by Cee Bowerman
I felt Sam come up to the rail beside me. He slowly put his hand around my waist and pulled me closer to his chest. I turned into him as I listened to Frank.
“You feel it, it’s happening. I’ve told you that, little girl.” he reassured me. “What spooked Lisa?
“She smelled him.” I heard Frank take in a breath. “She was frantic, Frank. Like I haven’t seen her since the beginning. I had to give her the pills.”
“Oh, darlin’.” He said sadly. “Let me do some digging. You need to run?”
“I’m not running, Frank. Neither is Lisa. We’re home now.” I told him quietly. Sam squeezed me a little tighter. “Joe is here too. And other people.”
“You find your man? He good with you?” he asked with a smile.
“I’ve got him. He is right here beside me. You’d like him Frank. Maybe a visit soon, even if this is nothing?” I really wanted Frank to see my home and meet Sam and his family.
“I would be sad if you didn’t want me there, sweetheart. This doesn’t sound like nothing. Give me a bit, let me make some calls. Keep your head up and stay alert. Don’t be afraid to run. I’ll be in touch.” Frank hung up and I put the phone on the rail.
I turned and put my arms around Sam’s waist, my cheek to his chest.
“Frank?” Sam asked.
“My FBI agent. My handler is what he is called. He kept track of me and covered for me and found places for me to be safe.” I told Sam. “Sometimes he was just a voice on the phone but the only person I could talk to. I told him all about you through the years.”
“I’d like to meet him. Buy him a drink.” Sam requested. “Offer him anything I own to thank him for keeping you safe.”
“He did more than keep me safe. He helped raise me.” I let out a laugh. “Not to be crass but when I started my period Joe didn’t know what the hell to tell me. He mentioned it to Frank and within the hour I was on the phone with Frank’s wife and she was explaining the facts of life.” I giggled. “Looking back, Joe and Franks reaction was fucking hilarious. They would have handled it better if I had the plague.”
“Yeah, I remember that shit with Kari. Thank God for Sandra.” he chuckled. “So, he’s gonna call you back?”
“Yeah, he has to look into some things and he will get in touch with me. I’m gonna tell Joe I called him.” I moved out of Sam’s arms across the porch to Joe. I sat down on the steps beside him and felt Sam move to the steps behind me.
“I called Frank.” I told Joe.
“Good.” Frank grunted. “Little Bit was freaked the fuck out. Jace said that she smelled something, freaked her out. She lost her shit. I understand it. I smelled Sheila yesterday. Lost my head.” “Where? What happened?” I had seen Joe ‘lose his head’ as he called it. It usually involved lots of alcohol and him trashing whatever place he happened to be at the time it happened.
“I went to Benson’s for a burger and some pie. Loved that place, met Sheila there. I opened the door and it hit me in the face.” I reached over to touch his arm. This was the most I had heard Joe speak since the shooting. The first time I had heard him speak Sheila’s name since she died. “I turned around and went to my truck. Had to sit there with the shakes for a while. Almost got sick. All I could think about was a drink when all I should have been thinking about was how I used to love that coffee smell on Sheila when she snuggled up to me after her shift.”
“You go after a drink?” I asked. He didn’t drink a lot before we were shot. Not just because we had to stay alert to be safe, but also because Sheila didn’t like it.
“No. Found a meeting and went to it. Waited there and went to another one. Went for a bite, went to another one. Came home and poured my shit out.” I was shocked. Joe continued so I stayed silent. “Need to quit that shit. I called my doctor I went to years ago when we were here before and he said that he could help with counselors and maybe a place to dry out if it gets bad. I have an appointment tomorrow.”
“I would like to have my Joe back, I’ve missed him. I am here if you need me and Lisa will be too.” I put my head on his shoulder. “I love you, big man.”
“You too, sis. I’m gonna head up for a bit. Holler if you need me.” He turned to walk away. “Oh, shit. Almost forgot. I think I saw a fox, maybe was a coyote, stalking a bird back here in the yard this morning. A big one. Make sure Little Bit is careful with those kittens.”
“Hey Joe, if you see that fox don’t hurt it. I think it might be my cat.” I heard Sam laugh beside me.
Joe stood still and stared at me for a second then he shook his head and walked away. Jace and Kari moved up to the steps.
“So, what now?” Jace asked. “Should we go check on them?”
“I’ll go.” I said as I got up. “Y’all want a beer? Anyone hungry?”
“I’m feeling that new Thai place. What do you like?” Sam asked. I asked him to pull up the menu and I went into the house to check on Lisa.
~*~
“So, your guy’s gonna call you, when?” Jace asked.
“When he figures out something. Not like I can call the police and say Lisa smelled a smell and my neck was itchy. He’ll look at whatever it is and let us know. Until then, we have Tuff and the house alarms. We should be okay.” I answered him.
“Chandler is going to see if he can get any information on the cars we saw while we were out. It’s not a whole lot, but at least it’s something. Not sure what else we can do with that route. I do know that alarm or not, Tuff or not, I am not leaving your sight until we hear from your guy or Joe shoots someone on the lawn. Pretty sure Zeke is the same.” Sam put in. Not that I would mind having him glued to me for the foreseeable future at all, mind you, but considering we didn’t know for sure someone was out there it could be for nothing.
“Honey, that’s not even reasonable. You have a business to run, I’m sure Zeke has work to do. We can’t ask you to dump your lives to babysit us.” I looked at Sam and saw that he was getting stubborn. “We’ll take it as it comes, but you guys have shit to do.
“I own the business and have some damn good people that I trust working it with me. I can take some time off and if I have to go in you, or the two of you, can come with me.” Sam had made up his mind. “Zeke owns his thing, has some partners who take off on a whim all the fucking time. They can watch stuff for him for a bit. I’m sure he’s on it already.”
Jace, Sam, Kari and I were sitting in my living room. Our Thai food had been delivered and we had all four eaten our fill. Sam checked in when he delivered their food to them upstairs and Zeke told him Lisa was stirring a little more but not quite awake yet. Each of us was relaxed into a corner of the overstuffed couches. I had my boots and socks off and my legs were crossed in front of me.
“As exciting as this afternoon has been, and I honestly don’t mean that in a good way, I have to get home. Sarah has been in charge all day and I’m gonna need a tranq gun to settle things down. She gets the kids so riled up their Mama’s want to riot about this time of day.” Kari stood up and came around the coffee table to give me a hug, she kissed Sam’s cheek as she walked past him. “Last time I left her alone with the toddlers she had laid down a hopscotch grid in duct tape and then covered that up with a roll of bubble wrap. The kids belonged in a zoo they were so wild. And the noise. Oh my God.”
“I’m her ride so I am gone too.” Jace stood up, walked around and put his hand on my head to muss my hair. He slapped his brother on the shoulder as he walked behind him and headed out the door with Kari.
Sam took a sip of his drink and looked at me over the rim. He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.
“Now what are we gonna do all alone in this big house by ourselves?”
“Mr. Duke. You bad boy. Whatever could you have in mind?” I asked him, twirling the end of my braid around my finger.
“Question and answer session, Carles. I want to know more about you and see what has changed since we’ve been apart.” Sam was being creative. I understood where he w
as coming from, it sounded interesting but to be honest I would rather lick every line of ink on his body. I guess I could play, I thought to myself with a mental shrug.
“Twenty questions or could we shoot for less?” I tilted my head. “What if I don’t want to answer something?”
“I get a piece of your clothes.” There was my bad boy. I knew he was in there somewhere.
“Can I also surrender my clothes at will or must I only take something off when you tell me to?” I wanted to move this along. As far as I was concerned we had the rest of our lives to learn new things about one another, I already knew his important stuff.
His eyebrow cocked up. “Since when do you follow directions?”
I uncurled my legs from beside me on the couch and moved forward to set my drink down on the large flat-topped chest I used as a coffee table. I stood up and moved in front of Sam and sat on the top of the chest. I scooted my butt back and while staring Sam in the eyes reached down to the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head.
“Your go first, Sam Sam. Ask away.” I sat there calmly in my bra and jeans while I reached up to my braid and started fiddling with the tie on the end.
“I notice...” Sam had to clear his throat to speak so he tried again. His eyes were moving from my chest to my moving fingers and then back to my chest. “I noticed you have a tattoo on your back, but I
haven’t seen it all yet. Just the edges at your sleeves. Looks like wings. When did you get it?”
“I got it about six months after I left here. You want to see it?” he nodded at me. “I’d show it to you, but I need to take off my bra, so the straps don’t ruin the effect of the art.”
He nodded again. I feathered the end of my braid from my collar bone, down a little bit to cross the tops of my breasts and then back up to the collar bone. His eyes followed it. I did it again.
“My turn for a question first. How many women have you slept with since I left?” I did not want to know since it was kind of a sore spot for me, but I did want him to take his shirt off. Still watching me move my braid across my chest, he reached behind his head and pulled the neck of his shirt up behind his head to pull it off.
“You said you thought of me when you were gone, you never slept with anyone else, but did you think of me when you were alone in bed? Did you touch yourself and think of me?” He asked. I was staring at his chest now. I could barely concentrate. The swirls and colors of his tattoos were mesmerizing me.
I threw my braid over my shoulder and stood up in front of Sam. I opened my belt, unbuttoned my pants and pulled the zipper down slowly. I wiggled a little as I shimmied my pants over my hips revealing my purple lace boy shorts. I kept one finger in a belt loop to hold my jeans and moved my legs up one at a time to lift my feet out of them. I threw the jeans to the side and they landed on the chair at the corner.
“Yes.” I whispered.
I leaned forward and put a hand on each of his knees and leaned down in front of him. He curled up to touch my lips but I tipped my butt down and sat back on the chest. I wiggled back a little on my ass, making sure that my boobs jiggled to add to the effect. Sam had always been a boob man, it was a weakness. Letting go of his knees I sat up. He threw his upper body to the back of the couch and raised his eyebrow at me. I pulled my legs up to crisscross them in front of me, my ankles now up on the chest, and reached up for my braid.
He was focused on the front of my panties now, his eyes on the prize, so to speak. I pulled my braid over my shoulder and took the tie out of the end.
Once again, he was mesmerized by my hands right in front of my chest, the eyebrow went down and he put his tongue out to lick his lips. His gaze went from my underwear and back to my chest.
“You sure you want to talk first?” I asked sweetly. His eyes went from the chest to the panties again.
“Woman. I’m being good here.” He growled. His eyes came to mine and the heat in them gave me a rush. My happy place was warm and wet and ready for this little game to be over. Now.
I finished taking my braid apart and ran my fingers through my hair to brush it. With the braid undone, the waves made my hair even thicker than it naturally was, even with my normal curls. I reached up on either side of my head and scrubbed my hands on my scalp, making my hair bounce on my chest, the ends curling around under my breasts. Now both of his eyebrows were up.
I stood up and flipped my hair over my shoulders to cover my back. I turned to the side and took a step to the bedroom door. I reached behind my back, under my hair and undid my bra, letting it fall down to my hand with my next step. I took another step and got to the end of the couch and turned to look at him over my shoulder. I tossed my bra at him and it landed in his lap.
“I’m not.” I hooked my thumbs in my underwear at my hips. I pushed them down as I walked. Within a few feet I was stepping out of my panties. I heard him jump off the couch, a thud as each of his boots dropped and then the sound of his pants and belt hitting the floor as I passed through my bedroom door. No more talking. Mission accomplished.
17.
Sam watched Carlie stand up and start to walk to the bedroom. As she walked her hair swayed a little from side to side and he could glimpse parts of her tattoo. When she paused to reach around her back his eyes followed her spine to the curve of her ass, covered by the purple lace. As she took another step her bra dropped and she turned and flicked it toward him with one hand. When it landed in his lap he reached his hand up to bunch it in his hand. It was still warm from her body.
Sam looked back up to see Carlie stepping further away. She shimmied out of her panties as he jumped up from the couch and pulled his boots off. He undid his belt and the buttons of his jeans. He yanked his pants down and let them fall to the floor, dropping the bra on the couch. He walked quickly behind her in the bedroom and pushed the door behind him.
Carlie was standing with her back to him at the edge of the bed. Her head was turned so she could look at him over her shoulder. He moved his body flush against hers, tilted his head down by her cheek and wrapped his arms around her stomach.
“You distracted me. I don’t want to rush you.” he whispered in her ear.
“I am the one with my foot on the gas here, buddy. Be nice if you would join me.” She turned her head just a little more and caught his lips with hers. His hands moved up her stomach, he could feel the scars with his right hand so he lifted away from her skin. He kept his hands going up to grasp a breast in each hand. She moaned and deepened their kiss. He caught her nipples between his thumbs and fingers and pulled them just a bit, she pulled from their kiss to gasp against his mouth.
“I have waited for you for so long, Carles. I’m taking my time here, woman.” He rolled her nipples with his hands and her head fell back to his shoulder.
Sam kissed her cheek, her jaw, and nipped at her ear lobe with his lips. Her voice was low as she moaned his name.
“I want to see all of you. You said there was a surprise for me to find.” He licked his way down her neck. “I’m gonna look with my tongue, just so you know baby.” He let go of her breast with his left hand and leaned back a bit so he could go behind her head and move her hair up over her left shoulder. As her back was revealed he let go of her other breast and stepped back. His hands went to her shoulders and under his thumbs were the tips of feathers and as he looked down he realized angel wings spanned across her entire back. He let his hands rub down her back as his eyes moved farther down.
Sam saw the top of a Knights helmet, black and grey ink on her pale skin. His suit of armor was outlined in a delicate line, the shades of grey and white melding together in a way that it looked like reflections coming off of the metal. The knight was down on one knee, both hands on a sword that was pointed down in front of him, his head slightly tilted forward as if he was offering the sword and service to the person viewing the art. The tattoo was delicate and shaded, a true masterpiece. The most breathtaking part was that she had been thinking of him by having a knight tat
tooed on her body. Sam’s breath hitched when he saw one word in scrollwork across her waistline. Samson.
“You put my name on you, baby.” he whispered as his finger traced the tattoo.
“I kept you with me always, Sam Sam.” she turned in his arms. Her eyes looked up to his and he saw all the love and trust she had for him shining there. “Let me look at you.”
Her hands roamed from his shoulders down his biceps. She squeezed his arms when she saw her own name on his chest. His other tattoos had joined from one arm to the other across his chest through the years, but he had never had his artist cover the first one he had gotten after she left him.
“Oh, baby. I was with you too.” She whispered as she put her tongue out to trace her name on his chest. He got impatient and grabbed her waist to pull her close to him, he quickly let her waist go like his hand had been burned and her eyes snapped up to his.
“I wanna move Carles, but I’m afraid I will hurt you. I’ve seen your face when you move a certain way, and sometimes your hand comes up and touches your side. I want to love you, I want to show you how much I love you, but I’m afraid it will get out of hand.” his hands came up to either side of her head and he leaned down to give her a long kiss. His tongue met with hers and the kiss deepened.
“Honey, I’m good. Bend me any way you want to and if it hurts I’ll tell you. I’m not glass.” she whispered.
He felt her tiptoe and scoot her ass up on the bed so he leaned in with his upper body to lay her down on her back. Her hands were in his hair holding his mouth to hers and she moaned low in her throat when her warmth touched his boxers. He pressed in and she slowly started to rotate her hips against him.
“Shit, babe, gotta get my wallet.” he muttered as he pulled away.
Carlie wrapped her calves around his thighs.
“Wait. How long has it been for you? Are you clean?” she asked him bluntly.
