“I have done it before, one time she shot a nail into her foot when she was fixing the shed roof. Then there was the time she fell off the back of the ute and landed on a piece of old metal impaling her in the—”
“I get it!” I shouted, putting a halt to hearing a list of Makena’s accidents I wasn’t around to prevent. Her leaving me took that away from me too.
“Hey, Noxx, if you want, Charlie can help me,” Mal suggested softly, seeing my struggle.
Flexing my fingers around Makena’s, I dropped my head, silently raging at another injustice thrown at me.
God damn her and her pride.
“Noxx, mate,” Hendrixx said from behind me, his hand coming down on my shoulder.
“Daxx would like you to help him with his train; I can help Mal repair Mack’s head.”
I heard the unspoken warning in my brother’s tone, a message to which only he and I were privy.
Letting my anger get hold of me while I watched my wife have rusty wire removed from her scalp and face was not the best thing to do right now. I had to channel my temper away from her and aim it at her father, who I believed was to blame for Makena finding herself put in so many precarious situations.
Our son needed to be her focus, not fixing fucking fences or finding ways to put food on the table.
My fingers relaxed around hers, allowing me to slip my hands away. “Yeah, thanks, Drixx.” Getting up, I left the room without a backward glance, as I left, I closed the sliding door behind me.
Daxx didn’t need to hear his mother cry while his aunt stitched her up.
And neither did I.
MAKENA
Letting the hot water beat down on my tired and sore muscles, careful not to wet the area Mallory had stitched, I heaved a huge sigh enjoying the first moment all day to myself. God knew I needed a minute to dissect the scene in the kitchen with Noxx, or rather the way Noxx held my hands in his, staring at my mouth like he wanted to kiss me, then abruptly got up and left the room leaving Hendrixx to help Mallory doctor me up.
I truly thought Noxx was going to kiss me, and god help me, I wanted him too, so bad I even imagined how his lips would feel against mine, all warm and gentle. First, searching and exploring, then he would turn more demanding, and take control of my mouth, giving me no option but to succumb to the passion we created so well.
If I was being truly honest, there was a second or ten I mentally willed him to do precisely that. I could have even licked my bottom lip in readiness if I remember correctly.
What on earth was wrong with me, kissing Noxx would be a monumental mistake, a disaster in the making for cripes’ sake. I mean, the man cheated on me, refused to admit it, and now, most likely, quite probably, hated me for keeping his son a secret from him. Kissing my husband should be the furthest thing from my mind right now.
Shutting off the water, I grabbed a towel from the rail and made quick work of drying off, avoiding the patch of hair covering my stitches. Mallory wanted to cut it, but that wasn’t going to happen, not while I had breath in my body.
The one thing Noxx loved the most about my appearance, other than my breasts, lips, my dimpled cheeks and my pussy—he loved my long chestnut hair. He would play with it while we watched TV, stroking it for hours without getting tired of doing it. I never once, even while my heart shattered, did I ever consider cutting it off.
I spent some time brushing the knots out, wincing every time the bristles ran over the injured area on my scalp. Moisturising my face and hands with cream next, I suddenly ran out of tasks to perform, giving me no more excuses to stay hidden in the bathroom. I was stalling, I knew, and Noxx probably did too. After Mal had finished with me, she and Hendrixx took off for her room to give Noxx and me time alone to put Daxx to bed. Our first time officially as Daxx’s parents, last night didn’t count because Daxx didn’t know about his father then.
The hardest part for me was going into the lounge and coming face to face with my mother-in-law. Lillian’s presence in my house shocked me, to say the least, although it shouldn’t have. I knew Noxx would have gone home last night and told his mother, not only about me but Daxx as well, and knowing her as I did, holding her back from meeting her grandson would have been impossible. In fact, I was surprised she lasted as long as she did.
Once, I loved that woman like she was my own mother, so did Mal. Our own mother died only a few months after Noxx and I got together. Her death from cancer affected my both of us in very different ways; Mal took it in her stride, not letting our mother’s absence distress her too much. Whereas I didn’t cope at all and sort comfort from Lillian, turning her into a pseudo mum. Where Noxx thought it would help me, my dad believed I was replacing my mother, belittling and disrespecting her memory.
I disagreed completely and spent more and more time at the Triple H, causing the wedge between my dad and me to grow larger until we barely acknowledged one another. After that, Dad looked at me with contempt and disgust, and he basically disowned me. Living under the same roof with him became so unbearable I started sleeping at Noxx’s house a few nights a week. Lillian and I would have cooking nights, where she would teach me all about cooking the perfect steak, cooking anything beef really. It had been … lovely having that gentleness again, it made up for my father’s indifference and bad temper he only seemed to have for me.
Mal did what she could to distract him from targeting me, but sometimes I felt so bad for her having to take sides; eventually, I moved over with Noxx permanently. That decision caused a whole new set of problems, which in time led to Noxx and I leaving for Melbourne.
My special gift turned out to be causing problems for two families. Dividing loyalties and ultimately destroying relationships.
My relationship with my dad, and Noxx with his.
“Oh, stop your grumbling, you pathetic woman,” I admonished myself out loud, snapping the light off, then headed out into the hall and down to my room. We didn’t get around to setting up the single bed in Daxx’s room, thanks to the emergency home surgery, a common occurrence these days, so Noxx was going to have to cope with one night on the old leather couch.
I stopped at the room next to mine, Daxx’s door slightly ajar so he could see the nightlight in the hall just outside his door and smiled widely at his sleeping body. My boy was a messy sleeper; it didn’t matter how snuggly we tucked him, ten minutes into sleep, he was upside down in the bed, and the blankets were strewn on the bed and floor. Like now, he was on his back sideways across the bed, his little legs and arms dangling over the sides, his head thrown back, and he was making the cutest little snores.
“He sleeps like Fenixx,” Noxx mused, surprising me from behind.
“Yeah, but Daxx stays on the bed, he hasn’t fallen off yet, unlike Fenixx,” I agreed with a loud chuckle.
“He sleeps like the dead, even Hendrixx banging around in the kitchen didn’t wake him.” Lenoxx moved closer to me, his head close to mine as we looked at our sprawling son.
Too close.
I could smell the coffee he’d obviously just had on his breath, mingling with his cologne, creating an intoxicatingly heady scent.
“Do you still smoke?” The question popped out of nowhere.
“No, I gave that up a couple of years back. What started out as social smoking at the pub only turned into a pack a day habit. Mum threatened to cut my lungs out if I didn’t give up, and you know how Ma is when it comes to her boys.”
“The word ferocious comes to mind,” I drawled dryly. Lillian Hott had the personality of a lioness when it came to one of her precious triplets, and god help anyone who tried to maim them, which was why I was surprised I was still breathing. She and I were yet to have time alone, but I knew it was going to happen, Lillian wasn’t going to wait too much longer to have her say about Daxx, and now we can add me being to blame for Noxx smoking thirty cigarettes a day.
“I bet you are the same with Daxx; I have seen the way you are with him Makena, you have the same maternal pr
otective instincts as well.”
Looking at Daxx, I immediately nodded my head in agreement.
“Absolutely anything, don’t doubt it,” I replied firmly, looking at him, staring him down, silently baiting him to disagree with me. The pain that radiated from my head where Mal stitched me up throbbing, couple that with hardly any sleep and the mountain of stress thrust upon me in the last forty-eight hours put me in the mood for a one on one battle with my husband.
He was turning my world upside down with the contract and money owed to his family, and now wanting to move over here, what did he really expect from me.
“Good to know because I have some requirements for our new living arrangements that are in our son’s best interests.”
A shiver ran through me at his ominous unrelenting tone, a timbre I knew very well, a tone that meant things were going to get a lot worse.
“What arrangements?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.
“First, we will be forgetting about setting up a single bed in there.” Noxx pointed inside the room. “Daxx has grown up without a traditional family environment. That is changing right now.” Lenoxx moved away and started for the direction of … wait, my room!
What the bloody hell?
Hurrying after Lenoxx, my anger rising when he walked into my room without so much as a may I enter? or do you mind? Typical bossy handsome Hott triplet, annoying all the way down to his sexy toes.
Following him inside, I came to an abrupt stop when I looked around and saw several suitcases, a briefcase, laptop bag and most shocking of all his cream coloured Akubra sitting at the end of my bed … on my side.
The stock hat taunting me with its sudden appearance, sitting at the foot of the bed a message from Noxx, but I was having a hard time comprehending what he wanted. Surely, it didn’t mean what I thought it meant? Surely, he wasn’t thinking that us … we … he and I were going to share my bed?
Staring wide-eyed at him, I pointed at his hat. “This doesn’t mean what I think it does, right?”
“If you think it means we are staying in this room together, then yes, that is exactly what it means,” he replied nonchalantly.
“Oh, ho, no way, buddy boy,” I spluttered, “listen Noxx, you aren’t Burt Reynolds and I’m not Sally Fields, this isn’t you take your hat off for one reason and one reason only situation. We are not sharing a bed or anything else for that matter. We are sharing a son and that is it,” I told him firmly, my body shaking, but not with anger.
One look at the worn stock hat, and I was transported back to when Noxx wore his hat every day, not taking it off for anything except one thing. My pussy would clench deliciously when he walked into the room, smirking that cocky, sexy smirk of his and make a show of removing his hat laying it at the foot of the bed, then stand and smile watching me turn to jelly. My whole body would quiver with anticipation knowing what was coming my way, sometimes I would turn the tables on him and insist he leave his hat on, and demand he fuck me with it on. Of course, he was only too happy to oblige my kinky request, always maintaining what his baby wanted, his baby got.
Well, his baby wanted him out of her room, taking the tempting Akubra with him.
“Yes, we share a son, but today my son asked me why I didn’t live with him, he then asked me where my clothes go and if I am going away again—even wanting to know where I was going to sleep. Our boy doesn’t have a clue what a father is or what one does; all he knows is a father doesn’t stay with the mother and kid. Well, that stops here and now, Makena.”
“We are going to show our son a united front, give him a real sense of family. He is going to do what most kids take for granted when he wakes up in the mornings; he is going to come running in to jump on this bed and find his mother and father in it.”
“Oh no, he is not!” I argued, straight back frantically.
“Yes, he is, Daxx is terrified that I won’t be here every day. After you left, he hardly let me out of his sight, and while I loved that he wanted to be around me, it killed me to hear the reason for his clinginess. You did that, Makena, and you are going to help fix it.”
“I don’t care what we do or don’t do in the bed; just know we will be sleeping in it together and our son will see it, and see it as normal.”
My mouth gaped open, not just at the shocking announcement but also because our son asked such heartbreaking questions. Never for a second did I even consider my decision to keep him a secret would ever hurt or wound him emotionally. He didn’t have many little friends his own age other than Tim’s sister’s kids. He spent many hours over at Tim’s family’s property each week, either with Mallory or when Mrs Keaton looked after him for me when I needed her help. Of course, he would have seen Tim’s brother-in-law interact with his children, both parents together doing normal um and dad activities with their kids. My boy is obviously smart enough to make the distinction between what happens at that home compared to his.
It hurt knowing I hurt my son in such a way, confusing him, making him feel left out and so anxious. The way he launched himself into Noxx’s arms at the kitchen table at lunch, so happy to have a daddy should have been a clue that he knew what he was missing in his life.
“I don’t know what to say,” I admitted in a quiet voice.
“I don’t need you to say anything, I don’t want your approval, or need your acquiescence. You wanna get pissed at me, yell at me, or throw something at me; you do that shit in the privacy of this room where our son won’t see. I can only imagine the neglect he received from your dad for being my son, and as much as I wanna throttle your slim, sexy throat for that alone, the fighting between you and me is now over. Daxx is my first and main priority; he has not only myself as a role model but his two uncles as well. Get used to seeing them here more often than not.” Snatching a towel and a pair of sweats from one of the open suitcases, Noxx walked passed me, then stopped and took four steps back until he was level with me.
“How is the head?” His question setting me off balance after the bombshell he just dropped, I could do nothing but nod and stutter.
“Um, good … sore … hurts.”
“It’s time you take more care of yourself, Makena, time to delegate jobs. Hendrixx is going to be here three days a week to help with maintenance and things like fencing, leaving you free to see to the animals and less dangerous tasks. I will be here in the house, mainly looking after Daxx, and I can swap with you outside to give you a break when needed.”
Rubbing his knuckles down the side of my face with the most scratches, Noxx’s eyes heated as he followed the movement of his hand.
“I don’t wanna see you hurt like that again, my heart doesn’t like it,” he whispered harshly, then quickly dropped his hand from my face, leaving an invisible burning imprint on my skin from his touch, and more confusing emotions swirling in my belly.
“I’m gonna take a shower; then we need to get some sleep. Mum is coming back over tomorrow, and she wants to chat with you.”
With that nugget of unpleasant news, Noxx left the room, leaving me with a whirlwind of emotions to sort through, not to mention a wet and swollen pussy.
I was so weak, pathetically so. All it took was his blue eyes, his deep gorgeous voice and one innocent touch, and I was ready to drop to my knees and gobble him up.
What the hell!
One minute I am burning up with heated need, then he douses out the flames with the threat of his mother.
God damn, life is so much easier tangling with barbwire.
LENOXX
It didn’t matter that I wanted a long hot shower, long enough to stand under until I thought it safe that Makena had fallen asleep, but that wasn’t going to happen, nope not tonight.
Thanks to old man Rogers being a scrooge, refusing to make any modifications to the old homestead to bring it into this century, including not updating the fucking hot water system. The water was only lukewarm when I got in and didn’t take long for it to turn to freezing. One bathroom I cou
ld live with, but the heating was going to be changed out to something more suitable for three adults and a kid first thing.
Although a cold shower couldn’t hurt, cooling down not only my growing hard-on but my temper too.
I didn’t mean to go so hard on Makena … or maybe I did, but seeing her come into the house hurt set me off, especially after my afternoon with Daxx.
Telling him, he was my kid, shocked him in a good way and a very bad way. The good being he accepted what Makena and I told him from the start, the way he jumped into my arms and called me Daddy practically brought tears to my eyes.
However, it was the events after that brought me to my knees, cursing every damn person responsible for keeping my son from me.
My son’s little voice, quivering and hesitant as he asked me those innocent questions I prayed I would never have to hear from him again.
“Why don’t you lib wif me and Mumma and Aunty Mal?” Daxx suddenly asked me, waving the piece of train track in his hand at me. The train was a present from my brothers to Daxx, and all four of us were knee-deep in tracks and train cabooses.
My throat clogged up as I looked at my little boy, his blue eyes so much like mine, wide and waiting for me to answer him. I just didn’t know how, how did you tell a three year old you didn’t even know he existed until a day ago without making him feel like shit. Makena had already created a subterfuge with the cars I supposedly sent him. And while I appreciated she hadn’t told him I was dead or worse–didn’t care about them, her white lie was putting me in a position no man should be in, ever.
Scooting closer to where he was perched on a footstool, I pulled my knees up, wrapping my arms around them. On the other side of Daxx and I were my brothers, both of them shocked silent.
“Daxx, I am very sorry I couldn’t be here, but you don’t have to worry anymore because I am here to stay. I promise you, and I am not going to leave you and go away, okay?”
“Is your clothes going to be here?”
Hott and Taken (The Hott Brothers Book 1) Page 15
