Oxygen Deprived (Kilgore Fire Book 3) Read online

Page 5


  I hit her hard, and her body slammed to the floor under mine.

  Almost instantly, I was up and off her, rolling her around, back-to-front, again and again.

  “Shit!” Downy said, dropping down to his knees beside us.

  I moved completely off of Aspen, rolling her over so I could see her face.

  “You okay?” I asked her.

  She nodded, dazed, her head the only thing that moved.

  “You’re sure?” I asked.

  She nodded again.

  “Can you breathe?” Downy asked laughingly, poking Aspen in the side. “He took you down like a linebacker does a quarterback.”

  “You suck,” she replied through a wheeze, rolling over to stomach, then getting her knees under her.

  The sweater was a goner.

  Her ass, though, looked to be perfectly fine.

  Very fucking fine.

  I licked my lips as the leggings she was wearing stretched tight over her ass as she pushed up to her hands and got to her feet.

  I got up right after she did, watching to see if she’d fall or not.

  Once I was sure she wouldn’t, I moved over to the oven, closing the door and turning off the burners, before I turned and left the room.

  I got firewood from the front porch, stacked ten pieces next to the fireplace, and then went about starting a fire.

  I had to laugh when I pulled out a box of paper plates, cups, and napkins that were being stored in the fireplace.

  Then laughed even harder when I pulled out what appeared to be a teddy bear.

  Once everything was safely removed, I turned the gas on and lit a paper plate, thrusting it into the fire.

  As the paper burned, igniting the wood, a fire was roaring quickly.

  “Where’d all that come from?” Aspen asked, pointing at all the stuff I’d removed from the fireplace.

  “That looks like Lock’s,” Downy pointed to the now very dirty bear before stooping down to pick it up. “I left your groceries on the front porch.”

  Aspen smiled, and we both watched as he stomped out of the house, Mocha hot on his heels.

  We both looked at each other.

  “You want to stay for dinner?” She asked softly.

  I studied her face, as well as the hands she hadn’t stopped ringing since I’d gotten there.

  “What are you cooking?” I teased.

  It’d take some near excellent cooking to get me to stay.

  I was fucking tired, and the only thing that might keep me up longer than twenty minutes was a good, hot meal.

  “I can make anything in the freezers.” She offered.

  I looked at the fire behind us, then back at her face.

  “Okay,” I said.

  “Great!” She cried excitedly. “Do you want baked chicken or taco soup?”

  “Chicken,” I replied instantly.

  She grinned, then walked around the door and hurried into the kitchen, her sweater gone.

  “You might want to change your shirt!” I yelled at her, just now realizing that it had a sizable hole.

  Her horrified gasp had me smiling, but it was her anger at having her most ‘favorite shirt ever’ ruined that had me laughing.

  “Shut up!” She cried loudly. “They don’t make these anymore!”

  I rolled my eyes, tossing another piece of wood onto the fire before I picked up one of the blankets Downy had tossed back onto the couch and followed her.

  I studied her kitchen as I waited for her to return.

  It was on the newer side of old, but, like my place, it was definitely in need of some tender, loving care.

  Aspen came back into the room, a look of sheer annoyance on her face as she practically waddled into the room, a heavy winter cloak covering her body from mid-thigh up.

  “You want this?” I asked her once she came back in the kitchen.

  She looked at me, held up her hands, and gestured to the blanket.

  “What, you don’t like this?” She indicated the jacket.

  I grinned, then studied it.

  “It looks like one of those jackets you get at the Ice Place in Dallas,” I said. “Did you steal it?”

  She shook her head.

  “No,” she said. “Not… exactly.”

  I snorted.

  “They had those out at Disney on Ice. And they make you pay for it if you don’t give it back,” I said.

  “That’s true,” she said. “But I stole it from the ex. He bought it for his ex, but he never gave it to her.”

  I snorted.

  “That’s a lie,” I said. “He probably just didn’t want to hear you bitching about wearing another girl’s clothes.”

  She pursed her lips, then shook her head.

  “I’m not contemplating that right now,” she ignored me. “Now move over so I can get into the freezer.”

  I moved, leaning my hips against the counter, unfolding the blanket.

  Once I’d wrapped it around myself, I watched as she practically disappeared into the large deep freezer.

  “When I got on house arrest,” she chattered. “Naomi brought me a shit ton of meat and staples,” she said from somewhere deep in the freezer. She emerged long moments later with her hands full of foil pans. “And I sat down and made a shit ton of freezer meals.”

  “That’s convenient,” I murmured.

  My cell phone vibrated, and I pulled it out without looking at the display.

  “Hey do you want…” I held up my finger and then put the phone to my ear.

  “Hello?” I answered.

  “Who was that?” My daughter asked rudely.

  I rolled my eyes to the ceiling and raised my hand so I could pinch the bridge of my nose.

  “That would be my neighbor,” I said. “How are you, baby?”

  “There isn’t any school tomorrow, and I was wondering if you could give me a ride to the mall,” Attie said snottily.

  I looked out the kitchen window, saw that the snow was still coming down, and promptly said, “No.”

  “Why not?” She challenged.

  “Because you don’t need to be going out in this. Nobody knows how to drive in it, and I don’t see any reason to risk your life so you can go shop at the mall.”

  “Mom said I could,” Attie snapped.

  “Well, your mom,” I said patiently. “Doesn’t work in the emergency services field. She’s a checker at the grocery store two doors down from your house. She doesn’t see what I see when the roads get bad and people unnecessarily travel on them.”

  My daughter, my sweet baby girl, had developed a deep seated hate for me, and I didn’t know why.

  And this rude, mean thing wasn’t my kid.

  This was Constance’s doing.

  Constance was a pain in my fucking ass, as well as being very high maintenance. She also had that poor, pitiful me attitude.

  There were times, like right now, that I wanted to point to this person she’d turned our daughter into so I could show her how stupid she was.

  Still is.

  When I’d been there, Attie had been a wonderful, sweet, caring little girl.

  Now she was…whatever the hell she was.

  Annoying was what I liked to call it.

  “I hate you,” Attie promptly hung up.

  “Well, that went well,” I muttered darkly.

  I looked up to find Aspen’s eyes on me.

  They didn’t look sad or even sympathetic. They looked almost aggravated. Angry.

  “Was that your ex?” She asked.

  I shook my head.

  “No,” I pushed my phone back into my pocket. “That was my daughter.”

  “Your daughter said she hated you?” She gasped.

  “Yep.”

  Chapter 7

  To really get to know a person, you should get them to use a computer with dial-up internet to get a good judge on their character.

 
; -Aspen’s secret thoughts

  Aspen

  Dinner had been nice.

  I’d burned it a little bit, but as long as you didn’t scoop too deep, it was fine.

  What wasn’t fine, however, was the way Drew was still…sad.

  He looked almost defeated since his daughter had phoned.

  “Do you want to play cards?” I wiggled my brows.

  He looked at me strangely.

  “What kind?” He held out his hand.

  I handed him the deck, and he grinned at the picture of my cat that was on the front of it.

  “Those are cute,” he grinned.

  I nodded.

  “They are. I got them for free,” I informed him. “I’m a product tester. My blog is a women’s lifestyle blog. I discuss everything from romance novels to consumer products aimed at women. I have a pretty large following, and I kind of got into product testing, now, too.”

  “Like what?” He wondered. “What was the weirdest thing you ever tested?”

  I pursed my lips.

  “I get weird things all the time,” I pursed my lips. “But the most recent one was this little device that allows women to pee standing up.”

  His mouth twitched.

  “How’d that work out?” He wanted to know.

  I shrugged.

  “I read some previous reviews, luckily, and tried mine out in the shower the first time. However, the first time I tried to use it while wearing pants, I ended up peeing all over myself,” I admitted. “Which was one of the things I mentioned in my review.”

  “Do you still use it?” He asked, shuffling the cards loudly.

  I shook my head. “No,” I admitted. “I don’t have much use for it. I’ve never gone anywhere that didn’t have a restroom.”

  “Never?” He asked.

  I shook my head. “Never.”

  “Not hunting?” He wondered.

  Another shake of my head.

  “Nope,” I said. “Dad was a little busy with his empire, and I didn’t rate on his scale of people that he wanted to spend time with.”

  “When’s the day you get out of your prison?” He indicated the walls of my house.

  “I have two more months before they’ll review my case for early release. It’s kind of like being on a probationary period for probation,” I sighed. “Then I get re-evaluated, and if I’m a good girl, I might get released. I was told that early release rarely ever happens, though. So it’s likely that I will have five more months.”

  I nodded. “I sometimes want to put one of those on my daughter.”

  I shot him a look.

  “Don’t,” I blurted. “This is the best time of her life and she doesn’t even realize it. She’ll forever have these memories to fall back on…to wish that this time in her life was still her present instead of her past.” I continued. “When I was sixteen, I had the best of all worlds. My brothers loved me. My parents loved me. I was sheltered from everything that could ever do me harm. All my bills were paid, and the only thing I had to worry about was what to wear to school the next day that would make my boyfriend want to kiss me.”

  He shuddered. “I don’t want to think about my daughter kissing anyone.”

  I laughed.

  “You know she’s most likely already done that, if not even more,” I observed dryly.

  He shot me a look.

  “Take it back,” he ordered.

  I laughed at him.

  “You’re deluding yourself if you think those thoughts haven’t crossed her mind,” I teased.

  “She’s fifteen!” He boomed furiously. “She shouldn’t be having those kinds of thoughts.”

  “I thought you said she was sixteen,” I challenged him.

  “She isn’t…yet. She will be in six days,” he muttered under his breath.

  “So she’s sixteen,” I told him. “And she’s not just going to randomly sleep with guys. If she’s anything like most sixteen-year olds, she’ll have her first sexual experience, realize it’s not as great as it was made out to be, then never really think about it again.”

  He shot me a dirty look, knowing I was lying.

  I held my hands up in peace.

  He then quickly changed the subject…sort of.

  “So you’re telling me your real first experience was that horrible?” He asked carefully.

  I grimaced.

  “Yes,” I said, nodding my head for emphasis. “It was so horrible, in fact, that I cried for nearly four hours afterward.”

  “Why?” He pushed, stretching his legs out in front of him in front of the fire.

  The move put his arm along the back of the couch where my shoulders rested, and I felt a shiver run up my spine when his hot skin brushed the skin of my neck.

  “The usual, I guess,” I shrugged. “I was a virgin. He was big and didn’t care that I was inexperienced. He pretty much used me.”

  He grumbled something under his breath.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I said not everyone with a big cock acts like that asshole did,” he said more clearly this time.

  My eyes widened as he turned away, studying the fire in front of us.

  Did he have a big cock, I wondered?

  My eyes went to his lap, but the blanket that was bunched up at his waist didn’t really give me the best of views.

  “No,” he answered my question.

  “No what?” I questioned.

  “Nothing,” he muttered.

  “Tell me!” I ordered him.

  I was a persistent devil, if nothing else.

  He looked over at me, studying my expression, then grinned before shrugging.

  “I’ll tell you if you tell me...” he said.

  “Tell you what?” I asked. “I don’t have a cock, big or small.”

  He shuffled the cards in his lap before dealing out an even hand to the both of us.

  “Let’s play War,” he taunted.

  I laughed in his face.

  “Ok, that’s fine,” I repositioned myself. “But what was it you wanted me to tell you?”

  He opened his mouth, closed it, looked around, then looked back at me.

  “I’ll tell you whether I have a big cock or not like you are wondering, if you tell me about your worst sexual experience, and you can’t count high school.”

  My jaw nearly hit the floor.

  Or at least my boobs.

  “What?” I asked in outrage. “I wasn’t wanting to know that!”

  He gave me a look, and my blush gave me away.

  “Sorry,” I muttered. “but I’m not usually so forward with people I don’t know really well.”

  He snorted.

  “You think I go around bargaining to tell people about my cock to get them to tell me something?” He laughed.

  I shrugged.

  “I don’t know you all that well, do I?” I asked. “You could be getting all the girls to be your friend, and then you start threatening to tell them about your dick and get them all weirded out.”

  He muttered something under his breath, and I sighed, crossing my legs, as I flipped the first card in my stack over.

  He flipped his first card over, and I growled when he won the first hand.

  “Does your telling me about your dick come with a story?” I challenged him, causing his eyes to come up to mine.

  His eyes were so beautiful.

  They were a light shade of gray with a ring of a color I hadn’t quite decided yet. Maybe green…or blue. In different lighting, it looked like the color changed.

  I hadn’t gotten the chance to study him too closely yet due to the power being out, despite spending nearly four hours in each other’s company.

  “If you want,” he acquiesced.

  His blonde hair reflected the color of the fire, making it appear reddish blonde when it was in fact graying blonde.

  “Okay,” I hummed. “My worst sexua
l experience?”

  He nodded.

  I grinned.

  “Danny had to take a little blue pill for the majority of our relationship if he wanted to get hard,” I admitted. “So then he’d last for hours, and I hated having sex with him.”

  He blinked. Slowly.

  “That’s it?” He wondered.

  I nodded. “His cock was, I don’t know, just weird. It was shaped like a banana. It was skinny, and it was really curved. Something about it… it was just ugly, ok? And even worse was that he didn’t know what to do with it. Ugh. It got to be that I dreaded having sex with him, it was starting to gross me out.”

  His mouth dropped open.

  “Then why were you still with him?” He blurted in surprise. “And why the hell did you flip the fuck out and fuck his car up…and him?”

  “I don’t really know,” I confessed. “He felt…safe. We didn’t do it all that often, and now that I know why, it’s not as soothing as it once had been. Danny and I were really good friends before he asked me out, and it’s hard to lose ten years of friendship.”

  “So you stayed with him out of obligation, and because you didn’t want to lose his friendship,” he rumbled.

  I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”

  He gave me a look.

  “Why’d he do this to you? Treat you like that? Take all your things when he left?” He pushed. “You’re not telling me everything.”

  I bit my lip, wondering if I should tell him the next part.

  “I wanted to get married, to have kids,” I finally explained. “Lots of them. I’m already pushing thirty. He just seemed like my safest bet to get that.”

  Something flashed in his eyes so fast that I couldn’t read it before it was gone, but it definitely had me intrigued.

  “My cock’s considered large. And on a scale of large cocks, it’s on the larger side,” he changed the subject.

  My eyes flicked to his lap again, but the blanket was still in the way.

  His chuckle brought my eyes back to his.

  “I’m sorry,” I said honestly. “But you can’t just say something like that and not expect me to look.”

  His smile had flutters erupting in my belly.

  “I’ll have to remember that for next time,” he said. “I win.”

  I looked down at the cards between us, all of which were now on Drew’s side of the invisible line, and I cursed.

 

    Nobody Knows (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 11) Read onlineNobody Knows (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 11)Hide Your Crazy (KPD Motorcycle Patrol Book 1) Read onlineHide Your Crazy (KPD Motorcycle Patrol Book 1)May Contain Wine (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 5) Read onlineMay Contain Wine (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 5)Hissy Fit (The Southern Gentleman Series Book 1) Read onlineHissy Fit (The Southern Gentleman Series Book 1)Just Kidding (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 1) Read onlineJust Kidding (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 1)Depends On Who's Asking (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 12) Read onlineDepends On Who's Asking (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 12)Join the Club (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 7) Read onlineJoin the Club (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 7)If You Say So (KPD Motorcycle Patrol Book 6) Read onlineIf You Say So (KPD Motorcycle Patrol Book 6)Jerk It Read onlineJerk ItSay It Ain't So (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 9) Read onlineSay It Ain't So (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 9)I'd Rather Not (KPD Motorcycle Patrol Book 3) Read onlineI'd Rather Not (KPD Motorcycle Patrol Book 3)Joke's on You (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 6) Read onlineJoke's on You (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 6)Officially Over It (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 10) Read onlineOfficially Over It (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 10)Make Me (KPD Motorcycle Patrol Book 4) Read onlineMake Me (KPD Motorcycle Patrol Book 4)Snitches Get Stitches (The Bear Bottom Guardians MC Book 8) Read onlineSnitches Get Stitches (The Bear Bottom Guardians MC Book 8)Get Bucked (The Valentine Boys Book 4) Read onlineGet Bucked (The Valentine Boys Book 4)Sinners are Winners (KPD Motorcycle Patrol Book 5) Read onlineSinners are Winners (KPD Motorcycle Patrol Book 5)Burn in Hail Read onlineBurn in HailCode 11- KPD SWAT Box Set Read onlineCode 11- KPD SWAT Box SetLord Have Mercy (The Southern Gentleman Series Book 2) Read onlineLord Have Mercy (The Southern Gentleman Series Book 2)Hail No (Hail Raisers Book 1) Read onlineHail No (Hail Raisers Book 1)Keep It Classy (The Bear Bottom Guardians MC Book 7) Read onlineKeep It Classy (The Bear Bottom Guardians MC Book 7)What the Hail (The Hail Raisers Book 4) Read onlineWhat the Hail (The Hail Raisers Book 4)Last Day of My Life Read onlineLast Day of My LifeGo to Hail (The Hail Raisers Book 2) Read onlineGo to Hail (The Hail Raisers Book 2)It Happens (The Bear Bottom Guardians MC Book 6) Read onlineIt Happens (The Bear Bottom Guardians MC Book 6)Controlled Burn- To Publish Read onlineControlled Burn- To PublishF-Bomb (The Bear Bottom Guardians MC Book 9) Read onlineF-Bomb (The Bear Bottom Guardians MC Book 9)Ain't Doin' It Read onlineAin't Doin' ItLife to My Flight Read onlineLife to My FlightBeard Up Read onlineBeard UpHail Mary Read onlineHail MaryBang Switch Read onlineBang SwitchI Like Big Dragons and I Cannot Lie (The I Like Big Dragons Series) Read onlineI Like Big Dragons and I Cannot Lie (The I Like Big Dragons Series)The Beard Made Me Do It (The Dixie Warden Rejects Book 5) Read onlineThe Beard Made Me Do It (The Dixie Warden Rejects Book 5)Double Tap Read onlineDouble TapKinda Don't Care Read onlineKinda Don't CareAnother One Bites the Dust Read onlineAnother One Bites the DustBoomtown Read onlineBoomtownTexas Tornado Read onlineTexas TornadoJack & Coke (The Uncertain Saints Book 2) Read onlineJack & Coke (The Uncertain Saints Book 2)Lights to My Siren Read onlineLights to My SirenRight To My Wrong (The Heroes of The Dixie Wardens MC Book 8) Read onlineRight To My Wrong (The Heroes of The Dixie Wardens MC Book 8)Bad Apple (The Uncertain Saints MC #4) Read onlineBad Apple (The Uncertain Saints MC #4)Put Out (Kilgore Fire Book 5) Read onlinePut Out (Kilgore Fire Book 5)Oh, My Dragon Read onlineOh, My DragonFear the Beard (The Dixie Warden Rejects MC Book 2) Read onlineFear the Beard (The Dixie Warden Rejects MC Book 2)Oxygen Deprived (Kilgore Fire Book 3) Read onlineOxygen Deprived (Kilgore Fire Book 3)Beard Mode (The Dixie Warden Rejects MC Book 1) Read onlineBeard Mode (The Dixie Warden Rejects MC Book 1)I Don't Dance (Freebirds Book 6) Read onlineI Don't Dance (Freebirds Book 6)Texas Tornado (Freebirds Book 5) Read onlineTexas Tornado (Freebirds Book 5)Burn in Hail (The Hail Raisers Book 3) Read onlineBurn in Hail (The Hail Raisers Book 3)Rusty Nail Read onlineRusty NailThe Hail You Say (Hail Raisers Book 5) Read onlineThe Hail You Say (Hail Raisers Book 5)Kevlar to My Vest Read onlineKevlar to My VestHalligan To My Axe (The Heroes of The Dixie Wardens MC Book 2) Read onlineHalligan To My Axe (The Heroes of The Dixie Wardens MC Book 2)Law & Beard Read onlineLaw & BeardKeys To My Cuffs (The Heroes of The Dixie Wardens MC Book 4) Read onlineKeys To My Cuffs (The Heroes of The Dixie Wardens MC Book 4)Counter To My Intelligence (The Heroes of The Dixie Wardens MC Book 7) Read onlineCounter To My Intelligence (The Heroes of The Dixie Wardens MC Book 7)Get You Some_To format Read onlineGet You Some_To formatWhiskey Neat (The Uncertain Saints MC Book 1) Read onlineWhiskey Neat (The Uncertain Saints MC Book 1)Center Mass Read onlineCenter MassWhat the Hail Read onlineWhat the HailMaybe Don't Wanna Read onlineMaybe Don't WannaI'm Only Here for the Beard Read onlineI'm Only Here for the BeardVodka On The Rocks (The Uncertain Saints Book 3) Read onlineVodka On The Rocks (The Uncertain Saints Book 3)For the Love of Beard Read onlineFor the Love of BeardGet You Some- To format Read onlineGet You Some- To formatCoup De Grâce Read onlineCoup De GrâceTalkin' Trash (The Bear Bottom Guardians MC Book 2) Read onlineTalkin' Trash (The Bear Bottom Guardians MC Book 2)Quit Your Pitchin' Read onlineQuit Your Pitchin'Son of a Beard Read onlineSon of a BeardDragons Need Love, Too (I Like Big Dragons Series Book 2) Read onlineDragons Need Love, Too (I Like Big Dragons Series Book 2)The Hail You Say Read onlineThe Hail You SayKill Shot (Code 11- KPD SWAT Book 6) Read onlineKill Shot (Code 11- KPD SWAT Book 6)Shock Advised (Kilgore Fire #1) Read onlineShock Advised (Kilgore Fire #1)Too Bad So Sad Read onlineToo Bad So SadExecution Style Read onlineExecution StylePitch Please Read onlinePitch PleaseCharge to My Line Read onlineCharge to My LineCharlie Foxtrot Read onlineCharlie FoxtrotDirty Mother (The Uncertain Saints MC Book 5) Read onlineDirty Mother (The Uncertain Saints MC Book 5)