really well. She was one of his best students, and he didn't just think that because he wanted to get in her pants.
"Time," he called. She stopped, Tony didn't. With one swift kick to her stomach she was on the floor gasping for air.
"Time!" He held out his hand to keep Tony at bay. Rick, Kyle's younger brother, ran across the room, leaving one of the older kids in charge of his class.
The look on Tony's face, the hard lines of a fifty-two year old man had settled into anger. Rick kept him back as Kyle crouched beside Australia.
"Slow breaths;" he didn't touch her, though he wanted to. His brothers, Rick and Steve, had already noticed his attraction to her; he didn't need the class whispering about it too.
When her breathing steadied, he helped her up. "The Doc is in," he nudged her forward.
"I'm okay."
She was a trooper trying to be strong, but he still wanted her checked out.
"Steve's going to make sure of that."
Three brothers with wildly different careers and one dojo. Steve had gone to medical school, opened his own practice and worked in the dojo once a week as an instructor and one night a week as the on-call doctor. Rick was the MBA, web developer, all around business man. He was there all the time either as instructor or accountant, marketing agent or overall business guru. Kyle was the PhD in Forensic Psychology. When he wasn't instructing at the dojo he was training law enforcement special task forces in martial arts and forensic psychology. He consulted with every agency from federal to state to city, but teaching Jukido was his passion.
His grandfather, a master in the martial arts, had taught them all. Martial arts were a part of th
eir heritage and just because they now had more white than Japanese in them didn't mean they didn't deserve that heritage. He had married a white woman and though he had hoped his only daughter would marry a Japanese man and keep the bloodlines strong, she had married a white man. If it weren't for their silky black hair, their complexion and the slight slant of their eyes, nobody would know they were anything other than white. They had all kept their hair at or below shoulder length, despite their professions. They all seemed to favor a ponytail. There was no mistaking their relation. One look at the three of them and it was clear they were brothers.
"Is she okay?"
"She's fine. She'll have some bruising."
"She is still in the room," she chimed in and they both looked at her stretched out on the table.
"Get some rest the next couple days..."
"Can't. I have a show tomorrow night."
"Show?" Steve questioned.
"I'm a drummer for a rock band. Well we play more eclectic than just rock, but I'm still the drummer and we're still playing Raven's Nest tomorrow night. You all should come."
"Tomorrow..."
"The dojo is closed Saturday nights so you could come. Unless you have plans already."
"We'll be there," Steve added before Kyle could decline.
"Great. How many, so I can leave word at the door?"
"I'll bring my wife. Rick's probably got a girl he'll bring. Kyle's single...so I guess five." He looked to Kyle for confirmation.
"Five," Kyle confirmed.
"Okay. Just skip the line, go straight to the door and let the bouncer know who you are. I'll leave word to let you in."
Raven's Nest was a hot spot bar-club, but better contained than most of the local establishments. Still, it wasn't the ideal place for her to be at night. Predators looked for easy prey around clubs and bars, especially those places that sat farther off from the main roads. He didn’t doubt her abilities, but there was still so much she didn't know; so much he needed to teach her. Her weak spots would be the place an attacker, a skilled attacker, would go first. She still dropped her guard too easily. She left her center open for attack and he could tell she still felt intimidated by size. She was five-four and if he matched her with one of the other women in a fight she held her own. If he matched her with a taller, bigger man, she pulled back. He could sense her hesitation and an attacker would be able to sense it too.
"Well I guess I should get back out there."
Steve placed his hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back down. "Rest."
"But I don't want to miss anything."
Kyle exhaled an exasperated breath. "Fine, you can watch," he cautioned. "Watching only."
"Okay. Okay," she held up her hands in surrender.
He too needed to get back out there. He had left one of his advanced students in charge, but he didn't want to stay gone too long.
Tony's kick had caught her off guard. She had lowered her defenses because Kyle had called it. They were through and she respected that. Tony hadn't. She was positive he had heard Kyle call time, just as she was sure he had heard the "no kicking" rule. He was obviously either still upset that she hadn't reciprocated his romantic feelings, or pissed that she had held her own on the mat. Before his kick she had blocked every hit he threw, he had blocked a few of hers too but she was the first to get in three attacks to three different parts of the body which, had it been a competition, would have made her the victor.
The fact that he hadn't even apologized furthered her belief that he had tried to hurt her. Tried and succeeded actually. She was out of commission the moment his foot made contact. Had he been a real attacker, and had she been alone, she would be dead; or worse...violated. "You've only been at this six months," she reminded herself. "Give yourself a break." Would an attacker give her a break? No. He'd take advantage of her lack of skill. She wished she didn't feel afraid at night. All of their gigs were at venues that either started at night or were at events that started late afternoon and lasted well into the night. Until six months ago she hadn't thought much about her safety, or lack thereof, but then that college student had been raped after leaving one of the clubs they had played the night before and she just felt the slap in the face telling her to wise up and take some self defense courses.
She was out there at night trying to shove her drum kit into her little Hyundai, and she was often alone while doing it.
She had tried to find a small self defense class for women, but with no luck in her online search she turned to the Serenity Dojo. The classes fit her schedule and the week of free lessons allowed her to try it out before paying for a full month of lessons. She still would have preferred to wear her own clothes, but she could make a sacrifice for good instruction.
Steve had been right, she was sore the next day, but a cold shower and a few hours in bed had helped ease some of the soreness. She didn't stay in bed long. Getting to the club down I-5 was going to take a while and she still needed to set up her gear and let the bouncer at the door know she was expecting people. She spent two hours in traffic to go what should have taken forty-five minutes, but she arrived at Raven's Nest, unloaded her set and left word with Craig, the bouncer, to admit Kyle Donavan and the others with him. “Really cute and looks a little Japanese,” she told him. It wasn’t that he had asked, or that he even needed the description, but she had told him anyway.
She had worn her usual show style, but spent a little extra time deciding on the perfect ensemble. Black pants that showed her curves and a fitted red vest with no top beneath. She assured herself the extra effort had everything to do with the club attire and nothing to do with the hottie she had invited.
She liked Kyle. She liked him a lot. She liked how he answered the phone, "Donovan," in a deep, sexy tone. She liked how smart he was. She liked that he could take care of himself, but he was always so gentle with his students. She really liked how he never lost his temper when she was clearly annoying him. And she loved his fit body, God did she love his body.
The first time he had used her to demonstrate how an attacker could grab from behind she had felt how hard his chest was. She had also felt how impossibly strong he was. She hadn't been able to move.
She scanned the crowd looking for Kyle. He wasn't at the table she had asked to reserve for them. They had played Raven's Nest so much that the owner had told them, mainly her, to let him know if they needed anything.
Well, maybe he wasn't going to come. She felt a twinge of disappointment, but that didn't last long. She had a show to rock out starting now and that took her attention.
By the end of the third song as Mike D, their lead singer, was introducing the band members she saw Kyle. He and his brothers had obviously arrived sometime between the second song and now because she hadn't seen them at the end of the first song.
"Bangin' it out on drums is the very sexy Australia!" Mike D said. She was always the last one introduced because she was in back of the others. She held up her sticks and blew a kiss to the audience.
"We're going to play one of Australia’s songs." The crowd cheered. "Now this is new, a little slower and no drums."
"Oh man," came a low rumble from the crowd.
"We know; but she wrote herself out of this one. I think she did it so we'd have to give her a break. Low stamina, baby?" He turned to her.
She leaned into her microphone and said, "Unlike you I have no problem going all night long."
He placed his hand to his heart, "ouch," he chuckled.
She loved their banter. The crowd loved it too. "Okay guys. Here's your chance to grab that special someone and slow it down for the night. You never know where slow will lead you." She turned it over to Mike D for the song.
She took a quick exit from the stage to get some water. Then, she went to say hello to Kyle. Steve and his wife, along with Rick and his date were already dancing.
"You made it."
"Yeah. My little brother has time issues," he said dryly.
"I'm glad you came." She wasn't sure he was. He didn’t seem happy about being there.
"Something going on between you and..." He pointed
"Mike?" She was shocked he had seen through their friendly banter. "We were an item once...a few years back. He's good in bed but a lousy boyfriend. We are much better off as friends."
He looked shocked.
"You didn't think I was a virgin did you?"
"Uh...no I...uh..."
She laughed. "Mike and I were three years ago. There hasn't been anybody since." She felt the need to clear things up. "I have to get back up there," she said as the song wrapped. "See you after?"
He nodded.
She finished off the night's set, took down her gear and shared a quick moment with Kyle. Celeste, Steve's wife, was tired and they were all going to leave. The band was calling it a night so she decided to leave too. Handling her gear with the ease that came only from years of experience, she left the club. "Night guys. See you for practice in the morning."
"Make it afternoon," Mike D yelled back as he and the others walked in the opposite direction.
She briskly walked to her car, fumbled with the key before getting the car unlocked and the door open. She had managed to get one piece of her gear in before she felt the tap on her shoulder.
She squealed and jumped, hitting her head on the car as she tried to clear the back seat.
"Do they always leave you like that?"
She rubbed her head. "Kyle! Gosh darn it! Don’t scare me like that."
She picked up the last piece of her set and wiggled it onto the back seat. "I thought you were gone already."
"I saw you walking alone and figured I'd make sure you were safe. Why don't they walk you to your car?"
"Because obviously they realize I can walk myself. Listen," she shut the door. "I do this all the time..."
Maid for Hire & Educating Australia Page 5