Very Chloe.
Though, during the day, instead of hitting things in the city, she and Genny had gone hiking with them to watch the segments being filmed.
This was the last bit they had to do, and for this one, the women had stayed home.
It was not lost on Judge that this was his woman’s decision for a reason (and maybe her mother’s too).
The men had decided to camp, and it wasn’t that Chloe didn’t want to camp. She’d told him she was down with that idea (even if she’d never done it before, though she had slipped in, “Have you ever glamped, chéri?” so he had a feeling he was going to have to ease her into the hardcore stuff).
No, it was that she wanted him to bond with her two dads.
“Give what up?” Tom asked.
“Not you, Duncan,” Rix said, talking to Tom but nodding to their boss. “You call him Bowie. Chloe and Harvey do too. What gives with that?”
At this question, Judge straightened in his chair because he was keen to know this too.
He’d asked Chloe about it, but she’d only said, “That’s Bowie’s and Bowie’s alone to give.”
Which only made him more curious.
However, Judge had noticed that Tom had also started calling him that.
He didn’t in the beginning.
But after the Cali shoot, he did.
There was something meaningful in that.
Judge sensed it was like the coffee mug thing with the Pierce-Swan-Holloways.
It meant you were in.
And make no mistake, Judge wanted to be in.
He knew his assumption was true when Tom was the first to speak, and he did it in a shutting-this-down tone.
“I think that’s—”
“It’s okay, Tom,” Duncan said low.
Tom had moved to protect whatever this was for Duncan.
But Duncan’s gaze was on Judge.
Judge glanced at Tom and saw him smiling at the fire.
Yep.
Whatever this was, if you had it, it meant you were in.
Duncan announced, “When I was a kid, my dad made me kill a deer.”
Both Judge and Rix sat even straighter in their chairs, because unlike Duncan, who did not partake of the hobby, but approved of hunting for game control, under the tight supervision of licensing and quotas, neither Rix nor Judge did.
In a big way.
They were both anti-gun and anti-hunting.
Vehemently.
So this was a shock.
“I didn’t want to do it,” Duncan went on.
Okay then, that wasn’t a shock.
“My dad thought it was a rite of passage for a man,” he continued. “And I later had sons. I would learn there are a variety of rites of passage for boys, and undoubtedly for girls. But making a child kill a living being he does not have any interesting in killing is not one of them.”
Everyone around that campfire was silent and Tom was no longer smiling.
“I got a doe on the first shot,” Duncan carried on. “And Dad made me gut her with a bowie knife where she lay. She was beautiful. She was also still warm with life.”
“Jesus, fuck,” Rix muttered, not hiding his revulsion.
“It marked me,” Duncan declared.
It would. It was marking Judge and he hadn’t even been there.
“I’m sorry, man,” Judge said, totally getting that, but not understanding why Duncan would allow himself to be called Bowie by his loved ones if this was the story behind it.
“I went to Genny after it,” Duncan kept going.
When that came out, Judge glanced between Duncan and Tom, and he felt his skin prickle when he saw it.
Tom had his head turned, was staring at Duncan, and it was all there to read in his expression that was lit by firelight.
The understanding.
The amity.
Judge would never fully comprehend the foundation of it because he’d never put Tom through asking about it.
Maybe it was knowing who Genny was and how she could be that person for a man, or a boy, even when she was a girl.
Maybe it was getting why Duncan went to her, the depths of emotion he must have felt for her, though they were much younger. And knowing from that them being together was somehow meant to be, even if that meant Tom and Genny weren’t.
Maybe it was both.
But it was there.
And Judge respected it a fuck of a lot, because a man had to love a woman in a serious way if he could settle into the knowledge she had who she needed, she had what was meant to be, and that was not him.
“I wasn’t close to my dad,” Duncan shared, taking Judge from his thoughts. “He wasn’t a good father. He wasn’t a good man. But he was very proud of me for doing that. I was sickened by it. So, obviously, I didn’t get why he was proud of me. He told me at the time, standing over me as I gutted that doe, that I was going to be known as Bowie from then on.”
Okay, now Judge was even more confused why he’d allow people to call him that.
“And I told Genny later that he was right. I was. I was Bowie and always would be Bowie. Because I didn’t want to go hunting. I didn’t want to shoot that doe. I did it so I didn’t have to take any shit from my father. I put her life ahead of my fears of dealing with my dad, who could be volatile, but he wasn’t violent. And I was going to be Bowie because I never wanted to forget the consequences of not standing up for my beliefs.”
“Jesus, fuck,” Rix whispered, his tone much different now.
Comprehension.
And respect.
“And I never did. I also never hunted again,” Duncan concluded. “It infuriated my father, and I paid that price. The price was hefty. But it was a price I’d learned I was willing to pay.”
Judge noted that Tom was now slumped in his chair, but not having folded into himself.
He’d settled in.
Comfortable.
At one with the idea that the man at his side was the man in Genny’s life.
Which was huge and Judge couldn’t wait to tell Chloe about this. She was coming to terms with what was becoming of her family, and this would set her mind even more at ease.
“My loved ones call me that, people I’m tight with,” Duncan continued. “And if you want, I’m inviting you both to do the same.”
Holy fuck.
He felt Rix’s gaze so he looked to his friend.
“But remember,” Duncan kept going, and they turned back to him, “when we’re at work, we’re at work. Harvey calls me Bowie, but Harvey is to me what he is to me and people get it.” He pinned Judge with his eyes. “You’re seeing Chloe, people will get that. But just be aware. This is important.” He swung a hand out to indicate the campfire, the story, and what he’d just given to Rix and Judge. “But work is work.”
“You don’t have to say that, man. We get it,” Rix said quietly.
Judge jerked up his chin to indicate Rix was right. They got it.
Duncan nodded.
“It was, you know,” Rix said.
Everyone focused on him.
“It was what?” Duncan asked.
“A rite of passage,” Rix told him. “Though not the one your father expected. I hate you had to do that. I hate that doe had to go down. But since then, you’ve saved forests. You’ve blocked building on important land. You’ve stood strong between The Man pushing to sprawl and spoil, desecrate and destroy, steal and appropriate, and you’ve put a stop to it. You became the man you were going to be that day, Duncan. And if that doe was sentient, and she understood what was to come for you, my guess is, she would have felt her sacrifice was worth it.”
Duncan stared at Rix for so long, not only Judge but Tom shifted in their seats.
And his voice was gruff when he replied, “You’re right, Rix. Thanks.”
At his tone, Judge knew, Duncan still felt that doe’s death. He still felt the bite of regret, and it was far more than a sting.
But Rix in Rix’s way a
lleviated it.
Maybe not totally, but a little.
“Don’t mention it,” Rix muttered like it was no big deal what he said, when it was.
Duncan had to know he’d become that man, because he was that man.
But it never hurt to know other people saw it.
Tom grinned at Judge.
Judge grinned back.
“Did someone bring the makings for s’mores? Because if they did, it’s time for those and Bushmills,” Rix declared.
“On it,” Judge said, pushing up from his camp chair, because he one hundred percent packed marshmallows, chocolate bars and graham crackers in his backpack.
And he knew Rix carried in the Irish whiskey.
* * *
One week later…
“So, Maman, you’ve spent quite a bit of time in New York City,” Chloe declared.
Judge watched Genny’s brows knit together as she looked at her daughter across the table at Steak 44, where they were having dinner in Phoenix.
“Uh, yes, my darling daughter,” Genny replied. “As you know since we’ve been there shopping together on no less than two dozen occasions.”
Of course they had.
Judge smiled to himself and reached for his beer.
“And you have many friends and acquaintances who live there,” Chloe went on.
Hand with beer arresting in mid-air, Judge looked to his woman.
“Out with it, Chloe, what’s this about?” Genny, unsurprisingly knowing her daughter was up to something, demanded.
“I am in search of a woman of a certain age who is either divorced, or widowed, smart, stylish, has an excellent sense of humor, and most importantly, is adjusted. In other words, no psychos, no stalkers, no drama queens, unless they’re the benign yet fabulous kind, like me, of course, and no vultures,” Chloe decreed.
“Chloe,” Judge warned under his breath.
She turned his way and tipped her head to the side.
“Why?” Genny asked suspiciously.
Yep.
Totally knew her daughter was up to something.
His woman looked back to her mother and bald-faced lied, “No reason.”
“You do absolutely nothing for no reason,” Genny returned.
Judge grunted with the effort to hold back his laugh and that was when he caught Duncan looking at him and silently doing the same.
Judge finally took a sip of his beer.
“I just have a friend there who not-so-recently became a widower and needs a slight… prod to start socializing,” Chloe lied again.
“She’s talking about my father and she hasn’t even met him yet,” Judge supplied, regaining Chloe’s attention and her sharp, “Judge!”
“Chloe,” Genny said slowly. Her uttering her daughter’s name was also openly beleaguered.
“Motherrrr, have you seen Jameson Oakley?” Chloe asked.
“I met him once briefly a long time ago when I was with your father. So, yes, I’ve seen him,” Genny answered.
“Then you know he’s rich and hot and very single. It’s a total waste,” Chloe returned.
“How about you let Judge’s father decide when it’s time for him to start dating again?” Genny suggested.
With zero shame, Chloe immediately turned to Duncan and demanded, “How would you feel right now if I let Mother decide when it was time for her to start to open her heart again?”
Judge had learned that Chloe had interfered rather significantly in Duncan and Genny’s reunion.
He wasn’t God. He had no idea, if she had kept her nose out of it, if they’d all be sitting together right then.
But since they were, the happy couple across from them, and Chloe being at his side, he’d never tell her this, but he was glad as fuck she did.
“Love you, sweetheart, but leave me out of it,” Duncan ordered.
This was translated as he felt the same as Judge, but he wasn’t going to side with his woman’s daughter for a variety of reasons.
Chloe clicked her teeth in such annoyance, she also tossed her hair with it.
Judge didn’t swallow back the chuckle that caused.
Which meant Chloe glared at him. “I’m not being amusing.”
“Yes, you are,” he refuted.
“How about this?” Duncan intervened. “Maybe you meet the man before you start running his life. And I suggest that because, from experience, I’ve learned that meeting you makes a man powerless to do anything but give you whatever you want.”
At that, Chloe verbally huffed, but it wasn’t annoyed even a little bit.
“Gotta admit, he’s right,” Judge muttered.
And that earned him a look from his woman that was so far from a glare, it wasn’t funny.
At that juncture, Genny announced, “Your grandmother has a lot to answer for.” When Judge looked at her, she explained to him, “Chloe is a creature of my mother’s making. I’m officially declaring it right now that I take absolutely no responsibility for it.”
“And my beloved grandmother would be wild with delight at this acknowledgement because she put a good deal of work into it,” Chloe added.
“Then I’m sorry she’s gone so I can’t thank her,” Judge put in.
Now that…
That got him a look that was so warm and tender, seeing it felt like she’d pressed her hand hard against his heart.
“You were right,” Genny said, which meant Judge had to tear his eyes away from Chloe’s glowing, happy, gorgeous face.
But Genny was talking to Duncan.
“Yeah, I was,” he agreed.
“Rude,” Chloe chimed into their private conversation that wasn’t exactly private.
And when she did, Genny turned directly to her daughter and laid it out.
“Duncan told me the man who won you would have to be some kind of man, because you were going to turn his world upside down,” her gaze slid to Judge, “and he was going to love it.”
Judge didn’t move.
Because Duncan was right in what he said.
But it wasn’t only Judge who loved it.
It was Genny too.
Approval from Imogen Swan.
From Genny.
From Chloe’s mom.
Christ.
That hand in his chest didn’t leave.
And it felt fucking fantastic.
“Ma mère chérie,” Chloe said quietly.
She loved it too.
Duncan cleared his throat.
Judge reached for Chloe’s hand.
They linked fingers, but it was Chloe that took it under the table and rested their hands on his thigh.
“Now, stay out of Jameson Oakley’s love life,” Genny demanded.
Chloe’s gorgeous, happy face turned into a gorgeous, pouty face.
Judge chuckled again, which bought him another glare.
It didn’t deter him from leaning in and kissing it.
And when he was done, the server was there with their food.
* * *
Judge had Chloe’s wrists in his hand at the small of her back, his thighs splayed wide because he was astride hers, and he was pumping inside her, hard.
“Judge,” she moaned.
“Don’t fucking come,” he ordered.
“Darling.”
She was going to come.
Judge pulled out.
“Judge!” she protested.
He let her wrists go, shoved a hand between her legs, cupped her sex and hauled her up to her knees.
“Down at the front,” he demanded when she made a move to come up to her hands.
He took her in as he always took her in when she was positioned like this. He liked her like that, bowed before him, his strong, meddlesome, take-care-of-everyone-and-everything Chloe all his to play with.
His to take care of.
Whisper soft, he touched her clit.
“More,” she murmured.
“Take it,” he commanded.
She didn’t hesi
tate.
She rubbed against his hand restlessly, her beautiful ass moving, his fingers slickening even if they weren’t inside, she was that wet.
“Judge, I need to come, honey,” she whimpered.
He pulled his hand away and said, “Turn around.”
Again no hesitation, she did, on hands and knees. And when she was facing him, her head tipped back, eyes coming to him.
Fucking hell, she was hot.
“Mouth open, baby,” he said softly.
Her expression grew hungry, her eyes dipped to his dick, and she opened her mouth.
He positioned, thrust in, she took him, and her wet on him, and she sucked hard.
Yeah.
Hot and sweet and beautiful and life.
All Chloe.
He put some effort into gathering all her hair in a fist, alternating watching her swallow his dick and staring at the long length of her beautiful neck, those soft, dark baby hairs at the base of her scalp curling against her skin, liking all of that so much, it didn’t take long before he had to pull out.
Her head shot back, and she offered, “I’ll swallow, chéri.”
He knew she would, she’d done it before. She dug driving him over the brink and drinking that down.
And he liked her doing that.
But not tonight.
“Tonight you ride,” he told her.
Her eyes blazed, he let her hair go, and she nearly tackled him to get him to his back.
This meant Judge was smiling when she climbed on top, took him inside, and she rode.
He watched, and it took work, but he went at her clit as she bounced on his dick, and she got there before he blew.
The second he did, she collapsed on his chest, and he felt another jet gush out of his cock when his body accepted her weight, her tits crushed against his chest, and her hair flew all over his neck, jaw and shoulder.
After he came down, he called softly, “Baby,” and she lifted her head for him.
With regret, Judge brushed her hair away from his neck and chest, skimming it over her shoulder, then he held her gaze as he touched his finger to her lips.
This was a thing he’d introduced a few weeks ago, a thing Chloe took to like she took to everything Judge did, in bed and out of it.
So she sucked his finger into her mouth, tonguing it and coating it, before he slid it out, and she stayed seated on his still-hard cock as he moved his hand to her ass and slid the finger she’d wetted to the second knuckle up her ass.
Chasing Serenity Page 33
