by Pj Fiala
Danny’s brows drew together. “Talk to me, babe. I need to know what’s going on.”
“I need to go home.” Tammy laid her phone in her lap and folded both hands over it. She stared straight out of the windshield and began breathing deeply, trying to calm herself. Her stomach began to lurch violently and she worried she wouldn’t be able to keep down her amazing supper.
Danny drove carefully but quickly worry marring his brow. He reached up to the buttons on the overhead panel on his truck and pushed the button to open his garage door. Pulling in, he shifted into park and turned off the ignition. He turned his head, worried at the paleness of Tammy’s face and how deathly still she was.
“Babe,” he whispered, afraid he would startle her. When she didn’t move, he slowly reached over and slid his fingers into her hair at her nape and gently massaged the back of her head. Tammy swallowed and closed her eyes.
“We need to talk.”
“Okay. Let’s go into the house.”
Tammy slowly opened the door and stepped out. Danny waited at the front of the truck and slid his arm around her when she reached him. He opened the kitchen door and stepped back to let her walk before him. Setting her purse on the little table by the door, Tammy entered the kitchen and stopped at the counter.
“You’re going to need your computer.”
Brows furrowed, Danny nodded and walked into his bedroom to grab his laptop. He came back into the kitchen and set it on the table.
Watching Tammy closely, he said, “What do you want me to do, babe?”
Tammy swallowed the emotion in her throat and walked over to the table. “I tried telling you this the day Noah was born. It’s why I was concerned when you took that picture of me while I was sleeping the first time we had sex.”
Taking a calming breath she slowly explained. “A year ago I dated a jackass who videoed us having sex without my knowledge. He uploaded it to all of his friends and the internet. It’s been the most humiliating year of my life. It took months for people to stop staring at me when I went out. His group of friends had shared it over and over and over. I felt like everyone I knew had seen it. My parents hired an attorney and we got an injunction and then a restraining order on Scott. But, once something like that is out there, it’s impossible to completely eradicate it. People save it on their computers and you simply never know when it will resurface.”
Danny swallowed and clenched his teeth. His heart was hammering away in his chest, his stomach was so tight he thought it would twist him in two. Before his knees gave out, he sat across from her and waited.
Tammy pulled open his laptop and pushed the button to power it up. Danny watched her and then said, “What are you doing?”
“I just got an alert that someone else just viewed and commented on that video. I’m going to pull it up and show you.”
“Show me? I don’t want to see that fucking video.”
Danny’s fists clenched on the table top as he watched Tammy’s eyes fill with tears.
“You don’t?”
“Fuck no. I don’t want to watch you having sex with someone else. What the fuck do you think?”
Shaking her head she blinked a few times, her voice quivering she said, “I thought you’d…”
“No,” he yelled. When she jumped he took a deep breath and loudly exhaled. He shook his head as he flexed his fingers a few times to relieve the tension.
“No,” he said, quieter. “I…can’t see that. I can’t watch you with someone else. I can’t.”
CHAPTER 27
OUT OF BREATH, Danny’s chest hurt with the overexertion of running. Breathing was becoming difficult and the dust flying through the air made it damn near impossible to bring any good oxygen into his lungs. Trying to see through the smoke from the burned out buildings, he couldn’t see any of his brothers. Where the hell was everyone? Afraid to call out, he lowered himself to a sitting position next to the remains of a wall and willed his lungs to fill with clean air and his heart to calm. As his breathing slowed to normal, he heard his men laughing and cat-calling. He turned his head to the left and listened. “That’s fucking hot,” he heard Lex say. A few more whistles from Coop and the others. Danny slowly raised himself to his feet and walked around the wall. There they were, all his brothers, no one looking scared or as if they’d been running. They were all standing around a table laughing. As Danny neared the table, the hairs on the back of his neck prickled. His shoulders bunched up, bile forming in his stomach. He peered over Lex’s shoulder to see his brothers watching a video of Tammy having sex with some fucker. Her beautiful face twisted in ecstasy, her naked body bared for all to see. Lex yelled, “Fuck her hard man,” as his brothers all laughed.
Danny flew bolt upright in bed, his heart slamming in his chest, his body coated in sweat. His breathing coming in short raspy spurts. Looking around he slowly realized he was in his bedroom at home. He wiped his eyes with is shaky fingers as he felt the first soft touch of a hand brush across his back.
He jerked his head to the left and saw Tammy. Her sleepy eyes were clouded with worry, her hair was tousled from sleep and her breathing was rapid.
“Nightmare,” Danny croaked. How was he going to overcome this? They hadn’t had the time to work through this revelation, so much had happened recently. They’d been hit with one thing after the next.
Tammy scooted behind Danny and smoothed her hands up his back, then down. Adding pressure, she started massaging the bunching muscles into submission. His neck muscles were tightened cords and she could feel the pulsing as she gently pushed the pad of her thumb into them until they relaxed. Danny moaned and she smiled softly. Tammy scooted to the side and said, “Lie on your stomach and let me massage your back.”
Silently, Danny did as he was told. Tammy crawled over him and sat on his legs, just behind his mighty fine ass. Unable to resist, she ran her hands over the taught muscles, rubbing circles with her thumbs and easing the tension as her hands floated up his back to his neck. As she felt him relax, she lay on top of his back and kissed his neck, his ear, and finally his cheek.
He reached his arm back, cupped her head with his hand and pulled her forward to kiss her lips. He rolled under her until he was on his back and she was on top of him. He drove his fingers into her hair and fisted it, bringing her mouth to his, hard and possessive.
His heart began pounding again, only different this time. His cock swelled between them and Tammy moaned. He reached his hand down between her legs and felt the moisture and heat. Her scent circling them in a cocoon, he was overcome.
Twisting quickly, bringing Tammy to the mattress in one swift move, Danny reared above her and plunged in without a thought. Tammy responded by wrapping her legs around his waist, allowing him to slide in further. Groaning, Danny began a sweet assault on her body. Pounding into her fast and furious, they moved in unison, each grunting and groaning. Tammy cried out her orgasm just seconds before Danny huffed out his. He jerked and spasmed a few times until he’d spilled himself completely into her. Spent, he laid his head next to hers while their hearts pounded in unison.
Boneless. That’s the only way to describe it. As their breathing slowed Danny pulled out of Tammy and rolled over. He stared at the ceiling as Tammy snuggled into his side. He wrapped his arm around her, lost in thought.
“Can you tell me what your nightmare was about?” she asked softly.
Danny stared at the ceiling as if it was the most interesting painting he’d ever seen. When he didn’t respond, Tammy began smoothing her hand along his chest, gently soothing his warm skin. She could still smell his cologne, him, and their lovemaking. All mingled together, it made her quiver. When he still didn’t respond, she lifted herself up on an elbow and looked down at him. Finally his eyes found hers and quietly they took in the sight of the other. “Tell me,” she whispered.
Danny looked away and sat up. Twisting to the edge of the bed, he reached over and grabbed his prosthetic leg and stocking. Pulling them on he s
tood and pulled on the t-shirt and boxers still laying on the bench at the end of the bed.
“Hey. You can talk to me. Did you have a nightmare about when you lost your leg?”
Danny shook his head as he headed for the door. “I’ll get coffee going.”
“Danny?”
He stopped in the doorway and watched as she scooted to the edge of the bed and stood. Beautiful. Her soft brown hair tumbling in waves down her back. Her slim body and creamy skin perfect. She walked to the end of the bed and pulled her t-shirt and panties on. Turning, she smirked as she saw him watching her. She reached up and tried running her fingers through her hair, making it behave. Still he watched her.
“You’re beautiful,” he rasped out.
She stilled for just a moment then continued trying to untangle her silky tresses. Pulling it over her shoulder, she wove it into a messy braid, securing it with a band she pulled out of her jeans pocket. She walked to the door where Danny was rooted and softly touched her lips to his before preceding him into the hallway.
Occupying his hands with making coffee helped Danny to pull his thoughts together. Tammy pulled mugs down from the cupboard and pulled creamer from the refrigerator. She looked at the time on her phone and figured she had enough time. Looking across the room at Danny, she sat in a chair, listening to the coffee gurgle through the maker and begin filling the pot. Danny wiping the counter seemed nervous and uncomfortable.
Taking a deep breath, Tammy said, “What would your counselor tell you about your dream?”
“Nightmare.”
“Okay, nightmare.”
Tossing the dishcloth into the sink he turned and leaned against the counter, crossing his arms across his chest. He held her gaze and finally said, “Talk about it.”
Tammy nodded. She patted the table – an invitation to come and sit. Danny nodded once and grabbed the coffee pot, poured them each a cup and returned the pot to its place under the again steady stream of steaming coffee. He took the seat across the table from her and wrapped his big hands around his cup. He locked eyes with her, took a deep breath and said, “I had a nightmare about the video.”
Tammy closed her eyes and fought the nausea rising from the pit of her stomach. Figures.
“Hey.”
She opened her eyes to look into his. His hand cupped hers on the table top and softly he said, “We didn’t have enough time to deal with everything. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. I just need time to get my head around it. Okay?”
A lone tear raced down her cheek as she swallowed the bitterness in her mouth. She nodded her head and searched his features for signs of distance or untruth. She saw neither. He gave her hand a quick squeeze and then lifted his cup to his lips and sipped.
“Terrible timing, but I have to get ready for work. We’ll talk later, okay?”
Tammy sat up a little straighter and nodded. “Yeah. Later. I need to get home and get ready for work too.”
***
“Good morning. To what do we owe the pleasure of your company so early this morning?” Molly’s smile was bright, she looked happy.
“We? Shit. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize Ryder was here. I’ll just go.”
Tammy gathered a fistful of her jacket in her hands on either side of her and bit her lip.
Molly pulled her into the house and hugged her before Tammy realized what was happening.
“You’ll do no such thing. Ryder’s getting ready for work and I have the day at home to go through pictures and put some DVDs together, so you’ll come in and have some coffee and talk to me.”
Molly walked into the kitchen, Tammy following her. Molly grabbed three coffee cups from the cupboard and set them on the counter next to the coffee maker. Tammy watched her from next to the table. Molly looked over at her friend, sensing her unease.
“Tam? Sit and tell me what’s up.”
As Tammy sat at the table she said, “I had to tell Danny about the video. I got an alert that someone commented on it last night. He didn’t want to see it, but while he was in the shower this morning, I looked at the comments. There were three of them. They were gross of course.”
Molly’s lips formed a straight line. “Tammy, we’ve discussed this before and I know you’ve had conversations with your attorney and your parents. You knew the day would come when you fell in love and would have to tell the man you love about the video.”
“I don’t…”
Molly raised her eyebrows and cocked her head.
Tammy quickly slumped back in her chair like she had been socked in the stomach. She loved him. She loved Danny. Holy crap.
“I told him all about my feelings about the video, just how much my family and our attorneys have gone through to get it removed from the internet. I told him everything and then last night he had a nightmare about it. I did that to him.”
“You can’t take the responsibility of his nightmares.”
“It’s my fault. He was doing well, we were doing well. He hasn’t had a nightmare in a couple of weeks.” She raked her hands through her hair on either side of her head. “Last night he did.”
“Go tell him you love him.”
“It’s bad timing. It’ll look like I’m just saying it to make up to him for the video.”
“You don’t owe him anything because of the video. It wasn’t your doing. You don’t owe him.”
CHAPTER 28
DANNY SAT IN THIS favorite recliner on Saturday morning and watched the bare branches on the trees quiver in the frigid wind howling outside. He looked down at Noah, peacefully sleeping in his arms, and felt almost content. When Grace called him this morning and asked him to watch Noah for a couple of hours, he was scared. He’d never watched a two-week-old baby before. It was one thing holding him while someone else was there to help him; it was something altogether too scary to be here all alone with him.
Noah stretched and cooed as Danny watched, wondering if he was waking up. His sweet little lips puckered and sucked a few times but he stayed blissfully asleep. He heard the garage door opening and a smile creased his face; she was home. Tammy came walking in from the kitchen and peeked into the living room to see Danny in his recliner. He looked up at her and held his forefinger to his lips, signaling for her to be quiet. Tammy raised her brows and slowly walked toward him. When she spotted Noah in his arms her smile rivaled the sun.
And, damn she looked good. Tight jeans and a deep gray button-up shirt with a lighter gray sweater over the top. Casual yet sleek, da-am!
Tammy bent down and kissed Danny’s lips, first softly then adding a bit more pressure, he held the back of her head with one hand. As she began to pull away, he held her in place to kiss her a few more times. She smiled softly and whispered, “I missed you.”
Danny chuckled, “I missed you to. I’m so damn glad you’re home.”
“Because you’re afraid to watch Noah alone or…” She stopped and looked at him as his words finally sunk into her brain.
Quietly he said, “Move in with me. Live here with me.”
“Danny…”
“Hi, sorry I’m late,” Grace softly said as she opened the front door and stepped inside. Tammy pulled away and moved over to the sofa as Grace walked in with a smile on her face.
“Hi, Tammy, it’s great to see you again.”
“You, too. You look fabulous, Grace, wow. I’d never know you just had a baby two weeks ago.”
Grace self-consciously smoothed her hands down her abdomen and smiled. “I have a bit of weight to go, but I’m able to hide it fairly well. Thanks, though.”
Tammy smiled at her and then glanced over at Danny and noticed him watching her and smiling.
“Was he good for you, Dan?”
“Yeah, not bad, after I pulled him out of the bar, the ladies were going nuts for him. Then, getting him to go to sleep was tough; he kept wanting to watch porn. But, I talked some sense into him and got him to finally drink his bottle and go to sleep,” Danny said. chuckling.
&nbs
p; Grace walked to the recliner and reached down to pick up her baby. Before releasing him, Danny kissed the top of his head and smiled up at Grace. She smirked at him. “As soon as he can talk, you can’t babysit anymore. I’m afraid of what he’ll learn,” she teased.
Danny laughed out loud, “Only what’s necessary. You don’t want him to be awkward.”
Grace shook her head no, nuzzled her baby and walked into the newly finished master bedroom to place him in his car seat. Tammy and Danny both walked into the bedroom behind her and watched in amazement as Grace laid Noah in his seat and began strapping and buckling.
Danny said, “Where do you think he’s going to go? He can’t walk yet, holy cow, poor little guy is practically strapped in a straightjacket.”
Grace smiled down at Noah and tucked his blanket around him. “Gotta keep him safe. There are terrible drivers out there.”
Danny reached over and pulled Tammy into his side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He kissed the top of her head as he inhaled her scent. Tammy’s arms snaked around his torso and squeezed as they both watched Grace package up Noah. Grace turned around and hugged Danny. “Thank you, Danny. I appreciate you watching him. I hope he wasn’t any trouble.”
Danny squeezed Grace and said, “He was perfect. We just relaxed in the recliner the whole time.”
Grace stepped over and hugged Tammy. “Nice seeing you again, Tammy.”
“Nice seeing you, Grace. Truly.”
Grace stepped back. “Paul and I would like to have Thanksgiving at our house. Janice will be there, so you won’t get to hold Noah probably. She tends to hog him,” she said laughing.
Danny looked down at Tammy, “You available, babe?”
Tammy smiled up at him. “Yeah.” Looking at Grace, Tammy said, “We’d love to come. What can we bring?”
“Let me talk to Paul and call you later, okay?”
Tammy stood in the house and watched out the window as Danny helped Grace load up Noah and all his paraphernalia. The diaper bag alone seemed four times larger than Noah was. She smiled as she saw Danny walking back into the house. She turned to face him as he stepped through the door. He briskly walked straight to Tammy and wrapped her in a warm, tight, welcoming hug.