Chaos

by Barbara Huffert

  “I thought you were tired,” she laughed when he slid his arm around her.

  “I am and that’s not what I was talking about. Let me show you that you have absolutely nothing to be afraid of when you’re here, with me, even in the dark.”

  “McKade.” She was shaking her head as she clutched a light.

  “Just for a few minutes. Please. I really need to do something useful tonight. I promise to hold you the whole time and, as soon as you tell me to, I’ll turn the light back on for the night. Or you can hang on to one of these so you control it.” Shane could feel her pulling into herself and backing away from him emotionally. “Forget it, Campini, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to push you. I was just trying to help.”

  Instead of responding, Alyssa turned off the light and handed him the box. “You better not do something stupid like try to scare me on purpose.” She moved against him and clutched him tightly. “Don’t let go, okay? I really do know there’s nothing to worry about, at least not with you here.”

  “That’s right. I won’t let anything happen to you.” When he was quiet he could hear her breathing getting shallower. “Any idea why you’re scared? Sorry. Don’t answer that. I shouldn’t pry but I thought talking might distract you.”

  “I was real little, not in school yet. We moved around a lot, since Dad was some sort of trainer at the time. We got to a base early and our house wasn’t ready, so we stayed in a barracks. I had to go to the bathroom and my parents were sleeping so I thought I’d just go on my own. I walked to where I thought it was but, just before I got there, someone turned off the lights. I tried to feel my way along the wall but I didn’t know if I’d passed any doors. I was afraid I’d go in the wrong room and I just knew if I woke up the wrong person, I’d get killed. I knew Marines were trained to fight and I thought they could see in the dark. I was sure they’d think I was there to hurt them and they’d make sure they got me first. I backed into a corner and got ready to sit there all night. One of the guys came in and saw me somehow, I guess it wasn’t totally dark but I was too scared by then to notice. When he came toward me and asked what I was doing there, I started to scream and that made him yell and then everyone was yelling.” Alyssa tried to get closer and felt Shane tighten his arms.

  “When they turned the lights on, I was curled into as small a ball as I could and wouldn’t take my arms off my head. One of them realized who I was and picked me up to take me back to my parents but I thought I was about to be killed so I started fighting to get loose. I must have startled him because he dropped me and almost fell over me. I kept waiting for him to kick me and I didn’t know it was my dad who tried to pick me up the second time. I was out of control and wouldn’t stop. It took two of them, trying not to hurt me, to hold me still long enough for me to see my mom in front of me. When I tried to tell them what happened, the guys laughed because I was a silly little girl with a big imagination and my dad told me I shouldn’t have acted the way I did. I was his daughter so I had to be braver than that or what were the men he was training going to think? My mom told me that that was what happened when children wandered off on their own, even though they were taught better.”

  “Your parents—”

  “Wait, it’s not as bad as it sounds. I didn’t say it right. My dad said those things to tease me into not being afraid. It was a game we played all the time, you know, me, his little girl, tougher than a bunch of big old Marines. And Mom always phrased lectures like that so I wouldn’t think I was the only kid who wasn’t supposed to do something. After that night, I made sure I had a light on in my room and begged my mom for a nightlight in the bathroom whenever we moved. They always seemed to forget about it so I just kept turning it on every night. I also kept a flashlight by my bed and in my book bag.”

  “I bet you also stopped letting it show when you were scared. Campini, you’re welcome to relax when you’re with me. In fact, I hope you know that you never have to pretend with me.”

  “After tonight, I do know that. I was surprised that you didn’t ask me to leave when you got home. I wouldn’t have thought that you’d want me to witness that side of you. You always act tough too.”

  “No, I act tough when I’m on duty. At home, with friends, I try to be as open as possible. We are friends, aren’t we?”

  “What do you think? I’ve been talking to you in the dark for more than five minutes.” She sighed. “You were wrong about a few things earlier. First, Kiley has always been the honestly tough one. She believed it was me and I never bothered to correct her. And I didn’t offer to help the Kid personally the few times I tried to talk to him about getting away from the gang. I would have no idea how to do that so I told him that he should call you if he was in trouble.”

  “But that is helping. You realized you couldn’t do it alone so you told him to call someone who could. I promise you that I will if he ever asks, Campini.”

  “I know that, McKade. I wouldn’t have told him that if I didn’t believe it. Even though you were an asshole to me, I still expected you to be decent to a kid who’s asking for help.”

  “Thanks, Campini. And thanks for trusting me like this. Want me to turn the bathroom light on now?”

  “No, I’m okay like this. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be.” She was silent for a few minutes. “Actually, it’s kind of nice. I can hear your heart beat so I’m okay even when we’re not talking. As long as you don’t die, I’m fine.”

  “You got a deal on that one.” Shane wished she’d meant it the way it sounded. He was getting too used to her being with him. She’d be off, chasing storm destruction in less than a week and he was going to miss her. “If you get scared, just poke me and say something so I know it’s you. Don’t worry about waking me up. I really won’t mind.”

  Alyssa was enjoying the intimate feel of lying there in the dark, talking with him. All the nights she’d spent with other men and she’d never even considered letting one of them turn off the lights. In fact, if one had suggested it, Alyssa was sure she would have kicked him out or gone home. Then again, no one else figured out her secret so a discussion of turning off the lights wasn’t a possibility.

  “McKade? Thanks again.”

  “No problem, Pix. I’ll be here any night you want to hang out in the dark.” He kissed the top of her head.

  “McKade? You’re really considering getting out of the city.” It was a statement, not a question.

  “I’m ready to consider all sorts of options.”

  “McKade? Will you drive me to the airport Tuesday? It’s okay if you don’t have time. I just thought…” She stopped when he put a finger on her lips.

  “Sh, of course I’ll take you. I’ll even give you one of those long, passionate goodbye kisses at the security check that makes everyone else wonder about you.”

  She giggled at the thought of it. “Well don’t expect me to sit on the plane and sniffle about how I’ll miss you or anything like that.”

  “Oh, horrors! Somehow, I can’t picture that. I would appreciate it if you didn’t rejoice so loudly the whole plane knows that you’re glad to be rid of me.” Shane hoped he was wrong that she would feel relief when she was away from him.

  “McKade? I know this sounds bizarre but the last few weeks have been okay. I honestly think I will miss you.”

  “I’m going to miss you too, Campini.” He chuckled. “Man, that’s not something I ever expected to hear myself say.”

  “McKade? Is this as weird for you as it is for me? I honestly believed you hated me.”

  “No more than I thought you hated me. It is kind of weird but nice too.”

  “McKade? Are you too tired to kiss me good night?”

  “I’ll never be that tired, Pixie Queen.” He shifted her in his arms so they could join their mouths. After a soft lazy kiss, Shane felt his weariness leave him. He groaned when she returned the probing of his tongue. “I’m not feeling at all tired anymore. Hey, Campini, ever make love in the dark? I could be your fi
rst.”

  Make love, not have sex! Whoa, this wasn’t the way they were supposed to be. They were friends, sure but they were really just having fun. He must be more tired than he wanted to admit. That had to be it. Yeah, he was so tired that he didn’t know what he was saying. “Mm, I think I’m going to like being in the dark with you.” She slid her hand over his stomach and wrapped her fingers around his rapidly hardening flesh. “Oh yeah, I’m definitely enjoying the dark at the moment.”

  “Me too,” Shane said as she deepened their kiss. When Alyssa pushed him to his back, he didn’t resist.

  “You too tired for this?” Alyssa asked as she straddled his hips, trapping his hard cock between them. Without letting him respond, she leaned forward and captured his mouth for another kiss. Shane tried to embrace her but she stopped him. “No. You just lie there. Let me do all the work.”

  Shane groaned when Alyssa started to rub her wet slit along his erection. She was holding his hands on either side of his head.

  “Whatever you say,” Shane gasped as her pointed nipples caressed his chest.

  For the next few minutes the only sounds were those of mutual appreciation as Alyssa teased them both by sliding her body over Shane’s. Their breathing was becoming labored as their excitement grew.

  “Pix,” Shane practically pleaded.

  “You ready for me, McKade?” she asked even though it was more than obvious. “Ready to be my first in the dark?”

  “Please,” he moaned. “Have mercy. I’m too tired to have much stamina tonight. You keep that up much longer and I’ll come too soon.”

  Alyssa lifted her hips and sank onto his cock. They groaned as her soft wetness engulfed him. “Can’t have that,” she declared, starting to move on top of him.

  She could feel the tension rapidly building in Shane’s body and realized how much control he usually had. She’d known he was a considerate lover, always seeing to her needs first but now it seemed he was even more so. Sensing he wouldn’t be able to hold his climax off much longer, she sat up, running her hands over his chest, and began to stimulate her clit.

  “Aw fuck, Pix, that’s not fair. Doing that while I can’t watch,” Shane growled, his hips lifting up to meet her as she rode his cock.

  “Take it easy, stud. We’ll do this again.” Alyssa shivered at the tone of his voice. Perhaps there was something about this darkness stuff she hadn’t considered. Taking away her ability to see heightened her other senses in a delicious way.

  “Oh yeah,” he grunted. “Often.”

  Alyssa chuckled and then gasped. Her body had caught up to his and she was as ready to explode as he was. “Now, McKade,” she cried as the first wave of pleasure surge through her. “Come now.”

  His response was to grip her hips and hold her tightly to his groin as his cock pulsed within her clenching sheath. She collapsed on his chest, riding out the residual passion until she could move.

  Later, after she had gotten a cloth and cleaned Shane up so he didn’t have to move, she switched off the light and snuggled against his side.

  “So, what do you think, Pix?” Shane wondered, sleepiness evident in his voice.

  “Dark is good,” she laughed. “Now shut up and go to sleep.”

  Chapter Nine

  “I’m claiming this room,” Alyssa announced as soon as she finished looking around the gatehouse that was on the property Kiley and Jordan were moving to as soon as they returned from their honeymoon.

  “Then I’ll take the other small one. We’ll leave the big bedroom for real guests.” Shane dropped the bag of his clothes inside the doorway and followed her to her room. “Here’s the rest of your stuff. I guess we should put it away so they notice it as soon as they check.”

  “Great. Then we can find Jesse and see if he’s ready for lunch. Brett should be back from the house he’s looking at by then. You’re going to miss having him and Jordan around, aren’t you?”

  “Yes but its not like we spent all that much time together in the city.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Kiley and I only met up maybe three or four times a month. I’m still going to know she’s more than ten minutes away.”

  “I know what you mean. Somehow it feels like my little brothers are all grown up now, even though they have been for years.”

  “Yeah but now they’re moving away, just like Kiley is. They’re starting lives of their own. Ones that they picked for themselves, without consulting us. The thing that gets me is that I’m the one who moved here because Kiley was already here.”

  “I bet you told her you were coming here to check up on her though.”

  “Yeah. Am I horrible for letting her think she needed looking after when I’m the one who wanted to be close to her?”

  “I don’t think so. It just means you love your cousin. We both know she wants you nearby and doesn’t care what got you there.”

  “Do you think she believes I’ll end up in this town too?”

  “I’m sure she hopes you will. But we’re less than an hour away. Brett’s planning on driving back and forth often until he’s done at the agency. It’s not really that far. You can still visit on the spur of the moment.”

  “We could shock the hell out of them and drive out together sometime.”

  “Anytime. You know how to reach me and, in return, I’ll let you know if I’m coming in case you want to join me.” Shane wondered if they’d ever really do it or if what they’d begun would evaporate while she was gone. Both their lives would continue in different paths over the summer. There was a very real chance that seeing each other again could be too awkward to overcome. “How long do you think you’ll be away?”

  “Depends on the weather. If there are lots of storms right away, I could be back in a month. If it’s a calm season and most of me really hopes it is, I could be gone all summer.”

  “If you let me know when you’re coming home I’ll meet you at the airport.”

  “Oh. Thanks. Gonna bring your career wife with you?”

  “If one shows up by then, sure. After all, you’ll see each other at the occasions that I know Kiley’s going to plan.”

  “Of course. Go unpack, McKade. I want to look around the house before lunch,” she said stiffly.

  “Taking before and after pictures?” Why did he feel as if his queen had just dismissed him?

  “Not really. You should know I don’t generally leave home without my camera. Who knows what I could find in a quaint, old town like this.”

  “You look at the world in a different way,” Shane stated, so quietly that she met his gaze.

  “I doubt that.” She shrugged. “I just think about what I see in terms of a viewfinder. You see things every day that are worth framing but you haven’t trained yourself to see them. That’s why I usually have a camera with me. To capture things when I come across them since most can’t be recreated. Besides, you see things differently too.”

  “Me?”

  “Mm, you constantly scan whatever is around you for potential danger.”

  “I don’t…” He paused, cutting off his first response. “Well, yeah, maybe I do. Force of habit, I guess. I have to do that when I’m working so I probably do look around even when I’m not.”

  “I’m not criticizing you, McKade. Don’t get all weird on me. I’m just pointing out that we all look at things in our own way. Now go unpack or I’m not going to wait for you.”

  * * * * *

  They were walking back from lunch when Alyssa’s cell phone rang. “Hello.”

  “How’s my favorite cousin?” Kiley asked happily.

  “Kiles! I didn’t think I’d hear from you.”

  “I couldn’t let you go off on your next assignment without hearing you tell me again how you’re going to be careful.”

  “I promise that I, at all times, will do exactly as the experts I’m with tell me to do. I will not wander off on my own, unless it is a bright, sunny day and they guarantee me that there is absolutely no chance of a storm
of any magnitude, even a shower. I will call you often and I will keep my phone on so you can call me. You, in return, will try not to worry too much because I don’t want you to neglect that husband of yours. If you call me and I don’t answer, you will leave a message and wait for me to call you back. I plan on showering while I’m away and I don’t want the National Guard barging in on me.” She rolled her eyes at the group. “Kiley, I’ll be fine and I’ll be back before you know it. Hey, guess where I am.”

  “Okay, I’ll bite and let you change the subject. Where?”

  “I’m about a block from your house. We just had lunch at that little place you told me about. It’s great, just like you thought it would be.”

  “You’re at our house? Who’s we?”

  “Brett, Jesse and Jordan’s brother. I brought my car today along with some stuff to keep in the gatehouse. Brett was coming to look at a house and Jesse is working on your security system. Oh, he says to tell you that it’ll be in before the movers bring your things.”

  “Shane’s with you? Wait, Jordan wants to talk to him.”

  After the phones were passed, Shane teased, “We saw the video you sent Max. Is your honeymoon going as well as it seemed?”

  “Even better! My wife is spectacular.” Shane could hear her laughing in the background. “So, you’re hanging out with the group?”

  “Yes, we all bumped into each other last night and decided to make a day of it. This is a great town you picked.”

  “Yeah, that’s why we picked it. Let me have Brett a sec. I don’t know how much longer I can ignore the sexy, already stripping beauty who’s shamelessly tormenting me and staying just out of reach.”

  Shane chuckled and turned over the phone to Brett. “I’m amazed that the two of you called.”

  “You know how concerned Kiley is about Alyssa’s upcoming trip. She wanted some more reassuring before Lyss actually gets close to a storm. Should I be worried?” Brett knew he was asking about Shane and Alyssa but hadn’t said their names so Kiley wouldn’t.