I see Flint struggle to restrain himself, his arm drawn back to deliver a punch that has the power to kill. He looks up at me and I shake my head. I want to go to him, to pull him back and make sure he doesn’t do anything that will mess up his life. As much as I hate him, Donnie isn’t worth that. He’s not worth a drop of Flint’s blood or a moment of his time.
“Don’t,” I call out. “Just hold onto him, Flint.”
“The cops are on their way,” Red shouts.
Donnie starts to struggle, but Flint rests more weight on him.
I can hear my blood rushing in my ears, and my hands are shaking so much I have to hold them together in front of me. When blue lights eventually cut across the sky and sirens pierce the air, I take hold of Red’s arm and hold onto him so I don’t fall. He catches me under my arms when my knees give way, sweeping me up and cradling me against him. I bury my head into the soft flannel of his shirt as shock sweeps over me and shivering wracks my body. Pain throbs over my bruised limbs, my head pounding from the punch Donnie delivered.
It’s from the safety of Red’s arms that I watch the cops cuff Donnie and drag him away. They hold Flint for a while too, just until he has time to relay what happened. The cops look across to me and I know they’re going to want to talk to me next. I’m going to need to tell them everything.
And finally, I might have the strength to get Donnie put away for good.
42
FLINT
I can’t sit still. Red’s slumped in a corner chair, staring at me as I make loop after loop around the hospital waiting room. The police took Donnie away for attacking and trying to kidnap Missi. My poor girl was taken straight back into the hospital so they could treat her injuries. I don’t even want to think about what that asshole did to her. Now I’m waiting for news about two of the most important people in the world to me. The doctor refused to let me into the emergency unit to see her. Hudson is still in surgery. It’s been hours now. It feels like weeks.
I’m helpless, pacing the floor because there’s nothing else that I can do. The nurse at the information desk finally told me there was no need for me to check with her every five minutes. She’d come get me herself when I could see either Hudson or Missi. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt this useless.
Squeaky footsteps sound behind and Red clears his throat. The information nurse is standing in the door. “You can see your sister now,” she says. She leads me and Red down the hall and pushes open the heavy door. “She’s sleeping,” the nurse says in a hush. “She’s been sedated, so don’t wake her.” I nod and make my way to the bed.
Missi is breathing evenly, her eyes fluttering behind her closed eyelids. Small bandages cover cuts on her eye and cheek, her skin purpled over her temple. I tug the sheets and blankets up over her so they are close around her shoulders. She’s so small under the bedclothes. So much like the little girl she once was. I pull up a chair next to her bed and settle in, taking her hand in mine, stroking over the knuckles with my fingertips. Red takes a seat too, his face so worried I want to pull him into a hug. This night has been terrible but it could have been so much worse for Missi.
Her hands are warm. The nurse said she’s going to be okay, but I don’t know. When she wakes up, is she going to be able to live her life without fear? I’ll do my best to take care of her after this. If I have my way, Donnie will never get out of prison. Hudson and I have well paid attorneys who can make sure of that. Leaning forward, I lay my head on her bed, sighing as some of the tensions ease out of my muscles.
I don’t know how long I lay like that. Maybe I sleep for a while because the next thing I know, someone is shaking my shoulder lightly. I glance over at Missi, checking to see if she’s still resting before squinting up at Hudson’s doctor. He gestures toward the door. Red is asleep on the chair and I decide not to wake him. I need to hear this on my own. I can’t be strong with an audience. I can’t hold myself together when I can see others breaking around me.
My heart drops into my gut as I follow him out. He wants privacy. This can’t be good.
The doctor clasps my shoulder and squeezes it firmly. Then he smiles. “The surgery went very well,” he says. For a moment I just stare at his mouth, trying to put together what he just said. “It went well, Flint,” he says again, as though he can tell his words haven't registered. All the air whooshes out of my lungs. I didn’t even know I’d been holding my breath until then. “We managed to remove all of the tumor; his margins are completely clean.”
“He’s going to be okay?” I ask. It’s too much to hope.
“The pathology reports came back from the lab and the tumor is benign. No malignant cells found. The headaches and seizures stem from the area of nerves the tumor pressed against. Your brother has a good chance of making a full recovery.”
I take in a deep breath. If I was a praying man, that’s what I’d be doing right now. Instead a grin splits my face in half. Making the decision to go against Hudson’s wishes was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make, but it was the right thing to do.
I could have lost Hudson and Missi tonight. I could have ended up burying them both. Instead, by a miracle, they are both okay. “Thanks,” I say, grabbing his hand and pumping it with a vigorous shake. He smiles back then nods toward the bed before stepping back into the hall.
I turn around to find Missi sitting up. I know she’s heard everything the doctor said because tears are pooling in her incredible eyes, her smile shining up at me like sunshine.
“He’s going to be all right,” she says. “He’s going to be all right.”
Red stirs on the chair. “He’s going to be all right, man,” I say, and Red blinks before smiling.
Missi stretches out her arms and I go to her, wrapping her up and hugging her to my chest tightly.
I pull back slightly, staring down at her, this little wisp of a girl. She changed our lives years ago when she drifted in, needing love and protection, and now she’s changing them again.
I press an easy kiss onto her forehead and, following the curve of her face, drop soft kisses along her jaw, letting my lips drift lightly over the bandages covering her cuts. Pushing up her chin with one finger, I smooth my lips against hers, stilling, letting our breath mingle. She tastes like vanilla. I move against her lightly, wanting her to feel safe and loved. I slide my hands up, tangling them into her short, silky strands and pull her close. God, she’s so beautiful.
“You’re going to be all right, too.” I say.
“Yeah,” she says. “They took him away?”
“Yeah,” I say. “We’re going to need to make statements, when you’re ready.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about what was happening…about Donnie.”
“It’s okay, baby.”
“No, it’s not okay. I wanted to tell you…and Hudson. But, I’ve gotten so used to dealing with it by myself and I was ashamed.”
“You don’t have to worry about anything, okay. Donnie’s gonna be charged with everything we can get to stick, and that’s going to be a whole lot. He’s never going to hurt you again.” I make Missi that promise because I’m going to make it my life’s mission to keep this girl safe. Now that she’s back in my life, I’m never letting her go.
43
HUDSON
The sun glints off the cobalt waters of the pool, throwing shards of light across the patio. I recline in a chaise, watching Missi frolic in the warm water, laughing when she cannonballs off the diving board and splashes Flint as he flips burgers on the grill. This is life now and it’s so damned sweet.
I’m recovering, slowly, but I am recovering. The first few weeks were hard, some of the most difficult since I was diagnosed. After the surgery, everything seemed so strange, almost like a step out of time. My brain seemed slow and my thoughts dragged like I was walking through water. The wound took a little longer than normal to heal but the doctors expected that, since the surgery was an emergency procedure. I’ll spend the rest
of my life being regularly monitored to make sure there’s no reoccurrence of the tumor, but I’m fine with that because I have a second chance.
A second chance I wouldn’t have gotten if it wasn’t for my brother.
At first, I was aggravated with the both of them for treating me like a child. They wouldn’t even let me get a drink of water on my own, but without them I never would have made it through. I swallow back the lump building in my throat as I watch them, Flint leaning over the side of pool, Missi flicking water at his face with her fingers and laughing.
I love that sound. There’s pure happiness there and that fills my heart right up.
There are days when I can’t believe I’m still here. When I wake up from a deep sleep and see the sun shining through the blinds, when I smell the rain and hear the birds call.
Everything looks brighter somehow. Sharp as a pin.
Life is precious in a way that I never would have felt if I didn’t almost lose my life. Precious enough to know that there is no point in wasting it for anything. Not even a day.
When I got back from the hospital, Missi started coming to my bed in the middle of the night, slipping in and snuggling against me. She has nightmares about Donnie so I tucked her up next to me, letting her sleep away her fears. I had no expectations after everything that had happened. I loved her and she loved me. I knew that deep in my bones the way I knew it when we were kids.
It took time for that love to translate into something physical. I didn’t want to assume. I knew she was traumatized. Some mornings, Flint would come into the room and we’d all crash out and watch TV with cups of coffee and plates of toast. We’d even dose a little too.
We got used to sharing the space. We got used to sharing Missi’s company.
I know she talked to Flint about things before it happened. He told me after that she’d gone to him to tell him how she felt about both of us. She was conflicted because she loved us and couldn’t find a way to make that right in her mind.
I guess Flint found a way to convince her it would be okay because one night, after she’d been coming to my room for a few weeks, she slid under the covers and molded her body across mine, murmuring against my lips that she loved me, that she wanted me. She wasn’t wearing anything but that black bra she had on the first time we fucked. I let her kiss me then because I wanted her too.
She pushed me back down to the bed that night, refusing to let me up. “You lie still,” she whispered into my ear. “No exertions for my favorite patient.” So, I lay back as she slid her body down mine, her mouth burning a trail across my chest. God, she felt so good, her tongue flaming against my skin as she nipped across my stomach, head dipping to take the tip of my cock into her mouth, her tongue hot velvet against the sensitive skin. I twisted my fingers into her hair as she moaned against me, the hum vibrating into my stomach. I couldn’t believe she was here.
She’d slithered back up my body, pressing into every inch of me and brought her mouth to mine, claiming me. When she rose, hovering above me, moonlight from the window slanting over her face, I saw the pure love shining from her eyes. My little pixie. My little bird. My foster sister. My lover. I couldn’t help but want her to be mine.
I don’t know how it happened. Maybe fate wanted us to be together even though our paths had separated for a time. When I think about where I found her my heart hurts. That helpless baby left in the cold, alone and without a soul to care for her. Then circumstances tore us apart for a time. Maybe we were destined to be this way. To find each other at the bleakest of times in both our lives with all the memories of the past swirling to bring us closer. I don’t believe it was sheer coincidence that brought her to that chat room. It was more than that.
As the days pass, I feel that maybe our souls are magnetized. Or it could be that we all loved each other in a passed life. Something more than the regular pattern of things is responsible for me, Missi and Flint.
She eased onto my cock then, head thrown back as she inched her way down, taking the length slowly, carefully. I watched as she rocked back, rolling her hips, her fingers splayed across my thighs. I reached up and grabbed her hips, pulling her back onto me, leading her into an easy rocking rhythm. There was no rush. We had forever.
I heard a noise above the low mewling moans spilling from Missi’s throat. When I looked up I saw Flint, standing in doorway, watching. I beckoned him over. It was only right, the three of us. It’s how it was and how it will always be. Fate connected us all those years ago, and brought us back together again.
Missi jerked when Flint slipped up behind her, eyes opening wide when he slid his arms around her waist. She stilled, looking down at me with the question on her face. I nodded…just enough that she’d understand there was no jealousy there. She nodded too and in that moment, everything fell into place.
She turned her face to him, pulling his head to hers, capturing his mouth with a deep kiss. I watched as he skimmed his fingers over her ribs, causing her flesh to erupt in shivers, her stomach fluttering. Her head fell back against his chest, his hands wrapped around her hips, urging her to slide up and down on my cock. His fingers drifted lower and slipped over the curled hair covering her mound until he hit her slick clit, fingers pinching until it was swollen. She moaned then, her head lolling against him as he circled her clit with his fingers and drew his tongue across the tops of her shoulders. I scraped my nails across the inside of her thighs, brushing at her parted pussy lips, watching as my cock slid in and out of her wetness and her walls clenched around my cock. Her face was slack with pleasure, eyes unfocused as she drowned in the sensation of both us touching her at once.
Flint held her as she came, her body bowing, her pussy pulsing around me. The he slid her back, settling her onto her knees. Her lips captured my cock, slick with her own juice, as Flint pushed into her from behind. She purred against me, each thrust driving her mouth down onto me, pushing us all toward the brink.
Missi is ours now. We both love her and she loves us. We’re a complete circle, the three of us. There’s no jealousy or distrust, just love and happiness that we’re all here, together.
We’re all grateful to have a second chance.
44
FLINT
The sun has dropped down below the mountains in the distance and the air has taken on a slight chill. Our plates are empty and the bottle of wine on the table is more than halfway there. Missi is curled up in Hudson’s lap, head thrown back, mouth open with a laugh at something he’s whispered in her ear. Tiki torches cast a glow over her face, her shifting ocean eyes shining. This is how our life should have been, always.
It makes me sad to think about the years we lost with Missi, but now that she’s back we’re making up for lost time. Every day is a treasure with her. She’s nothing like the scared girl who came to us months ago. This Missi is bold and brash, loving and caring, happy and carefree. I can’t imagine my world without her in it. Or Hudson.
Hudson’s recovery is nothing short of a miracle. I really thought the night of his last seizure was going to be his last. I still can’t think of that night without a frisson of fear sliding down my spine. I almost lost them both. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure nothing like that ever happens again.
Missi, brazen little pixie that she is, is nibbling on Hudson’s ear, one hand down the front of his swim trunks. He grins over at me but I still see the shadows under his eyes. His recovery is slow but he’s making it. I’m sure Missi is helping. He leans up and whispers in her ear again and her mouth makes a little displeased bow, but she nods yes. Then she gets up and comes to me. “Hudson is tired tonight.”
I look over at Hudson. “You okay?”
“Yeah, just feeling a little weary.”
Missi smiles over her shoulder at him. “That’s okay, baby. You can rest…and watch.”
I grab her by the hips and steer her to my lap, pulling her in to straddle my thighs. Her suit is still damp and the night air is pebbling her skin, pushing
her hardened nipples against the stretched fabric of her bikini top. I tug the triangles of bright pink aside and capture one of the rosy tips between my teeth. When I scrape my teeth across it she shudders and arches into my mouth. I slide one hand around the small of her back, pulling her firmly into me, holding her in place as I move from one peaked point to the other, laving each one with my tongue before pulling a firm bud into a deep suck, plucking at the other with my fingers, teasing them into tighter, more sensitive peaks.
It hasn’t been that long since she’s been okay with us seeing her chest. It was a painful process for her to overcome the shame she felt, but it was something she needed to do to truly cast off the shackles that Donnie had used to control her. I tell her that everything about her is beautiful to me. Her scars are just life’s journey. I have enough of them! I tell her that every step we’ve taken led us to this point of happiness in our lives. Who knows if our lives had been less troubled, maybe we never would have been dealt this hand.
Missi is panting and her hips are rolling against my cock that’s hardening beneath her swimsuit-covered ass.
“Kiss her,” Hudson says to me.
I let go of her nipple with a pop and reach up to tangle my fingers in her blonde tresses, that now almost brush the top of her shoulders. Pulling her down to me, I nip at her bottom lip. She sighs into my mouth and I nudge her lips open with my tongue, sweeping across the tender flesh on the inside, pushing further in with my tongue until it tangles with hers. She tastes like honey and sunshine. Her fingers lock around the back of my neck as she deepens our kiss, devouring me like I’m dessert.
She breaks away and looks back to Hudson with a smile. “Was that okay for you?” she teases.
“Perfect,” he breathes. When he looks at her I can see the love in his eyes.
FOSTER BROTHERS - A MFM Menage Romance Page 15