No Man Left Behind: A Veteran Inspired Charity Anthology

by Elizabeth Knox

  “Roll over,” I tell her and she does so without question. I shuck my jeans and roll the condom down my tumescent cock as fast as I can, smiling when I turn back to see her supple ass facing me. “I need to fuck you hard. I know I should be gen . . .”

  Lucy juts her ass back against me and even through the rubber, the moment the tip of my cock feels the heat coming from her pussy, the most primal part of me takes over.

  Slamming my full length into her, Lucy doesn’t call out like I fear; instead, she spreads her legs further apart, moaning for more.

  Pumping into her, I keep one hand on her shoulder but slide the other one around to massage her breast. I know I should focus on her needs but I’ve never experienced anything like her pussy; her velvet heat squeezes my dick perfectly and I need more.

  As I pull my hand back to smack her ass—solely out of appreciation—I remember that’s she’s already survived abuse at one man’s hands, and I don’t want to ruin our time together. That thought gives me pause and I pull out of her long enough to get her to rollover.

  “What’s wrong?” Lucy’s unable to keep the look of disappointment off of her face.

  “Nothing, I want you to ride me, babe,” I whisper, kissing her softly even as she sharply inhales.

  “No. Nope. Uh-huh.” She shakes her head repeatedly and rather than argue with her, I slide my hands around to grab her ass—pulling her onto my dick. Lucy doesn’t give an inch and we stay on our sides. “Please, Owen?”

  Sighing, I lean in her direction, giving in and start to fuck her missionary, at least until she slides her legs up to my shoulders. “That how you want it?”

  Deeply kissing her, I slowly move my hands up her legs, ignoring how she rocks herself up and down my cock, obviously getting frustrated. Gripping her ankles, I spread her legs apart and right before I’m about to double check that she’s alright, Lucy gives me a big, saucy wink.

  The brutal thrusting I deliver more than does it for her if her response tells me anything. Lying panting on top of her long moments later, I lack the words to tell her how badly I needed her. What she’s given me. Instead, I simply kiss her.

  “I never would have imagined you like it rough,” I say, trying to keep from yawning sometime later.

  “I always thought I would but never knew how to ask for it,” she replies after a bit. Just when she’s about to say more, Duckie starts whining at the bedroom door and she giggles instead. “I’ll get going.”

  “What? No,” I bark out, even though I sit up to grab my shorts and find a shirt for Lucy. “I mean I’d like you to stay.”

  I toss her the shirt and pull the door open before covering myself. Duckie rushes past me and jumps into the bed, curling up to Lucy.

  “Owen, neither of us are in the right head space for a relationship right now. I don’t think . . .”

  Duckie lets out a loud sigh.

  “See, he wants you to stay too.” I shamelessly use the dog to plead my case. “Besides, don’t ‘friends with benefits’ get sleepovers?”

  “Don’t know, besides ‘friends with benefits’ became ‘Netflix and chill’ while you were serving.”

  “Yeah, but morning wood is still morning wood and I’d like you to be here for that.” I grin at her, sliding back into my side of the bed. “Now, put the shirt on because I draw the line at chicks that sleep naked with dogs.”

  That gets the intended laugh from her but one of her eyebrows shoots up and she looks down to her watch.

  “Give me a break, I’m old.” I laugh at the look on her face. “Let’s get some sleep then, eat, and fuck again. If you’re good with that?”

  “Yeah, I’m good with that,” Lucy replies softly, pulling the shirt on and snuggling into the covers. I use the distraction to take my pills—hoping for the best. Duckie gets comfortable between us and, facing her, I slide my hand under the pillows until I find her hand.

  “Lucy, I want to know what happened with your ex.”

  “I don’t want to talk about that with you. I hate that you even know about that part of my life, Owen.” Even in the near-dark of the room, I can see that her eyes are focused on Duckie as her other hand gently rubs circles on his side. “I was naïve and weak. Now, I just want it behind me.”

  “Deal,” I say. “Just tell me if there’s anything that’s a trigger.”

  “Boring sex,” she says, giggling. “I doubt that’ll be an issue with you, but really, I want to try new things. Nothing too wild, but I’ve had enough missionary to last me a lifetime.”

  “Okay then. No boring sex.”

  “Are you sure you’re alright with me sleeping here?”

  “Can that be my version of ‘what I hate that you know about me’?” I quietly answer her question with a question and she nods. “I’ve been sleeping better, Lucy, but if you hear me dreaming can you . . .”

  My voice drifts off and I wonder what the fuck I’m doing, begging her to stay but knowing I could scare the shit out of her if another nightmare takes hold of me.

  “I understand, Owen.”

  “How?”

  “Pawpaw was in Vietnam. Back then, not only was he traumatized but then treated horribly when he returned. He and my grandmother were divorced but, well, it’s a whole long story but Dad and I lived with him for a while. None of the dogs he ever had were ever trained like Duckie but they definitely did their part in keeping him even keel.”

  “Back then, I’m sure he couldn’t bring them to the store and other places, though?”

  “Nope, but no one at his local watering hole cared that his dog would sit beside him.”

  From the smile on her face, I can see the fondness she had for her ‘Pawpaw’ and understand why she chose the career she did.

  “How long have they been dead?” I ask and she looks surprised. “Don’t figure your Pawpaw would stand for any man hurting you once, let alone any son he raised.”

  “See, now, this whole casual sex thing only works if you don’t bring up my abusive ex and I don’t bring up your PTSD,” Lucy says, her smile is still in place but the warmth has faded from it.

  “You’re right, I’m sorry,” I immediately apologize and pull her fingers to my mouth, kissing them. The moment she traces my lips with a digit, I know we’re kicking off round two.

  Thankfully, Duckie can take a hint.

  Chapter Five

  Lucy

  Rolling off the bed after the roughest, most satisfying sex of my life, I smile back at Owen’s sleeping form as I head to the bathroom.

  After a nice, long, hot shower, I wrap one of the huge towels around me and head to the fridge for a Diet Coke.

  “If there’s bottled water, I’d like one.” Keith’s voice scares the everloving shit out of me; it’s all I can do to hold onto the towel.

  “Fuck,” I ground out, trying not to glare at the man I need help from as I press my hand over my heart, trying to slow its beat.

  “I prefer non-carbonated, but . . .”

  “Will tap water do? He only has beer, Coke, and Diet Coke in here,” I ask, cutting him off as I make sure I’m fully covered before I turn to face him.

  “Tap water will do,” he says, but this time I can see how amused he is by this conversation, so I roll my eyes and get him a glass before pointing him toward the sink and popping open my drink.

  “I’ll go wake up Owen.”

  “Actually, I came to talk to you about Anthony,” Keith informs me as he’s pouring his water. “Get dressed, by all means.”

  Straightening my shoulders, I head back to the bedroom and pull on a pair of Owen’s sweatpants and my T-shirt. Duckie watches my movements closely but he understands that his charge is sound asleep and remains in place.

  “I wasn’t sure if he had asked you yet,” I start off and Keith raises an eyebrow at me.

  “How much do you know about your ex’s family?” Keith asks, picking an imaginary piece of lint off of his ironed jeans.

  “He was on the outs with them. I met
his cousin and one of his sisters, but he wouldn’t talk about them.”

  “Yes, well, even ‘on the outs’, they’re well enough off to not appreciate their son being in jail and he’s due to be released next week. They swooped in with a new lawyer who requested a new judge,” Keith informs me and I sit down hard.

  “Unfortunately, we were a little late to try to block this, so you have two options. I can have someone take care of him before his release or I can go talk to him after his release. Make sure he knows to stay a state or two away from you.”

  “Who are you?” I ask in a really high-pitched voice. “Did you seriously offer to have him killed?”

  “Just kidding,” he replies but I’m not convinced. “We’ll trail him the first week or so and see what he’s up to. Of course, it’s best if we catch him coming after you but we’ll intercept and discourage him as needed.”

  “I suppose this is a good time to ask about your fee structure?”

  “It’s on the house.” He shrugs off my question as his eyes continually track the emotions washing over my face. “You need to let me know immediately if he calls, emails, or mails you anything. Another route would be to reach out to his family, let them know little Anthony is up to his old tricks.”

  “Will you stay for dinner?” I ask, immediately regretting the question; knowing it’s neither high on my list of skills nor my kitchen.

  “As long as Owen cooks.” Keith grins, letting me off the hook. “How’s he doing with his therapy animal, anyway?”

  “Good. I thought I’d resent this situation a little more. Besides cutting the line, we normally choose applicants with mobility impairments over mental health issues but it’s easy to remind myself how many veterans will be served with the donation that was made.”

  He tilts his head in almost a hybrid mixture of ‘I understand your point’ and ‘that’s how life is’ but once I realize he’s not going to say anything else, I excuse myself to go wake Owen.

  “Hey,” I softly say as I nudge Owen’s foot. Getting nothing but a grunt, I nudge it again. Duckie gets more of a response when he sits up and lies on top of his thigh.

  “What time is it?”

  “Close to dinner time and I accidently invited Keith to eat with us.” The words roll off my tongue as I enjoy the sleepy, little boy expression on his face as he wakes up. It fades so quickly I almost think I imagined it. “Come to think of it, I invited myself also.”

  “Come here.” His deep voice rumbles out.

  Taking his hand, I let out a squeal when he pulls me on top of him. “Don’t talk so much when I wake up.”

  Owen softens his words by kissing my forehead and holding me to his chest, Duckie comes up to investigate and he kisses me, also, making us both laugh.

  “I thought we already decided you were staying?” he asks and I nod. “Okay, so the only problem I have is that I have to get up to fix dinner rather than go for round three with you.”

  “That’s a very serious problem, soldier,” I say as sternly as I can while rubbing my finger in a circular motion around his nipple. Grunting, he pulls my finger up to kiss it before sliding me off of him.

  “Let’s see how sarcastic you are after I wear you out tonight.”

  I lie back, enjoying the view of his ass as he walks to the bathroom, even after hearing a bark of laughter from Keith.

  “He’s going to break my heart in the best possible way, Duckie,” I softly confide in the furry beast beside me. That’s a problem for another day though.

  Dinner is more fun than I ever could have imagined. I might even go so far to say that Keith was funnier than I expected, although he didn’t always mean to be. He graciously went along with Owen and I making fun of him and knew when to take a hint that we wanted to be alone before it got much later.

  It’s their conversation while I start the dishes that gets my attention.

  “I ran into Missy when I was in Atlanta the other day,” Keith says in a quieter voice than normal. “It was a coffee shop so I was hoping she’d mind her business but, well, do you even want to hear what she wanted you to know?”

  “Wanted me to know?” Owen sounds incredulous.

  “No other reason for her to speak to me, she knows how I feel about her,” Keith answers, then continues. “She said she’s engaged, he’s stationed at Dobbins, and flashed a ring.”

  “Great, let the tag chaser get what she wanted as long as she ain’t my problem anymore.” Owen’s voice is low and angry when he responds.

  “You dodged a big fucking bullet there, brother,” Keith whistles before adding, “you know what you’re doing now?”

  “Hey Lucy!” he calls out, though he’s smart enough to know I was listening. “What’d you say they call it now? Instead of ‘friends with benefits’?”

  “Netflix and chill,” Keith and I answer at the same time as I come behind Owen and thread my fingers through his hair.

  “I’ll leave you to it then,” Keith says, standing as he thanks Owen for the meal. “Lucy, you remember to call me if you have any issues with Anthony. We’ll keep him on our watch list though.”

  The door is barely closed behind him when Owen turns to me and pulls his shirt off. I laugh and run toward his bed but he catches me and brings me to the couch instead.

  “Time to learn how to ride a man, baby,” he says as we start making out and somehow, I feel more confident in his arms than with the other two men I’d been with.

  Sometime later, as I’m slowly riding his thick cock, and he’s looking at me with pure lust, I know I may have made some mistakes along the way but this is how a woman should feel when she’s with a man.

  Chapter Six

  Owen

  The following weeks, mostly spent with Lucy, are the happiest I’ve been since my early days in the service.

  Duckie is with me constantly and at some point, I stopped thinking of him as a therapy animal. He’s got a personality all his own but understands when I need him—from rolling into my side when I’m having a nightmare to times like this, at the grocery store and wanting to shove my knife into the head of the woman in line in front of me.

  It’d be the easiest thing in the world to do and I doubt the clerk she’s been belittling would mind at all.

  My pal lets out a whine to remind me to breathe or not murder anyone, I’m not sure exactly what he’s trying to say but I think it’s in that ballpark.

  “Jesus Christ, lady, we don’t got all day!”

  My eyes pop open at the toned-down version of what I was thinking, and I turn to nod my appreciation to the man behind me.

  “Seriously,” he snorts when we make eye contact before he looks over my shoulder. “Yeah, you just finish up then run home to your precious ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ throw pillows.”

  I can’t help but grin at the image and figure he’s probably right. It isn’t until she walks away that I realize how tightly I’m holding onto the cart. Tonight is my last dinner with Lucy, and I’ve been planning it all week.

  “You’re sure?” I ask, feeling like I was kicked in the nuts. “Can I bring you something?”

  “No, Owen.” Lucy’s voice sounds like I suddenly feel. “I just feel awful and I can’t keep anything down anyway.”

  “Fuck,” I say for lack of anything better.

  “Will you call me when you get settled in? I want tons of pictures of Duckie.” Lucy sounds miserable and I know she’s been tired the last few days but she’s obviously set on being alone right now. “And maybe a few more of you.”

  “Just to be clear, me or my dick?” I ask, trying to sound upbeat.

  “Tough question, can’t I have both?”

  “I’m glad we met, Luce. Shitty, fucking, timing, but you’ll stay in touch, won’t you?” I ask, wondering if I’ll ever get my head together enough to be with her—or someone half as amazing as she is.

  “Promise me you’ll continue your therapy, Owen. And I will, plus, Keith has been reaching out since Anthony was released.
”

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t . . .”

  “Don’t finish that, Owen. After what you went through, don’t ever apologize to anyone,” she says and I can hear her voice tremble.

  I lie down on the couch and just hold the phone, listening to her breathing. Until I hear her gagging and she calls out a goodbye.

  What a fucking way to leave, I think to myself. Playing around on my phone, I look up a local florist and arrange for a bouquet to be delivered the next morning.

  “You’re the first person I ever sent flowers to but I always want you to know how much Duckie and I care about you. Feel better, O.”

  The next morning, Keith and Carlos are sitting in their SUV when I open my door at the crack of dawn to let Duckie out and get on my way.

  “You sure you want to drive?” Keith asks me. “We can have you wheels up within the hour and someone can get your truck out there in a couple days.”

  “Naw, I’d like to see the country a bit.”

  “Good, because by ‘someone’, he meant me,” Carlos says with a grin on his face. “This way, I get to fly out there. In style. With a flight attendant.”

  Looking around, Keith nods to himself. “Just as well Lucy didn’t stay over, hate to see you two crying and kissing each other.”

  “Fuck off,” I grunt, reaching inside the door for my duffle bag and I throw it his way without warning.

  In a typical Keith move, he simply steps to the side and lets it fall in the dirt; getting a laugh from Carlos.

  “Hey, there’s that saying, what is it? Something about how some people are only meant to be in your life for a short period of time, to get you through something; then you’re supposed to move on,” Carlos says and I nod my head, understanding what he means even if he’s not saying it right.

  “What the fuck are you yammering on about?” Keith looks between us like we’re nuts.

  “Nothing. I’ll talk to you soon,” I say, tossing my bag into the back of my truck while I secure Duckie in a harness in the back seat.