New Title 6 (10 page)

 “Oh,
what, what?”

 I
opened the front door; there was some noise coming from the kitchen, and then
Mattie and Julian came running around the corner, excitement and concern held
within their eyes.

 I
gave Maya time to dissect the newcomers. She looked from one to the other, and
then to me with a smile upon her sweet face.

 “That's
my uncle, right?” She pointed to Mattie, who was grinning from ear-to-ear.
Julian's hand went to his mouth; tears welled in his eyes.

 “Yes,
sweetie. That's my brother, Mattie, your uncle. And with him is Julian,
Mattie's partner.”

 Mattie's
shocked eyes rose to mine. He was worried about me telling Maya he was gay, but
I already knew it wouldn't phase her.

 “Cool,”
she said, and walked over to Mattie. He bent to hug her, but she reached out
first and placed her hand upon his cheek. “You got Mum's eyes. That's how I
knew.” Her smile grew. “Hi, Uncle Mattie.” She wrapped her arms around his neck
and hugged him tight.

 I
pulled my lips into a tight line to hold back my own emotions.

 “Well,
ain't this ducking grand,” Deanna said beside me. “I hate emotional
sh...stuff.” I watched her wipe away a tear and laughed. “Flock off, you.” She
glared at me.

 We
both looked back to Maya as she stood in front of Julian. “Can I call you my
uncle, too?”

Julian
looked to the ceiling and back down to Maya. “Oh, sweet honey dew, of course
you can.” They hugged.

I
was leaning against the kitchen bench, watching Julian and Deanna sitting at
the table arguing about some answers for Maya's homework. Maya was sitting with
them, and doing a good job of ignoring them both and continuing her way through
it. Not that there was a lot anyway, some reading and spelling words. She was
only six, for goodness sakes. Mattie was busy next to me, finishing off the
casserole for tea that he'd prepared earlier.

 Seeing
this made me feel happy, yet sad. I loved to watch people; I was a watcher from
way back, and what I was seeing was that I finally had a house full of family
that I loved.

 Only
I was never going to see my parents again, and that hurt.

 “All
right, people, clear the table.” Mattie's raised voice made me jump. “And don't
worry, Maya honey, I'll help you later, so you’ll have all the right answers.”
He grinned. Maya sighed in relief and nodded at her uncle.

 “School
sucks anyway, kiddo,” Deanna said. “You should just quit; become an actress and
support your mum and me for the rest of our lives.”

 “Deanna,”
I warned.

 “Don't
listen to her, sugar plum. School is great. Learning is better, so then you can
get a high paying job and then support us all.” Julian winked at Maya, who
giggled in return. I rolled my eyes and thanked the high heaven that Maya knew
they were talking nonsense.

 The
table had been cleared of schoolwork when the front door opened, and I froze
with knives and forks in my hands. All of us turned to the kitchen doorway to
see Talon in his godly form walk in.

 “Talon!”
Maya chirped.

 While
my woman bits chirped for him.

 Maya
ran at him; he lifted her up and twirled her around. Not something you'd see a
hardcore biker do every day.

 “Maya,
you been good today?” he asked after he placed her feet back on the floor.

 “I'm
always good, Talon. What'cha doin' here?”

 Talon
raised his eyes to me, questioning me in his silent way on what I'd told her. I
chose to glance at a spot on the kitchen roof and bite my bottom lip.

 Is that a growl coming from him? Shit.

 “I
came to have a word with your momma. Could ya give us a minute?” We all knew
that wasn't a question. He stalked over to me, grabbed the knives and forks out
of my hands, placed them behind me, then took my wrist and pulled me from the
room, down the hall, and into my bedroom.

 Before
he closed my door, we heard Maya squeal and announce to the people in the
kitchen, “I hope he's going to kiss her. They're always lookin' at each other
with yucky, love eyes.” They burst out laughing. Talon closed the door and
faced me with a smirk.

 “Talon—”

 “No,
kitten. Even your daughter can see something has been going on between us for a
while now. All I want to know is what you’re going to tell her?”

 I
raised my hands up and down, my eyes bugging out of my head—not a pretty look.
“What am I supposed to tell her?”

 “That
you're m'woman and I'm your man. That she'll be seein' a lot more of me around
'ere.”

 I
sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the floor. This was it. I was going to
have to be honest. “It's not that simple, Talon. I'm not one of your bimbos
that you can screw over. I need stability for Maya and me. I need long term—”

 “Seriously,
Zara,” he clipped. “If I thought you were just some bimbo to warm my fuckin'
dick for the night, I wouldn't be here. Hell,” he rumbled. In the next second,
he was on his knees in front of me. With one finger under my chin he raised my
head. Our eyes met. My heart skipped a beat.

 I
was about to have a heart attack.

 I
watched him lick his lips, and then those lips turned into a smirk because he
knew I was watching them.

 “I
really hate this talkin' shit. I want you as my woman. Long-fuckin'-term. I
know we still got a lot’ta shit we need to learn 'bout one another, but that's
the best part. For once in my life, I'll try to be patient, for you.”

 Oh my flipping God.

 Was
Talon worth risking my heart being broken?

 Especially
now?

 Did
I trust him?

 Shit.
Heck. Dick—yes Talon's.

 “Okay,”
I whispered.

 His
eyes flared; he let out a breath, and he smiled a
burn-your-eyes-out-'cause-it-was-so-hot smile. One I had never seen before on
his lickable mouth.

 Then,
thank the high heaven, his mouth was on mine. Demanding and sensual, I was all
too willing to comply with whatever his needs were. My hands curled into his
hair, pulling him closer; his groan of approval made me smile. One of his hands
traced from my hip up to my breast.

 Shit,
did he just press a magic nipple-button to send a wave of lust down to my core?

 Yep.
I had magic nipples.

 Holy Moses, that feels great
.

 Talon
brought up his other hand to cradle the side of my face, and I wrapped my legs
around his waist and moaned when I felt his large-oh-crap-will-it-fit-penis rub
against my center.

 A
knock on the door broke through my horny fog. “Uh, guys,” Mattie whispered.
“Can you hold off on the sex right now? Tea's ready and we're hungry.”

 Talon
leaned his forehead against mine and muttered some curse words. Then he said,
“One fuckin' time we'll get to finish this. And honestly, I don't want people
around; because if your pussy is as demanding as your mouth, I won't want to
leave, or anyone to interrupt.”

 With
that, he got up, adjusted himself, and walked out the door.

 I
could not believe he just said that. I did not have a demanding...fandola.

 “Talon!”
I yelled.

 He
stalked back to the room, grinned, kissed me hard, grabbed my hand, and started
for the kitchen once again. Only this time, he was dragging me behind him.

 We
walked into the kitchen; everyone was already seated around the small table.
But still, two places were left; one for me and one for the Neanderthal. I
watched Maya's eyes go from our faces to our joined hands, and then she smiled.

 “Are
you stayin' for dinner, Talon? My uncle made it.” I could hear the pride in her
voice.

 “Yeah,
I'm staying,” Talon said and sat down next to me at the table.

 Somehow,
when he said, 'I'm staying' I was sure he meant more than just for tea.

I
t was hard to concentrate at dinner. Talon sat next to me; sometimes
he would rest one hand on the back of my chair, and other times he would play
with the ends of my hair. All of it made my brain go ga-ga. Still, the
conversation went on, and by the time we'd all finished, I felt full and
content.

 I
turned to Maya and said, “I'm just going to help clean up, and then we'll do
your reader before bed.” I rose and took some plates to the sink.

 Talon
came up behind me, and with an arm around my waist he whispered, “Can I help
Maya with her reader?”

 I
went stiff and closed my eyes.

 It
had always been just me.

 “Kitten,”
he uttered. “That mean somethin' to you?”

 I
nodded.

 “Good.”
He kissed my cheek and turned to Maya. “Come on, squirt, you're readin' to me
tonight.”

 “Yay,”
she sang, bounced up and out to her room with Talon following.

 I
turned around from the sink and my eyes met Deanna's. She also knew it meant
something
big
to me.

 With
a hushed voice, she said, “Well, thank fuck—”

 “Deanna.
Language,” I snapped.

 “Oh,
give me a break; I can only go so long, and she can't hear me now.” She grabbed
the rest of the plates and brought them to the bench. “It's good to see, Zee.
It's so good to see.”

 “I
double that,” Julian said from the table where he sat next to a smiling Mattie.
“I haven't known you long, sponge cake, but you deserve this. Him.”

 “He's
right, Zee,” Mattie added. “I can see you're scared, but let it happen. I
think, with Talon beside you, you'll both shine for that precious girl in
there.” He pointed in the direction of Maya's room.

 I
pulled my lips between my teeth and nodded.

 “No
need to be holding out anymore, bitch. What you have right there in that room
is fuckin' worth holding onto,” Deanna said. “Right, enough said. Let’s get
this shit cleaned and go veg-out before I gotta hit the road.”

 That
was yet another worry I had to voice, “I don't want you going home alone, Deanna.”

 “I
don't want to hear this. I'm fine; I reckon you're worrying over nothing. And
besides, it's not like he'd come after me. Hell, he doesn’t know who I am.”

 “You
don't know that. He could be watching. I think from now on you should move in
here.”

 She
rolled her eyes and became a little rougher with the dishes as she loaded them
in the dishwasher.

 “If
you break even one plate, I'll have to hurt you. And don't go ignoring me,
wench.”

 “I
love the relationship they have,” Julian said to Mattie.

 “It's
a little strange,” Mattie added.

 “But
strange is beautiful.” Julian smiled.

 “Whatever,
meat slappers.” Deanna rolled her eyes. “Look, it's going to be fine. I'm going
home, and that's the end of the story.”