Our firehouse ambulance roll up and the paramedics jump out to help her. All I feel is guilt.
I’m responsible for all of this.
I got my chief shot.
I could’ve stopped this.
Sandy’s never going to have a relationship with her mother.
I didn’t act fast enough.
But none of this crap will make things right.
22
Deuce
I wait near the doorway inside the chief’s hospital room. It’s eating me up inside, watching Ember sit in that guest chair beside his bed, looking lost. The only fortunate news is that the chief’s injuries aren’t as serious as we thought. The bullet was a through and through. It didn’t hit any major organs before it exited his body. Still, it’s got to be tough, seeing him lie there, hooked up to all those wires and monitors, looking so weak. He’s in good spirits. He has to be. We all relax a little when he awakes and tells Ember that having her at his side is way better than the painkillers, just before the painkillers kick in again and put him to sleep.
No matter how forgiving he is, or how much he wants to brush this off to make me feel better, I know the truth.
I’m the cause of all of this.
I didn’t pull that trigger, but it’s my fault.
If I’d just done something about Dawn sooner.
Dawn.
That crazy, stupid woman.
Crazy, stupid, and delusional.
I don’t feel an ounce of regret over her condition. The bullet that entered her has put her in critical condition, but it’s her own doing. That’s why I refuse to see her. No fucking doctor’s urging can get me to her bedside. Hammer and my mother have already seen her. They both want me to speak to her, to let Sandy see her.
I refuse to do that. For one, Sandy’s too young to remember much about her mother. Why should I allow whatever remaining memory get overshadowed by seeing a woman she barely knows under police guard and on her deathbed? And for me, well, that ex-wife of mine put me through enough shit. And now she wants me to be there for her last send-off after getting my boss shot?
No fucking way.
Not a chance in hell.
Ember glances up at me as Hammer walks into the room. He has a tray with three coffees in one hand, and two bunches of flowers from the gift shop in the other. He sets down the tray and flowers on one nightstand beside the chief and hands a cup of coffee to Ember. Her pale gray eyes only stray from her father long enough to give Hammer a small, grateful smile. When I notice Hammer only placing one bunch of flowers in the clear plastic vase he finds in a drawer and fills with water, I shake my head at him.
He brings the other set of flowers and the third cup of coffee to me, jutting out his chin toward the hallway. “Let’s talk.”
I follow him out down the hallway to be out of earshot, but I’ve got nothing to say as I take the coffee he passes to me.
“You want to talk?” I ask him. “Go ahead. Talk.”
He holds out the bunch of flowers. “Go on. Take this to her before it’s too late.”
“I’m not doing that. Dawn can’t expect me to be there for her now. Not after all this.”
“I’m not the one asking.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Your mother wants you in there now.”
I peel back the drink section of the coffee lid and start to lift it to my mouth, my eyes off in the distance, matching the distance I want to put between me and this conversation. “Mom can go soft on Dawn if she wants, but I’m not gonna—”
“Dawn’s dying, idiot,” he hurls out, cutting me off. “She was dying before that bullet hit her.”
My eyes snap over to Hammer. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Dawn’s dying.”
“Of what?”
“You name it, she’s got it. Renal failure, lung disease… all those years of drug abuse caught up with her. That’s why she came out to Reno. She wanted some time with Sandy. To say goodbye.”
Every possible raw emotion overcomes me then. “Why…I didn’t know…why didn’t she just tell me? She sent me a ton of texts and voicemail. Why didn’t she take a second to give me that piece of news? Why’d she have to let this…” I wave around us, to the hospital, the shooting incident, showing up at Sandy’s school, all the unnecessary drama. “She did all this, and she couldn’t bring herself to tell me she’s dying?”
“All right. I get it. We all get it, Deuce. What Dawn did was wrong.”
“You got that right,” I stress to him.
“Okay. Yes, it’s downright unforgivable. But she’s not exactly right in the head. And forgiving her isn’t about her. Closing this chapter is for you. Do it for yourself… your peace of mind. Do it for Sandy.”
“I had plenty of peace of mind before she showed up.”
“Just shut up and fucking give yourself a break, okay? She was your wife. Deny it all you want, but she meant something to you once. Look. It’s the end for Dawn. The doctors say she won’t last the night. You didn’t know about her illnesses before, but you do now. Go to her. Take these flowers. Say your goodbyes. Forgive her. Forgive yourself so you can move on.”
Fuck. Hammer may be right, but I’m not in the right mental or emotional state to let this stuff in. Turning around, I start walking to the nearest exit. What I need is a beer and to get the hell out of this place. But as I turn a bend in the hallway and make it to the elevators, my mother walks up to me from the other direction. The look she gives me is enough to turn me around and get me back on the path to Dawn’s hospital room. Mom always knew how to get my ass in gear without uttering a word.
I stop outside Dawn’s door, looking in through the small glass window, acutely aware that Mom’s at my side now. She squeezes my hand, nodding up at me, encouraging me to go into the room. But she stays outside when I go in.
The police guard that was here for Dawn earlier is gone now.
No escort is needed when a patient is about to die.
I step inside and stand halfway between the door and the bed, just looking at Dawn’s tiny frame. All the color is drained from her face. The rims around her eyes are red. Her bright red hair falls limply around her face. She’s so pale, so fragile under the fluorescent hospital lights.
I can’t honestly say I was ever in love with Dawn.
Our story wasn’t like Hammer and his late wife. We weren’t best friends, or head-over-heels in love like they were.
But I loved her. I cared about Dawn as a person.
I grew to love her as the mother of my child until she went off the rails.
“I probably shouldn’t be surprised to see you go out like this,” I mutter to her even though I know she’s unconscious. “You raised hell in life, Dawn. It’s no stretch that you’d go out with a bang…” I feel wetness form in my eyes as a memory surfaces. The mental image sharpens. It’s one where she sits in baby Sandy’s nursery, rocking our baby to sleep, staring down at our daughter’s darling face with all the love and adoration in the world.
“I know it was hard for you, Dawn. Really hard…but you loved Sandy so much when God gave her to us. I couldn’t understand what stopped you from loving her…I couldn’t reach you, and I didn’t know how to fix it…to make it better for you.”
Sucking in a heavy breath, I wipe away the one tear that rolls down my face and I move closer to her bedside. My hand finds hers. It’s cold. So small. Lifeless.
“I’m sorry… for not doing enough to get you the help you needed. That’s my one regret…failing you. I failed you when you needed me the most.”
I don’t want to break down. It’s too much to take. I turn to leave, feeling the vice that was tightened around my heart begin to ease as emotions flood in. As I make it to the door, I turn back to her. “You have my word that I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure Sandy knows how much her mother adored her. Goodbye, Dawn.”
That’s a promise I plan to keep.
23
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Ember - Epilogue
I hang up the phone after speaking with my father. The secret’s out about Deuce and Hammer, although no one knows that we’re a threesome. They probably believe that I’m the slut who slept with two new guys, not that my two men are in fact sharing me.
It’s no one’s business, but nothing in this world can put the genie back in the bottle. As least the men and women working at the firehouse are professionals when it comes down to it. I don’t know if they say anything to Deuce or Hammer about me, but to my face, they’re nothing but warm and kind.
Maybe it’s loyalty to my father, or fear or reprisals, or camaraderie, or supportiveness. Whatever it is, I’m happy not to have to deal with dirty looks or worse.
My father can be a stubborn man when he gets an idea in his head. But in this case, it’s for a worthy cause. He’s ending his three months of rehab at the physiotherapy hospital today, and wouldn’t stop working remotely the entire time. Dad put my transfer up to priority number one and found me a nice assignment as an HR coordinator at the fire department’s head office. I’m more than qualified, and I have seniority. I’ve also never slacked off on the job, so the position is mine for the taking.
I jump at the chance. That’s what it is. A chance.
To work and live in the open.
To be with the men I care about.
To have a sense of family again.
That night after work, I go to Deuce’s house. Things have settled down at their cattle ranch. Hammer’s younger brother, Carter, is running the ranch with the help of Ralph and sage advice from my uncle Pete. Cody is moving ahead with renovations to the middle house, adding a massive custom kitchen. He’ll bake at the ranch and has a place for me and Connie to bring our passions to life as often or part-time as we’d like. Every day I spend with them, I get closer to Sandy, Logan, and Lacy.
And most of all, I love my men.
Hammer’s brothers, sister and Hammer’s twins are comfortable in the main homestead. Deuce and Sandy have the house where renovations are almost done. A new set of construction is about to start on the middle house, which will one day be Cody’s Country Cake Corner. It’s a mouthful, but it works.
Deuce and Hammer’s earlier group text already warned me of a surprise waiting for me, so when I find them standing at the front door as I arrive, I’m ready for anything. They point up the stairs with looks of satisfaction on their faces. Smiling, I take each step with anticipation and check the door of each room to see what tonight’s surprise is about.
When I make it up to Deuce’s bedroom, I notice one of the yellow sticky notes I use all the time at work is stuck on the outside of the door. My name is on the folded side that faces me. Lifting it up, I read their handwritten note.
It’s not quite a letter. It’s barely two sentences that read, “Move in here. Be ours.”
I will never forget the expressions on their faces when I turn and nod my head, agreeing to just that. To be theirs. To become a family of our own design. Deuce, Hammer, their kids, Hammer’s siblings, and me. I have more than enough room in my heart for all of them. Not just for as long as we feel like it. Forever. And as I step inside and start to plan out how my things will fit in with what’s already here, the two men that I love call my name.
I turn in time to see each man drop to one knee, and Hammer presents me with another velvet box.
I smile. It doesn’t matter what’s inside. I’m ready to accept.
I’ll follow these men to the ends of the earth.
“Yes,” I whisper before they have a chance to open the box, and I hold my arm out.
Deuce takes my hand and pulls me to sit on his bended knee. He turns my face to his with his thumb and index finger at my chin, and kisses me hard. “I love you, Ember. I’m honored that you’ll marry us before we even ask.”
“Me, too,” Hammer adds, and reveals the brilliant solitaire diamond set into a simple, yellow-gold band. It’s perfect, something I’d pick out for myself if given the chance to choose.
“Me too,” I confess to them both. “I love it. I love you. And yes, I’ll marry you both.”
Some women get excited, others shake and cry and overflow with love and heartfelt emotion at a wedding proposal.
Not me.
A sense of peace and calm surrounds me as Hammer slides the ring up my wedding finger. It’s the perfect beginning to a journey such as ours.
“Get over here,” I say to Hammer. “Kiss me.”
He lifts me out of Deuce’s lap and pulls me into his arms. His hand slides up my back into my hair, and I grip onto his shirt as he kisses me so deeply, not just with his lips, but with his soul.
Deuce pulls me away from Hammer. Turning me to face him, he backs me up to his bed. Our bed. I lift his shirt out from his slacks, tugging at each button. And when they’re all undone I kiss his bare chest and peel the fabric from his body. I’m keen to continue working on his slacks, but he gives me a little push that causes me to fall backward onto bed, right into Hammer’s warm arms and hot chest.
My men waste no time relieving me of every shred of clothes on my body. While Deuce kisses me, Hammer spreads me wide and feasts on me. When Deuce pulls me onto my hands and knees from behind, Hammer teases my breasts from beneath me. Their hands and mouths are like magic, touching me everywhere at the same time, spreading heat and need through me. And when Deuce enters me from behind, I find a way to adjust my body so I can pleasure Hammer too.
Together, they tell me without words that the life we’ll share will only get better and better, as long as we enjoy it together.
“Take me hard,” I say to Deuce as I pull from Hammer. Wrapping my fingers around the base of his cock, I take more of him in my mouth. They both move inside me, harder and faster to maddening heights until we all come.
They fit.
They’re perfect for me.
And I’m exactly what they need.
We relax afterward, limbs entwined, hearts joined, at ease.
“Aren’t you glad that I said yes?” I ask.
“Yes,” Hammer replies against my lips.
“We weren’t planning to take no for an answer,” Deuce adds in a whisper near my ear.
I smile so wide that it almost hurts. “Thank God for that.”
The End
Bonus Story - Protection
A Military Bad Boy Romance
Copyright 2017 - Jay S. Wilder
Prologue – Nick
Rockland County
“Make love to me,” she repeated in his ear.
It wasn’t a good idea to read too much into that one word he had evaded all his life. Love wasn’t for him. He’d never felt it, not with a father he barely knew and a mother who gave him away. Sure, his adopted parents had tried, but he always felt like a hand-me-down.
He’d never let a woman get this close enough. Ever.
Yet, Nicole spread out underneath him, naked and unafraid, asking the sweetest request of all.
Nick adjusted above her and began kissing and licking his way south, appreciating every inch of her as he made his way down. As his lips pressed against her flat stomach, her hands pushed his shoulders, silently begging him to pick up the pace. Sweeping his tongue along her lower belly, he stopped at her moon-shaped birthmark, causing her to moan out another plea and raise her hips up, giving him easier access.
He moved further down still, closing in on her pelvis, and lifted a hand to play with her erect nipples. The way she responded to every move he made was just beautiful. He wanted to savor every moment and make sure Nicole would remember this time, if nothing else.
Close now, he lifted up slightly, hovering over her pussy as Nicole called to him, pleading for his touch. He shifted his eyes up to hers and spread her legs wide across the bed. Once he had her full attention, he returned his gaze back down at her pink slit. God, she was perfect. It was something he didn’t get the luxury of enjoying while they were crammed inside the airplane restroom, using each o
ther’s body for purely primal urges. Now, he could stop and appreciate all of her.
Now, she was glistening with need, primed and ready for him.
Dragging his thumb up to her center, he indulged himself in the absolute pleasure of her wet heat. He heard her quick intake of breath hissing in and out, as she tried to maintain control. Too bad she’d already handed that over to him the second she asked him to take her.
Nick adjusted, stretching out on the large bed as he lowered his mouth to touch her hot skin. Gently, he nipped at her folds, then went all in with his tongue, licking her swollen nub.
“Oh, Nick… yes.”
He nipped his teeth against the nub, teasing it as he pulled a hushed cry from her. Loving the sensation as much as her voice, he gently licked her, slowing down each pass of his tongue because he wasn’t ready to stop just yet. With a slight shift of his legs, he adjusted to a kneeling position, spreading her out more widely, parting her flesh. He pressed his mouth against her, this time to feast on her. He wanted her to remember how it felt having him fuck her with his mouth too.
Hard and rough.
Soft and slow.
And everything in between.
“Oh God, Nick… what you do to me… it’s so amazing.”
“This is mine,” he muttered against her glistening clit.
The words caught even him by surprise, and he stopped, glancing up her body. Their eyes locked.
Yes.
Nicole would remember this for a long time.
He watched as her eyes fluttered closed, and her body writhed to encourage him—beg, really—to continue. He took the invitation to keep going when she raised her hips and pressed her pussy toward his mouth. After a few second of making her wait, he lowered to her again, delivering what she needed until she cried through her approaching orgasm.
Two Firefighters Next Door: A Bad Boy MFM Romance Page 14
