by Kylie Walker
Dean flipped him off again and grabbed another beer.
**
Asher went into town the next day to get the lumber he needed for the back porch. It was the first time he had actually gone into town since the funeral, other than to just see Lyle. He hoped that he could get in and out without seeing anyone he knew. He didn’t want to have to talk to someone who would be asking him a bunch of questions about where he had been and all of that. He was happy to see that there weren’t many cars in front of the hardware store. He parked and went inside, going straight to the back where he knew they kept the lumber. As he passed the cash registers, he noticed the young man Mia had been with at the funeral was behind one of them and his eyes were trained on Asher.
Asher walked by, but as he gathered his supplies he couldn’t help but wonder again who this kid was. He took his purchases to the counter and once again, he got a stare down from the kid. He raised an eyebrow and said, “Have we met?”
The kid looked completely disgusted by that question. “No, but I know who you are.”
“You do?”
“Yes. You’re Asher Fury. Mr. Fury’s son.”
Asher nodded. The kid’s tone was almost accusing. He had no idea what he could have done to garner this reaction from him. “How did you know my father?” Instead of answering his question, the kid said, “That will be fifty-two ninety-eight.” Asher was going to ask the question again, but he bit it back and handed the kid his credit card. Once the kid handed him the receipt to sign Asher said, “You have the advantage of knowing who I am. How about you tell me who you are? What’s your name?”
The kid stared at him for so long; Asher didn’t think he was going to answer again. Finally, he said, “My name is Axel.”
Asher could see it now. The yellow ring around the outside of his hazel eyes. “Axel…?”
“Halloway,” he said, almost as a challenge.
“You’re related to Mia?”
“Yes. I’m her son.” That was said almost smugly. What was up with this kid?
“How old are you, Axel?”
The kid’s stare became even more intense as he said, “Seventeen.”
Asher’s mouth went dry. He didn’t know what else to say at that point, so he grabbed his things and left. He felt the boy’s eyes on him the whole way.
Asher drove home thinking about the boy. Mia’s boy…his boy? What kind of coincidence would it be if he wasn’t? Mia wasn’t the kind of girl who would have jumped at the chance to have sex with another guy as soon as he left. She had waited with him for quite a while, until they had both been sure that they were in love. The other thing was, if he was not Asher’s son, why doesn’t he have his father’s name? Why is he using Halloway?
Asher got home and unloaded his supplies. He reached for his phone then and was about to call the Bar and Grill when Dean walked through the back gate.
“Hey man, are you ready to get started?” Asher was looking at his phone almost in a confused state. This could wait until she was off and he could talk to her face to face, calmly. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. You knew that kid was Mia’s son, didn’t you?”
Dean looked guilty. “Yeah.”
“Do you know who his father is?”
“I never asked her.”
“Does your father know who his father is?”
“I never asked him either.”
Asher rolled his eyes. “Why not?”
“Because it wasn’t my business. I figured you would explore that with Mia on your own time.”
“You think he’s mine?”
“I’m not the one you need to be asking these questions to.”
“I know that. Shit! If he’s mine, why wouldn’t she tell me?”
“Don’t get pissed off.”
“What?”
“Man you left her high and dry. She was a wreck with you gone and Travis and everything. I tried to see her before I left and her mother wouldn’t even let me in the door. If he is your kid think about it. After all that happened, she was left behind as a teenaged; unwed mother. For seventeen years she had no way of reaching you. Now, all of a sudden, she’s supposed to say, ‘Congratulations, Daddy?’”
One thing Asher could always count on was Dean not sugar-coating things for him. Everything he said was spot-on. She had every right not to tell him as soon as he wandered back into town after all of these years. Maybe that’s what she had come over to tell him the other night when he had brushed her off. Jesus Christ!
“Let’s start on the porch first,” he grunted.
“You’re not going to go talk to her?”
“Not now,” Asher said, “I don’t want it to come off like I’m angry and put her on the defensive. I need to get my emotions in check.”
“Good idea,” Dean said, “You’re smarter than you look.”
Asher flipped him off this time.
Chapter 19
They worked on the patio for several hours when Dean suddenly said, “Are you going to feed me?”
Asher laughed. “Are we dating now?”
“Hell no. You couldn’t get all of this if you tried. I’m starving man.”
“You’ll have to call for take-out. I don’t have any food.”
“The only place in town that delivers is the Bar and Grill.”
“I know. It’s not like Mia will deliver it herself, right?” Dean shrugged, but he got down off the ladder he was on and called to order the food. He stepped inside and yelled out to ask Asher what he wanted. He told him and when he finished what he was doing, he went inside to wash up.
He was just coming out of the bathroom when the doorbell rang. He opened it, expecting food. He really didn’t expect Mia. She was standing on the doorstep with two bags of food in hand. “Hey. Why are you delivering food?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Are you disappointed to see me?”
He felt his skin flush. He stared at her intently. “Never,” he said, “Come in.”
When Mia walked in, Asher couldn’t help but notice the exchange of looks between her and Dean. She held a bag out to Dean, he grinned and took it. Looking at Asher he said, “Call me tomorrow and we’ll get some more work done.” Before he could leave the doorbell rang again. Asher looked at Dean and asked, “Anything else you ordered?”
Dean grinned. He knew he was caught. “Nope, just some sandwiches and Mia.”
Asher rolled his eyes and shook his head. He pulled open the door and three men stood on his doorstep. He heard Mia’s sharp intake of breath behind him and he heard Dean put down his food. “Can I help you?”
The guy standing in front who seemed to be in charge, stuck out his hand and said, “James Proctor. Are you Asher?”
Asher looked at his hand and back up at his face. “What can I do for you?” he asked. He saw the flicker of annoyance in James’s eyes, but he recovered quickly.
“My father would like to meet you,” James said.
“I met him at my father’s funeral.”
“He wants to meet with you. He wants to talk to you.”
“About what?”
“Can we come in?”
“I don’t think so,” Asher said.
James looked around him and his eyes fell on Mia. He smiled broadly. “Well, hello there beautiful.”
Asher took a step forward, crowding him out of the doorway. “You’ve got about two seconds to tell me what it is that you want.”
“I told you, my father wants to meet with you. When you leave town.”
“I’m not leaving town.”
“Surely you don’t plan on trying to run your father’s business? I think maybe it’s a little beyond your scope.”
“Really. You have no fucking idea what my ‘scope’ is. As a matter of fact, if I were you, I would pray you never find out.”
James smiled. “That goes both ways. If I were you, I’d sell this shit your parents have been hanging onto for so many years and go back to wherever you came fr
om.”
“Thanks for the advice, but I don’t normally take advice from piss ants.”
That pushed a button. James stepped even closer so that he and Asher were face to face. “You don’t know who you’re fucking with, Fury.”
“Neither do you,” Asher growled, “Don’t come back here. Leave me and my friends alone.”
James smiled again. “This is my town Fury…” before he could get another word out, Asher grabbed him by the throat and shoved him up against the front door in one fluid motion.
“Listen carefully piss ant. This is your one and only warning. Do not fuck with me or mine again. If you do, I will show you my full ‘scope,’ and it may be the last fucking thing you ever see.”
He let go of him and James was gasping for breath. Asher left him and his goons standing there and closed the front door their faces. When he turned around, Dean looked pissed and Mia looked frightened. He hoped that it wasn’t his behaviour that scared her. “They will be back,” Dean said.
Asher’s eyes were on Mia as he said, “If they’re that stupid, then they deserve what they’ll get if they do. Let’s eat.” Dean picked up his bag and said, “I’m going to take mine to go. Thanks, Mia. I’ll see you tomorrow, Bro.”
Asher watched him go, shaking his head again. When he was gone, he looked at Mia and asked, “What did he tell you?”
“Just that you and I really needed to talk.”
Asher walked over and sat down at the dining room table. He took a deep breath and said, “It’s about your son. Is he mine?”
“Yes.” Mia whispered sitting at the table and watched as Asher paced the room. For at least fifteen minutes he paced back and forth without saying a word. She didn’t say anything either. She was waiting for his next question. When it finally came she felt a rush of anger.
“When were you going to tell me?”
She stood up and couldn’t hide the sarcasm in her voice as she said, “Oh, I don’t fucking know, maybe the next time you decided to come home. It’s been 17 years Asher!”
He rubbed a hand through his hair and over his face. She could see that he was trying to calm himself down. She was pissed. He had no right to act so accusingly with her. He was the one who had left. When he finally spoke this time, it was with a softer tone. “I understand why you would be angry. I also know that for seventeen years I gave you no choice. You had no idea how to find me. It’s just such a shock, to have a nearly grown son that I didn’t even know existed. Jesus. Does he know who I am?”
“Yes, he knows you’re his father. He and your dad were close. Greg was a good grandfather to him.”
Somehow that seemed to make Asher feel better. Mia wondered if it was knowing Greg hadn’t been alone at the end. “He’s angry,” Asher said. It was a statement, not a question.
“How do you know?”
“I saw him today at the hardware store. I could see it in his eyes.” His tone softened and he smiled as he said, “Your eyes. He has your eyes.”
“He doesn’t understand, Asher. I’ve never been able to give him an explanation as to why you left.”
“He knows I never knew about him though, right? He knows I didn’t abandon him?”
Mia felt that surge of anger again. “Yeah, he knows that it was only his mother you abandoned.”
“Fuck!” he was pacing again, “Mia. Jesus.”
“Don’t Asher! You’re not the one that get’s to be pissed off! Tell me why?! Why did you leave?” She felt the sting of hot tears in the corners of her eyes. She had been waiting seventeen years for an answer. She needed him to tell her why.
He just stood there looking at her with that intense gaze. She couldn’t stand it. She moved closer to him and looked up into those intense green eyes. So much emotion swirling around. As she did, she pressed her hands onto his chest. “Do you have any idea how much you hurt me? I was devastated over Travis and then you left me and then I found out I was pregnant.” She was sobbing and suddenly Asher’s arms were around her. She was against his wide, sculpted chest and the masculine scent of him made everything feminine in her go crazy. The throbbing heat of his body and the pounding of his heart against her chest were matched in intensity only by the sounds of his ragged breaths. She was hurt and angry that he wouldn’t explain to her why he had left but she had dreamt of this very moment for seventeen years and her body was responding in a way that only Asher could make it respond.
His lips were suddenly on hers and she didn’t fight it. She had wanted this so badly, for so long. He slid his hand from her hair down to her shoulders and wrapped a strong arm around them, pulling her back against his taut chest. His lips glided against hers and she breathed in his scent. She had missed him nearly every minute of every day. He ran his tongue along her lips and she parted them and invited him in. As his warm tongue slipped past her lips, fireworks exploded in her head. She brought her arms up and slid them around his neck, pulling him into the kiss, deeper. The room around them disappeared. Nothing mattered except for this kiss. Their tongues danced against each other and the pain of the past was forgotten, for the moment. Asher held onto her tightly. He felt so different than he used to. He had always muscular but now, he was all hard lines and she loved the way his mature body rippled against hers. Their mouths continued attacking each other even as their breathing became more ragged. She remember his kiss and she never wanted it to end. She felt him bring one hand up and gently caress the side of her face. The kiss went on and on, and the first thought she had when he finally broke it, was, ‘I want to do it again.’
He stood staring down at her with desire in his eyes and his chest heaving up and down and he said, “You should go.” Mia wasn’t going to be put off that easy this time.
“Why?”
“Because Mia, if you stay I will do something to hurt you again. You’ve been hurt enough. I hurt everyone who gets close to me.”
“Pushing me away hurts me. You hurt me once by walking away from what we had. I’ve been hurt and angry. I’ve been sad and hopeless. But, I never stopped loving you, Asher. My heart ached for you every day for seventeen years. Please don’t push me away again. Please. I can’t survive that again. I can’t watch you walk out of my life again.” She felt tears filling her eyes. His looked like his emotions were battling against each other. She still saw the desire there, but she also saw pain and something else she couldn’t describe. “Do you still have feelings for me, Asher?”
Chapter 20
He raised his hands up to touch her and then changed his mind and fisted them at his side. “Yes. I have always loved you, Mia. I never stopped.”
“Then please, don’t push me away. Let me stay with you. I need you.”
He didn’t say another word. He put one arm around her shoulders and the other went under her legs as he scooped her up in his arms. He carried her up the stairs to his room. Mia pressed her lips against the pulse in his neck and whispered, “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too, Mia, every day.”
When they got to his room, he sat on the bed with her on his lap and kissed her again. This time he used his hands as they kissed to push up the blouse she was wearing. His rough hands felt hot against her skin and she had to struggle for breath. His touch was like throwing kerosene on her already smouldering core. The aches in parts of her body that had not been touched in so long turned into throbs and she whimpered. Her arms were still around his neck and the feel of his huge arms enveloping her was intoxicating. Asher kissed her like a starving man. His tongue devoured her mouth. He moaned deeply as his tongue thrust and swirled with hers. He took what he wanted from her after being denied so long. She felt his hand slid up over her stomach and slip under her bra. She sucked in a hard breath as he massaged her breast and let his thumb swipe across her hard nipple. She was shaking and writhing against his lap as she clutched his shoulders.
“Take these off,” he said in a husky whisper, pulling at her clothes.
Mia stood up and
he watched as she stripped off her clothes. The heat from his green eyes was searing and she could see that he was fisting his hands at his sides to keep from touching her until she was finished. As soon as she was undressed he slid his large hands against the small of her back and pulled her forward. When she was right in front of him, he ran his hot tongue around one of her nipples and then the other. Her body convulsed and she whimpered.
He alternated between pinching and twisting her nipple and sucking it hard and deep in his mouth. His teeth gently tugged at the peak and Mia’s back arched and she thrusted against his mouth. Her hands gripped the back of his head and he wrapped his large, warm hands around her waist as he made love to her breasts with his mouth. Then with skills that he definitely didn’t have when they had made love all of those years ago, he stood up and flipped her back onto the bed in one incredibly smooth movement. “Don’t move,” he whispered, as he stood at the edge of the bed and began to strip off his own clothes. Mia watched intently as he reached behind his neck and pulled off his shirt. Her eyes devoured every inch of his skin and she stared at the colourful tattoos all over his body. His arms were covered, and the ink extended across his shoulder and culminating in a burst of brightly-coloured tribal tattoo that disappeared under the waist band of his jeans. His arms bulged with veins and muscles and his chest rippled as his hands slid to his waist to unbutton his jeans. There were scars racing in all directions. His abdomen was rock hard and sculpted and across the top of the hard flesh sat multiple small scars and one large one. There was one on his shoulder underneath a tattoo that looked like it had run deep. Her curiosity was burning but as soon as he dropped his pants and she took in his large, throbbing erection and muscular legs, she knew those questions could wait. She wanted this now more than she had ever wanted anything in her life. He was beyond gorgeous. He was the most beautiful thing she had seen. She slid her fingers up and across the skin of his abdomen. She saw him shiver and then he was back on the bed, straddling her with his knees on either side of her thighs, pinning her to the bed beneath him.
