Thinking of the spare single bed stored away in one of the storage sheds, I figured Noxx could sleep on that if I set it up in Daxx’s room. It would be better than the couch, and of course, close to Daxx and Noxx wanted to stay close to our son.
“Mumma, I is done,” Daxx shouted, startling me out of my worrying.
“Yes, you are. You are such a clever boy washing your own face,” I praised him, gently taking the face cloth from him and quickly swiping a spot of orange sauce he left from the corner of his mouth.
“Ready to get back to Daddy?” I asked, sweeping him up onto my hip.
“Yay! Daddy!” Daxx cried excitedly, already forming a bond with his dad. The handsome, gorgeous, sexy, lying, cheating cowboy.
Tossing the cloth into the laundry hamper, I turned around and came face to face with a smiling Noxx.
Oh, my god, the man has a beautiful smile. His smile could be on a painting and people would pay money to come to see it.
Oh, brilliant Mack, why don’t you just admit that you are still in love with the cheating bastard and lose your last thread of dignity.
Waging a silent war with myself, I couldn’t help but stare at his arms. God, I loved his arms, I loved the way he would roll up his shirt sleeves, showing the powerful forearms, the same ones that I once loved draping my legs over while he tortured me with slow deep thrusts of his pelvis, each time sending his magnificent cock deep into my pussy.
“Oh, hey,” I mumbled stupidly, feeling my face go red, and judging by the heat on my cheeks, it must have been a very deep shade of red.
“I thought you might need some help with the clean-up?”
You mean the clean up between my legs, where my pussy is currently flooding with desire and wetness? That clean-up?
“Huh?”
“Daxx, his face. You know the spaghetti?” he prompted, giving me a smirk I knew only too well. He knew where my mind went, the bastard.
“Nope, all done, thanks,” I stammered like a twit.
“Here, ya go.” Swinging Daxx off my hip, I practically tossed him to his dad. “I have to go back out and finish up a few things.” Hastily, I stepped past Noxx, avoiding any contact, and I would have accomplished that too if he hadn’t moved to his right blocking my way enough that I couldn’t get passed without avoiding his massive chest.
“Hmmm,” the moan left my lips without my permission as my breast grazed one sexy forearm.
“Everything okay, Makena?” His cocky smirk telling me he knew exactly what was wrong with me.
Mongrel.
“Fine, fine. Just lots to do. Must go, help yourself to anything in the house.” I rushed out, waving to Daxx as I went. “Bye, baby boy, Mumma loves you.”
Hightailing it down the hall, I raced through the kitchen, ignoring the laughter from all three Hott men, my only comment coming from my middle finger.
How on earth was I going to survive life now? Lenoxx was a force of nature at the best of times; now he had Daxx he was going to be unbearable in his tenacity to get his own way.
I just hoped I was strong enough to give him a run for his money.
***
“Ouch! Take it easy, Charlie, you’re going to make it worse!” I cried out when another sharp barb scratched down my scalp. The stinging pain not as bad as worrying about what could be happening to my hair each time Charlie tried in vain to detangle the string of barb wire from the side of my head.
“This wouldn’t be happening girlie if you had just listened to me and not gone all gung ho snipping at the bloody fence before I loosened off the tension,” Charlie grumbled back at me.
He was right, but no way was I going to tell him that.
“I am sorry for wanting to get back to my son before he goes to bed.” My sarcasm lost on Charlie when he laughed at me.
“And to your husband, I’m guessing,” he chortled as he pulled a pair of pliers out of his overalls.
“What are you doing now?”
“Well, you have so much bloody hair, it is going to take me forever to detangle each barb before bloody nightfall. This way, I will just cut a length off, and Mallory can do the rest back at the house.”
“Marvellous,” I muttered, knowing he was right. Again.
“Fine, cut it, but be careful of my ear. I can feel the cut you made when you were yanking on my lobe the blood dripping down my neck,” I accused the old man, grimacing when his hand shaking with the sharp tool passed by my vision.
“Stop your whining girlie; you can add these cuts to your list of injuries. I swear you are a walking disaster sometimes.”
“And you need to retire before I fire your arse,” I suggested, then hissed when the pliers pushed against my sore and tender scalp as Charlie squeezed them, cutting the string of deadly wire from the length hanging from my head.
“There ya go, all fixed. Now, can we go back and get out of the freezing cold?”
Gingerly poking at the area where somehow a barb was lodged in my flesh, I glared at the man I have known practically since my birth.
“Fixed is it? I have a barb stuck in my head and a ripped ear lobe, Charlie. Not to mention the untold damage to my hair!”
“Oh, quit your belly achin’, you know well and good, Mal keeps the first aid kit well-stocked for occasions just like this. That girl should have been a nurse with the amount of times she has had to doctor you up.”
“Stop being right and get me back to the house,” I growled, stomping back to the ute, not waiting to listen to another word. After five hours in the cold fixing fences, my temper was starting to flare thanks to hunger and now pain. At lunch, I got so involved in watching Daxx interact with Noxx and his brothers, I forgot all about eating. Now, my stomach was making me suffer.
Jumping into the ute, I jumped because the thing had lifted suspension and no passenger door. The suspension was essential to navigate the uneven terrain and the door … well, it fell off, and no one ever got around to fixing it.
“You’re driving,” I ordered when Charlie walked up to the car.
“I know I am; you can’t drive with half a length of barb wire hanging from your head,” Charlie replied dryly.
“If you had of—oh forget it, just drive for the love of God.”
I hoped that Mal was home from work because I needed this shit out of my hair, maybe a stitch or two, something to eat, a shower and then bed because sleep sounded pretty good right now.
Carefully leaning my head back against the headrest, I closed my eyes, wanting to rest them for a second or so, but Charlie wasn’t finished annoying me just yet.
“So, where is Lenoxx sleeping?”
Oh shit, shoot me now.
LENOXX
“Oh, my word Lenoxx. He is absolutely stunning!” Mum gushed reverently. She was sitting on the edge of the couch in the lounge room, staring at Daxx. She arrived without warning an hour ago and had been in the same position watching Daxx with a faraway look on her face. I had to admit it was kind of adorable seeing my wise-arse cracking mother almost lost for words, quite refreshing really and one for the books.
“That he is, Ma, that he is,” I whispered, agreeing wholeheartedly. My afternoon with Daxx had gone surprisingly well and without incident. Makena called twice to check on us, Mallory called to say she was bringing dinner home, so I didn’t have to cook on the turn of the century stove and risk setting the whole house on fire in the process. Coming home just as my mother pulled into the drive, Mal greeted my mum like old times then promptly invited her to join us for our evening meal.
“I can’t believe how much he looks like the three of you, I mean exactly like you,” Mum marvelled, her voice a little watery and a lot shaky.
“The older he gets, the more Hott comes out of him,” Mallory said, coming in from the kitchen with a tray packed with teacups, a teapot and an array of biscuits.
“When he was a baby, he looked a lot like Mack, but anyone could see there was Hott in him. Tea, Mrs H?” Mal asked, holding up the flowered t
eapot that I recognised from when her mother was alive.
“Thank you, dear, please. So, you have known all this time Daxx was Noxx’s son?” There was no heat, no accusing tone in Mum’s question, just simple curiosity.
“Well, no, I mean yeah, kind of,” Mal let out a small laugh. “Yes and no. When Mack came home, Daxx had been three months old. She refused to say who the dad was, but I suspected it was Noxx only because no way would Mack take up with another guy. No way. But when you never came around, you know, to see the baby, I figured maybe I was wrong.” Mal filled three cups with the dark brew then handed Mum and me ours before continuing.
“I knew if you had any idea about your son, you would have wanted to be in his life no matter why you and Mack weren’t together. So maybe it was possible she slept with someone else. Anyway, she never took him into town, never spoke of her time away, and then there was the farm taking up so much of our time and worry. Everything else kind of faded into the distance.” Mal shrugged, taking her seat on the worn leather recliner her father used to sit in.
“She never talked about anything? Not Noxx, nothing?” Mum asked, with a hint of incredulity.
Mal took a sip of tea, her eyes on my son sitting on the floor playing quietly with a train set.
“Nope, never. And if your next question is, why didn’t I ask? Trust me, I did, but she shot me down every time. Mack came back a different person; she was no longer the dreamer she once was; instead, she just … went through the motions. If she didn’t have Daxx—” Mal paused, a sad smile on her face.
“What?” I asked hesitantly. Eager to hear what she was going to say but at the same time not wanting to know.
“Nothing,” she replied after a moment of silence, “doesn’t matter.”
I wanted to jump to my feet and demand she tell me what she thought Makena would have done had she not had Daxx, but the sound of a car’s exhaust backfiring in the distance got everyone’s attention.
“Mumma is home!” Daxx cried out excitedly as he pushed his train along the track Hendrixx and I had painstakingly built around the lounge room, threading the tracks under the coffee table and half of the floor, taking up most of the room.
My eyes darted to the clock and, for the first time, noticed the time.
“Jesus, is it normal for her to be out this late?” Shit, where had the day gone? It didn’t seem like five hours since Makena went back out to do what she said was just a few jobs. That had been in the early afternoon, now it was seven p.m. and very dark outside.
What the hell had been so important it kept her away from Daxx for so long? Irritation burned through me, how many days a week did she stay out this late? Did Mal have my son so much he saw his aunt more than he saw his mother?
“I can see where you are going, Hottie, and I suggest you stop right there. Makena and I share the care of Daxx, yes, but she has him much more than I do. Granted, he goes out with her a lot of the time, but he enjoys being outside more than anything. He comes first, don’t doubt that.” Mallory glared at me, her green eyes, not as vivid as her sister’s, darkening. Her displeasure at my silent judging of Makena commendable. Growing up, the sisters clashed heads more often than not, Mallory being their father’s favourite while Makena leaned more towards her mother for emotional support or mine. Mum always wanted a girl, so when I brought my new girlfriend home, Makena being the first ever to have that honour, my mother knew Makena was someone special to me. They formed a comfortable bond over the years, despite my father’s opinion of her.
“I’m sorry, okay? I am just trying to get a read on the situation, to see where I am needed the most. My business can be run remotely just as easily as it can me going to the office, one more extra set of hands here can only help, not only Makena but you also. Agreed?”
“Don’t try and appease me with your suave businessman persona, number 1. Mack is a damn good mother, Daxx wants for nothing, and while we may not have the latest appliances or cars that don’t backfire every time you turn off the engine, we get by,” Mallory growled harshly at me, making me fear just a little for my life. Mal was a sweet woman, but when pushed, she could deck someone and has in the past. Hendrixx could definitely attest to that happening.
“Watch out, Noxx, Mal has a sharp uppercut,” Hendrixx joked, coming in from the hallway. “Was that a car I heard backfiring just now?”
“Yes, Mack and Charlie just got back. I better go stoke up the stove and heat up—”
A loud banging of the back door interrupted Mallory, then the sound of Charlie yelling at her had me jumping from the couch.
“Mal, we need you and the first aid kit. Your sister has outdone herself this time.”
My gaze flicked from the direction of the kitchen then back to Mallory, who was now sighing and placing her cup on the coffee table.
“How bad, small kit bad or the whole enchilada bad?” she yelled back, not seeming fazed at all by what Charlie was yelling at her.
“I hope you have been practising your stitches because she is going to need a couple,” was shouted back, the meaning behind it making my blood run cold.
Makena was hurt? What the fuck!
“God damn it,” Mallory grumbled, walking out of the lounge and disappeared, to what I gathered was the bathroom, while I started for the kitchen, then stopped and looked back at my mum.
“Watch Daxx, Ma,” I ordered, “keep him out here until I tell you.”
Following Mallory out of the lounge where she had turned down the hall, I entered the kitchen and stopped short when I saw the scene in front of me. My wife sat at the table, blood all over half her face, her glorious hair a riotous mess due to a long length of old rusted barbwire hanging from one side of her head.
Rushing forward, I skidded to a stop, dropping to my knees in front of her, and gathering her hands in mine, grimacing at the icy coldness of them. Rubbing them between mine, I attempted to massage some warmth back into them while I tried to calm my rage.
“Baby, what the hell happened?” I demanded, visually searching her injuries while looking for any new ones.
When she didn’t answer me, I looked at her eyes, which were glued to our joined hands. This wasn’t the first physical contact between us since yesterday, just earlier in the bathroom, I had to bite back a moan when she squeezed passed me in order to leave the room. I admit, I deliberately moved, so she had to touch me as she passed, but I didn’t anticipate my smart arse move to backfire on me. The second Makena’s plump breast flattened against my arm, my dick twitched behind my zip, but when she let out a moan, I was sure she’d tried to hold back and failed, my dick went from a semi hard-on to a full-on steel rod.
Quickly, she moved her eyes from our hands to look at me, and instantly, I recognised the flare of desire in the depth of her sea-green orbs. It was a look I knew well, very well.
What the hell was happening here? My dick was hard, and my heart was beating out of control, and the woman who had destroyed me was sitting in front of me bleeding and looking at me like she wanted to devour me.
An invisible magnetic force grabbed hold of me, and I found myself leaning forward, my eyes fixed on Makena’s delicious pink lips, her tongue peeking out to lick a wet line across her bottom lip, pulling a groan from me.
My god, I am going to kiss her. I need to fucking kiss her.
Waging an internal struggle with my head and my other head twitching in my pants. I feared I was about to make a mistake when Mallory chose that moment to enter the kitchen, effectively saving me from devouring my wife’s mouth in a kiss I’d dreamt about every night since she left me.
Thank you, sister-in-law.
“Okay, here I am what has she—good grief, Mack! What in the holy hell have you done?” Mallory bellowed, dropping the plastic toolbox in her hand on the table with a loud thud, her eyes wide with shock.
“It was Charlie’s fault, not mine, I swear,” Makena declared, ripping her eyes from me to her sister. She tried to pull her hands from my grasp too,
but I refused to let her, I needed her touch, I couldn’t explain why, or wanted to even. All I knew was I couldn’t let her go.
Whether I liked it or not, the connection between us was still present, the heat, the sizzle, the electrical current still very much alive. From the moment we met, I felt an undeniable attachment to her, and the undercurrent of sexual attraction just with one heated look. From that moment, she became mine. What I couldn’t explain was why I was feeling it again now. Finding out she hid my son from me, I should hate her with a passion, but I didn’t.
I couldn’t, but I also couldn’t forgive her. Not yet, not until she told me why she never came back once she found out she was carrying our child. We had still to resolve so many issues, in order for both of us to let the past go and move forward.
My mind whirled with confusing and conflicting feelings for Makena. My original plan was the path I had to stay on; getting to know my son, and recouping the investment the company made with old man Rogers. They should be my focus, not imagining my wife’s lips on mine, or anything of mine getting inside her.
“Noxx? Yo, Hottie!” Mallory slapped me on the arm, breaking me out of the war going on inside me.
“Fuck, Mallory, will you please stop fucking hitting me.”
“Well, pay attention, and I won’t have to. Now, I need you to hold Mack’s head still for me.” Turning around, she threw out a hand to Charlie.
“Pliers!”
And just like that, my stomach dropped with that one word.
“What the fuck are you going to do with those?” I asked, suddenly horrified.
“She has to get the barbwire out somehow, Noxx,” Makena answered me, a look that almost said ‘duh’ aimed at me from both women.
Mallory nodded absently while she cleaned the pliers with some pure alcohol. The Rogers sisters were nothing if not old school.
Hott and Taken (The Hott Brothers Book 1) Page 14