Nativity: Festive Novella (Heart of Stone #11) Read Online Free

stabbing you. And not forgetting you shooting
yourself and the cancer. We fucking made it, baby. That’s not cause for tears,
old or young, that is something to celebrate.”
    I smiled widely, completely agreeing
with him. He winked and grabbed my hands, pulling me up to sit on the edge of
the bed before he proceeded to pull on some sweatpants and a t-shirt, forgoing
the bra now I no longer needed one. He ran his finger down the scar on my neck
then bent to kiss it softly. “I love you Mrs Fox, so much.” Then he scooped me
up in his arms and ran out of the bedroom and down the stairs making me squeal
and laugh at his excitement.
    He burst into the kitchen, everyone
turning from whatever they were cooking to stare at us. “We’re back,” Mason
divulged. “Sorry, Ava pissed herself and I had to clean her up.”
    Everyone gawped at me as Mason chuckled
loudly. “You bastard!”
    He clicked his tongue and winked. “You
forgot the glorious, baby.”
    “Sometimes I actually wonder why I gave
you the glorious part.”
    He laughed, “My cock of course.”
    I shrugged and pursed my lips, nodding
in agreement. “Yep, the whole reason I married you.”
    “Careful,” he warned with a smirk. “You
don’t know I have the video of you last week on my phone.”
    My heart stuttered as I stared at him.
“What…” I spluttered, my cheeks firing as my palms dampened with sweat.
    I slapped at him when he flicked the end
of my nose. “Blackmail, baby. How else do I ensure your complete compliance?”
    I smirked back. “Oh I can think of a
few… one of them the little secret thing you like me to do to you that you
don’t want anyone to know about.”
    The way his mouth fell open and his eyes
narrowed made me sigh contentedly and whistle a little tune as I dipped the
spoon into the chilli Courtney was stirring. “Perfect, Hun.”
    She nudged me, winking and smirking.
“Come on then, Ava, Spill. What does Mase like?”
    I bit my tongue and danced across the
room, making sure to blow a kiss Mason on the way as he tried to scramble over
to me and slap his hand over my mouth. “Don’t you fucking dare,” he whispered
in my ear.
    “Then behave, and delete that video!”
    He nodded, thoroughly compliant with me
then, the tables turned dramatically. “I will.”
    Ahh, after twenty years of marriage,
Mason still thought he wore the trousers.
    Fool.

Chapter Three
Naughty and Nice
     

Mason
     
    I blinked, sitting up in bed and rubbing
my eyes. Raised voices. A shout. Something smashing. I frowned at the empty
space beside me in bed, Ava’s pillow still slightly warm and dented where her
head had been.
    I tilted my head and squinted. It
sounded like crying. What the hell?
    Pulling on my shorts I quietly made my
way down the stairs, leaving the lights off to remain covert. The kitchen door
was slightly open, the light blaring through it and causing a flickering on the
hallway floor as people moved about inside.
    “Stop it!” I heard Ava’s hushed demand,
her voice quiet as she spoke to someone.
    “I can’t help it,” Katie sobbed, the
sound of pain in her voice making my stomach and heart clench tight. I tensed,
moving further towards the door to try and catch what was going on.
    “You need to deal with this shit, now
Katie, or it will haunt you until it ruins your life.”
    “It’s already ruining my life, Mum. I
can’t sleep without… without seeing her face. Every time I close my eyes he’s
there…”
    “Hey,” Ava whispered. “You are a Fox.
Take the shit, swallow the shit and deal with the shit. I love you, Katie,
whatever you may think you are. You’re tough, you’ve been brought up to be
tough.”
    What the hell was going on? I wanted to
walk in the kitchen and demand they tell me but then I didn’t want to impose
when Katie sounded so distraught.
     “But…”
    “No,” Ava hissed. “I’m afraid you need
to realize that this bullshit is engrained into you. There’s nothing you can do
to change