LincolnWe walk into Shelby’s house so she can pack a bag. She removes a few scarves from the assortment spread throughout her home. Daisy is with us. He follows Shelby from room to room refusing to let her out of his sight.When she’s ready, we lock up and head over to my place. I’m carrying two large bags and Shelby has a small one. By the weight of the two bags I hope she’s moving in permanently.I place everything in my bedroom. Shelby carries her smaller bag into the bathroom. I didn’t sleep well last night and I’m still exhausted. I remove my shoes and socks, lie back on the bed face up, and close my eyes. I’m sideways, so my feet are touching the floor.The bed dips a few minutes later when Shelby scoots in beside me. Her lips touch mine and I don’t bother opening my eyes. I reach over, grab her hips, and pull her on top of me. She’s naked and I smile against her lips. I hear a soft whine from the doorway and ignore it. Daisy needs a playmate for just these times. I’ll think ab
LincolnMy parents’ home is a far cry from Shelby’s parents’ mansion. We drive up the dirt road leading to their property. I can tell by Shelby’s smile that she’s already in love. I knew she would be and that’s why I refused to answer any questions about my parents throughout the week.Their Pueblo-style home has orange stuccoed outer walls. There’s an iron gate that leads into a small comfortable courtyard complete with a Mexican chiminea for the cooler winter months.I park and open my door. Shelby waits for me to walk around and help her out, but Daisy has no manners. He jumps down and begins sniffing the desert landscaping. I’m unconcerned. My parents own several acres.The yapping alerts me that the dual terrors are on the attack. They fly out of the courtyard with my mother on their heels. “Come back here you pig-headed bandits,” she yells. They attack Daisy, who has no idea what’s happening. They jump and bite and growl. Daisy looks at me like fleas are attacking on him.“You’r
Lincoln“I loved them,” Shelby sighs wearily on our way home.“They love you too,” I say with absolute conviction.“If it bothers you to talk about it, it’s okay, but I was hoping you would tell me about your brother Rutherford?”The question hangs for a moment. I do my best to keep my voice neutral and not show how much the topic angers me. “He went to Afghanistan, did three tours. The war changed him. He had a best buddy who died over there too. That was bad enough. Then my brother Andrew was murdered while working the border. Rutherford didn’t handle it well to say the least. He didn’t make it home in time for the funeral. He showed up two months later, no longer in the Marines.”“I’m so sorry,” Shelby says.“He went to Mexico to find the men who killed Andrew. It didn’t matter what we all told him. The government was doing everything they could to find and prosecute the drug cartel. He didn’t call my parents for months at a time. My mother was sick with worry, my father furious. H
LincolnI pull out my wallet and toss a few bills on the table. I take her hand and pull her up. “Let’s get out of here,” I say with a soft smile.She laughs, grabs the small black box, and we walk out. I want her at home, in my bed, and crying out my name.“It really is beautiful,” she repeats in the truck.“I wanted something you would wear with all your crazy clothes.”“You love my crazy clothes,” she says with a laugh.“I love you naked more.”Her hand goes to the bulge in my pants and she runs her fingers over the material. I should have asked her at home so we didn’t have the long drive to find privacy. I groan in surprise when Shelby unhooks her seat belt and unzips my pants. I start to say no, but she moves over me too quickly and the last word I’ll ever say when her mouth is on my dick is “No.” I concentrate on driving. It’s not easy.“Can you handle this, big boy?” Her hot breath hits my cock before her warm tongue slides around the head again.“Not fucking easily, but I’ll
Rack The knife wound runs down my side from under my arm to the top of my hip. It burns like a motherfucker, and the tequila does little to stop the pain as the needle sinks into my flesh. The stitches are far from professional, but they’ll do the job and close the skin, keeping muscle and tissue on the inside where they belong. Never strangle a man with a knife in his hand is my new motto. He sliced into my side before I could stop him. He’s dead now and I’m alive, so I’ll take it as a lesson learned. Putting up with Gomez’s shit for my stupidity isn’t helping me feel the love as he stitches me up. “Fuck,” he swears as he wipes his bloody hands on a blood-covered cloth. I look down at myself as he readjusts his grip on the large needle. “You can’t do things halfway, can you?” he taunts as the needle punctures my skin again. I take another pull from the bottle and suck in a breath as he works the needle through the skin on the other side and ties off another stitch. “The son of a b
BethFrom: Nick.Hoffman@us.gov.orgTo: Beth.Hoffman@mymail.comDear Baby Sister,Yeah, I know you hate when I call you that. Too bad, you will always be the baby. Life is good but dirty as in dirt everywhere. You don’t need to hear all the dirty details but this man’s balls are gritty and I’ll leave it at that. This pretty much explains Afghanistan to a T. My friend Rack saves my sanity. This is his third tour and he knows his shit. You would like him and I know he would like you. Hint, hint!Your favorite and only big brother,Nick***The men watch me around the clock. Getting my hands on a cell phone is a fluke and I still can’t believe my luck. I need to send a text and get out of Peter’s room quickly.I don’t have much time to think about what I send, but I need to be smart. I can delete the history after sending the text. This opens up a new set of problems. If Peter notices his missing messages, he’ll check his phone account online and trace the text. If that happens, it won’t
RackAfter Dr. Santos examined me and shot me full of more antibiotics, he shook his head while rewrapping my chest and told me to rest for the next few days. He was well aware that would never happen. I slept around the clock. One day of sleep and I craved the gym, tender wound be damned.The stitches pull during my workout, so I take it easy—two miles on the treadmill, push-ups, chin-ups, sit-ups. Gomez attended a meeting with Moon this morning and I have the gym to myself. I’m finishing my workout and thinking about a hot shower when Celina walks in. I rise from the floor after my last ten push-ups and try to grab my shirt before she sees the blood seeping through the gauze.Her hands go to her small waist. “Don’t bother. Carlo told me what happened.”Carlo is Dr. Santos. “Whatever happened to doctor-patient confidentiality?” I grumble.She ignores my question. “He told me to keep an eye on you and make sure you take it easy. I’ve already failed and you should be ashamed.”I pull t
I’M KEEPING A FIRM grip on Danny’s arm. “If you can’t walk, I’m putting you over my shoulder,” I tell her as she stumbles a bit.“Nope, that would hurt my ribs, pretty boy.”Okay, she’s really drunk. Danny never admits to pain and she usually only calls me pretty boy over the phone. She stumbles again and I’ve had enough. “Arms around my neck; I’ll cradle you.” I sweep her up and she giggles, which is totally unlike her, as she places her arms around me. “Are you putting me to bed shoo, pretty boy?”I don’t bother correcting the shoo into too. It won’t make a difference. “That’s the plan, Danny girl.” God, she smells good. Soap and woman. No perfume. Her body is hard and muscular, and I think of this to remind myself I like soft and voluptuous. Now that I’ve taken notice of Danny, it’s hard to turn that notice off. I keep reminding myself that Danny’s a friend—one of the guys. For some reason, carrying her in my arms this way no longer makes me think of the guys. She wiggles a bit and