Welcome To My World (Hell Yeah!)

by Sable Hunter

  “Hey, you missed my waffles. Is something wrong?”

  Bowie murmured under his breath, “I’m sorry, cupcake.” He kissed her briefly. “I got to worrying about something and forgot. Forgive me?”

  “Sure, of course. I have lunch ready and cake.” She offered with an up-lilt in her voice.

  “Sounds wonderful, let me wash up.” He disappeared.

  Was something bothering him? Cassie got down their plates. Heck, knowing what she knew, her imagination might be going wild.

  Bowie’s mind was a hodgepodge of emotions. Getting confirmation of his role in Cassie’s tragic past had made more of an impact on him than he realized. Walking to his desk, he opened the top drawer and slipped the newspaper clipping inside. There was no doubt he was going to have to deal with this, but right now he had a more important chore on his mind.

  Rings.

  In the next few days, Bowie was going to pop the question and ask Cassie to marry him.

  “Bowie!”

  Cassie’s voice rang through the house. A wave of longing and dread ripped through him. What if he fucked this up? Maybe he should just tell her all of this right now. It was odd, Bowie had faced a lot of dangers in his life, but this was the one time he was truly scared.

  * * *

  “Let me see your hand, Cassie-for-short.”

  They were watching movies, snuggled up together on the couch, watching The Silence of the Lambs. She placed her hand in his and immediately clamped down on his fingers as Buffalo Bill followed Jodie Foster’s movement in the dark while he was wearing night vision goggles. As he was about to touch Jodie’s hair, Cassie jumped a bit and hid her head in Bowie’s chest.

  “I can’t believe you’ve never seen this movie.” He had been making a concerted effort to improve Cassie’s cinematic repertoire. It had worried him that she had never seen The Shining or It or 3 Men and a Baby or The Godfather—movies he’d always loved.

  “I watch the History Channel and QVC,” she spoke into his shirt. “Stuff like this scares me when I’m by myself.”

  “You’re not by yourself anymore.” He took her hand in his and started playing with a ring she wore on her right ring finger. Surely it would be the same size as her wedding ring finger. Slipping the ring off, he put it on his little finger and it came right to the first knuckle. Gotcha! Now he could measure for the jeweler.

  Without thinking he slung his leg on the couch and pushed her over so she would be more on top of him. The jostle made her wince and she let out a small murmur of pain.

  “God, I’m sorry, Cassie.” He immediately went still. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  “It’s okay.” She patted his stomach. “Just moved the wrong way, it doesn’t happen often.”

  Still, hurting her, hurt him. “Tell me about the operation you mentioned on the way to Galveston.” Bowie pulled her hair away from her face so he could see her better.

  She took her finger and drew a heart shape on his chest. “My family fought over it.”

  “Why? If it’s money, that’s no object. I’d pay any amount, any time to help you, I want you to know that.”

  Cassie stiffened. She didn’t want to talk about this with Bowie. Not telling him about his involvement felt like lying to her. “Money wasn’t really the issue.”

  It was now. Being self-employed, she didn’t have very good health insurance.

  “What was the issue?” He tipped her chin up so she would look at him.

  Hell, she didn’t know what to say. But she did. “Cause it could go either way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The doctors never claimed they could make me walk perfectly again, but they could remove the bullet fragment that’s pressing on my spine. But...”

  Cassie felt him tremble beneath her, so she hugged him hard.

  “But what?”

  “Well, one of two things could happen. Best case, I could be pain free, which would be wonderful. I could get better, walk a little maybe with braces.”

  “Worst case?” Bowie prepared himself. He would never ask her to put her life on the line.

  “Worst case is that I lose all sensation below that vertebrae, be truly paralyzed, no more feeling at all below the waist.”

  Every word she spoke caused Bowie untold sorrow. This was all his fault. “If it means you not having pain, Cassie, how can you say no?”

  “Because, I couldn’t have pleasure either. And you wouldn’t…”

  “Wouldn’t what, doll?” He kissed a tear from her cheek.

  “You wouldn’t want me anymore.”

  He took her face in his palm, so she couldn’t look away. “I would always want you! Sex is not why I’m with you!”

  Cassie’s heart swelled with love. “But it sure does make being together fun.” Trying to show him how much she wanted him, she moved her hand down to his crotch and cupped the bulge that she found there. “I don’t think I can give this up, I don’t think I can give you up.”

  “There are many ways to make love, Miss Cassie. And nobody is talking about giving anybody up.” He wasn’t through with this argument but her insistent rubbing on his dick was making it hard to concentrate.

  “Can we talk about it later?” she asked.

  “Anything you say, baby.” Bowie eased out from under her and stood up, slipping his arms beneath her and picking her up like she was made of spun glass.

  “Bowie, don’t worry about what happened earlier. I want you, all of you, I’ll let you know if I feel the first twinge of pain.” She kissed his cheek. “But please, please treat me like you would any other woman.”

  Any other woman? She didn’t understand. “That’s impossible. I’ve never cared for any other woman the way I care for you.”

  Carrying Cassie to the ground floor bedroom he’d had renovated until an elevator could be installed, he placed her right in the middle of the king size bed. “You are so beautiful.” Skimming her dress over her head, he grazed his mouth across her bra, the lace did very little to hide her puffy areola or the swollen distended pink of her nipple. “I can’t take my eyes off of you. You’re like a precious gift. To know I can touch you, kiss you, make love to you is incredible. What did I ever do to deserve you?”

  “Maybe it was just meant to be,” she said. Maybe all of it—the accident, their chance meeting, the miracle that he could be drawn to her—maybe it was all just meant to be.

  “I’m a lucky man,” he moaned as he unhooked her bra and captured both full breasts in his palms, his thumbs rubbing across her nipples. “You look so good, feel so good,” he moaned as he massaged her bare tits.

  “You know what we need?” she asked as he bent to her breast and began to suckle.

  He didn’t remove his mouth, just said, “Hmmm?” with her nipple still in his mouth.

  Cassie kneaded her fingers through his hair. “We need one of those sex swings.”

  Bowie stopped mid suck. “What did you say?” His cock just went from hard to concrete.

  “I’ve seen pictures of this swing thing, it sorta looks like a hammock with all of these ropes and stirrups but I’d love to hang there while you…”

  “Fuck!” He slung off his clothes, left and right. “I’ll buy you a whole damn playground if you want it. Hell, I’ll build another wing on the house.” Bowie was urgent now, needing her with desperation unlike any he’d ever experienced. “If you want to try something new, let’s do this.”

  He pulled two pillows down and stacked them up. “Lie across these, face down. It will put your little ass in the air and I can take you from behind without putting pressure on you. Okay?”

  Sex swing, my God. How blessed could a man be?

  Cassie let him help arrange her over the pillows. No longer did she feel any embarrassment, all she felt was love and a constant ache to be with him however she could.

  “Do you want me?” he asked with a growl as he went to his knees on the bed behind her.

  “God, yes,” she moaned.
With one swift, sure bucking of his hips, he impaled her.

  Ecstasy arced through her body like live electricity and Cassie grabbed hold of the headboard and held on tight as Bowie thrust hard, demanding, pushing, pounding. “Ohmygod, ohmygod,” she chanted as he thrust into her pussy again and again. She could hear their flesh slapping together. And when he reached beneath her to play with her clit, she felt her world burst into flames at the exact moment he exploded inside of her. Cassie felt herself spiraling out of control and she clamped down on him as hard as she could, loving the pulsing of his cock and the rush of wetness as he surged within her. The aftershocks seemed to go on and on as he stroked her back, kissed her neck and told her how precious she was.

  Afterward, Cassie didn’t remember getting under the covers or Bowie cleaning her up. All she knew was that she was happy, warm, safe, contented.

  * * *

  Some days just start out bad and get worse as they continue. Those were the days when Bowie just wished he could close his eyes and wake up in his bed and start over. The first rattle out of the box, he overslept and missed a conference call with the big boss at the oil rig and his general manager. Second, somehow the pot-belly pig had gotten locked in the barn and had eaten an entire bag of corn and George had to take him to the vet while Bowie was left to mend fences with the oil folks. Worse, he missed lunch with Cassie, which put him in a stormy mood and then his phone rang. “Hello?”

  “Malone, this is Arnold Copeland over in Wimberley. We’ve got a situation, I’m sure you’ve heard. Since its Senator Horton’s son and a friend, it’s all over the news. I know your dive partner is out of commission, but we need you. We’ve contacted Joseph McCoy to help us out. He’s got some experience in this area.”

  Even before he asked the question, Bowie had a bad feeling. “No, I haven’t heard anything, what are we talking about?”

  “Jacob’s Well. The kids went cave diving in Jacob’s Well and they haven’t come back.” This piece of news made everything else that had gone wrong that day a piece of cake. Chills covered Bowie’s body when he realized what he was being asked to do. He had performed dozens and dozens of rescues in his career and there wasn’t too much in the world he wouldn’t tackle, but Jacob’s Well was one place that gave him the creeps. He’d been down in it twice and swore to all that was holy that he wouldn’t ever go back.

  For the first time, Bowie almost told them no. “How long have they been down?”

  “Too long, even with an extra tank, but it’s still classified as a rescue mission at this point.”

  “Well, at least that’s something.” But if he’d gotten past the second chamber, there were a couple of places that could fool an experienced diver, much less a newbie. A false chimney, a gravel bed that was almost like quick sand and a room filled with fine silt which could throw up a cloud and obscure your vision until you didn’t know which end was up and that was just a few of the hazards. There was also the possibility of nitrogen narcosis poisoning. At least nine people had perished in Jacob’s Well, some whose remains had never been recovered.

  Bowie bowed his head and sent up a prayer. “I’ll be there as fast as I can drive.”

  He didn’t even take time to go back in the house. Calling Cassie on her cell, he let it ring till it went to voice mail. Damn. There was no time to waste. Grabbing his gear, he headed out.

  * * *

  Cassie heard the phone ringing, but it seemed she couldn’t move. She’d been picking up things in their bedroom and found Bowie’s checkbook. Not wanting to misplace it, she’d gone to his desk to slip it in the top drawer. She’d had no intentions to snoop. But when she focused her eyes, she saw her own name on a yellowed piece of newsprint.

  CASSIE CARTWRIGHT SHOT IN ACCIDENT

  With trembling fingers, she lifted it out and scanned the short article. A crushing pain centered around her heart. Cassie thought she was going to pass out.

  Bowie knew.

  He knew.

  Bowie knew he had been the one to shoot her.

  Cassie doubled over in the chair. God. God. God. He knew.

  She was trembling. Shaking. Trying to figure out what this meant. He knew, but he hadn’t said anything. God, he was redoing his house. He brought her into his home. Bowie was making room for her in his world. He was giving her a life she’d never expected to have.

  “God, no!” Cassie began to cry.

  Bowie wasn’t with her because he loved her. He wasn’t with her because he desired her.

  Bowie was with her because he felt guilty.

  Sorrow beat her down so that she could barely move. Unable to bear it, she grabbed a few of her things and called Sassy and Patience. It took a couple of trips and quite a bit of time to load her candles and supplies, but as quickly as she could, Cassie loaded them up and drove home. She could barely see the road through the haze of tears.

  Her world had just shattered at her feet.

  * * *

  Bowie drove as fast as he could. It was just over eighty miles from Bandera to Jacob’s Well. He’d only been on the road about twenty minutes when he decided to call Cassie again. Reaching in his pocket for his cell phone, he came up empty.

  “Shit!” He searched around in the seat and leaned over to search in his gear. Damn! He’d left it lying on the desk.

  “Hell, I can’t go back now. Someone’s life is depending on us.” He raced on, letting his mind wander. Today, he’d planned on buying Cassie a ring. Bowie had to smile, remembering their passion from the night before. God, she was hot. He loved her so much. The only cloud in their sky was the fact he hadn’t been honest about their past. Lord, who was he kidding? That wasn’t a cloud, it was a fuckin cyclone. Bowie vowed as soon as he got home, he’d make her understand, somehow.

  The closer he got to Wimberley, the more the memories of Jacob’s Well came clamoring into his mind. He’d done plenty of cave diving. In fact, he and Joseph had done some together. Hell, Joseph had set records in the past. But Jacob’s Well wasn’t a normal place. If he believed in curses, he’d say the place was marked for tragedy. The complete history of the spring was unknown. Native Americans considered the area sacred and Spanish explores described it in their journals. A survivor of the Battle of San Jacinto named Jacob’s Well after coming upon the spring and thinking it reminded him of the wells described in the Bible. Efforts had been made in the past to prevent people from diving into the caves, but even a grate which had been installed was removed and a message left on the cave wall, “do not try to keep us out.”

  Bowie’s own experience had been hair-raising. The spring on Cypress Creek would swallow you whole if you gave it a chance. Undoubtedly, it was one of the most dangerous diving locations in the world. He’d been on a mission to rescue two divers from Houston. The rescue attempt became a quest to retrieve the remains. The inexperienced divers had simply run out of air. But in the third chamber, Bowie had gotten buried in the sliding gravel. He could still remember the panic, the foreboding, the horror-movie type terror of knowing how deep he was underground and the inability to get free. Just as he ran out of air, he’d been rescued by two other divers, one of them had been Tanner. The fast, unconscious but necessary ascent had ruptured his stomach. A brush with death that close was bound to haunt anyone.

  When he turned off on the road that led to the spring, Bowie could see a crowd gathering. Everyone from cops to news reporters to EMTs. Spotting Joseph, he hopped from the truck and ran over to where he was standing. “Hey, McCoy, can I use your phone?”

  Joseph drawled, “Well, hello to you too.” But he handed him his cell.

  “I’ll explain in a second.” Without wasting time, he tried Cassie’s number again, but still, no answer. Voice mail was great, but not this time. “Cassie, call me!” He demanded. Next, he tried Uncle Michael. Thank God, he answered. “Hey, no time, just listen. I’m at Jacob’s Well. I don’t have a choice but to go in.”

  “Damn.” His uncle knew what that meant.

 
“Listen, I need you to find Cassie, she’s not answering her cell. I’m worried. I’ll check in with you when I can.”

  “Sure.”

  Bowie hung up, hearing his name being called.

  “Ready to go down, Malone?”

  No. The answer was no.

  * * *

  “Well, where the hell do you think she is?” George asked Michael as they tromped through the house. “Do you think we should call the police?”

  “No.” Michael shook his head. “She might have gone on an errand, there’s no use to panic yet.”

  “Let’s go check over at her home.” George suggested.

  “Good idea.” Together they jumped in Michael’s jeep and headed over to the old Sever place. When they arrived, Cassie’s van was there. “Thank God.”

  But when they went to the door and knocked, no one answered. “I’m going in.” George pushed the door open. It’s wasn’t locked. “Cassie! Cassie!”

  To their puzzlement, she wasn’t at home. The only sound of life was the barking of the little dog off in the distance. “Maybe she rode off with someone.” Michael suggested.

  “Maybe.” George wiped his face with his bandanna. “God, she has it hot as a firecracker in this house.”

  “Yea,” Michael observed. “Women are cold natured, I guess.” He looked out the window, seeing nothing odd. “Well, hell. What do we do now?”

  “I guess we go back to the house and wait awhile. Maybe we’ll hear from Bowie soon.” George started out the door.

  “I’m worried about him. He’d rather walk through hell in his bare feet than go down in Jacob’s Well.”

  George and Michael returned to Vega Verde and tried to work, but George couldn’t stop thinking about Cassie. “Man, I hope she’s all right. If she’s not, it will just kill Bowie.”