It’s Sabine’s birthday we’re celebrating. She turned one year old today. The whole family is complete. Well, not so much complete since Roscoe is still missing. Meaning no one has seen or heard from him since he left the hospital.
Maybe not completely true because a few weeks after Roscoe left, a large file was delivered to Zeke’s house with my name on it. There were all different kinds of reports in it, transcripts of statements from all involved in my family’s case.
There was a personal note, handwritten by Roscoe with the words ‘I’m sorry for the way all of this messed up your life. Hope this will be a start of a new beginning. Take care of my family, and my brother, he deserves his true love.’
It also had a quick explanation for his reasons to bring me into danger like he did. Roscoe was handling a case where three women were murdered who all had the same resemblance as me. All killed and found miles from our hometown. The cases were linked and spiked Roscoe’s attention. Then I got arrested and Roscoe admitted he used me to catch the killer...making Beau pay for all the murders.
I understand his reasoning, even believe his words when he mentioned he had teams set in place to secure my safety. But all of it sounds so surreal and clinical. I mean...yeah, Roscoe did what he did to pull a killer off of the streets and pulled a bad sheriff out of commission, but it’s more something that you watch happening in a movie, not tangled with my life and the ones I hold dear.
Thinking back, I could still cry. Roscoe was right to send me running all those years ago because he couldn’t do then, what he did two years ago. The sheriff confessed he responded to a call from Leroy, stating someone was in the house and trying to attack him.
Turns out, it was Beau who came at him with a knife. When the sheriff came to the scene, Leroy was already dead. The sheriff confessed he sent Roscoe away when he arrived at the scene ten minutes later.
All of this because the sheriff wanted to cover up the murder his son committed. That was easy enough since the swamp is dangerous for someone living to disappear, let alone someone who’s not running anymore and wrapped with the smell of blood...yeah, easy cleanup. Another loss and a case closed since Leroy isn’t classified as missing anymore.
Beau confessed to the murders of my family. It was hard reading through his statement but I needed to know. Turns out that day my sister told him she couldn’t have a relationship with anyone at that point in time. With Leroy missing she didn’t want to get involved with Beau.
In his words...he saw red, grabbed the knife from the kitchen counter and stabbed my sister to death. My dad came running, then my mother and my brother...if it wasn’t for my brother I would have died too that day. He told me to run while someone, well, not someone— Beau—was killing him.
What I also didn’t know and read in the report was that the sheriff admitted to opening up the gas so he could create an explosion to cover up all the evidence his son could have left behind. They assumed I got lost in the swamp or ran away, or hell...I guess the sheriff was confident he, or his son, could silence me if I popped up at any time.
So many things would have gone differently if the sheriff would have been the first one to arrive at the scene instead of Roscoe, then I would have been dead for sure, I just know it. And I also don’t like to think about what might have happened if the sheriff would have been there at the same time with Roscoe, because he might have killed Roscoe too seeing the sheriff went to great lengths to cover up for his son.
Not knowing and knowing is a huge difference. Losing loved ones is devastating. But I was able to mentally close the lid on the why and who. Roscoe gave me that. Even if he took Zeke away from me for sixteen years before doing so. Looking back, I know there wasn’t any other choice. He was a rookie and knew something was up but with no one to turn to, seeing the one in charge was the one who turned on the system...to him, this was the safest way.
Zeke doesn’t see it that way and I hope someday he will. He also doesn’t want to read the file or Roscoe’s note. I’ve talked to his parents and Jo told me to leave it, that it was his choice. Their choice...both grown men and I had to respect that.
Tuning back into the present, I see Zeke coming at me with a sleeping Sabine in his arms. “She’s out. I’m gonna put her in bed so she can take a nap, okay?”
I kiss the top of my little baby girl’s head and then my lips brush my husband’s. “Perfect. I’ll wait for you right here.”
Zeke disappears into his parents’ house. They’ve got a bedroom with three tiny beds for their grandkids when they stay over so Sabine can sleep safely. It takes a few minutes for Zeke to stroll back outside, a baby monitor in hand. He gives it to Elsie and leans in to say something before he strolls to me.
“Come on.” He says and takes my hand.
Walking past the trees, it suddenly hits me where he’s taking me. The treehouse. A place we made together and used to go to as kids growing up. The place we collided again when I returned here. It’s always been a spot where the both of us have memories of each other, the good and the bad, all linked back and tangled with our friendship as a strong bond between us.
“Go on up.” Zeke’s husky voice makes me smile as I playfully shove his shoulder.
“That’s not the gentleman talking, mister...that’s the horndog who wants to stare at my ass.” I tell him but start to climb the ladder.
His warm chuckle lets me know he’s right behind me. I take my time climbing up because I like to torture him. I’m wearing a dark blue, spaghetti strap summer dress that comes halfway down my thighs. And from Zeke’s angle, he has a nice view of the dark blue lace thong I’m wearing.
I only manage a few steps on the wooden floor before Zeke spins me around, crushing his mouth against mine in a hungry kiss. His hands roam my body, traveling down to the hem of my dress to pull it up. Fingers sliding underneath my thong to pull it slightly to the side while a growl rumbles in his chest.
He spins us around so my back is now plastered against the rough bark of the tree. “I’ve been waiting for this moment all day.”
He sounds like he’s struggling to breathe, just like me consumed by the love I hold for him and the need to feel our bodies connect physically.
“Just today, huh?” I tease. “I have fond dreams where we were doing all kinds of dirty things here in this treehouse. Dating back to the time...”
“Oh, ma chérie, don’t get me started. Because everything you might have dreamed about? Double that and triple it some more, maybe then you’ll be close to the things that have been roaming in my head for almost all my life.”
I can’t reply because my legs are tightly wrapped around him as he slides inside me so gently, it takes my breath away. I was expecting him to fill me in one stroke, being this consumed with the need to have one another, and yet he’s hissing to the same extent as a soft moan escapes my lips. Sensual overload where every inch of our bodies and minds is active; in this moment...this need...to consume our love, over and over again.
Or the fact that we’re thrown back into time, turning into the two horny teenagers we didn’t allow ourselves to be all those years ago. In the end, it doesn’t matter. He’s my husband, the father of our daughter, and of the unborn child in my belly. A family, parents, lovers, enjoying life to the fullest the way we embrace it.
Zeke places gentle kisses along my neck, up to my jaw, heading for my ear where he whispers sweet words of his adoration for me. My nails dig into his shoulders, pulling him closer due to the intensity of his dick filling me over and over again. I’m gasping for air when my orgasm hits me by surprise.
“Oh, fuck. You’re gonna make me...” Zeke grunts while he keeps a steady rhythm throwing his hips back and forth until he surges up one last time, burying himself deep before emptying inside me.
We both need a moment to get down from the high we put ourselves in. Zeke lets me down slowly but swoops me off my feet before sitting down, settling me on his lap while he leans back against the tree. The serenity
of this place with both past and present memories wrapped around us.
In life, you might get a lot of chances and most might turn out slightly different, miss, or shoot straight for the stars. It’s all about decisions, taking someone’s word for it, making your own choices...spur of the moment or well thought through. No matter what...the future will always be uncertain.
It’s the past we can learn from, the things we see and how we react to it. Friendship, advice, a gut feeling, or life experience. Take it all and make your life your own. Because in the end? No matter how much struggle, or how much pain and conquest you must face...there will always be new chances and possibilities to reach out to.
I still believe Roscoe saved me that day, and sixteen years later again. I was right to trust him since it’s the reason I’m sitting here, my heart filled with love, surrounded by family and new life growing inside my belly.
I cuddle close, putting my palm over his heart that’s beating like crazy. “I’ve loved you forever and will continue to do so endlessly.”
“My love for you is double that and triple it some more.” He murmurs against the top of my head, making me swoon all over again.
THE END
The next standalone book in this series will be Earle’s story.
Signup for Esther’s newsletter:
esthereschmidt.nl/newsletter
Special Thanks:
My beta team; Neringa, Tracy, Judy, Tammi,
my pimp team, my bestie Christi, and to you, as my reader...
Thanks so much! You guys rock!
Visit Esther E. Schmidt online:
www.esthereschmidt.nl
facebook.com/AuthorEstherESchmidt
twitter.com/esthereschmidt
instagram.com/esthereschmidt
pinterest.com/esthereschmidt
Signup for Esther’s newsletter:
esthereschmidt.nl/newsletter
Join Esther’s fan group on Facebook:
facebook.com/groups/estherselite
Also by Esther E. Schmidt
Areion Fury MC
Zack
Dams
Tyler
Pokey
Sico
Calix
Broken Deeds MC
Deeds
Broke
Depay
Unforgiving
Chopper
Death by Reaper MC
Hellhounds
Lost Valkyries MC
Crane
Ronin
Bark
Paris
Swamp Heads
Cyrus
Claiming Elsie
Chester
Loving Mae
Cross Ties
The Dudnik Circle
Ford
Yegor
Afon
Wicked Throttle MC
Corban
Zerox
Standalone
Frederick
Peacock (The Faults Of Our Sins)
Tis the season...to be inside my brain
Cross Ties (Swamp Heads, #5) Page 8