Southern Secrets (The Southern Series Book 2)

by Shelley Stringer

  Moaning softly, he picked me up and gently placed me into the bed. He removed his trousers and then slid in beside me. “Chandler, I’ve missed you so much. It’s been torture…you have no idea how hard it was to leave you so soon after our honeymoon,” he whispered as I kissed his neck and the side of his face. Then his lips found mine again. His tongue explored slowly, like he was kissing me for the first time. He softly tasted my lips while he slid his hands down my body as if everything were new. He was taking everything in again. I caught my breath, finding myself anxious as if we were together in the beginning of our relationship.

  I pulled away and looked at him. “This has to be bad for me. I don’t think my heart can take it!” I gazed at him, with fresh tears in my eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, studying my face, alarm apparent in his voice.

  “I’m nervous, just like when we were first together. This just kills me, this having to wait to be together, for whatever reason, and then suddenly having you again. It’s either being bitten, or the pregnancy, or being separated…I don’t think this will ever be familiar!” I exclaimed, grinning at him through my tears.

  He relaxed, realizing I was kidding him. “I certainly hope I never get so familiar, that I can’t do this to you…”

  As he moved lower, pulling the sheet down with him, I moaned, drawing my breath in. He chuckled, and then his face returned into my view as he lay his head down and listened to the rapid beating of my heart.

  “I love that sound. It’s the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard. Mmm…” He sighed, and then began to slowly remove my thong, the last remaining garment between us. He made love to me slowly as the room lightened with the dawn, the sun invading our little space of heaven.

  We drifted off to sleep wrapped in each other’s arms. I hadn’t slept so peacefully since he’d left, and it was almost noon before we both stirred. He woke first and kissed my neck as my eyes fluttered open. Rising over me, he grinned as he methodically traced his finger around the outline of my face.

  “I can’t believe it,” he murmured, continuing to gaze at me.

  “What?” I asked as I cupped a hand behind his neck.

  “You’re even more beautiful than when I left you. How is that possible? You have a glow about you, even with the broken arm and all. I guess pregnancy does agree with you.” He kissed the end of my nose.

  “Yes, I think it does. I’ve never felt better, or had a better appetite. I swear I’m hungry all the time,” I exclaimed. He placed his hand over my abdomen.

  “You must be, because I can feel your tummy rumbling. Are my babies hungry?” he asked as I pushed up in the bed.

  “No, Banton, it’s not…” I replied in amazement. He searched my face. “It’s not my stomach,” I whispered as I looked at him in wonder. I could feel it again--the little fluttering against my abdomen like air bubbles that rolled and moved. “It’s them, the babies. Can you feel them?” I asked as I looked back up at his face.

  “Oh, Chandler…,” was all he could say as tears pooled in his eyes. He’d felt them too. He lay his head down and pressed his ear to my stomach. He lay there several seconds, and then lifted his head back up to mine and kissed me softly.

  “That’s the best homecoming present you could have given me!” He said as he grinned and flashed my favorite dimple. Then he grinned even bigger, and exclaimed, “Well, the second best. I got the best this morning.”

  “You’re incorrigible, you know that?” I pulled him back down, and wrapped my arms around him, cast and all. He lowered his mouth back down to mine, his breath soft on my lips. As he pulled away I opened my eyes slowly. Drawing the sheet back down, his eyes took in every inch of my body as the sunlight streamed across the bed.

  He drew his breath in sharply. “Chandler! What the hell…did this happen during the attack?” His fingers traced the bruises on my ribs.

  “Oh, those. Yeah, I have a whole fresh batch of those, now.”

  He was angry, pulling me up in his arms. He turned my shoulders slightly to look at my back. I winced, knowing the ones on my back looked far worse than my ribs.

  “It’s as if someone has been beating you up nightly while I was gone. I don’t care what I have to do. I’m not leaving you again.” he gritted through his teeth as he examined me.

  “It looks far worse than it feels, trust me. I’m fine!” I assured him as I pulled his face toward mine. “I’m fine,” I repeated as I held his face in my hands. His expression softened, and he pulled me back into his arms.

  “I can’t believe I didn’t notice the bruises last night,” he said, his breath blowing in my hair.

  “Well, it was dark in here, and we were kind of occupied,” I pulled away, and grinned up at him.

  “How are the dreams?” he asked quietly.

  “Actually, the last one I had, my mother was there. She talked with me, and urged me to wake, before the Orco could get there. She stayed behind to protect the babies.”

  My eyes began to water, and he brushed my cheeks with his thumbs.

  “It was so real, and when I woke, Everett and Constance could smell her perfume,” I finished.

  “That’s great, Chandler,” he whispered, caressing my cheek. “I’m home now, too. Everything is going to get better, I promise.”

  “I know. You’re home, and I couldn’t be happier. My world is right again. Come on, let’s go round up something to eat.” I tugged on his arm to get him up, and grabbed a pair of sweats off the back of a chair. As I wriggled to pull them on with one hand, he pulled a pair of jeans out of the dresser. Just as he had them up around his waist, we heard a scream in the hallway.

  He jerked the door open, and rushed out to the landing at the top of the stairs and then stopped. As I drew up behind him, I glanced around his shoulders, and realized why he’d stopped. Ty lay on the floor at the foot of the stairs in the open doorway with Constance wrapped around him, crying and kissing him at the same time.

  “You scared the bejeezas out of us!” Banton exclaimed as she drew away from Ty’s lips.

  “Sorry, he just met me at the door, and I couldn’t help myself.” She blushed and picked her backpack up from the floor. Ty pushed himself up, grinning as he shut the front door.

  “A little more control, please. You’re embarrassing me,” Banton teased her as he took my hand and pulled me down the staircase behind him. Constance rolled her eyes at him as she hung her backpack on the hall tree, and then whirled back to Ty’s waiting arms.

  “Oh, like the controlled homecoming I heard through the wall early this morning?” She raised one eyebrow at us as Ty laughed.

  “Um, yeah, must have been Everett. He was so glad to see me,” Banton teased, placing a kiss on top of my head.

  “Are y’all hungry? We were about to find something to eat,” I offered. Ty drew her across the entry and back toward the living room.

  “Um, not right now…” her reply was smothered as Ty drew her into a kiss and pulled her down on the sofa.

  * * *

  I spent the afternoon no more than two steps away from Banton at any time. It still hadn’t sunk in he was home and safe. After eating everything we could find in the kitchen we retreated back up to the bedroom, where Banton, falling asleep in mid-sentence, proceeded to take a three hour nap. I could tell he was exhausted, and he looked as if he’d lost some weight during whatever ordeal the SEALs had been through these past three weeks. Constance and Ty had been locked away in John’s old room all afternoon, and the house remained quiet. I held Banton’s head against my chest. He’d hardly moved since he’d gone to sleep. I studied him so intently I almost counted his breaths. As I gazed down at his profile for the hundredth time, his eyes opened unexpectedly, and he grinned and stretched.

  “Hey, beautiful, what time is it?” he asked, in a half-yawn.

  “Five o’clock. I was beginning to think I needed to check your pulse, you were sleeping so soundly.”

  “I guess I was more tired than I thought.�
�� He pushed himself up on the pillows and ran his hand through his dark, tousled hair. “How are you feeling, did you get any sleep?” He slid his hand across my cheekbone, and then held my chin in his hand as he stroked it with his thumb.

  “Nope, I was too excited to see you. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to drift off. I don’t want to lose a minute of time with you.” I traced his lips with my finger.

  “You have all the time in the world with me, sweetheart…” He grinned as he studied my face.

  The cell buzzed on my dresser so I rose, and crossed the bedroom to retrieve the incoming text.

  The vet called…Beau’s good,

  picking him up and will

  have him home

  around six. – Ev

  “Yay! Beau’s coming home.”

  I put the phone down as he came up behind me to place his arms around my waist. I turned as he lowered his mouth to mine. Just as his kiss became more demanding, voices began to drift up the staircase signaling we had company.

  “We’ve got to collect some of those keys, Andie,” he grinned.

  “Yeah, because I’m ready to break our fur rug in,” I smiled back, pulling him toward the door.

  We hurried downstairs to find Constance and Ty visiting with John and Brie, who had just settled down on a sofa in the living room. Sam, Olivia and Patrick were coming in the front door.

  “Hey, guys! How is everyone?” I asked as we reached the bottom of the stairs. As I hugged Sam and Olivia, John rose and crossed to me, pulling me into an enormous hug.

  “Andie-girl, thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I can’t believe you put yourself in so much danger, but I know you saved the girls the other night. You saved Brie’s life…she told me how you protected them and put yourself down here between them and the Orcos!” He pulled me away to look into my eyes.

  I glanced over at Banton, and he had an irritated look on his face, listening to Brie’s account of what had happened.

  “I…I had to do something, I couldn’t let those monsters near Brie, or Ava…I know they don’t carry the gene. I had to buy some time,” I added hastily.

  “And she did. She fought like an Aldon!” Mr. Philippe came through the doorway, followed by Everett. Beau bounded into the room, seemingly unscathed, except for the fur missing on his neck and visible stitches.

  “Beau!” I exclaimed as I knelt to hug him, his tail beating a cadence against Banton’s legs. He covered my face with his dog kisses as Banton knelt down beside me, hugging the big dog and rubbing his ears. He paused to inspect the wound on the side of his neck, and then raised his eyes to mine as he placed a kiss on top of Beau’s head

  “He’s quite the hero, too. He was ready to kick some Orco butt!” Everett exclaimed, crossing the room to shake John’s hand. “He never hesitated. He attacked to protect Chandler.”

  “He drew their attention away from me just long enough for Ev and Mr. Philippe to engage the other two. He’s a real hero.” I hugged him again, and then he ran off to sniff around everyone else in the room.

  “I’m so glad you guys are back, because these ladies have been seriously maudlin the past couple of weeks.” Everett exclaimed, patting Ty on the back.

  “And I understand you and Mr. Philippe came through for our girls that night, too,” Ty addressed Everett. “Thank you for what you did, we owe you big time.” You could detect the admiration in Ty’s voice.

  “No thanks are necessary. I’m just sorry the scum got in here at all.” Everett answered him, a look of disgust on his face.

  “The Orcos had to have been watching the house to have invaded the only ten-minute time span the girls where alone the whole three weeks we were gone,” John commented, glancing at Banton. A muscle ticked at the edge of his jaw, but he said nothing. I assumed he was still aggravated by the thought I’d put myself in harm’s way to protect the others.

  “Is anyone hungry?” I asked, attempting to change the subject. “We could order out.”

  “Oh, no…Bebe, do I have a surprise for you! Grandmother Wellington and my momma wanted to do something for you, with everything you’ve been through. They heard the boys were home, so to celebrate they made some of my grandmother’s famous crawfish bisque. I already put it in the kitchen, along with some homemade cornbread muffins and etouffee.

  “Oh, Ev, that was so sweet of them, please thank them for me…” I began.

  “Oh, Bebe, you must do it yourself next weekend. I told them of your plans to come to N’awlins for the masque ball, and they are so excited to meet you. They so want you to come for lunch while you’re there.” Everett came over and kissed my cheek as he made his way back to the kitchen.

  “We wouldn’t miss it. I look forward to meeting your family, Ev.” Banton said as he placed his arms around me.

  “Come and get it. I’ll make us some tea, while you all fill your plates.” Everett called, waiving a hand over his head.

  “Well, sounds as if we all have plans next weekend. I haven’t even asked Brie about going to the Gastaneau’s and the masque ball. Um…we’ve been a little busy,” John trailed off as he turned to a blushing Brie and gave her a lopsided grin.

  “Already taken care of. Chandler, Brie and I already have dresses ready to go. You’re a little behind, Cowboy.” Constance flicked him under the chin as she passed to go to the kitchen.

  “I should have known. Bet you’ve got the gaudiest dress of all, Diva-doll. Okay, guess we’ll be needing tuxes,” John remarked as he glanced over at Banton.

  “Taken care of as well, since I already have all of your measurements from the wedding.” Mr. Philippe waved everyone back toward the kitchen.

  “Um, Banton, can we talk to you for a minute?” Sam motioned to him from the foyer, where he and Patrick stood by the front door. Sam led Banton on to the front porch where the three of them talked for a minute, and then headed around the side of the house. Curiosity got the better of me, so I started for the foyer.

  “Um, Chandler,” Olivia called to me. I’d forgotten she was in the room, sitting quietly in a corner.

  “I’m sorry, Olivia. I didn’t see you there, how are you? I’ve been meaning to call you.”

  “I’m great, just a little, how do you say, overcome, with all of your busy lives, and your customs. Life has a much faster pace here than in Somalia.”

  “I wonder where Banton is going…” I leaned over to see around her out the window as the guys were stepping down from the front porch.

  “I think Sam is telling him what we saw outside as we came in,” she breathed quietly.

  “What you saw?” I asked, concerned.

  “Yes. When we arrived, we saw two men in the street, and then as we came up the sidewalk, we saw two more down the other way.” She pointed down toward the cemetery road. “I couldn’t tell from a distance, but then when we came up the steps, I could smell them,” she answered slowly. I guessed her meaning immediately.

  “You could smell Orcos? Had they been on the porch?” I asked as my pulse beginning to race.

  “Yes. Their scent was strong; they had definitely been near the house. Sam walked around the house then, and saw two more in the alleyway. They have not given up, not yet,” she said, watching me intently. “I’m so sorry to spoil your homecoming party, but we felt you needed to know.”

  I walked over to her and put my arms around her. “No, don’t worry. Thank you--we need to know. I guess we still need the Aldon here even with the SEALs home. I thought maybe they just tried the other night, because the guys were gone.” I shuddered as I released her, and then moved over to look out the window.

  “Bebe, aren’t you going to eat? Where’s Banton?” Everett asked as he came into the living room with a glass of tea for me. “Everyone’s seated in the dining room, and I missed you all…”

  “He’s gone outside to look around with Sam and Patrick. It seems they spotted some Orcos lurking about as they arrived here tonight.”

  “Yes, Philippe and I could smel
l them when we arrived. Philippe has put a call in to the other Aldon, and we will make our presence known a few more days. Hopefully, they will give up when they see we won’t let our guard down just because the boys are home.” He patted me on the shoulder, and then touched Olivia’s cheek.

  “This dear girl, she is a treasure like you, Bebe. She’s stolen my heart as well. She and Patrick are such a delight. I’ve invited them to come to N’awlins too. They will be my guests at Grandmother’s for the weekend. I think they would be more at home at our krewe’s masque. We will see how it goes.” He kissed her on the cheek, and commented “And we must find you a dress too, Ma Petit. You’re about a size four?” he asked as he looked her over.

  “I’m not sure, I’ve never tried on gowns.”

  “Well, Everett will show you the ropes, I’m sure. He’ll help you find something beautiful to take Sam’s breath away.” I smiled down at her, and she smiled timidly back.

  Banton came back into the foyer, followed by Sam and Patrick, headed determinedly into the dining room.

  “John, Ty…I need to see you both in the living room for a few minutes,” Banton called the other SEALs away from the table. He turned and spotted me by the front window. “Chandler, why don’t you and Olivia go on and eat a bite. We’ll be in there in a few minutes.” He raised his hand and pushed a stray strand of my hair back behind my ear.

  “Sure, all right,” I answered him, knowing he wanted to talk to the others about the danger outside. Olivia nodded and followed me.

  “What’s going on?” Constance asked as we entered the room.

  “Same crap, different day. They won’t get a moment’s rest.” I sighed and sat down at the table. Everett reached over and patted my hand.

  “You don’t mean they’ve been called out again?” Brie gasped as she turned to me.