Chayton's Tempest (14 page)

through won’t let you forget.”

“Exactly. All it takes is one word out of his mouth and

all of my anger is back, and in spades.” Tempest took some

water.

“Well,
hon
, that’s to be expected. But you should give

him a chance to hear your side; let him take the brunt of your

anger. He should hear it, but he also deserves to be made aware

that you’re going to vent; that way, he lets you get it all out

once and for all.”

Get it all out once and for all.
“How’d you get to be so

smart, Sparky?”

The man grinned. “I was always this smart; you just

didn’t want to see it.”

Tempest tossed a crouton from her salad at him, hitting

him in the chest. “I still don’t want to see it. I hate it when you

know you are right; all you do is lord it over me, then.”

He smirked as he retaliated with a fry. “I can’t help it

out of the two of us, I’m the smart one.”

“Shut up, you,” she muttered in a low growl as she took

an ice cube from her glass and tossed it at him. At the last

second, he deflected it and watched it bounce harmlessly to the

hot concrete where it melted within seconds.

 
“There you go, wasting water,” he mocked, shaking his

finger at her.

The rest of their lunch was full of joviality. Afterwards,

they took a trip to the
Historic
Old
Town
and did some

shopping. Everywhere they went, they garnered attention for

they were a very attractive couple.

The way they fit together and looked side by side also

didn’t escape the notice of the handsome Native American who

was also down in
Old
Town
. Every time the tanned hand of

Tempest’s companion touched her, a rumbling, possessive

growl erupted from the observer’s throat.

Sparky leaned over and placed a kiss on the smooth

brown cheek of his date before shutting her vehicle door. “See

you later,” he said as he leaned in for one more quick kiss.

“Bye, Sparky, thanks for the day. It was wonderful. I’ll

see you later.”

“Bye, doll.” He waved as she pulled out of her parking

space and drove off down the street.

_

The bar was busy when Maverick entered. The music

was techno tonight and he shook his head as he moved further

into the joint.

His sable eyes found his Tempest working diligently

behind her teak bar. A smile was on her face as she served her

customers. For a moment, he just watched her.

“You know I don’t want you
sniffin
’ around my mom.

You just leave her alone.” A man’s voice came from behind

him.

Maverick turned to see Dakota standing behind him,

glaring. “I’m not
sniffin
’
around your mom.” His eyes landed

on Shelia who stood beside him. “Good evening, my dear.

Lovely to see you again.”

“And you,” Shelia said with a smile, then walked behind

the bar and made herself at home after giving Tempest a hug.

Maverick turned his attention back to his son. “You

know I wish I knew how to make this up to all of you.”

“There is nothing to make up. It’s done,” Dakota

snapped. “I wish I could make you suffer, but Mom says you

are trying.” A large fist clenched before he continued. “I don’t

know how she can talk to you.”

“She doesn’t really,” Maverick admitted. “She blocks

almost every attempt I make to get to know her better.”

“Good!” Dakota sighed and hesitated for a moment.

“Look, I’m sorry. I just want to protect my mother. But I can see

you are trying. Shelia told me you’ve seen much death and I

should give you a chance. Since I’m trying to learn more about

my Sioux heritage, perhaps I could ask you some questions

about it?”

“I would be honored to answer any you may have. Can I

ask you something?”

“Go ahead.” Dakota’s eyes moved to the bar where

Shelia was refilling the snacks.

“Did your mother explain to you why she named you

what she did?” Maverick asked.

“She said Dakota was in honor the state I was conceived

in and Falcon was something about a totem.”

“My middle name is
Chayton
, which means ‘falcon’; it is

my totem. Do you know much of this side of your heritage?”

“Not too much. Mom helped me when she could, told

me a few things; but it was hard for me to get information since

there was no paternal name on the birth certificate.”

Maverick shook his head in shame. “I have so much to

make up for. You let me know when and we will get you tons

of information. If you want, we can even take a trip to the

reservation and I will show you all I can.”

“Would you really do that?”

“Of course I would. You are my son and I hope you will

come to me with questions about our heritage.” Maverick

reached out for his hand.

 
“I can’t promise that my feelings will change overnight,

but I will do my best to be civil.” A warning glint appeared in

the eyes identical to his father’s. “As long as you don’t hurt my

mom.” The hands were clasped in a tenuous way, one still

unsure and the other extremely hopeful.

“I don’t want to hurt her. Or you. I hope you can believe

that.” Maverick held his son’s gaze.

“We’ll see,” Dakota said as he turned around and

walked back out into the night.

Ten

Maverick walked further into the establishment. He saw

Shelia over in a dark corner, delivering some more snacks to

the tables there. His eyes picked up on a man moving in from

behind her and he moved forward to intervene. As he neared,

he heard a man rasp out, “I want a chance to know you better,

sweets.” He reached for her but Shelia stepped back.

“Sorry. I’m not interested.” Nothing in her tone

suggested she was angry, but Maverick could pick up on the

fear that ran through her. There were five men and all of them

were large and strong.

“Play nice with us, sweets, and it will be much easier on

you.” Another man grated out.

Maverick stepped up behind her. “Everything okay

here?”

Shelia’s relief was palpable. “I’m fine.”

“Go away, man,” another man snapped. “This piece of

ass is ours.”

A sober look settled across Maverick’s face as he met

each and every one of the faces before him. “I would really

recommend you watch how you talk about a lady. Especially

this one.”

“What’s so special about her to you, Injun?” the man

sneered.

“She’s my daughter.” Maverick stepped up beside Shelia

and leveled his deadpan glare at each man. “I don’t like people

to be disrespectful, especially to
my
family.” The tone made the

atmosphere feel like the arctic instead of the middle of the

desert in summer.

“Sorry,” they stuttered at once. “Didn’t mean no harm

by it.”

 
“Perhaps, you all should move along,” Maverick made

the not so subtle suggestion.

As one the men stood and walked out the door. They

didn’t like the look of death that had crossed the tall man’s

face. And he hadn’t even been reacting to the name they’d

called him.

“Thank you,” Shelia murmured as the men walked out

the door. “I was getting scared.”

“I don’t think my son would let anything happen to

you,” Maverick said as he stepped back so she could precede

him out of the corner.

“Like father, like son.” A flash of white teeth appeared

across her face before she reached up and placed a kiss on his

cheek, much to the surprise of Maverick and Tempest, who’d

been watching the whole thing. “Don’t give up on her,

Maverick. She is still in love with you.” Shelia walked off

before he could say another word.

His coal eyes glanced across the room and landed on the

woman who was staring at him. Her tongue snuck out and wet

her lips before she seemed to realize just where she was. He

could feel her eyes move up and down his body before she tore

her gaze away from him.

Could it be true? Could the mother of his child still be in love

with him?
Maverick strode closer to the bar and at the last

second opted to go behind the bar.
Mili
just smiled as the tall

Native American walked past her and on toward Tempest.

Stopping behind her, he reached for her shoulder only to

hesitate at the last second. “I need to talk to you,” he spoke in a

voice loud enough to reach her over the noise in the bar.

Wiping out the glass she had in her hand, Tempest

closed her eyes and fought for sanity. She’d been berating

herself for the harsh words she’d said to him this morning at

her house. No matter what had transpired, she had no right to

say those things; she didn’t know what the circumstances were

that had kept him out of their lives.

 
“Tempest?” his charismatic tone flowed over her body.

“I heard you. Just give me a second.” She replaced the

glass, hung the rag on a hook, and shared a glance with
Mili
as

she turned around. “I’ll be back,” she muttered as she moved

past the Latina waitress.

“Take your time, sweetheart,”
Mili
chortled after them

as they walked into her office and shut the door behind them.

Tempest walked around her desk and sat down in the

tall-backed black leather chair. She slipped off her sandals and

allowed her feet to rest on the cool floor as she slid forward and

placed her elbows on the desktop.

Maverick looked across the vibrant -colored room at the

woman who sat assessing him in her chair. With a flick of his

wrist, he locked the door behind him then walked to a chair at

the desk.

Every movement of this man was a work of art. He just

flowed effortlessly. Tempest was not blind to all he portrayed.

He sat with a lion-like grace in the chair and stretched his long

strong legs causally out in front of him.

“I have to apologize for my harsh words from earlier

today,” Tempest began only to fall silent at the wave of his

hand and shake of his head.

“Don’t apologize, Tempest. You have every right to feel

how you do. I
wasn’t
there. And as much as it pains me, I know

you were the one who went through all the trouble, hard times,

and I can never make it up to you.”

“I think if you want to get to know Dakota, then you

should do just that; but I can’t be involved in it. I can’t get past

my anger and it isn’t fair for him to see me being hard on you,

so I would feel better if you just stopped trying to include me

in the ‘get to know’ phase,” she said.