Chapter One
DJ
Present Day
Finally! The house is packed, and I can get home to my little girl. As Hatchet pulls up with the moving van a wave of excitement fills me. I’m starting a new life away from this podunk town with the man I love, and my daughter at my side. I haven’t told Hatchet that I love him yet, I’m nervous that he may not be riding the same ‘L’ train as me. His actions speak that of love, but as a woman, I can tell someone has hurt him in the past, and he’s not quite ready to go down that road again. Don’t get me wrong, as I said before, he shows me every day that I mean the world to him, the way his body moves when we’re being intimate, the way he gets my coffee for me every morning to help me function—yes, he knows exactly how I take my cup of java. He’s even given me some very erotic massages here lately when my body feels like it’s full of knots and I can barely move. He calls my daughter every night with me to tell her goodnight, he even picks up small things for her when he sees them, always asking me if I think she’ll like it. She loves Hatch just as much as I do, and I can’t wait to see the excitement on her face when he gives her these small, thoughtful treasures.
Watching him back up, I can’t help but be grateful that we hired some men for extra muscle, I didn’t realize how much I had acquired while living in my home. It would take days for just Hatch and me to load the van, at least this way we can get it done in a day and be back on the road by nightfall. Hatch needs to get back to work, and I have a little girl that’s none too happy that her mother has been away for as long as I have been.
“Hey, lover, glad you’re back. I’ve got breakfast ready,” I tell him, standing on my tiptoes for a kiss. I’m not exactly short at five feet six inches, but he still towers over me and makes me feel as tiny as a porcelain doll. He’s built, with muscles that have muscles, and tattoos that span his arms and back, including the Rebel Guardians patch that’s inked on his front right pec.
“We should have enough time to eat then. My old Army buddies will be here within the next two hours. May even be able to fit in a quickie,” he replies, smirking at me. As if I’d protest a quickie! He knows me better than that, all he has to do is give me a certain look and I’m ready to climb his body and rip off his clothes.
“You know it,” I tell him. He starts laughing at me, because according to him and the conversations we’ve had in the past...all I have to do is be in the same room with him and he’s ready to throw me down and have his way with me...regardless of if anyone is in the room with us or not. One time, Ralynn walked in on us making out, she’s never seen me with a man before and the shock on her face at seeing us will forever be ingrained in my brain.
“OOOHHH, Momma, that’s nasty, why are you letting him suck your face,” she said to me.
To which I replied, “Because I really like him.”
“I’m never gonna let a boy suck my face like that,” she told us.
“Better not,” Hatchet told her.
“Hey, whatcha thinking about over there, gorgeous?” he asks me.
“I was thinking about the time Ralynn caught us kissing.”
“Yeah, that was hysterical.”
“No it wasn’t! She thought you were sucking my face, Hatchet.”
“What I remember is her saying no boy was going to do that to her. It made me a happy man to know I won’t be teaching any boys a lesson.”
Him saying that makes my insides all warm and fuzzy, that he’s planning to be around for the long-haul. Gotta say, I talk a good game, but honestly? It had been a long drought. Like, since I got pregnant with Ralynn. And it’s not like he was the first good-looking man I was introduced to, but he was the first one who set me on fire with his teasing, his glances and his innocent touches. Thank goodness, they’re not so innocent any longer, my vibrator was getting a workout! Plus, he doesn’t care that I write steamy romance novels. In fact, he said I could use him for inspiration any time I wanted and if we had to research any positions, he was the man for the job. See why I love him?
He supports me and my career, and damn, he hasn’t left my side for a long period of time since we made love the first time. He leaves, goes to work and comes back to Cara’s apartment to spend the night with us. He spends a lot of time with Ralynn and Luca and they love him dearly. One time, I even caught him playing babies and I swear if I’d had my phone on me it would be full of pictures from that day alone. I barely have enough time in the day to sit and play with her, but somehow, he makes the time and he even calls her his little princess. When he calls her that, her little face lights up. I never knew she was missing male attention. She’s never asked about her father and I’ve never been forthcoming where he’s concerned.
John wasn’t a good man towards the end of our relationship, and as soon as he found out I was pregnant with Ralynn, he hit the road without a backwards glance. I haven’t heard from or seen him since that day, he never even called to find out if he had a son or daughter...the bastard. It’s blank on her birth certificate where it asks the name of the father. He didn’t deserve the right to be listed as far as I was concerned. I’m finding out, though, being around Hatch’s brothers, that they take family seriously. I mean, look at Braxton. Not only does he have Lily, but he’s married my bestie and she has a little boy and they’re pregnant! Plus, Twisted and Paisley have a little boy, Tig. Ray is finally getting more kids to play with, something that was hard when Cara moved away. Not that she got to see Luca that much, especially during the last six months of Graham’s life.
Now there’s another douche nozzle! I hated what Cara had become being married to him. She’s always been somewhat sassy and feisty but Graham and his parents, they constantly put her down, and made her feel like shit, so she stopped offering her opinion, and started apologizing for everything. Glad to see she’s back. Braxton’s been good for her.
I like the old Cara with some added new spark. She’s finally laughing and smiling again and not hiding behind the shell she’d formed in order to deal with that family. I call them the family from hell...because that’s exactly what they are. I’ve always wondered if they have hidden horns underneath their hair. Lord only knows I’ve seen the evil that lurks inside of Mrs. Jensen a time or two. She never intimidated me though, I wasn’t married to her piece of shit son, so I was never as accommodating to their whims as Cara was. She tried a few times to put me down, that shit didn’t slide with me, so I had to put her in her place. Needless to say, I was never again invited back to their house, no skin off my back, but I felt bad that Cara had to deal with them and all of their socialite friends without having her girl at her back. If I could’ve slayed those dragons for her I would’ve, but some type of divine intervention happened and now she shouldn’t have to deal with them since Graham is gone.
Alas, they showed up at Luca’s hospital room. It’s a good thing that I wasn’t there because I would’ve grabbed the she-devil by the hair and dragged her from the room kicking and screaming all the way to the parking lot. There is no love lost between that family and me. I’ve never been a kiss-ass and I definitely will never start with those two.
“Now where’d you go?” Hatch asks me, breaking me out of my thoughts.
“I’m thinking about those assholes showing up at Luca’s room in the hospital.”
“Gorgeous, let’s concentrate on what we can do and not on something we can’t do anything about. I’ll make you a deal, let’s get this done...get home, get unloaded, get a good night's rest and then you can do your sleuth thing.”
“My sleuth thing?”
“Yes, I know you and I’m aware of the fact that you want to get home and investigate how those two found out Luca was in the hospital.”
“You know me well, huh?”
“I pay attention to anything that has to do with you, baby, now let’s get that quickie in, shall we?”
“Did you even eat breakfast yet?”
“Sure did, ate all of it like a big boy while you were lost in thought.”
“Lead the way then, I know we have our mattress on the floor still in the bedroom.”
“Mattress? Who needs a mattress when there’s a perfectly good wall there,” he says pointing to the wall off the kitchen that is bare of boxes and pictures. “Or, the kitchen table, the floor...use your imagination woman. We are not the vanilla plain jane type of people, DJ,” he says while scooping me up in his arms and laying a kiss on my lips.
Well, I used to be a vanilla girl, but Hatch has brought a side of me out that even makes me blush! I grin at him as he deposits me on the kitchen table and then immediately slips my leggings and panties down my legs before tossing them aside. “Now? I get some dessert,” he says before he lowers his mouth to my aching core.
“Um, dessert is generally eaten after a dinner meal,” I tell him, giggling.
“I have a bit of a sweet tooth, darlin’, remember? And right now, I need your special sweetness.”
“As long as you don’t stop what you’re doing right now, I’m not gonna complain,” I say, the last words coming out breathier than normal because he added two fingers to the mix. “Fuck, Hatch, I’m gonna come if you keep that up.”
“That’s the plan, gorgeous. First on my tongue and fingers, then on my cock.”
He’s not wasting time, likely so his dick can get in on the action but trust me, I am not complaining one bit. Without warning, my orgasm hits and I scream, my fingers searching for something to hang onto as I feel like I’m floating away. A slap to the outside of my thigh has me lifting my head. “Need you bent over the table, woman,” he says, already lowering his jeans down his magnificent ass and thighs.
Seeing how hard he is, I quickly flip myself over and scoot down so my feet are touching the floor. I feel him gently spread my legs further and a quiver settles deep inside because I know how it’s going to feel when he moves in me - fucking heaven. “You ready, gorgeous?” he asks as he moves his cock through my folds.
“Mmhmm,” I mumble out, still a bit out of it from the wicked orgasm I just had.
With a powerful thrust, he’s buried balls deep in me and the stretch and burn is one that is pleasurable. I’ve never been one to worry about a man’s size, figuring that if they know how to use it, that’s all that matters, but Hatch? That man is blessed in the dick department! His grip on my hips tightens as he begins moving in and out of me and I feel myself trying to push back against him. The table might be the perfect height for him to fuck me, but it sucks for me because I have no real traction to move.
“I got this, gorgeous,” he says, “you just relax.”
Relax? Is he out of his fucking mind? He’s got me close to orgasm number two for the morning for heaven’s sake! Shit, now he’s changed angles or something and is hitting…” Hatch!” I shriek as orgasm number two shatters me in two.
Hatch
Ah having this woman pretty much helpless as I thrust into her is such a fucking turn on I have been doing what I could to hold back. When I feel her pussy squeezing the life out of my dick, however, I can’t hold off any longer and with a shout, I call out her name as I empty myself into her wet, warm sheath. Fuck, she’s the best I’ve ever had. And her feisty, take no shit attitude? Hell, if I’m honest I got hard the first time I heard her giving our prospect shit the day she showed up at the barbeque.
“C’mon, gorgeous, let’s get you cleaned up before the guys get here.”
“M’kay.”
I help her stand up and my ego jacks up another notch seeing her wobbly and unsteady. After Anniston’s betrayal, I’ve stayed away from relationships, but damn, DJ has everything in spades that I want in a woman—she’s independent, a helluva good mom, attractive, and fucking sexy as hell. With the way I feel, I know that if she gained two hundred pounds, I’d still be panting after her like a dog in heat. She heads off to the bathroom finally, throwing a smirk at me over her shoulder and I’m about to go smack that sassy ass swaying in front of me when I hear a knock at the door. I wait until I hear the click of the bathroom door before I head to the door and open it up.
“Hey y’all, appreciate you being able to help my woman out.”
“Not a problem,” Joey says, stepping inside.
“Always glad to help,” Carlton replies.
“Doesn’t look like it’ll take us too long,” Jorge states.
“Naw, and there’s a hand-truck in the back of the trailer,” I tell them. DJ is a bit OCD and has labeled each box with the basic contents and what room it needs to go in, so it will be easy to get it on the truck. The only thing left is the bedding and she threw that in the washer when we first got up so it would be ‘clean’ when we got there and unloaded. I know it’s gonna be a long ass day, but honestly? I can’t wait to get home and see my little princess. Yeah, I know she’s not my kid, however, her genuine affection towards me has made me fall in love with her. And her mom. Although it’s too soon to tell DJ that because from what little she’s shared, she’s been shit on a lot in her life.
As Jorge goes out to get the dolly so we can start loading, my mind drifts back to the first night we spent together.
“I’m not usually like this,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, sleeping with someone on the first date.”
“Never took you for easy, darlin’, but I know you feel the connection we’ve got.”
She sighed before sitting up on the bed and looking down at me. “No, you don’t understand, Hatch. Ralynn’s dad and I dated for about six months before I got pregnant. When I got pregnant, he split, never to be heard from again. He doesn’t even know if I kept the baby or what I had for fuck’s sake! Since then, my focus has been on finishing college while raising my baby girl. I’ve gone out on dates, but it never went very far.”
I looked at her stunned. If I’m catching what she’s saying, she hasn’t had sex in a helluva long time. “So you haven’t had sex since Ralynn was conceived?”
“No.”
“Why me, babe?”
“Because I can talk to you, because you make my body quake with need, because you embody everything I’ve ever wanted in a man.”
I pull her back down so we’re facing one another, but barely touching. Cupping her face, I lean in and kiss her. It’s not a hot and heavy, I want to fuck your brains out kiss. No, it’s one filled with promise and need. Something about this woman has me thinking of forever for the first time in a long, long time. And that thought should scare the shit out of me, but it doesn’t.
“Hatch, your woman made sure we would know where shit went, huh?” Carlton asks, breaking me out of my thoughts.
“Yeah. In fact, she has boxes for the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen marked ‘put in last’ so that when we get there and unload, she can get those unpacked first.”
“Damn, she’s organized.”
“You have no idea.”
DJ
I’m working to pack up the last of the bathroom stuff, but I can hear the guys talking to Hatch. I know I’m probably more organized than they’re used to, but if they had grown up like I did, they would be too. My dad died when I was young, and my mother sank into a deep depression. She spent her days watching the infomercials and ordering things that she had no use for whatsoever. My last memories of that house before I took off at seventeen were boxes piled on top of boxes, with pathways to the kitchen, the bathroom and the bedrooms. To say my mom is a hoarder is an understatement. When I left, I couch surfed for a few months until I finally landed at Caraleigh’s house. We knew one another in school, but I never let on how bad it was at home. Somehow, my girl knew, and made sure I had a home while I was going to college. And her folks? Best fucking people I’ve ever met. When I met John, I thought we were going to live happily ever after. At least, that’s what he told me. And, for a few years we were happy. Until the day I told him I was pregnant.
Memories are fickle things, sometimes they come over me and I feel as though it’s happening all over again.
“Hey, babes, you’ve been sick for a few weeks now, what gives?”
“I’m not sick, John.”
“Then what the hell’s the matter with you? You’re puking all the time and when you’re not, you’re sleeping.”
“I’m pregnant.”
Those two words changed my life. He left that day, spouting epithets that still make me cringe if I let myself think about them. I moved back in with Cara’s parents because she was married by then, and we pretty much went through our pregnancies together. I smile when I think about the crazy cravings we had and how we drove her dad nuts asking him to please go get us some more ice cream at the local Dairy Queen whenever she would come over. “What’s got my gorgeous woman smiling?” Hatch asks, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist before he drops a kiss on the side of my neck.
“I was just thinking of when Cara and I were pregnant with the kids.”
“Bet you were stunning.”
“I looked like a beached whale,” I tell him, turning in his arms so I can get a real kiss. John was my first lover and based on mine and Hatchet’s activities, he sucked.
“You were probably sexy as fuck,” he murmurs before kissing me. I love kissing him, he’s got soft full lips and he owns me when they hit mine.
I’m about to suggest we close the bathroom door and slip in another quickie when one of the guys comes into the room and says, “We could get this done a helluva lot faster if you weren’t fucking around, Hatch.”
He turns around and flips off the guy, saying, “Fuck off, Jorge.”
Jorge grins before picking up several boxes. “We’ve pretty much got everything except the shit that says, ‘load last’ so let’s hop to it.”
Man, these guys don’t fuck around! I thought it would take them several hours, but in about one hour, they’ve loaded all the rooms and are on the boxes and bedroom furniture that I wanted loaded at the back of the truck. “Let’s get this done, Hatch, so we can go home.”
Hatch
Her words hit me in the gut. Since Anniston, my home has been in the clubhouse. And yet, she is home. “Gorgeous, am I moving in with you?” I ask.
“I thought that was the plan?”
“We never actually finalized it, babe, but I don’t want you feeling any pressure. I can stay at the clubhouse.”
She turns and looks at me before saying, “No, home is where you are, Hatch, and I was hoping you were going to be right by my side.”
“C’mere, baby,” I murmur, holding my arms open. She curls into me and I breathe in her scent. Holding her is like holding summertime. All warm and sunny and just...her. “Probably too soon to say this and you can tell me to go fuck myself, but I’m falling in love with you, Donna Jo Feldman. You and Ralynn are my world.”
“Oh, Hatch, I feel the same way about you. You have become such an important part of my life. I love you too!” she says, jumping into my arms.
“Yo! Any day now,” Jorge calls out.
“I heard you the first damn time, jackass, give me a minute here, man.” I put DJ back on her feet and lean in for a kiss. “Say it again,” I beg of her.
“I love you, Hatch.”
“I love you too, Donna Jo.” With that I grab her hand and lead her out of the room and down the hall to meet the guys in the living area. From there it becomes a whirlwind of activity and before I know it, we’re loaded up completely, have said goodbye to the guys and have locked the house, and I’m riding behind DJ, who’s in the van driving. We rode my bike up here to get her stuff taken care of. I hate that this trip going back down I won’t have her arms wrapped around me.
This is going to be one long damn trip.
Since we started out so late in the day, we only make it four hours into the trip before we decide to pull over and get a bite to eat. Neither of us want to stop for too long, both anxious to be home and see Ralynn. I need to get back to work, but Braxton messaged me and told me to take the next couple of days off to help DJ get settled. I feel guilty with everything he’s got going on that I’ll be taking an extended few days off...but he’s the boss and if he thinks we’re good for me to miss a few more, who am I to turn the offer down? Just means more time to spend with my girls before DJ starts work at Rebel Townhomes. I wonder if DJ would be cool with keeping Ralynn home from school for a few days, at least until I go back to work? I missed that kid...yeah, probably not, better not even ask.
The diner we stop at has ‘fast, friendly service, and before I know it, we’re on the road again. We were both so hungry and anxious to get back that we unhealthily shoveled our food into our waiting mouths as fast as humanly possible. I can see DJ watching me out of the side mirror, causing a smile to break out across my face. She shows me with these small gestures that her ‘I love you’s’ are real and not just words being spouted off to me. If it was just words I wouldn’t believe them wholeheartedly, but she never lets a day pass that she hasn’t showed me in one way or another.
Hours later, it’s pitch black outside when we finally pull up to the complex. Knowing it’s too late to get anything unloaded, we just head to Cara’s house and let ourselves in. We quietly make our way through the living room seeing as Luca is asleep in the corner. As we go to walk up the stairs, I’m not shocked and surprised to see Braxton coming down the stairs with his 9 mil in his hands, but what does shock me into near hysterics is seeing Cara wielding a baseball bat behind him.
“Sorry guys,” DJ speaks up. “It was too late to move things into the new place, so we were just going to crash here for the night.”
“That’s fine, we have Cara’s family at my house and Ralynn and Lily are bunked down in Luca’s room. Your room is free and available.” Braxton tells us.
“Yeah, you should see Chandler asleep in Lily’s tiny twin-sized bed...it’s freaking hilarious,” Cara tells us, causing me to lose my battle of holding my laughter inside. I’ve never met Chandler, Cara’s brother, in person, but from what I understand he’s as tall as Braxton and myself, and I know for a fact there is no way in hell I’d fit in a twin bed, I’m imagining the poor fella’s legs hanging off the end.
“Shhhh!” Cara whispers very loudly, if you want my opinion. “You’ll wake the kids.” Right, the rugrats are all sleeping at this time of night, I mean morning. Shit, I need to get some sleep and get my head back in the game. I’m freaking exhausted and ready to get some shut eye with my woman at my side.
“Get some sleep, we’ll catch up in the morning,” Braxton tells us as he ushers Cara up the stairs and into their room.
“After you, gorgeous.” She grabs my hand in hers and pulls me the rest of the way up the stairs and down the hallway to where our temporary quarters have been. We head into the spare bathroom after getting out of our road clothes and into our nightclothes, both too damn tired to hit the shower. We’ll be washing those sheets tomorrow before we head out the door, not to mention hitting the shower as soon as our eyes open. Luckily, we have spare toothbrushes here and as we go through our nightly routine, I can’t help but look over at DJ, in the mirror, and imagine this taking place every night as we get ready for bed. The thought makes me excited to see what else I’ll be looking forward to for the rest of my life.
We curl into one another as soon as we hit the bed, too tired for more than a sweet kiss that has a hint of promise. As I completely surrender to the sandman, a feeling of bliss surrounds me and for the first time in a long time.