A Warranted Box Set

by Shannon Nemechek

  “No, darlin’,” she said as tears fell down her cheeks.

  “It’s the fact that after all that, our escape was all a setup and at least some of Jared’s torturing was all an act. I had saved his life more than once, and he allowed those men to continue to torture me while he listened. And he doesn’t even care. That’s what kills me. The three men we lost that day were good men, great soldiers, and gave their lives for our country. And Jared of all people, aligned himself with the enemy. I hope that the Army orders the firing squad. And if I could, I want to be the one to put him down. He betrayed me, his country, and his fellow soldiers…and for what…MONEY.”

  “I am so sorry, Raleigh. I know it is hard, and I wish I could say or do something to make it better.”

  “That’s what I am saying, Sam, you have. Before I met you, my life was in a tailspin. I was drinking a lot and picking up women just to try and make the pain and the nightmares go away. But with you, since the day I met you and looked in your eyes, I haven’t had a nightmare or felt guilty about that day. I begged to die for years, hoping that this night of binge drinkin’ would be my last and I wouldn’t wake up. Then I met you, and all I’ve wanted to do is think about the future and what might be possible.”

  “I don’t know what to say, Raleigh.”

  “Darlin’, you don’t have to say anything right now. This is your day. I want you to enjoy it.”

  “I am. This is just too much. It’s a dream come true for me. As a little girl, I always wanted to live down south. I love the whole concept of the south. Does that make sense?”

  “Yep, sure does. We do things a bit different down here.”

  “That’s what I love about it.” As she took the last bite of food on her plate, she leaned back in her chair and grabbed her stomach. “Oh my, I am so full, I couldn’t eat another bite.”

  “Still got dessert, darlin’.”

  “Oh Raleigh, I will explode. Can we save it for a little later?”

  “Well, darlin’, we can go for a walk around the grounds. You ready to see more?” He stood up, holding his arm out to her.

  She grabbed his arm and he helped her up from the chair. She moved her arm closer, and they headed towards the tree-lined walkway that took them to reconstructed slave quarters. Actors sat on the porches, singing old songs and playing homemade music instruments. They stood and watched them for a little while, then made their way to the sugar cane fields. They had actors recreating the harvest, and it almost seemed surreal to them.

  “How sad.” She looked at Raleigh, her eyes welling up.

  “Baby, its ok. They aren’t really doing anything. They are just acting.”

  “I know, but it’s still so somber. Guess I never understood that part of the history…the why?”

  “Well, darlin’, it’s a dark history for sure, but the good thing about it is we will never let it happen again.”

  She leaned in closer to him as they strolled towards the main house. She wasn’t ready for dessert yet, but she was dying to see the inside of the big house. As they walked up the grand stairs, one actor came to the door and pulled it open. It was so big that they could both walk through together, side by side.

  When they entered the house, a massive staircase greeted them, covered in red velvet carpeting. The windows were adorned with the same red velvet, and oak woodwork was everywhere she looked. As they strolled through the house, they entered the smoking room where a fireplace that stood at least eight-foot-tall sat in the middle of the room, leather chairs scattered sparsely throughout the room. They walked across the hallway, past the massive staircase to the sitting room. It was decorated with a more feminine feel. It was where the ladies would sew and read, and where the children might play games.

  “Can we go upstairs, Raleigh?” she said as she pulled at his arm.

  “Well, darlin’, actually we are staying here tonight.”

  “Wait, what? Really? But we don’t have our bags.”

  “They are already up in our room. I had the hotel deliver them today after we left. They will be here in the limo to pick us up in the morning.”

  She leaped into his arms, kissing him. She couldn’t believe it was all real. She was going to stay at a plantation.

  “The staff will deliver dinner to the room around eighteen hundred, is that okay? The room is more private and has a dining area. We will have our own personal staff, and once you are ready to take that dress off, your dresser will come up and help you.”

  “But maybe I want you to help me off with it?”

  “Well, that can also be arranged.” He winked at her and they started up the stairs.

  When they reached the top, there were several doors all ornately decorated with brass fittings. The massive oak doors looked heavy, but she was excited to see their room.

  “Which one is ours, Raleigh?”

  “Darlin’, I got us the biggest and best room, of course, only the best for you. It’s the door at the end of the hall there.” He pointed to the left and Sam took off towards the door, turning the handle, but it was locked.

  “It’s locked. We can’t get in.”

  “Baby, I have the key. I got the key when I was getting into these sexy duds for ya.”

  Raleigh put the key in the door and opened it. Sam stood for a moment, taking it all in. It looked just like Scarlett’s room in Gone with the Wind. The big, king size oak, four poster bed was the first thing that caught her eye. Across the room, another eight-foot-high fireplace sat in front of it. There was a lovely era couch of red velvet and beautiful oak woodwork, and on the floor—a woven rug.

  “What time is it now?” she asked.

  “It’s just now coming on fifteen hundred. What would you like to do now?”

  “I saw a swing by the dock. Can we check it out? You can swing me in it, like men that courted women back in the old days used to.”

  “That, my dear, would be my honor. Let’s go.”

  The two raced down the stairs to the massive front door. They fought for access to the door; each wanted to be first out the door. Raleigh opened it and then let Sam go out first. She ran down the stairs then towards the swing. Raleigh let her win, and once she sat down in the swing he pulled her backward. Each time she swung upward to him, he caught her and kissed her, telling her how amazing she was and how much he wanted to get her back into their room.

  “I will have them bring lunch dessert up with dinner, but I think the dinner dessert will be so much better.” He winked at her and grinned. She knew what he was referring to and she had been waiting all her life for someone like him.

  “You think so?” she said.

  “Oh yes, I think you will love it.”

  “Well then, my dear, I look forward to the experience.”

  “Me too, baby.” As he grabbed her on the upswing and kissed her deeply, his hands made their way to her breast—her dress made easy access. “You ready to get outta this dress, darlin?”

  “Oh yes. More than ready, darlin.”

  “Tell ya what, it's almost eighteen hundred now. So let’s have dinner, then we will get you outta that dress. I think I can handle it alone. Deal?”

  “Deal, my darlin’.”

  Chapter 20

  When they entered the room, the table was set for dinner and the roses that were left in the limo had been placed throughout the room. The wine, chocolate covered strawberries, whipped cream, and various fruits lay on the night stand. Sam’s clothing was put away as well as Raleigh’s. The staff had also placed a sheer nightgown on the bed. She walked over and picked it up, holding it up to her face. “I see you,” she said to Raleigh, who laughed at her.

  “So, where did this come from, darlin’?”

  “Well, Ms. Sam, I thought since it gets so warm in these rooms once the fireplace gets going, you wouldn’t want much on.”

  “Oh really, you say? And where did this come from?”

  “Well darlin’, I bought it at the hotel store, then called ahead here to make s
ure they placed it on the bed for you. Is that okay?”

  “Oh yes, I love it.”

  “Well, I’m gonna love seein’ it in a pile on the floor.”

  “Dinner first, my darlin’.”

  Raleigh pulled out the chair for her and she sat down. The plates were piled full of a thick steak, baked potato, corn, and dinner rolls. The centerpiece was lit candles and the mixed scents of roses and lavender filled the air. Raleigh poured their wine and sat down. He held his glass out to hers. “A toast, my dear.”

  “Ok, to?”

  “To us and a future.”

  Their glasses tinged and they both sipped.

  “I like this. What is it?”

  “It’s called muscadine wine. It’s one of my favorites, and my daddy makes it on the farm.”

  “I’d love to see that one day.”

  “Well, ya just might.”

  She smiled at the thought of a future with him and seeing the farm he grew up on. She had little and her family had pretty much abandoned her when she joined the Army.

  “So, Miss Sam, can I ask you a question?”

  “Of course, anything you want. I am an open book.”

  “Would you tell me what happened to you that has caused you so much pain and mistrust? You don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready, but I want to go into this with our eyes wide open and honesty as number one. I don’t want to risk saying or doing something that might cause you more pain. I think that it would help if you’re willing to share that part of yourself with me.”

  “Are you sure you want to know?”

  “Darlin’, I will tell you this, if I can help take that pain away, I will. And I will wait and be patient. For me, your trust in me is the most important thing in my life. Before we make love, I want you to feel it in your heart that I would not hurt you and that I want you, not just for tonight but in the future. For me, you are not a one-night stand, so if I am that for you, you need to tell me now. So yes, baby. I want to know.”

  Sam picked up her glass of wine, drank half the glass and told her story. She was in Afghanistan and she and her partner, Staff Sergeant Ray Chance, were on patrol outside the wire. They had been ambushed and Ray had taken two hits to his chest and one to his leg. She fought as much as she could, but then when they ran out of ammo, the enemy captured them. For a week, they had been tortured and stripped of their clothing. Ray was beaten severely, and his wounds went untreated. He died in front of her, leaving her there alone. For two more weeks she was beaten and accosted by her captors. Then when she was just ready to give up and die, a team of soldiers, special ops guys she thought, burst through the doors, shot her captors, and cut her ropes. She lay there naked, bruised and beaten beyond recognition, and a soldier wrapped her in a blanket and whisked her off into a helicopter. She lay in his arms and stared into his eyes.

  “He had the kindest and such gentle eyes. I will never forget what he gave to me—my life. He saved me that day, and if I could find him I would kiss him. I passed out, but the doctors and nurses at the hospital said he stayed by my side for three days, never leaving but to go to the bathroom. The nurses brought him food and he sat and held my hand. They never got his name, and I searched for him for a little while. But you know yourself how tight-knit special operations is, so I got nowhere. When I got home, I thought I would surprise my boyfriend, but instead I got a surprise. I found him in bed with my best friend. It wasn’t the first time with him, and I knew it wouldn’t be the last. Seemed like all my boyfriends end up cheating on me. Not sure why. Guess I am just a bad judge of men.”

  Raleigh sat for a moment and took it all in. Sam noticed that while she told him her story his facial expressions changed quite frequently, but she figured it was shock from her story. Then he spoke.

  “Baby, I have something to tell you and it might seem far-fetched, but I swear on my momma and my daddy it is the God’s honest truth. Baby, I was that soldier. Well, I am that soldier, the one that swept you up in the blanket in Afghanistan and stayed by your side for three days. I didn’t want to leave, but I had a mission, the same mission I lost my guys in and got captured. That’s why you never saw me again. I came back, but by the time we got free, you were gone. My heart broke. The moment I saw you and we looked into each other’s eyes, that day was the day I fell in love with you. But you were gone, and there was no hope of finding you. As good as special ops are, if you don’t have a good reason to search for someone, they won’t let you.”

  Sam sat stunned. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He had to be playing her. She would test him with something only he would know if he was there. She wanted to trust him, but she had to check.

  “Sam, are you gonna say something?”

  “Yes, and please don’t be offended when I ask you this, but I gotta ask. If you were there, then what did the blanket I was wrapped in have on it?”

  “Well, darlin’, that’s easy. And I never got it back, but it was my Alabama Crimson Tide blanket. It had Big Al the elephant on it. Carried that blanket in my bag on every mission my entire career.”

  Sam jumped up out of her seat, knocking Raleigh to the floor as she kissed him. And she couldn’t stop kissing him.

  “Do you know I have dreamed of you every night since the day I saw you? I knew there was something about your eyes.”

  Raleigh sat up. He laughed then he kissed her again. “You wouldn’t happen to still have that blanket would ya?”

  Sam rolled over on her back, laughing like she had never laughed before. “What would you say if I told you I carry it with me everywhere, and I have it with me right now?”

  She got up off the floor and walked over to the dresser. She pulled out the blanket. “Would this be what you’re lookin’ for, darlin’?” She unfolded the blanket in front of him.

  “Yep, that’s the one. I am gonna lay it under you when I get you in that bed.”

  “Ok, darlin’. That’s a deal.”

  Raleigh got up and fixed his chair and pulled Sam’s chair out for her. “Dinner first, my dear,” he said as he pushed her chair in.

  “This is not at all how I expected this night to go, Raleigh.”

  “Well, my darlin’, it's gonna get better. But let’s eat some of this great food. You are gonna need all the strength you can get for tonight.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Oh yes, darlin’. We have a lot of time to make up for.”

  As they ate, they talked about their hometowns and their families and what they wanted from their Army careers and from their personal lives. Once they got close to finishing their food, Raleigh got up from his chair and pulled out the necklace.

  “I bought this for you in North Carolina. I was going to give it to you the night we were going to go out, but that didn’t happen. So, I saved it for this moment, and I am glad I did.”

  He handed her the box and she opened it, finding a heart-shaped locket with the words Always and Forever. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she gave him the locket to put around her neck. After he had placed it, he bent down and kissed her neck. She turned towards him and kissed him. Their lips met, and the fire between them exploded. She stood up and they held each other as tightly as they could. “I’m never letting you go, baby,” he cooed in her ear.

  “I don’t ever want you to,” she said as she turned around for him to help her out of the ball gown. Button by button revealed more and more of the corset that lay underneath. He slowly unlaced it as her gown fell onto the floor. Once he had unlaced the corset, her breasts fell heaping into his hands. He cupped each one and knelt down to suck each nipple. She tasted so good to him, and as he removed the taffeta underskirt, he found that the thong she had on earlier in the day was no longer present. He licked circles down the length of her body to her shaven mound. He found her folds and began to lick impatiently to taste her wetness. He was still clothed, and she stood naked in front of him.

  He stood, then sat down on the bed. “Just stand there for a moment, baby, a
nd let me look at you.”

  She stood, not moving a muscle while he took the sight of her in his memory. “I want to remember every moment of this night. I want to sear your image in my mind, just like this.” As she stood there, she moved. “Nope, no moving baby. Just stand right there. I am going to take this suit off. I don’t want you to move.”

  She stood as he took off each piece. Once he got to his pants and they fell to the floor, she could tell the effect she was having on him. His cock was hard and lay upward, the tip sticking out of the band on his boxers. As his boxers came off, his cock lay straight and pointed towards her. She couldn’t take her eyes off it or him. She wanted to touch him so badly, but she couldn’t move yet.

  He stood in front of her, his eyes taking in every line and every curve of her body. “I want to remember this for the rest of my life,” he told her. Her nipples were plump and erect, ready for his mouth to engulf them, but he stood in silence. She followed his eyes as they moved about her body, and she became more excited the longer she stood still. When she moved, he ordered her to stay still. Once he had all he could take, he kneeled down at her feet. He sat there for a moment looking up into her hazel eyes and smiled a sheepish grin, then took his fingertips and ran them the length of her body. She moved as the light touch tickled. “No moving, baby. Not yet,” he told her.

  “But…”

  “No talking either,” he commanded.

  She stood in silence and took in his caresses. The feeling was almost unbearable. She had dreamed of this moment with him since she first saw him. It was finally happening, and she couldn’t talk or move. The suspense was killing her. Her body was now begging to have him inside of her.