by Sable Hunter
“Take me, if you want me,” her answer was sassy and challenging and he understood exactly what she needed.
Grasping his cock in one hand, he stroked it – up and down – never taking his eyes from her. “So, you wanna play?” he pushed her head down and rubbed the seam of her lips with his cock – spreading precum on the soft pink surface like lip gloss. “Open.” She parted her lips. “Wider.”
He teased her mouth – tapping the lower lip with his cock. She lashed out her tongue, taking a lick. Patrick pulled back an inch, instead rubbing the tip on her cheek. Savannah tried to turn her head to capture the prize, but he held her head fast.
“Ummm,” she growled and he laughed. She had actually growled her displeasure.
“You little wildcat!” He gave her what she wanted. Opening her lips, she took him into her velvety mouth, her tongue bathing and twirling – the suction she applied was absolute heaven. “God!” he shouted.
Savannah loved this. She was drunk on lust. He flexed his leg and a pleasurable sensation shot through her clit. Jesus! She could pleasure herself at the same time – so she did – grinding her pussy against his hard muscle, enjoying the rasp of her clit against his hair-roughened skin. Patrick worked his cock in and out of her mouth. She loved how it felt – how it tasted. He was all male. And there was no give – his shaft was hard as steel, yet pulsed with life. Holding it still, she speared her tongue down in the slit, sipping at the bulbous tip, licking beneath the head – all moves designed to enflame the animal within him. Savannah was playing with fire.
“Hell, yes!”
Savannah smiled around his cock. A secret feminine power rose up in her. So, he liked that part, did he? Okay – so she’d do it again. And again. As she licked the sweet secret spot over and over, Patrick’s whole body tightened, his legs stiffened – his hips bucked. “Deeper! Christ!” She tried to obey, but he took over. And she gloried in it! Tightening his fist in her hair, he fucked in and out of her mouth. Savannah accommodated him, giving him free rein. She tried to suck her cheeks in, but he was so big she really couldn’t. It was overwhelming. Helplessly, she rode his leg as he moved between her lips – deeper and harder with every thrust.
“I can’t last,” he groaned with a shout.
Savannah’s pleasure mounted, ramped up as he went wild. She tried to make it as good for him as she could, caressing the tender glans with her tongue – lashing and rasping.
“Look at me!” he demanded.
There was nowhere else she’d rather look. She loved him. The way he felt – the ecstasy – was all over his face. Tipping his head back, the muscles of his neck corded and she felt the first rush of cum flow into her mouth. Her reaction to his pleasure surprised her – she came – she scrubbed her pussy against him as hard as she could. And as he jetted his passion down her throat, she exploded in quivers of rapture. As his heart hammered, she slipped her lips from his body and kissed the shaft. She could feel his heartbeat in the warm male flesh. “Come here, Savannah.” He held his arms out and she stretched down on him – satisfied and completely happy for the first time in years.
*****
Patrick slept for a while, but a gruff bark from Ciara made him open his eyes wide. Sliding out from under Savannah he grabbed his pants. But when he got to the kitchen, his dog was playing paws against the glass with the coon from earlier.
“Found a friend?” Feeling thirsty, he made his way to the kitchen. Home Sweet Home. Flipping on the light, he padded to the cabinet and got a glass and filled it with water. As he sipped, he looked down and saw a prescription bottle. Curiosity got the best of him and he picked it up. Prenatal vitamins prescribed to Savannah Doucet. Patrick’s heart stopped. Prenatal vitamins? Savannah was pregnant? His head swam with dismay. His guts wrenched with pain. Leaning on the cabinet, he tried to catch his breath. God! He didn’t know what to think? Turning around, a big bouquet of fading red roses caught his eye. Walking over to them, he couldn’t help but see the card lying beside them.
MARRY ME
YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS ALONE.
REVEL
A pain-filled groan tore raggedly from his throat. Grief rolled off from him in waves. He couldn’t think, he could only feel. He had been dead for three years. What did he expect? The reasoning clamoring in his brain did nothing for the shaft of agony in his heart.
“Can’t sleep?”
Patrick turned and saw her standing there in a pink robe – tiny, rubbing her eyes, yawning sweetly. All he wanted to do was grab her up and hold her tight, never letting her go. But she wasn’t his. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He picked up the medicine bottle and held it out to her. “Why did you let me touch you?”
“It’s not what you think . . .” Savannah started toward him.
“No?” he motioned toward the roses. “I think I get the picture. You and my best friend have been carrying on. You and my best friend have made a baby!” He wheeled around. “Ciara! Let’s go. I’ll get my things later.”
“No, Patrick. You don’t understand. I can explain.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
He started for the door and Savannah ran to him, catching him by the arm. “Please? Listen to me, Patrick. I love you.”
He pulled out of her grasp, walked out the door and out of her life.
Patrick didn’t stop – he didn’t slow down. No matter how hard she cried and screamed, he drove away from her. She ran down the driveway behind the car, but he kept going. Tears were blinding her, and her throat was raw from screaming. “Come back! Please. The baby is yours!” But he couldn’t hear her, he was gone.
She stood in the early morning light – alone. The mists were rising and the lonely wind whistled through the tops of the tress. What had happened? She had held him in her arms!
Turning, she stumbled back toward the house.
Surely, he would listen. When he calmed down, he’d be back; she reasoned with herself. Patrick knew how much she loved him. They were meant to be together. Fate decreed it to be so.
The walls seemed to be closing in on her. She couldn’t be still. Maybe if she took a shower, she’d feel better.
Everywhere she looked, Patrick was there. For three years she had longed for him – and he had returned. Now he was gone again. It was almost more than she could bear. Stripping off the robe, she turned on the water. The evidence of his lovemaking and her climax was still on her body.
Quickly and efficiently, Savannah showered. Picking up her hair, she let the warm water run down her back. God, she was stiff! Running a hand up her neck, she kneaded a tired muscle. Her finger encountered a rough spot. She felt again. Odd.
Crawling out of the shower, she went to the mirror and what she saw devastated her. There was a rough, raised spot – a blemish on her neck. It was about the size of a quarter and pink with paler spots in it. She touched it and the sensation was dulled. “Oh, God – no!” Savannah knew what it was – her greatest nightmare. No, please no.”
*****
Jayco was at Barksdale, just a few hours away. “Get over here, I need you to come and guard Savannah.”
Rousing himself from sleep, Jayco wiped his eyes. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I need you to come relieve me. I can’t stay.”
“Why the hell not? You’ve been away from her for three years. Why would you want to leave her now?”
“Just get over here.”
Patrick wasn’t being polite. He was talking like a superior officer instead of a friend. But his mind was a mess. All he could see was that card Revel had signed asking Savannah to marry him. He tried to think straight. Apparently, she hadn’t said yes. She was still wearing his ring, wasn’t she? He thought it was his. Perhaps it was Revel’s. Why? Why would she hesitate to marry him if she was pregnant with his child? Damn, he didn’t know. But he was going to find out. Just as soon as Jayco got here, Patrick was going to pay his best friend a little visit.
*****
“I need to make an appointment,” Savannah’s hand shook as she held the receiver. “My gynecologist referred you to me. I need to come in pretty quick. I’m scared,” she whispered. How pitiful? This woman wouldn’t care if she was scared.
“Tomorrow? Okay.” How would she wait twenty four hours to find out if she had leprosy or not? And how was she going to go to work and act like her world hadn’t come to an end?
*****
Jayco had come and told him he was an idiot. Right now, he felt like one. Why did he feel betrayed? He had no right. Whipping into Revel’s driveway, he contradicted himself. He had every right! Savannah was his! Or she used to be.
Throwing open the truck door, he didn’t even bother to shut it. Revel’s motorcycle was in the drive. Good! Pounding on the door, he waited. “Keep your shirt on! It’s damn early, this had better be good!” Revel opened the door and stared. “Patrick!” A smile of stunned, surprised happiness covered his friends face and Revel reached to pull him into a hug.
“Bastard!” Patrick drew his fist back and threw a punch. It connected – but barelynbsp; Revel wasn’t quite as big as Patrick, but he was fast.
“What in the hell are you doing? Get your ass in here.” Revel pulled him in. “Are you drunk?”
“Why did you do it, Man? Couldn’t you find your own woman? You had to steal mine? Goddamn you! You know I love her!”
Revel was reeling from the shock of seeing Patrick alive. “Where have you been? What’s been going on? Hawke and Jayco told me they had suspicions about how you died – but I hadn’t dare hope you were alive!”
“It’s a long story, but that’s not what I want to talk about! Answer my question! How could you do that to Savannah?”
“Do what? Propose to her?” Revel looked affronted. “I asked her to marry me because she’s pregnant. She needed me.”
Patrick lunged at him again. “You slept with my woman! You gave my woman a baby!”
Revel didn’t back down, but he didn’t fight. “Idiot.” He sneered at his best friend. “Did you lose your mind while you were in prison? And I want to know all the details once you come to your senses.”
“All I want to know is how this happened? Why aren’t you with her? If that were my baby, I’d never leave her side.”
Revel looked at him like he was crazy. And then he smiled. “Hothead. You didn’t let her explain did you?” Patrick looked puzzled. “It is your baby. She spent every dime she had, and went through three miscarriages to get pregnant with your child. And that’s not all; she worked to get a memorial put up in the park for fallen Marines – for you. There’s also a scholarship in your name at the local high school. All she kept saying was that she had made you a promise. She wanted you to be remembered. She wanted your name to live on. Savannah hasn’t rested, she’s been busy creating your legacy – because she loved your sorry ass.” Revel could see that his words were sinking in.
“She’s pregnant – with my child?”
“Yes, and I proposed because she didn’t have insurance for proper medical care. You asked me to take care of her. That’s what I was trying to do.”
Patrick dry-scrubbed his face. “You were going to marry her to help with the baby.”
“You know where my heart lies. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the chance to be with Harper, but I could see that your child got a good start in this world. I could have given it my name. But you hat?”
“What?”
“She turned me down. Because of you.”
Patrick felt like a fool. “I need to get back to Savannah.”
“You’re smarter than you look.” Revel hugged him tight. “I’m glad you’re back. I missed you.”
*****
“Don’t move or I’ll gut you where you stand.” Lucas held a knife under Jayco’s throat.
“Why aren’t you in custody?” Jake ground out as the sharp knife nicked his skin.
“I’m not an easy man to take down. They’re going to have to catch me – and I’m leaving the country – just as soon as I get me a hostage.” With that announcement, Lucas cracked Jayco over the head with the butt of a pistol and he crumbled at Lucas’s feet. Gazing down the hill, Lucas saw Savannah getting in her car. “Wait up, Bitch. I’m on my way.”
By the time he got in the car, Lucas had lost her. But he made two blocks, hit the main highway and spotted her Camaro. Debating his next course of action, he decided he couldn’t wait till she arrived at her destination. The farm-to-market- road was deserted except for the two of them so he sped up and got right on her tail.
Savannah was on automatic. When she got to work, she’d try his cell phone number, but she had no way of knowing if the old number was still good or not. If she couldn’t reach him that way, she’d go by his apartment after work. Another thing she could do was call Revel to see if he had heard from him.
The bottom line was that she needed Patrick now more than ever. The implications of her situation were just beginning to sink in. If she had Hansen’s Disease – everything would change. Patrick would be thrilled about the baby. She had no doubt about that. And he would understand about Revel. She hadn’t betrayed his memory and Revel would make him listen. In fact, he probably already knew. He would call her today, she was sure of that. But if she had Hansen’s . . . she couldn’t have her family. Horror plagued her mind and heart.
“I love you,” she put her hand over her stomach. A thin wail rose in her throat. Now, she knew how her mother must have felt. There was no way she could care for this child if she was sick. Leprosy wasn’t that contagious, but the relationship between a mother and child was so close – she couldn’t risk it. Patrick would have to tke him and they would have to live apart from her. Savannah would be alone, again. “God! Please don’t let this be true.” How was she going to live with this uncertainty till tomorrow? And what would she tell Patrick if he contacted her today? Maybe it would be better if he didn’t. “Don’t you worry. Your Daddy will come around. When he finds out the truth, he’ll be so happy he has you.” BAM! All of a sudden, Savannah’s car lurched forward. She had been hit from behind!
Looking in her rear view mirror, she saw a large pickup right on her tail. Maybe if she moved over, he’d go by. There wasn’t much of a shoulder, but she gave him all the room she could. CRASH! He did it again! For just a second she met the eyes of the man behind her – and she saw maniacal glee. The man was smiling. Fear clutched her heart. Savannah pressed down on the gas and sped up. But that did no good. The pick-up whipped out and came along-side her and turned the wheel to the right. SCRAPE! He was forcing her off the road!
Savannah fought for her and her baby. But she failed. Her car hit the ditch and the uneven ground made her car flop and lurch. Valiantly she sought to control it – to slow it down. “Patrick!” She prayed. She begged. But there was no way she could avoid the tree.
*****
Patrick drove hard. He needed to get back home before Savannah left for work. What an idiot he was! Every second he had spent in her bed came back to haunt him. She had told him she loved him. Savannah had shown him that she loved him. And how had he repayed her? With jealousy and suspicion – with doubt and an unwillingness to listen. Patrick was ashamed. He tried to call her, but there was still no answer. Ciara was still with him; she had sat on Revel’s porch and patiently waited. “You must think I’ve lost my mind, don’t you, Girl? Why didn’t you stop me this morning?” His dog just looked at him with wise, sad eyes.
Arriving at Savannah’s he realized she was already gone. Great. He couldn’t believe he had done her this way. She ought to just tell him where to get off – he deserved it. But she wouldn’t do it, she loved him.
Patrick didn’t do anything but turn around and head for town. He’d go to where she worked. This was too important to put off. At his hip, his cell phone buzzed. It was Commander Edge. “Yes sir?”
“O’Rourke, we have a problem.”
“Sir What’s up?”
“Lucas has gone ro
gue. I have no doubt that he is the traitor you claim him to be. Unfortunately, before we could take him into custody, he disappeared.”
“He’ll come here,” Patrick’s blood ran cold. It was happening – dread slid through his veins like poison.
“He’s already there,” the Commander’s voice dropped. “We just received a phone call from him. We have a hostage situation. He’s demanding that we give him passage out of the country or he’ll kill the hostage.”
Fear, pure fear took Patrick’s breath away. He didn’t have to ask – but he did. “Who’s the hostage?”