Mom and Carson had been asked to come to a juvenile detention center to talk to some kids about their lives and where they were going to be in five years. Most of the kids, Mom told him, would be right back to where they had been when they were arrested, then more than likely dead within that year. But she’d seen something in Marshall that made her take one more step to make sure he didn’t end up on the wrong side of a gun. She literally scared the shit out of him.
He’d been with her. Dad had been the one that was supposed to have gone with them, but he’d been called out of town. Milo had never figured out what he was supposed to be doing in protecting the women in his life. They were scarier than he’d ever been, even now. But he’d gone and watched them tell the kids the hard truth of living on the streets.
Marshall had been, like the other kids around him, popping off his mouth enough that Mom had finally gotten pissed off. Jerking the kid from the middle of his pack, she put a gun to his forehead. He just stared at her like it was an everyday occurrence to have that done to him.
“You don’t scare me none. I’m gonna get out of here, and I’m going to hunt you down, lady.” Mom hit him in the nose with her weapon, then handed it to him. “You want me to kill you? I can surely do that.”
He put the gun to her forehead as she’d done to him. But all he did was stare at her. His buddies were telling him to pull the trigger, but Marshall just stared at her. It wasn’t until later that his mom told Milo that she’d shown Marshall not only how he would die but what his mother and sister would feel when he did.
Two days after he left the facility he was in now, Marshall would have been killed with two other people in his backyard. His nephew was one of the other victims. Marshall’s mother and sister would blame him and his lifestyle for the murder of the four year old and never visit his grave and would take all the pictures of him out of the house and burn them. Milo thought that would have made him hurt the most, knowing his mother would never think of him again in a good way.
“Is it loaded?” Marshall had asked his mom when he pulled the gun from her forehead. Mom took the gun from him and fired it in the air. The sound was made louder because of the echoing of the concrete walls. Not only had Marshall shit his pants, but he didn’t retaliate when his buddies made fun of him. Mom then offered it back to him. “I don’t want that. I don’t want any of this.”
Later, Mom had sat down with Marshall and told him she’d put him in a facility to get him cleaned up. He’d been about as high as she’d ever seen. That was another thing she’d taken care of, making sure there were no drugs brought in for the people trying to recover.
After graduation, Mom paid for him to go to a specialized school to catch up to his classmates he’d been with when he’d gone to school. Then at graduation, Milo’s parents handed Marshall a blank check to pay for any college education he wanted to take on. He’d worked hard and gone to Harvard to become an attorney.
It was nearly five when Milo decided it was time for him to leave to go to town. He had gotten very little done, but he had made enough calls to make sure things were moving along with two of the projects he was working with for the foundation. One of them was the pantry that he and George were working on for the city.
Driving to the restaurant they were meeting at, he was happy to note that some of the shops had taken to putting out some flowers. There weren’t as many places to shop in the downtown area as he was sure there used to be, as the mall opening had taken away business. But since it had closed down a few years ago, he was noticing an uptrend in little places moving back in.
The parking lot was full when he pulled in. He was glad he’d made a reservation, or he might not have been able to get a table. Just as she’d said she would, Jamie was there waiting on him. Kissing her, pulling her body as close to his as he could manage in public, she told him once again that she loved him.
“I don’t think I can hear that enough. I’m going to make sure I tell you that every time I see you too.” She kissed him again and told him she’d like that. As they were being shown to their table, he decided he was in the best position he’d ever been. Watching her walk was about as sexy as it got. Jamie caught him looking at her ass. “What? I like the view.”
As they were seated, a bottle of champagne was brought to them, as well as a beautiful vase of violets. He was glad now that he’d called ahead and told them this was their anniversary. It was all he could think to tell them about why he wanted things to be just so for them. The restaurant had gone well above what he had expected.
“I love violets. How did you know?” He said he had his ways. When she sniffed the little purple flowers for the second time, he handed her the box he’d picked up on the way in. “What’s this? I do hope you know that all this isn’t necessary for you to get laid. You’d have to really screw up— Oh, those brownies! These are my new favorites, Milo. I’m guessing your mom told you I had two.”
“Two? No, all she said was that you seemed to enjoy it. Actually, she told me it was like watching you have sex, but I told her I didn’t want to hear that from her.” They laughed and enjoyed their champagne. When their orders were taken, he was glad to see that Jamie liked her steak as he did—medium rare, with just enough pink showing to make it delicious. “I meant to ask you about the electrical issues at the hospital.”
“Oh, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it sounded. The faeries decided things didn’t need to be plugged in to work for the place and just made everything magical.” He asked her if they’d fixed it. “Not really. There is the illusion that things are plugged in, but everything works without power. I sort of like that idea in the event there is some sort of power outage. Did you know they’d gone to other hospitals to find out what was needed at this one? I thought it was a great idea for us. The better equipped we are, the bigger the likelihood that we’ll be able to save a person’s life.”
They talked about their day. He told her about Marshall, and she said his mom had mentioned him. She told him about the insurance policy that had been located and what she wanted to do with the money. Jamie was going to donate it, whatever it was, to a college fund for high school kids to use if they qualified.
“I’m sure there are a lot of kids that would love to go to college that are on the bubble of getting financial aid. Making even a little more than the level they have planned out will keep a lot of kids from going. Even if they only need help with books or something, it will go a long way in making it so they are able to do better without the added worry.” Milo agreed with her and told her they had a fund set up already. But it was for adults to use for higher education, as well as getting their high school diploma. “Great. I love that. Yes, this will help a lot of people.”
Milo loved that they could have conversations, talk about things throughout their day. He knew that his parents, even though they worked together, still sat and talked about what things had come up that the other might be interested in. When they left the place, the two of them walked along the main street holding hands and eating an ice cream.
It had taken the edge off his need for her, but now that they were headed home again, his libido started to rev up. Milo wondered if they could pull over long enough for him to take her on the hood of the car. Every place he looked seemed like a good place to make love. Christ, he was going to die before they even got naked.
~*~
Once they were out of the car, Jamie couldn’t stand it any longer. As soon as her door was opened by Milo, she leapt up and wrapped her legs around his hips. He said something along the lines of “Fuck yeah,” but she was much too needy to care right now.
The hood of his car suffered badly for their need. She could feel the warmth of the engine through the hood. The sound and the viciousness of her panties being ripped off nearly had her coming. As soon as he was deep inside of her, Jamie came hard enough to shake the earth beneath them.
He didn’t let
her go as he made his way to the door. Jamie kissed him everywhere she could reach. When he dropped the keys the third time, she wanted to tell him to kick the fucking door in, but he finally got it unlocked and them inside.
Pictures fell from the wall in the entryway. Milo took her hard enough that she knew she was going to be sore but didn’t care. Whatever happened to her, she knew she’d be the most loved person ever laid. Giggling a little, she was caught off guard by her next release. Her head was coming off her shoulders. She could almost feel it.
“We’re not going to make it.” Jamie giggled again at his tone of disappointment. “You have no idea how much I wanted to make love to you slowly. Now I can barely move, and I feel like my body has been drained of every bit of blood. And there you are, giggling at me.”
“You’re so handsome right now.” He said that wasn’t helping. “No? Well, how about if I point out that your cock is still full. That I can feel its length at the back of my throat. That I love the way you’re holding me.”
“No. Not helping.”
He still held her to him. Each step he took, she felt her body take him just a little deeper, her breasts touching his smooth, hard chest. Jamie thought her nipples were so hard at the moment that she could have poked through a wall. When he paused on the steps to take one into his mouth, Jamie saw stars, rainbows, and dragons dancing over her head.
They didn’t make it to the bedroom before they made love again. This time it was on the landing right outside their room. When Milo rolled to his back, taking her with him, he laid there for several minutes, laughing. She asked him what the hell was so funny.
“I planned this entire night with you. I have champagne right on the other side of this door. Roses all over the place, and violets as well. There is chocolate to gorge ourselves with when I made love with you, as well as a basket of fruit for us to have more energy when we’re finished.” He laughed again. “But we did it on every solid place on the way up here, and now, not only do I not have the strength to get into bed, but I think I’ll just lay here for the rest of the night and move in a couple of days.”
She joined him this time. After taking a nap, several of them, as it turned out, they were able to not just get up and go to bed, but they made love again, slowly this time. As soon as Milo spooned around her, holding her body tightly against his, Jamie closed her eyes and let sleep take her under.
Waking up with the room still dark, she wondered for a moment where she was. Sitting up on the side of the bed, she realized that Milo was gone and the bathroom light was on. She could hear him speaking, but not what he was saying. Laying back down, she straightened up the blankets as best she could before he returned to her. Jamie asked him if everything was all right.
“Yes. It was my brother Dover. He wanted to meet with me and hadn’t realized it was this late. He’s never been one to notice the time when he’s working.” Milo pulled her into his arms again. She asked him what was so important. “Oh. He thinks we need to hire more people to work directly with us. I told him Mom had said the same thing, but finding them was hard. We’re having trouble finding people that can work for us that won’t rob us blind. I love you. How about as soon as I can arrange it, we get married.”
“All right.”
When he kissed her ear then held her tightly, she laughed. This was the strangest proposal she thought had ever been done. Naked in their bed at three in the morning after making love all over the house. Laughing with him just a little, she closed her eyes and joined him in sleep.
Getting up, she knew that all that love making was the reason for her being unable to hop right out of bed. She noticed that Milo was missing again but knew too that he’d had a meeting this morning with their new attorney. She’d liked Marshall right away, and once she had him filled in on what she wanted, he sat down to work, right there in the dining room where they’d had their interview yesterday afternoon. One more thing she was going to add to her list was finding him an office.
There were boxes and crates in the hallway and in the dining room. Ignoring it for something to eat, she asked their cook what it all was. Sarah had worked for her parents at one time, and Jamie was glad she’d been willing to come back and work for her until she found someone else. She hoped Sarah would stay with her forever—the woman made the best pot roast around.
“Lady Cindi said it was some things from storage. You’re to see what you want, then ask the others what they’d like. I’ve been told the others received such shipments and are going through theirs now.” Thanking her, she looked at the food that was set in front of her. “Lord Milo said I was to make you eat. That you had a long day ahead of you, and he didn’t want you fainting. What a thing to say to someone. I’m sure you have more than enough gumption to outdo him on your worst day.”
“I don’t know about that. I think the man is solid muscle.” She did manage to eat more than half the meal and felt better for it. “Before I forget to tell you, there is some tea in a tin around here someplace that needs to be gotten rid of.”
“I have done that. Who would think that putting iron in tea would make a person’s blood stronger? People get stranger daily if you ask me.” Sarah sat down across from her. “I’d like to hire your staff for you. I know they have to be checked out by someone, but I think I can find enough to fill out the house. The faeries are doing a bang-up job in the yard. I’ve never seen the gardens look so fabulous before.”
“I’m sure you’ve seen Pem’s greenhouse.” She laughed and told her she’d heard the story. “Me too. Have you decided to take the cook’s house in the back? It can be done in any way you wish, Sarah. Or you can live in one of the rooms here. It’s entirely up to you.”
“I’d like the house if you’re sure you don’t mind. It never got used when your parents were here. They just let us drive all the way from home even if the weather was terrible.” Sarah had never been one to pull punches when it came to Jamie’s parents. “Just in the few days I’ve been here, I can see vast improvements. It’s a real pleasure to work in this kitchen, honey. It’s nice when someone cares about making it easier on the people that work here rather than what it will cost.”
“The place was so outdated I wasn’t sure we’d ever get it up to this millennium, much less this century. But I love coming in here now. It’s like a breath of fresh air.” Sarah asked her about working, then asked her about her new in-laws. “You’ll like them. They raised six boys, and there isn’t a bad one in the lot. I think had there been, they would have taken care of it right away. Cindi is really sweet, but she has a hard side to her that scares me a little. I’m telling you this so you don’t freak out a little when she does it. Milo’s parents see and talk to ghosts. They’re something like death something.”
“The Death Watchers?” Jamie told Sarah that was it. “Oh my, really? Well, as a child, I heard of them. Not the actual names of the people, but my grandma used to tell me that when there was trouble in the other world, there was a couple of people that were called the Death Watchers that would put them in line. Is there really a white room?”
“Yes. She told me that is where they send people who cause too much trouble in both worlds. I guess there are a lot of rules the dead have to follow. And she told me that as soon as they die, all this information just appears in their minds. Like they know the rules and who the people are they’re to report to.” Sarah shivered and looked around the room. Jamie thought about teasing her but decided she’d not do that to her wonderful friend. “When I was overseas, I heard of them as well. Countries I’ve been to, they’re firm believers in the dead having to follow the rules in both worlds. Going as far as to tell their kids stories about how the dead came calling and were taken away by the watchers.”
“What a terrible thing to say to a child. But I guess I can understand it too. My goodness, you sure did marry into a nice big family too. Master Milo looks like one of those statues that I’
ve seen in art shows.” Jamie told her that all but Milo and George were dragons. “Dragons? You don’t say. Well, if that don’t beat all. You tell him if his brothers come around as one of them, I’m going to hit them with my broom. I don’t need any dragons in my new kitchen.”
Sarah was putting together the makings for a cake when she left her. Jamie had things to do this morning, and sitting around having fun with Sarah wasn’t going to get her any closer to getting them finished. She’d forgotten how much work it was to have money. Even though she’d not spent much, it had been a lot of work just keeping it all in the right places at the right time.
Jamie was just headed to her car when her cell phone rang. It wasn’t a number she knew, but she answered anyway. It took her two seconds to wish she’d just let it go to voice mail. The man was going on and on about an investment she needed to get in on the ground floor with. Finally hanging up on the man, she got into her car and drove to the hospital.
It looked like it was ready to receive patients already. There were faeries working with the builders now. The way that the little people were helping make the hospital as green as possible was going to save them a great deal of money. The entire roof on the three buildings was covered in solar panels, as was some of the parking lot. The two other buildings, one for just surgeries, had been a stroke of genius by one of the pixies that had come by. They came by a great deal just to ride the goats.
The building had generators as well as a fallout shelter in the event of tornados or other inclement weather changes. She and Pem were going to be working there when they had to operate. The third building was going to be for clinics. Not just for the people who had no insurance or very little money, but even for simple things that didn’t require an emergency room visit in the middle of the night. Not only would it take some of the load off the hospital, but it would also serve as an overflow if there was a need for it. That had been George’s idea.
Milo: Xavier’s Hatchlings ― Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance Page 6
