CHAPTER ELEVEN

TYSON

“You good with this?” I ask, close her door, and join her on the deck. I look over at the stunning woman gazing down the beach where my entire clan is sitting around a fire three hours after our talk, where her words, her fight, and her struggles hypnotized me into a deep trance I might never come out of.

Plus, my cock turned instantly hard when she prowled out of her kitchen with a jar of cherries in her hand, her mouth twisted up in a devious smirk. I used to jack off like crazy to images of her mouth moving back and forth, her cheeks hollowing in, knowing her tongue was wrapping around that tiny little stem. I have no clue how she does it, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t one of the sexiest things I have watched her do. It turned me on back then, and it turns me on even more now.

“I would love nothing more than to meet all of your family and friends,” she responds so quickly I do a double take to make sure she isn’t doing this for me.

“Don’t do this for me, Lynne. Do it for yourself.”

“I’m doing it for both of us.” She smiles wide. I can’t begin to explain how it feels to see an older yet better version of the same one I’ve missed smearing across her face. It shows me yet again the bravery that shocks my system stumbling in her direction.

We’ve done more than weave our way through the drudges of hell that have taken over our lives all this time. We’re plowing them down, scraping the surface. Extinguishing them one by one until we get to the center of the fire. The giant monstrosity of vindictiveness I’m going to watch burn.

“I’m going to be fighting on his turf, Tyson. I told you when we were eating dinner I’m going to go through with this and I’m going to call the lawyer you told me about. No matter what anyone tries to tell me, those boys mean everything to me and I can’t stand by and watch them be raised by someone else any longer when it’s my chance to be a mother or a sister, whichever direction I decide to go. I love them enough to start this process before he has a chance to know what’s coming at him. I want it to knock him down, to tear him up, and for him to see that he can no longer control me. Mostly, I don’t want him anywhere near them.” I have nothing. No words of encouragement to throw back at her. She’s said it all. And that right there is my biggest fucking problem with all of this. It doesn’t have a damn thing to do with her wanting those kids. It’s because legally, I won’t be a part of it. They won’t be mine.

They’ll be hers and not mine, and every cell in body is trying to understand why fate chose to take her from me, then years later, the boomerang comes flying back landing at my feet where it belongs and I’m not allowed to pick it up and claim it. I should be fighting this fight with her, holding her hand, doing all of this together. Which, in a sense I am. It’s just not the way it should be. And quite frankly, it pisses me the fuck right off.

“I say we have a weekend with no stress. You ignore your phone, pack a bag, and help me furnish my apartment.” This is the only thing I can think of to get her the weekend that is essential for her. She needs to focus on something else. To break herself free before her cage is rattled beyond either one of our comprehensions. This is not going to be easy.

We talked a little more about her mother stopping by. How she demanded things out of her and how she stood up for herself and Maggie. How the tyrant tried to snag her into admitting what she has on them. Lynne told her off, got right up in her face to tell her never to come back.

We both know that enraged Ellen. She’ll take it as a challenge. To push Lynne to her limit. Only we are going to stand back and watch them deteriorate. Hang themselves with the noose that’s being custom made for them.

If her mother went flying home on her broomstick to bitch about Lynne flipping her shit, then I have no doubt that fucker will be on his way here the first chance he gets. There’s not a chance in hell he will show up on my turf. God help the arrogant motherfucker if he does. He’s all kinds of crazy to think about showing up here. The guys will fuck him up if they catch wind of it. So will I.

“I would love that, Tyson,” she admits, voice gliding to a stop and her luminous eyes filling to the brim with tears. I’m all man. But one thing I’ve always hated was being the root to her crying. Good tears or not, they undo me, only proving more that I’m human.

“Come over here, Lynne.” I point to the spot right in front of me. I need to touch her.

“Okay, but don’t you dare baby me. These are good tears. Happy. Carefree. And I’m not allowing you to take them away from me,” Lynne fires back with a cunning smile that nearly trips my feet from under me. Her hair flies all around her pretty little head. Dressed down in a pair of jeans, a hooded sweatshirt with the neck ripped down the middle, and barefoot. Gorgeous. Stunning.

“I would never take anything away from you. I’m going to kiss you. Now, come here,” I demand. Her tiny little feet shuffle forward, her tears dry up in an instant, and her smile turns daring, devious, and dangerous. I’m balls deep in, and I haven’t even fucked her. But it’s coming. It’s going to happen, and I’m going to show her what babying her, taking care of her, and what keeping that smile really means to both her and me.

“Not going to keep my hands to myself anymore. If you’re coming over to my place where I can take your mind away from all of this, you better be prepared to sleep in my bed. With me.”

“Okay,” she whimpers. After all this time, whenever she’s this close to me, my body reacts the same. My heart leaps and the majority of my blood shoots straight to my dick. Fuck, I’m so tied up over her it’s dangerous. She has always twirled me around. Knotted me up in the same way she works the stem from a cherry. Unbelievable. This woman is really here. With me. And she smells so tempting I really hate to share her beauty with everyone tonight. I care about my friends too much to deny them this time to get to know her and for her to know them.

“Fuck, I’ve missed you so much.” My pulse spikes at the same time my mouth meets hers. Lynne presses her hands to my chest; my cock swells and I’ll be damned to hell if right here, right now with her teeth biting my lip, her tongue finding its way in my mouth, that I do not see fate for what she’s done here. Fate is a fickle little bitch. Her reasoning to everything is her own. She does shit in her time and says the hell with what you want or need or even desire. This is my world, my way, and right now, you had to suffer in order to save two little boys. Deal with it, because look where you are now. Kissing the woman who owns your soul.

“This kiss isn’t yours to command, babe. It’s mine,” I groan into her mouth. Grab her by the waist and hoist her on top of the railing.

“Oh, God,” she moans when I tilt her body back, cage her in with a hand to her back, and dart my tongue out to lick up the torn seam of her sweatshirt exposing her chest. I’m under control enough to not become carried away. I just need a taste. One to pacify me until we get to my place, where we can go from there. I don’t give a rat’s ass if all I do is hold her in my arms all night. The mere idea of falling asleep with her curled into my side is the only thing I care about. Bull fucking shit. You want her more than you ever have before. Isn’t that the truth. She’s all I can think about.

“You are the best person to walk into my life. I’m never letting you go.” I grit out the words I wanted to say after the minister pronounced us man and wife. I shove the tainted reminder that she isn’t my wife out to the deep roaring sea behind us. Fucking fate can kiss my bare ass. Keel over dead for all I care. Someday, she will be, and everything, everyone who has roadblocked us will rot in hell.

Lynne bites her lip. Our eyes lock in a stare that reduces my manhood to nothing. Absolute stillness surrounds us. Even our heavy breathing ceases to be heard.

“I won’t let you go, either. As long as we’re by each other’s side, the rest of the world can all go fuck themselves,” she promises. I see it in the depths of her green eyes, the deepest part of her lenses, and it flashes so brightly it’s damn near blinding.

“Christ, Lynne. Our minds think so much alike,” I call out. My mouth resumes it’s provincial taking. I consume her mouth in a kiss that grabs me out of years of depression over this woman. An assurance of a future that will take the time to get where we want. I can already see the flag waving far off in the distance.

We engage each other’s mouths. A no-tongues banded combat of sexual suggestions. I need to stop this before we get too carried away. I’m a man who hasn’t been inside the woman with the only face I’ve wanted to stare down at. The only woman who has been able to see me for who I am. Ending it with one long, soulful sweep of my tongue across hers, I pull away. Lean my forehead against hers and catch my breath as I inhale her scent.

“Let me take you to meet everyone,” I whisper, my blood pressure going down, my heart reverting to its steady beat. She lowers herself down, grabs my hand, and carelessly starts tugging me down the beach to where everyone is hanging out.

“My family can try all they want to come between us this time. It won’t happen. I’ve always belonged to you and you to me. And those boys, they belong to me, too,” she says, slows her pace, and links her arm through mine. Her head held high. Brave. Always so Goddamn brave.

This is all about her. An unselfish woman who is going to be a great mother. My needs don’t play a part in this equation right now. They’ll come. After I make sure hers are met. She’s chosen to face her biggest fear. To shut him down and conquer that shit. I’ve never been more proud of her than I am at this very moment. She blows me away.

She admitted at dinner that she knew. All this fucking time she’s been seeing those boys as often as she can. Pretending to be an old family friend of their mother’s. Christ, I’m so fascinated and fired up by this woman on my arm that if hell froze over right now, I’d be the one to melt it down. For her.

I feel like fucking exploding with the way she’s waltzed back into my life. Stormed her way through my darks clouds to make me see the light.

“I’m going to tell Jacob and Joshua about you the next time I see them,” she whispers with so much anxiousness behind it that a sense of relief washes over me. I’m not sure what replaces it. Possibly a tad bit of fear of my own. The probability that those boys may not like me.

“I will meet them on your terms.”

“Meet who?” Riddick perches up from his chair. Eyes are darting with a subtle gleam from me to Lynne.

“Meet all of you. Hi, I’m Lynne.” She sticks out her hand for him to take. I nearly laugh when Riddick looks down at her hand, shakes his head, and tucks her to his chest, bends and whispers something into her ear, causing her to nod. Fucker thinks he’s sneaky. I find myself standing there invisible while she wanders around introducing herself to everyone. Laughing. Freely. Christ. Beauty. Only a sick son of a bitch would want to take that away from her.

“I’ve heard good things about you, Doctor Chapman.” Sylvia Shepard straightens her spine, approaches, and shakes Lynne’s hand. And, for the time being, I’ve lost her as she greets both Sylvia and Ron. The three of them engaging in talk that makes her body relax.

“You still have your balls, or does she own them now?” I scoff as I try to keep my voice light to answer Jude’s dumb-ass question. She’s always owned them. I’m not admitting it to this smart-ass fucker, though. Don’t matter if he can see it or not.

“Last time I checked, they were still attached to my dick.” Lynne glances over her shoulder to seek me out. Eyes are twinkling from the flames. Fuck. I’m a liar. “I’m a better man because of her. Not afraid to admit it. Same as you, same as Riddick.” Another layer of thin ice cleared. We’re thawing more with every passing second.

“There isn’t a damn thing wrong with confessing our love. If any man thinks there is, then he isn’t a man at all. I’m happy for you, brother. You took a giant leap forward. Don’t ever let it go. Life doesn’t get any better than falling for a woman who loves you back.”

“Isn’t that the truth,” I answer as I stand there like a fucking fool with my eyes glued to the back of Lynne’s head. Not quite sure if what I’m feeling for her is what one would call love quite yet. At least not what he has with Vivian. It’s something, though. A beginning to what no doubt will be a happy ending. I’m an even bigger fool if I stand here any longer and try to convince myself that I don’t love her. It’s impossible not to. The woman has strung me up and wrung me out already.

“I do love her. I’ve never stopped. It’ll take some time to get back to where we belong. That’s the main reason why the shit going down with her father needs to come to an end before he takes something else away from her. Something she may not come back from.” A knot bobs up and down freely in my throat. Yo-yoing its nasty, bitter taste to the surface.

“You both appear to be in a good place, my friend. I don’t want to spoil it. We need to talk. I filled these guys in about our visit to Richard. Does she know everything?” I grab the neck of the beer from Dane’s outstretched hand, shoot him a cautionary glance when I notice Vivian and Cora heading our way.

“She knows. Got a lot of shit to tell you guys, just not around her or them. She wants to get to know all of you. Give her this. Not for me but for her. For you.” I don’t have to stand here and peddle shit in their direction. Her past is forgotten. Forgiven. We’ve buried it. It’s time to breathe. Time to live. And this right here is perfect for her. Lynne and I, we come from totally different backgrounds, yet we’ve never had a real family, not together anyway. She needs them as much as I do. Possibly more.

“You mind telling me what you whispered in her ear?” I implore. Riddick pulls his cigar out of his mouth, spits the end into the sand, and flashes me a half-cocked smile.

“Welcomed her to the family, man.” He shrugs as if what he, what all of them belted out of their mouths was no big deal. It’s every damn thing to me. Soon it will be to her, too.

I stare at them all for a few moments before tipping my beer back and topping it off with a grin. I’m not used to freely opening up about my feelings. They’ve been closed off for so long; it’s foreign as fuck to stand out here amongst all of them discussing my intimate state of mind I’ve kept hidden.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Lynne hollers over the roar of the fire, the crashing of the waves, and the laughter from the boys tossing a ball in the dark. I’m not sure why but noticing the way she’s looking at me, the smile on her face she’s desperately trying to hide, makes me wink like a high school kid trying to flirt with the girl who shyly keeps looking at him. Fuck. I want her. Badly. Desperately.

I lift my chin just as she turns and walks with Cora, Vivian, and their mother up toward their house. My eyes trained to the sway of her ass.

I battle the urge to go grab her. To kiss her, claim her right here in front of my family. To scream that this woman who used to drive me crazy with her lack of confidence around other girls who came from nothing would see her as the rich kid who felt sorry for them. They weren’t insecurities at all, because they were drilled in her head that it was improper for her to want to hang out with them for the simple fact she came from money and they did not; or it was uncalled for when she went out of her way to help the not-so fortunate kids at school who couldn’t grasp their assignments. She defied her parents at every corner. Came to me when life became too much for her to handle. And now she’s walking away with two of the strongest women I know. Her hands flowing strong by her sides instead of stuffed in the pocket of her hoodie like she used to do. A hoodie her mom would fall over dead if she saw her wearing.

I don’t care what she says or how she’s been convinced she isn’t strong enough to accomplish anything on her own. She’s a role model for strength. The truest definition of it.

“She’ll be fine.” Riddick breaks my train of thought just as Ron saunters up to us, cooler in hand and a loose smirk on his face.

“I know,” I say, finish off my beer, toss it on the ground, and pull another out of the cooler.

“They went to show her their homes. Suppose they’ll be a while. I’m happy for you, Tyson. The guys here filled me in. I want you to know I’ll do everything I can to help.” Jesus. Fuck. I need to get my emotions in check before I drop to my Goddamn knees over the welcome these people have for her.

“I appreciate the offer. The less you become involved, the better it will make me feel. We’re dealing with a man who doesn’t give a fuck about his own children, Ron.”

“All the more reason for me to be involved,” he replies as if Lynne is already in his veins the same way she’s embedded in mine.

“Son of a bitch. There you guys are.” We all snap our heads up at the sound of Dominic’s voice. His long strides are picking up pace. My hand grips the neck of the bottle the closer he gets. Something isn’t right.

“What’s going on?” Dane asks. The evening air begins filling up with everyone’s stiffness. I know what the fuck is going on. Dominic has been keeping an eye on Richard. The bastard is on his way here. He doesn’t give a flying fuck if it’s late at night. Her father is coming after her. That asshole is avoiding my warning. I’ve spent my entire adult life reading people. Interrogating them until they cave. It’s written all over Dominic, and I am pissed. I should have known that prick wouldn’t wait to see if I followed through with my threat to expose him. Lynne was so right about his life being a movie. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if the idiot doesn’t edit it into a documentary about how men are differentiated in a world full of powerful women. He is a stupid fuck.

“How far away is he?” I choke out, my mind already reeling with anger. With all that is holy, I wish to hell I could stand here and greet that sorry excuse for a parent kindly. Instead, I’m praying to God to control my anger and not allow me to blow his fucking head clear off his shoulders and shove it up his ass.

Jude is right about my balls disappearing. It’s only been a matter of days since Lynne and I have tried to work shit out. To be honest, she’s had a hold of them since the day I met her; it’s only taken me this long to feel the squeeze, the tight grip, and the warm sensation in my gut that the years we’ve lost don’t mean a thing when you honest to God never stopped loving someone. I fucking love her. I need to protect her. This is why my feet are moving toward the house. I need to get her out of here, but I’ll be damned to hell once again. It’s too late.