“Okay.”
Tom breathed a sigh of relief when the taxi pulled into their driveway. He paid the driver, gathered his bags, and slowly limped to the front door.
Once inside, he booted his laptop and let it start up while he crawled into a hot shower to help loosen his sore and stiff muscles.
It wasn’t until after he was out of his shower and dressed again that he called Nevvie. “Hey, baby girl. I’m at the house. Is Tyler still alive?”
“You are not going to believe this shit,” she said by way of greeting. “Guess what was waiting for me when I got back. Just guess. Go on, you’ll never guess.”
He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, a tension headache threatening. “I don’t want to guess. Just tell me.”
“No, you have to guess. Just guess! You’ll never freaking guess.”
From the sound of her voice, he knew it had to be a whopper. “Baby girl, please. Just tell me.”
“A freaking puppy.”
Tom’s eyes popped open. He was certain he’d misheard her. “Say again?”
“You heard me. Adam somehow kept a puppy hidden from us for two freaking days. He picked it up in Sturgis from a girl giving puppies away.”
“A puppy?”
“A freaking puppy.”
“In Sturgis?”
“In freaking Sturgis.”
Tom let that sink in. “We’re talking a real freaking puppy and not a stuffed animal puppy?”
“Do you honestly think I’d be reacting like this over a freaking stuffed animal?”
“Crap. What the hell are you going to do with it?”
“Tyler already promised Adam he could keep it, and he’d already taken Harley to the vet by the time I got back.”
“Harley?”
“The puppy.”
“Right.” He sat down at his desk and logged in to his laptop. “The freaking puppy. Of course.” He pulled up the National Hurricane Center’s webpage. “Shit.”
“Exactly!”
“No, baby girl. Sorry. I just looked at the storm track again.”
“Oh. How bad?”
He stared at the cone heading straight toward Tampa Bay. He knew from experience it likely wouldn’t be the final word on the storm’s destination, but it still looked disconcerting. “It’s a Cat 1, expected to grow to a Cat 2 by tomorrow night.” He leaned back in his chair. “I need to head to the hospital.”
“How is Pete?”
“I talked to Eddie when I landed. He’s still in ICU, and it’s wait and see.”
“Give them a hug for me.”
“I will. And smack Tyler’s ass for me.”
She laughed. “I will. Here he is.”
She handed the phone over. Tyler came on the line. “Hello, love.”
“Ty,” he said in a warning tone, “when you screw up, you sure as hell do it right, doncha? Don’t forget I’m not there to protect you from her. What did you do?”
“I didn’t do it,” he insisted. “Our son is apparently even more precocious than we could have imagined.”
“Why did you tell him he could keep it without talking to us first? I won’t blame Nevvie if she takes your nuts off.”
“What was I to do? I couldn’t abandon the little thing now, could I? Adam knows he’s in a lot of trouble. But I couldn’t make the puppy pay for Adam’s mistake. Let’s be honest, we have talked about getting a dog before.”
Tom sighed and scrubbed his face with his free hand. “He better be in trouble. This is ridiculous. How could he have hidden it from us for two days?”
“It’s a long story. How’s your leg?”
“Hurts like a sonofabitch. Quit changing the subject.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You were. Let me talk to Adam.”
“All right. Love you.”
“Love you, too. Hand the phone to Adam.”
A moment later, Adam’s voice came on the line, sounding tentative. Tom had to struggle not to laugh.
“Hello, Poppa.”
“Son, what did you do?”
“I’m sorry, Poppa.”
“You’d better be sure you’re helping Mommy and Daddy and Grandpa out with chores.”
His son’s voice lightened. “I am, Poppa. I’ve been walking Harley and cleaning up his poop. I promise I’ll take care of him.”
Tom knew how that would likely end up. Then again, this was Adam they were talking about. It was spooky how much like Tyler he was. Maybe he would stick with it. “You’d better take care of him. Puppies are a lot of hard work.”
“I know, Poppa.”
“And when we get home, we’re going to enroll him in puppy classes and you’ll take him. And you’ll need to do chores at home to pay us back the money for the classes.”
“I will, Poppa. I promise.”
He couldn’t help but smile over how happy Adam sounded. He felt bad for Nevvie having to deal with this extra aggravation, but he had to admit he’d been wanting a dog for a while. “Good boy. Put Mommy back on the phone.”
“Bye, Poppa. Love you.”
“Love you too, son.”
After a moment, Nevvie came back on the line. “Can I kill Tyler?” she muttered, apparently trying to keep her voice low enough for the boys not to hear her.
He laughed. “No, baby girl. Please don’t do that. Try to hang in there.”
“I can come back to Florida. Turn around and come home. Please, if you need me there, tell me.”
“Nevvie, I will, I promise. Once I see what’s going on, I’ll let you know. But otherwise, promise me you’ll stay there and have fun and not kill Tyler.”
She laughed. “Okay. I promise.”
“You can’t do anything anyway. Worry there or worry here, you might as well be there and having fun with the kids. Seriously. It’ll be all right.”
“I know.”
“Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
He hung up and stared at the phone for a minute before getting up and hunting down his car keys so he could drive to the hospital. There was a cloth grocery bag full of mail on their counter, where Eddie had left it.
He just wished he believed it would be all right.
* * * *
Nevvie and Tyler were preparing to go to dinner when Tom called with the update. After speaking to him, they drove from the campground to the main part of town and ate at the Mammoth Hotel Dining Room, a ritzy-ish restaurant in a historic building. Despite the atmosphere and menu, many of the guests were dressed more for hiking casual than they were fine dining. Which was okay with Nevvie, because she was in jeans, sneakers, and a collared short-sleeved shirt with a fleece jacket on over it because of the chilly evening air.
“I’d like wine, too, Tyler,” she said as she looked at the menu.
He smiled. “A glass?”
She snorted. “Not quite. After today, I want the whole friggin’ bottle.”
Dinner was delicious. Between the relaxed mood and the wine, Nevvie mellowed out and forced herself to push worry to the side. They couldn’t do anything about Eddie. Tom would handle things, and he promised to let her know if she needed to come back to Florida sooner.
And she had promised to enjoy herself.
* * * *
Back at the RV, both of the kids were asleep. Andrew wore a pair of noise-cancelling headphones and was watching a DVD on a laptop. They bid him good-night. Nevvie grabbed Tyler’s hand and dragged him back to their bedroom.
“Come here, you,” she whispered as she hooked an arm around his neck and fell back onto the bed.
He lost his balance and fell forward onto her. “You’re more than a little tipsy, love. You realize that, don’t you?”
“I’m fucking drunk off my ass, Ty,” she said with a grin. “That’s why I wanted the whole bottle of wine. Duh.”
He smiled and kissed her. “Are you sure you want me taking advantage of you like this?”
“Why, do you have a better suggestion? I don’t thi
nk we should get naked outside.”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
She started fumbling at the buttons on his shirt. “I want you to fuck me, Ty,” she whispered. “I want you to fuck me hard. I’ll be quiet.” She giggled. “Well, maybe you’ll have to gag me.” She opened her mouth wide.
He sat up, laughing and pushing her hands away so he could unbutton his shirt. “Love, I do believe you’re propositioning me.”
“Again, duh.” She pulled off her fleece jacket and dropped it to the floor, followed by her shirt and her bra. “Have at me, Evil Genius.” She tried to unbutton her jeans, but her fingers had forgotten how to unhook her belt.
He noticed and laughed. “Here, let me help you, my sweet little sot.”
“I’m not a sot.” She giggled. “Hey, that rhymes.”
“Yes. So do ‘fuck’ and ‘suck,’ which is what I’m about to do to your delicious pussy.
“My pussy-wussy.”
“You are drunk, aren’t you?” Tyler hadn’t had anything but water and iced tea at dinner since he drove them.
She blew him a raspberry. “I’m a drunk…cunt.”
“That doesn’t rhyme, love.” He pulled her jeans and underwear down and off her legs. He knelt at the end of the bed and pushed her thighs apart. “But I’m going to do things to take away your power of speech, so it doesn’t matter.” He grabbed her behind the knees and pulled her down to the edge of the bed, where he draped her legs over his shoulders.
She reached over her head and grabbed one of their pillows just in time to slam it down over her face. Tyler wrapped his lips around her clit and sucked, hard, immediately setting off an explosion inside her and making her cry out. Before she could catch her breath, he fucked her with his tongue, traveled down to her ass and back up again to her clit, where he nipped her.
She screamed into the pillow again, electric heat shooting through her body. She tried to squirm free from his skilled mouth, but he dug his fingers in and held on tight, working her body up and down the climactic scale from slow boil to mega-eruption until she could barely breathe.
He stood, his cock jutting away from his body and pearly drops of pre-cum dripping from the slit. “Do you want me to fuck you, love, or make you suck my cock?”
Her body melted. He knew she loved him taking charge like this. “Uh-huh!”
He smiled. “Which, or I shall choose.”
As she was trying to force her brain to remember how to properly pronounce the English language, he flipped her over onto her stomach and drove his cock deep inside her pussy. He pressed her into the mattress with his weight and grabbed her hair.
“You waited too long, love,” he whispered.
She mewed with need as his cock bottomed out inside her. He pounded her, hard and fast. She fisted the sheets and buried her face into the pillow again to stifle her moans. Then he reached under her and found her clit.
Nevvie’s body unhinged. She loved coming like this, totally possessed and helpless and unable to do anything but lie there and be used by her men.
“That’s my good girl,” Tyler grunted before he grabbed her hips again and took three final, hard thrusts. He collapsed on top of her, panting and trying to catch his breath.
Nevvie reached for and found one of his hands and laced her fingers through his. When he squeezed her hand in return, she felt her heart leap.
“I love you, Ty.”
He kissed the back of her neck. “I love you, too, love. But really? Pussy-wussy?”
She laughed. “Told you I was drunk.”
He rolled off her and propped himself up on one elbow. “My dear, you are so cute when you’re besotted.” He gently kissed her and pulled her into his arms.
She was glad for the dim light. It concealed the scar on his chest from her view. With his heart beating comfortingly in her ear, she let sleep wash over her.
Chapter Twelve
The next morning, Nevvie suffered from a mild hangover and a pleasantly aching pussy. Fortunately, Tyler had awoken before her and already had the coffee going. He handed her a steaming mug, prepared perfectly, and two ibuprofen.
“Here, love.”
She forced a wan smile. “Thanks,” she whispered. She took the tablets and washed them down. “What time is it?”
“Eight. The boys are outside with Dad walking Harley,” he said. “I already talked to Tom this morning. Pete is in the ICU, but his vitals are strong and everything looks good.”
She started shaking. She didn’t realize she was until Tyler’s hands closed around hers. He took the mug from her and set it on the shelf above the bed before he sat next to her and pulled her into his lap.
The sobs wracked her body. “I was so worried about Pete,” she finally sniffled out. “I was so worried he was going to die and we weren’t there for Eddie when they were there for me every second with you and Tommy.”
“Shh, love. It’s all right. I spoke to Eddie, and he actually sounded quite chipper. Definitely better than yesterday. He assured me we don’t need to return.”
“I feel so guilty we’re not there for them.”
He made her look at him. “Love, I’ve known Pete and Eddie a good number of years longer than you have. Believe me when I say it’s fine. Truly.”
“You’re sure?”
He nodded. “Positively.”
She finally got herself together and sat up. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
“Well, I believe you’re going to want a shower. I’ve already fed the boys. Would you like me to make you some toast or a bagel?”
Her stomach lurched. “Dry toast, please.”
“Aces.” He kissed her before disentangling himself from her and standing. He handed her mug of coffee back to her. “We could explore the terraces while we’re here. And there’s a museum here as well.”
She nodded. “Museum first?”
He smiled. “Yes.”
“I might not do the terraces. I might just come back here and stay with the puppy.”
“Whatever you’d like, love.”
She sipped her coffee. He was trying so hard. His heart was always in the right place. “I’m sorry I got so snappy yesterday, Ty. He fooled me and Tommy and Dad, too. It wasn’t your fault. And I probably would have let him keep it, too.”
“It’s all right, love.” He knelt in front of her. “I know you’re under a lot of stress. We’ll be able to relax tomorrow before we start exploring the other parts of the park. Or if you decide you want to stay at the RV, I’ll take everyone with me and leave you alone.”
“With Harley.” She smiled.
He grinned. “He is going to give us fits when he’s older, isn’t he?”
“The puppy or Adam?”
“Adam. And the puppy as well, I should suspect.” He patted her on the leg before standing. “I’ll get your toast ready.”
* * * *
It didn’t take Nevvie as long as she thought it might to get her stomach and headache under control. They left the AC running and Harley secured in his crate and went to explore the town. By the time they returned an hour later to check on the puppy and drop off their bagsful of souvenirs, including a lot of books about the park for both Adam and Tyler and a new Yellowstone Association membership that got them a discount on most everything they’d bought at the gift shop, Nevvie would admit to feeling something akin to normal.
Well, she wasn’t feeling sick anymore, she wasn’t feeling homicidal toward Tyler—anymore—and she wasn’t feeling utterly morose about Pete’s condition once she’d talked to Tom herself and confirmed that, yes, Pete did appear to be on the mend.
She could relax.
She let Tyler drive them over to the terraces, where they spent over an hour wandering around the boardwalks, exploring the thermal features, and keeping a close eye on Adam. Tyler carried Mikey in the backpack. Adam was very careful with his digital camera and painstakingly made sure to take pictures of everyone else together. “I want to e-mail
them to Poppa,” he said with a serious expression on his face.
She hugged him. “Despite the puppy incident, you’re a good kid.”
He smiled. “You’re not mad anymore, Momma?”
She laughed. “No, I’m not mad, baby. But you cannot ever do anything like that again. Understand?”
“Yes, Momma.”
They returned to the RV. Tyler helped Nevvie prep it to move, and by noon, they were on their way east along Grand Loop Road. They stopped at Canyon for lunch and to tour the Canyon Visitor Education Center, which featured a three-dimensional model of Yellowstone’s topography, including multimedia exhibits about the supervolcano under the park.
Nevvie wasn’t sure if Tyler or Adam was more fascinated by the exhibit.
After hitting the gift shop, they returned to the RV. Nevvie was pleased to find they had a dump station for RVs at the filling station in Canyon.
“Tyler, go ahead and top off the Honda’s gas tank. I’m going to empty the dump tank.” The RV’s diesel tank still had plenty of fuel, and they would have an electrical hookup in the campground anyway.
“All right, love.”
She pulled into a line to get to the dump station. There were three RVs ahead of her. By the time it was her turn, Tyler had returned from filling up the Honda’s gas tank.
“Would you like help, love?”
She sighed. “Sure. Guide me up there.” He stood in place and waved her up onto the dump tank, raising his hand when she was in position. Andrew watched the kids while she went back outside and opened the hatch covering the dump tank valve.
Tyler walked around to join her. “What can I do, love?”
She pulled a pair of blue nitrile gloves out of the box she and Tom kept stowed in the hatch for this and handed them to Tyler. “I’ll let you know when to open the valve. When I say okay, hit it. Okay?”
He pulled on the gloves while she pulled on her own pair. “Aces, love.” He turned to the control panel and put his hand on the valve handle.
She grabbed the dump hose and hooked one end of it up to the outlet valve on the RV. Then she pulled the other end of the hose over toward the dump hatch and paused to read the instruction sign there. “Okay, Ty. Get read—”