Chapter 10

Sometimes I wake up grumpy; other times I let her sleep.

-T-shirt

Ember

I’d just woken from my afternoon nap.

 

It was Sunday; I was allowed to be lazy.  I woke up to an empty house, and took the opportunity to try on my new workout compression shorts that had a holster for my pistol built in.  I was admiring how great the compression part sucked in the fat when I decided I needed to show this puppy off, but first I had to find the gun.

 

I went to the closet and started to search for my firearm when I came across a small box on the top shelf of the closet.  Curious by nature, I slipped the lid off and looked inside.  The box was full of pictures.  Grabbing the box, I took it with me to the bed and had a seat.  I dumped the entire thing out onto the bed.  Some of the photos were old, and some were much newer.

 

Starting at the bottom, I looked through and found a family photo of a young Gabe, a handsome older man that looked like a slightly older version of Gabe now, and a beautiful woman with shining brown hair.  They looked like the perfect little family.  It’s hard to imagine that Gabe lost such beauty in his life.  Setting the photo on the nightstand, I went about sorting through the pictures.  Some were of old army buddies, others were of a much more tired looking version of his mom.  Even a few of him in high school.

 

I smiled when I saw the one of a group of men in the desert.  I spied Gabe first.  He had his shirt off and tucked into the front of his pants.  His rifle slung cross ways across his chest, and he was smiling big for the camera.  His dog tags hung between his well-defined pecs, and he was wearing a pair of Oakley’s covering his eyes.  He had both of his arms slung around two men.  They were shirtless as well, shirts tucked into their pants in nearly the same way.  Their guns were resting on their shoulders, and both were laughing full out.  This one made me happy, so I decided to keep this one out as well, and placed it on top of the family photo.

 

Closer to the front was when the pictures started getting annoying.  That was where all the women were.

 

One photo in particular caught my eye.  The picture was of Gabe in his dress uniform, and a young woman who looked vaguely familiar.  Not sure why, but something about her stood out to me.  Gabe looked so handsome in his uniform.  Metals were pinned to his coat, colors of all kinds stood out starkly on his left breast.  The woman clashed with him in the looks department.  She was wearing a form fitting green dress that looked entirely inappropriate for what looked like an army function.  Her hair was up in a tight do that made her face look pinched.  She wasn’t smiling, but neither was Gabe.  This must be Sydney. 

 

Feeling a little killer like, I decided maybe I should put the pictures up before I went to the backyard and started offering burned pictures as a sacrifice.  Or, seeing if I could make a voodoo doll.  I felt a little hostile right now, and would probably jump her sorry ass if I had her in the same room with me.

 

Standing up, I gathered the pictures and shoved them back into the box, making sure to grab the two that were on the nightstand and placing them onto the dresser where I could get them later.  I put the box back where I found it, and then went in search of my new gun.

 

I found it in the kitchen.  Why?  I don’t know, but hey, who am I to question a man’s way of thinking?

 

Sliding my new Ruger into the holster, I did a few jumping jacks to see how the fit was.

 

Kinda annoying, but definitely doable.  It was a heavy presence at my back.

 

Slipping my bare feet into a pair of old Nike’s, I changed my shirt into an old volleyball one from high school, and walked out the front door.  There was no answer at Cheyenne’s place, so I tried Blaine’s, but had the same response.  Then I went searching and found them all in the bay area of the garage.

 

All eyes turned to me as I walked in.  Everyone was there.  Gabe, Blaine and Elliot, Sam and Cheyenne, James, Jack and Max.  All the boys had beers in their hands, and the girls were drinking what looked like sweet tea.

 

“So, how did he measure up?”  Elliott asked when he saw me walk through the back door.

 

Cheyenne and Blaine snickered and my stomach sank.  Why would they ask that?  Looking to Gabe for a clue as to what was going on, I found him giving Elliott the look.  You know, the one where if it were possible, he’d be slicing you in half with his death ray stare. 

 

“How did what measure up?”  I asked confused.

 

“You know...the package,” Jack chimed in, glancing at Gabe then back to me.

 

Glancing around, I tried to figure out what the hell they were talking about, but found nothing.

 

“I’m confused.  What are y’all talking about?”

 

“Well, apparently, Ember dear, your man over here forgot to turn off the sound on his microphone.  Your sexcapades were heard over the airwaves.  Unlucky for you, everyone was playing at the time.  So, how big was he, best friend?”  Cheyenne teased.

 

My face flamed, and I was stunned speechless. 

 

They’d heard the entire thing!

 

Turning my own death ray stare towards Gabe, I found him contemplating the rafter’s in the ceiling.  I let my eyes travel down his t-shirt covered chest, down to his jean-clad package.  This was one of those times where I was supposed to let it go.  Unfortunately, my mouth didn’t agree with my mind.

 

“Well,” I drawled, “I never got him out of me long enough to measure him.  My Gabe has some stamina.  I did measure him with my fists and mouth though.  How big would that make him if he takes up both fists and all of my mouth?”

 

They all looked thunderstruck.

 

Poor Max’s face was bright red, eyes squeezed tightly shut.  Blaine’s mouth was hanging open, and Gabe was close to crying, he was laughing so hard.  Albeit silently.  It was the type of laugh where no sound came out.

 

Cheyenne came unstuck first.

 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.  Come on, let’s go measure,” she said grabbing onto my arm. 

 

I shook her off, and turned back to Gabe.

 

I slapped him on the arm and said, “Knock it off, you big galoot.” 

 

He straightened and wiped the tears that were running down his cheek.

 

“What do you think of these?”  I asked Gabe as I turned around and lifted up my shirt.

 

“That’s fucking sweet!”  Blaine yelled.

 

“I thought so, but does the gun look noticeable?  I don’t really want anyone to know I’m carrying it.”

 

I felt Gabe’s hand on my back as he traced the outline of the gun.

 

“Pretty nifty little contraption.  How does it feel?”  Gabe asked.

 

“Can you run around in it without it falling out?”  Max asked.

 

“Do a couple of rounds of the parking lot and come back,” Sam said.

 

Rolling my eyes, I took off across the lot, did two loops, and then came back to the garage.  All the while, the gun stayed in the correct position at the small of my back.

 

“Feels good.  No slipping or anything,” I noted.

 

I tried my best to conceal that I was winded just from two loops around the lot.  Must get to the gym more.

 

All the men were studying my back as I looked over my shoulder.

 

“Where did you find these?”  Cheyenne asked, “Do they make them in maternity sizes?”

 

“Amazon, and no, probably not.”  They were stretchy though.  “Try them on later and see if you like them.”  I said to her.

 

Nodding, she made a loop around me, and I decided I’d had enough attention for the moment.  Clapping my hands and turning around, all eyes went to my face.

 

“Now, what’s for dinner?”  I asked.

 

“We could go out.  We haven’t done that in a long time.”  Blaine suggested.

 

Nodding my head, I concurred.

 

“Sounds like a plan.  As long as we go somewhere that will let me wear these shorts, we’re good.”

 

Everyone had something to say about the shorts again, but I went to Gabe and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

 

“Love you,” I whispered into his ear.

 

He leaned back and took my face into his hands.

 

“Love you more.”  Was his gruff reply.

  ***

We were all sitting around a table at Bodacious, a local BBQ joint, when the woman in the photo finally clicked on where I’d seen her.

 

“Motherfucker!”  I shouted when it finally registered.

 

Turning to Gabe I asked him, “What does Sidney look like?”

 

“Tall, reddish hair, skinny.  Dresses like a high society princess.  Why?”  He asked perplexed.

 

“Cheyenne, do you remember the lady that came and picked Story up?”  I asked.

 

“Tall, red auburn hair, stuck up,” Cheyenne supplied.

 

It was all starting to fit together.  Story thanking “Sid” for the lift as the door closed.  Why the woman looked so freaked to be at Free.  Then another sinking feeling started seeping into my chest, and burrowing in until I couldn’t get the thought out of my head.

 

Jesus Christ.  That woman had a baby.  Oh my God.  No.

 

“Can I talk to you a minute?”  I whispered to him.

 

His eyes studied me for a moment, and noted the change that had come over me.  Standing up, he grabbed my hand and lifted me out of my chair.  Guiding me outside, he took me to the bench that ran along the front and side of the building.  Taking a seat, he pulled me down next to him, and waited for me to tell him what was wrong.

 

“Gabe,” I said and swallowed thickly.

 

How do you tell someone you think he has a kid out there that he’s never met?

 

“What?”  He asked evenly.

 

He could sense something was wrong, but he had no clue.  This was going to be one hell of a bombshell.

 

“Last month, when Story was picked up, it was by a woman named “Sid” who, I swear on my life, looks like the woman who was in the Army Ball photo of you that I saw in the closet.  She looks exactly like her, just a tad older,” I said.

 

His mouth opened and then closed.

 

“But she lives in Michigan.  Why would she be here?” he asked.

 

“I don’t know, but that’s not all.  She also had a baby with her.  Who looked to be about a year and a half old.  She looked just like you, and seeing her was what made me ask you about kids later that day.  She made me want to have one that would look just like you.  Just like that little girl,” I whispered brokenly.

 

Gabe sat in stunned silence. 

 

He sat there so long, that I was beginning to get worried.

 

That is until he exploded.  I watched the seat where he had been sitting not even seconds before, and then turned and watched him as he stalked to his bike, started it with a roar, and tore out of the parking lot.  Without his helmet even strapped to his head, I might add.

 

Going back into the front door, I made my way back to the tables that we’d pushed together.  My food still sat half eaten on my plate, but I had no appetite what-so-ever.  Even looking at it made me want to puke.  Looking around at the curious faces, I finally settled on Max.

 

“I’m gonna need a ride.  Gabe needed a minute,” I said to him.

 

Nodding, he said, “Lucky for you that I had a bitch seat put on.  Didn’t want to have to deny any rides if I wanted to pick someone up at a bar or somethin’,” Max said bawdily.

 

Curling my lip, I started to explain what was going on, and what I thought might be going on.

 

“So let me get this straight.  Gabe was seeing someone during his last deployment, got her pregnant, and went off to war only to be dropped like a hot potato and told she’d aborted his baby and ran off with another man.  Then she lied, or possibly lied, about it all, and actually had Gabe’s baby?  Do I have all this straight?”  Blaine summarized.

 

“That’s what I’m thinking.  I saw that little girl; she’s the spitting image of Gabe in the looks department.  I remember thinking that she could totally pass for his kid.  Except, I think that really was his baby.  There’re just too many coincidences here,”  I said.

 

“Let’s get out of here.  I’ll call Luke and see if he can find her last address.  We can run a check on her at the shop.  Jack, go see if you can find Gabe,” Sam demanded.

 

Time to find the cause of this monster clusterfuck.

 

***

 

“I’m coming with you, and I’m not arguing with you.  If you don’t take me with you, I will just go myself,” I said to Max and Sam.

 

Sighing in defeat, we all made our way out to Sam’s Suburban and piled in.  We were going to go stake out Sidney’s house, and see if we could collect any more information.  I’d grabbed my Canon in case I was able to get a photo.  I wanted to prove to Gabe that this was his child.  I didn’t want there to be any doubt.

 

Thirty minutes later, we were parked three houses down in one of the nicer subdivisions in Longview.  The Moran household looked like one of the nicer ones on the block.

According to the background check Elliott ran, and the information from Luke, Sidney was now Mrs. Logan Moran.  They’d married about a year ago, and had a one and a half year old daughter.  Mr. Moran was an engineer at LeTourneau industries.  Sidney was a stay at home mom, and didn’t have a record.

 

We watched the house for over an hour before we got our first break.  Sidney pulled up in her Audi and parked outside the garage.  She went to the back door and started unbuckling the child that was in the back seat.

 

Using this excellent opportunity, I leapt out of the car with my camera ready, and started snapping photos of Sidney and the little girl.  Sidney set the girl down and walked up to the house, calling out behind her for the girl to follow, and getting upset when the girl stopped to grab a flower that was growing in a flowerbed on the side of the driveway.

 

I stayed out of sight, but zoomed in as far as I could go, getting some excellent shots of the little girl with the flower up to her face.  I took picture after picture, and only stopped when Sidney was fed up with the little girl.  She hauled her into the house by her arm, and slammed the door with a loud bang. 

 

My heart was pounding.  That was Gabe’s little girl.  I just knew it.

 

Getting back into the Suburban, I clicked my seatbelt into place, and waited patiently for Sam and Max to get over their shock.

 

“How could a person do that, man?”  Max asked.

 

Nobody answered.  We didn’t know.

 

The ride back to the compound was a silent one.  Arriving at Free, we all headed into the office where everyone else was residing.  Checks were being run on the Moran family.  Cheyenne was on the phone with the hospital setting up a DNA test.  Blaine was on the phone with a judge.  Elliott was on the phone with a lawyer explaining what was going on.  All these people loved Gabe, and this proved it.

 

A thundering roar pulled up outside of the shop, and I knew that Jack finally convinced Gabe to come home.  I sat and waited, camera still in hand, for him to come through the door.  He didn’t disappoint. 

 

He looked ravaged. 

***

Gabe

“I need to get in contact with a lawyer,” I said to no one in particular.

 

“We’ve already got the ball rolling.  All we are waiting on now is paperwork, which can’t be filed until tomorrow morning.  Your lawyer will be filing a custody suit at eight AM.  She’ll be served with papers shortly after.  Blaine here, called in some favors and the Judge moved the case to the front of the list.  As soon as they’re served, a trial date will be set.  The lawyer recommends not having any contact with the Moran’s until you have him present.  He doesn’t want to leave anything to chance,” Elliott explained.

 

I was dumbstruck.  All this had been done in the two hours since leaving the barbeque joint.  A little bit of hope took life in my chest.

 

Finally making eye contact with Ember, I noticed the camera she had clutched in her fingers.

 

“What’s going on?”  I asked her.

 

She didn’t answer, but instead showed me.

 

Picture after picture was of a beautiful black haired, olive skinned girl.  The girl was wearing a yellow top with flowered shorts.  The shoes she was wearing were bright yellow.  Her hair was in pig tales, ringlets flying in the wind.  One picture was of Sidney, herself, taking the little girl out of the car seat.  Another was of the little girl bent over picking a flower.  Another of her smelling the flower.  The final one was of a mean faced Sidney dragging her by the arm.  The last one set my gut back to churning. 

 

“Jesus Christ.  What’ve I done?”  I asked roughly.

 

“Gabriel, you didn’t do anything.  You did what anyone would have done when presented with that situation.  Why would you think she would lie about something like that?  That’s just not something a good person lies about.  Take this in, and then let it go, because you’re about to be in the fight of your life,” Ember said softly.

 

She always knew just what to say to get my mind in the right place.  She knew if I needed a laugh, if I needed some love, and when I needed it to be real.  She just knew me, and I was never more grateful for her presence than now.

 

“Alright, tell me what I can do.  I can’t just sit here.  This is driving me fucking nuts.”

 

“Actually I finished my part of the bike.  It’s all yours.  You have a week to get it painted,” Jack said to me.

 

Nodding my head, I contemplated what to do.  My head wasn’t in the right place to do anything that had to do with Sidney, I didn’t want anything to go wrong; painting the bike was probably the best option I had right now.  I also knew that the intricacies of painting the bike in memory of Dougie would put everything in perspective for me.  This was when I thought my best, made my best decisions.

 

I left the room without another word and went to work.

 

I buffed, primed, taped, and painted for hours.  I didn’t stop until my vision started to get blurry from lack of sleep.  The clock on the wall told me it was a quarter after three in the morning, and that I’d been doing this for way too long.  I was surprised that Ember let me be on my own for all this time, but since she knew me so well, she probably knew that I needed to think.  Being the woman that she was, she knew that if she interrupted me, then I wouldn’t be able to.

 

I’d worked it all out in my mind; how I wanted tomorrow’s meeting with Sidney to go.  I knew what I was going to say to her, I knew what I was going to offer her, and I knew I was about to be in one hell of a fight.  That woman didn’t have one reasonable bone in her body when I was with her, and I was sure she hadn’t changed much in the two years since I’d last seen her.

 

Putting all my tools and equipment away, I quietly made my way around the shop and to my front door.  No noise came from inside; I knew Ember was sleeping already. 

 

I unlocked the door as quietly as I could and was bombarded with the smell of baked goods.  Following the scent into the kitchen, I found a pan of brownies and a note that read:

 

Everything always looks brighter when you have something sweet to eat.  I love you.

Em.

 

Damn.  I love that woman.

 

Tomorrow I was going to stop by a ring store and find a ring that was perfect for her finger, and I was going to put it there for the rest of her life.  If anything else, today proved how much she meant to me.  How well she supported me.  How much she loved me.

 

I ate three brownies with a large glass of milk, and then went to the bedroom and took a shower.  I dried off, and then climbed, naked, onto the bed behind Ember.  I needed her.

  

I made love to her slowly, and when we were finished, I held her close throughout the rest of the night, feeling her heartbeat against the palm of my hand.  I was one lucky SOB.

*** 

The next morning

“Do you still have this letter?”  Martin, my lawyer asked.

 

It took me a minute to decide where I’d left it, but decided I never moved it from its original location.  “Yeah.  It’s in my rucksack at the bottom of my closet.  I felt damn near homicidal after reading it and I wanted to be able to read it later when I was in a calmer state of mind.  I never touched it again though.  I just stashed it in a book she’d gotten me and left it there.” 

 

“Good.  We need to have that letter on file, and then I want you to put it in a safe deposit box for.  Now, on to the main event; do you want to have full custody, or do you want to have joint?”

 

“Full,” I said without hesitation. 

 

“Alright.  With everything that’s been discussed today, I will go over it with my junior attorney.  We will get these papers filed ASAP.  She’ll probably be served with them later this afternoon.  Most likely, the trial will be held in a month’s time.  Until then, I can assure you we will work out some sort of visitation schedule so you can meet your child.  The DNA test will have to be done later this week, as per court order.  You’ll have to go provide a sample at your convenience.  I’ll have my secretary give you the information on where it’s located.  I highly advise you to go ahead and start making plans as if she will be coming to live with you.  The more you show that you want her, the better it will look in the judge’s eyes,” Martin explained.

 

We made our way to the door, and shook hands, when I glanced over and spotted Ember in one of the lobby chairs.  She came sometime after I had gone into his office; l didn’t even ask her to.  She smiled when she saw me, and made her way to me, wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her head against my chest.

 

“Ember, this is Martin Barnes, Martin, this is my girlfriend Ember Tremaine.”  I said.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Ms. Tremaine.  Gabe here tells me you’re the one who made the connection,” Martin said.

 

Ember nodded, but didn’t say anything.  Pleasantries were exchanged, before we made our way out of the building.

 

“How’d you get here?”  I asked.

 

“Drove.”

 

“Alone?”

 

“Yep.”

 

I stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, turning her to face me.

 

“Let me get this straight.  You drove over here, with a hit on you, by yourself?  At least tell me that someone knows you came.”

 

She looked at me guiltily, and I immediately knew that no one was privy to her whereabouts.

 

“Don’t do that again, Ember.  I can’t lose you.  Promise me that you won’t go out by yourself until we get this gang situation figured out.”

 

“How long exactly should I have an escort?  It’s been four fucking months, and I’m tired of this shit.  I want to be able to go somewhere by myself.  I can’t even take a shit without one of you knowing it!” She fumed.

 

“Honey, if you want to take a shit in private, all you have to do is ask, and I’ll leave the house.”

 

“This is not a joking matter.  I’m sick and tired of it.  Figure it out.  Do something, but get it done, because I’m not going to deal with this much longer.”

 

“You will deal with it as long as it needs to be dealt with.  This has never been put on the back burner.  We’ve been working on it for months now.  The police are working a sting operation, and, hopefully, with that in the works, you’ll be taken off the hot seat.  They might forget about you.  The reason we haven’t used force yet is because we don’t want to bring you to their attention any more than you already are.”

 

“You’ve got two more months.  That’s it.  I can’t do this anymore.  Now, let’s go get breakfast, and then I want to go watch Sidney get served.”

 

Laughing, I led her to my motorcycle, handed her her helmet, strapped mine on, and we rode to the Ihop. 

 

“I want two sausages, not the breakfast sausage, but the Eckrich sausage type.  I want three eggs, hash browns, and three buttermilk pancakes.  Oh, and a Dr. Pepper.”  Ember told the server before she even had a chance to say hello.

 

“Jesus, are you hungry?”  I asked.

 

“Yeah, I don’t know what it is, but I have the weirdest cravings for sausages lately.  What are you getting?”  She asked me.

 

“I’ll have the breakfast sampler.  Sausage and Bacon.  Coffee,” I said to the server.

 

“O-okay.  C-can I get you an appetizer or anything?”  She questioned sweetly, while batting her eyelashes so hard that she looked like she had something in her eye.

 

“No.  That’s it,” Ember said tersely.

 

The server turned and sashayed away, but I looked at Ember with raised eyebrows in silent question.

 

“She was flirting with you.  She never even looked at me.  The entire time she was here she never even acknowledged me.  Now, tell me how it went today.”

 

I recapped what happened during the meeting, and what my expectations were.  Also, how he planned to put those plans into effect.

 

“He really thinks this will only take a month?”

 

“That’s what he said.  Now, whether that will actually be the case is a completely different story.  Sidney was always a difficult woman to deal with, and I don’t expect this to be any different.  In fact, I feel like it’ll be even more of a fight than she usually gives.  I still can’t believe that I have a kid out there.  How could she have lied to me about this?”  I asked her.

 

“Not a clue, y’all just better make sure I’m never alone with her.  I’d seriously kick her ass.”

 

Really, she wouldn’t, because she didn’t want to jeopardize my ability in getting my child.  We both knew that, but she was in need of a vent.  I’m surprised she’s lasted as long as she has.  She had dark circles under her eyes, and I worried that maybe I shouldn’t have worked my frustrations out on her for so long the night before.

 

“You doin’ okay?”  I asked her.

 

“Yeah.  I guess so.  I guess I’m just in shock.  I’ll be less worried when we have a little more to go on.”

 

My phone buzzed in my pocket, so I reached in and then answered it, noting that it was Sam.

 

“Ember’s gone,” Sam said briskly.

 

“Yeah.  Sorry, she’s with me.”

 

“Okay,” Sam said and then hung up.

 

“Sam seemed a little upset that you forgot to tell everyone that you were leaving,” I said to her.

 

The inevitable argument was delayed by the arrival of our food and drinks.  My food was placed down first, followed by my drink, the ketchup, but I stopped her when she tried to place the napkin in my lap.

 

“If you don’t put my food down and get out of here, I’ll make sure you don’t work here anymore,” Ember said through clenched teeth.

 

The server didn’t look too concerned, but still placed Ember’s food and drink down.

 

“Can I get you anything else, sir?”  The server asked.

 

“No.”  Ember said tersely.

 

“Okay, well here are a few extra napkins then.  Holler if you need anything,” she said while placing a napkin next to my plate.

 

The napkin wasn’t clean, however.  It had the server’s name and number, which I made sure to crumple up in a ball and toss to the floor, all while Ember watched with her nostrils flaring.

 

“It wasn’t my fault,” I said to her while holding my hands up in a placating gesture.

 

Rolling her eyes, Ember went on to devour her food.  Where she hid it all, I didn’t know. 

 

“Do you want anything else, ma’am.”  The server asked on the way past our table while eyeing Ember’s empty plate with a look of disgust.

 

“The check,” I said while staring at my own plate, not giving the woman the benefit of making eye contact, but also unable to keep the smile off my face at the hostile look reflected on Ember’s none too happy face.

 

“I’ll be back,” Ember snapped.

 

Nodding, I watched her walk to the bathroom.  She came out a few minutes later, but made sure to stop by the checkout table and speak with a manager, just like I knew she would.  Ember couldn’t help but give her opinion on things, which is what I loved about her.  She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, and let other people know how she felt.  I always knew where I stood with her.  She wasn’t the type of woman who gave the silent treatment.  Nor was she the type who played games. 

 

The server dropped the check off a few seconds later, but didn’t stay because the manager called her to the front.  Taking that as the cue to get out, I grabbed the check and paid at the register.  The server and the manager disappeared through the kitchen door, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t hear the reaming she was receiving from the manager.  She’s lucky that was all Ember did.  Things could’ve been worse, like the time I saw her pull a pregnant woman out of a bar by the hair.

 

We rode in silence to Wildwood Subdivision where Sidney lived.  Parking three houses down, we didn’t have long to wait when a Lincoln Town Car pulled up, and an older gentleman stepped out.  In his hand, he had a file folder with the word ‘Confidential’ written in large black letters.  My heart started beating wildly, and my palms started sweating.  This was really going to happen, and it honestly scared the fuck out of me to know that in a few weeks, I might have custody of my child, and her life would be in my hands.

 

The older man knocked on the door, and it wasn’t but moments later when the object of my disgust answered the door.  I guess, somewhere deep inside, I’d hoped that Sydney wasn’t truly that evil; that I hadn’t spent years of my life with a woman who would keep something so important from me.  That she would lie about something that would have changed my life.

 

Sidney look confused when she took the papers.  Once the papers exchanged hands, the older man started walking to his car.  Sydney opened the package, and we both watched as her eyes widened, and a look of fear crossed over her features.  Then she started after the old man.

 

“What in the hell is this?”  She shrieked.

 

“I don’t know ma’am.  I only deliver the papers.  I don’t know what’s in them.”  He said before getting in his car and driving off. 

 

Sidney’s hand went to her hair as she pushed it out of her eyes.  This used to be a sign that she was nervous at being caught lying about something.  When I saw this sign, I always knew she was lying, and seeing it today, I knew that that little girl was mine.  What I did wonder is whether she had tried to pass the little girl off as the other man’s, or whether the other man knew what she’d done.  I was very interested, and I vowed that I wouldn’t stop until I knew exactly what she’d done and why.

 

“Let’s go,” I said.

 

Ember nodded against my back, and then settled the helmet back over her head and wrapped her hands around my waist. 

 

Something deep in me had caught fire, and I knew things would never be the same.  One thing I was certain of; Ember was going to be mine forever.

***

I swallowed hard.  Saliva was pooling in my mouth.  My palms were clammy, but I wouldn’t let him see my weakness.  This really wasn’t going to be that bad, I just needed to suck it up and get it done.  He wouldn’t have a problem.  He would be happy for us.  Wouldn’t he?

 

Deciding to grow a pair, I opened the door with a bang and walked inside.  I’d asked Max to meet me at The Sport’s Page.  I needed his acceptance to marry his sister; when he said yes, I would go directly to the jewelry store to buy her ring.

 

Spotting Max with his back to the room, in a back corner booth, I weaved my way through the tables and sat down across from him.  This was not my favorite position to be in, and the bastard damn well knew it.  With many years of caution ingrained in me to be prepared and aware of my surroundings, I hated having my back to a door, but since I was about to ask the man across from me if I could marry his sister, I decided to leave it alone.

 

“Thanks,” I said to Max for being considerate enough to order my beer.

 

“Yeah.  Welcome,” Max mumbled. 

 

His eyes were on my face.  He was studying it, learning all of my secrets. 

 

During our military days, Max was the one who could make anyone talk, and I do mean anyone.  He was one scary motherfucker.  You did not want to be found guilty of something and not confess.  He had ways of getting you to talk.  Where and how he learned them, I don’t know, but he was good at what he did.

 

I distinctly remember our first mission together.  We were all new to the group.  The only ones who knew each other were James and Max.  Even though we were all part of the army, we still didn’t trust each other with our lives.  We didn’t have a reason to.

 

Our first mission was to get some intel on a leader that was collecting young soldiers, as young as nine and ten, and introducing them into a local rebel group that branched off of Al Qaeda.  It was our sixth day into the mission when everything went FUBAR.

 

We’d been boxed in on all four sides, and they were just waiting for us to try to get out.  That, or call for help.  Not that we would’ve known that if it weren’t for Max.  Dougie had caught a man sneaking in.  At the time, we hadn’t known that anything was wrong.  We were under a black out, no communication in or out.  We’d thought we were in a safe house.  We hadn’t been. 

 

When Dougie brought that little bastard into the room, everyone was stunned speechless.  Yes, we did have a patrol, and that very reason was why Dougie found him, but we were running off of a mission that was supposedly handed down to us by The President himself.  We never thought that our position would be leaked.  Maybe we were green around the gills, but after that mission, we never relied on anything but each other.  We still took missions, but we didn’t take them blindly.  We did our own recon on top of what was given to us.

 

Max was the only one who spoke the boy’s language, and was the logical choice to interrogate him.  What we didn’t know was just how brutal an interrogator he was.  Not one single thing could’ve prepared me for the force that was Max.  Listening to that interrogation had given me chills; not much scared me those days.  I was living on borrowed time, and I went balls to the wall every single time I stepped into my combat boots. 

 

That day changed things for me.  Max somehow has a sixth sense about things , and, at that moment, sitting across from him about to ask for his sister’s hand in marriage, I was worried that he wouldn’t give me permission.  Taking a deep breath, I opened my mouth and started in with my speech.

 

“I know I’m not good enough for her, and I know she deserves the world.  I never believed in forever, until I met her.  These last few weeks have proved to me that I need her in my life.  She’s the good in me, and pushes away the demons that never seemed to give me a break.  I haven’t had a nightmare since she started sleeping over.  I used to dream about my dad, I used to dream about Iraq, and Afghanistan.  My mom and dad dying.  I swear to God, my brain used that time to make me remember since I never allowed myself to do it in waking hours.  I need her,” I said.

 

Max just stared, and I started to feel the impulse to squirm in my seat.  I haven’t felt the urge to do that since my dad caught me trying to sneak some Twinkies out of the kitchen in my pants.

 

“My mom wanted her to have our grandmother’s ring when she was proposed to by the man of her dreams.  I can get that for you on the way home.  We have a safety deposit box at Kilgore Bank and Trust,” he said simply.

 

A huge weight lifted from my shoulders that I hadn’t realized was there.

 

“Fuck,” I said simply letting my head droop in relief.

 

A hand clasped my shoulder and I looked up and stared into Max’s eyes.

 

“You aren’t good enough.  Don’t disappoint me,” he said, upended his beer, and then took off.

 

I sat in the booth for another hour before making my way back home.  Tonight was Ember’s turn to cook.  I grimaced and prayed that she didn’t find another recipe off Pinterest.  They may look good on the sight, but that didn’t mean she could reproduce the same thing in our kitchen.

 

Paying the tab that Max conveniently left me, I walked out into the muggy afternoon.  The sun was behind some dark ugly clouds, and I double-timed it to my bike.  I’d just pulled up in front of the house when the skies opened up.  You weren’t truly a biker if you didn’t ride in the rain.  I enjoyed riding in the rain, but today, I had other plans.

   

Rain poured down, and drenched me to the bone within seconds.  Luckily, I had my phone stashed in its Life Proof case; otherwise, it’d have been toast.  I pounded up to the porch and stopped once I reached the door.  Reaching behind my head, I tugged the collar of my shirt and yanked it over my head.  Next, I did my boots and socks.  Right when I was about to start on my jeans a piercing whistle sounded next door.

 

I knew she was there, which was precisely the reason I started stripping in the first place.  Looking up, I spotted Ember and Cheyenne two houses down.

  

“Don’t you dare, Ponch.”

 

Rolling my eyes skyward, I counted down from ten.  I hated when Max called me that, and here his little sister was, doing the same thing.  I’d beat the bastard, but it might be frowned upon to kick your wife’s brother’s ass.  Turning my back to the women, I noticed Ember was wearing my favorite yoga pants.  A niggling of want popped into my head, and once it was there it amplified into full-blown need. 

 

Crooking my finger at her, I waited for her to come to me.  She shook her head, so I decided to play dirty.  Popping the first button on my jeans, I saw her eyes widen.  She started to take a step towards me but then stopped herself when she realized what’d she’d just done.  She was calling my bluff.  Turning my back to her, I quickly popped the other four buttons and started to lower my jeans just to the curve of my ass.  Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Ember charging towards me through the rain. 

 

She hit our porch and promptly leapt onto my back.  Her wet, hot, slick skin warmed my back, and I growled at the heat emanating from her.  Taking her by the arm, I slung her around to where her front was plastered to my front, and her legs were wrapped around my waist.

 

Her warm lips traveled up the side of my neck and she hummed.  “Now we both have to get nakie.”

 

Leaning her against the side of the house, I placed a soft kiss on her lips.  One tiny, soft touch.

 

“Precisely,” I whispered against her mouth, and then kissed her for real.

 

She moaned and started moving her hips against mine.  I pinned her harder against the wall with my body, but then had to make a mad grab to keep my pants from exposing anything to Cheyenne, who I knew still stood there watching us.  Looking to my left, I confirmed my suspicions when I saw her and Sam leaning against the wall watching us with smiles on their faces.

 

“You know,” Sam yelled.  “We do have little kids here now.  You might want to take that inside.” 

 

“É bebê fazendo tempo!” I yelled back at Sam.

 

Sam burst out laughing and then hooked an arm around Cheyenne’s neck, dragging her to the door with him.

 

“I don’t need the weather!”  He yelled before slamming the door.

 

If I wasn’t wrong, they were about to be doing the same thing I was planning to do.  There was just something about a good thunderstorm that brought out the bad in me.

 

“What does that mean, what you just yelled at him?”  She asked me.

 

“Look it up in the morning,” I growled against her neck.

 

She might flip if I told her what it meant. 

 

“Tell me now,” she whispered against my neck.

 

Thunder boomed overhead, making us both jump at the suddenness of it.  My body held Ember’s up against the brick of the house.  Both of our breathing was heavy.  Ember’s hair lay plastered to her head.  Her white shirt was transparent now.  I could see her hard nipples poking through, and immediately knew she wasn’t wearing a bra.

 

“You’re not wearing a bra,” I growled against her lips.

 

“No.  That sucker is gone as soon as I get home,” She laughed.  “And, besides, it’s not like I need one anyway.  All it does is stop my nipples from being seen.”

 

“That it does.  But seeing your nipples drives me crazy,” I informed her, all the while grinding my cock into her mound.

 

Lightening rented the now dark sky, followed by thunder.  I slipped my hand up Ember’s waist and then grabbed hold of her waistband and yanked them down her legs, forcing her legs to let go of my waist.  I divested her of her panties a second later.

 

“We can’t do this out here, Gabe,” Ember said, while licking a path up my neck to the line of my jaw.

 

That didn’t stop her from winding her legs around my waist again though.  Reaching between us, I freed my cock from my jeans and positioned myself at her entrance.  With one thrust, I was inside of her tight wet heat.

 

Ember threw her head back and cried out.

 

“No one can see us.  It’s too dark out here, and the rain it makes it nearly impossible to see,” I said gruffly.

 

“What are you an exhibitionist or something?”  She asked.

 

I pulled out of her nearly all the way and then thrust back in to the hilt.  My cock head bumped her cervix, and I immediately pulled back out and thrust forward again.  I wasn’t going to last very long.  There was just something so right when I was with her.

 

Snaking my hands in between our bodies I found her clit with my thumb and started massaging it in slow circles.  Ember’s hips bucked at the contact.  Her fingernails dug into my shoulders so hard I knew I’d have marks in the morning.  Her head was still thrown back and the long column of her throat was exposed.  I sucked on her neck, then trailed my lips downward until I got to her pebbled nipple.  Sucking her shirt and all into my mouth, I gave a strong pull and she shot off like a rocket. 

 

Her walls started constricting around me and that was all it took.  I detonated and started shooting deep inside her.  A long deep moan escaped from my mouth that was now hovering above her nipple. 

 

Once we were both spent, I gave her an easy kiss on the mouth.

  

“I’m not an exhibitionist, or, at least, I wasn’t until I met you.  Now, I can’t seem to get enough of you.  I don’t think it was physically possible for me to take those three steps into the house,” I said to her.

 

Her eyes twinkled and then went round as saucers when thunder boomed overhead.

 

“Will you tell me now what that meant?  What you said to Sam?”  She asked.

 

Laughing, I pulled out of her and dropped her legs to the ground.  Making sure she was steady, I let go of her completely and then shucked my jeans completely.  My boxers were dry, so I left them on until I could get inside and change.  I bent down and scooped up our clothes, and then opened the front door.

 

“Come on,” I said to her.

 

“You aren’t going to tell me, are you?”

 

“Not yet.”

 

“Soon?”

 

“Maybe,” I said.

 

When, in actuality, I wouldn’t say a word.  Ever.  That is, until I accomplished it.