“Wow, so the Henley brothers were popular?” I ask when she’s finished. I had no idea Jackson had such a busy past.
“Yeah,” she chuckles, “They were even more popular when the girls came home for term break from boarding school.”
We finish shopping and then I drive Ava to her place. After dropping her off, I head towards home. Home. It feels weird to call Jackson’s beautiful house my home. I’ve managed to pick up a few different things today to make it more ‘me’, including a gorgeous bed spread and a few framed prints for the wall. I contacted a local photographer who I noticed taking pictures at the rodeo and organized for him to frame a fantastic shot he captured of Jackson. In the picture Jackson’s feet are level with the bull’s shoulders; his legs straight out in front of him, his free arm extended over his head, his body almost lying flat on the bull’s back and the bull’s back legs are high in the air amongst a cloud of dust. It’s an unbelievably amazing picture. I asked him to enlarge it and frame it for me.
I’m singing along with the radio when I hear a bang and feel the steering wheel jerk to the side. Great. I slow down and pull on to shoulder of the road.
Flat tyre. Fucking golden!
I was never taught to change a flat and I have no idea where to start. I check my watch. There’s still a few hours of daylight left. I grab my phone hoping there will be a bar of service so I can call Jackson. No bars. Shit. I could wait for a little bit; see if any cars come by. Chances are slim to none. The road generally isn’t busy because this is not a main road; it basically only services the front entrances of the Henley and Crawley Stations. Crawley is Ava’s family.
I can see the gateway to ‘Binowee Station’ about four hundred meters down the road so I decide to walk down there, trying to get service on my way. Jackson’s house is about six kilometers from the entrance, and Jeremy’s is even further away so I hope I can get enough signal to make a call.
As I’m walking, I see a car coming up Jackson’s driveway. I quicken my pace so I can meet them at the gateway and ask them to drive me back to the house. I manage to arrive at the same time as the sporty little jeep.
The tinted window rolls down and there sits a smug looking Dannika. She blows a bubble with her bubblegum until it makes a loud pop! and then says in a sickly sweet voice, “Exercising to try and lose some of that fat ass and tubby gut, are we?”
Fucking bitch!
And what the hell was she doing at Jackson’s? At mine and Jackson’s home?
“What are you doing out here Dannika?”
“Nothing I’m sure you’d want to know, but if you like, I could give you details. I’m feeling pretty mellow and generous after the orgasm I just had.”
I swallow down the vomit that rises in my throat as her words hit me full frontal right where it hurts. I try my best to school my features so she doesn’t know how much her words sting.
“What’s your problem, Dannika?”
“Me? Oh, I don’t have a problem …now. I’m sure you’re well aware of how calming an orgasm from Jackson can be…” Her lips curl with disgust as she looks me over.
“Why don’t you just fuck off and leave us alone?” I snap before turning and walking away.
“If your boyfriend would stop texting me for sex, maybe I would leave you both alone,” she shouts then stomps on her accelerator causing the back wheels to spin as she roars off.
I walk towards the house, lost in my thoughts. There’s a good chance I got mobile service along the way but I was too caught up in my head to keep checking my phone.
Did Jackson really just fuck Dannika?
What if he did?
What will I do? Stay and fight? Call it quits?
Is he worth fighting for? Without a doubt, yes.
Fuck, this hurts so much more than last time.
I dash the tears I didn’t even know had fallen off my cheeks as the house comes into sight. Jackson’s Cruiser is parked in the garage. That means he is home. My eyes water again. Secretly I was hoping to arrive home and he wouldn’t be here. That would give me hope that Dannika was full of shit.
I walk up to the house and through the front door. I look around, for what I don’t know. Maybe evidence that shows what Dannika said is true? As I walk into our bedroom my hearts thuds hard against my rib cage. Nothing looks out of place. I hear the shower cut off and Jackson walks out of the bathroom. I watch the beads of water run from his hair down his chiseled stomach to be soaked up by the white towel that is wrapped around his waist.
“Hey darlin’, how was your day?” His question is so unexpectedly normal that it throws me for a beat.
“Hey, it was good. How was your day?” The hesitance in my tone betrays me.
“What’s wrong, baby? You look a little pale. Are you alright? Do you feel okay? Maybe you overdid it today?”
“I’m okay,” I shrug. I don’t say anything more, giving him the chance to come clean, to look guilty, to do something. He eyes me speculatively before walking towards me. Instinct causes me to take a step back. He freezes solid. “What the fuck?” He frowns and I can’t help but hate that there are deep creases marring his beautiful features.
“What the fuck, Ace?” He asks again.
I shake my head and scramble for something to say. “I got a flat tyre after dropping Ava off. I walked here because I don’t know how to change one.”
“You must be wrecked, darlin’. Come and sit down. You didn’t think to ring me?” He asks genuinely concerned.
“I couldn’t get reception. It’s okay. It wasn’t that far.”
“It’s a wonder you didn’t pass one of the boys along the way. Someone is usually heading into town at this time,” he mutters.
“Actually, I did see someone – at the entrance,” I say tentatively, giving him an opening to tell me Dannika was here. He doesn’t take the opening. He looks bewildered. Dumbfounded, even.
“Why didn’t you ask them to give you a lift? It would have saved you the bloody hike from the front gate to here. Jesus, Ace, you’re pregnant. You can’t be walking that far. You’ll get high blood pressure or whatever the fuck.”
Oh no, you don’t. No fucking way, mister. You don’t get to turn this around on me.
“It was Dannika.” I spit out.
“What? What about Dannika?” His eyes widen and he looks completely lost; like he has absolutely no idea what on Earth I am talking about.
“Dannika. She was the person at the gate. We had a nice little chat actually.” I feel my lip curl with disgust.
“What did that bitch say?” His asks, his chest heaving in anger.
“She told me in no uncertain terms that she was here to see you because you won’t stop contacting her for sex, so she’d come to appease your requests.
“The fuck she did! Wait. You don’t believe her, do you?”
I shrug. I don’t know what to believe.
“You want to check my phone? You want to go and check the front fucking drive for tyre tracks? Fucking hell, Edie, I can’t believe this shit,” he shouts.
“You can’t believe it? What about me? How do you think I feel? What am I supposed to think when your ex-girlfriend comes from the direction of your house and then proceeds to tell me, in detail, about what she has been doing with my boyfriend?” I yell back.
“How about instead of fucking jumping to conclusions and immediately believing what some fucking snake in the grass tells you, you come home here to our house and ask me. I’ve done nothing, not one fucking thing, to make you doubt my love for you or my loyalty to you. I’ve fucking told you time and again that I’m nothing like your fucking ex but as soon as something like this comes up, you immediately lump me in the same category as him. That’s fucking bullshit, Edie and you know it.” He slams his phone down beside me and quickly pulls his clothes on.
“Jacks-,” I start
“Don’t. Just fucking don’t.” He cuts me off and walks out without another word. The front door slams shut and moments after
that I hear his Ute roar off down the road.
What a clusterfuck. God, I am an idiot. How could I have doubted him without giving him a chance? Why did I even let that bitch’s words eat at me? I should have come in here with an open mind, but instead I came in here thinking the worst. He was right – he had never given me any reason to doubt his faithfulness to me, yet at the first hurdle, I believed the worst scenario.
A few hours later, Jackson walks through the front door.
“I’m so sorry,” I sob as I jump up from where I was sitting on the lounge. “You were right – I never gave you a chance to explain or the benefit of the doubt. I just automatically believed the worst and I’m so sorry. I promise I’ll try harder to improve on those tendencies. If you still want me, that is,” I say, adding the last part softly in a trembling voice.
He walks towards me and wraps me in his strong arms. He smells so good. I snuggle into him and wind my arms around his waist, holding him tight to me. He kisses my hair and says, “I’m sorry, darlin’, for reacting the way I did. With what you’ve experienced there’s no way you’d be able to ignore what she said. She’s a bitch and I don’t want any part of her. Everything I ever wanted is standing right here in my arms and that’s right where you’re going to stay for the rest of our lives. I don’t know what Dannika was playing at, nor do I even care, but I swear to you she was not in the house. Not even in the yard. I wouldn’t do that to you, to us, or to that handsome baby boy you’re cookin’ up for us. Right-o?”
“I love you,” I whisper.
“Love you too, darlin’.” He gives me a squeeze and then takes my mouth with his; our tongues playing an erotic game of hide and seek.
I loosen my hold around his waist and run my hands up over his muscled stomach and around his neck. I pull him into me, deepening the kiss and pressing my entire body against his. He groans and cups my ass with his large hands. Against my stomach, I feel him grow harder as our kiss progresses. I move one hand to stroke him through the fabric of his jeans as I feel myself dampen between my legs.
He lifts me up and my legs automatically wrap around his waist. I grind myself against him as he walks us to the bedroom.
“Won’t last long if you keep doing that, Ace,” he murmurs, breaking our kiss.
I moan in response and grind down again. Laying me back on the bed, he stands and removes his clothes quickly then leans over me, slides my pants off and then discards my shirt. My mouth waters at the sight of his tanned, muscled body. Bracing himself on his hands his gaze racks over my naked body. He licks his lips and then leans down to take a nipple into his mouth. I raise my hips in an attempt to garner some friction but it proves fruitless.
“Please, Jackson. I need you inside. Get inside. Please.” I mewl as he continues his relentless torture on my breasts.
“What do you want, darlin’.” He mutters in between licks, nips and suckles.
“You, please. I need you. I want you. God,” I half groan, half whimper my words.
Grabbing his cock in his hand, he looks down between us and watches as he traces the head through the slickness that coats my core.
“Jackson,” I beg, “Stop teasing.”
He looks up at me, his beautiful eyes full of intensity, lust and desire, then he slides deep inside me in one swift, powerful movement. My back arches off the bed and a yelp escapes my throat as the pleasure and pain mixes, sending sparks of electricity shooting through my body. My legs move around his hips; trapping him to me. I raise my hips to meet his thrusts and I start to feel my body building until the feeling overwhelms me and I cry out, convulsing and tightening around him, “Jackson!”
I feel him expand inside me as his thrusts increase in speed until he’s spurting his seed deep inside me. He rests his forehead against mine, our panting breaths mingling as we recover from our highs.
“Love being able to blow my load in you,” he murmurs when he catches his breath.
“How romantic,” I mutter sarcastically on an eye roll.
“You know you love it, Ace.” He flashes a cheeky grin and slides slowly out of me causing my nerves to come alive again. A soft moan escapes my lips and he grins wider and shakes his head.
“Voracious,” he whispers teasingly.
“Ass,” I grumble.
He lets out a chuckle. “I’ll fix us something for dinner while you get cleaned up. Ham, cheese and tomato toasted sandwiches sound good to you?”
“Yes. I’m starving. Can you make me three, please?”
He raises his eyebrows so high they almost touch his hairline. “You want three toasted sandwiches?” He asks, disbelieving.
“I’m hungry,” I pout. Three is a ridiculous amount though. I’ll never eat it all, but damn am I hungry.
Sliding out of bed, I make my way to the shower while Jackson heads toward the kitchen.
I end up eating two toasted sandwiches and Jackson finishes of the other one for me.
Chapter Ten
“I’ll have to go and get my car this morning. I left it by the road yesterday afternoon. Can you help me?”
“Already sorted.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, taking a sip of my morning coffee.
“When I left here last night I picked Jeremy up and we went and changed your tyre. Bought your car back, it’s our front.”
“Oh. Thank you.”
“Anytime, darlin’.” He pulls me close and kisses my mouth swiftly before pulling away but not before his tongue darts out swipe across my lips. “I gotta get to work. What are you doing today?”
“Not a lot. I don’t have a shift so I thought I’d just do some tidying up around here and I have to do a couple of loads of laundry. Do you need anything done? Some help at work?”
“Nah, darlin’, you stay here and do what you want. There isn’t a lot you could help me with today anyway. Oh, thought you might want to know, it was Burp.”
“What was Burp?”
“It was Burp who gave Dannika the orgasm,”
I gasp, “Seriously? He’s old enough to be her father. Grandfather, even. That woman really has no boundaries,” I shake my head. “Wait, how did you find that out?”
“Before I picked Jeremy up I made rounds and asked all the boys. Also told them it would be their job on the line if they ever let the bitch back on this property,” he tells me.
“Thank you,” I say softly. I hang my head, ashamed that I doubted the man I love.
“Don’t be silly darlin’. I’d do anything for you.”
“I love you.” I sniffle.
“Love you, too,” he replies.
He touches his lips to mine once more, takes a slurp of coffee and then he’s gone.
I spend the day doing household chores like dusting, furniture polishing, washing; the really boring stuff. I manage to squeeze in an hour nap after lunch and I’m woken up by the phone.
“Hello,” I say sleepily.
“Good afternoon, is this Ms. Cross?”
“This is she.”
“Ms. Cross, it’s Senior Constable Brown from Darwin Police Station calling.”
“Hi, how are you?”
“I’m good thanks. How are you feeling?”
“Oh, I’m fine. Good as new,” I laugh.
“Glad to hear it. I’m ringing you to inform you that Mr. Fields had a court appearance today at Darwin Local Magistrate’s Court. He pleaded guilty to the charges he was faced with and was given a two year suspended sentence and a twelve month good behavior bond. Due to his current residence being in New South Wales, his lawyer asked that he be allowed to leave the state. The judge granted the wish on the condition that he not return to the Northern Territory for the duration of his good behavior bond. He will also have to report to a parole officer on a weekly basis. If he breaks any of his conditions, he’ll be extradited back here where he’ll serve out his sentence in jail. I thought you’d like to know.”
“Thank you so much for telling me. It has been in the back of my mind - wo
ndering what the outcome of his court appearance was so I’m glad you called.” While I would prefer to see Matt serve out his sentence in prison, I’m glad that he has to go back to New South Wales. It’s comforting to know that.
“You’re welcome, Ms. Cross. If there’s anything else you need or any questions you have, please don’t hesitate to give us a call.”
I hang up the phone and breathe a sigh of relief. I didn’t release how much tension I had been carrying around worrying about what punishment Matt would receive.
When Jackson arrives home that night I fill him in on what Senior Constable Brown told me. “Good fucking riddance” is Jackson’s response (no surprises there). I couldn’t agree more.
***
“I’m nervous.”
“Stop jiggling your legs.” Jackson places a hand on my knee to still my shaking leg.
“I’m nervous,” I stress.
“Calm ya farm, woman. It’ll be fine.”
“Eden Cross,” a high pitched voice calls.
“Oh! Here.” I stand up quickly and give a dorky wave. “C’mon,” I tug Jackson’s hand so he stands as well and we follow the lady into a darkened room.
“Good morning, Eden,” she says politely.
“Good morning. This is my partner, Jackson.”
“Hi Jackson. My name is Claudette and I’ll be your sonographer today. I understand you just want to check how far advanced the pregnancy is. Is that correct?”
Exposed: An Anthology Page 155