Sandy's Story (Ditch Lane Diaries Book 3)

by D. F. Jones

  Baldric unzipped her skirt and lifted her with one arm. With his other hand, he rolled the skirt over her hips, down her legs, and off the bed. She wore no panty hose. He trailed his fingers around each breast, down the line of her flat abdomen, and slipped his fingers inside her panties. He repeated the snip of fabric with his teeth until she lay before him nude.

  “Oh, sweet Daireann. You’re a goddess.” He ran his hand over her bent knee, down her calf. He rolled her onto her stomach and began to kiss the soft skin behind her knee, trailing his tongue up her thigh as he stretched his hands upward along the curve of her spine. “You’re perfect to me.”

  Baldric rolled her again onto her back and spread her legs, dipping down to kiss and tug on the inner softness of her thighs, and moved his way upward. She screamed once he hit the right spot that made her quiver and nearly jerk off the bed. Sandy grabbed fistfuls of his hair as he worked her up into a frenzy.

  Baldric rose over her, his smoldering green eyes locked with hers, and he entered her with languorous strokes while whispering over and over in her ear, “I love you.”

  Sandy dragged in a ragged breath as Baldric buried his face in the soft skin of her neck, kissing and sucking her skin and alternating with her mouth. She ran her hands along his muscular arms and then down the inside of his abdomen. He chuckled and said, “Bet you didn’t know I was ticklish.”

  “Good to know.” Sandy tickled him again, and he jerked and laughed. Inhaling deeply, she loved Baldric’s incredible pairing scent and arched her back, while she slid hands over his nice tight ass and squeezed. It seemed like a dream—this warrior angel was her husband, for all time.

  Baldric slid his warm tongue over her lips and into her mouth with slow strokes, circling her tongue with his. Her heartbeat hammered until release came and she relaxed in his arms. Baldric’s thigh muscle tensed against hers until he trembled with release. His powerful chest glistened with sweat, and he nuzzled his cheek against hers. “Hey, FYI, I’m just getting started.”

  Sandy sighed and nipped his lip. “I’m game, Big B,” she agreed, brushing the hair away from his eyes.

  Hours later, Sandy lay weightless in Baldric’s arms. She was spent and ravenous for food, but she didn’t have the strength to get up. Sandy reached over, picked up her phone on the nightstand and dialed The Bistro down the street. She placed a huge order for Chicken Francese with roast potatoes and two loaves of bread.

  Baldric stroked her back and placed a kiss on her shoulder. She flipped around into his arms. “I’m not a great cook, but I order great takeout. Mimosas? That is if I can still walk.” She giggled.

  Baldric jumped out of bed and pointed. “I’ll get the mimosas. You need your rest for what is it now? Round three or four? I can’t keep up.”

  Sandy laughed as Baldric walked into the kitchen. Holy moly.

  Chapter 19

  Higher Love

  One year later

  Sandy sat in the control room at Channel 3 News working on her latest story. She’d been called early in the morning by Art, her boss. Cole Steele hung himself in his jail cell. Somehow he’d managed to get a work detail in the prison’s laundry room. Based on the warden’s testimony, Cole had smuggled extra sheets into his room and hung himself during the night.

  Baldric went with Sandy to the prison to interview the warden and the guards on duty. She had procured a job for Baldric as a cameraperson at the station along with press credentials. Sandy expressed to her boss that she and Baldric would work as a team, or she’d walk. After much discussion, Art relented and hired her husband. Once Art got the chance to know Baldric, he and Baldric became fast friends. Baldric had many gifts, including the art of persuasion.

  The AAF had assigned Caiojezeal as her official guardian once he completed his reconditioning period. The three of them had entered the prison and noticed straightaway the place crawled with demon angels from various divisions.

  After interviewing the warden, he allowed Sandy access to Cole’s prison cell to shoot cutaways and clips from the guards. Editing her piece in the control room, Sandy scanned through the video and froze the clip from a group of guards hanging around watching her and Baldric work. She zoomed in on the video and looked at Baldric. “Look at the guard, second to the left on the back row. Who do you see?”

  Baldric leaned into the screen and shouted, “That son of a bitch. He never learns. I’ll call a meeting for tonight and make sure Seneca contacts the AAF.”

  Sandy took a deep breath and said, “Betcha a hundred dollars Luc killed Cole. The D.A. was looking into tax evasion with Steele Enterprises.” She picked up the phone and dialed her legal eagle in the D.A.’s office. “Cheri, hey, it’s Sandy. I’m working on a piece for tonight’s news on Cole Steele’s death. Any chance you guys were talking to Cole?”

  Cheri had a catch in her breath and said, “Hold on a second. I need to shut my door.” Sandy heard heels clicking on the floor and a door closing. A couple of seconds later, Cheri said, “This conversation is off the record. How did you know? It was classified information. Cole decided to turn state’s evidence for a reduced sentence.”

  Sandy sighed and said, “Just a hunch. I won’t mention it in the story. Hey, thanks and let’s do lunch soon.”

  “You got it.” Cheri hung up.

  Baldric placed his hand over hers. “Luc was probably covering his investments. We scared him, Daireann. Together, we could’ve killed him, and he knows it. Caiojezeal? You here, bud?”

  Caiojezeal materialized and said, “Yeah. I reached out to my contacts on the other side. Luc killed Cole, but he’s gone, disappeared somewhere in central Africa deep inside the rainforest. I’m fairly sure Luc was tying up loose ends. He needs money to fund his human operations. He couldn’t allow Steele Enterprise to collapse after placing Jackie at the helm. But you just never know with him.”

  Sandy shook her head and began to splice the tape to delete Luc’s image. She turned back to Baldric and said, “Jackie. Can you believe Luc promoted a female? Fencing tonight?”

  Baldric rubbed his hands together. “You bet! I have a need to clash steel, for real.”

  Sandy chuckled. Baldric had acclimated into the human world with ease. The worst part of having him visible was the chicks. Grocery stores, concerts, and even in the station, women wanted to touch him. He attracted them like bees to honey. Sandy didn’t sweat it because she was honey to his buttered biscuit.

  * * *

  Sandy and Baldric eventually let the lease go on the downtown condo and bought a house in Brentwood with a huge backyard. It was late spring, and the temperature neared eighty degrees as Sandy and Baldric squared off in a fencing bout. Sandy’s skills had vastly improved along with her new skills of porting, which upped the ante for Baldric. She made him promise not to cut her any slack if she was going to get better. Plus, the winner got a do, as in do anything.

  After an hour, Baldric called time. “It’s getting dark, and I don’t want to risk accidentally hurting you.”

  “Hurt me. Are you kidding? So, if you’re throwing in the towel, I get the do.” She threw her head back and laughed. Dropping her sword, she ported into his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

  Baldric walked with her hanging onto to him to the patio and sat down in one of the wooden chairs carved out of oak they’d bought from a local vendor. “I sense a change in you, Daireann. Are you keeping something from me?”

  Sandy cocked her head to the side and smiled. “I hate it when you do that. There’s just no fooling you, Daddy.”

  Baldric’s eyebrows rose, and his eyes widened in surprise. “What?”

  Sandy nodded and kissed him soundly on the lips. She pulled slightly away and said, “Yup, you’re going to be a daddy.”

  Baldric hugged her and tears ran down his face. “Ah, uh, I never dreamed. I hoped, but I never dreamed The Creator would bless us with offspring. You’ll need to see Anna right away. Half angel and half human could prove
to be an interesting nine months and an unpredictable delivery.” He pressed kisses all over her face. “I’m going to be a daddy,” he crooned, hugging her to the rock wall of his chest.

  “You know I love things interesting.”

  Epilogue

  Who Loves You

  Present day

  Sandy sat at the kitchen table placing her hand on the Ditch Lane Diaries. Baldric had gone to bed hours ago. She couldn’t sleep and went to the bottom bookshelf to retrieve the large book. At first, she read through the pages of her life. She was reminiscing the good and bad times along with the downright scary times.

  The diary held all of the pertinent information on the wards of Campbell Ridge. Ruby and Anna had stopped journaling around ten years ago when the new wards took over the primary roles of the wards of Campbell Ridge in the war. Sandy stopped on the page where she described her time as a captive with Luc and included notes from both Ruby and Anna explaining the battle Sandy hadn’t seen.

  Could it be she was older now than when Lee died?

  Sandy turned the pages and read over the notations of her pregnancy. The first half-angel, half-human pregnancy since the great flood. Sandy found out during her first ultrasound that she carried twins. Anna couldn’t tell the sex because their little arms had been wrapped around each other.

  Sandy glanced up over the mantel to the family photo with her grown kids. She smiled at her beautiful boy and girl. My, how time flew when you were having fun. Sandy flipped to the next page. The birth of the twins had been a little precarious in the delivery room. It wasn’t typical for a primary care doctor to deliver twins. But Sandy and Baldric had insisted, and the hospital eventually granted Anna privileges. The babies had required a Cesarean section. Both babies came into the world beautiful, Elena with her blonde hair and Eric with his dark chestnut hair. The twins were completely healthy and had the appearance of being entirely human.

  Sandy flipped through a few more pages and remembered the first time Elena and Eric revealed their powers. Sandy stood at the kitchen window watching Baldric as he taught the two teenagers how to fence. The twins were very competitive, and suddenly, Elena disappeared and reappeared behind Eric, knocking him to the ground with her foot and placing the blunted sword at his throat.

  Eric became enraged, and before Sandy could reach them, his wings appeared, and he flew up in the air. The look on Elena’s face had been priceless. Baldric roared and ordered them to sit at the patio table. Sandy ran to each of her children to make sure neither was hurt.

  In the blink of an eye, Baldric appeared before them not as a dad but as a warrior angel in full AAF gear with his wings extended. Both teenagers’ mouths dropped open. Baldric proceeded to explain to the kids their life story and how the two of them were unique beings in The Creator’s eyes.

  Sandy closed her mind as she traveled along the cords of light until she could see Baldric and her kids, as they were then, in the backyard.

  Baldric said, “Everyone in the heavens watches our family. If we fail, then the law will remain unchanged. You both will have to receive special sanction should either of you desire to marry.”

  Eric rolled his eyes at his sister and said, “Ew, too bad for you and Joe.”

  Baldric straightened his shoulders and said, “What did you just say?”

  Elena flipped her brother off, but Sandy caught on quick.

  Sandy said, “Stop arguing. I take it, Elena, that you’re dating Joe. Do Ruby and Reed know about it?”

  Elena crossed her arms over her chest and bulled up.

  Eric said, “Are both of you blind? She and Joe have been together since birth.”

  Elena yelled at her brother, “Shut up, ass wipe. You’re just mad because Amy doesn’t look at you twice.”

  Sandy said, “Watch your language, young lady.”

  Baldric huffed and puffed, and Sandy felt certain he could blow the house down. He blew out a breath and locked eyes with Sandy. He calmly said, “Amy, as in Jerry and Anna’s Amy?”

  Sandy grinned and opened her eyes, the memory as fresh as if it happened yesterday. Elena and Eric had both fallen in love with her best friends’ children.

  Sandy scribbled a few notes before closing the Ditch Lane Diaries. The wards of Campbell Ridge had faced battles throughout life, but none of the battles had been as brutal as the Battle of Arrington Estates. Thankfully, Sandy never had another face-to-face encounter with Luc.

  There are hard moments in life, moments that are almost unbearable at times. Sandy made a habit to enjoy those rare moments of laughing so hard that tears ran down her cheeks and loved every precious second with the people who made her heart sing with joy and happiness.

  Sandy and Baldric held up their promise to The Creator. Their love story had been one that broke the mold of marriage. She closed the diary and walked into the den and placed the journal back on the bottom shelf of the bookcase. Then she walked down the long hall to her bedroom. She slipped out of her day clothes and into her gown before climbing into bed with Baldric. She draped her arm over his back, and he turned around.

  Baldric released his chocolatey scent, and the room engulfed in golden glitter. Sandy grinned and cupped his face in her hands. “I guess fairy tales do come true after all.” She kissed him and muttered against his lips, “And they lived happily ever after.”

  Acknowledgements

  To the best support team ever, I want to thank Kristi, Erin, Tammy, Alice, Regina, Brandy, Jessica, Mark and Pat for taking your time to beta read Sandy’s Story. Your suggestions, comments, and insights are invaluable to me.

  Thank you, dear husband, for encouraging me to follow my dreams and for listening to my story ideas. You inspire me daily. Thank you to my mom for listening as I read my manuscript to her. She loves romance novels and movies.

  Thank you, Alicia, my editor, for your insight, comments, and suggestions. Thank you, Jody, my proofreader, for catching everything that slips through the cracks and your comments crack me up.

  After working in advertising for years, I need creative individuals to give me feedback. All of you who offer constructive suggestions and comments help me to grow as a writer.

  Thank you, Amy Atwell for awesome formatting and to Amanda, for designing my cover and marketing materials. You always make me look great.

  And most importantly, to my readers, thank you for supporting the Ditch Lane Diaries. Your word of mouth referrals, written reviews, messages, and comments keeps me writing.

  About the Author

  After years of developing creative advertising for my clients, I had the compelling desire to write something for myself. If you love to read and get immersed in the characters of a book, then you’ll catch a glimpse of how incredible it is to write characters and breathe them into life. I fell in love with writing and trust you’ll enjoy my books.

  I’m happily married to the love of my life and my best friend, KJ. We have two gorgeous sons whom I love and adore more than life itself. I love to laugh, and my husband keeps me in stitches.

  D.F. Jones

  Books by D.F. Jones

  Ruby’s Choice

  Ditch Lane Diaries, vol. 1

  Anna’s Way

  Ditch Lane Diaries, vol. 2

  Sandy’s Story

  Ditch Lane Diaries, vol. 3

  Antique Mirror

  a short story

  Projects on the horizon:

  Jonathan’s Curse

  the prequel novel to Antique Mirror

  Spinning Time

  a time travel romance

  The Wards of Campbell Ridge

  the spin off series to the Ditch Lane Diaries

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  http://dfjonesauthor.com

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