Cupid’s Surprises (A Valentine’s Day Romance Anthology Book 2), page 95
It was silent in that car as we drove toward the only row of lights we could see. The chances of us finding a friendly were little to none. We’d have to kill a civilian to get our hands on a phone. It wasn’t ever easy to make that decision.
Five lives or one. Which was more important?
We all had reasons to get back home. CJ and OJ were married with kids. Sanders was divorced with five kids who he paid child support for and took care of as much as possible. Kevin was single and kid-free, but he had a flock of women who’d miss him. And I had Blyss, Tatum, and a baby on the way, not to mention the rest of my family. We had to make it home. And we’d do whatever we had to to get there.
We arrived on the outskirts of the town. Chickens ran around and roosters crowed, waking people up for the day. And one old man walked out of his shack of a home.
“Don’t look directly at him,” Sanders cautioned us. “OJ, drive by him very slowly, and Kevin, you open your door, grab him, pull him in here, and see if he has a phone on him.”
I crossed my fingers that he would. He’d have to be killed. I didn’t want to take a life for no damn reason. I was on the lookout for anyone who might be watching and sound the alarm. I saw no one. This was our only hope.
OJ slowed, and Kevin opened the door and tried to grab the old man. The old guy had moves like a ninja. He moved his body to one side, making Kevin miss him by a centimeter. “Fuck!” OJ shouted. “Sanders, help him!”
Leaning over to grab the old guy before he turned around, Sanders got a hold of his shirt, and Kevin took hold of him too. They pulled him inside. Sanders snapped his neck as I rummaged through his clothing for a cell phone.
I was coming up with nothing as I tried hard not to look at the dead, vacant, dark eyes of the man we’d killed. Maybe we’d killed him to get something he didn’t even have. “Shut his fucking eyes, Sanders!” I shouted.
He reached over and ran his hand over his eyelids, closing them and stopping the horrible stare the old guy was giving me. “There,” Sanders said as he pulled up the man’s legs. In his old, holey sock was a small, very old cell phone. “Shit, I hope it works.”
Sanders opened the phone and proceeded to make the call that would save us. We hoped.
The car began to sputter as we drove slowly down the empty street. “We’re running out of gas,” OJ said as the car shimmied, shook, and died right there.
We all looked around for another mode of transportation as Sanders got hold of our contact. “We have to get to open ground to the west of us.” He looked somber, not a good thing when you were expecting good news. “Five clicks on foot.”
I got out of the car and began moving to the west. We left the car and the old man’s body right in the middle of the street and booked it as fast as we could to get away from the town before the man was discovered.
We formed one line, so it wouldn’t be obvious that five men had gone walking in that direction through the deep sand. OJ came in at the rear with a piece of cardboard he’d found. He erased the footprints we left behind, just until we were far enough away from the town that no one would be able to tell which way we went.
The sun wasn’t even up and it was already hotter than hell out there. It took an eternity to make the five clicks we needed to go, and when we got there, we found no one waiting for us. With no water, we were dehydrating fast. None of us had been well hydrated in the first place. It was a tactic that was used to ensure that, if prisoners did escape, the elements would end them before help could find them.
We all sat on the hot sand as the wind whipped all around us, stinging any flesh that was showing. I closed my eyes and pictured my girls back home. All I could do was hope I’d get to see them again. I prayed Blyss had become stronger than I thought she was. I’d always thought of her as fragile. She did show me she had more to her when Tatum came to us. I held out hope that she’d stay strong for my daughter and our baby.
Blyss had never wanted what I brought her into. She wanted to be alone. I smiled as I thought about the fact that I’d left her with an entire family. She had people who were her family now. I wasn’t sure if she hated me or loved me for it. It wasn’t a thing she’d ever planned. But it made me feel better that she wasn’t alone somewhere. She was with people who loved her, and she loved them.
If I never made it back to her, at least I knew I’d changed her life for the better. She was going to have a baby and experience that first hand. Mom would be right there by her side if I never made it back. I could count on my family to help Blyss take care of my kids. I knew I could.
But, damn it, I wanted to get back home and experience all that love too!
Blyss
Jerking awake, I found Tatum looking at me. “You were talkin’ in your sleep, Mommy.”
We’d been watching a television show after dinner and it seemed I’d fallen asleep on the sofa. “Was I? I had a dream about your daddy. It seemed so real.”
“Daddy?” Tatum turned her full attention to me, leaving the movie about bees she was watching behind. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. They felt sandy. That was odd, because in my dream, Troy was walking through a bunch of blowing sand, calling out my name.
I wasn’t sure what to say about that. It seemed like a bad omen to me. “I saw your daddy walking through a sandstorm. It’s just because I miss him so much. I dream about him a lot.” I pulled her to me and cuddled her.
“I wish I could dream ‘bout him too.” She laid back on me, then giggled as the baby kicked her. I was six months pregnant. Troy had been missing for four months. Not many had hope his SEAL team would be found alive. The news no longer even reported on the missing men.
But I still held out hope. No bodies, other than the one man they’d found from the team, had been found. Even though I didn’t want to think about him being tortured, I thought it better to be alive than dead.
The dream, though, that scared me.
Why would he come into my dreams like that?
It was as if he was floating in the sandy air, calling my name over and over. But I couldn’t get to him. Was he dead?
Was that his soul coming to say goodbye? Was that one last look at him?
Tatum and I were in the sitting area of my bedroom. The door was unceremoniously thrown open, and Troy’s mother was there, shaking and crying.
I knew it then. I knew the worst had happened. I looked down at Tatum and hugged her tightly. “Oh, God!”
His mother was so distraught all she could do was shake her head. Then his father came up behind her. “They have him! They’re bringing him in!”
Shock took me over. I couldn’t think, breathe—nothing Tatum was climbing away from me, going to her grandparents, and they were all shouting and crying. And all I could do was sit on that sofa and shake as my mind went blank.
“He’s alive?” I mumbled as if asking myself the question. “How? How can he be alive?”
His dad swept into the room, taking my hands to pull me up off the sofa. I was wrapped in his warm embrace as he said, “The men escaped. They got a phone and made a call that got them rescued. They’re on the ship coming back now. As soon as they’re close enough, helicopters are going to be sent out to get them. They’ll be taken to the Naval Hospital, Balboa, in San Diego. We’ll leave in the morning to get there and be waiting for him.”
“Is this real?” I had to ask. “I just had a dream about him. This isn’t a dream, is it?”
He held me by my arms as she looked into my eyes. “This is no dream. He’s coming back to us.”
Tears clouded my vision as I began to cry. I felt feminine hands take me as his hands lifted me. Troy’s mother and I held each other and cried together. Her son and my heart was coming home. It was over. The waiting and wondering were all over.
Troy was coming home!
That night went by so slowly. The ride in the suburban all the way into San Diego that next morning was so excruciatingly slow before getting to the hospital. The nurse told us where to wait for the men to be brought in. We found out they were in choppers only a couple of hours out. In a couple of hours, I’d see the man I loved again. In a couple of hours, I’d feel his hands on mine again. In a couple of hours, I’d be complete for the first time since he left.
Minutes ticked by as we all waited in a waiting room with glass walls that were near the helipad just outside of the emergency room. As soon as the men were brought in, they’d have to pass right by us. In the next hour, that little room filled to capacity as the other men’s families showed up. The SEAL team left with six members, but only came back with five. We all gave that man who wasn’t coming back a moment of silence. It could’ve been ours who’d died out there, and we all knew that.
The sound of helicopters was heard, and the energy inside that room exploded. I’d never been so filled with excitement. The baby was kicking me, as if he could feel it too. We were having a boy. I’d just had the sonogram done the week before. I had all kinds of great news for Troy. The first chopper was unloaded; two men were brought in on stretchers. Neither man was Troy. Nearly half the people went into the hallway to greet their men.
I held hands with Troy’s mom as we waited for our turn. The doors opened and in came two more men on stretchers. Troy wasn’t one of them, and worry began to fill me. “Could something have happened?”
No one answered my question. We all were silent as we were the only ones left in that room. Everyone else was talking excitedly about seeing their sons, husbands, and fathers. We had nothing to say. Troy wasn’t with them, it seemed. I gulped back the lump that was lodged in my throat and stepped out of the room, looking for one more stretcher. I didn’t see that, though.
A side door opened and in walked my man. “Troy?”
His hair was shaggy and so was his handsome face. He was dirtier than seemed humanly possible. And he was walking toward me, his arms held out and a smile on his face. “Come here to me, you gorgeous woman!”
It seemed like a dream. It couldn’t be real. He was home and he was walking to me. “Troy!” I broke into a run and we met in the middle of the hallway.
As dirty as he was, he smelled like heaven to me. “Oh, baby, how I’ve missed you.” We hugged and cried, then his lips touched mine and I knew it was real.
Troy was real, and he was standing right there. Suddenly, more arms were around us as his parents, Tatum, and her grandparents couldn’t wait to join us. We all laughed and hugged and it felt surreal. I’d never experienced anything like it. The man who made me whole was back. I could breathe again.
“We need to see to you, Troy,” one of the doctors said, looking for his elusive patient.
Troy took my hand, taking me with him. “You got it, doc. But I’m not about to let her go. She’s coming too.”
The doctor nodded, and I looked back at his family, who were all smiles. “I’ll be back to let you know how he is.”
Troy looked back at them. “I’m fine. I’ve never been better now that I’m home.”
We followed the doctor, who led us into a small hospital room off to the side of the emergency room. “You were cleared by the paramedics, Troy. We just need to do a thorough physical and draw some blood. I need you to take a shower. Maybe your girl here can help you. Then put on that gown over there and I’ll be back in, say, half an hour?” He winked at Troy.
“I can make it happen in that amount of time, doc. See you then.”
The doctor left us alone, and Troy began to unbutton my blouse. “Are you serious? You feel up to sex?” I was flabbergasted.
“Sex?” He shook his head as he pulled my shirt off then went to work on my pants. “No, I’m not up to sex. Making love to the woman I’m going to marry as soon as I’m cleared to leave here? Yeah, I’m totally up for that. Come on, baby, let’s take a shower.”
In no time at all, we were naked and in a warm shower. I have no idea how much dirt came off him. All I knew was that he was wrapped around me like a second skin and his body felt amazing.
Our tongues danced as he pressed me against the tiled wall and filled me with an erection that defied imagination. I was fully charged when he went inside me. My body was shaking and I was having an orgasm almost immediately.
“You missed me, huh?” he whispered.
“Like you’ll never understand,” I said as I moved my body to feel as much of him as I could. “How is it you’re walking and the rest came in on stretchers?”
“I guess I had more to look forward to. How’s our baby doing?”
My stomach wasn’t huge yet. There was a pretty good-sized bump, though. He ran his hand over my stomach, then moved it around to cup my ass and pick me up.
I wrapped my legs around him as I panted. He had me so hot for him. “He’s good.”
His mouth came down hot on my neck as he bit me. “Did you say, he?”
“I did. We’re having a boy.”
He gave me three sharp thrusts. “Hell, yeah, baby. You gave me a boy.”
“I did.” I moaned as he swirled his cock in a way that always set me on fire. “Oh, Troy!”
Then he made hard strokes as he looked at me. We stared into each other’s eyes. Eyes I knew we’d both prayed we’d see again. He jerked and went stiff as his cum filled me.
“I love you, Blyss.”
“I love you, Troy.”
Then tears ran down his cheeks and we hugged and stayed just like we were, connected. Entirely connected. He and I knew our love was as solid as it gets. There wasn’t an ounce of fear in me about what we had. I could marry that man without one single doubt that he’d love me forever. As we held each other and cried, it cemented us in a way nothing else could.
If no marriage license ever came, it wouldn’t make us any less married. But I knew Troy would make sure every piece of paper he could get that would bind us would be taken care of. I’d be all entwined in him, heart, body, soul, and legal documents combined.
When we stopped crying, I shampooed his hair, washed every nook and cranny of his much skinnier body, and kissed over every inch of him. “I’ll have you back to your former self in no time, baby.”
“I bet you will.” He pulled my hair, then smacked my ass. “Man, I missed smacking that fine ass, Blyss.” He gave me another pop, and I groaned.
“Damn, baby, you have to stop doing that. You’re getting me all horny again. And I need to get you out to see that doctor so we can get you home.”
“Home?” he asked as he shook his head. “Straight to Vegas. I’m marrying your ass as fast as I can. I’m never letting you go, either. So don’t ever think about that.”
“Not to worry. I’m not ever leaving you or letting you leave me. You’ll play hell getting away from me again. You’re stuck like Chuck.”
“And so are you.” He pulled my hair back and kissed me hard and demandingly.
Yeah, he’d be back to normal in no time at all!
Troy
The ride to Vegas in Dad’s suburban was hard to take, mostly because I wanted Blyss naked and to myself. It was impossible for me to keep my hands off her. But I wanted to spend time with Tatum too. And Mom was kind of clingy as well.
I had a haircut and shave, and a great suit that Dad bought me to leave the hospital in. There was a bevy of reporters we had to speak to as we left the hospital. It was nice to be on the good side of the media, instead of where I was a few months before that. Hearty congratulations were given by all the reporters when I told them Blyss and I were off to Vegas to tie the knot. Not one word was said about the BDSM club fiasco, something I was thankful for.
Blyss told me about telling Tatum and her grandparents the truth about our fake marriage. And she told me how she wanted to adopt Tatum as soon as she could. I was happy about both things. I wanted Blyss to be Tatum’s real mother in a legal aspect, and I was glad the lie was out in the open.
It was dark when we came into Vegas and seeing Tatum as she saw all those lights for the first time was priceless. “OMG! Daddy, look at all those lights!” She peered out the car window, pointed out almost every one of them, and told me to look.
“You should let her pick the hotel we’ll stay at, Troy,” Blyss said as she held my hand tightly.
“Can I?” Tatum asked with wide eyes. “Please, Daddy!”
“Pick one out, princess. It’s up to you.” I leaned over while Tatum was preoccupied with finding the perfect hotel to whisper in Blyss’ ear, “It’s not like we’re going to give two shits about what the hotel is. I’m not letting you out of bed for two days anyway.”
“You bad boy,” she purred in my ear. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
Tatum pointed out the hotel with the flashiest lights, and that’s where we stopped. We got out, and the valet took the car away as Tatum chattered away. “I’m gonna be the flower girl, and I’m gonna be the best one ever. Natalie, my friend from school, she was the flower girl at her sister’s wedding, and she thinks she was the best one ever, but I’m gonna have lots of pictures to prove that I’m the best one ever!”
She had us all laughing as we went inside. The first thing we did was find the chapel, then set up the wedding and signed the papers. They sent us to where we could buy clothes for the occasion and Tatum found a basket of rose petals she could toss around before Blyss walked down the aisle to me.
Nothing else mattered to me more than making Blyss mine for real. That’s all I’d thought about for so long, I couldn’t remember not wanting it. And the night was upon us when it would finally happen. Blyss picked out a gorgeous dress that was so puffy from the waist down, you couldn’t even tell that our son was hiding in there, from what mom said about it.
I hadn’t been allowed to even lay eyes on her with it on. Bad luck was something all of us wanted to avoid like the plague. Blyss and I had already experienced a bit too much of it. We didn’t want any of that bad mojo to affect our marriage.
