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“And he thought if he could win your affections, so to speak, you might pester her to take you to visit him … and then he’d be able to see her,” I surmised.
Dax dipped his chin. “Yes. It was only ever about her.” He tossed back the last of his whiskey. “It sounds crazy to say it, but he wasn’t evil. Wasn’t one-dimensional that way. The parts of him that weren’t warped and twisted formed a deep attachment to her, and that messed with her head. As did the fact that she’d loved him when she was a kid. A kid who’d had no idea of the things he’d done. A kid who hadn’t even realized he wasn’t her biological father—Clear hadn’t told her that. She’d learned of it through gossip.”
“Shit,” I muttered with an inward wince.
“Yeah.” Dax inhaled deeply. “If what he’d felt for my mom had been a real, selfless love, he would have backed off completely. But the truth is he had no capacity to feel such an emotion. But Clear wouldn’t admit to that, or see any wrong in having married him. So yeah, she and Mom had argued a lot when I was a kid. Especially when my name was printed in articles in connection with him, or when I’d come home covered in bruises after being in yet another fight—sometimes while defending Clear after assholes called her a serial killer’s slut.”
I clenched my teeth as anger whipped to life in my belly. “And then you had to deal with people comparing you to him on top of all that. Why on Earth would anyone think that you brawling with other teenage boys even came close to the actions of a murderous sexual sadist?”
“When Bale was a teenager, he got into a lot of fights. He liked to give pain, and he liked to receive it.” Dax licked over his front teeth. “People insinuated we were similar in that way.”
I frowned, my head rearing back slightly. “But aside from liking to dish out a spanking during sex or whatever, you’re not into that stuff.”
“No, I’m not. But some of Redwater’s population liked to make out differently. It made good gossip, I suppose.”
I let out a sound of disgust. “People suck.” I cast a look at his empty tumbler. “Want a refill?”
“No.” He set his glass on the table between our loungers and then patted the spot between his spread thighs. “I want you to come kneel right here.”
I narrowed my eyes as his own began to heat and darken. “What’ll happen if I do?”
“Many, many things,” he replied, the words practically dripping with liquid sex.
He wanted to forget, I realized. Wanted to shove everything out of his mind and seek the most basic form of oblivion. “You know, most people would just ask for a hug when they’re feeling down.”
“Most people don’t have a wife who’s as good with their mouth as you are.”
I laughed, taken by surprise. “All right. I’m game for whatever you’ve got in mind.” I stood. “You’ve sure never let me down sexually before.”
His lips kicked up. “Right back at you.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Aweek later, Drey plonked my heavy shopping bags in my trunk with a grunt. “What have you got in those? Bricks?”
Feeling my lips wing up, I shrugged. “Christmas gifts, mostly.” I’d had more to buy this year, since my family had expanded on my marrying Dax. Which wasn’t at all a complaint. I loved shopping for gifts, especially during the holidays.
The creases on Drey’s forehead smoothed out as his mouth tipped up. “Did you get anything for me?”
“Of course.” I poked his arm playfully. “As if I’d leave out my favorite brother-in-law. What do you take me for?”
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Favorite. Sure.”
I’d unexpectedly come across him, Jag, and Jag’s girlfriend Leonie a few minutes ago as I was leaving the mall. All three were on their way to the nearby bowling alley, where they would be meeting up with a few other friends. Drey had insisted on carrying all my bags to the parking lot for me first, the gent. And since he was a mountain of pure male strength—seriously, his muscles had muscles—I hadn’t objected. My damn palms stung from where the bag handles had been digging into my skin.
Using my key fob to close the trunk, I swept my gaze over the trio as I asked, “Have you guys done all your Christmas shopping yet?”
“Almost,” said Drey. “I do mine online.”
Jag grunted. “Same.”
“Yeah,” began Leonie with a curl of her upper lip, “who wants to walk around a mall?”
I gave her a bright smile. “Me.”
She let out a snooty scoff. “I guess shopping sprees are nothing new for you. Must be nice to have been loaded all your life.”
Eye roll.It was safe to say that Leonie hadn’t warmed to me. She still felt it necessary to hold my trust fund and financial security against me … as if I didn’t know what it meant to “struggle” or fight for what I wanted and needed in life and so wasn’t worthy of her respect.
