by B. B. Hamel
Fifteen minutes later and we pulled into the parking lot of this run-down old motel called Knight’s Inn. Travis was already there, leaning up against his car, dangling a key off his finger. I parked next to him and we got out.
“Already grabbed a room, cap,” he said. “Two actually. One for us, and one for the girl.”
“Fine,” I said, taking the keys from him. “Good work.”
“What’s the plan?”
“We’re going to check out the house, but we need rest first. Think you can run a quick scouting mission?”
“Roger that,” he said.
“Wait,” Tara interrupted. “Wait. We aren’t going to my house right now?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “We can’t just run up there. Travis hasn’t been able to contact Coop, which means something might be wrong. We have to be careful. Too much is at stake.”
I could tell that didn’t sit well with her, but I didn’t have time to argue the point. I just nodded at Travis and walked off, carrying the bags.
Tara hurried to catch up. “I know this is your thing,” she said, “but I don’t like it. I think we should get there as soon as possible.”
I stopped in front of the room and dropped the bags. I unlocked the door and pushed it open. “This is you,” I said.
She stepped inside. “Lovely.”
I followed her in. “Listen, Tara,” I said. “I get you don’t like the way I’m running this, but you have to trust that I know what I’m doing.”
She sighed, sitting down on the bed. “I know. It’s just hard. I’m so scared for my parents, Emory, and I hate that I left Mason.”
“You didn’t leave him,” I said, closing the door. “You made sure that he was safe. There’s a difference.”
“I don’t feel like it’s very different.”
I walked over to her and stood in front of her. “You need to relax,” I said. “Let me handle this.”
“How am I supposed to relax? Terrorists want to blow up my parents.”
I tipped her chin up toward me. “I can help.”
Before she answered, I pressed my mouth against hers, kissing her hard. She kissed me back, breathing deeply through her nose.
I pushed her back onto the floral bedspread and pressed her down as I kissed her, our bodies moving together. I slowly moved my hands down between her legs, pressing along her pussy, feeling the heat there.
Without another word, I dropped to my knees at the edge of the bed. She moaned as I kissed down her stomach and unbuttoned her pants, pulling them off.
“This is how you want to relax me?” she asked.
“Can’t think of a better way than licking this pussy until you feel better.”
I pressed my mouth against her sweet, soaking cunt and began to lick her, stroking along her clit. She wanted to say something, but she couldn’t, and whatever she was trying to get out was swallowed up by her moans.
I couldn’t get enough of Tara’s incredible pussy. My tongue roamed her whole length, taking in every drop of her. I licked and sucked her, working her clit, my tongue rolling along her.
“Oh shit, Emory,” she moaned. “If you’re trying to distract me, you’re doing a good job.”
I grinned at her and then kept working her pussy. I licked and stroked her, working her spot. I loved the way she tasted and loved driving her wild. Her whole body tensed as I worked her, my tongue and lips sucking and licking. I used every skill I had to make her feel good, my mouth working her hard, my hands on her hips.
I pressed a finger deep inside her as I continued to lick her clit. She moaned loudly as I fucked her with my fingers and sucked her clit. She fucking loved that, opening her legs even wider, losing herself in the pleasure.
I knew what I was doing to her body. I knew she couldn’t help herself. I grabbed her hip with my one hand and fucked that tight pussy with the other, working her deep and rough while my tongue and mouth worked her clit.
She rolled her hips, taking it, moving along with me. I wanted to get her off, and I wasn’t going to stop until I had her fucking sweet cum in my mouth. I wanted a taste of it badly, and I licked and sucked at her, loving the way she moved.
Her fingers laced through my hair, pressing my mouth harder against her clit. “Just like that,” she begged. “Oh shit, Emory. Just like that.”
I sucked her more, working that clit, my fingers fucking her deeply. She rolled her hips along with me, pressing my face closer against her. I could feel her whole body tensing and relaxing, getting deeper and deeper into it as I kept pushing her, fucking her, and sucking her.
There was nothing sexier than Tara moaning as I ate that pussy. My cock was hard as fuck as I sucked and licked her, and she was moving her hips faster, her body squirming. I could taste her getting hotter and hotter, her pussy soaking wet, my tongue working faster. I sucked her hard and licked her. Then I pressed my fingers deep, fucking her faster, pressing deeper and harder.
“Oh fuck, Emory,” she moaned. “Fuck me. I want you to fuck me. I’m so close.”
“Not a chance, princess,” I said. “I want you to come for me.”
“Please, fuck me.”
I fucked her with my fingers, pressing them deep, making her whole body tremble. “Not today, princess. Come in my fucking mouth, girl.”
I went back down on her, licking and sucking, working that clit, my fingers fucking her deep. Her hands got tight in my hair, pressing my face harder against her pussy, her hips rolling in circles. Her body moved along with my mouth and fingers, and I could tell she was getting closer and closer.
I moved forward, rolling her legs up, pushing her hips into the air like I was going to fuck her. Instead, I held her legs up like that with one hand while I licked her pussy top to bottom and then pressed my fingers deep inside her. Rolled back like that, I could fuck her pussy hard and deep with my fingers while I sucked and licked her clit, getting a good angle.
That drove her fucking wild. Her moans got louder and she grabbed the sheets, gripping them hard. I kept her legs back like that and kept fucking that tight, wet pussy as I licked her clit.
“Oh god. Oh god, Emory. I’m going to come,” she moaned.
I didn’t let up. I just sucked and licked that clit faster, fucked her harder with my fingers, worked that pussy faster. She moaned loudly as her whole body started to tremble, and I loved it as she fucking came on my mouth and tongue. I worked that pussy, fucking her deeper, licking and sucking that clit as she came. I ate that pussy mercilessly, loving every fucking second of it as she had a fat, trembling orgasm.
Slowly I let her legs down as her orgasm passed. She lay there panting as I stood up, grinning down at her. She had that sexy fucking dazed look on her face, and her cheeks were totally flushed. She looked back at me, her mouth hanging open.
“And how was that, princess?”
“Fuck” was all she could say.
I laughed and leaned forward to kiss her. “Yeah. I thought so.”
Just then there was a knock at the door.
“Shit,” Tara said.
I gave her a look. “Relax. It’s Travis.”
“I don’t want him to know!”
“You think he hasn’t noticed anything yet?” I asked, smirking at her.
She blushed deeper. “I’m not ashamed. I’m just embarrassed.” She stood up. “I’ll be in the bathroom.”
I laughed as she scampered off and then shut the bathroom door behind her. I turned and opened the door.
“Captain,” Travis said.
“Spot anything?”
“Negative,” he said. “I need a couple hours sleep before we go over there, though.”
“Me too,” I said. “Here’s the other key.” I tossed it to him. “I’ll stay in here.”
“I’m sure you will.” He grinned at me.
“Two hours and we’ll go.”
“Got it.” He turned and left.
I shut and locked the door behind him and then collapsed on
to the bed.
Exhaustion absolutely overwhelmed my body. I set the little alarm on the bedside table for two hours and then stared up at the ceiling. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept.
I had the vague notion that I should wait up. I wanted Tara to come out, straddle my cock, and slide that wet pussy down along my length.
Instead, I fell asleep before I even realized I was nodding off.
The alarm yanked me back to consciousness.
I reached up fast and shut it off. It took me a second to remember what I was doing and where I was.
Tara was sleeping next to me. She stirred, but the alarm hadn’t woken her up.
I quickly got out of bed, still wearing my clothes. I checked my pistol and my knife and then got a pen and paper from one of the drawers.
Tara, we’re checking on your parents. Do not leave this room. I will be back soon. Emory.
I left the note on the bed next to her and then silently slipped out of the room.
Travis was leaning up against the second-floor railing as I shut the door behind me.
“How’s the girl?” he asked.
“Sleeping like a fucking baby,” I said.
“Good.” He frowned. “Ready?”
I nodded and followed him down the stairs.
We didn’t bother talking. We both knew what was necessary.
Cooper not answering when Travis had called him was very, very bad. There was no reason why Coop would be out of radio range, let alone not calling back.
It meant he was probably compromised. What had happened to him, we couldn’t guess. He might just be injured somewhere, or possibly chasing down Omar and unable to talk, but we were both assuming the worst.
It was a short drive out to Tara’s place. We did a quick sweep in the car of the neighborhood but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“What do you think?” Travis asked me as we slowed and parked a few houses down.
“I think we go in,” I said. “If it’s a trap, we’ll handle it. Coop might not have much time.”
Travis nodded slowly. “That was my thinking too.”
“Listen, Travis,” I said. “You’ve done a lot already. You don’t need to come with me.”
He snorted. “Fuck you, captain. I’d never abandon a mission.”
I grinned at him. “Yeah, I know. Come on.”
I climbed out of the car, Travis on my heels. We moved together toward the house, trying to keep it casual so as not to draw attention to ourselves. My head was on a swivel as we moved, but I didn’t notice anything unusual at all. As far as I could tell, it was just another normal suburban neighborhood.
We got close to the house and moved up toward the door fast. Travis moved around toward the back of the house, checking the windows as he went. I listened for the signal from him and heard a soft whistle, something that sounded almost like a bird.
I picked the lock in no time and then slowly pushed the door open, moving in.
My gun was out and ready, barrel pointed forward. I stepped into the entryway and shut the door behind me.
Nothing looked different or out of place. Nothing was knocked over or moved at all. The blood in the formal living room was gone, cleaned up by the team Blackfire had sent.
I did a quick sweep of that room and then moved back to the steps and climbed them, staying low and silent. I didn’t hear a single sound from upstairs as I made it to the landing.
I cleared each room, one after the next. Each room looked totally normal, the beds made, everything clean. If something bad had happened in the house, there was no sign of a struggle.
But there was also no sign of Tara’s parents or Coop. Their car was still in the driveway and Coop’s car was parked two streets over, but they were all empty. Once I finished upstairs, I moved back down the steps cautiously.
Travis should have swept the bottom floor, and if anyone was still in the house, we would know by now.
“All clear upstairs,” I called out.
“Captain,” Travis said, and I could hear the pain in his voice. It hit me like a sledgehammer, and I knew. In that instant, I knew. “In here.”
I stepped into the kitchen.
Cooper was propped up against the oven, his throat cut open, a bullet hole in his skull.
I stared down at Coop, my whole body numb. We’d lost comrades before, good men, but Coop was a friend. He was so fucking young, too.
“Looks like it happened in the garage,” Travis said. “I think they cut the throat after they killed him and moved the body here for us to find it.”
“The parents?”
“Nowhere.”
“Fuck.” I could feel the anger washing over me then, replacing the numbness with a fire that threatened to burn the world to ashes. “Fuck. Coop was a good man.”
“Yeah,” Travis said, looking away, “he fucking was.”
“Sweep the place. Take anything that might help. We’ll call Blackfire and have this place cleaned, but we’re going after that.”
“Roger that, cap.” Travis gave Coop one last look and then turned away and left.
I stared down at Coop for another second, anguish and anger rushing through me. Those bastards. I didn’t know how they got the drop on Coop, but he didn’t deserve this. I knelt down and gently shut his eyes.
“Your fight is done, brother,” I whispered.
Then I stood and turned away.
That was the end every SEAL faced at every moment in his job. Every SEAL was trained to face death and to fight on, and I knew that was what Coop had done.
I was going to find Omar and all his men and I was going to kill them, plain and simple. I was going to kill them with my bare hands if I could, and if I couldn’t, I’d use hot steel and explosive powders.
I was fury and death incarnate. Rage flowed through me unchecked, unbounded. I was going to tear them bit by bloody bit until they screamed and perished.
Travis returned a moment later. “Come look, cap.”
I followed him, slowly raging, boiling deep down in my body. Travis led me out into the garage where I was faced with a grisly scene.
There was blood everywhere, all over the floor, on every surface. Something had happened here. Clearly they’d killed Coop, but something else had happened. Objects were knocked over, paint cans upended, sports equipment torn from the walls.
“He struggled,” Travis said.
“Yeah. Wasn’t enough.”
“But look at this.” He crouched down next to something and pointed. “What do you make of it?”
Next to one of the cleaner spots on the floor was a drawing in the blood. It looked like a mitten.
I cocked my head. “I have no clue, but Cooper clearly left this for us.”
“Shit,” Travis said. “It’s like a baseball glove or a mitten.”
“Take a picture. Let’s get out of here.”
Travis nodded and took out his phone.
I left the garage, heading back out of the house. Cooper had struggled and left us a clue, and we were going to use that to find his killers.
This was far from over.
Chapter 27
Tara
I woke up slowly to an empty bed.
As I stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling, I remembered everything that had happened in the last day. I remembered the attack, the blood, the bodies, and Emory. I remembered his mouth and his fingers and the incredible bursting buzz that rolled over my spine as I came.
I remembered it all, gripping the sheets.
“Damn,” I said out loud, just to hear my own voice.
For a second, I thought I needed to get up and check on Mason, but then I realized that I had left him at Lindy’s, and a part of me felt awful. I hadn’t been away from Mason for any serious amount of time before. Sure, I’d left him to be watched by Lindy or my parents, but I felt like this was different.
I sat up, groggy but feeling better. I hadn’t realized how badly I’d needed sleep. I caught sigh
t of a piece of paper on the bed next to me and grabbed it. It was a note from Emory telling me to stay in the room. I sighed, tossing it aside.
What did he think I was going to do, go running around? I knew where he was and understood why he hadn’t woken me. That was probably smart, since I would have tried to insist that he bring me along.
I hated that my parents were in danger. I was so full of worry and fear that I could hardly think.
I got out of bed and used the bathroom. I turned on the shower and stared at the water pouring down from the spigot, letting the room fill with steam from the hot water.
Finally, I worked up the courage to strip down and climb in. The hot water felt incredible, though practically scalding. I stood there letting it cover me, the water rolling down my body, washing away the grime and the sweat.
As I began to wash myself, I heard the door in the other room open. I paused, standing completely still. Fear jolted through me like lightning.
Then someone knocked on the door. “It’s me,” Emory called out.
I let out a breath, relieved. “I’m almost done. You can come in.”
I heard the door open. “We need to talk. Come out.” He shut the door abruptly.
I bit my lip, the fear still lingering there, but I pushed it back. I could handle it, whatever he needed to tell me. I was stronger than I had been, strong enough to handle anything he could throw at me. I had to be. I had no other choice.
I finished rinsing off and got out of the shower. I wrapped a towel around myself and walked out into the main room.
Emory was sitting on the bed, his head hanging in front of him.
“What happened?” I asked, steeling myself.
“Your parents were gone,” he said. “I don’t know where they are.”
I nodded slowly. “Okay.”
“Cooper was dead.”
I took a sharp breath. “Shit, Emory.” I went to him and sat down next to him. “I’m so sorry.”
“Coop was a good man, but we need to find your family and finish this now, make his death mean something.”
I leaned against him, trying to take some of his strength. “Okay,” I said. “How can I help?”
“Coop left something behind, a clue.” He pulled out his phone and showed me a picture. “What do you think?”
