“Aspen, stop. Now.” The command in his voice made her freeze. Both boys stared at him in shock. Caleb stopped gumming his shirt, pulling back to stare up at him.
Saxon ran his hand up and down the little boy’s back. “Easy, now. I’m just trying to talk to your stubborn mother. She seems to be adept at ignoring me.”
She gaped at him. Ignore him? She wished she had a chance at ignoring him. There was no way that was ever happening.
“I wasn’t ignoring you.”
“You weren’t listening to me. I don’t care about a bit of mess. You sleep with the boys in your room?”
“Yes. This is only a two-bedroom cottage. Besides, it’s easier for me to get up with them at night.” She laid Jamie down on her bed and pulled off his diaper, changing him into a clean one. “I’m probably going to have to get another crib soon, though. At the moment, they sleep together.” She gestured to the large, wooden crib. “It’s big enough now but won’t be forever. It was Mr. Peterson’s from when he was a child, can you believe it?”
He stared at the crib. “Yes.”
“Well, it is a bit worn. But it was very kind of him to lend it to me.”
She placed Jamie in the crib and turned to take Caleb from his arms. “Thank you. I’ll take him. You can wait in the living room if you want.”
She wanted him out of her bedroom. Her nerves were jangling with him being so close in such a tight space. Not that they were on their own. Having two children kind of stopped anything from happening. Not that it ever would.
When he handed Caleb over, the little boy started to cry again. She jiggled him up and down. “I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”
Saxon gave the small boy a serious look. “Caleb, be good for your mother.”
She hid a smile. “You’re really not used to children, are you? Six-month-olds don’t really respond to commands.”
“Really?” He raised one eyebrow. “Because he seems to be responding.”
So he did. She stared at the little boy with surprise then shook her head with a small laugh. “So he does.”
“Hmm.” He ran his finger down her cheek, making her freeze. “Seems like his mother could learn a lesson in obedience from him. I’ll wait in the living room.”
It wasn’t until he was gone that she managed to shake herself out of the state he’d left her in.
Really? She could learn some obedience? The man’s arrogance knew no bounds.
But she was smiling as she turned to place Caleb down on the bed.
Just what was he doing here?
Anger filled him as he stared at the cupboards, which, except for some mouse droppings, were empty. And there wasn’t much more in the fridge. What the hell was she living on? All he found were a few bananas, baby formula and some pureed baby food stacked neatly in containers in the freezer.
Fuck.
“Something wrong?”
He turned. Hell. He must have been distracted to let her sneak up on him. “You don’t have any food.”
She raised her eyebrows. “I didn’t realize this was some sort of inspection. If you’re trying to imply I’m not taking proper care of my children—”
He held up his hand to stop the tirade. She completely ignored him.
“Then you can just turn around and leave the way you came. And don’t bother coming back.”
He stared at her, eyes narrowed. He dropped his hand. Irritation filled him. At the club, holding his hand up the way he had would have sent every submissive in his radius to their knees, awaiting what he had to say.
Aspen hadn’t even batted an eye.
He sighed. This is why he had nothing to do with untrained submissives. Hell, Aspen didn’t even know she was a submissive.