Watch What Burns (9 page)

AUSTIN stood in the doorway to her daughter’s room, listening to Tyler read her a story. It had been hours since getting back from Point Arena Cove and Grace was still very much awake. As she listened, her heart blossomed more and more. She loved the way Tyler read to Grace, how he applied so much attention to her, how he devoted himself to her.

After confessing to Robert’s behavior, Tyler had vowed to play it cool until he saw him. Then he promised that Robert would not see it coming. At first, Austin was panicky over what that meant for their family, but Dean had stepped up, along with Tom and Danny, to make sure that not only were her and Grace well protected, but that Tyler did nothing stupid.

She said nothing, she was a silent watcher to this private moment between father and daughter, but as
always, it didn’t last long. Tyler was so in tune with her that she knew he noticed her practically the moment she reached the top of the stairs. He had just given her a moment to watch and enjoy.

“I think mommy’s come for a bedtime story,” Tyler joked, looking at Austin, while he leaned in towards his daughter.

Grace’s head shot up, the smile on her face electrifying at the sight of her mother at the door. “Mommy! Come and read with us! Daddy does the voices!”

“I know, and he does the voices right,” Austin spoke mirthfully. “Who do you think taught him?” she asked and gave her daughter a wink, listening to her giggle in response.

“Hey now, Baby, no underestimating me in front of my princess,” Tyler defended himself. “I knew how to do voices just right.”

Austin giggled. “Course you did.” She smiled as she watched Tyler pout a little, but she let him have his fun. She remembered when they first read Grace
books and how she prompted him the play to parts, and how to get into character. She loved him back in those days, when fatherhood both terrified him and thrilled him in one easy shot. Now he was a natural. The training wheels were off, and he was a perfect father. “I’m just coming to say goodnight to you, Sweetheart,” Austin said, kissing her daughter’s head. “I need a shower and you need to go to sleep.”

“I’m not sleepy,” Grace defied her mother in a manner that reminded her strongly of Tyler. “I
wanna make cookies!”

“Cookies do sound good,” Tyler added in, awarding himself with a death glare from his wife. “What? Cookies do!”

Rolling her eyes, Austin stood her ground, “I promise millions of cookies tomorrow. For you both. For tonight, it’s bedtime, Gracie.” She watched as Grace began to pout at her and she shook her head, “It’s tomorrow or never, Sweetie.”

“Okay, mommy,” Grace relented easily, giving an impromptu yawn.

“Good girl,” Austin applauded her daughter. “Now let daddy finish the book and get some sleep so you can dream of all those cookies.” She leaned in, kissed her daughter’s forehead once more then stood up and leaned in to kiss her husband. “I’ll see you in the morning, baby,” Austin murmured softly to Grace as she tucked her in a little.

“Love you, mama,” Grace told her back, snuggling in a little more against her father.

“Love you to the stars and back,” Austin whispered, and left the two of them. It was moments like this that made her heart skip a beat and made her grateful for the world she had found after the devastation she was left with.

“Hey, babe,” Tyler said, following her, grabbing her arm to prevent her leaving entirely. “Are you okay? I know I asked earlier, but I know you’re not quite right. All of this stuff with Robert, I hate that you couldn’t talk to me.”

“I was stupid,” Austin admitted solemnly, but looked at her husband. “You know now, and I’m just thankful you didn’t make me sleep on the couch or something,” she joked, trying to loosen the tension. “All I ever do is try to keep the peace.”

“I know, but no more secrets between us now, okay?” he asked her and watched her nod her head to him. “We will sort this. I refuse to let him, or his daughter, have any dictatorship in our life. They are
not a part of our lives and I won’t cow tail and let him. I’ll make sure his life’s a living hell.”

“Hey now,” Austin whispered back at him, placing her hand to his chest as she stepped forward. “Don’t talk like that. We aren’t out for revenge. We just want the quiet life and I know we’ll get it.”

“We worked too hard for it,” Tyler told her, calming at just the feel of her touch and the sound of her words.

She smiled at him. “Go back to our baby.” She reached up to kiss him, her feet lifting to give her the added height and then she dropped down, his arms circling around her as she did so. She lavished the feel and began to pull away from him.

“You sure you’re going to be okay?” Tyler asked, halting her all over again.

“I will be,” she told him honestly, knowing that in the morning everything would look different. It wouldn’t be so fresh and raw. She’d be more objective at looking into it. “I’m going for a shower,” she whispered to her husband. “I won’t be long.”

“I’ll be in there waiting,” Tyler told her, kissing her chastely before going back into his daughter to tuck her in himself. He gave her the nightly ritual of teasing her, before dropping a goodnight kiss to her forehead and then leaving her in her dimly lit room, the door being left barely open.

Walking up the hallway he could hear Austin’s soft hums as she disappeared off into the bathroom, the door shutting softly behind her. Even behind the wooden frame, he could hear her singing gently to herself, the only thing that stopped it was the sound of her running the water.

Slumping onto the end of the bed, Tyler sat with his hands clasped over his lap, his legs spread as he leaned forward thoughtfully. He wanted so much to go and sort this mess out, but he had no energy. He was spent after watching his wife burn through a tremendous amount of emotions, and now he wanted to hold her in his arms as she slept, as if there were no threats at all in their lives. He wanted to wake up and Natasha still be locked away and forgotten for the most part, but he knew that would not happen easily.

He thought Natasha was the only threat posed to them, but now Robert was stepping up out of the shadows after three years. His inner cop screamed at him that there was something bigger ahead of them. Why else would they both suddenly strike up attention on himself and Austin? The nerves in him
began to come alive, but he couldn’t let them run his life. He wouldn’t allow them.

“Hey husband of mine,” Austin called out as she stood in the doorway to their en suite bathroom. She had given him a moment or two to himself before she stepped out. She waited for him to look up before she broke her expression into a seductive smirk. Austin stood before her husband, his eyes roaming across her scantily dressed body. Even knowing his gaze would soon wander over her scars, she didn’t care. Tyler loved her - scars and all. In public she might feel herself become nervous under the scathingly watchful eyes of strangers, but here, in her home, she was nothing more than the sexy wife and loving mother.

“Wow,” Tyler breathed, the tension leaving his body. “I don’t think I praise you enough, woman.”

Apparently his wife was full of surprises. Not only did she stop the scars from spoiling her libido and sexuality, she didn’t even let the likes of Natasha and Robert
spoil her day entirely.

Stepping towards him, Austin straddled his lap, her arms lacing around the back of his neck to brace her body as his hands ran over her hips. “You praise me more than enough, Ty. I only ever feel perfect with you,” she admitted, her tone low and husky, the
emotions becoming unbidden. “After today, I felt you needed this treat.”

“I was going to do the same,” Tyler muttered at her, his eyes coursing over her as much as they could. He lifted his gaze to hers and grinned like a Cheshire cat. “I was going to join you in the shower. Take you against the tiles.”

“Mm, is that still an offer?” she asked him devilishly.

“Is that a trick question?” Tyler quizzed her back, a seductive smirk marking his face.

“Never,” she giggled playfully at him. “But I mean you missed out on nookie in the cove earlier, and this wife will never, ever let her man down. So, I like the shower offer,” She then pushed against him, forcing him to lay against the mattress. She then followed him, leaning down onto him, beginning to unfasten the buttons on his shirt. As the material fell apart, her fingertips traced over his ripped abs. Still, all these years on, he was perfection stowed away just for her, and her alone, to enjoy.

“This isn’t the shower,” he stated to her, his voice taunt with desire.

“No,” she purred at him. “This is foreplay.” She leaned in, kissing his bare chest, feeling the goose bumps that had spread across his skin. Suddenly she rose a little, looking up at Tyler without moving too far. “Gracie’s definitely down for the count, yeah?”

“Oh yeah,” Tyler nodded, not wanting to stop this moment. “When I went back in she was out like a light. Apparently she didn’t need daddy or a book; she needed her mother to kiss her goodnight.”

“As always,” Austin teased her husband playfully and resumed kissing him, moving up his body inch by glorious inch. She grinned against his skin as his hand came around her back and unclasped her bra. How she loved her husband and his ability to undo her bra one handed. She helped him pull it off, while she worked the rest of the buttons of his shirt and split the material apart. She sat up a little, looking down at him with a new aura of prowess, “Meet me in the shower?”

“I’ll be right behind you,” he replied to her, releasing her enough for her to climb from his lap and leave him to sit up and watch her walk away, her body full of sensuality. She gave him a quick look over her shoulder before disappearing.

Running a hand over the back of his neck, Tyler shrugged his shirt off, discarding it across the room before standing to undo his belt buckle and unzip his jeans. He allowed the material to fall down his legs, pooling at his ankles. He stepped out of them, pushing his boxers down and following his wife’s foot steps into the bathroom.

Walking in, the sight before him was heavenly. Austin stood under the shower, already running her hands over her hair to push the water through it. He wasted no more time and approached her. The moment he stepped into the shower with Austin, he turned her around and pushed her to the wall, kissing her heatedly. He ran his hands down her body, ignorant of her scars, and cupped her ass in his hands to lift
her a little. Pressed against the tiles, Austin looked to Tyler, his eyes alive and wild. Once he finished kissing her, he released her ass and she allowed him to bring her hands above her head, pinning her to the wall and her breathing became staccato. She knew what was coming, and she knew it was going to be blissful, but the anticipation was burning across her like a wild fire. Again, Tyler elicited an explosive kiss upon his wife’s lips, heightening the moment between them.

“With Gracie, we have no idea how long we’ve got,” he whispered at her, pulling away minimally. He knew their daughter’s uncanny ability to burst into the room. “I’m going to make this quick and take you to bed.”

Just nodding at him, Austin steadied herself as he finally let her hands go and he kept her trapped between the wall and his aching body. She felt his hands race across her skin, sensitizing her until he hit her clitoris, sending her into a blissful spiral.

“Always ready,” Tyler grinned at her.
“Every single time.”

Austin remained silent, her eyes twinkling at him with the unspoken words.

Tyler pushed her further against the wall as he thrust into her, filling her entirely. He heard her lustful gasp as her head fell back, the noise just audible over the rain of water shrouding down on them both. He slowly withdrew, giving her optimal pleasure before hitting her hard with his force.

Austin didn’t care if she left marks; his rhythm had her grasping his back, digging her nails into his back and shoulders. She could feel her orgasm building, her
body readying for the pleasurable drop and she could feel her will shattering.

Throwing her head back further, her breathing became broken under the pressure, she felt herself peak, her body bucked a little as she hit that orgasmic level and her body clenched around Tyler’s penis. She felt him continue to plunge into her hot core until his own body hit climax and he came in her. He kept her pinned against the wall as his body let loose and began the fall from grace.

Slumping against her husband, she kissed his chest. She hadn’t known she had needed that sort of release until he had taken her in his control and given into her. She felt like he was almost staking claim on who he loved and who he wanted. Like she needed to be told the one unspoken truth she already knew.

“Come on,” he suddenly spoke up, his voice hoarse. He took her hand, turning the water off before pushing the door to the shower open so they could step out.

Tyler didn’t care about himself, he dried Austin’s body with the towel, making sure he covered every inch of her, calming his speed when he reached her burns. “These make you so much more beautiful,” he told her gently, only looking at her as she remained silent for a moment. He lifted his hand to her face, cupping her jaw line so she continued to look at him. “They show me you’re a fighter, that even with those you’re perfect in every way possible. It doesn’t matter to me at all.”