by Gen Griffin
“I know. He's always been like that but-.”
“But nothing. He'll sober up and then he'll listen when I explain what happened between you and that dead douchebag whose body is hidden out back.” David scowled and readjusted the ice.
“Why bother?” Gracie asked. “Cal broke up with me eight months ago. He's the one who moved on. He's the one who got a new girlfriend less than a month after we split up. Not me. I've been single since ever since that day on the river when Cal and I split.”
“You saying it doesn't matter if he thinks we slept together?” David almost seemed amused.
“Does it?” Gracie countered furiously. Her face was flushed red with anger. “I'm single. You're single. Cal's the one who has a fucking girlfriend. God only knows what he sees in Jo Beth Greene.”
“You have a point,” David acknowledged. “He's fixing to propose to that witch.”
“He's what?” Gracie didn't even try to hide the shock she felt. The news stung.
“He bought a ring,” David said.
“He can't marry Jo Beth.”
“I think its a bad idea,” David said. “Your brother has been trying to get him to see reason, but you know Cal. He's a stubborn son-of-a-bitch.”
Gracie took a deep breath, closed her eyes and tried to get over the sudden rush of hurt she felt at the thought of Cal marrying someone else. “I love him so much I hate him.”
“Got that all day long.” David seemed strangely contemplative with his makeshift ice pack still in one hand. “I've been waiting for Cal to blow a gasket. He keeps everything under wraps all the time and lets it build up and build up under the surface. It was only a matter of time before he lost control and let someone have it. I just didn't think it would be me on the receiving end.”
“If it wasn't for me being here-.” Gracie trailed off in frustration.
“Don't waste your time worrying about it.” David held out a hand to her and pulled her out of the couch cushions that had swallowed her whole. “What's done is done. We need to try and get some sleep.”
“I don't think I’m going to be able to sleep.” She buried her face into the fabric of Cal's shirt. It smelled like his cologne, and for just the briefest moment she felt safe. It broke her heart all over again to remember the raw hurt and fury in his eyes as he'd thrown the shirt at her. She grabbed the bottom of the shirt and yanked it off. She threw it down to the far end of the couch.
David raised one eyebrow at her questioningly.
“It smells like his cologne,” she said. “I don't want to think about him. I don't want to think about how good he looked tonight. Even drunk and angry, just the sight of him was enough to make every second since we broke up completely unbearable. I can't deal with this anymore. I can't deal with him anymore. Especially not if he's going to marry that stuck-up, bitchy Jo Beth.”
David started to laugh and then stopped abruptly with a flinch of pain as his cracked ribs sent flares of pain through his chest. “Y'all are such a fucking mess.”
“I need to get over him,” Gracie said. “I was trying to get over him. He's never going to yield. He's never going to change. He's never going to give. I know that so I moved on with my life. I went away to college. I tried to find a new guy.”
“You shot the new guy.” David flinched as the ice pack moved across his busted nose.
“I never said moving on was working out well for me,” Gracie said. “But I have been trying. I have to try because I can't live with him. I love him to death but he's got to learn to listen to me when I need to talk to him. He's got to give.”
“I agree completely,” David said. “In fact, I've had that conversation with him. He's too damn much like Pappy.”
“I can't live the rest of my life with a younger model of Pappy,” Gracie said. “I just can't do it. Maybe he's better off marrying Jo Beth. I can't deal with him when he's acts like a stubborn jackass. I realized it the morning after we broke up. It's just. He doesn't ever give, David. He's so stubborn. It’s his way or no way at all.”
“Yeah,” David appeared nonplussed. “That's Cal.”
“I thought that maybe if I stuck to my guns long enough, maybe he'd give. Just a little.” She sighed. “Maybe he'd admit that. Never mind. It’s not important now. He hates me.” She choked on the last words.
“No. He doesn't.” David shook his head at her. “Trust me. He's drunk. He'll get over it. Let him cool down and we'll explain what happened. He's supposed to come back over in the morning. I'll talk to him then.”
“You really think he'll come in the morning?” she asked. “Even with as mad as he is?”
“He said he would and he's predictable to a fault,” David nodded. “Now it’s time for us to go bed. We have a long day ahead of us. The sun will be up in a couple of hours, and I don't want anyone seeing Cal's truck on the side of the road and then coming down here and asking questions. I want to go get it at soon as the sun comes up.”
Gracie nodded in reluctant agreement. “Then what?”
“Same plan as before. Cal and I are going to deal with your boy and your BMW.”
Gracie hugged herself to keep from shivering. She was somewhat stunned to realize that the fight between Cal and David had seemed so much more real and so much worse than Brett's death that she had temporarily forgotten what had brought her to Possum Creek tonight in the first place.
Her nausea came back full force when she thought about Brett lying dead on the BMW's creamy leather seats with blood leaking out of his nose and mouth. She didn't realize her knees were giving out again until David grabbed hold of her to steady her. “Easy Gracie. Breathe. Breathe in. Breathe out. Okay?”
Gracie took a deep breath even though she felt like she was going to die.
Chapter 21
“I can't sleep.” Gracie knelt down on the edge of David's bed. “All I see is Brett's half blown off face staring at me every time I close my eyes.”
David sat up in the bed and beckoned her over. “You think you might be able to sleep if you're in the bed with me?”
“I think-.” Gracie took a deep breath and looked at him. His bare chest rippled with muscle in the moonlight. His dark eyes were intense as he took in her nearness. She'd opted to try to sleep in the bedroom that her brother usually borrowed when he stayed at David's house. She was wearing one of Addison's t-shirts and nothing else. “I need something to get my mind off everything that's happened.”
David raised one eyebrow at her. “What did you have in mind?”
“I don’t know for sure, I want to feel something,” Gracie said softly. “The last few months, I've just felt like I'm dead. All I ever do is just go through the motions. I spend all day failing my classes. I spend all night laying alone in my bed staring at the ceiling and wishing I were back with Cal. I'm living my life in a haze.”
“You still feel that way after tonight?” David seemed skeptical.
“No. Tonight feels like a very real, very painful nightmare that I can't wake up from.” Gracie bit her lip. She looked away from him as she took a deep breath. “I had thought about sleeping with Brett tonight.”
“I thought you said he tried to rape you?”
“I changed my mind about sleeping with him after he told me I was going to put out whether I liked it or not. But if he'd been nice, if the date had been okay, I was going to sleep with him.”
“Why would you sleep with a guy on the first date?” David frowned at her.
“Because Cal was the only guy I've ever slept with.”
“Gracie-.”
“He's marrying Jo Beth. He's moved on.” Gracie threw her hands up in anger and frustration. “He's moved on and I'm still pitifully pining after him. I thought that sleeping with someone else would do me some good. I thought it would help me get over Cal.”
“Gracie, maybe you and Cal should just-.”
“Talk it out?” Gracie suggested bitterly. “Tried that. He wouldn't listen. Just like tonight. He didn't listen. He onl
y cares about what he's got stuck in his own stubborn mind.”
David closed his eyes and sighed. “What do you want from me, baby girl?”
“I don't know,” Gracie admitted reluctantly. She took a deep breath and steeled herself for rejection. “Would it be too much if I said I wanted sex?”
He didn't look nearly as surprised as she'd thought he would. “You want to sleep with me?”
“It's been eight months since I had sex.”
“And?” David rubbed one hand through his shaggy brown hair.
“How long as it been for you?” She asked him.
“Longer than eight months,” David admitted with a small snort. “This isn't a good idea, kid.”
“You don't want me?” Gracie didn't believe it.
“That’s not it. Cal will kill me.”
“Cal already thinks we're sleeping together.” Gracie blinked back tears. “Besides, it's not Cal's business who either one of us sleep with. He's got Jo Beth, remember?”
“You want to sleep with me to get back at Cal for sleeping with Jo Beth?” David sounded skeptical.
“I want to sleep with you because I want to be held. I want to be kissed. I just want to have someone touch me. Hold me. Make me feel like everything will be okay.” She closed her eyes and waited for him to reject her. “I don't want to think about Cal anymore. I don't want his touch to be my only experience with a man.”
David sighed. “He'll never forgive either one of us.”
“Screw him,” Gracie said. “I'm tired of worrying about whether or not Cal approves of what I do. I'll never forgive him for buying an engagement ring for Jo Beth. Cal and I are done forever. It's over. I don't give a shit about him.”
David laughed. He reached for her arm and then pulled her across the bed and into his chest. “For the record, I think this is a bad idea and we're going to regret doing this in the morning.”
Gracie wrapped her arms around his neck. “I don't care. Shut up and fuck me. Please.”
“Okay then. But we do this my way.” David grabbed her arms and pinned them over her head while straddling her legs. She couldn’t move but at the same time the excitement built up low in her groin.
David bent and hungrily kissed her mouth probing it with his tongue. She tasted whiskey and greedily kissed him back. She was frustrated over the restraint but at the same time it built her excitement. He broke the kiss and moved towards her ear, nipping at the lobe. She whimpered with need, still squirming under his restraint and wanting more. He trailed his tongue down her neck, his hot breath causing her flesh to quiver. Her nipples stretched at the fabric of the thin t-shirt she was wearing. He gently nipped at the protruding bud, causing her to gasp. He growled low in his throat as he bit down a little harder. Still grasping her hands in one of his, he pushed the shirt up over her firm breasts and took the other hard bud in his mouth while pinching the other nipple between his fingers tugging on it. He let go of her nipple then ran his hand down her stomach stopping just before her pussy.
“Please. You're driving me crazy,” she said.
“Please what?” David growled. “ I want to hear you beg for it, Gracie.”
“You’re teasing me,” she whimpered.
“Well, you said you wanted to feel something, I’m just obliging you.” He grinned wickedly at her before thrusting two fingers into her throbbing wet pussy.
“Oh God!” She cried as his finger found the little nub that would drive her to the edge.
“What do you want Gracie? I want to hear you say it”
“Please fuck me, I can’t stand it any more!”
“ Not yet..come here.” He pulled her up off the bed by her hands and pushed her to her knees. “Undo my pants.”
Her hands shook with excitement as she undid the button and pulled the zipper down. She reached in and pulled out his already hard cock. “ You know what to do.”
She flicked the tip of her tongue over the head then slid her mouth all the way down. David leaned back and thrust himself into her. “God damn you feel good.”
She slowly moved her mouth up and down his shaft, swirling her tongue around as she sucked. He wrapped his hand in her hair and encouraged her to go faster. “Yes. Just like that,” he said with a groan.
“Finger your pussy while you suck my cock.” he told her. “ Make yourself cum.”
Her hand slid between her legs as she stroked her self. She couldn’t believe how wet she was. Her fingers frantically rubbed her clit bringing her closer to orgasm. She stopped sucking as she crossed over the edge into orgasm barely able to stay kneeling in front of him. “I don't want to make myself cum. I want you do to it.”
“Don't worry. We’re not done yet.” He pulled her to her feet, tugging the t-shirt over her head as he did. He stepped out of his pants he turned her around and shoved her up against the wall pushing her legs apart. He thrust his hard cock deep into her waiting pussy in one hard thrust.
“Oh god,” she moaned. She didn’t think she could reach another orgasm but he reached around and found her clit as he thrust deep inside her. “You feel so good.”
“Scream for me,” he growled in her ear as he pushed his thick, hard cock even deeper inside her.
She screamed. Her whole body shook as the orgasm overtook her and he thrust one final time shooting his load deep inside her. Still breathing heavily they both fell back on the bed, satisfied.
“Feel better?” David asked.
Gracie didn't answer him. She was already fast asleep.
Chapter 22
It took Kerry Longwood almost an hour to record the full extent of Amelia Baxter's claims that Addison Malone had assaulted her while removing a raccoon from her home the night before. He was almost through rewriting the report in his very neatest handwriting when Ian McIntyre came strolling through the front door wearing a plain white t-shirt, blue jeans and toting a NASCAR lunchbox.
“If that's a Amelia Baxter report then you're wasting your time.” Ian gestured to the stack of papers in Kerry's hand.
“How did you know?” Kerry was baffled.
“I seen her pulling out of the parking lot as I pulled in.” Ian made a face. “You're wasting your time writing all that out. Frank won't read 'em. He just rips 'em up and tosses 'em in the trash. Amelia Baxter's crazier than a shithouse alligator.”
“She said Addison Malone tried to rape her.” Kerry decided to momentarily ignore the fact his only competition for the job of Callahan County Sheriff's deputy was apparently on a first name basis with the man doing the hiring. “I was taught to take all citizens complaints seriously. We shouldn't just brush her off because she's a little different.”
“Addy's got half the girls in Possum Creek chasing his truck down the road trying to get his attention. He ain't going to waste his time on something like Amelia,” Ian said with a shake of his head. “He told me about the coon this morning, and he said Jo Beth Green was with him. Jo ain't the type to let Addison get away with looking at someone funny. She sure as heck ain't going to go along with him raping a woman. She don't like Addison as is.”
Kerry looked down at his report doubtfully. “You're sure there's nothing to this?” he asked.
“Positive.” Ian shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry. I'm sure you spent a lot of time on it. That woman talks forever. Not to mention she smells like a backed-up septic tank.”
Kerry nodded and pushed the stack of papers to the side with a sigh. “What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were off today.”
“Sheriff forgot his lunch at the house,” Ian said as he held up the lunchbox. “Momma wanted me to bring it to him. He gets grouchy when he don't eat, and she don't want him eating nothing fried at the diner on account of his diabetes.”
This time Kerry didn't even try to hide his disbelief. “Your mother packs the Sheriff lunch?”
“Oh, uh. Yeah. They're kinda a couple, I guess.” Ian was visibly struggling to decide how much to admit to Kerry. “They ain't getting married th
ough. Momma would lose her benefits from when my Daddy died if she married the Sheriff.”
“I see.” Kerry just barely managed to avoid groaning out loud. Ian apparently read his mind.
“Don't worry. Frank done told me already that his being with Momma isn't going to affect who he chooses to hire for the job or nothing.” Ian frowned. “No offense, but I kinda wish it would. I'm gonna need all the help I can get. At least Addison's already promised that if I put all my reports on his desk, he'll rewrite 'em so that everything is spelled right before I give 'em to the Sheriff.”
“You're kidding me.” Kerry didn't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for Ian.
“No,” Ian looked vaguely embarrassed. “I can't spell to save my life and my grammar's god-awful bad. The only reason I managed to pass English in high school was because Katie helped me with everything. Frank said I couldn't have her proofreading all the police reports though. He said it would violate folks’ privacy. I don't see where it violates anything, but I guess that's why he's the boss and I ain't. You know Katie is the daytime dispatcher for Callahan County, don't you? She takes all the calls that come in, so she already knows what’s going on around here. Frank says that ain't good enough, and she can't write my reports for me.”
“Addison's going to do it instead,” Kerry finished out the conversation. It was hard to believe he'd gone from being 15th in his law school class to competing for a backwoods Sheriff's Deputy position with a guy who wasn't literate enough to write his own reports.
Ian nodded and for a moment the two of them just stared at one another.
“You know, if you really want to investigate Amelia's reports, I can bring you one of the alien kittens.”