New Title 6 (15 page)

 “No.
I’m glad I didn’t. Or I wouldn’t have found out what your heart already
wanted...me.”

 “Yeah,
right. I was actually talking about the postman. Hoo-wee he gets me going.”

 Talon
stopped and whipped me into his arms. “Don’t. Don’t joke about this, kitten. I
may be teasin’, but I’m so fuckin’ full to the brim with…gratefulness to hear
that come outta your mouth. You had me worried that I was the only one feeling
this; but now I know I’m not, and it makes me happy for the first time in a
hell of a long time.”

 “Talon—”

 It
was then, in the middle of the street, not far from Maya’s school, that he
kissed me.And it wasn’t only lust riding the kissable train this time, but some
feelings had jumped aboard as well.

 It
was magical.

We
were standing out the front of Maya’s class, receiving a lot of stares. Mainly
because I had never showed up to collect Maya with a male before, and the way
Talon was hugging me to his front, it was undeniable that we weren’t just
friends. That was when I saw Maya—who was usually the first one out—come out
last with the teacher following her.

 “Uh-oh,”
I said.

 “Relax,
babe. Can’t be that bad; Maya’s a good kid.”

 “Hmm.”
We’ll see about that
. He has never been with her down the street when
she wasn't getting what she wanted. I swear she becomes possessed by the devil.

 “Hi,
Miss Edgingway,” Mrs. Faith said on a sigh.

 “What’s
wrong?” I asked. Though she wasn’t looking at me, even when she greeted me, her
eyes were on Talon. Did he have that effect on all ages? Because I was sure
Mrs. Faith was at least sixty.

 “Um—”

 And
she’d never done that before; I didn’t think um was in her vocabulary.

 She
shook her head and focused back on me. “Do you mind if we have a word alone for
a minute?”

 “Sure.
Maya, honey, why don’t you go and show Talon the play area?”

 “Okay,
Momma.” She pulled my sleeve so I was eye-to-eye with her. “Just remember it
was real important I done what I done.” With that, she spun away, grabbed
Talon’s hand, and skipped off while Talon walked beside her to the play
equipment.

 A
moment later, I realized I wasn’t the only one enjoying the view. Though I
wasn’t staring at Talon’s butt like Mrs. Faith was. I was admiring how great it
looked for Maya to have Talon beside her, as he looked down listening to
something she was saying and then burst out laughing.

 I
cleared my throat. “Sooo,” I started.

 “Yes,
I am sorry to tell you this, but we had an incident today that involved Maya.
We don’t condone violence at this school; and honestly, I was shocked that your
daughter decided to use such force when she got angry at another student. I have
had words with her, as I am sure you will as well. Please make sure that she
will not lead down that path again.”

 “What
actually happened?”

 “Maya
hit another child in the stomach, quite hard actually. She didn’t like
something the other student had said to her. Of course, we both know that even
if she doesn’t like something, it should never come to violence to get her
message across.”

 “Yes,
of course. And I will be speaking to her about this matter this afternoon. I am
terribly sorry for what has happened. But, um, can I ask what was said?”

 “I
think I will leave that up to Maya to inform you. Have a good weekend, Miss
Edgingway.”

 “Yes.
Uh, thank you, Mrs. Faith.”

 She
turned and scuttled off into her classroom. Old stuffy bat, I was sure it
wasn’t as bad as it sounded.

 I
sighed. Time to find out what my little monster had done. I walked around the
corner and saw red. Talon was standing by the side of the play equipment
watching Maya being a monkey, swinging from one bar to another. That was fine;
what I didn’t like was
what
was standing by Talon. Okay, maybe I
shouldn’t say what; it was a she. Stacey MacDonald. The sluttiest of all sluts.
And okay, maybe I shouldn’t say that, because I hardly knew the lady.But I’d
heard enough about her. All the mothers talked about how much she flirted with
all the fathers and male teachers at the school. And right now, she was running
a hand down Talon’s arm, and they were laughing at something she’d just said.

 I
stalked over, walked around her to Talon’s other side, and wrapped my arms
around his middle.

 “Oh,
Zara. Hi.”

 I
grinned, but glared. “Yeah, hi Stacey.” I turned my gaze to Talon and gentled
my look. “You ready to go, honey?”

 He
smirked, his lips twitching. Was he seriously fighting not to laugh right now?

 “Sure,
kitten. Maya, we’re goin’.”

 “Ok,”
Maya called. She knew she was about to get into trouble, because usually it
would take at least five times for me to call her for her to actually listen.

 Stacey
cleared her throat. “Right, bye, Zara. Talon, I’ll see you around some time.”

 WTF?

 “Um,
no. I don’t think you will, Stacey. I plan on keeping Talon very busy for a
very
long time.”

 She
rolled her eyes. “Sure, Zara.”

 I
shook my head, grabbed Talon’s hand in mine and took Maya’s hand within the
other, and left.

 Stupid, slutty wench.

 Talon
leaned into me and whispered, “Do you wanna piss on me as well, kitten?” Then
he chuckled.

 “Not
funny, Talon.”

 “What’s
not funny, Ma?”

 “Nothing,
honey. Now, any chance you want to tell me what happened today?”

 She
groaned. “I had to do it, Momma. Toby was bein’ mean.”

 “Maya,
what was Toby saying or doing that was so bad to receive a punch in the
stomach?”

 Talon
chuckled. I elbowed him in the ribs, and sent him my evil glare. He shut up,
but a grin stayed upon his lips.

 “It
was my turn for news—”

 “Yes.”
I nodded. “And you showed everyone that Monster High doll, right?”

 “Yeah,
but I also had way better news than that.”

 “And?”
I prompted.

 “I
told the class I had a daddy now.” I gasped; Talon’s hand in mine grew tighter.
“Toby said Talon wasn’t my daddy, just someone my mum was dating. I thought he
was not right, he was yelling that he was, and said I was silly for even
thinkin’ it. So I punched him.”

 Oh, dear.

 Not
knowing what to actually say, I decided to steer clear of that whole dad
topic—leave it for when I had some inspirational answers, which always came
after a bottle of scotch. So I moved onto the lecture of not hurting anyone,
even if they think they were right and were vocal about it. Maya then stomped
off up the front steps when I took her one-hour of television privileges away
for the night. In other words—her world had ended. Maya wasn’t the only one I
didn’t want to talk to about the dad subject. As soon as I was in the front
door, I headed for the kitchen, where I could hear Mattie and Julian.

 “All
right, where are we at with dinner? ‘Cause a roast takes awhile; and then
there’s all the other preparing to do with the vegetables.”

 “Did
you smoke a joint while you were out?” Mattie asked. I was shocked that came
out of his mouth; usually he was more reserved.

 To
prove my shock, my eyes bulged, and my mouth dropped open. “No, I did not.”

 He
turned to Julian and said, “Something happened on the way home.”

 Julian
nodded. “Oh, definitely.”

 I
didn’t get to respond, because Talon walked into the kitchen with his phone to
his ear. “Right,” he barked. “Well, drop him at the compound.” He ran a hand
through his hair. “I’ll be there; what time? That’s none of your business.
Well, I could just come and get him like it was fuckin’ planned, woman.” He
sighed. “Christ, fine.”

 “Talon?”
I asked. He was very tense.

 “Stupid
bitch. I was supposed to go and grab Cody. But she’s bringing him here.”

 I
stiffened. “As in here, here?”

 “Nah,
kitten, across the road. I wouldn’t wanna burden you with that slut. I’ll be
back soon. No one leaves the house. I’ll have guys watching, but no one leaves.
Got it?”

 “Sure
thang, Spiderman.” Julian saluted. Mattie nodded.

 Without
thinking, my body went to Talon. I curled my arms around his waist and met his
gaze. He was annoyed and I wanted to make him better. “Sorry, honey, she’s made
you mad.”

 His
eyes softened. “You doin’ what you just did, and sayin’ what you just said,
made puttin’ up with her a whole lot easier. ‘Preciate it, kitten. Now kiss
me.”

 And
I did. It started out slow, a touch of lips. But as soon as Talon’s tongue
touched my bottom lip, I dove, and it soon got hot and heavy.

 “They
should charge money for this. It’s nearly like porn, but they’re clothed,”
Julian commented.

 I
pulled away and smiled at Talon, his eyes showed he was amused, but his mouth
frowned and he grumbled, “One fuckin’ day, kitten.”

A
n hour and a half later, dinner was ready, but it was still keeping
warm in the oven while we waited for Talon and Cody. Deanna had turned up and
was sitting in front of the television with Maya, watching
Charlie and Lola
while playing with her
Monster High
dolls. Mattie was at the table
reading the paper while Julian sat beside him reading something on his iPad. I
was checking the kitchen floor for any uneven ground as I walked back and forth
over it.

 That
was when we all heard yelling out the front. I looked to the guys at the table
as they looked to me. We bolted for the lounge.

 “Maya,
baby. Come to your room and show me all your
Lalaloopsy
dolls,” Mattie
said.

 “Sure,
Uncle Mattie.” Maya, none the wiser—at least I hoped not—ran off to her room
with Mattie following.

 Deanna,
Julian, and I were just about to peek out the front curtain when we heard, “I
should at least get the chance to meet your new whore before she plays house
with
my
son.”

 “Bianca,
just fuckin’ leave. Hell, it’s none of your business who I’m doin’.”

 Well, really. He hasn’t even done me yet.

 “Holy
shit,” Deanna said grinning. I hadn’t had a chance to speak to her…okay I had
had a chance, but she ignored those said chances to talk in private.

 There
was a knock at the front door. “Open up, bitch!”

 “Mum.”
I heard Cody hiss in a whispered voice.

 Oh.
My. God. She was acting like this in front of her son. That was
just…disgraceful.

 I
opened the door to witness Talon grab his ex by the arm and pull her roughly
away from the door.

 “Honey,”
I said with a buttery-sweet tone and a smile upon my face. “Don’t go doing
that, I would love to meet…Bianca wasn’t it?”