Queen (Mistress & Master of Restraint) (121 page)

“It would offer her hope,” he says silkily. “Your parents love each other. Bad things happen and the results don’t have to be bad. Master Fontaine is psycho, but it doesn’t make Spy psycho. You’re not a rapist. You were born from what happened and it drew your parents together. What happened tonight is bad, but it wi
ll turn out good- you’ll see.”

“How do you mean?” She whispers and I can hear hope in her voice, but it quivers because she’s scared.

“Marcus is a great dad. No one is better at it than him- well, my dad is amazing too.” The affection in his voice brings tears to my eyes, and a lump forms in my throat. “But my mom… She’ll take care of her, you just watch,” he says with confidence.

“Why would she?” She asks in confusion and shuffles around on the bed.

I notice Niel’s hand possessively rests on the head of one of the lumps in the blanket. I can guarantee it’s his sister. The poor girl isn’t even allowed to have a friend that’s a boy. Niel kicks their asses, and nothing we say changes his mind. He responds with
I know what guys are thinking and I won’t allow them to think it about my sister.

“Mom will do it for Marcus, but she’ll have to do it
because she just can’t not care. She wants to dislike you for a lot of reasons, but she can’t.”

“Oh, she hates me,” Ava confidently replies.

“No, she doesn’t. I’ve told you what’s in her head. She’s territorial when it comes to your grandfather and me, and you hit both of those buttons. You’re not just some girl for me, and she knows it. And the Marcus thing is about your mom, not you… and your dad.”

“What about
my dad?” She says defensively.

“No, I will never speak of it. I’ve talked to him about it. I wasn’t supposed to know and I wish I didn’t. Baby, my mom doesn’t hate you. No one could hate you,” he says softly.

I can’t listen to this anymore. “Ava,” I call as I enter the room, dragging a reluctant Marcus behind me.

“I’m sorry,” is all I can say and she winces. Both kids look up at me in surprise. I’m surprised I’m in this house, too. 

I let go of Marc’s hand and walk into her bedroom. The first thing I do is check on the sleeping girls. Sure enough, Blonde waves are underneath Niel’s hand. I pull the blanket back from Ella’s face. I always fear she’ll suffocate in her sleep. She cocoons her face into the blankets- never fails.

Spyder’s tight ringlets peek out of the blanket, and I smooth them away from her forehead. She stirs, but doesn’t wake as I touch her.

“Did she exhaust herself by crying?” I murmur to the kids.

“No,” Niel says softly. “After Dalton called, she settled d
own and fell asleep quickly.” 

“Good.” I tuck the blanket around her securely and pull back the corner. “Hop in, Ava,” I order, but try to take the edge of out of my voice. Her answ
ering smile says I managed it.

“I don’t hate you. I’ve had a few issues with your parents, but I do love them. Be good to my son and we’ll have no problems,” I warn. “You know how Niel gets whe
n a boy talks to Ella, right?”

She crawls between the blankets and I tuck her in, too. She shakes her head yes. I know she sees Niel for who he is and she’s seen a lot of his antics.

“That’s a brother to his sister; imagine a mother to her only son,” I gently murmur, at complete odds with the threat I delivered.

I don’t hate the girl- I fear her. She’s going to shred my son’s heart. I feel it. I’ve always trusted my intuition, and I’ve had a few premonition  I should’ve listened to, and this is one I’m not ignoring. She won’t do it to be malicious, but it’s going to happen. She’s too young, and he’s older and looking for something she isn’t ready for yet. They may eventually find their way back to each other, but I know it’s going to be a painful journey.

“Don’t hurt him too much,” I murmur in her ear and kiss her forehead. “It will break my heart, but I can never hate you. I care too much for my son to do that to him. I love your family as my own, and you’ll always in my family- no matter what.”

I kiss the blonde and black heads that peek out of the blanket. “Niel, say goodnight,” I order and step back to the doorway.

Marcus walks up and whispers to his granddaughter for a few moments before gazing in awe at his daughter and mine.

“I love having them in the same house with me,” he mumbles before his voice chokes up with strong emotions. He flees the room leaving Niel, Ava, and I to stare each other down.
I know they want me to leave so they can say ‘goodnight’ in their own way, but lips and sexy parts are off limits. I cross my arms over my breasts and wait them out.

Neil mutters something under his breath that sounds a lot like
it’s just an innocent kiss.
I arch a brow and his smirk tells me I heard him correctly.

“I’m not an idiot,” I say to the kids. “I know you break that rule- constantly. Get it over with. I won’t nark on you, but I won’t look away either.”

I give this allowance because I fear that if I don’t, he’ll sneak in here or she’ll sneak in to see him. An innocent kiss is a hell of a lot better than what two kids can do in a dark, private room.

Niel touches his sister one last time as if he’s making sure she’s still real. The years apart have caused him to be overprotective and neurotic towards Ella.

“G’night,” Niel says shyly, and in that moment I know that they’ve been good kids. He usually exudes swagger and cockiness, but he’s unsure with Ava. That tells me more than words ever could. Ava is the confident one of the two. He kisses her cheek, and then the corner of her mouth. Neil looks over his shoulder at me, and his green eyes plead for me to look away.

I don’t look at him; I look at the expression of Ava’s face. She cares for him, and she likes that he wants to touch her, but it’s not the soft, loving expression my son wears. I pretend I don’t see the hungry yearning that gazes out of eyes that are similar to mine. He’s a man- when in the hell did that happen?
I look down at my feet. He’s a man, and he can make this epic mistake. She’s going to fuck him alright, and not in the fun way.

I chance a quick glance as I leave the room so they can have some privacy. He’s kissing her like a man kisses his woman. Her fingers are twisted in his wiry, reddish-blond hair. It’s not a passionate kiss- thank God. I’m sure the moment I leave the room their mouths will open, but I’m no
t sticking around to find out.

“Ick…” I make a retching sound. “It should be cute, not creepy. My boy gave me a man look,” I cringe, and Marcus laughs at me.

“He’s being good,” Marc promises me. “His training isn’t so much training as talking. We talk about a lot of stuff. He kisses her and nothing else, but she always has other ideas,” he trails off and I see red.

“I don’t like those other ideas. It’s like I still see him as the twelve-year-old that showed up on my porch. I blinked and he’s almost an eighteen-year-old man. I was less than a year older than he is now when I had him. I just can’t wrap my mind around it.”
I shake my head in disbelief.

“I’m surprised you left them alone. I wouldn’t have. Hell, I’m holding myself back from going in there an
d kicking ass,” Marc grumbles.

“He gave me a man look,” I whisper again. “A man should say goodnight without his mommy looking on. I have to trust and respect him, or he won’t learn to trust and respect himself.”

“Niel’s correct, you are the best mom in the world,” he says with pride and affection.

“I suck,” I groan. “A mom wouldn’t allow what’s happening to happen. She’
s going to shatter his heart.”

“I know,” Marc says sadly. “But she’s young. He grew up in a different world and had to make adult decisions from the time he could talk. He’s a great young man, and he’ll be just as great as Whitt when he’s older. She’ll learn; she’s still a pup,” he teases.

“Mom,” Niel says in the voice that is so much like his father’s used to be that it clenches my heart. “Don’t worry.”

His pale skin is flushed, his green eyes glitter with mischief, and his lips are red and swollen from Ava. Hmm… it must have been one hell of a goodnight kiss.

“I know… Okay? I get it. I can see it too. She knows I’m in love with her. She’s my best friend and I’m hers. She doesn’t have to love me back yet. She will, though. I’ll spend my life making sure it happens.”

“Jesus, why can’t m
y kids just be kids,” I curse.

“Ella’s being a kid. I’m making sure of it. I wasn’t meant be one,” he says sadly, but without resentment.”

“I don’t want her to hurt you, and it’s like watching a train barreling towards your kid and you just have to watch it run over him.”

“I’ve spent the last six years watching you get run over repeatedly, and I couldn’t do a damned thing about it,” Niel says angrily with his fists clenching at his sides until his knuckles turn white. “But I know it will work out for me and Ava, eventually, because of you t
wo.” He points at me and Marc.

“It’s been eight years of your angst. I’m glad I didn’t have to witness the first two years. You get along, he runs, he comes back, you run, you take him back, he runs again… over and over I’ve watched you be sad and lonely. I watched as you pushed Dad away so he’d find Dalton. I’ve watched you love and support us all while you cried yourself to sleep. Our old house wasn’t soundproof, I know what you and Dad weren’t doing, and I heard you cry while he held you. It’s why I refuse to let Ella have a boyfriend. If they come to me respectfully and I like them, maybe- someday I’ll say yes. She won’t be hurt like you have been, and some of that pain is your own fault. If I can handle my mom’s love life, then a fifteen-year-old girl is nothing. Yeah, she’s going to crush me. I can feel it, she knows it, but eventually we will work it out. Hell, I might even hurt her too. But you two need to grow up and just be together.”

I stare gaped-mouthed at my child as he berates me for my tumultuous love life. Marcus is glowing bright-red and I wonder how much he’s talked about me to my son.

“A lot,” Niel answers my unspoken question. “Whitt wouldn’t keep tabs on you for him. I did. No one knows you better than I do, because we’re practically the same person. Now go make up, and make it stick this time. We need you together. Our lives are going to get worse, and we’ll need you to keep us strong.”

I scowl as Niel glares at me and not Marcus, like I’m the problem in the relationship.

“You are,” he answers my thoughts again and I flinch.
What the hell?

“Your face betrays your every thought,” he mutters. “You should fix
that sometime.”

“How is it my fault?” I whine.

“Talk to him,” he demands in the way only a child or man can pull off. He bulges his eyes out and stares me down. “Do it!”

He’s unsure with his girlfriend, but not with his mother. I will never understand my son, even if I were immortal and could spend lifetimes analyzing him.

I’m speechless. Niel laughs a laugh I’ve never heard pass his lips. It’s deep-chested and manly- a seductive rumble that shakes me. I close my eyes and ruminate over the fact that he really is a man- a big, burly, soft-hearted man… that scares the shit out of me.

“Night, Mom,” he says with a smile, and kisses my cheek. I growl at him, and he laughs
that intoxicating sound again.

“If your bedroom door opens for any reason, you won’t have to worry about Ezra kicking your ass. I’ll do it for him- I’ll even let him help
.” He shivers from the threat.

“Out of everyone, you’d be the one to do it,” he laughs again. “I’m staying in the twin’s room on an air mattress. Azriel would rat me out- she’d screech, and then I’d get my ass kicked. Her scream is louder than a police siren.”

“Have fun,” he teases and enters a room a few doors down. I smile when I see the plaque on the door. Whitt had a teddy bear, but what does the unholy union of three Masters give their children? -A skull and crossbones with an ‘enter at your own risk’ warning.

“Nice,” I snickers at Marcus.

“Cort bought that when they were at the projectile vomiting stage. The entire floor smelled of sour milk for weeks.” A revolted expression crosses his face and he shudders.

“Don’t you have a guestroom?” I look around quizzically noting the a
bsence of door in the hallway.

“This isn’t Whittenhower, Regina. It’s a big estate, but a quarter of the size you’re used to,” he says in amusement. “The rooms are big, and an entire wing is for Diane and her sister’s family when they visit. Current events will mean that the Hastings won’t be visiting for a while. Divina hasn’t returned since she and Cort divorced. It’s been tense around here,” he grumbles a
s he leads me a few door down.

“Twins- The kids’ room- Guest room- housekeeper-Aaron and Kayla-” he calls out as we pass the doors. “Mine,” he says grandly and opens the double doors at the end of the hall. “We have four guestrooms, but I wanted everyone together for safety. Plus I don’t trust the children not to make a baby of
their own tonight,” he taunts.

“
Ugh- don’t go there,” I groan.

“Just kidding,” he chuckles. “They’re still innocent, but even still, Katya takes Ava to get the shot. Acciden
ts happen,” he says ominously.