R.L. Mathewson

Is there a reason why you__e standing there, staring out the window and watching the neighbors? Are we preparing to kill them and drag them down to the basement and bury them alive?

Asshole," Ephraim muttered as he turned back around.Chris chuckeled. "Is that really any way to talk to your favorite child?""You're not my favorite," Ephraim argued, but they both knew that was bullshit. "I don't have any favorites.""Puhlease," Chris said. "You fucking adore me...

You spit in this?""Yup."Chris shrugged. "As long as you're honest.

With a regrettable sigh he shook his head."I'm sorry, but this isn't going to work out.""What the hell are you doing, Trevor?" Hankdemanded anxiously. No doubt the manwouldn't be getting laid tonight, but Trevorcouldn't help it. He had his standards andthis woman failed them."Maybe we could go grab a cup of coffeesomewhere and get to know-"He held up his hand, stopping her before shemade an even bigger fool out of herself."Please stop.""But, I was only-""Don't beg.""I wasn't. I was just-""Begging?" Trevor guessed, sighing. "I know,but you're going to have to accept that thiswould never work out."She frowned up at him. "I wasn't begging. Iwas just going to suggest that we should-""Look," he said, reaching for the door, "thiss just getting sad. I'm just going to go beforethings get out of hand.

...she was probably having a few murderous thoughts of her own about any woman that touched him. Good, they were making progress.

She was the most precious thing in the world to him. So beautiful, so sweet, so giving and too damn good for him, but he was a selfish bastard and wouldn't let her go.

Married?" she practically screeched, not sounding all that pleased, which left him feeling a little offended. "We're not getting married."He snorted at that. "I may have let you have your naughty little way with me for the past couple of months, but that doesn't mean I'm going to allow you to keep treating me like some dirty little boy toy. If you want to live with me then I expect you to put a ring on my finger," he said, holding up his left hand and wiggling his ring finger to punctuate his words.

Ah, Robert?___hhhh, not while I__ praying,_ he said, momentarily losing his place before he started again, __hank you for letting us survive that trip from hell. Thank you for ignoring my prayers for a quick death when I didn__ think that I__ be able to survive another day of starvation,_ he said, making her roll her eyes in annoyance.__ou were given three full meals a day just like everyone else,_ she pointed out, not bothering to mention the fact that, on most days, he__ received second helpings. She sat down on a bench near their luggage, wondering just how much longer he was going to keep this up.____ sorry for all the cursing that my wife forced me to do while I was on that boat,_ he continued, ignoring her even as he amused her. __s you know, she__ been such a bad influence on me. Thank you for pulling me from near death and somehow giving me the strength to survive.___ear death?_ she asked, frowning. __hen were you near death?___hen was I near death?_ he asked in stunned disbelief as he opened his eyes so that he could glare at her. __ow could you forget all those times that I could barely move? When I struggled to find the will to live so that I wouldn__ leave you a young widow? Did my struggle for survival mean nothing to you?_ he demanded in outrage, terrifying the people that were forced to walk past him to get to the docks and making her wrack her brain as she struggled to figure out what he was talking about.__o you mean those few times when you had a touch of seasickness?_ she asked, unable to think of anything else that he could be talking about since he__ been the picture of health during the majority of the trip.__ touch?_ he repeated in disbelief. __ nearly died!

A mistake? The most passionate night of his life was a mistake? Her first time and that__ what she thought. That grated on him in the worst way. __s that what you think, Beth?___on__ call me that.___hy, Beth?___ou know I hate that name.___h, so sorry, Beth. I do apologize, Beth._ He was being petty and he knew it, but he didn__ give a damn. She__ always brought out the very worst in him.She reached up and twisted his ear. __w!___ut of my way, Robert Lemonade,_ she said casually, pissing him off in the worst way.

No, it__ because you__e fucking pathetic. You__e no better than a human and to top it off you__e nothing but a whore.

None of them, not even what he suspected should have been little boys, were small. He__ always thought that the James boys were freakishly large, but the men that were beating the shit out of each other over food had been much, much bigger. Most every single one of them had been shirtless and all had been buff, making him feel scrawny and making him wonder if Rory thought he was scrawny.

You knew? How the hell did you know?" he demanded,wondering which bastard in his family had ratted his assout."It wasn't too hard to figure out, Trevor," she murmured, looking totally enthralled with what she was doing."What the hell does that mean?" He'd been careful, very careful. He'd neverread anything in front of her, neverwrote anything more than his name or a word or two in her presence. There wasno way she could have found out withoutone of his interfering relatives clueing her in."Who the hell told you?" Zoe rolled her eyes even as she leaned over to press a quick kiss on his lips, which made him slightly happy, but not enough to forget that he needed to kill one of his relatives."You never read anything around me. Youthink you tricked me into reading for you. Then there was the time we ran out of condoms and you flipped out because you thought there was supposed to be 42 condoms in the box of 24.""Would it have killed them to put a few extra condoms in the box so that you could have seen to my needs?" he asked, remembering that damn night and trying not to wince. Okay, so maybe he gave himself away...just a little.

I like her," Brad said, chuckling."For a Red Sox tee shirt wearing woman I guess she's okay," Jason grumbled."Does no one care that she just manhandled me?" Trevor demanded, facing the men who should be properly outraged on his behalf.Jason snorted. "A s long as she brings me food she can bitch slap you and call you spanky."Trevor narrowed his eyes on the men who dared laugh at his pain.Betraying bastards.

Can we get back to work now?" Haley asked, sounding innocent, but Zoe didn't miss the woman's lips twitchingor the humor sparkling in her eyes. Something told her that this woman truly enjoyed torturing her husband."For god sake's, my little grasshopper, you love the Yankees more than I do! What the hell is going on?" He turned accusing eyes on Zoe. "How dare you brainwash my wife?" he hissed."A re you going to leave so that we can get some work done?" Haley demanded, turning her attention to the computer."No," he said stubbornly, folding his arms over his chest, glaring at them."Buttercream frosting," Haley said softly, never taking her eyes away from her computer screen.Jason licked his lips as he looked his pregnant wife over hungrily. "Tonight?" he croaked out."If you're good," Haley said, with a small shrug. "But you have to leave-""Bye," Jason said quickly, cutting her off and rushing out of the trailer just as fast as he came.

You missed breakfast," Jason announced as Trevor stepped into the large busy kitchen filled with Bradfords and food."That's fine. I'm not really hungry," he said, barely aware or caring that all activity in the busy kitchen suddenly stopped as every Bradford in the room, even one year old Cole stopped trying to climb onto the counter to get at the large platter of cookies his mother made to stare at him in disbelief.

It__ not complicated and it doesn__ compare to my problem, now give me a damn cookie I think I earned it,_ Jill snapped.Chris grinned like it was Christmas morning. __es, you did._ He brought her a cookie. __ery good, my young one. You__e made Chris very happy with this little tidbit of information.

Danni was his reward for all the bullshit he'd gone through, the torture, the anger,hatred and the bitter loneliness. She was going to be the band-aid for his torturedsoul.

I don't need encouraging. I do well enough on my own.