ROMANCE: Billion Dollar Question (BWWM Billionaire Bad Boy Romance) (African American Alpha Mail Order Bride New Adult)

by Aisha Brooks

  “Yeah, I did,” he answers.

  “And, two silver stars?”

  “Yes.”

  “Three purple hearts too? Wow…but I don’t know which one those two are.”

  “The first is the Distinguished Service Medal, the highest honor the military has besides the Medal of Honor.”

  “And is this the Medal of honor?” Kimberly asks, indicating the correct medal.

  “Yeah, that’s it.”

  “For Valor…”

  “…at risk of life and limb above and beyond the call of duty.”

  “How did you get that?”

  “For the same thing that got me diagnosed with PTSD.”

  “I’m guessing that you don’t want to talk about it right now?”

  “No…”

  “Okay,” Kimberly answers. “Let’s go fishing.” They spent the entire day on Rob’s baby brother’s boat, catching largemouth bass and other assorted sunfish. Kim even managed to hook a large Muskie, but the line snapped before she could land the apex predator in those waters.

  They stopped for a short period of time at about 1 p.m., and Robert bought them each a cheeseburger lunch from a national fast food chain that had a franchise location close to the water. As they sat eating, talk turned to Kimberly, and how she came to be a teacher.

  “Well, I’ve always loved history, but I didn’t know how I could use a degree in history, so I settled for being a teacher.”

  “So, you decided that you would just get the degree you wanted, and use it in the most secure profession you could think of that needed it?”

  “Something like that!” Kimberly answers, laughing aloud. They are getting along famously, and Robert cannot take his eyes off of her body. While her profile picture on soldiermatch.com had her wearing professional attire, today she has chosen to wear a bikini top and some short, cutoff jeans that barely cover her rear end. She is clearly much more confident in her body than are many women her age. She is not thin as a rail like so many women in society, but instead, she is fit and toned, but not so muscle bound as to appear freakish. Overall, Robert is incredibly attracted to her.

  Kim, too, is feeling the pangs of lustful passion grow in her belly when she steals glances of him. Sure, he is dealing with some serious baggage from having gone to war, but all that means is that he is a brave soldier who witnessed things that the rest of the merely mortal men that she comes into contact with wouldn’t experience in their worst nightmares. Combined with the fact that his physique clearly was that of a former Army Special Forces operator, and Kim was confident that she could see herself in a long term relationship with this hero.

  They continue fishing for the rest of the afternoon, laughing and joking about the way she is catching more fish than he is. Their flirtatious banter would not be out of place in a high school hallway or dive bar. Soon, they have caught well more than enough fish to eat for supper, so they pack their gear up, and head back to shore. After they have loaded the boat back onto the trailer, they set off, heading in the direction of Rob’s house.

  When they arrive there, he cleans the fish while she slices potatoes to make homemade French fries. When all the food is ready to cook, he fires up his propane fryer, and together they prepare supper.

  Carefully, they pre-cook all the freshly cut potatoes, and set them aside while the bass fish fillets are cooking. Once all the fish is finished, they cook the potatoes for the second time, creating the crispy boardwalk style French fries that are so delicious.

  Chapter 6: Deep Thoughts

  It was not long at all before all the food was eaten, and they were left sitting there, wondering what the other was thinking. Rob gets out a bottle of Irish whiskey, and together they pour glasses of the sweet nectar that lowers inhibitions. Rob also lights a cigar, and together, they discuss their dreams and ambitions.

  “So, what do you think you want to do, now that you are out of the military, Rob?” she asks him.

  “To be honest, I’m not really sure at this time,” he answers. “I really would like to go back into the Army, if I can, to be honest.”

  “Why didn’t you stay in, then?”

  “Well, they didn’t let me,” he answers. “I was only one year into my most recent enlistment when I was discharged.”

  “Why were you discharged?” Kim asks him.

  Rob thinks this question over for a few long minutes, before his alcohol consumption strengthens him enough to tell her the story.

  “Well, last year, my team was called overseas to handle the capture of a Muslim cleric and Mujahidin, Sheik Tayyib Pour Salman.”

  “Your team?”

  “Yes, I was special forces.”

  “So, Delta force?” She asks, clearly in awe. This causes Rob to laugh, and he answers, “No, not Delta Force…Green Berets. Kind of like the SEALS to the Navy and Marines. Anyway, my team was shipped out to Baghlan province in Afghanistan, which by all accounts was not the most dangerous duty station in the country. I myself, had been to Baghlan about ten times, and had never seen so much as a single explosion. Well, all that changed when we went after the Sheik. We roped into the hilled area of his compound about half a click from drain pipe that we were going to go through to infiltrate the compound. We had been told that the drain pipe would be the best way to get in, because it wouldn’t be defended. Overall, it was supposed to be a simple mission, one similar to dozens like it that we had completed before. The only problem was, the Sheik’s compound was much better defended than we had expected. We got to the end of the drain pipe alright, so everything was going according to plan. The problem was, there was a .50 cal nest inside the pipe, and within seconds, he had cut down the lieutenant who was in charge, and the E7 who was second. That left me in charge.”

  “So, what did you do?”

  “We got the bodies of the dead and wounded to a private area, and continued on with the mission. There were only five of us able to keep going forward, and all five of us had taken at least one bullet. It’s how I got this one,” he says, pointing at the second oak-leaf cluster above his “Purple Heart” tattoo. “Anyway, I told one of my guys to throw a grenade down the pipe to take out the machine gun nest, and that worked. But apparently the Sheik had discovered that the drain was his weak spot, and fortified it. I set an E4 to be the point man, and he stepped on a landmine, killing him, and riddling another of my guys with shrapnel. Now, I was down to three guys left from a twelve man team.”

  “Did you turn back?”

  “Nope. Had a job to do. We kept pushing through, and found the bastard that we had come for. We got him out, and then I called in an airstrike, and they leveled the entire place. “

  “So, what you are saying is that you took two guys, and the three of you managed to complete the job that twelve of you were supposed to do?”

  “Yeah, but that’s not all…” Rob says, looking as if he was going to cry.

  “How many men were lost that day?” she asked, intuitively knowing that he must be talking about the dead.

  “Seven…out of twelve. And after I called in the airstrike, I…I…I saw a bunch of people trying to get out of the compound. They were stuck in the flames and the rubble, because that goddamned sheik had them all in there, training them all to be terrorists! They were only kids, and I called the damn airstrike that killed them!” His voice catches in his throat, and he feels like his heart is trying to pound its way out of his throat.

  Kim eases over to him, and places her arm around his shoulder, attempting to comfort him. “There, there…it’s okay…shhhh…” she whispers to him, trying to calm him. He sinks into the pits of despair, as the flashbacks begin to come hard and fast and the sights and memories that he has repressed for so long begin to wage total war on his mind, and he is at risk of a psychotic break.

  Kim sits next to him, holding and caressing him, while his shoulders heaved with each powerful sob. He feels guilty—personally responsible—for the death of each of those children in Puli Kumri, and for
each of the children that had carried explosives and weapons that he had shot. The fact that he had shot those children because they were enemy combatants in a war, and that he had been trying to keep his brothers in the Special Forces protected from death at the hands of the children all ring hollow.

  “I dream about them,” he sobs, his alcohol fueled sorrow making him feel as if he is about to explode, spewing his innards across the room. Kimberly continues to rub his back, careful to avoid pressing him for more information. She feels that he will share with her when he is ready to do so. Her biggest fear is that he will not confide in her, either because she is eleven years younger than she is, or because he does not share her feelings. The simple truth is, even after only one date with him, she is starting to feel the keen sting of being in love. The question is, does he love her?

  Chapter 7: Declarations of Love

  Robert becomes a prisoner in his own mind, and finally falls into a fitful sleep on his sofa. Kimberly is stranded; with no way to get home, she does the only thing that makes sense…she stays to keep an eye on Robert.

  After she wipes his face with a damp towel, she decides that she needs to take a shower. She picks her way through the still silence of the apartment, and finds her way into the bathroom. She turns on the hot water, letting the shower warm up while she quickly strips naked to get clean.

  When she is standing naked and alone in the middle of Robert’s restroom, she eases herself into the now steaming shower. She takes a bar of soap from the dish that is suction cupped to the shower wall, and begins to wash herself. As she lathers herself up with the soap, she finds that her base desire is beginning to overwhelm her, as her crease begins to quiver with longing, moistening her crevice with her womanly juices. As she continues to scrub her body, her fingers poke, prod, and play with her opening.

  Within moments, her body begins to shake and convulse as she succumbs to her desires and brings herself to a climax, leaning against the wall of the shower in Rob’s home. There is something forbidden about using his home in that way—or at least, the thrill of doing something forbidden is there, even if it is not.

  Inserting her fingers into her core, her legs become weak with the enjoyment that she is bringing to herself, and she bites her lip to avoid exclaiming from the throes of orgasm. Finally, she calms herself as the power from her climax begins to subside. It has been way too long, she thinks to herself.

  Exiting the shower, Kimberly searches the bathroom for a towel with which to dry herself off with. Once she has removed the last vestiges of water from her body, she steps once more into the clothes that she wore yesterday during the fishing trip that she accompanied Robert on. She mops up the bathroom floor, feeling somewhat mischievous from what she did to herself in the shower. Wondering if Robert has woken up from his alcohol fueled slumber, she steps out, and walks down the hallway to the living room where she had left him, asleep on the couch.

  When she goes through the archway that leads into the living room, the first thing she notices is that Robert’s sleeping frame is no longer on the couch, or even in the room. She goes into the kitchen, where she finds a seemingly exhausted Robert, sitting at the island bar, pot of coffee right in front of him.

  “Good morning,” she says into the silence.

  “Morning,” he answers, distinctly gravel throated. He clearly was not fully awake yet.

  “How did you sleep?”

  “It was okay…did you enjoy your shower?”

  “Yeah, I…you knew I was in the shower?”

  “Yeah, I thought you had left until I came down the hall, and heard the water running.”

  “Oh,” she answers. The conversation seems much more forced than it did yesterday.

  “You have a nice bathroom,” she says, trying to rekindle the spark that she had felt for him yesterday.

  “Yeah…listen, Kim,” he says, with the air of a man trying to force words to spring forth, when they were reluctant. “I wanted to apologize…for last night.”

  “What? Why?” she asks, taken aback.

  “I’m sorry that you had to see me like that…sometimes it gets really hard for me to cope with the past, and the things I’ve seen, and I turn to a bottle. I just…really like you, and I don’t want you to think that I am some kind of drunk, who cries about his problems all the time.”

  “I don’t think that at all…look, I’m hungry, and you look like you haven’t eaten in days, so why don’t we go get a bite?”

  A half hour later, they are sitting across from each other in a booth at the Waffle House, each with large plates piled high with sausage, eggs, bacon, toast, hash browns, and waffles. “I haven’t been to a Waffle House in years,” Robert says after swallowing a bite of waffle.

  “Me either. My dad and I used to go to the one just off of route 42 in Ruskerville. It was something that he and I did together, just the two of us.”

  “Where is he?” Robert asks.

  “Died,” she answers, quietly. “Colon cancer…last spring.”

  “I’m sorry,” Robert says, “I’m guessing that you were close?”

  “Yes…very.” The silence grows between them, thick and palpable. “Look, Robert,” she begins.

  “Yes?”

  “I just want to tell you, I feel like I am…” she trails off into silence.

  “What?” he asks after another sixty seconds of waiting for her to continue.

  “I feel like…like I may be…falling. Falling for you…”

  “Really?” he asks, bewildered by her sudden declaration.

  “Yeah. If I seem like I’m coming on strong, I’m sorry, it’s just that I’ve never felt like this about anyone before, and I think I may be falling in love with you…”

  Robert carefully weighs his next words before he answers. “Kimberly, you are absolutely beautiful. I don’t know if I am the best guy for a gorgeous woman like you, but ever since you first emailed me, I’ve been wanting to hear you say those words.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I feel that yesterday, from the first moment I saw you, I was falling in love with you.”

  “Really?” Kim asks, completely taken aback…she had hoped he felt the same way, but was unsure.

  “Really,” Rob answers, reaching across the table to take her hand. “I mean that…”

  Chapter 8: The Happy Ending

  Rob pays off their check, and they get back in his borrowed truck, and head back to his place. They both feel awkward following their respective declarations of love. But, when they enter into the front door of Robert’s modest house, Kimberly takes him by the hand, making him look deeply into her bright, green eyes. “Did you mean it?” she asks, without clarifying what she was talking about…it was obvious.

  “Yes,” he answers, his heart feeling as if it was going to pound through his chest at any moment.

  “Prove it,” she says, taking a step towards him. Robert takes her face in his two, combat scarred, rugged hands, and kisses her deeply, his tongue flitting in and out of her mouth in rapid moments, his spear quickly growing to its full size. He removes his hands from her face, and places them instead on her waist, pulling her in tight to his stomach, so that his erection pressed against her, strong and firm. Her breasts begin to pulsate with her intense longing, and all she wants to do is ravish him…to love his body in ways that he has never experienced before.

  She softly pushes him off of her, and takes a step away from him, removing her shirt as she does so, revealing her large, round globes, which her bra can barely contain. Next, she softly slips her skirt down her legs, leaving her standing barely covered in front of the ultra-masculine man who has become the object of her ardor. Robert sharply takes in a quick breath, shocked, and yet completely loving her brash sexuality.

  “Do you like what you see?” Kim asks him in a seductive purr.

  “Yesh…I mean, yeah, I do…” he says, his eyes raking up and down her firm, taut body. She lifts her hands to the clasp between her engorged
breasts, and undoes the fastener that is straining with the effort of containing her massive peaks, and lets the lacy undergarment fall to the floor.

  The large mound in the front of Robert’s pants becomes even more evident, and Kimberly quickly notices. “Soldier, is that a pistol in your pocket, or are you glad to see me,” she purrs, seductively.

  “I’m happy to see you!” he says, his candor completely disarming Kimberly. She quickly regains her composure, however, and walks over to him, sticking the fingers of both of her hands down the front of his jeans, pulling him toward her for another kiss.

  Robert reaches up, and softly caresses her globes. He eases down to his knees, and pulls her to him, kissing her stomach. A soft exhale of breath escapes her lips, and she grabs the back of his head, pushing him down to her soaking wet slit. She sits down on his couch, and he pulls her lacy panties to the side, quickly sliding his tongue into her dripping cavern.