Sahara (A Night Fire Novel Book 3)

by Watkins, TM

  But as the four other members of the band started talking about all of the cool things they could do now that Fraser had a guitar I realized the bastards motivation. It wasn't never about jealousy for being given a present or uneven attention and love. It was about a jealousy that Fraser was the one in the band, not him. He'd ripped their parents from Fraser as punishment for it.

  In that moment I had quietly decided that if the prick was ever up for parole then I'd be there. I'd be the one that made sure his life was filled with the same kind of pain that Fraser suffers. He was never going to be a free man. Fraser could never be free, he had to live with this pain every day. This was going to require a quiet talk with Jerry. He knew more of the facts than I did. He'd sat through the trial, he was even made to get on the stand and testify.

  Quietly I slipped away and returned to the bedroom.

  “Fraser?” I called out.

  I watched the walls and saw the light flick off, returning to the darkness. It was as I suspected, he didn't want to talk about it. I walked towards the laundry pretending to search for him.

  “Hey.”

  The light flicked on and he stood at the entry of the kitchen with Sahara in his arms. He'd changed her from the sleep suit into a romper suit that had little bunnies all over it. It was one of my favorites.

  “Hey.”

  I offered a smile but it turned into a wince as I climbed up onto the stool. The bastard chuckled as he walked over and put Sahara into my arms.

  “So I can't fuck for shit, eh?”

  “I lied to earn another smack, sue me.”

  “I'd rather fuck you.” he growled in my ear, low and husky.

  He moved away with a smug grin.

  “Breakfast first though, a man needs food to fill the tank.”

  “Good. What are you making?”

  Fraser looked at me with a raised eyebrow and then thought about it.

  “Dunno. Food's getting a little low.”

  “Go shopping tight ass and what happened to the bread?”

  “I ate it.”

  I stared at him with shock. “You ate the whole loaf?”

  He shrugged and opened the pantry door, searching through it. I looked down at Sahara.

  “Your papa is a guts. One day he's going to explode into a ball of fat.”

  She blew a spit bubble at me.

  “What time is it?”

  “Ten am.”

  I guess I really did sleep well. The last time I slept in this late was when I was dumped. Oh the memories of those days. Several bottles of tequila and chocolate ice cream. Burning photos and trying to figure out how to make a voodoo doll. The internet and I were yet to have a discussion about its lackluster information about how-to guides. Okay, so I might have been drunk, given up trying to thread the needle to sew the doll together and ended up watching porn which was the most stupidest thing I have ever done. Why you ask? Well dumped and drunk watching a couple making the most passionate love wasn't a great combination. Let's just say that I learned a lesson that night. Don't drink and cry at porn because your sister will think you're weird.

  A thumping on the front door made me jump, Fraser lifted his head from the pantry and looked at me.

  “Maybe you should go and get dressed.”

  I nodded and passed the baby to him, scurrying to the bedroom as quickly as I could. Which considering that I had a lot of sore parts was a real feat in itself.

  When I had dressed I quickly checked over the room and ensured there was no evidence. Not that the lack of my things in this room wasn't enough evidence. Everything that I owned was in Fraser's bedroom, aside from the dress and underwear I was wearing yesterday.

  Upon exiting what was supposed to be my bedroom I could hear the laughter and clinking of bottles. I guess party central had just arrived at Fraser's house.

  “Hey mommy two.” Jaxon grinned broadly at me. “Thought we'd bring the party here so that Fras didn't have to dump his little girl on you again.”

  “That's mighty thoughtful of you Jaxon.”

  We will forget the part where you brought alcohol and it was likely that you would give him said alcohol rendering him useless in the parenting department. So in reality it was not much better. Except that I had company this time.

  Company came in the two that weren't drinking, Curtis because of his sobriety and Frankie because she was pregnant. I took charge of Sahara, Fraser was drowning his sorrows.

  “We know the timing might not be ideal for you know...” Curtis gestured to Sahara who was in Frankie's arm as she fed her. “But uh, it is in other ways.”

  We were in the kitchen, the others were in the lounge room playing a loud shooting game. It was too loud, I couldn't hear Frankie talking and Sahara wasn't impressed.

  Curtis cleared his throat and looked to the entry of the lounge room, hearing the laughter and the roar of delight when one of them clearly killed something.

  “Anniversary.”

  “Oh.” I said quietly.

  That explained the video.

  “He always says that he doesn't want anyone around but we don't listen. It's going to get worse.”

  “What is?”

  The words had barely escaped my mouth as someone knocked on the door.

  “It's a thing that we do so you best get used to it. Now that you're our assistant you're like a part of our family so you'll have to come here every year. Don't give us any lame ass excuses, this is a thing that happens no matter what.”

  “Where is she?” El's voice shrilled with happiness as she swanned into the room.

  Jerry's wife Eleanor was a bubbly woman who adored each of the boys. She loved them like her own children and I knew that there were at least two of them that needed that kind of love. Fraser had his own demons and Curtis had a family that needed a good beating.

  “Oh look at the darling.” she cooed as Frankie handed her over.

  There was another knock on the door, more people entering.

  “Told you.” Curtis grinned.

  “There's hardly any food. I don't think he was buying much because of the tour.”

  “It's okay, we brought food.”

  Evan's mother Lola walked in with several bags, soon followed by her husband Harry. The average sized kitchen was slowly shrinking as everyone came in with food and made a beeline to the baby. Austin's parents were still here, normally they lived in Florida but they had decided to stay until the tour kicked off. Even Frankie's parents and her brother had come to this little gathering.

  Jaxon's father and his stepmother had arrived just before Austin's parents. I could see where Jaxon got his good looks but his father was a quiet man. Jaxon's over the top personality came from his bat shit crazy stepmother. Crazy in a good sense of course. Caroline was the kind of woman that you wished she really was his mother, he would have be far better off. She was a barrel of laughs, never spoke ill of anyone and was always smiling. For all that Jaxon had a shit beginning I knew that Caroline was the reason his life had turned around for the better.

  By the time everyone had arrived, I was a little astounded. I'd never seen so much love in a subdued way. It actually felt like my heart was melting. They did this every year. Every year they ensured that Fraser wasn't alone of the anniversary of the worst day of his life. I could feel the sadness building inside of me, mixing with the happiness and love for these wonderful people.

  Quietly I slipped away, retreating to the quietness of the bathroom to splash water on my face. As I dried myself off I tried to mentally pull myself together.

  “Don't be a cry baby.” I whispered. “Remember, you're the ice queen. Kurt said so.”

  I stared at my image, looking at the mascara that had smudged. So much for waterproof. As I cleaned it off the door opened and Fraser slipped in.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I didn't feel so good so I came in to splash water.”

  His hands took my hips as he kissed along my jaw from behind me.

&n
bsp; “Who is Kurt?”

  Damn these thin walls.

  “An ex and an asshole.”

  “You can add clueless idiot.” Fraser whispered in my ear. “If he thinks you're an ice queen then he doesn't know how to make you tick.”

  I looked into the mirror, his eyes catching mine. A wicked grin crossed his face as he lowered to my ear again.

  “And if it happens that it is true then you should say goodbye to your posting. After last night's effort, I don't think that this ice queen is going to reign ever again.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Sahara wasn't impressed at being passed around. She had one hell of a set of lungs and ensured everyone got a good listen at how well they worked. But there was lots of experienced mothers with lots of advice on how to settle a fussing baby. Which left me wondering why Fraser called me instead of them. He could have called El, she would have gladly helped.

  You know why he called you my mind chided me.

  “You know, I don't think I've ever seen him so happy.” El said as she looked into the house.

  The group had separated based on gender. The men folk were in the lounge room watching a baseball game, the women were out on the back deck drinking wine.

  “I wonder why.” Lola said softly as she grinned.

  That was not a question. That was a statement. Surely she hadn't figured it out.

  “And why wouldn't he be happy? She is so adorable.” Abigail offered.

  I was about to say something but I held my tongue, remember the child. Yes, the child is adorable. No, Fraser and Eden are not having sex so there is no reference to it being the reason for Fraser's happiness. Except that it totally is. Okay, so maybe fifty-fifty.

  “It has to be.” Frankie put in her own opinion. “Can't imagine there would be one of the groupies that has managed to bring this kind of happiness.”

  They all nodded in agreement, silence hit the table for a brief moment. I reveled in it, basking in it's quiet glory. I wished it had been longer.

  “So you've moved in Eden?”

  Lola looked at me with that same grin. Damn that woman.

  “Until the tour, just to help out.”

  “She's been here all week.” Frankie scoffed. “Why he had to keep it a secret is beyond me but he did.”

  “It's because they are merciless with their teasing.” Abigail returned. “We've all seen it, we know it's all in good fun but I think they forget to stop.”

  “I don't blame him really, I've told Evan to lay off when it comes to these sorts of things but I don't think he listens.”

  Everyone agreed with Lola's statement. Evan looked a lot like her, the same bright green eyes and flawless tanned skin. She was blonde and he had black hair, though his looked like it was dyed.

  My phone buzzed with an incoming message, I opened and nearly dropped it with shock. Restraining the rising heat in my cheeks I thought of the coldest thing I could. The freezer. It was enough to send a chill down my spine but not enough to hide the fact that I was blushing.

  “Everything okay?” Heather, Austin's mother asked.

  “Sure. Just over thinking something. Excuse me.”

  Several sets of curious eyes watched me as I walked into the house. I was pretending to go to the bathroom, thankfully the area was hidden by the kitchen wall so none of them would know who was waiting for me.

  “You took your time.” he whispered as he grabbed my hips from behind.

  “I only just got the message.” I returned, equally low. “I'm being watched so if you want this to remain on the down low I would suggest you wait until everyone leaves.”

  “Who is watching you?” Fraser grinned as he backed me into the wall.

  “Lola.” I whispered. “I think she suspects.”

  He said nothing, instead taking my hand and sneaking along the corridor. We approached the end of it, to the left was the lounge room where there was a room full of men, ahead of us was the door to the garage. Fraser quietly moved, tugging my hand along as he pushed through the door. Once it was closed and locked he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me up and onto his body. I wrapped my arms over his shoulders as we kissed, he stopped at the car.

  “Short and sweet.”

  He grinned wickedly as he pulled the condom out, pulling the zip of his jeans down he rolled it down the length.

  “How are you going to keep quiet Eden?” he whispered the cheeky taunt.

  “With great difficulty.”

  Fraser pushed the skirt of my dress up and slipped my panties down, pushing me against the bonnet of his car. I gasped with the first push, still feeling so tender. Already I was flushed with pleasure, I bit my lip in an attempt to keep quiet. By the end of this I would have a permanent imprint.

  He was doing his damnedest to keep quiet, barely making a sound with each movement. I missed the sound of our bodies hitting against each other. My eyebrows pressed together as I bit my lip harder, Fraser realized that I was about to orgasm and kissed me.

  I wrapped my arm around him, moaning into his harsh kiss. His hands cupped my bare ass at the top of my thighs, pulling my legs wider. All I could do to contain the sound of me enjoying my orgasm was kiss him. I couldn't get enough of him as our tongues danced around each others, our lips wrangling. His groan growled into my mouth as his hips slowed.

  Our little interlude in the garage had gone unnoticed, or at least I believed it had. No one said any different so I carried on believing it to be the truth. I was in the kitchen cleaning up, Fraser had returned to the lounge to watch the end of the game.

  Abigail and Frankie swanned into the room, like two hens who had been clucking about me while I was gone. There was a conspiratorial smirk on both of their lips, their eyes narrowing as they climbed up onto the stools.

  “We were just discussing the private lives of those around us.” Abigail started.

  “Mm-hm.” Frankie nodded once, her voice filled with determination.

  “In particular, yours.”

  The plates clattered onto the dish rack, luckily they hadn't fallen far and there were no breakages.

  “No time for a love life ladies. I have six babies to deal with.”

  “Nonsense.” Frankie scoffed. “I'm thinking that you can come over for dinner tomorrow night.”

  I looked at her dubiously, wondering what harebrained scheme these two were trying to hatch. My mouth opened to decline to her offer but Abigail stopped me.

  “We're thinking that you and Pete might just hit it off.”

  Through gritted teeth I gave a hesitant smile. Frankie's brother Pete wasn't that bad to look at, he was a nice guy and he had a good job as a police officer but in reality he wasn't my type. I'd spoken to him briefly at the dinner party Curtis and Frankie had and we didn't really hit it off.

  “I appreciate the thought ladies, I truly do but I don't believe starting a relationship just before I go away for a year is a wise idea. Besides, I can't really leave the baby. Fraser has no idea what he's doing.”

  “We thought you'd say that.”

  Abigail nodded at Frankie, agreeing with her.

  “So we decided that Austin and I would come around and help him. You can go off and have a nice dinner and I know that Pete would be up for a one night stand so you don't need to worry about the year away thing.”

  Frankie peered past me. I turned with dread and saw Fraser standing there. His face was void of emotion as he stood still, empty beer can in one hand.

  “Hey Fras, we were just suggesting to Eden that she comes over for dinner tomorrow night. We're going to play matchmaker with her and Pete. What do you think?”

  His eyes darted to me, still no emotion. The grip around the beer can was slowly crushing and I knew exactly what he thought.

  “I thought Pete had a girlfriend.”

  “Nah.” Frankie grinned madly as she swiped her hand in the air. “It's a great idea, isn't it Abbey?”

  “Yep.”

  “I really don't think
it's a wise idea.” I said, yet again.

  “What's not a wise idea?”

  My body tightened to the sound of Jaxon's voice, Abbey and Frankie beamed as they looked past me.

  “We are totally setting Eden and Pete up for a one night stand. When she gets back he might be up for more but for now, it's cool. Right Eden?”

  “No, not at all.”

  Jaxon sidled up beside me, almost blocking Fraser from my view which was just as well. His glare could melt steel.

  “Mommy two needs to get laid. I think this is brilliant. Get her ready before the tour starts, that way when were out there doing our thing and the male fans start pouring in back stage she'll be good to go.”

  Behind him the can crinkled more, the soft metal crushing under the weight of a pissed off man.

  “Mommy two is getting laid?” Evan strolled in, humor filling his voice. “I am crushed, I thought you only had eyes for me.”

  “In your dreams.” I huffed with derision.

  Frankie clasped her hands with delight.

  “So it's settled. Dinner at six.”

  “Can't wait.” Abigail cooed.

  Casually I glanced at Fraser who looked like he wanted to find a punching bag and lay into it. Our mind games over his friends had just backfired on him in a way that he probably thought would never happen.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Fraser hadn't said a word. Not one mutter, not one whisper. Nothing. The frown was so deep that I thought he would end up with permanent wrinkles from it. We were eating leftovers, the crowd was gone now and Sahara was asleep. It was peaceful in the house but it was going to break soon.

  “It's fine. I'll go to dinner and nothing will happen.” I offered, hoping to break the foul mood.

  He said nothing.

  “He's not my type and we barely spoke at the dinner. It's all good.”

  Still nothing.

  “I'll be gone a couple of hours. Austin and Abbey will be here to help.”

  Silence.

  “Come on Fraser, we agreed that mind games were fun. If you can't handle it then tell them, then there won't be any issues about dinners or set ups.”

  As he chewed the food in his mouth he looked at me, probably the first time he'd done it since this afternoon. He swallowed it and his grip on the cutlery tightened and loosened, the frown was joined by a narrowing of his eyes.