Lynx

 

 

I groan as I thrust harder and my hips slam into Teeny from behind, her wild writhing pushing her sex closer to my every entry. She feels so good inside I have to grit my teeth to stop from coming.

I’m almost certain I could make this last another twenty minutes or so, but the woman is wild tonight, her hips slamming back at me as she moans into the sheets and uses me to satisfy the lust I incited with a long bath and wicked touches all over her body.

“Teeny, God, don’t move,” I plead, wanting this to last longer because being this deep inside her is so good I don’t want it to ever end.

“Please,” she gasps, hammering into me, her hips gyrating into my cock as she uses her muscles to squeeze me harder and drag a snarl of pure pleasure from me.

I can’t hold out when she does this, and the minx knows it. I reach around to touch her slippery clit, bringing her off just as I tense and fall over her, my hips bucking with every shot of come that drains from me.

“Christ,” I mutter, wheezing as I pull out and get rid of the condom, falling back onto the bed beside her where she’s panting and boneless.

We have only tonight to have raunchy, loud, screaming sex, and I am using every single minute of it before I have to control myself where she’s concerned.

Tammy is coming home tomorrow, after the judge ruled on the custody application in Teeny’s favor. We all went out to celebrate, and I got to see Teeny truly happy for the first time since we met.

She smiled and laughed and hugged Mom so much even I wanted to cry when it became apparent that my girl feels like a member of our clan. I got a lot of ribbing and a lot of questions from the men when the women all went to the powder room, probably to gossip about the idiot Mika brought along.

Hawk glared at the poor ass since he sat down, and I didn’t blame him for having finished three beers in an hour because, damn, my brother sure is one scary dude.

I think back to the restaurant and shudder when it all comes back to me…

“So, you happy?” Bear asks, leaning back to look at the restroom for the tenth time in five minutes.

“Of course. I thought I’d have to tie Teeny to the bed this morning when she woke up with the bright idea to kill Ally and her boyfriend. I swear to God, that woman has the worst ideas. I told her stabbing them wouldn’t work, too much blood evidence. Thank God I kept her stable until the hearing or I’d be hiding bodies right now.”

Wolf chuckles at my quip, but Lyon just keeps staring at me, his eyes intent as he watches me.

“You’re playing it all down here, man. You know what Bear’s asking.”

I do. I know that my family are all looking at me and Teeny and expecting me to make some big announcement about where we’re heading, but that is not happening.

Things with Teeny are great. We live together and will continue to do so for the next while, at least until she can get custody of Tammy for good, and I like having her around. She keeps my house shipshape, and no, don’t get all uppity. I just like that I can come home to a nice, warm home and there’s someone waiting for me.

And we’re good together, friends. We talk about everything. I know all about Teeny’s childhood and how she grew up with a gambler for a mother and a bar fly for a dad. I know that he split when she was a kid and her mom left her and Ally alone for days before her grandmother took them.

I know that she always wanted to go to college to study design and that her living room was the first true project she had that made her happy.

She’s great, we’re great together, and the sex…is off-the-charts good. I’ve never been this satisfied in my life, and while I don’t want to give it up, I have to keep reminding myself that I’m not doing anything more with Teeny.

I don’t want a readymade family who’ll expect me to be home by five and count on me to be there when they need me. I don’t want Teeny getting upset when I don’t come home until three in the morning after a night out with Brass and the other guys who work with Bear and Wolf.

I don’t want the pressure of loving someone and having to be accountable for my every move.

I just want this time with Teeny, and then we can be friends and neighbors afterwards. I’ll be there when she or Tammy need me, but I don’t want to commit to them, and I know how hard that sounds, but it’s the truth.

I like being free, even if it’s lonely and I envy my brothers.

“Lyon, give it up, man. Teeny and I are friends. Why do you guys always have to put a label on stuff?”

“Because that woman is good and sweet and she deserves more, man. Sure, it’s easy now, but what about when she goes home again because you broke her heart? Do you really think she’ll be your friend after it hits her that she’s falling for you but you’re not available emotionally? Women have more emotions than we do, and yeah, I know that sounds sexist, but it’s true. They’re soft inside, Lynx, and sex always means more to them,” Wolf says, shocking the hell out of me with his soft words.

“Teeny knows the score. She knows I’m not ready to settle down, and she’s okay with that. Trust me, man, we had this talk already.”

“Yep, but I can guarantee she doesn’t understand just how things will play out,” Pop warns, shaking his head. “Look, son, you can do whatever you want and none of us will judge you or interfere, just be careful with Teeny. She’s had a rough time of things, and I don’t want to see her hurt.”

And neither do I, I think, turning my head to see her knocked out beside me, her mouth slightly open as she breathes in soft snores. I don’t want to hurt her, but this is the first sexual friendship I’ve had, and I am not ready to let it go. Not yet.

I need Teeny. I haven’t felt that anger or resentment since she’s come into my life. She grounds me and makes me forget that I’ve lost years of my life.

Right now, all I’m focused on is her and Tammy and my business, and it feels good not to be alone and have to look at my life and see how empty it really is.

Just for now, I want to have a little happiness and worry about the rest of it later. Pop and my brothers are right though, and I can’t escape it, because I’ve seen the way Teeny looks at me sometimes with that softness and her heart on her sleeve.

She feels more for me than I want her to—no, that isn’t true, I think, watching her sleep. I want her to care about me, because I do care about her.

And it feels nice to know that one person cares and holds no expectations. It’s not fair, but for me, that is like the Holy Grail. Unlike my family, my brothers, and even my sisters-in-law, Teeny doesn’t expect me to be all good, all the time.

She just likes me as I am and accepts the way things are. We’re the same in so many ways that it’s difficult for me to see her as this kind person when I know she should be angry and bitter about life.

I was, until she came along, and as far as I can tell, Teeny has more cause for the feelings than I do. She grew up hard, only getting love from a grandmother who was old and not long for this world.

Her mom split and only came back when she thought she could use her and Ally to get money out of the grandmother. That is a terrible way to grow up, knowing your parents didn’t give a damn.

I at least had a stellar childhood with two parents who loved us and never hesitated to show us. Mom and Pop hit a rough patch after Sparrow passed, but they came back to life, and I know even now that they love us.

Teeny has more to hate about life than I do, and yet there she is, giving of herself freely and pushing forward because she refuses to let her past hold her back.

I really do love that about her, and I need her in my life because her sweetness makes me happy.

I just don’t think I’m ready to take that all on. Maybe in a few years I’ll settle down and want a family, but for now, all I have is the need for Teeny and the resolution that we can only be friends.

“Stop staring at me and thinking so hard. It’s weird,” she mumbles, opening one eye to glare at me. “Go to sleep, Lynx. The world will still be running in the morning, and your problems will still be there to fix.”

I grin at her snarky quip and lean over to kiss her, groaning when she thrusts her tongue into my mouth and puts her hand on my soft dick.

“Should I tire you out so you can’t help but sleep, Wylder?”

“Like you even need to ask, woman.”

 

 

Teeny

 

Tammy’s bouncing in the bed and laughing at Rain when Lynx and I walk into her room the next morning, my steps a little slow because I’m tender after a night spent distracting Lynx from whatever he was thinking about so hard.

I push that all away though when Tammy spots us and launches herself at me, her tiny arms going around my neck as she lands and plants a wet kiss on my cheek.

“Teeny!”

“Hey, TamTam, you ready to go home with us and see your room?” I ask, holding back tears because I so do not want to cry on the happiest day of my life.

The judge granted me temporary custody for an indefinite time while they check out Ally’s situation and review all the reports Mrs. Halston and her people have supplied.

Mrs. Cane and the other neighbors even made statements despite their precarious living situations, seeing as Xavier is their landlord for all intents and purposes, and I am extremely grateful to them all for putting Tammy ahead of their own needs the way they have.

Things aren’t set in stone yet, and I am deathly afraid that they’ll decide to give her back to Ally, but for today I am happy. I have made arrangements that no one knows about just in case I need to run, my guilt about keeping things away from Lynx overridden by my need to keep the Wylders safe from prosecution if the worst happens and they catch me.

Miriam and Tag have been a big help in that department, and I now have a car that’s registered to Miri’s mom ready and waiting in a street a block away.

I also have fake IDs for both me and Tammy, thanks to a friend of Tag’s who isn’t exactly on the up-and-up but likes Miri enough to give it to me for less than nothing.

There’s also a house two towns over that’s just waiting for us if things go wrong. Miri…I owe her a lot, and I know it, but I will never be able to repay her for everything she’s done if it turns out I need to go. She’s helped me more than I can say and didn’t once ask questions when I called her with my plans. She just got cracking and arrived at Lynx’s an hour later with everything in motion.

“Teeny?”

I shake myself back to the present and smile at Tammy, kissing her little nose when she slaps my cheeks to get my attention.

“Sorry, just thinking about what I should make you for lunch, little lady.”

“Fingers,” she yells, making us laugh.

“Then, chicken fingers it shall be.”

We get her discharged less than an hour later, and I kiss Rain goodbye and put Tammy in the new car seat Lynx showed me this morning, getting the straps on the third try with a huff because the thing is so complicated I have the urge to just use duct tape and call it good.

“You okay, Teeny?” Lynx asks when we’re driving, and I don’t say anything, my naturally talkative nature deserting me beneath the wave of guilt that keeps swamping me.

“Fine. I just wonder how long it’ll take, is all. I’m happy for now, Lynx, but it’s always at the back of my mind that it’s not permanent, and it scares me. Xavier has a lot of money, and he’s never been convicted for his illegal fights or the drugs everyone knows he’s running. They could get her back,” I say, biting my thumbnail because I’m a ball of nerves about what could happen.

I can only guess how pissed the Wylders would be at me if I split with Tammy, but it’s not like I will have a choice. I won’t let them get involved in this if I leave. I love them all too much to feel right about them being in trouble to protect me.

And I won’t stay if I lose Tammy. She’s mine now, my baby, and nothing, not even Lynx, can make me give her up.

“It’s all fine, Teeny. We have her now, and like I told you, I have a backup plan, just in case.”

“And I won’t let you do that, you or your family. Two of your brothers have babies on the way, Lyon just got the love of his life back, and I like Hawk even if he grunts and growls a conversation. And I love your parents, Lynx. I won’t let you get involved in anything illegal. Just…I should just let it go and hope for the best possible outcome,” I mumble, looking out the window as Tammy sings along to the dancing dog Lori got her as a getting well and feeling swell gift.

“Is that all that’s upsetting you?”

I hate that he knows me after only days of being with me, because I can’t lie for shit and we all know it. No, I am not okay. I hate my own sister and actually caught myself wishing she’d do me a favor and get hit by a bus. I could lose a little girl who may not be mine or what I was hoping for in life but one that I love enough to say screw it, I want her with me.

And I love a man who is with me but not mine, because he spent years being miserable and unfulfilled and is now commitment phobic. So, no, that’s not all that’s upsetting me, but I can’t admit that I want to have more.

I want Tammy to be with me and grow up happy, healthy, and safe, loved by me and a family who are everything I ever wanted. I want marriage and maybe some little boys with blue eyes running circles around me.

I want to clean and do laundry and cook, but for a family, not as a housekeeper or the charity case who needs Lynx’s financial help.

I want it all, and I can’t say it because I promised him that I would keep things real. Well, they’re real. And heartbreaking.

“Yeah, and I’m a little hungry, I guess. You know I get moody when I’m hungry,” I joke, sighing with relief when he grins and squeezes my hand.

“I’ll get you and Tammy home, and then I have to split. We’re signing off on the house we just finished, and I have a meeting with the guys from that charity.”

“The ones who hired you guys to do those Katrina houses?”

“Yeah. We’re ahead of schedule on the other house, miraculously, so we can start this project next week if all the permits are in order.”

“That’s great!”

Lynx has been looking forward to this for days, telling me how he’s working with some new materials that are supposed to be waterproof and mold-resistant.

I’ll believe that when I see it since mold grows on everything down here where the humidity is a way of life. But I am really happy that he’s sounding so upbeat and really meaning it. Makes a change from the broody guy I first met.

He drops us off a few minutes later, and after giving him the tacos I made for him and Al for lunch, I wave him off and grab Tammy, going out the back and towards my house to check out the garden and start her on the mud she’s been missing since she went to the hospital.

It takes three hours of weeding before I’m satisfied, and I grin when I look at Tammy and see her sloshing around in a big ol’ pile of mud, her happiness evident when she grabs a handful and plops it on her head.

“She’s making a mess.”

I whip around at the sound of Ally’s voice and curse myself for a fool for putting myself in this position.

“What are you doing here? You know you can’t be here,” I say, keeping my voice calm though I want to shout and yell and slap her silly.

Ally looks better than I’ve seen her in a long time, the thinness she’d once carried filling out in her cheeks and her hips. I feel a shot of grief hit me because before this I would have totally told her how good she looks and laughed at my own skinniness.

Now, it’s all I can do to look at her without feeling bitter anger engulf me. And sadness because I still love her and wish that things were different.

“I came to see my daughter, Teeny. You know, the kid you’re trying to steal from me,” she hisses, taking a step closer only to stop when I shift to cover Tammy.

“Steal? You think this is easy for me, Ally? You left your sick child with an eighty-year-old woman for days. You haven’t been feeding her, she was dehydrated from being so sick, and you fucking have the gall to lay this on me? You left her,” I say raggedly, clenching my hands when she turns to sneer at me.

“Well, what the hell else was I supposed to do? You wouldn’t help me, and all I had left was Xavier. I went to him, and he told me he’d help if I stayed with him. I couldn’t leave.”

“No, you could. You just chose not to because it’s so easy for you to think of Ally before you consider Tammy. And it’s my fault because you’ve never had to learn to be a mom. I’m always there to save you and pull your ass out of the dirt when you need me. I have nothing to give you, Ally. I told you that. I gave you everything I had, and still, you couldn’t even get Tammy to the doctor.”

“I took her to the free clinic,” she yells, spitting the words at me.

“Yeah, but you never filled the prescription they gave you, did you? I called the pharmacy close to your building, Ally, and they have it on file, but you never took it,” I say flatly, thankful that Tammy is too wrapped up in her mud to pay us any mind.

It’s sad that she knows her mom is here, just feet away, and that after days of absence, she isn’t bothered to even greet her. I take it as a good sign though because if I get Tammy, then at least I won’t have to deal with tears.

“I couldn’t afford it.”

“Because you gambled her money on dice!”

“Teeny, I had a problem, but I’m getting better and…and you’re my sister, Teeny. You have to understand that I never meant—”

“To lose your kid when the authorities found out what a shitty excuse for a mom you are,” I cut in raggedly, biting my lip to stop the tremble. “I love you, Ally. You’re my little sister, and I will always love you, but I am done making excuses for you, and I will not let you hurt this child anymore.”

It’s a vow, one I make to Tammy, Ally, and myself. No matter what, it stops here, right now.

“You bitch! You sanctimonious bitch. You think that just because you have a rich boyfriend that you’re better than me? I have news for you, Teeny. He’ll leave you when he’s bored with you, and then you’ll be exactly where I was, stuck with a kid and no life to speak of.”

“No. I’ll have Tammy, who I love more than friends or going out and having fun. I’ll love her like you couldn’t and take care of her like you wouldn’t,” I say softly, my voice hard with determination.

I see the slap coming but don’t stop it because I refuse to fight Ally in front of Tammy. I let her hit me and accept the pain when she slaps me a second time and screams at me that I’m a thief and a pathetic loser.

“I’m getting my kid back, Teeny. One way or the other. Xavier promised me that Tammy will come home to me no matter what. You hear me?” she screams, backing off when I just look at her and make no reply.

It scares me though, a lot, because I know some stories about that man that will make your hair stand up on your head. He’s violent and dangerous, and knowing that Ally would take Tammy into that environment only makes me all the more determined and convinced that I should just leave.

“Tammy! Tammy, honey, come to Momma.”

She’s changing tactic now, trying to use her child against me, but I feel a little sense of triumph when Tam just looks at her and goes on playing, looking to me for permission. I shake my head, and she shrugs, grabbing onto more mud.

“Tammy?”

“Stop it. Stop it, Ally. I won’t let you use her, and I won’t let you try to convince her to go with you. She’s only a little girl. For once, just once, be a real mother and choose the better option for Tammy. You know you can’t take her back to Xavier’s,” I plead, wanting so much for her to just be good.

Just once.

Her face goes ugly with rage, and it’s then that I finally accept that my sister is no longer my sister.

“They’ll kill you. You better hope that judge gives her back to me, Teeny, because they will come for you, and one way or the other, I’ll have her back.”

“But you never wanted her!”

“No, but you did,” she sneers before turning on her heel and walking away.

The moment she’s out of sight, my knees buckle and I gasp through sobs of anger, fear, and loss. I have to leave. I can’t stay here with Lynx and put him and his family in danger. I won’t do that to people who have been nothing but kind and good to me and Tammy.

I have at least a week though before Mrs. Halston comes by or the judge comes to a decision, and I will use that time to put all the love and happiness in my memories as I can.