Raising Steel (Men of Steel Book 9) Read online

  Raising Steel

  A men of Steel Novella

  Momma Joe’s Story

  9

  By:

  MJ Fields

  Copyright © MJ Fields 2015

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of MJ Fields, except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  1st Edition Published: January 29th, 2015

  Published by MJ Fields

  Cover Design by: Indie Vention Design

  Photo credit: Stock

  First Edit by: C&D Editing

  Final Edit by: Asli Fatarcangli

  Formatting by: MJ Fields

  Thank you for downloading/purchasing this ebook. This ebook and its contents are the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied, or distributed for commercial or noncommercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download/purchase their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

  *Disclaimer*

  This book contains mature content not suitable for those under the age of 18. It involves strong language and sexual situations. All parties portrayed in sexual situations are consenting adults over the age of 18.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Epilogue

  Abe Excerpt

  About the Author

  PROLOGUE

  My Man of Steel

  I will never forget the very first time I laid eyes on Jonathon Steel. How could I forget when, before I even saw it coming, his lips were on mine? When he pulled away and gave me a seductive grin, holding his lower lip between his teeth; I nearly drowned in the blue seas that were his eyes. I could think of nothing else, only him.

  I remember touching my lips and the deep blush that burned my face as he stood, looking at me.

  “Couldn’t help myself,” he said as if he, too, was surprised. “You’re the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life.”

  Thankfully, I knew the English language well. I would not ever want to forget the way Jonathon’s voice sounded when he said those words to me. The words and his voice washed over me like a sudden downpour on a hot July afternoon. His eyes told a story, one that was unlike anything I had ever read or heard. They spoke of desire, lust, and a love I would never dare deny myself.

  “Come with me.” He held out his hand, and without a second’s hesitation, I took it.

  The shop owner’s daughter, Alessia, grabbed my hand. “Are you crazy?”

  I smiled and shook my head as I pulled my hand away from her and let him walk me to the fountain in the center of the square.

  “Do you believe in love at first sight?”

  “No,” I whispered.

  “I never did, either, until now. What is your name?”

  “Josephina,” I said as his one large hand captured my face.

  “Josephina, I’m going to marry you.” I didn’t doubt him. “Now answer the question again. Do you, Josephina, believe in love at first sight?”

  I nodded, and he held my face between both his hands.

  “Say yes.”

  “Yes,” I whispered, and then his lips softly covered mine.

  That night, I stayed with him in a crummy little hotel room that he was supposed to be sharing with his friends while on weekend leave.

  When they came to the door, he opened it and said, “Find somewhere else to go.”

  “Again?” one of the men outside the door grumbled.

  “Yeah,” was all he said, before shutting the door and walking back over to the tiny, little corner table where I sat nervously.

  I had never been with a man. I was as pure as the driven snow, but something in him crushed the inhibition inside of me. It was as simple as that.

  “You’re pure.”

  I swallowed back my fear of the unknown and nodded.

  “I’m gonna rid you of that.”

  I knew right then that I had walked into the hotel room a girl and would leave a woman. I was afraid and excited at the same time. It’s nearly unexplainable, but I saw something in his eyes as he looked at me. Something I desperately wanted, from a man I immediately knew I would change my world.

  “No one else gets these.” He squeezed my breasts, and the strain of my nipples against my clothing and his hand caused my breath to momentarily falter. “Ever, Josephina.”

  “They’re yours.”

  “You’re damn right they are,” he groaned and his chest rumbled, exciting me.

  “And you?”

  He nods his head once.

  I questioned, “That boy said ‘again.’ Will you take me now and take everything from me?”

  “I’m going to take everything from you and then some.”

  I let out my held breath. “But love isn’t that way, no?”

  “Our love is.”

  In that moment, I wasn’t sure if it was courage, naïveté, or lust when I ran my hand down his rock hard abs and then farther, gasping at my first touch of his thick, massive erection through his pants.

  “Do you understand that you’re getting steel, Josefina? I’m warning you now; the minute my cock is inside of you, it’s forever. If you take it, you take it every day for the rest of my life. Understand?”

  “Forever,” I gasped as he pulled my legs apart and lifted my dress, exposing my white panties.

  “You’re gonna feel it here.” His hand rubbed between my legs, and the sensation caused me to gasp, giggle, and jump. “Not gonna tickle when I’m inside. It’s gonna hurt.”

  “What?”

  “I’m gonna bust you open. Now relax. It won’t be that bad after a couple minutes.”

  Oh dio, I thought as he stood from the bed and dropped his denim jeans then pulled off his plain white T-shirt. All that was left on him were the dog tags he wore.

  He picked me up from the chair and dropped me on the bed. He walked to the end of it, grabbed my ankles, and pulled me down. “This will help.” He pulled my panties off and rubbed his nose across them, inhaling, “I can’t wait to taste you, Josephina.”

  “What?” I gasped as he dropped to his knees, pushed my legs apart, and spilt me open with his tongue.

  He groaned as his hands captured my thighs, and he pushed his tongue inside me deeper and deeper.

  The sensation caused me to cry out, and then the embarrassment of that caused me to try to retreat. His strong hands held me steady as he peered up at me with fire in his eyes as his mouth covered me again, sucking, licking, and nibbling on me, causing the fear, shame, and guilt to be overrun by the burn building deep inside of me.

  A low, sexual groan escaped him as he hissed, “Damn good … so damn good.”

  When the burn was overwhelming, he licked around my clit and sucked, pushing me over the edge.

  My eyes rolled back in my head as my hands fisted the sheets, and I cried out his name.

  In one harsh move, he was inside me while his thumb pushed o
n my clit. Pain, pleasure, and a look of carnal, animalistic desire was exchanged between lovers.

  “Relax, beautiful woman. I’m gonna give you more, and you’ll take it. Trust me to make everything okay.”

  “Forever,” I gasped.

  “Forever Steel.” While he said those words, he drove into me with everything he had, and I took it because those two words were more to me than the words I Love You from that moment on.

  I spent the entire night being kissed, caressed, and touched by this beautiful American soldier, a man who was tall with dark brown hair and the bluest eyes I had ever seen. His pure size should have caused me to fear for my virtue, maybe even my life. His hands were the size of my entire backside, and when they ran up my abdomen and captured both of my breasts, I expected something other than what I received. His touch was not harsh; it was gentle, cautious, and slow.

  The next day, he took me to my family’s vineyard, and I was sure I was going to be in serious trouble. They ran a business, and their children were expected to act as part of it. However, they’d never even realized I hadn’t come home

  They looked shocked when Jonathon and I walked into the house, and he simply told them, “I’m Jonathon Steel, and Josephina and I are asking for your blessing before we get married.”

  The words thrown around that room were embarrassing, the volume deafening. I was so glad he didn’t understand the things they were saying. Of course, when my father started speaking English to him, the tone he spoke to my Jonathon angered me.

  Regardless, he didn’t back down, walk away, or even flinch when my father threatened his life if I dared to defy him. What he did was look right at me in front of them and said, “Are you one hundred percent sure?”

  All I could do was look at him and nod.

  “You know what I do?”

  I nodded again.

  “You know there will be times that I am away and you will be alone?”

  I wasn’t afraid of being alone, so I nodded again.

  “Then how about you and I get out of here and make a life?”

  And that is exactly what we did.

  From that day forward, everything in my life changed. Everything. I walked away from my family because they would not allow me to marry and run away with a man I had just met.

  As a grown woman, a mother, I understand that feeling, but back then it didn’t matter. I loved Jonathon. He was brave and strong and loved me like I had never been loved before, and I know I will never be loved like that again …

  CHAPTER ONE

  “Memories of Jonathon never fade. Each day … several times a day, I think about him, our life together, and our love.” I look up to see five sets of misty eyes looking back at me. “Girls, there is no need to look at me like that. I wish he was here, but there is a reason he isn’t.” Tara looks down and sighs. Cyrus blames himself for Jonathon’s death. “Your husband would do the same for Justice, and you would never question him.”

  “I know he would.” She smiles a sad smile. “I just wish the pain that remains in Cyrus would go away.”

  “It has.” I take her hand and squeeze it. “He was—”

  “A mess of a man,” Carly interrupts and puts her hand on Tara’s knee. “You changed that. You made him live again, Tara.”

  “I’d like to take credit for what a wonderful man he is, but Momma Joe, that’s all you and Jonathon,” Tara says.

  “I agree with you. They raised four amazing men—” Carly begins.

  “Each would have ended up with—” I start.

  “A STD,” Taelyn laughs.

  “Exactly,” I agree with a sigh. “We were functioning, but now …” I look around at my four daughters. “Now you beautiful girls have changed the lives Jonathon and I created.”

  “I wish I had been around to see them in action,” my niece, Valentina, laughs.

  Bekah smiles as she rubs her stomach, and dear God, I know she is with child, but Zandor and she have yet to tell anyone. I know they will in their own time. Until then, I must bite my tongue, which is not an easy task for me.

  My Zandor is going to be a father.

  “At times like this, I know he is looking down from above and smiling at our boys. He is proud of them for having chosen such amazing women, and he loves you as I do.”

  “Everything okay in here?” Jase pops his head in the living room.

  “Back to the kitchen,” I shoo him. “You owe us dinner.”

  My boys decided it would be fun for the four of them to go out the other night, and my daughter-in-laws insisted. It had been a long time since they’d had a boys’ night out, and it will be a long time before they do it again. Trouble. Always trouble.

  “Momma Joe, you do realize we are grown men, and you can’t tell us—”

  “Out.”

  Carly points to the door. “You heard her. Go.”

  “Baby, I will—” Jase hisses at my dear Carly.

  “Sleep on the couch?” she says with as much sass as she can muster.

  “You’re lucky I fucking love you.” He scowls as he turns to walk away.

  Carly shakes her head and looks down before looking at me. “I cannot believe they pissed on the stupid shop across the road, and got caught!”

  I can’t help laughing. “I can’t believe it wasn’t worse.”

  “But really, they are grown men, fathers. They—” Carly stops and a smile covers her whole face. “God, I love him, even as insane and ridiculous as he can be.”

  “Infuriating,” Taelyn adds.

  “Ludicrous,” Bekah laughs.

  “Sexy as hell,” Tara adds with a smile that matches Carly’s.

  We look up when Cyrus clears his throat from the doorway. “Birdie?”

  She looks up at him and blushes. “Cyrus, aren’t you supposed to be in the kitchen?” She tries to sound harsh, but fails miserably.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be up against a wall?” He gives her a wink.

  “Oh. My. God.” Valentina laughs.

  “Kitchen, Cyrus.” I point.

  “Look, we were talking, and we think you should all know that, if we didn’t love you, Momma Joe, we would not be—” I start to interrupt. “That may work with Jase, but not me. Just a fair warning, the sauce is shit, okay?”

  “Bad word.” Little Bell pops her head around him and squeezes through the doorway.

  “Ear muffs,” he growls at her.

  “Doesn’t work,” she growls back as she walks toward the sectional sofa the girls and I are sitting on. “You all should know”—she points to all of us—“kids just pretend to cover their ears.” She plops down next to Carly. “Thank God for you, Momma Carly. Well, you and Momma Joe. I would be a lot of trouble if I had to be raised by the pack of wolves in that kitch—”

  Cyrus takes two steps and grabs her, throws her over his shoulder, and smacks her little butt. “Your bullshit radar is going to be the reason your father doesn’t end up in jail when you start dating at … thirty.”

  She laughs a belly laugh and pretends to try an escape.

  “You’re gonna have to learn some better self defense moves, Little Bell. The biggest, baddest wolf is taking you back to the pack.” He laughs as he walks out of the room and back toward the kitchen.

  It’s times like this when I miss Jonathon the most. I wish I could see his handsome face while he watched what we created together.

  *.*.*.*

  “Momma Joe,” Carly says as she opens the door to my office at Steel Inc., “we want to talk to you.”

  I look up at the four of them walking in.

  “Are the children all right?” I ask as I quickly close my computer and stand up from my desk.

  “Of course.” Tara smiles. “Just sit down for a moment?”

  “Where are they?” I ask in an almost panicked state.

  “Your sons are playing with them,” Bekah says as she sits on the corner of my large, wooden desk.

  “We made a schedule,” Taelyn says as she se
ts a piece of paper on the desk in front of me. “This is because we love you. It’s because we know our husbands won’t do it since they need you more than any of them will ever admit.”

  “It’s because you are still young, beautiful and … Well, one of your sons thinks maybe Momma Joe needs some … love in her life.” Bekah smiles.

  I look down at the schedule the girls created. Joe time is scheduled in all evenings except for Bella’s dance night and Sunday nights. Damn lucky they didn’t take Bella’s night away from me, I had four boys and this… this was mine.

  “You come into each of our homes daily. You do so much for us: deliver food, change diapers, laundry …” Tara begins.

  “Talk us out of murdering your sons.” Carly giggles as she sits down across from me.

  “It’s too much. We are consuming you. We love you more than that—” Taelyn adds.

  “I cook; that’s what I do. I help because I never had any help aside from Jonathon. I…” I stop, realizing I am getting very emotional, and what they are doing is out of love and concern.

  “This is a bad idea,” Tara whispers, taking the paper before I can read it any farther. She crinkles it up and tossed it in the garbage. “We just want you to have time to enjoy yourself for once. You deserve that.”

  “I enjoy myself just fine. This is what I do.” I wave my hand around the room. “My boys, my grandchildren, you four, Valentina—that’s what matters. What is alone time? It’s time you’re not spending with people who mean more to you than a moment to yourself. It’s time to stress, worry, and … stress and worry.” I stand up and begin pacing. “I appreciate it, but—”

  “We appreciate you, Momma Joe,” Bekah says, standing up and walking toward me. “We just don’t want you burn yourself out.”

  “This is relaxing for me,” I defend.

  “We just want you to know you’re beautiful, and you can still—” Bekah begins.