Chapter 17

 

“Marcus! Marcus,” I screamed.

The men continued to carry him out to the SUV and laid him in the back seat.

“I’m coming with you,” I said as I started to climb into the vehicle.

It was the first time any of the men addressed me.

“No, you can’t. We are taking him to the hospital. Someone will let you know an update as soon as we know something,” a man dressed in black swat gear said.

They closed the door and took off, leaving me standing there in the middle of the street. I could see the two other men working inside, but I didn’t want to go back in there and see the dead bodies on the ground.

I looked around the neighborhood, and it dawned on me how isolated I truly was living in Bain, Missouri. There wasn’t anyone home during the daytime, and many people didn’t even come home until the weekends. All the commotion that had just gone on, and no one was even around to call the police and report gunshots being fired except maybe Stanley, but I wasn’t positive that he was going to call either.

My legs started to feel weak, and I made my way over to the stairs in front of my house. The adrenaline made my body shake, and I started to feel like throwing up. My hands vibrated with fear, and I could feel a cold sweat coming over my body.

I leaned over and put my head in my hands as I tried desperately not to throw up. I hated the feeling of vomiting and would do everything in my power not to give in to the nausea.

“Are you alright?” one of the men from Marcus’s house said as he stood in front of me.

“I’m not sure.”

“If you’ll let me, I’d like to help you inside. Marcus asked me to make sure you were alright.”

He seemed like a nice guy, and I had seen him with Marcus at the airport before. I didn’t exactly respond, but I did try to stand up, and he reached his arm out and helped to stabilize me.

“I’m Isabella,” I said as we walked into my house.

“I know. I’m Zed.”

I smiled at him as he helped me over to the couch. He put a couple pillows on one side of the couch, and I moved over to lie down. He disappeared into the kitchen and was back very quickly with some water and a few saltine crackers.

“Thanks.”

My hands were shaking as I tried to drink the water, so Zed took the cup from me and held it while I drank. It was a very kind thing to do. I didn’t know this man, but if Marcus had told him to take care of me, and he was so willingly doing it, I had to figure he was a good guy.

He was a very handsome man, not quite as handsome as Marcus, but still very close. Zed had more of a baby face and looked to be closer to my age. He didn’t seem old enough to be doing whatever it was that Marcus was doing.

“You don’t look too well. Is there anything else I can get for you?”

“I’ll be alright. I’d really like to know how Marcus is as soon as you know something, though. He did not look very good.”

“Oh, it looked like the bullet went straight through the shoulder; he should be fine as long as they get the bleeding stopped.”

Zed seemed like a pretty laid back guy to be in whatever this business was. Although, Marcus also was pretty laid back and was shot in a hospital right now. Perhaps being laid back in their business wasn’t the best personality trait.

His light brown hair was shaved tight on the side of his head with some wavy length on the top. I found it difficult to take him serious with the two large dimples on either side of his perfect smile. My only reason for being able to listen and talk with him was that I had seen him with Marcus at the airport a couple weeks prior. Zed seemed like a pretty intense guy, and his eyes looked at me with a powerful desire. But he stayed away from showing any of that desire; he was wholly appropriate with me. It probably didn’t hurt that I looked like I was going to puke at any moment.

It dawned on me that Zed had said he knew who I was. I wondered how much Marcus had told the guys about me?

“You seem like you’ve seen plenty of shootings,” I said with a little bit of a laugh. “I mean you look unconcerned by this whole thing.”

Zed didn’t look like he was going to respond at first. Then, perhaps because he knew I was friends with Marcus, Zed told me a little more than I could have imagined.

“Yes, I have seen some pretty horrible stuff. Saw a friend get his neck cut once. Many of us have had other injuries like gunshots or being stabbed or something like that,” Zed said. “Marcus has been shot before, though. I’m not too worried about him. I’ll bet you he’s back here in not time making sure I am really taking care of you.”

There seemed to be a little sexual undertone in how Zed had just said that sentence. Certainly, Marcus hadn’t told him to come and sleep with me? That was ridiculous. But I couldn’t help thinking about having Zed. He was utterly adorable. Although I was going to hold back because I was really worried about Marcus, and he was my first concern.

“Why do you do it? I mean it’s obviously a dangerous job. Why keep putting yourself in the middle of things?”

I wanted to know. Did it pay really well? Did this job help with the ladies? Why would any man choose a job where he could see his friends murdered?

“We are saving people. You can’t beat knowing that you are taking these bad guys off the street, and they won’t have anyone to lead their cause.”

Their cause? I wondered who these people were that they were taking them off the streets. It sounded like Marcus and his friends worked as bounty hunters or something like that. Maybe that was why they could afford to travel on a private jet instead of like normal people. Or maybe they had some big person who financed their operation and paid for things. I wasn’t going to keep trying to get information out of Zed, though; he needed to get back to cleaning up the crime scene over at Marcus’s house.

“What are you guys going to do with those two dead guys?”

Zed just smiled. It was one of those smiles that said to me, I didn’t want to know the answer to that question. He stood up and looked down on me with a smile that burned through me. My whole body warmed at how he gazed into my eyes. His muscles flexed tight in his black T-shirt and his various guns strapped to his side and leg. I couldn’t help it; I was seriously turned on by this guy.

“I’m going to get back over there. You’re alright?”

“Yes, I’ll be alright. Thank you,” I said as I looked away from his gaze.

Zed let himself out of the house, and I got up to look at him out the window. He was much more my type of guy than Marcus was. His age and appearance fit more with the type of guy I found attractive, and Zed seemed sweet and kind instead of angry and dangerous like Marcus. But that was because Marcus was beyond the type of guy I thought I could ever date. I never, in a million years, would have thought a guy like Marcus would be with a girl like me.

Now I was sitting and shaking while I worried about him. I had no idea where he was taken or which hospital. I didn’t even know his last name! It was going to be really hard to get any sort of update on his health.

Hopefully, Zed would come back and give me the news as soon as they figured out what was going on. I also desperately hoped that Zed was right and the bullet went through Marcus’s shoulder without causing any permanent damage.

 

***

 

I fell asleep out of exhaustion and didn’t wake up until the middle of the night. I had a nightmare and was sweating when I sat up straight. I looked around the room and could feel my heart beating out of my chest. Beads of sweat filled my brow, and I needed to check to make sure all the doors were locked.

I got up and went to the front door which had been left unlocked from when Zed had left earlier in the day. My anxiety got instantly worse.

Slowly I walked from room to room, flipping the light on and then searching the room before moving onto the next. My body could not relax until I had searched every corner of the house and was assured that there were no intruders.

I’m not sure what I expected to do if I had found an intruder, but surely I would have thought of something.

When I sat back down on the couch a flood of emotions filled me. I didn’t want to be alone. I wanted to find out where Marcus was so I could go see him. It was too late to go back over to Marcus’s house, and I’m not sure I wanted to be back over there at all.

Knowing that two dead bodies had been on the floor in the living room was enough to make me never want to go to Marcus’s house ever.

The television offered a little distraction, but I just couldn’t seem to get my mind around everything that was going on. I use to be a lonely woman hiding away in my family’s home and grieving the loss of my one true love. Now I sat staring at the television and trying to get over seeing three men shot, one of whom I was starting to have feelings for.

I wanted to reach out to Willow and tell her everything that was going on, but I didn’t know if Marcus would like that. His job seemed pretty secretive, and I didn’t want to put him at risk by telling people what I thought he did. In fact, I didn’t really know at all what he did for work, so I should probably wait until I talked to Marcus.

Suddenly my heart started to race as I heard a noise coming from behind my house.

It dawned on me that those men who had come to Marcus’s house had been there to murder or hurt him. Now here I was sitting there without any protection at all. What if they had come back to finish Marcus off? What if they knew I was involved now?

My body shook again with fear. How could Zed have left me there alone? I thought he was supposed to be keeping an eye on me? I thought he had promised Marcus that he would watch out for me? Certainly, leaving my door unlocked and leaving me alone wasn’t watching out for me, I fumed as I tried to calm myself down.

I tried to take a deep breath, but my lungs just couldn’t fill up. After I had closed my eyes, I tried again to get a full breath, but it would not come. I heard a knock at the back door and almost screamed.

Surely no one would be coming over to my house at this hour of the night; it was almost four o’clock in the morning.

I didn’t want to go to the back door. I didn’t want to see who it was because then they would be able to see who I was. I breathed in as deep a breath as I could gather and slowly walked toward the kitchen.

My head peeked around the corner, and I could see two male figures standing on my back porch. Because I had all the lights on in the house, it was difficult to see who was standing there. But since he wasn’t trying to break in or anything like that, I decided to move closer.

“Marcus!” I screamed as I realized it was him. “And Stanley! What are you guys doing here?”

“I’ve been sitting outside your house since Zed left,” Stanley said. “He told me to keep an eye on things until he got back with Marcus.

I moved quickly toward the two guys and was about to fling my arms around both of them when I realized Marcus had his arm in a sling. I hugged Stanley first and then softly hugged Marcus.

“I was so worried about you,” I said to him.

“Hey, babe,” he said with a wink.

“Don’t hey babe me! I have been going crazy. Where were you? Are you alright? Who were those men? Why were they after you?”

“I think that’s my cue to head out. I’m glad you’re alright, Marcus. I’ll check in tomorrow with you both to see if you need anything,” Stanley said as he and Marcus shook hands. “Take care of yourself, and don’t let this girl wear you out.”

“Thanks for helping out and keeping her safe,” Marcus said.

Marcus held his finger up to his mouth in a clue for me to be quiet as he turned back toward me. Then he took a step into my kitchen and shut the door behind him. His ocean blue eyes looked down at me, and his lips moved to touch mine.

All my worry and concern was vanishing as I felt his passion as our tongues moved in time with each other. My lip quivered, and he calmed it with his touch.

I worried about where to put my hands, as I didn’t want to hurt him or his shoulder, so I wrapped them around his waist.

It felt so good to be next to Marcus and feeling him on my body. It felt so good to know that he was safe, and there was nothing that could take him away from me; at least nothing there at that moment.

My body finally relaxed from the fear of the day and melted into the comfort of Marcus. His tall frame kept me safe as his muscular body would surely keep the bad guys away from me. This was the perfect ending to a horrible day. Now I just had to sit him down and get him to tell me about what was going on.

My safety and the safety of my friends in town were very important, and I didn’t want this group of bad guys getting in anyone’s way. I didn’t want them coming back to town to hurt me or the people I loved.

“Come and sit down,” I said as I grabbed Marcus by the hand and took him over to the couch.

I wanted to freak out and start screaming about everything that had happened the other day, but I didn’t think Marcus would respond well to that. Instead, I just sat on the other end of the couch and stayed quiet. He would have to be willing to tell me his story without me chasing after it.

The awkward silence seemed to last for a very long time, but I was resigned not to be the first one to talk.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” Marcus said as he finally broke the silence.

“Yeah, that was intense. I’m glad to see you doing well. I thought you had been killed. It freaked me out a lot.”

My attempt at being strong had quickly failed, and I felt tears well up in my eyes. I tried not to look at him as my whole body started to shake again, remembering how the day had gone so wrong.

Marcus moved close to me on the couch and put his good arm around me. He pulled me up against him, and we sat in silence again. This time he didn’t break the silence, and I didn’t either.

The feeling of his tough, muscular arm wrapped around me felt so right. It felt like that was the exact place I was supposed to be at that exact moment. I was exhausted, and having Marcus next to me gave me just the right amount of comfort that I drifted off to sleep. Marcus also fell asleep, having had a much worse day than I did.

We were both able to sleep another five hours before the warmth of the sun and light from the windows started to wake us. I looked up at Marcus and kissed him. The delicate sun kept us warm, and it felt like the start of a new day. Not only because it was morning, but because we could start with something fresh and new between us as well.

It felt so good to have his lips on mine. His body reacted to the kiss, and I could feel his cock getting hard. There was an intense need in his eyes, and I could see him thinking through how he could have me when his arm was still in a sling, and he was in pain when he moved.

He grabbed me with his good arm and pulled me over so I was straddling him. I could feel the girth of his cock between my legs and started to rub my body against him.

Our mouths searched one another with desire, and he used his other hand to unhook my bra. I remember thinking how talented that was to do that with only one hand. He then moved his hand and grabbed my shorts. He yanked on them until I lifted myself up and pulled them down to the ground.

By this time, he had started unbuttoning his pants and was trying to slide them down with one hand. I grabbed them with both of my hands as he lifted up his hips. His hard cock sprung free, and I couldn’t stop myself from wrapping my lips around him.

It was large and full of desire. I could see his need to have me, and that made me want him even more. His throbbing member danced around to entice me. I wanted to feel it dancing inside of me, making me feel excitement like I couldn’t imagine.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me up to him, urging me to slide onto his massive member. As my body wrapped around him, I could feel him moving deep inside of me. I wiggled around a little to press him even deeper into my body.

I tucked my head into the corner of his neck and moved my hips back and forth against his body. My lips gently touched his neck and ear, and he could hear my quiet moans of pleasure as we moved in time with one another.

My clit rubbed up against his firm abdominal muscles, and soon I could feel the combination of excitement and explosion building inside of me. I held my arms around his neck as I thrust harder and harder against his body. Soon I could feel myself getting ready to cum.

“Cum for me baby,” Marcus said as he grabbed my ass.

He pressed my body to move even harder and faster than I already was. My hips moved up and down as they thrust his cock deeper inside of me. Then I felt the buildup coming to a finale that I so desperately needed.

As we both sat there in ecstasy, I let my head rest on his good shoulder. Something had changed between us, and we were definitely not strangers anymore. We were more than neighbors, more than lovers; we were together in a new way.

I grabbed his hand, and we walked up to the bedroom to sleep some more. Both of us were exhausted when there was a knock at the front door. Instantly, I looked at Marcus, worried about who it might be.

“It’s Zed,” Marcus said without even checking to see. “Go ahead and open it.”

“We are naked.” I laughed. Let me get some clothes.

“No need,” Marcus replied and opened the front door to Zed.

“Well, it looks like I’m late.” Zed laughed as he looked at Marcus standing there naked. “I was just loading some things into your house and grabbing a sandwich. God, you can’t even wait for me.”

“Got caught up in the moment,” Marcus smiled and closed the door behind Zed.

I was really confused about what was going on right then and there. Zed didn’t seem surprised at all that Marcus and I were standing there naked. I had tucked myself behind Marcus to hide my body, but I felt weirdly comfortable even with Zed in the room.

“Who’s going to tell me what’s going on?” I asked from behind Marcus. “And are we getting dressed or what?”

“How about I just get undressed so we all feel more comfortable?” Zed asked playfully.

“Good plan,” Marcus said before I could refuse Zed’s offer.

Zed was stripping off his clothes right there in the entryway before I could even think of a way to stop him. I really had no idea what was happening. I mean I didn’t mind seeing Zed naked, he was a delicious looking man, but it was weird to have Marcus so willing to go along with it.

“Marcus said you might enjoy me,” Zed said as he stood there with his body naked for me to see.

“What?”

“Zed and I would like to share you,” Marcus said and turned around to face me. “Together, we want to have you.”

“Wait? What is going on?” I asked again nervously.

“You’ve had three guys before, right?” Marcus asked. “I think you’ll find that Zed is a really nice guy, and together we will make you scream with pleasure. Even this arm won’t keep me from pleasing you.”

I stood there in total shock of what was going on. I was normally the one who was shocking people. It was my lifestyle that made guys unbalanced and nervous. Guys weren’t the ones who normally made me feel unbalanced.

“I thought you and I hit it off pretty well. I was feeling some sexual energy there. Am I wrong?” Zed asked.

“No, I felt it,” I replied with wide eyes as I looked at naked Zed and then naked Marcus. “I’ve had three men living with me, but I’ve never had more than one man at a time.”

“Well, then this is going to be fun. I mean if you’re interested?” Marcus asked. “Because I’ve got a shit ton of pain meds on board, and I’d really like to get some good use out of them.”

My body warmed with the thought of having both of these delicious men. I hadn’t imagined a situation where I’d really want something like this, but I wasn’t opposed to it. In fact, the more I looked at the two of them, the more I was sure that Marcus was right, and this was going to be a hell of a lot of fun.

“I’m interested,” I finally agreed. “Let’s go upstairs.”

“After you,” Marcus said and let me start walking up in front of them.

I felt both of their eyes on my ass as I walked up the stairs. It was empowering to know I had their undivided attention and that both of them wanted me so bad that their bodies were already throbbing with the idea of having me.

I wanted to talk more about what had happened. I wanted to get an explanation for why those men had come to his home to kill him. I needed to know why they were after him and why they would be so brazen as to come to his home. But that would all have to wait.

At the moment, I needed to explore what it was like to have two amazing men like Marcus and Zed at the same time.