Taivon: Book Three of the Cantrell Brothers Series

Chapter Thirty-Two

“So...When am I guh-guh-gonna get to read th-these books?”

“There's only-”

“You said s-s-series, Alix. Series implies more th-th-than one b-book.”

“Fine.” Alix threw her hands up in the air and smacked the one resting on her belly away. “There's gonna be four books, okay? And I'm almost done with the third, but I need to take a little bit of a break, so I'm writing a new one and yeah...That's it,” she said, quietly.

“C-Can I read th-th-them?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“Because they're very-”

“Erotic?”

“Well, sort-”

“S-S-Steamy?”

“Would you-”

“K-Kinky?”

“Yes!” she practically shouted. “There's a lot of...sex scenes in 'em, and I would rather not have anybody read them, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

He just smiled and looked back to the road. Within a few minutes, he saw the old, green sign for Napalm. The town was the same as always. Residential area on one side, pre and elementary school right by the daycare, high school smack dab in the center, and small shops everywhere else.

It took only about five minutes to drive through, and then, they were on the narrow, dirt road that went through the almost endless acres of the Munston Ranch. Until finally, the Circle T came into view. Taivon squeezed Alix's hand as he pulled into the gravel driveway and parked next to Titus's work truck. There were three other cars there, which could only mean that everyone else had arrived.

And Alix was still quiet.

“Scared?” he asked.

“No.”

“Good. Yuh-Yuh-You shouldn't be. Th-They'll love you.”

Leaning forward, he snagged his fingers through her hair and pulled her in, until just their lips were brushing. She didn't move at first, only breathing against him, but then she angled her head. Their tongues met, wet, sloppy, but he devoured her, staking his own claim.

Breathing hard, he pulled away and said, “C-C-C'mon. They're all wuh-waiting.”

She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. He knew she was nervous – hell, when he met her family, he'd probably be a sweating mess and would be talking much worse – but Alix was amazing. Anybody could see that.

“Okay,” she whispered.

She insisted on carrying her bag, clutching it to her chest as if it were a shield. In a few moments, he hoped, she'd be okay. This was his family they were talking about. If they loved Thrane, they could love anything.

“Ready?” He kissed her one more time.

“Yeah. Definitely.”

Smiling, he knocked on the door and then waited. It was only a second before the door was whipped open, revealing Titus's wife, Anna. Little Ella was on her hip, playing with a colorful toy and sucking on it with her slobbery, little mouth.

“Taiv!” she squealed and threw herself into his arms. “You finally made it.”

“Hey.” He hugged her close and then picked Ella up out of her arms. “C-C-Can I hold her fuh-for a little while?”

Anna's smile didn't falter when she heard the stutter, but he knew what she must be thinking. Thankfully, she didn't say anything. Instead, she opened up the door wider and then her eyes landed on Alix.

“You must be Alix.” She grinned before enveloping Alix's shorter frame into her much taller one. “Everybody's so excited to meet you!”

“Really?” Alix asked, eyes wide.

Anna just grabbed Alix's hand and gently guided her into the house that he and his brothers had grown up in. He looked down at the little girl in his arms, planted a kiss on her cheek, and held her more tightly. It'd been way too long since he'd last seen his goddaughter.

“Da...dadada...” she mumbled, over and over again, waving that toy in her hands.

“Let's guh-guh-go find Dada.”

But it was Titus who found them. His big brother was only a few inches taller than him, but with the way Titus's presence dominated any and every room, it made Taivon feel a hundred times smaller and a million times younger, like he was a little kid again, following his older brother around because that was the only thing he knew how to do.

“Hey, Taiv.” He grinned and wrapped his arms around him.

Taivon accepted the hug, making sure not to crush Ella between. “Hey, bro. Your d-daughter's b-b-been looking fuh-for you.” He held out Ella, who immediately reached for her dad.

Titus took the little girl in his arms and kissed her. He looked down at Ella with so much love in those honest eyes of his that Taivon had to look away. He could only dream of having something like that one day. Titus didn't know how good he had it.

“Can't stop saying 'dada' or 'mama',” Titus told him as they walked into the living room.

“It makes him into such a hormonal mess,” Thrane griped from his spot on one of the couches. “Seriously, all he does is cry and-”

"When my son's born, that's all I'm gonna do," Tobias laughed. 

Titus turned to him. “So how you been, Taiv? You sound...different.”

“Fuh-Fuh-Fine.”

He sat down on the couch and looked around. All of his brothers and his dad were in the living room. The game was on. From the kitchen, he could hear Anna, Jane, Callie, and his mom all asking questions, all probably directed at Alix.

“So what's her name? Alice?” Trace asked.

“Alix Romaro,” he told them. “B-B-Be nice.”

Thrane looked at him. “The fuck happened to your voice?”

“The fuck happened to your job?” Titus barked. “Leave him alone.”

His dad trained his eyes on him and gave a comforting smile. “Welcome home, son. We got a long weekend ahead of us.”

“Tr-Tr-Trust me, I know.” He was so looking forward to it.