Boomtown

by Lani Lynn Vale

  I sat there stunned that he had finally let me in. I knew that the club had done other things, but never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed that they helped those in need. They look like crazy bikers, not a bunch of do gooders.

  “My dad died when I was only a baby, James not much older at three. He hadn’t even met me yet actually. It was his last tour; he was supposed to be home in a week’s time when he was killed. Mom was devastated, but she raised James and me up to the best of her ability. James worked full time as soon as he was fifteen so he could help out. I started working at the parts store when I was eighteen, and haven’t left since.”

  “I know Chey.” He whispered. “James told me a while ago, but thank you for telling me.”

  We sat in silence for a long while and just rocked. Every once and a while we would hear a bike come or go, but otherwise the night was silent, with the exception of the crickets and locusts who were quite loud this time of year.

  Sam’s hand was lying on my stomach just above my jeans, and it was causing a low burn to start in my belly. I squirmed a little on his lap, and that was all it took for him to take over control. His hand went down and cupped my sex rubbing with the heel of his palm. I moaned and squirmed some more. My hands found themselves undoing the button and zipper of my jeans so he could gain access more easily. He growled low in his throat, and his fingers went down into my panties and worked me until I was flying over the edge into an orgasm.

  He stood suddenly and yanked my pants down to my ankles bending me over the railing that he was earlier using to rest his feet on. I heard his belt buckle clink as it hit the ground, and then he was inside me, thrusting in and out at a brutal pace. His hands were at my hips, yanking me back in time with his thrusts. I could feel his balls slap against me with each thrust, knocking against my clit with the perfect speed that had me flying over the precipice again, taking him with me this time.

  I felt him pull out, and wetness trickled out of me and down my thigh. This was getting ridiculous. I really needed to figure something out here.

  I pulled my panties and jeans back up while he situated himself back into his. I looked at him with the stink eye.

  “You did it again! Can’t you at least pull out?” I asked snottily.

  “No, the only place my come is going is inside you.” Sam said matter of factly.

  “Well if that wasn’t a cave man response, I don’t know what is.” I said to him. “I wanted to be married before I had a baby. That is the way it is supposed to be.”

  “Now that you mention it….” He said trailing off while grabbing my arm and leading me into the bedroom. “I got this a couple of days ago. Will you marry me?” he said producing a white gold diamond solitaire that looked like it was over one carat.

  I was speechless. Absolutely speechless. What on earth? We’ve only known each other for a month.

  “We’ve only known each other for a month!” I screeched.

  “I’ve already asked James, and he gave me his blessing. I knew the night you came into the bar that you were mine. I just had to make you realize it. I’m not into that touchy feely shit, but my life wasn’t so great before you got here. I was just living it. Not feeling it.” He said.

  My mouth opened and closed like a guppy. He just stared at me, waiting expectantly. He didn’t look worried that I wouldn’t say yes. I wasn’t a stupid girl. Sam was my dream man, and he had just presented me with everything that I have ever wanted.

  “Ok.” I whispered “But you are stuck with me forever, you are never getting rid of me. I will make your life a living hell if you ever try to leave me.”

  “I would expect nothing less. I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth.” He said as he slipped the ring on my ring finger and kissed me, hugging me so tightly the air squeezed out of my lungs.

  We made slow sweet love, and fell asleep with me splayed on top of him. I was on top of the world; I didn’t think anything could bring me down. I was wrong.

  One phone call made the world shift on its axis.

  Chapter 9

  Two weeks passed in a flurry. There were no notes, or any used to be moms trying to take back kids. The only downside to the past few weeks was not hearing from James. Sam explained to me why there was no communication during a black out, but it still didn't make it any easier.

  My finals were this past week, and I passed all of them with flying colors. I was just finishing my last one when I headed to Free and my new home.

  I glanced down at my ring, and I couldn't help a happy little squeal.

  I called my mom the night that Sam proposed, and my mom seemed to be as ecstatic as I was. She had met and fell in love with my dad within two weeks, then married him 2 weeks later before his leave was up. So she was the last person who would question how fast we were moving.

  She somehow anticipated my thoughts and said, "Listen honey, when I met your father, I had the same doubts as you did at first. I quickly realized how unwarranted those thoughts were. I loved your father with all of my heart, and my body knew before my mind that we belonged together. Don't second guess yourself, life is so short. You need to live it, do what makes you happy, and be with those you love. It could all be over tomorrow, so don't let your fears ruin this for you. If y'all think this is right, then this is right. I love you honey, your father would be proud."

  By the end of our conversation I was bawling. Sam had taken the phone from me and spoke with my mother for a short time then hung up. He gathered me in my arms and rocked me for long minutes, whispering soft words into my hair.

  After I collected myself, I called Ember to let her know.

  Her response was, "You're shitting me!"

  Yes that's my Ember.

  "Nope, I'm not. I just sent you a pic. You’re the second to know."

  The conversation then turned to wedding plans and dates.

  Everyone was super excited, and every time I glanced at my ring I wanted to do a little dance.

  Parking in the lot in front of the house, I noticed that I hadn't seen Sam’s bike up front or back here, so I pulled my phone out to call him. He answered in the first ring.

  "Yes ma'am?" He said.

  "Hey big boy! I haven't gotten Janie yet. I was hoping to be alone with you for a little bit, but you're not here. Will you be here soon?" I asked sweetly.

  "Actually I won't be home for another couple of hours. I'm meeting with a client right now. Was it something important, or do you need me now?" He asked.

  "Oh, no. I just hoped to have you to myself for an hour."

  "Damn. I wish I could baby, but this is a big project. We are building this bike for the battered women's shelter auction, and need to get the specifics down before next week. I'm sorry. “He said, sounding genuinely disappointed.

  "It's ok. I just took my last final. I'm going to do some quick cleaning before I go get her." I said to him.

  "I'll go get her. I'm in my Suburban today.” He said

  "Okay, sounds good. Just let me know if you need me to pick her up. See you in a little bit!"

  We hung up with each other, and I started doing all the chores that needed to be done. I tackled the clothes first. Neither Sam nor I seemed to have the cleaning bug, so everything got done when we were in desperate need of something. There was a large pile of clothes in the corner so I scooped them up and carried them to the laundry room, loading the washer and pulling the cold clothes out of the dryer that had been in there for over a week. Folding the clothes and putting them away, I started on the kitchen. Out of all the things I hated doing, the kitchen was the worst.

  The rest of the afternoon was spent on tidying up and folding laundry. I took a quick shower, slipped on some yoga pants and a cami, and then headed for my room. I was about to start putting clothes away when I decided to flop down on the bed instead. I laid down on the bed, just for a wee rest, but couldn't stop my eyes from closing.

  "Hey, sleepyhead. I almost didn't wake you, but I decided to anyway because I k
new you probably hadn't eaten.

  I woke up to rough fingers traveling up the back of my arm. The fingers felt great, the waking up did not. His fingers shifted to run lightly over my bare back making me shiver.

  “Harder.” I whispered. He chuckled but started scratching my back in earnest now. His fingernails weren’t very long, but there were still enough of them to make me sigh in pleasure. Man, I loved back scratches. I loved when my mom scratched my back, and now that I knew Sam would do it, I’d probably ask him all the time.

  “You are in for it now. I had known you would sit here and do this, I would have asked you to do it a long time ago.” I said to him.

  “I’ll do it for you anytime you want; all you have to do is ask.” He said, smacking my butt hard enough to make it sting.

  I groaned then rolled over to see Sam. I smiled, but didn't move.

  He leaned down to give me a soft kiss and then rubbed his whiskers against my cheek. I smacked him playfully, because if he kept it up my skin would start itching like it always did. His beard seemed too irritate my skin, just like Chewy's fur did. Sam tried to keep it short, but at the end of a work day it was inevitable.

  My stomach growled, so I rolled over and out of bed glancing at the clock to see that it was already fifteen until eight. Oops. Guess I slept longer than I meant to.

  "Janie in bed?" I asked voice still rough from sleep.

  "Yeah, for forty five minutes now. Dinners in the microwave. Just a couple tacos." He said absently, “Storm’s coming. I’m going to be out on the swing.”

  His abrupt departure made me think something was wrong with him. I have been taking of advantage of him lately. It was so easy to have him take care of everything. He was so busy all the time, and here I am making him pick Janie up and cook dinner. Not to mention the fact that he or one of the guys had to trail me all day because of whoever was writing the notes. I’ve been asking too much of him lately.

  I walked to the microwave and got my food out and started eating it before I even closed the microwave door. I ate all three tacos standing up eating over the sink, and then laid the plate in the sink. I did this quite a bit, since I was a lazy ass and didn't want to clean up after myself or sit down only to get right back up. I made a quick potty break, and grabbed a throw blanket off the couch before heading to the back porch to see Sam sitting on the porch swing. I wrapped the blanket around my body and then sat down snuggling close into Sam's body. His arm curled around my shoulders, and I laid my head in his chest.

  "It's not really cold out here, what's with the blanket?" He asked.

  “I think I may be getting sick. I've felt kind of blah all day today.” I answered. “I'm actually still tired, even after my three hour nap. Finals kicked my ass this week. If I never see another muscle I'll be happy."

  "I'm sorry, I didn't know. You've been working yourself too hard. Glad I let you sleep.” He said.

  “I’m sorry that I made you pick up Janie. I’m shirking my responsibilities.” I said to him.

  “I don’t mind picking her up, her daycare is on my way home, and I was already in my Suburban so it really wasn’t even that big of a deal.”

  Something in my chest loosened when he explained that to me. I let out a deep breath and said, “If I ever do something, or ask you to do something and you don’t have time, you need to make sure you tell me. I don’t want to take advantage of you. You are already doing so much for me with having your men protect me, helping with Janie, and letting us move into your-” I was saying before he shut me up with a hard kiss.

  “Enough. I don’t do anything that I don’t want to do. If something is bothering me, I will let you know. Blaine is getting the same treatment, but since she works from home she doesn’t need it like you do. So stop making such a big deal about it, everything will be fine.” He said, pulling me close again.

  We lapsed into silence. Sam was pushing off with his feet making the swing rock when the first bolt of lightning struck, followed by a clap of thunder that scared the piss out of me, making me squeal a little.

  I felt Sam's chest shake and I elbowed him in the ribs.

  "You suck." I said to him.

  "Not as well as you do. " he quipped back.

  "I only suck so good cause you taught me how to suck. You were my first." I retorted.

  He chuckled, and then said "And last."

  “I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow at ten, what do you have going on tomorrow?” I asked

  “Working with Elliott on the new project. It’s Friday so we will all take off a little early around three. Do you want to go out to dinner? Or do you want to stay in?” he answered.

  “I have a roast that I took out of the freezer to cook for tomorrow. So, stay in. We could play Things again with everyone once we are done eating!” I said, getting a little excited.

  “Ughhh. I wouldn’t do this for anyone but you.” He said smiling slightly.

  I laid my head on his chest and we rocked while listening to the storm raging around us. This was a good storm; I only hoped that it wouldn’t produce tornados. It wasn’t long before I was asleep.

  SAM

  After she fell asleep on the swing, I sat there a while thinking that my life was pretty good right now. The woman I loved was in my arms, my mom was safe, and I had a successful business. Never, even in my wildest dreams, would I have thought that I’d be where I am right now.

  There were some problems with who was targeting the team. Blaine had started to get letters too, but I was keeping that from Cheyenne. She didn’t need to worry about that when she was taking her finals. I had planned on telling her tonight, but she was asleep before I could get to it. I thought about telling her she didn’t have to work, but knew that wouldn’t go over well with her independent nature. It’d be like setting a match to some kindling.

  Ember gave me some good advice about how to deal with Cheyenne and her weird moods. Cheyenne had been cleaning up after the party, even when everyone told her to leave it for the next morning. Ember stood beside me for a few moments, telling me that Cheyenne was very passionate about things and people that mattered to her. “She has a bitch of a temper. Just let her do what she wants. There was this one time when we were out to dinner for James’ birthday and she had a piece of chocolate cake in a to-go box that she didn’t finish. We were all walking out to the parking lot and James pushed her from behind and made her drop the box, where it opened and fell out onto the ground. In my opinion it was hilarious, but to James it wasn’t. She practically went postal, about a piece of cake! She made him feel awful, she was crying and screaming, and to this day she still brings up this piece of cake that he made her drop. The thing I’m trying to get at is, is that if she wants to do something, just let her, or she’ll never let you hear the end of it.” With that she turned and helped Cheyenne finish picking up.

  Thinking back to that night, when Ember told me that story, I found it hilarious too. I’d have gone back in and bought her another piece of cake! My mom had the same sweet tooth, and she always made sure to have something on hand.

  A strong gust of wind that sprayed rain into may face made me realize that we needed to get in before we were soaked. Picking up Cheyenne, I maneuvered her through the back door, into the kitchen and headed for the bedroom. Placing her on the bed, I decided to leave her in what she was wearing since it looked comfortable. Leaving out of the room, I made sure all of the windows and doors were locked after I let Chewy out one more time. I opened the door to where Janie was set up in my office to hear her snoring softly, so I headed back into the bedroom.

  The only thing that illuminated the room was the glow from the alarm clock. I walked slowly to the bed, forgetting that Cheyenne had picked up today. I lay down beside her carefully, and then pulled her into my arms in our normal sleeping position. If I didn’t pull her close, she would be kicking and hitting me all night, so I had to practically hold her still with my body. Normally I didn’t like sleeping with women. I felt suffoca
ted, needed to be able to move freely, or it brought up memories of being pinned down in a whole in a tiny shack in middle of bumfuck country. We were pinned down for three days until reinforcements showed.

  The shrink that the higher ups made me see after to make sure that I was fit for duty said that possibly it would cause me some PTSD, and that it would show at inopportune times. The first time I slept with Cheyenne I was nervous that that would happen, but it never showed. In fact, I’d slept better than I had since I was a little boy since she started sharing my bed.

  I snuggled closer to her, smelling her hair. Tomorrow I would try to get done quickly so we could spend some alone time together.

  The shrill ringing of Cheyenne’s phone pierced the still night air, and Cheyenne shot to a sitting position, but still unaware of where she was. On the fourth ring, she finally came to enough to answer the phone.

  “Hello?” she said in a husky voice.

  The sound of her voice was beginning to make me half hard that is until I heard the fear in her voice.

  “W-what?” she said, sounding close to crying.