by Cari Quinn
But a dark moment for Michael was a grunt when he came in the door, followed by a long thorough kiss. He’d sigh, say her name in his dreamy grumble. Dreamy was her word. He’d die if she ever said that to his face. Then he’d take a shower and her Michael would be back.
Grins and silly noises for Axl as he sprawled on the floor to play with him before bedtime. Long, leisurely conversations on the balcony for her. He never ran out of words. Some in the flowery Michael-speak she was getting used to. More so of the dirty variety that she secretly loved.
Nights were often spent naked. At least on Michael’s end. The man just didn’t like clothes. Considering he was approximately the body temperature of a furnace—she knew this because she barely needed a blanket at night—she could see why.
The killing part came from the boy side of his nature.
Her two-year-old was better at picking up after himself than Michael was. She picked up a bowl from beside the couch, then found another on the bookcase, and a glass on the floor next to Axl’s toy box.
She shook her head as she found two more cups on her way into the kitchen.
Axl came careening through the living room, his arms out like a plane. The plus side of that? His balance was a lot better. The minus? She had to chase after him and make sure he didn’t take out all of the man-child toys Michael didn’t put away.
Guitars, stands, a mini amplifier that Axl thought was an awesome rock to climb—none of it was cheap Ikea or Target end tables like she had at her apartment. It felt like everything in Michael’s place was from a catalog. And an expensive one at that.
She scooped Axl up before he ran headlong into the tower of gaming consoles. “Okay, buddy. No more plane, huh?”
His face scrunched up as he arched away from her. “No.”
“Let’s go play with your Legos.”
“Chopter.”
She dumped the dishes in the dishwasher with a wriggling Axl over her shoulder. Then she tried to do the same soaring over the head angle that Michael could do. Unfortunately, Axl was twenty-five pounds as of his last check up, and she was pretty sure he was more toward thirty. He’d sprout up again soon. He always chunked up a bit before zooming up.
Which would mean new clothes again.
Nope, don’t think about that right now.
She hooked her arm around his middle and spun around once. Axl shrieked. Yeah, she definitely wasn’t as good at that as Michael. Hmm. She eyed the yoga mat she’d picked up at Target that morning.
She’d read an article about babies and the positive effects of yoga. She read a lot of damn articles these days. She really wasn’t used to having extra time on her hands.
Chloe put him down in the largest area of the living room. The tears kept coming, fat and flowing. Great. She ran for the bag with the mat and video in it. “Want to play with Mama?”
He tipped his head to the side. “Chopter.”
She pulled out the smaller kid’s mat and then hers. “Let’s try something.”
He shoved his hand into his mouth and landed on his butt.
“All right, that’s a yes in my book.” She scooped him up and ran with him into Michael’s bedroom. When he laughed, she tossed him into the middle of the bed. He bounced and the crocodile tears disappeared into giggles.
She wiggled out of her jeans and shirt, and swapped them for the workout clothes she’d ordered last weekend. Amazon Prime was the single best thing on the planet.
Axl clapped his hands when she put on the yoga pants. They had planes all over them. “Like these?”
“Chopter!”
“Plane.”
“Chopter.” He said it with so much glee that she couldn’t stop laughing. “Let’s go do some exercise. How’s that?” She swung him onto her hip and danced her way into the living room. She plucked the video out of the bag. “Mommy and Me Yoga,” she read aloud from the cover.
“Mama.”
“Right. Mama and me?” she prompted.
“Me,” he parroted.
“You got it. Now, how did we do this again?” Michael had about eight plugs set up for the television. She didn’t know a television could have that many cables. Then again, he had a surround sound system that required an engineering degree to use.
She slid the disk in and hoped for the best.
“Miracle of automation.” The DVD player switched the system to the right channel or whatever. An unnaturally bubbly voice came through the television. “We might have to kill her, but we’ll give it a try.”
She got on the floor and set Axl next to her. “Watch.”
His huge dark eyes soaked up the colors of the women on the screen. He started clapping when the music started. After an initial warm up, she ended up in a few poses that she and Axl both giggled through.
She really wasn’t aware that she could bend like that. And she might have lost her balance midway through some stork position, but Axl was having a good time. And freaking hell, she was sweating her ass off. When they got to floor positions, her kid was in heaven as she used her feet to hoist him up over her.
See? Now she could do the chopter, dammit.
She didn’t need Michael.
The door opened when she was in the middle of lowering him close to her chest and going for another rep.
“Well, well. What do we have here?”
Axl shrieked and his arms went out for Michael immediately. Michael lifted him off her knees and immediately started zooming him around the room. Chloe’s feet dropped to the mat and she collapsed spread-eagle-style. Yoga wasn’t for wimps, man. She was dripping.
Michael set Axl down a few minutes later, getting down on the floor to tickle him into howls of laughter. Then he crawled over to her. “Mama Bear is sexy.”
“I’m sweaty and gross.”
He caged her on the floor. “Hot.”
She pushed at his chest. “Get off, sicko.”
Michael inched back before he lowered his mouth to her belly. “Salty and delicious.” He roamed over to her side and nipped at the little bit of flesh showing above her yoga pants. He peered at the television, and his eyebrows rose. “Yoga, huh?”
“I used to be pretty flexible.”
“Any more flexible and I’ll have a heart attack.” He inched her flowy shirt up and kissed her ribs, then moved back over to her middle.
“Razzies,” Axl said and crawled over to them.
Michael grinned at Axl. “Raspberries?”
“Razzies,” he said again.
Michael blew raspberries on her stomach until she curled into herself to stop him.
“No, no,” she said, giggling.
“Oh, Mama’s ticklish.” Michael held her down and pulled Axl into the mix until there was nothing but laughter filling the room. A helluva lot better than the tears.
“Uncle,” she said with a gasp.
Michael flopped onto the floor next to her, as out of breath as she was.
Axl giggled and climbed between them. He patted her stomach. “Hungy.”
“Me too, pal.” Michael grinned over Axl’s head at her. “Hiya wife.”
“You’re home early.”
“Juliet tried to bean Wes with her bass. We decided it was probably better to call it a day than to keep practicing today.”
“Oh, sorry.”
He shrugged. “Everyone’s just getting tense about the upcoming shows. Ryan’s hand isn’t healing as quickly as we’d hoped. Beating on drums certainly isn’t helping it along.”
She reached over to push a lock of hair away from his forehead. “What happened with that studio guy? What was his name?” There’d been a few over the last few weeks. None of them seemed to gel with the band.
“Toby. He wasn’t a bad player, but he couldn’t handle our jam style.” Michael sat up. “We throw all sorts of covers in with our songs.”
Chloe rolled up to a crosslegged position and plopped Axl between her legs. “I saw a YouTube the other night. I liked ‘My Own Worst Enemy’ with �
��Lick’.” Axl played with her fingers, dragging her thumb into his mouth.
“Yeah? Ryan loves Lit.”
“Me too. Listened to them a lot when I was in high school.”
He grinned. “Looking for my songs, woman?”
“Maybe.”
“Good. I like that you’re interested.” Michael leaned in, hovered at her mouth, then made a quick turn to Axl’s neck. He lifted Axl up and stood. “I require pizza.”
“I require a shower.”
“Then hop to it, Red.” He held his hand out to her, then hauled her up. “You have two hungry men on your hands.” Michael bounced Axl on his hip. “How about an episode of Phineas and Ferb while Mom gets ready?”
“Yeah!” Axl raised his drool-covered hand.
A real shower? She might weep. “That would be awesome.”
Michael grinned. “Don’t take too long. I’ll take the squirt in with me for a shower.”
“Man, the royal treatment all around.”
They’d worked around the tub issue by making it a game with the handheld shower sprayer and lots of toys. She was pretty sure that the designer hadn’t had a seascape of wall clings in mind when they’d put in the marble tile, but it was pretty awesome anyway.
She walked through the baby-fied living room full of new tables with rounded corners, instead of the endless glass Michael had owned before they’d taken over his life. Their—his—bedroom hadn’t fared much better. The huge Queen Anne furniture survived, but the dresser was now cluttered with her perfume and lotion.
Instead of complaining about it, Michael kept buying her more. Including quite a few different oils. She swiped the cinnamon after shower oil off the tray, and brought it with her into the shower. If he had news, then she wanted to make sure she primped a little.
Just in case, of course.
Twenty minutes later she was shaved, buffed, and squeaky clean. She wasn’t in the mood to do her hair so she tied it up in her usual tail. The boys came in as she was buttoning her shirt.
Michael whistled. “Well, hello there.”
She sat at her shabby chic vanity. Michael still didn’t understand her need to buy and repurpose, but he stopped giving her grief about it. There was no way she was spending a grand on a vanity that she sat at for approximately five minutes each day.
Not to mention she had so much time on her hands. She didn’t know what to do with it all, so she kept doing home stuff.
Michael hung Axl upside down, as he crossed to the bathroom. “You stink, pal.”
Axl giggled. “Xersize.”
She dabbed on some light makeup, and listened with half an ear as her guys splashed around in the shower. Michael’s deeper voice was layered with Axl’s excitable one. When she was done, she grabbed towels, Pull-Ups for Axl, and underwear for both of them. She set the pile on the counter, then used her time to tidy up their bedroom.
She unplugged her phone and tucked it into her jeans pocket. “So, what’s this news? Worthy of a pepperoni pizza? Or the works?”
“You know me so well.”
She grinned. She was beginning to.
“Brush your teeth. Minty fresh breath gets extra kisses from your mom.”
Chloe grinned and moved to the doorway. Both of them stood in matching blue boxer briefs. Michael’s hair was already fixed into his messy faux hawk, and Axl had his hair styled the same. They were both brushing their teeth in sync.
She pulled her phone out before she thought about it and clicked a photo.
She looked down at her phone. They looked so much like father and son right then. She stuffed her phone back in her pocket and shook off the rush of emotions.
Temporary, Chloe.
But they definitely didn’t feel very temporary in that picture. Or in the last few weeks. She rested her cheek against her hand on the doorjamb. “Spill the news.”
He looked over his shoulder with his toothbrush stuck in his cheek. He grinned around it, and the look he gave her was decidedly not fatherly. It might make a baby though.
Axl’s laughter bounced around the room, breaking the moment.
“We got nominated for a Spectrum award.”
She had a vague idea that it was a big deal, but there were so many different award shows that she was a little clueless. But the huge grin on his face told her it was important, and that was all that mattered to her.
She rushed in and pulled him down for a kiss. “That’s amazing.”
He looped his arms around her. “Yeah. For Best New Artist. We were celebrating about it at practice before all hell broke loose.”
“You’d think that kind of mood would keep everyone in a good mood for at least twenty-four hours.”
He sighed and kissed her again. He was right—minty fresh breath was pretty kiss-worthy. “Now we’re even more worried about a drummer. They want us to play during the televised portion of the show.”
“That’s even better.” She punctuated the congratulations with another kiss.
“It should be.”
She threaded her fingers through his chest hair. “When’s the show?”
“March, thankfully. So, we have some time.”
“Imma mint too.”
Michael grinned down at their Axl interruption. “Is that right?” Axl gripped his wrist and Michael made a growl noise as he hoisted him up slowly. “So heavy.” He made a production of it then tucked Axl between them.
“Big boy,” Axl said.
“You sure are.” She leaned down and gave Axl a smacking kiss. “Minty fresh.”
“Yeah, fresh.”
Michael hugged the two of them tighter. “Now let’s go ruin it with garlic.”
Chloe laughed. “Sounds like a very good plan.”
She found him on the balcony later that night. It had been a fun evening. Axl was completely passed out in his room, with his arm clutching the Hank plush octopus that Michael had won for him at the arcade. The long ride out to the pier gave them the perfect lullaby ride back home.
Michael still had his Viper, but took to driving her Jeep more and more. Then again, most of their outings included Axl, so it was kind of a necessity.
She curled her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his bare back. The ocean breeze was a little brisk, but February was right around the corner. There were a scant few months of cool weather in California and she usually had to sneak down to the pier to get a taste of winter ocean air.
Now it was literally her backyard.
“Everything okay?”
He curled his fingers tighter over the curve of the railing. Tension radiated off of him. “My fucking brother is still MIA. Lila has been bugging me daily to see if I’ve talked to him.”
She sighed, pressing a kiss to the dip of his spine. The topic of Mal was one of the many refrains in their evening conversations. “You don’t think he changed his phone number, do you?”
“Wouldn’t put it past him.”
She slid a trail of kisses along his ribcage and ducked under his arm. “What are you guys going to do if you can’t get Mal to join?” She swirled her tongue around his nipple.
He groaned. “Like I’m supposed to pay attention when you’re doing that?”
She grinned up at him and moved lower. “You’re so tense. I figured I should loosen you up.” She licked over his ribs to the ridges of muscle that arrowed down into his jeans. “I can let you stew out here if you’d rather.” She crouched in front of him before releasing two of the buttons of her blouse. He seemed to favor the lacy demi-cups she’d bought during a rare shopping spree at Victoria’s Secret during an after Christmas sale.
“Is that purple leopard print?”
She grinned up at him and released another button. “Maybe.” She cupped herself, tweaking her nipple so that it showed over the top of the lace.
“Fuck. Do that again. Peel it back.”
“Like this?” She swiped her thumb under the lace to flick her nipple. She groaned because he liked it. She was
learning not to hold back when they had spare moments alone. He tried to pull her back up, but she shook her head. “Just you tonight.”
She tucked her fingers into his fly and jerked down his jeans without mercy. He hissed out a groan when she snaked her fingers up the leg of his boxers to tease his balls. She drew her nose along his rapidly hardening shaft.
Michael made sure to see to her every need. He usually left her in a heap of melted brain cells most nights, so it was rare for her to be able to take the lead. From the heat in his eyes, she was pretty sure he didn’t mind just this once.
She lightly scraped her teeth over the cotton and molded each inch until she found his flared head. She cupped his balls with the hand still in his shorts, as she used the other to free him. The lights from their bedroom gave off just enough illumination that she knew he could see every move.
Michael was very visual. There was no hiding her flaws under the cover of night with this man. Then again, he never made them feel like flaws. He made her feel beautiful.
Always.
She slowly took him deep into her mouth. Deep breaths allowed her to take him down the back of her throat until he made a low groan.
“Oh, yeah. God, just like that.” He slid his fingers along the back of her head, tangling them in the heavy curls she’d left down for him.
She knew he wouldn’t try to choke her. As always, he was gentle with her to a fault. She wasn’t really in a gentle mood tonight. She wanted to give back as he always gave to her. She bobbed her head over his head, and licked under his shaft.
His fingers flexed, but he didn’t pull her forward. Oh no, she did that on her own. She took and took until her nose brushed the crisp hair at the base of his cock. He flung his head back and her name came out with a harsh emphasis on her first initial.
She hummed around him and pulled down his boxers to get to all of him. She pulled him free and gripped his shaft firmly. She knew he liked a firm grip. She was forever worried she was going to hurt him, but he always seemed to want it just a little harder.
Then again, she liked when he thrusted inside her a little harder.
She liked when he lost control.
And he was going to tonight.
She took care to suck his balls deep into her mouth. Releasing them, she stared up at him as she licked the underside of his shaft and all the way up to the head.
