Nolan (7 page)

She moved back and forth over him. Her eyes
were closed and her hands were at her breasts again. He wanted to taste them as
she rode him, but he wanted to see her face too. Rylee was enjoying herself,
and he didn’t want to take away from her enjoyment.

“Someday I’d very much like for you to let me
suck your cock.” He rolled his hips up, unable to stop himself. “Then when
you’re ready to come, I want you to jerk off so that you come all over my face.
I’ve never done that before, but with you, I think it would be fantastic.”

“Now.” She looked down at him, her hands
stilled at her nipples. “I’d very much like to come all over you like that now.
Having you suck my cock while I fuck your mouth is…Christ, woman, you’re going
to kill me.”

She moved off him gently. His cock ached from
being so full again and not releasing, but when he sat up, she leaned over him
and took him deep into her throat even before he could get to his feet. And
when she swallowed, he knew he wasn’t going to go much longer.

Her mouth was as hot as her pussy had been, and
tight around his cock. Every time he went past the tight muscles at the back of
her throat, she would give his balls a little twist. And when he knew he was
going to come, his balls tight to his body, she jerked her mouth from him and
dropped to her knees in front of him. Nolan fisted his cock, and using her juices
to slide up and down, he came quickly, spraying his cum all over her face and
breasts.

Watching her tongue gather some of it into
her mouth made his cock fill again. He wasn’t sure he could come, but when he
stood up, his cock still in his hand, he pulled her to him again and shot the
last of himself into her open mouth. Nolan had to fall back on the table when
she moaned or he would have hit the floor when he noticed her fingers deep in
her pussy. As she came, Nolan knew that as long as he lived, this was going to
be a memory that would be with him forever. He had to lay back on the table
again because moving, even to stand up a little, was going to have him falling
on his face and hurting them both.

They dressed slowly. He couldn’t seem to get
enough of touching her. Tasting her skin. Words were quietly spoken and
questions that had little meaning were answered just the same way. He knew what
they were doing. They were stalling. To leave this room would mean that the
world would be there again, and for just the little while they’d been in here,
things had been perfect.

“I want you to stop what you’re doing.” He
asked Rylee what she meant. “Stop telling your family that they’ve barged in on
what you were doing. And help them with this. It’s a good thing you’re doing,
but for them, you’re souring it by being a big baby.”

He supposed he should have been offended by
her comment, but his cat even seemed to approve of her assessment of his
behavior. When he asked her what she was going to do now, he had to wait until
they were out of their little world before she answered him.

“I’ll help where I can. I don’t know…money
has been something that I have no training with. I mean, I know that you’ve
grown up with it, had it all your life, but I haven’t, and while I know that
this relationship between us is permanent, I need to be my own self and not get
lost in you.”

“You think I’d do that to you?” She nodded.
“I would never try to make you something that you don’t want to be, Rylee. You
may not believe this, but I’m falling in love with you.”

“I have nothing to say about that. I mean,
I’ve known a few shifters so I know that you tend to fall in love quickly. But
I’m not one of you, and I have a responsibility to Shane to make sure he’s
taken care of too.” He thought about telling her what he and Joey had done, but
decided now wasn’t the time. She wasn’t mad at him, but he knew that she was
overwhelmed. “And then there is David.”

“David Cole?” She nodded. Well, he supposed,
now was as good a time as ever. “Don’t get mad, but Joey has contacted David’s
great grandmother about some things that he’s said about your sister. Did you
know that he’s claiming that your sister had affairs while they were married,
and that he thinks she died from that, not cancer?”

“I knew. And I made a promise to Shelby that
I’d never hurt him so long as she was alive. I don’t think she meant to keep me
to that promise, but after she got sick, I made sure that it was never brought
up again. I didn’t want her to change her rules.” He smiled. “What have you and
Joey done that I might have to kill you both for?”

“So you know, you can’t hurt me. But Joey?
He’s all yours. He got a DNA test from Mrs. Cole. She’s going to make her own
rules, I think, concerning David.” Rylee asked him what sort of rules as they
made their way down the hallway again. “I don’t know. But Joey said that she’s
a hoot and that she might have already figured out how to help you two.”

“I don’t want her help. I just…he should
acknowledge his son. Even going so far as to make sure that he has what he
needs, should he want to go to college. But I’m not asking for a handout.” He
knew she was upset, so didn’t tell her he was pretty sure there was going to be
something coming their way. For all he knew, and he really didn’t believe it,
there might not be a match anyway. “I’ll talk to her if it comes to that. But I
just want David to tell Shane he’s sorry for what he did to him and his mom,
and mean it.”

“Do you think that will happen?” She said not
without a little help. “So you’re going to rough him up a bit, are you?”

“Nah. I’m going to tear his dick off and
serve it up to him if he finds that he can’t do what I want.” She stopped at
the doorway to the outside and turned to him. “The school called me. Mr.
Simpson wants to have a meeting. I have a feeling that it’s not going to go any
better with him than it will with David. I was wondering if you’d go with me.”

“As a physician or as a cat? Either one will
work for me so long as I get to record it.” She laughed with him as they moved
out into the sunshine.

“Man for now. But the other two if he causes
me to get pissy with him. I’m not above going to prison to have this man know
he’s messed with the wrong girl.”

“Not quite. He’s messing with the wrong family.
And if it’s all right with you, I’m going to ask either Chris or Joey to go.
They have money to bail us out should it come to that.” Nodding, she got into
the car with him and he had a sudden thought. “Let’s go look at houses.”

“Now?” He nodded. “You do know that I don’t
have any money, right?” He told her that Joey and Micah said they’d help him
with the down payment. “Okay, but we should go for something small, don’t you
think?”

“All right, small it is.” He had no idea what
he might be getting into, but he reached for Micah to tell him what he was
doing. His brother told him that was fine and that he could have a realtor meet
him at any house they might look at.
I don’t have a clue what we might want,
but Rylee is saying small. Just tell her to…how about we swing by and pick up
Shane, and you can have her meet us there?

Sure thing. It’s a deal.
Micah was giddy. He
supposed he wanted his home back, and Nolan could understand that. As he
started the car, he thought of how good he felt.

He felt…well, he felt like he’d not felt in a
very long time. Alive for one thing, and at peace. Nolan looked at Rylee as he
merged into traffic and wondered if it was her or the fact that she’d made him
face up to what he’d been doing lately. And how he’d been treating his family. He
had told Joey that he’d been a disappointment, but he’d only just realized that
it wasn’t what they were feeling toward him, but how he felt about himself. He
was going to change his attitude and tell his mom he was sorry. And beg the
rest of them for forgiveness. Nolan Bentley was turning over a new leaf.

Chapter 6

Rylee wasn’t sure this was a good idea. The
house—if one could call a sixteen bedroom place simply a house—was bigger than
her entire apartment complex, as well as the garage and the yard behind it. She
wondered if there would be a pool house or a cook’s house out back, and went to
the window in the kitchen to see. Yes, there was. A pool house as well as a
house for some of the staff, she was told.

“The house has a state of the art security
system as well as a guard house, as you might have noticed at the front gate.
The fencing around the house and grounds can be electrified if necessary. The
pool house, as well as the butler home, is on separate electric should there be
a problem in the house, but I assure you, someone would have to be very
determined to want to get past the other security around here.” Rylee said
nothing as they moved to the next room. “The dining room is large enough for a
family, or if you wish, these walls can be pushed back and the size triples. The
pocket doors can be hidden away if you entertain on the deck out back.”

Rylee tuned her out as she made her way to
the living room. Shane had gone up the stairs some time ago, and she knew he
was all right. He, of course, had fallen in love with the place and the pool.
She hated to tell him that this was way out of their pocket range.

The house was furnished. The previous owners
had decided the house was simply too big for them and decided to start fresh
when their children had left home. There were no pictures on the walls to give
it a homey look, but the furniture was everything she’d want in a home. So long
as it was much smaller. As she sat down on the couch to wait for Nolan to tell
her they needed to move on, she thought of the conversation she’d had with
Chris today. And the entire thing had taken place while she’d been miles away
from the woman.

You should know that as of this morning, all
your bills, and those of your sister, are paid off.
Rylee told her that
she needed to not do that and to cancel the payments.
I didn’t do it. Mrs.
Cole did. She said she had someone looking into a few things, and she realized
she should have been doing more for you, Shane, and even Shelby before now.

I don’t want her money any more than I do
yours.
Chris told her too bad.
Do any of you simply do what someone wants you to do
when asked?

We do, as a matter of fact. But you should
also know that as a family, we take care of each other.
Rylee huffed
. By
the way, there is money in your checking account as well. That I did do. We
have…the things at the apartment where you lived. Those weren’t yours, were
they?

No. It was all I could afford, and paying for
furniture was too difficult along with everything else. Why do you ask?
Chris told her.
So
you just went in, packed up the household, and had it put in storage for me.
Did you ever think to ask me if that was all right?

I did for a moment, but knew that you were
going to be difficult about it. So I just had some…you should know that no one,
not even that bastard of a neighbor, knows where you are. I used some very nice
witches to go in under cover of magic.
Rylee wanted to ask her how that had worked,
but wasn’t sure she could handle much more today.
He’s not…did you know that
he has it in his head that you’re going to go out with him soon? Actually, it’s
in his head that you’re going to marry him, move into his dirty, nasty house,
and keep it for him. The two of you will live off welfare and be as happy as
clams together.

He’s a dumbass.
When Chris laughed,
she did as well. Looking at the stairwell when she heard her name, Rylee left
behind her musing to go and see what Shane had found.

“This house is amazing.” She told him she
thought so as well, but it was too much for their budget. “I figured as much.
But you should see this room up here. It’s like it was made for me.”

They entered the room to the left of the
stairs, and all she could do was stare at it. Holy shit, this room really was
like her nephew. From the stars on the ceiling to the dark carpet.

Someone had outfitted this room in fantasy. Shane
had been fascinated with dragons for some time now, mostly the big ones that
showed a great many teeth. But there had been posters in his room that also
showed a softer side to them that she had a feeling was more real than not. Lately,
she’d wondered if, like vampires and other shifters, there were dragons, and
made a mental note to ask someone. She knew Joey had had a vampire friend for a
long while, but he’d died recently. But were there dragons? While Shane was
showing her the way the closet doors closed up to show the body of a dragon,
Nolan joined them.

“Are we leaving? If so, can I take some
pictures of this room? Someday I want to have a room like this.” Nolan just
stared at her, and she had a feeling that something had happened. Shane stopped
talking when she stood up.

“What is it?” Nolan just stood there. “Something
has happened. Is it your sisters or brothers?”

“We own this house.” Shane started whooping it
up, but she stared at Nolan as he stood there. “It’s why Micah and the rest of
them were so happy we were looking at homes. He and the rest of them bought
this for us yesterday. I just talked to him.”

“Talked or yelled?” He shrugged. “Did Chris
have anything to do with the furniture? The reason I’m asking is because this
room is too perfect for Shane. Like someone had gotten into his head…can they
do that?”

“I don’t know, but I would say you’re right.
I went down the other hall on my way to finding you, and you should see our
bedroom. It’s…do you like dark colors?” She told him she did in a bedroom. “Well,
it’s going to be perfect for us then. It looks like something that is deep in a
forest and the colors are all from that realm.”

She moved out of the room and closed the
door. They moved down the hall, looking in each of the rooms as they went. The
rooms for the most part were a perfect balance of old and new, and everything
was in perfect order. And when they got to the master suite, she could only
stare at the size of the bed.

“Yeah, I might have done that.” She looked at
him. “Come here and tell me what you think of the mattress. Is it too bouncy
for you? I like a little bouncy when I fuck you, but you let me know.”

“You’re serious.” He nodded. “This house and
everything in it is ours. The pool and the yard? It’s all ours?”

“Yes. If you think of something more you
want, I’m sure that it’ll be there for you.” She put her hands over her ears,
and he laughed. “I don’t think it works that way.”

When she told him the mattress was fine, they
moved through the rest of the house. When entering the living room again, she noticed
that something was different. It took her a few moments to realize that there
were pictures on the walls now. Walking up to the largest one near the
fireplace, she realized who it was and cried.

“We were taking a walk on one of the many
trails around the area, and I was taking a picture of Shane and Shelby. But
this man came by and said he’d take one of all of us, and snapped a dozen of
them before giving me back my phone. When the phone company shut off our
service a few days later, I was glad that I’d gone straight to the store and
had a print made of this one.” She touched her fingers to the beautiful frame
and smiled. “I had enough to get one of those dollar frames to put it in, and
it hung in the front room…this is the most beautiful gift that she could have
given us.”

Nolan came up behind her and held her back to
his chest. The picture was only one of a handful of things she had of her
sister’s. Most of the other things had been sold for food or bills.

“We have to go soon. I was thinking of having
Beckman stay here with Shane so he can check out the rest of the house.” She
turned in his arms and asked him who Beckman was. “The butler. There’s a staff
too, but I’ve not met them. He’s currently making a list of food that we’ll
need. He mentioned that the family would be here one night for a house warming
party. The date is yet to be set.”

“Do you suppose things will ever be normal
for us?” He told her that he hoped not. “Yeah, I guess I don’t want that
either. All right. School, jail, then hospital. I’m saying that now so that
we’re not surprised when one or both of us ends up in either place.”

After telling Shane they’d be back and
introducing him to Beckman and two other people that were going to be helping
around the house, Rylee and Nolan left. As she was getting in his car, she
thought of how much she loved him and had to stop moving or fall on her face
when she knew it was true. He asked her if she was all right, and without
telling him what she’d just come to realize was true, they went to the school
to talk to Simpson.

~~~

Chris was glad they had worked things out. Rylee
had brought Nolan back to them, just as she knew she would, and things were
looking good for the two of them. As they waited on Simpson and his attorney to
show up, she asked them if they liked the house.

“Yes, as you knew we would.” She just smiled
at Rylee. She was a prickly thing, and Chris just loved her. “Shane is in love
with his room. And now that we’re going to be getting this crap taken care of,
he’ll be able to go back to school too. He misses it, believe it or not.”

Before Chris could suggest that they put him
in another school, the door opened to the office, and five men, including
Simpson and his son, walked it. The principal of the school came in behind them,
as well as a board member, which happened to be Katie Bentley.

“I don’t like this, just so you know.” No one
said anything to Victor when he sat down complaining. “I think it’s a little
one-sided to have family here on their side. What if I went on out and got me a
friend to be on my side? Then what do you think would happen?”

“You don’t have any friends, Victor, we both
know that. And should you like to have someone else here, then go right ahead,
young man. But I’m not leaving this meeting.” Katie sat down and huffed before
continuing. “You should be more afraid that my future granddaughter-in-law is
going to kick your bottom all over this room if you don’t behave yourself. I
never liked you anyway, you overbearing pig of a man.”

The principal cleared his throat and asked to
speak first. “It is my duty to inform all that these proceedings are being
recorded. It’s school policy that when there is a meeting between two families,
things need to be recorded.” He sat down. “That being said, I do hope we can
resolve this soon. It’s disruptive to the other classmates to know this is
going on behind the scenes, so to speak.”

A sheet of paper was passed around that all
of them were required to read and sign, and then the meeting began. Chris had a
feeling that Walter Simpson was not going to like the outcome of this meeting,
and his dad was going to be even more pissed off. She was going to love every
minute of it. The Simpson lawyer started out by handing out paperwork.

“These are copies of the affidavits from
fellow students stating that my client was the injured party in this incident.
And there are others’ statements stating that not only has Mr. Cole provoked
this fight, but has been bullying Mr. Simpson for months now.” Chris took hers
but didn’t bother reading it. She knew what it was. A forced document that had
no more bearing on the case than anything else that this man had in his little
bag of tricks. “My client and his family are only asking for restitution as
well as a formal apology from Mr. Cole stating that he takes full
responsibility for his actions and what has happened prior to this one.”

“No.” Chris was glad now that she’d made it a
point to shake each of their hands before this thing started. The lawyer
thought this was stupid and felt it was well beneath his expertise. The young
man, Walter, was afraid of his father. He’d beaten him three times already
since he’d found out that not only was Shane younger than him, but also
considerably smaller. The man, Victor, wanted to grind Rylee into the dirt, and
had tried to bring a gun in the building, only to be thwarted by the guard at
the front door.

This building, like the others that she and
Joey owned, was protected. They didn’t need any metal detectors, but relied on
the magic of the people at the doors as well as what she’d surrounded the place
with to keep them safe. She was glad now that they’d used one of their
buildings for this farce of a meeting and not the school building, as was
suggested.

“I don’t understand.” The lawyer looked at
his client, then back at her. “Perhaps, Mrs. Bentley, you could explain what
you mean by
no
. You mean you’re not going to pay? You’re not going to
have your client apologize to mine? There are a lot of things you can say no
to, my dear woman. Would you mind narrowing it down so that we can discuss what
actions you are going to take?”

“I mean no to them all. My client is not
going to pay for any hospital bills. From what I know of your client and his
father, there are a great many things going on in that household that shouldn’t
be, but that’s beside the point. There will be no apology either. Not only did
my client not do anything wrong or provoke Mr. Simpson, but I have a great many
more affidavits than you do that state that Mr. Walter Simpson is a tyrant and
a bully.” She tossed three thick files on the desk from the pile she had. “These
are made without making payments of any kind to the victims of your client.
There is also, for each person, a bill from the hospital and an accounting of what
was stolen or taken, if you wish, or just plain destroyed by your client when
he had turned his anger on them. Did you think that we’d not find the reports
filed by the families when you had the sheriff put under investigation as a
threat?”