“Do you want anything to eat?” I asked, climbing back into the bed where he slept, facing away from me. He stayed silent but shook his head. “What about something to drink?” I got the same response. “Okay, I’m just going to have a shower, and then I’ll come back to bed.”
The water hid my tears. I had been crying just as much as he had, only I did not do it in front of him.
Last night, he had lost part of himself to that evil woman. She had done the unimaginable and took Toby and Mack from their father. She outright lied, and he could not defend himself without admitting he broke the law and risking a jail sentence.
She really fucked him over. She well and truly had him by the balls and was killing him slowly while she sat back, laughed, and enjoyed every moment of it.
I paused, thinking I had heard him entering the bathroom, but when I opened my eyes and looked, he was not there. At first, I blamed myself, thinking maybe I had caused her to do this after our exchange yesterday. But that was not the case. She just wanted the kids and would do whatever she could to get them.
Wrapping the towel around my body, I walked into the bedroom. He was just lying there, still in the same position. His opened eyes had a look of utter heartbreak about him. I understood that it was painful, but he needed to get up and fight for them some more before it was too late.
“Griffin,” I began, walking to the robe and pulling out some underwear. “Let’s go have some breakfast.”
“Ayla, I told you I’m not hungry.”
“You need to eat,” I urged, sitting on the edge of the bed as I pulled on a pair of ankle socks.
He groaned in annoyance. “I’ll eat when I feel like it.”
“Let’s go for a drive, walk, or something?” He had to get out of there—anything to take his mind of what she had done.
“Christ, give it a rest. I told you I don’t feel like anything to eat, and I don’t want to go for a fucking drive. Just drop it!” His tone was loud and harsh as he snapped at me.
Don’t take it personally. He’s hurting, I told myself.
Standing, I pulled my jeans up and faced him. “Well, Griffin, you need to give that lawyer of yours a call and figure out what you’re going to do.”
“Oh, yeah? What can I fucking do?” He sat up, glaring directly at me with icy eyes. He was really mad.
Throwing my hands in the air, I pointed to the door. “Fight for them!”
“I have been fucking fighting!” He roared back, tossing the covers off his body. He took a step towards me. “She has me backed into a corner. Fuck me! You think I haven’t been racking my brains trying to come up with a solution? She has me on video with the dates and knows if I come after her, she’ll flaunt that fucking tape, and I’ll have to submit a drug test which we both know will come back positive, and then what? They’ll use that against me being an unfit parent. Jesus, Ayla. I’m fucked.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have been smoking weed then,” I muttered grimly. “You told me that you’d stopped, and that’s probably why...” I stopped myself before I went too far. “Never mind, I’m going to make something for lunch.”
As I began walking off, he followed. “That’s probably why, what? Why you can’t get pregnant? Because I was smoking now and then?”
I should have kept my mouth shut.
“Thanks a lot. Made me feel even shittier.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You were going to.” Scoffing, he slammed his palm against the wall. “I want nothing more than to knock you up.”
Oh, how things have changed from no babies to this.
I rolled my eyes. I was not having any of these. “Go back to bed. Sleep off your mood, and then we’ll talk.”
“Yeah, like I’m going to fall asleep now. Apparently, my wife thinks I’m a shit father who isn’t fighting for his kids.”
“I didn’t say that,” I said quieter. He was an amazing dad. “I just meant that there has to be a way around all of this. You’re working, and she isn’t. How can she get custody when they want to live here?” His jaw tightened, and he looked away. “Griffin, is there something you’re not telling me?” He was hiding something, I could tell.
He glanced back, gave his balls a scratch, and shook his head. “Don’t worry. You’re right. I shouldn’t have been smoking. It’s my fault. I’m sorry.”
“Griffin.”
He shook his head again, pleading with his eyes for me to drop it. “Don’t.”
My concern grew as I stepped closer, reaching out to cup his cheek. “What aren’t you telling me?” I asked, my voice fragile. Inside, I was afraid of his answer.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
He knew better than to lie. He lies to me, and he would know what would come out of it. Something was going on. He was not telling the whole truth about the situation. It did not add up. She was not working. How could someone just decide that the boys were better off living with her when they were clearly better taken care of with us.
“They wanted to live with her.”
My whole body froze as a chill ran down my spine. “I’m sorry, what?”
No. That didn’t even make sense.
His voice wavered. “They wanted to live with her. They didn’t want to be here.”
I was still confused. “What? Why?” His anger dissolved to sorrow, and mine began to simmer. “Me? They don’t like me?”
“She’s made them say something, forced them into it. I don’t know. They were asked where they preferred to live, and they said with Karen. They didn’t want to be here.” He went to touch me, but I stepped back, needing space. “Pretty, you know they love you. It’s not your fault.”
“Like hell, it isn’t! How can you even be near me? Jesus, you lost your boys because of me.” It was like a slap across the face. “I feel sick.” Literally, I wanted to throw up.
His eyes flickered to my stomach, and I shook my head. It definitely was not due to that. I just felt sick with hurt. This was all a mess.
His hands slipped to my shoulders, and his soft voice brought me back to reality. “Sweetheart, this isn’t your fault. I don’t blame you, nor do I believe that is what they really wanted. She’s done some bribing, and as much as you want to help, you can’t. We just need to take this with caution. The last thing I want is to hurt the boys any more than they have been.”
“You couldn’t go to jail for smoking, though?” That could not be true.
“Well, I don’t know, but she threatened to bring up the racing again and even the poker. She’s saying she has proof. It doesn’t matter that the racing was a one-time event. She knows if she says we’ve taken the boys to them, then I’m screwed. It’s all a headfuck.”
I’ll say. “So what do we do?” I asked, looking with hopeful eyes up at him. She was lying.
His response, as soft as his words were, did not offer me any comfort whatsoever. “I don’t know.”
We both went back to bed, and I never asked him to get back out again—not when I was feeling just as low as he had been. He deserved better, and only time would see that he truly was the better parent than that wicked, lying woman that’s using her children as pawns in some sick, twisted game to hurt their father. She deserved no one, and I hoped she ended up getting what would eventually come to her.
***
A week went on, and we did not really do a whole lot. Griffin spoke with his lawyer at least once a day. The guy needed to pull his finger out and figure out something that would get our boys back.
It was just a waiting game. We had to wait and see it out. At least the boys were coming to stay with us this weekend. Only five more days.
I was hanging the washing out when Griffin walked outside, lighting up a cigarette as he made his way over. “How about we take that drive?”
“Today?” I asked, shocked. It was a Monday.
He nodded. “We never did get to tell my parents we’re married. You can see my hometown, go out on Dad’s boat, and fuck in the ocean.”
I grinned. “I’m not having sex in the middle of an ocean. There are sharks about, you know.”
“I’ll keep you safe, baby.” His arms slipped around my waist from behind as he pulled me back against his chest. “I just need to get out of the house and go for a drive somewhere. Being here, it’s—”
“Too quiet?” I knew the feeling. It was weird that it was just us around here. The boys made noise and fought. I missed that. “Let’s go then. You pack our bags, and I’ll finish up here. Then we can head off.”
Spur of the moment road trips bring back so many fun memories for us.
Three towns in, and I had swallowed his load. We had a thing where whenever we passed a new town, or somewhere we had not been, we fucked. If he was driving and could not stop, I sucked him off. Where was my orgasm in all of this? That would come in the next town over.
It was almost nightfall when he pulled into a long driveway. His parent’s house was not the mansion I had expected, just a small house that looked on the older side—until we walked inside. That was where the money was. Holy crap. It was like walking into a museum. I was afraid to move in case I bumped and broke something.
“Well, this certainly is a surprising visit. To what do we owe the pleasure?” Paul, Griffin's dad asked, taking the bag from his son and setting it by the staircase.
Griffin just shrugged. “Thought I’d show Ayla around and take up your offer for that fishing trip.”
Oh, yes. That was the reason we were visiting. I had my hand pulled up into my sleeve, nervous for when we had to announce that we had gotten married without them there. We technically did invite them, but they just chose not to turn up and visit our new home. Not our fault.
He smiled warmly. “Ah, yes. Tomorrow we’ll make a day of it. Ever been fishing before, Ayla?”
“Only with this guy,” I grinned, nudging Griffin beside me. “I only hold the rod though.”
“She does it well.” He was being crude, and my cheeks flamed. I nudged him again, harder this time, with my elbow. Griffin just laughed as his father was unaware of our banter. “Where’s Mum? She knocked herself out with one too many bottles of wine?”
I wanted to laugh but did not. On the inside, I was hysterically cracking up.
Paul laughed, shaking his head. “Oh no, she’s in the kitchen. Talking with Jodie.”
“Jodie?” I asked. I did not think he had ever mentioned a Jodie before.
“She cooks. Mum’s probably going over the menu for tomorrow with her,” Griffin answered as if having a personal cook was the most normal thing in the world. Umm… No, moneybags, it isn’t.
I nodded. “Ahh, so you plan ahead. Good idea.” Guess that was one way to be organised.
Griffin shrugged, pulling off his beanie and brushing a hand through his hair. His dad had not even noticed he had shaved the beard and cut the hair short. It was strange. They claimed to love him, but from what I had seen, they were absent parents. There was no real emotional connection between them; they were more like friends—acquaintances, even. I guess they thought money was enough to buy his love.
“Anyway—” Clearing his throat, Paul pointed up the staircase—“You two get settled in, and we’ll have a bite to eat unless you’ve already eaten?”
“Nope. Starving.” I grinned, following Griffin who already took our bags. “He wouldn’t stop for food.” He had no problem stopping for sex, though.
The bedroom looked like one of those posh hotel rooms, complete with a small mint on the pillow. I frowned, looking around more and noticing some old trophies and photos hanging on the wall. “Is this your old room?”
“Yep,” was his sharp reply.
“But it looks…” How do I put this nicely? “It’s really nice.” Too nice for a kid’s room.
“It’s my mother.” He grinned picking up the mint and began to tear open the gold foil wrapper as he flopped on the bed. “I think I was an only child for a reason. She didn’t like mess and did nightly room checks. When I was around fifteen, I left some old, muddy soccer clothes out, and she went berserk.”
“What did she do?”
“Hit me with some walking stick and then banned me from playing soccer again. Threw out all my stuff, and then made the room to her liking.”
She sounded OCD and insane—extremely insane.
I sat by his feet, definitely too scared to make a mess of anything. “She loves the boys. Does she ever get mad when they make a mess?”
“Course, she does. Why do you think I never bring them here?” He grinned. “I grew up very well off, but I never wanted to be like them. Who the hell needs vases and statues in their house?”
I grinned. “Bugger, I was going to start buying them.”
“I’ll knock them over when I get drunk, baby. Waste of money.”
“Luckily, you’ve got tons of it.”
He laughed once more and then picked up the other mint from the other pillow. “We. Mine is yours, remember?”
How could I forget? He reminded me of that daily. “What does your dad do to have made so much money?” I did not know that much about his parents other than they were filthy rich and snobbish.
“Dad worked in a gold mine then started up his own trucking company. Mum used to work at a salon just before I was born.” He placed the chocolate in his mouth and bit down with a wink. “Want some?”
Licking my lips, I gave him a slight brow wiggle. “You know I want some, Daddy.”
His smile went wider to a shit-eating grin, laughing loudly. “You have to stop calling me that, pretty. I can’t get a hard dick with you talking like that.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “Nope. I love calling you that… only because you hate it so much.”
With a soft sigh, he finished his chocolate and propped himself up with the navy blue pillows behind his back. “I feel empty without them around. I miss the sight of Mack reading his books or having Toby nagging about what he can eat. I guess when we have a little one, it won’t be so quiet. Just wish things were different.”
“So do I.” I felt the same as he did. Without thinking, I asked. “Did Karen ever come here?” I looked down at the bed as I thought in my mind of her and him sharing this bed together.
“No. No woman has ever slept in this bed before. I’ll finally get to fuck in it too.” He winked, nudging me with his toes. “Maybe there’s a hot chick who wants to get naked in bed with me?”
I pretended to be annoyed. “Hmm, looks like I’ll be kicking some arse while we’re up here.”
“You don’t want to share me?” He was teasing me back with a twinkle in his eye.
“I definitely won’t be sharing you, never ever.” I then gave a smirk of my own. “Unless you feel like sharing me?”
He snorted, turning serious. “Over my dead body would I share you. Even then, I’ll make sure that never happens. You only get one cock for the rest of your life. Now come up and sit on it.”
Laughing, I began to crawl up his legs and over his lap. “Mmm… is that so?” I definitely loved that thought. “Luckily for you, I only have eyes for one man, and he’s got my heart.”
“Same, baby.” He smiled, reaching and running his fingers through my hair.
Completely straddling his lap, I leant in, placing my hands flat against his chest. “How about we get started? Or are you too sore after that last go?”
His hands were now on my ass, cupping as he gave them a firm squeeze. “Not sore.” His eyes wandered down to my low-cut black top. “Those tits… I’m going to fuck them later too.”
“What else?” I breathed out, feeling the heat pooling between my thighs. “Tell me what else.”
My hand reached for his jeans, cupping his balls and giving them a squeeze as I rubbed my palm against him, stroking through his pants. He let out a low groan.
“I’ll have you on all fours, slamming my cock into you from behind.”
“Yes… What else?”
“I’m going to eat your pussy. I’ll drown in it.”
Oh, god. I almost came just imagining just how his tongue would lap me up, devouring me. I was stroking him faster as his cock strained against the fabric of his jeans. “I want that… so much.”
His hands slid up my waist, working on my top. We broke away, sitting up as he lifted my top off and tossed it to the floor. I wasted no time in getting his off as well. His chest definitely did not need to be covered up right now.
“Is it wrong that I feel like I’m fucking a complete stranger with your haircut and all?” I asked. My fingers ran through his short locks, tugging on them.
A sexy hissing sound came from the back of his throat as he buried his face between my cleavage, kissing and nuzzling. “As long as you realise you’re married to this stranger, then go for it.”
Giggling, I grinded down against him, circling my hips to feel his thick erection against me. “I’ll even moan your name when I come.” His hips flexed up. “Oh, god. That feels so good.”
His husky voice whispered in my ear. “I love hearing my name from you when you’re getting off.”
“Make me come. You owe me two.” I was ready to collect them.
He was suddenly on my back. His hard body pressed against mine, grinding down against my hips as I wrapped my legs around his thighs. “Fuck... I could come like this.” His mouth came crashing down, kissing me powerfully as our bodies rubbed against one another, hiding our moans through kissing. His hand was against my cheek as he kissed me deeply.
His tongue completely dominated my mouth, pulling away only to latch onto my neck. Cupping a breast, he pinched a nipple and created another surge in my lower belly. I could definitely come like this too.
“I love you.” My fingers dragged down his back and over his ass, pulling him against me once more.
“You’re the sexiest woman. Fuck, I love being married to you.” He groaned and attacked my mouth once more with his.
“Married?”
The shocked whisper, so softly spoken, was like a bucket of ice and water being poured over us.
We tore apart, both looking in the direction of the voice.
Shoot. Not good. Very, very bad.
His mother stood there, eyes widened to the brim as she saw us half-naked and getting it on.