Battleborn

by S. I. Hayes

  “Fucking bitch lined the door with C-4 and rigged a timer. Not very sophisticated, but it certainly did the trick, if it was to terrorize this guy.” Frank pointed to Jarod with his thumb.

  “Bring him with you, I got this.” I lead them to the large shower that accommodated him, with his chair. “Help me, if you don’t mind, just sit him down there, I’ve got the rest.”

  Jarod had gone unnervingly calm and quiet. Mitch and Frank put him down on the shower chair and left us alone with an if you need us nod.

  I stripped off my clothes quickly, then did the same to him, being mindful of the leg. Once I had him naked, I had to figure out how the leg detached. I’d never much paid mind to how it fit. I examined it, apparently his knee slipped inside and his weight held it in place like a vacuum. I reached out, touching the limb and he grabbed my hands.

  “Don’t.” He squeezed my wrist, lifting me up. He pulled me into him and buried his head between my breasts, hugging me tightly. “I just need you,” he murmured, running is hands up my back. “Can I please have you.”

  “Baby, I, with everything, is it really the time?”

  “We need to find the good in the fucked up times.” He looked up at me pleadingly. I remember when the roles were reversed, he’d refused me. I wasn’t that strong.

  I bent down, nodding as I let my lips find his, he was a desperate man. The urgency and need he always had for me was there, but there was also a fear and an unspoken broken bit of him that I may never completely understand. But I understood the darkness he was surrounded by at this moment, and if he needed me to sit in that with him, I would. His hands trailed down me. I wasn’t ready for him, I hadn’t initiated, I wasn’t really horny. He nipped at my nipples, that started a simmer in me. Then he licked his fingers and hooking my leg up over his own, found my clit. A few good flicks of those slick digits and my body was pulsing. I grabbed his neck, pulling him into me with a hard, loud gasp. He grabbed me by the ass and began to pump into me, bouncing me up and down, hard and fast, while he devoured my mouth. His five o’clock shadow rubbing against my chin, and upper lip. His grunts were deep and animalistic; as were the sounds he was ripping from me when he pushed me backward to hit my g-spot. I came instantly. He smiled as I tightened up around him. I swear, my getting off pleased him more than his own orgasms ever did. He pulled me back up to him, pressed against him, as he slowed down to long, deep, tortuous stokes, his tease before he comes. He kissed me slowly, as I felt him release into me, filling me up, and making me come again.

  I held onto him. “Better?”

  He laid his head on my tits, and nodded. “Yes, much. Now let’s go and get our girl.”

  Chapter 43 Jarod

  Showered and dressed, Caitlin and I reemerged. Far more calm from the back of the house, we find Frank and Kyle gone and Mitch already attending to the mess from the exploded door.

  He had gathered the wood and thrown it in the fire pit on the patio and was now looking up where to get a replacement.

  “The local big box had the right size, but you should go with reinforced steel this time bud.” Mitch offhandedly quipped as I looked over his shoulder at the phone in his huge hand. It looked like a toy as he fumbled with it, reminding me of Glory when she would watch her cartoons on mine, trying to hold onto it, always nearly dropping it. God, how I missed my little girl.

  “I’d have to agree. And no more glass either. That was too close for comfort.”

  “Agreed.” Mitch put the phone away. “They are tracking. When she stops, they are not going to engage, but they are going to put a tracker on the car. Perhaps, if there is cover, a camera wherever she is if it’s residential. Maybe she’ll be stupid and leave Glory unattended and we can just snatch her back.”

  “Let’s hope.”

  Caitlin stood, biting her thumb, so I went over to her, putting my arm around her. “I know the waiting is killing you. It’s ripping me up too. We need to be patient, they know what they’re doing.”

  She hugged me tightly as Mitch grabbed my truck keys.

  “I’ll get the door; you guys wait here. And keep this on you.” He put a Glock on the counter as he walked out the door.

  I STARED AT THE WEAPON, my hand tightening around Caitlin. I knew what to do and how to do it. It had just been awhile since I’d had to shoot for any reason. I’d given my service weapon to Granddad and with him it had stayed. Now I wish I had kept it. I hated the idea of a single weapon between us. If that bitch showed up I would have rather had the upper hand, since I was vulnerable.

  Caitlin walked over to the counter and checked the weapon. “It’s good, a little heavy, but I suspect that it’s calibrated for him.”

  I nodded, she did know her weapons. A Military Brat, through and through. She disengaged the clip, checking the ammo and the chamber, making sure a round was in place.

  “Good to go. So now, it’s just more waiting.”

  “Not exactly, toots.” Danielle’s voice filled our ears and I turned to see her with Glory, a gun to her head. “Do you have any idea how easy it was to lose those idiots?”

  Just tossed the phone into the back of an old beater truck and off the highway they went, to God knows where.” She laughed. Her other hand tightened around Glory’s face and neck.

  Glory looked sleepy. She’d been drugged, no doubt, to keep her from fighting. Her pretty auburn hair was a mess of tiny little curls going every which way as she struggled on tip toes to stand. Her little eyes going suddenly wide as she saw me.

  “T-Ti-Tin Man?” She managed and I took a step forward.

  Danielle cocked the gun. “I’ve already gone this far, don’t think I won’t.” She lifted Glory, hiding her face and body. “And don’t even think about trying to get a shot off, miss crack shot champion over there.” She glared at Caitlin who had the gun trained on her.

  “Why?” Caitlin asked. “Why do all of this for a measly twenty grand?”

  “Oh, honey, I’m getting the trust now...”

  “No way that’s happening. I’ve done the paperwork.”

  “You think Natalie processed it?” Danielle laughed. “She’s my sister. Coming to Fayetteville was my idea, you stupid tart. All of this has been my manipulation. Right down to twinkle toes there. Although he was supposed to push you over the edge, not pull you back from the abyss. Miscalculation on my part. Tim misinformed me.”

  “I’ll never give it to you.”

  “Won’t matter if you’re dead sweetie.” She pulled up the gun and fired at Caitlin, who ducked down behind the counter. Glory had been pulled up high and I calculated the risk of rushing Danielle. Maybe a broken bone or two, Caitlin would be pissed, but it would be worth it. While Danielle tried to adjust Glory and get off another shot, I sprung forward, grabbing for Glory and slamming my shoulder into them both, knocking them to the ground. I wrapped my hands around Glory, checking her head as Danielle scrambled for the gun that had been knocked across the room.

  Glory seemed okay, just out of it. I laid her down to see Caitlin above her stepmother, the gun trained on her as she turned over, still backing toward the gun.

  “Baby, she’s going for a weapon.”

  Caitlin shot behind Danielle, halting her movement, making her shout out.

  “Fuck! Be careful!” She put up her hands. “You’ll muss my manicure.”

  “You’re out of your mind.”

  “You would be the expert on that, you’re nuttier than a fruitcake.”

  “Press your luck, cunt.”

  “You won’t shoot me, you don’t have the guts for it,” she smirked as Caitlin closed the distance between them. She was standing over Danielle now.

  “You sure about that? You took my baby, assaulted me, set me up to be raped and tried to murder my father.”

  “Oh, poor thing hasn’t gotten the call, yet.”

  I looked at them and Caitlin looked back at me, then screamed.

  Danielle slammed a knife into her thigh and twisted. “I killed your fuck
ing father this morning, smothered him in his sleep,” she gritted out, getting up. “So, once you are gone I get it all.”

  My eyes searched the room, as Caitlin went down and Danielle grabbed the gun. She had it pointed right at Caitlin. “You gonna watch me kill her too, leatherneck? Just wait there, you’re next.”

  Then I saw it, a large shard of glass. “Hey bitch?” I called out from my crouched position. She turned her body toward me and I let it fly. It connected with the middle of her forehead and she stared at me, blinking in shock the gun dropping from her hand as her body crumpled to the ground. I got up, ripping off the lower half of my T-shirt, going to Caitlin. The artery had been nicked and she was losing blood fast. I tied it off above the bleed and pulled the blade out. Fortunately, it was a smooth blade and came out clean.

  Caitlin whimpered, looking at me with fleeting eyes, her only words were, “Glory.”

  Chapter 44 Caitlin

  I heard it before I opened my eyes. The familiar sounds of a hospital room. I was becoming something of a regular in them lately. I rolled to my right and winced, a terrible pain shooting down my leg.

  “Baby?” I heard Jarod and opened my eyes.

  “Glory?” was all I could think to say.

  “Mommy?” Like the sound of a choir, my little girl’s voice came to me and I wasn’t asleep anymore. I sat up with Jarod’s help as Glory was handed to me by a nurse.

  I looked around, it was just the three of us.

  “Tim? My dad?” I choked, remembering the last thing I heard Danielle say.

  “Tim is in police custody, so is Natalie Haggaerty; Tim gave her up too. Your dad... Baby, they found him this morning, he was down, but still breathing, she failed. He’s here in the hospital. Collapsed lung, but they foresee a favorable outcome.” Jarod smiled sheepishly.

  “Oh... God.” I looked up to the ceiling. “Thank you God, for not taking him.” I squeezed Glory, she giggled as I held her.

  “Grandma, was mean. Why?”

  “She was sick, baby. And sometimes sick people are mean.”

  “She cut my hair.”

  I fingered the little curls on her head. “It will grow back even better, you’ll see.”

  She nodded.

  “I got something in the mail today.” Jarod handed me a letter.

  I opened it, and smiled. It was the official letter of adoption. Glory was his... I was his... We were finally gonna be a real family.

  Tears welled up in my eyes as he kissed me, then looked down at Glory. “Hey baby.”

  “Hey, my Tin Man.” She smiled.

  “You know what this letter says?”

  She shook her head at him.

  “It says that you can tell people I’m your daddy.”

  She stood up on her little legs, damn near stomping mine. I winced as she shuffled me around to get to him, wrapping her arms around him.

  “My Tin Daddy.” She laughed, kissing him on the cheek.

  My heart swelled, I was where I needed to be. It may have taken a long hard road through the pits of Hell, but I finally found myself. I was a mother to a beautiful, intelligent little girl. I was a desirable woman to a wonderful and loving man. Soon, I was to be a wife to him, and mother to his child. I’d been through the shit storm and come out of it whole. Even if I fall from time to time, I have the support of those who love me to help pull me up, those who understand. Wife, mother, lover, sister, and daughter, above all, I’m a survivor.

  Epilogue Tim

  Yesterday was Glory’s sixth birthday. They’ll be coming to see me today at the hospital. After I turned myself and Natalie Haggaerty, Danielle’s sister, in for our parts in the havoc that took over CC’s life, I didn’t think she’d ever speak to me again. I couldn’t have been more wrong. She came to my defense as soon as she got her trust that fall. She hired the best lawyer she could find and they got me some leniency. Ten years in a mental facility, where they have diagnosed my condition as extreme Bipolar. One with borderline traits, making me unstable and susceptible to others. People like Danielle, her preying on me at such a young age, garnered as abuse and they took pity on me for that, likening it to a kind of Stockholm Syndrome. I’ll be thirty-seven when I get out, still young enough to get my life back. I just hope that I can. Jarod hates me, he never comes with CC or the kids to see me. I don’t rightly blame him either; I’d hate me too. Hell, I do most days. I was on a suicide watch my first few months here as I’d tried to cut my throat with a razor, so now I’m shaved by a nurse. Needless to say, I keep a thin beard now. As for Natalie Haggaerty, they got her for fraud, and trying to transfer the funds from the trust to an offshore account, she’s doing federal time, won’t see the light of day for about twenty years.

  I see my dad once in a while. He hasn’t really forgiven me for any of it. I mean I had been screwing his wife for like a decade. I’d be pretty steamed too. When he does come, it’s with CC and he doesn’t talk too much, mostly it’s complaints about his retirement coming along. Or he busies himself with JT, CC and Jarod’s son. He was born April 23rd, just three days before my birthday, and CC named him Jarod Timothy Trainor. I was so happy that day when she called and told me. I felt like I was a new daddy.

  He’s beautiful, got Jarod’s dark hair, but CC’s green eyes. And he’s gonna be tall, just like his sister. Glory’s almost five feet already! I can’t believe it when I see her; all auburn curls and smiles. She’s just starting the first grade and I think if she keeps up as she has she’ll skip grades.

  I’m taking classes in therapy, learning to be a counselor so I have something I can do to help people when I get out. Right now, I’m waiting in the common room for CC and the kids. I’m so excited to see them. It’s been about five months now.

  “Tim?” I turn, hearing CC’s voice and the patter of little feet. As I get up I’m slammed into by Glory and JT.

  “Uncle Tim! I got a gold star today in addition!” Glory beams, showing me her math paper with a big gold star on the top.

  “That’s awesome, baby girl.” I kiss her cheek and she twirls in her little navy blue uniform. They put her in a private school, keeping her away from the boys as long as possible, CC jokes. Although I know she’s only half kidding, most days.

  “And how’s my little man?” I turn down to pick up JT, who is holding up his hands, waiting.

  “Missed you!” He kisses me and laughs. He’s a happy toddler, much like Glory was. I’m glad for it. Glory wasn’t scarred by our screw ups, they rolled off her like a bad night’s sleep.

  “I missed you too, what’s kept you, sis?” I turned to her and my answer was staring me in the face. She was as big as a house!

  “You’re pregnant, again?” I couldn’t hold off my giant smile. “Wow, but you’re huge!”

  “Well, that happens when it’s twins!” She sat down, as I went to help her.

  “Twins? CC, that’s fantastic! I mean, oh, wow.” I rubbed my head.

  “Yup, a boy and a girl, found out yesterday. I’ll tell you what though, they are kicking my ass. I’ve been doing nothing but eating, I’m hungry all the time! I’m tired of food! And the cousins! Oh, my god! Jarod’s family won’t let me alone! All the cakes and spaghetti and gyros, and antipasto; it’s too much.” She lifted up a large bag, “I brought you a bunch of it.”

  “You’re too good to me.”

  “You’re my brother, no matter what, come hell or high water, we stick it out together. That’s the point of family.”

  I hugged her tightly, feeling my new niece or nephew give a swift kick. “Someone’s gonna play soccer!” I chuckled. I watched as Glory got JT situated with a coloring book and crayons, then took out her homework. “I can’t get over how big she’s gotten. Or him, I mean he’s half her size already.”

  “I can’t believe she’s six. Or that you’ve been in here for nearly four years now. I miss you every day.”

  “It’s right that I’m here. They needed to punish me for what I’d done to you. I needed help for
what had been done to me. I still do. It’s the best place for me, CC. Trust me on this.”

  She nodded. “She’ll just be hitting her teens when you get out of here, I’m going to need you, so you keep your head in here.”

  “I plan on it.

  “I love you, bro.” She hugged me, putting her head on my shoulder as we watched the kids. I would do right by her this time around, and I’d prove myself to Jarod if it was the last thing I ever did. I loved my sister and these kids. I may have been responsible for some of the hell they’d gone through, but I could also be responsible for acts of joy.

  “You and me kiddo.” I smiled.

  “Till the wheels fall off.”

  ~The End~

  About the author

  From Paranormal Drama to Erotic Romance, S.I. Hayes dips her fingers deeply into the pools of literature while supporting her fellow authors and hosting several blogs and her own website. sihayes.com

  In her own words...

  I have a mind that is easily distracted and prone to wandering. Tangents are my forte, and if you think my characters are going to fit a cookie cutter shape of any kind, think again. They live, they love, they eat, sleep and fuck. I believe that people are inherently sexual creatures and my characters, be they human or something altogether else, are no exception.

  I don't adhere to a single genre, I toe the line on several and wouldn't presume to be a master of any. So I suppose you could call me a jack-of-all-trade-paperbacks.

  I am a truth seeker, in my life, in my work. I’d apologize for it, but I kinda cannot help m’self. It is my best and worst personality trait. Well mostly, being Bipolar, I guess you could say that is the worst. But I believe that the disorder has made me, well... Me.

  I have taken this life and twisted, carved, shaped and molded it into the worlds of my characters. Albeit with a chainsaw, and it has made all the difference.