by Susan Stoker
Feeling nervous and not knowing why Faulkner was being weird, Cheyenne repeated, “I’m a 911 operator.”
“So you help save people’s lives when they’re in desperate need of someone to help them.”
It wasn’t a question, but Cheyenne treated it as if it was. “Well, I guess, yeah, but it’s actually boring a lot of the time and we get a lot of calls that aren’t emergencies we have to deal with.”
“Don’t downplay it, Shy,” Dude scolded. “You help people through some of the worst times in their lives. You’re there for them when they reach out. That’s amazing.”
Feeling uncomfortable with his praise, Cheyenne just shrugged.
Dude tilted his head and looked closer at her. He’d been amazed at her occupation. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t imagine her doing it. She’d stayed calm the day before in the face of her own mortality, and now he knew why. She had a lot of practice dealing with her emotions in extreme situations. “How do you deal with the stress of the job?”
“What?” Cheyenne was startled by Faulkner’s question.
“I said, how do you deal with the stress of your job?”
“Uh, I read? I hang out here at home?”
Faulkner looked at her closely. Cheyenne hadn’t answered his question, she’d pretty much answered in the form of a question. “You don’t deal with it, do you?”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“It is a big deal, Shy. Hell, even me and my buddies know we have to let off steam after a mission. You have to let it go somehow.”
“I know you work with explosives, but what do you do, Faulkner?” Cheyenne asked defensively. She wanted to get the attention off of her and since he brought it up, she’d go with it.
“I’m a SEAL.”
Cheyenne looked at him in horror. Oh fucking hell.
“No, just no, this isn’t right.”
Dude put his plate away from himself and leaned into Cheyenne. He didn’t like her tone of voice. “What do you mean it isn’t right? What I feel about you is as right as I’ve felt in a long time, Shy.”
“I mean, you really are a hero. What the hell are you doing here?”
Dude stood up and crowded Cheyenne until she leaned back against the bar counter. He put his hands on the counter behind her so he was hovering over her and she couldn’t possibly ignore him and what he wanted to say.
“As far as I’m concerned, you’re the hero, Shy.” Dude ignored Cheyenne as she shook her head in denial and continued. “You help people every day. Every damn day. You’re their lifeline when they need it. They reach out and you’re there.”
“But I don’t save them. Most of the time they’re already dead or dying, or at least someone they know is.”
“Shy, Jesus.” Dude watched as Cheyenne began to shake.
“No really, most of the time I have no idea what happened, what the outcome is, but I watch the news. Sometimes I see. All I do is call the cops and the paramedics, Faulkner. I call people like you to come and do the real saving.”
Dude felt sick inside. He didn’t like to hear Cheyenne feeling this way about herself, about her job. “Shy, I have a story to tell you. Will you listen with an open mind and really hear what I’m about to tell you?”
At Cheyenne’s nod, he simply raised his eyebrows at her.
“Sorry, yes, I’ll listen.”
“I’m a disappointment to my parents.” Dude could tell Cheyenne was about to protest, and he cut her off. “I’m not telling you this to make you feel sorry for me or anything. Just listen.”
Cheyenne nodded and watched as a muscle ticked in Faulkner’s jaw. Whatever he wanted to tell her was serious.
“I skipped school one day when I was about thirteen. I came home from surfing, expecting to get shit from my parents for skipping, and saw blood all over our kitchen. My parents weren’t there. There was no note or anything. I had no idea where they were or what had happened. All I knew was that the house was empty and there was a shitload of blood on the counter, sink, and even on the floor of our kitchen. I completely freaked out. I dialed 911 and was hysterical. The lady who answered the phone was an angel. She got me calmed down and asked me to answer some simple questions. She used a technique I’ve since heard will engage the right side of the brain and make people think less with their emotional side, and more with the rational side of their brain. She asked what my name was, she asked how old I was, and she asked what my address was. I’m sure you use these techniques too, but by the time she got to the next question I was able to think a bit more clearly.
“I looked around and saw a butcher knife resting next to the cutting board along with a slew of vegetables. While I described what I was seeing, the 911 lady had been doing some investigating of her own. She told me that my mother had been signed into the emergency room by my father. She’d cut herself badly while making dinner and had bled all over the place while she’d waited on my father to help her wrap it up and put pressure on it.”
Dude smiled as Cheyenne put one hand on his bicep and stroked him. She was still looking up at him, brow furrowed, and chewing one lip. Unconsciously, she was trying to soothe him. Dude liked that.
He quickly went to finish his story and make his point. “I was embarrassed as all hell that I’d jumped to conclusions and thought my parents had been stabbed and kidnapped. I never forgot the feeling of relief I had when that lady answered the phone. She was my lifeline, and I don’t know what I would’ve done if she hadn’t been there for me. You do that for people Shy. You’re a lifeline for every person having a crisis that calls and you pick up the phone. I don’t know that lady’s name, I never met her and never had a chance to thank her properly. I regret that to this day. I wish you could meet every single person you help, Shy. I wish you could see first-hand how much you help them.”
Dude paused and brought his scarred hand to the back of Cheyenne’s neck. He tilted it up to his and forced her to look into his eyes. “What you do is important, Shy. You touch more lives than you’ll ever know. The people you talk to will never forget you and what you do for them, even if their loved one doesn’t survive. Own it, hon. Be proud of yourself.”
Cheyenne closed her eyes briefly, loving the feel of Faulkner’s thumb at her chin and his pinky on the back of her neck. It felt awesome. “I’ll try,” she whispered.
“You do that.” Dude got closer into Cheyenne’s space and brought his other hand up from the counter to her side. He stroked his thumb against her waist. “I’m going to kiss the hell out of you, Shy. Then I’ll probably touch you way too intimately for having just met you yesterday. I can’t stop thinking about you wearing the thong I picked out for you and having it snug against your core as we sit here. Once I force myself to pull away from you, hopefully before I go too far, I’m going to get out of your hair for a few hours. I have some things I have to do, but I’ll be back later. I’m going to take you to meet the most important people in my life…my SEAL team and their women. Then I’ll take you back to my place and you’ll spend the night in my bed while I sleep on the couch. When I finally take you, I want to make sure we’re both ready for it. Do you have a problem with any of that?”
Cheyenne tried not to hyperventilate. There were so many things wrong with what Faulkner said, but she wanted every single thing with a desire that boarded on desperation. “I have to work tomorrow,” she managed breathlessly.
She watched as Faulkner smiled widely and a bit wickedly. “Okay, I’ll bring you back here before your shift so you can change and do whatever it is you have to do to get ready. Will that work? Any other objections?”
Cheyenne went to shake her head, caught herself and said instead, “No, Faulkner, no objections.”
The look in his eyes was electric. “You expressed a thought last night, and you should know that I can’t wait to show you how my hand feels against your…skin, Shy.” Dude lowered his head, not giving her a chance to respond to his words, and proceeded to kiss the hell out of her as he promised.
He didn’t ask, he didn’t ease into the kiss, he dove in and took over. Dude didn’t give her a chance to take control. He thrust his tongue into Cheyenne’s mouth and aggressively took her. He used his teeth, tongue, and even his lips. He teased, nibbled, bit, and stroked her. Within moments, Cheyenne was twisting and turning in his grip, lost in the passion they were sharing.
Dude grabbed hold of her wrists with his right hand and brought them behind her. He held them at the small of her back, encouraging her to arch into him. Dude took his left hand and brushed his knuckles against her breasts, now even more prominently displayed in her low cut shirt and the push up bra.
Dude eased away from Cheyenne’s mouth, ignoring her whimper of protest and looked down at his hand caressing her chest. He could see her nipples poking through both the lacy bra and the cotton of the T-shirt.
“Normal? Jesus, Shy, look at you. You are anything but fucking normal.”
Without giving her a chance to say or do anything else, Dude dropped his head and licked a line between her breasts. He held her still with one hand still clutching her wrists behind her back and the other rested just under her breasts. He could feel her heart hammering against her chest as if she’d run a marathon.
“Beautiful. So beautiful,” Dude murmured, pulling back once more. He looked up into Cheyenne’s eyes again. “You have no idea how badly I want to take you to the ground, strip off all your clothes and spend the rest of the day tasting you and discovering just how good you feel under me. No fucking clue. This is not a one night stand, Shy. Say it.”
“Not a one night stand.”
“Good. Yeah, no way one night would be enough.” Dude struggled with himself. Cheyenne was so beautiful, helpless in his arms, waiting for whatever he was going to do with her next. He knew he was treading on thin ice. He was testing his control to the limit, but he had to taste her.
“Hang on, Shy. I have to feel your nipple on my tongue just once before I let you go.” Dude leaned back and took his mangled left hand and stretched the V-neck of her shirt to one side. He was probably ruining it, but he didn’t fucking care. He moved it over enough until he could see the edge of the lace on the cup of her bra. Holding her shirt, he used one of the stubs of his fingers to move it out of the way. It only took an inch and her nipple popped out of the cup of her bra and Dude could see it harden further as the cold air of the room hit it.
Cheyenne had large areolas and her nipple was a shade darker than the skin around it. Dude took the nail of his thumb and flicked it over her nipple. He watched as Cheyenne groaned and arched into his touch, pushing herself closer to him. “Fuck. Beautiful.” Dude leaned down and sucked Cheyenne into his mouth hard. Just as he’d done with the kiss, he didn’t start out slow. He sucked hard and used his teeth to pull on her nipple and elongate it further. Dude felt her arms jerk against his hold as she squirmed against him.
He let go of her nipple with a pop and looked down. If they hadn’t been wearing clothes, Dude knew he would’ve been inside her. They were pressed together intimately and he could swear he could feel Cheyenne’s heat through both their clothes.
As his thumbnail continued to flick over her nipple, Dude leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Oh yeah, that thong is soaked, isn’t it, Shy? I’d love to brush it up against my cheek now that you’ve been wearing it. I imagined what it’d feel like, what it’d smell like as I pulled it out of your drawer, but I’ll kill to have my hands on it now.” Dude heard Cheyenne whimper, and she tilted her neck to the side, inviting him to play.
He sucked her earlobe into his mouth and bit down. Then Dude moved to her neck. Not caring, he began marking her where everyone would be able to see it. Purposely choosing a place where his mark couldn’t be hidden, he sucked Cheyenne’s skin into his mouth.
“Are y-y-you giving me a hickey?” Cheyenne stuttered, not fighting him, but tilting her head giving Dude more room to work. “What are we, fifteen?”
Waiting until he’d sufficiently bruised her neck with his mouth, Dude finally lifted his head to check his handiwork. “Hell yeah I’m marking you. I want you to think about my mouth on you, my fingers on your nipple, and your legs squeezing me tight every time you look in the mirror, Shy.”
Watching as his fingers plucked at her erect nipple Dude repeated, enunciating each word clearly, “This is not a one night stand. I don’t think I’ll get ever get enough of you.”
Finally, with regret, Dude knew he had to stop or else he wouldn’t stop. He leaned down and gave her nipple one last long lick, loving how hard she was for him. He licked his way over to her cleavage and tasted her between her breasts one more time. He reluctantly tweaked her nipple one last time with his thumbnail and eased the cup of her bra back over so it covered her breast once more. He leaned in and took her mouth with his again. His left hand shifted so it was up at the back of her neck.
Dude eased back so the only places they were touching were his hand holding her wrists at the small of her back and his other hand on her neck. He waited patiently, with a wide smile on his face, for Cheyenne to open her eyes.
When she finally pried her eyelids up, he was right there, watching as she blushed a fiery red. “You’re delicious, Shy. I’m sorry you were caught up in that situation yesterday, but I’m not sorry we met. If that was the only way you could come into my life, then I’m glad you were there. I’m a selfish asshole, but that’s how I feel.”
Dude waited, when Cheyenne didn’t say anything, but continued to look up at him calmly, he continued. “I like you, Cheyenne. I think you’re amazing. I’m a demanding son of a bitch in the bedroom, but if this interlude was any indication, we’re going to get along just fine.”
Cheyenne struggled for the first time, realizing just how much Faulkner had bossed her around. When he didn’t let go of her she belatedly glared at him. Her glare obviously had no effect, because he just laughed and held on to her wrists tighter.
“I loved feeling you next to me. I loved feeling you flex against me. If at any time you honestly don’t like what we’re doing, just tell me. I swear I’ll hear you, Shy. Okay?”
“Okay,” Cheyenne agreed immediately. Faulkner hadn’t done anything she didn’t like so far. It might not be very women’s lib of her, but she loved not having to think about anything but enjoying the feelings Faulkner was invoking in her body. She liked that he took charge of their lovemaking.
Dude finally let go of her hands and took a step back from her. He looked down at her in appreciation as she shifted, trying to regain her equilibrium. He ran his index finger down the stretched out V of her shirt, and dipped low between her breasts. Finally he shut his eyes and sighed.
“Okay, now that you think I’m a sex fiend, I’m leaving. I have some stuff to do related to yesterday. I have to debrief my commander and check in again with the police. I’ll be back around three to pick you up. We’ll be heading to Wolf and Ice’s house. They’re having an impromptu picnic today.
“Impromptu?”
Dude smiled. “Yeah, as soon as Fiona dropped off the food last night, she called her girl posse and they arranged this get together today so they could meet you.” At the startled look in Cheyenne’s eyes, Dude leaned in and rested his forehead against hers. “They’ll love you, Shy. Trust me. Remember when you said this wasn’t a one night stand? This is what I mean. I would never bring a one night stand over to my friend’s house to meet my team and their women.”
“You made me say that.”
“I didn’t make you say anything. You said it of your own volition.”
“But…”
“No, no buts,” Dude cut her off. “This. Is. Not. A. One. Night. Stand.” He enunciated quietly and firmly.
Cheyenne smiled. “Okay, Faulkner, whatever you say.”
Dude just shook his head at her. She was so damn sweet. His smile dimmed and he looked at Cheyenne seriously. “You all right with this. With us?”
“We just met. It’s fast.”
“It is. But it feels right. Yes?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay then, I’ll pick you up at three.”
“Okay, Faulkner. I’ll be ready.”
Dude stepped completely away from Cheyenne. As he backed away from her, he didn’t take his eyes off hers until he got to the front door. “Rest today, Shy. Take it easy, don’t overdo it. I’ll see you later.” Then he turned and opened her door. Right before leaving, Dude turned back to Cheyenne. “Lock this behind me.” He waited for her to nod, then he disappeared out the door.
Cheyenne padded over to her front door. She dutifully turned the dead bolt and put on the emergency chain, then sagged against the door.
Holy hell, was all she could think to herself as she closed her eyes and smiled.
Chapter Six
Cheyenne fidgeted nervously as she sat in the truck seat next to Faulkner. He’d come back to her apartment later that afternoon just as he said he would. Cheyenne had spent the day freaking out about what she was supposed to wear to this “get-together” with his friends, what he was really doing with her, why she was even letting him come back and get her…and any other little thing that came to her mind.
This wasn’t her. First of all she wasn’t the type of woman to move so quickly with a man. Hell, the last man she’d dated, they’d dated for a month before he’d gotten to second base. Secondly, she wasn’t the kind of woman men fell for, but God, it felt nice. She’d daydreamed about Faulkner. Ever since she’d seen him in the grocery store, innocently shopping for food, she’d dreamed he’d take one look at her and declare his undying love. It was stupid, but as her family was constantly telling her, she had her head in the clouds.
Cheyenne had spent the day, between freak outs, cleaning her apartment from top to bottom. She could admit she was lazy, but knowing Faulkner had been in her craptastic apartment all night, looking at her sloppiness, was too much.
So she cleaned. Cheyenne washed all the dirty dishes that were sitting in the sink, vacuumed, picked up all the junk mail she usually just threw on the coffee table and sorted through it. She wrote out a couple of checks for bills that were due soon and she did a few loads of laundry.
