by Sy Walker
At some point she had quit caring. The magic Stephen was working with just his fingers would have convinced her to fuck him as the halftime show at a Seahawks game. She didn’t notice he had squatted down, but with the first flick of his tongue over her swollen clit, she nearly shattered. “Oh my God, Stephen!” she cried as she white knuckled the edge of the counter. The man was talented. The pace of his tongue matched that of his fingers, driving Jana closer to orgasm. “Unless you want me to come on your face, you need to get up here and do me right now.”
“Yes, ma’am.” That was all Stephen needed to hear. He rose to his feet and pushed Jana’s legs open wide. In one swift motion, he slid her closer to the edge and pushed inside her. As he thrust, Jana wrapped her legs around him, fulfilling one of his simpler fantasies; and they felt as amazing as he thought they would.
Jana dug her nails into Stephen’s back and cried out. With the size of him, he stretched her, each thrust was pleasure bordering on pain. Exquisite and delicious pain.
“Look at me, Jana. I want to watch you.”
She leaned back on her hands again, allowing him to push deeper. The angle give Stephen full view of her bouncing tits and ecstatic expression. She threw her head back as she came, pressing her lips tightly together to keep from screaming his name out. Stephen came undone quickly after her. The experience was worth the wait and then some.
Jana giggled as she sat upright.
“What’s so funny?” Stephen shrunk back a little.
Jana pulled him in and kissed him deeply before answering. “Nothing. This is the reaction of a woman who has been well and truly fucked properly and I can’t wait to do it again.”
Chapter 6
Jana sold the house within the week… to herself. She needed a place to live and while the cottage was nice, she couldn’t see it being home on a permanent basis. Besides, she had the itch to do another flip and at the open house, she realized the potential if someone would just put a little sweat equity into the property. There was also the little factor of selling a home she had already christened herself. She just couldn’t bring herself to do it; not with a straight face anyway.
Since that day, her feet hadn’t touched the ground. Jana hesitated to call it love – she felt it was too soon for that – but she was absolutely, positively, head-over-heels in lust with Stephen. He had awoken a sleeping dragon that refused to bed back down. It was a side of her she hadn’t known existed, but she was more than happy to get to know.
Her sex life in the past wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad, it just was. The relationships would start out hot and heavy right out the gate, and then slowly fizzle out starting with the quality, then the frequency, until finally she would settle into a fairly sexless routine; and that’s what she just thought happened as time went by. Boy, was she surprised to find her forty-eight-year-old boyfriend had smoked every man that she dated in her twenties in just a few short weeks.
At first she was surprised he could keep up with her; then she found that she had a hard time keeping up with him. Shifters had some amazing stamina. It was a good problem to have.
Jana had just settled in, in her office when a knock came at her door. Maura, the receptionist, poked her head in. “Ms. Oliver? There’s someone here to see you about purchasing a house. He says you met before?”
Jana furrowed her brow, trying to think of who it could be. “I’m not sure who he is, but I probably have and just forgot. Send him in.”
Maura nodded and pushed the door the rest of the way open, revealing the tall, brutish looking man from her first open house. The hair on her neck stood up, but she had to swallow her anxiety and put her most professional foot forward. The other one wanted to run screaming from the room. “It’s so good to see you again, Mister?”
“Walker. Theodore Walker, but you can call me Ted if you’d like, Ms. Oliver.”
His name in no way matched his menacing look. “Sure, Ted. How can I help you?”
“I am in the market for something a little older in the area. Something that might require some demo or rearranging a few features. Would you happen to have anything like that available?”
“Maybe. Give me a second to look.” She began typing the spec into her computer, but was quickly interrupted.
“That won’t be necessary. I know you have what I’m looking for what I’m looking for; I just can’t seem to find it. And by you, I mean you personally, not your company. It would appear that my target is alluding me and I need a way to,” he waved his hand in the air as he groped for the right word. “A way to draw him out.” Ted sneered, revealing a missing front tooth.
Stephen! “I’m sorry, Ted. I don’t follow.” Jana figured if she played dumb, he’d go away.
Ted slammed his hands on the desk and lunged to his feet. He towered over her, the very presence of the man pressed down on her. “Where is Stephen Marciano?”
“Why?”
Ted’s sneer turned up higher in the corners of his mouth. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you and we wouldn’t want that, now would we?” With a Cheshire cat grin, he sat back down, resting his hands behind his head and his feet on Jana’s desk. Crusts of mud crumbled onto her blotter. “He’s been avoiding my calls and I have an urgent matter to discuss with him. So what you’re going to do is pick up that phone and give him a little ring for me. Invite him for a lunchtime quickie.”
Jana remained frozen in place. Whatever this guy was, she wanted him gone. “No. And I thank you to mind your own business.”
“Oh we are way past that, my dear. I’ve seen it all. I was particularly fond of the little black number you wore last week, but my favorite had to be at that first house you were selling with your skirt tucked up around your waist. You painted such a pretty picture, I thought about it for weeks.”
“You’ve been following me?” A mixed sense of dread and violation coalesced into a lead ball in her stomach.
“Following, watching, taking photos. But don’t worry, it’s not you I’m after, it’s that lap dog of yours. The photos are for my eyes only.” Ted watched Jana pale at the news. “So go ahead and call Fido home so he and I can have a little chat.”
Jana steeled herself and put her foot down. “No. You need to leave Mr. Walker. I’m afraid I have nothing here for you in your price range.”
“Oh, I doubt that. You should see what I did to the women I met in Iraq while on tour; and that was for fun. Just imagine what a guy like me can do with a girl like you when there’s a purpose?”
She didn’t dare call his bluff. She picked up the phone and dialed Stephen’s number.
“Oh, and by the way, the promise still stands if you give away that I’m here. Keep it casual.”
She dialed the last number and prayed Stephen wouldn’t pick up. He answered on the third ring. “Hi, honey! How’s your day going?”
He sounded so cheery, like he didn’t have a care in the world. “I was just wondering if you’d like to meet me for lunch today?” She tried hard to keep the nervousness out of her voice.
“Of course. What time should I pick you up?”
Jana looked over at Ted for a time. He held up one index finger. “Can you do one o’clock?” The clock on her computer read eleven-thirty.
“Can you go a little earlier? Say noon? There’s this great little place I’d like to take you to, but they close at two and I don’t want to rush.”
Ted smirked and nodded in approval.
“Noon is fine. I’ll see you in a few.”
Chapter 7
Stephen stepped out of his truck and paused to sniff the air. Something was wrong. It was the scent he caught at the open house. He would catch a faint whiff of it when out and about with Jana sometimes too. It was an acrid combination of human musk and something bigger and furrier.
As he hurried inside, the scent grew stronger. “Please don’t be who I think it is.” The trail was at its clearest at Jana’s door. Right before he opened the door he had figured it out and Jana was in a dangerous position.
He dropped his mask in place and entered the room.
“Stephen!” Ted greeted. “How’s my favorite soldier? What’s it been now? Three years?”
Stephen replied through gritted teeth. “Not long enough.” Jana peeped out from behind the big man, all the color had drained from her face. “If you hurt her at all–“
“You’ll what? Bit my ankles? Is that how you greet an old friend Stevie, with threats? Now I got a proposition for you and you’re going to take the job.”
Stephen’s mouth set in a hard line. He wouldn’t take his eyes off Jana. “It’s not a proposition then if I have to do it. What do you want, Walker?”
“Just a little political assassination; nothing you can’t handle. I recall you having done that once or twice before.”
“I’d rather not discuss this in front of her.” The anger coursed hot through his veins and he clenched his fists to keep from shaking.
Ted simply smiled and grabbed a fistful of Jana’s hair, yanking her, whimpering to her feet. “You’ll discuss this wherever I damn well please. I made you and therefore, I can destroy you.” He tossed a manila envelope on the desk with a thwack. “All of your instructions are in there. You have one week and as collateral, I’m going to take this gorgeous arm candy with me. Now if you’ll excuse me.” Ted started for the door, checking Stephen out of the way.
“What if I say no? I got out, Walker. I’m not your puppet anymore.”
“Well, then you’d better go ahead and kiss this little lady goodbye because when I’m done with her, she won’t be the same.” That was the last word as Ted guffawed his way out the door, dragging a screaming Jana behind him.
Chapter 8
For six days, Jana was locked up in a beach bungalow, which wouldn’t have been so bad if not for the bars on the windows and the deadbolts that only locked from the outside. It might have been the cutest prison ever, but it was still prison.
She had stayed curled up in bed pretty much since she arrived only eating and drinking enough to stay alive. She’d watch the tide roll in and out twice a day while catching snatches of sleep in between.
Ted hadn’t been cruel to her, he hadn’t even done anything inappropriate. He brought her food three times a day and would try to engage her, but she wasn’t having any of it. With only one day left in Stephen’s mission, her safety hung in the balance. Ted didn’t say it explicitly, but Jana knew if Stephen failed to deliver or failed to deliver on his mission on time, Ted wouldn’t exactly guarantee Jana’s safety.
“Good morning, beautiful.” Ted set a tray down on the bedside table. “I’ve got your breakfast for you and as a special treat, I even brought raisins for your oatmeal. You’re welcome.”
It’s like Ted was two different people! He typically greeted her all cheery and smiles, but in an instant he’d shut down and become cold and deadly. After six days of cheery Ted, Jana was sick of it.
“I’ve got some good news for you, Jana; it’s about your lapdog.”
She rolled over just enough to see him. “What news?” Her heart beat a tattoo in her chest.
“I just got word that Stevie-boy completed his mission, isn’t that great?”
For the first time all week, she could breathe. “That’s great news! So he’s coming home?”
“In a round about sort of way. See, in the process of doing what he had to, he was gunned down, so we’re going to have to flush him.”
The rhythm her heart was pounding stopped abruptly as it was crushed beneath Ted’s boot. “Oh, God. He’s dead?”
“’Fraid so.”
The tears were coming fast as she gasped for air. “Oh, God. He’s gone. I’ll never see him again. He won’t be there when I get home!”
“When you get… Oh no, you’re not going home. Don’t be ridiculous. You’re staying here with me.”
The sobs came harder. Her stomach tensed so much, she was glad it was empty.
“You have the privilege of being the first new person picked for our program. Isn’t that great?”
“What are you talking about? Let me out of here!”
“In my tracking of your day to day, I noticed how athletic you are and that’s what we need for this to work. My department is making you patient zero-zero-one of our new dog soldier program. Stephen was picked for round one about twenty years ago, and with that being such a big success, we’ve opened it up again.”
“Who’s we?”
“The U.S. Government. You should be proud of yourself. You get to be a part of the elite. Now, eat up. You’re going to need your strength.” Ted stood up and left, leaving Jana to pick up the pieces and deal with that huge pile of news that got dropped on her.
A knock came at the door. Jana had no idea what time it was, but the sun hung low in the sky. The black and midnight blue of night leaned on the sun, nudging it slowly below the horizon line.
Three more knocks came. “What do you want?” Jana said irritably. “The door is locked from the outside, you idiot.”
The knocking stopped and she didn’t hear another thing until the hinges on her bedroom door squeaked. She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath.
“Jana?” a rough voice whispered. “Jana, are you in here?”
She didn’t dare speak or move.
The voice came a little louder. “Jana, it’s me. Were are you?”
Her eyes popped open. “Stephen? You’re alive?” She threw the covers back and hopped out of bed. The floor pitched beneath her feet as her legs gave way.
“Whoa.” Stephen caught her as she crumpled. “Sit down. Tell me what’s happened to you. Did Ted hurt you?”
She couldn’t take her eyes off him. He held her in her arms and those felt solid and real. “You’re dead. How did you get in here?”
“Um, only on paper. As you can tell, I’m very real and very much in front of you. And I picked the lock.”
Jana threw her arms around him and hugged him close. Fresh tears soaked Stephen’s t-shirt. “You’re not dead! Ted told me you were dead!”
“I faked it. It was the only way I could think of to get back to you and take out Ted without him getting suspicious. The mission was a success though. I was sent to kill a Supreme Court Justice and I got it done. I alerted the proper channels to make sure I got paid and then I ‘died’.”
Jana stepped back and wiped her nose. “He said you were part of some dog soldier program and was going to be the first to be a part of phase two.”
It was time to come clean. “In the nineteen nineties, the United States military brought together a select group of elite soldiers from each branch and pooled us together into this super soldier program. The program was so underground that none of what they did was ever documented except for a few select details that I wasn’t made privy to. I’ll spare you the gory details, but I will tell you that I went in at twenty-seven not a shifter and came out a few months later with the ability to change. There were a few soldiers that were shifters and they were recruited to change us and guide us through the first few months as we transitioned.
“After that we were trained and honed into finely tuned weapons and we were used as such for assassinations and tactical ground work that human soldiers couldn’t do. After I got out three years ago, I would still take on the odd contract. The payouts were great until Ted found me again. He was the one who recruited me into the program in the first place.”
Stephen and Jana froze as a key clicked in the lock. “You need to hide. That’s Ted.” She slipped back into bed and pulled the sheets over her head.
“Don’t say a word and don’t roll over,” Stephen warned.
This one Stephen’s one shot to take Ted out for good. He shifted and lay in wait at the foot of the bed for the door to open. If Ted caught him and had a chance to shift himself, Stephen was as good as dead again; he was no match against a bear.
Crouched low to the floor, he held his breath as the door opened.
“I’ve got your din–,“ Ted’s words were cut o
ff mid sentence and a blood curdling scream took their place.
Stephen was on him in a flash. The element of surprise was all he had. His teeth closed over the soft flesh of Ted’s neck and with one good turn of the head, he had ripped Ted’s throat out. It was all over in a matter of seconds as Ted’s knees buckled and he collapsed, face down on the floor.
Jana kept her back to the carnage. The sharp tang of fresh blood invaded her nostrils and as bad as she wanted to turn and look, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“You can turn around now, honey. It’s over.”
She at up and saw that Ted’s body had been covered with a couple of sheets, although the growing pool of blood seeping out from underneath clued her in for the most part. “Did you get hurt at all?”
“Nope. Not a scratch.” Stephen turned to show her, no damage was done.
Jana wobbled up onto her knees and beckoned Stephen to come to her. He knelt in front of her then she cupped his face and kissed him deeply and passionately, as though she would never get to kiss him again. “I thought you were gone. A part of me died right along with you when I found out.”
Stephen pressed his forehead to hers. “I am so sorry for putting you through that and for not telling you the truth about all this sooner. I know I’m asking a lot, but do you think you’ll ever forgive me?”
“Absolutely. You wanted to protect me from all this, even though I don’t think you could have either way. I love you, Stephen and I forgive you.” THE END
Return the the Table of Contents
GAY PARANORMAL BONUS
GAY ROMANCES
Bear’s Baby
“Here is to freedom from oppression!” Charlie said, raising his glass above his head in a toast.
The guys surrounding him at the bar raised their glasses, tapping them against one another and joining him in his toast.
“Give everyone another round,” Charlie shouted, sending another cheer up from the crowd.
It was his first day in New Orleans as an economics student at Tulane University, and he had ventured out to find a place where he might be able to kick back and have a few beers. Passing by a quirky place aptly named “The Banana Stand,” he noted the guys that stood outside the door chatting each other up. A couple had wandered off to a recessed corner and were making out with one another. It looked like exactly the kind of place he was looking for.