“It is you,” a fearsome-looking man said, dropping down off of the wooden platform and walking toward them.
“Well, now we know where you've been,” said another man, slightly smaller than the first. He stood in the shadows near a horse trough closer, to the saloon.
“You found a woman,” said the first man.
The first man walked up close to them and Noah squared his chest. Emma was too focused on watching the two men in front of them from around Noah's shoulder that she didn't notice the third one coming up behind her until she felt his arms wrap around her waist. She screamed, thrashing as the man lifted her off of the ground and starting carrying her across the street.
Noah turned and shouted for him to put her down.
“What are you going to do, Noah?” the man sneered. “You haven't even touched a weapon since you got sliced during that brawl.”
“I haven't?” Noah asked, his voice seething with anger. “Why don't you ask her where her husband is?”
“Alright,” the man said, lowering Emma to her feet but yanking her so close to his body that she could smell his stale breath and the odor emanating from his body, “Where is your husband, darlin'?”
Emma glanced over at Noah and he nodded subtly.
“He's dead.”
“That's right,” Noah said, stepping up close to the man and holding up his hand to display the band around his finger, “I shot him, with his own gun. This is his ring. I'm sure if you look close enough you might still see some of his blood.”
The man released Emma roughly and darkness took over as she collapsed into Noah's arms.
The next thing she knew, she was cradled against Noah's chest, and she could hear him whispering softly to her as he carried her through the hotel lobby and up the stairs to their room.
“I'm here, my love. You're safe now.”
He placed her on the bed and she felt the darkness take over again. It was dark in the room by the time she opened her eyes again. A single small flame burned in a kerosene lamp across the room and she could see the outline of Noah's body reclining on the sofa set in front of the cold fireplace. She made a murmuring sound as she sat up and he turned to look at her.
“Emma,” he said and rushed over to the bed.
He sat on the edge of the mattress and touched her cheek, his honey-colored eyes glimmering in the soft glow from the lamplight.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“You called me your love,” she whispered back, reaching up to touch his hand where it cupped her cheek.
He nodded, the expression on his face still showing concern as he let his eyes graze over her face and along her shoulders, searching for any signs that she was injured. Finally he pulled her face forward and dropped his down so that their foreheads touched.
“I meant it,” he whispered.
Emma felt a flutter in her chest and slid closer to him. She fought for control over her voice. Her fingers rose and touched the middle of his chest, feeling the strong, fast rhythm of his heart beneath them.
“I love you, Noah,” she said so softly she didn't know if he heard her.
“I love you.”
Their breath hung between them and Emma's heart beat so heavily she could hear it in her ears. She felt Noah lean forward and touch his lips to hers. Emma leaned into the kiss, allowing his tongue to tempt her lips open so that he could explore her mouth. After a few moments, Noah pulled his mouth away from hers and looked into her eyes searchingly.
Emma swept her legs off of the edge of the bed and stood in front of him. She brought her hands to the back of her dress and released the tight bow at her waist. She loosened the strings and peeled the bodice away from her body. Noah reached forward and took the fabric from her hands, easing it over her hips and down her legs. His hands slid down her ribs and over the curve of her waist, feeling warm and strong through the thin cloth of her undergarments. He almost did not notice the bruises on her left by Caleb.
Not speaking, they both removed their shoes. Emma stepped out of her stockings, and Noah slipped his shirt off over his head. His body was even more beautiful than she remembered it being as she watched him bathe, and she finally indulged her desire to run her fingers along the curves and planes of the chiseled muscles beneath his smooth skin.
Noah took her hips in his hands and led her forward, sliding his palms down onto her thighs to guide her onto his lap so that she straddled him, her knees and lower legs resting on the bed on either side of him. She rested her hands on his shoulders and let him ease her thighs further apart so that she settled onto him. A gasp escaped her lips as she felt the full, hard swell of his erection beneath her. Noah met the sound with a deep kiss, gripping her close to him with an arm around her waist.
Emma relinquished herself to him, kissing him passionately as he rocked her against his hips. The movement built dizzying pressure in her lower belly and brought a whimper to her lips. Noah broke their kiss and lowered his head, drawing in a breath as if trying to regain control.
“Emma,” he said quietly, “If you don't…”
He trailed off and Emma smoothed her hands down over his shoulders to stroke his chest, nudging his face with hers.
“Noah,” she murmured, “please.” She gathered the hem of her slip in her hands and pulled it off, tossing it onto the floor beside her. “Touch me.”
Noah cupped his hand over one breast and kneaded it gently. Emma moaned at the touch. The sound seemed to spur him forward, and Noah ducked his head to capture her nipple in his mouth. She arched into him, letting his lips part further and bring more of her breast into his mouth. As he continued to lick his way along her, Emma brought her hands between them to release the button on the front of his pants. She moved her fingers down to release the next button and heard Noah draw in a sharp breath.
Emma suddenly felt herself swept off of his lap and placed on the bed so that Noah could stand and remove the rest of his clothing. She felt a nervous gasp catch in her throat as his erection came into view. Long and thick, it stood strongly from his body and Emma's mouth watered. She moved to lie down, but he took her by her arms and pulled her off of the bed, turning to sit back on the bed and guiding her forward onto his lap again.
With a blissful cry, Emma's head dropped back as he glided into her, filling her. She felt fulfilled in a way she had never experienced, and clung to Noah as tightly as she could. He kissed her above her heart, and guided her to roll her hips against him so that his hardness massaged her, creating deep, intense sensations that bonded her to him so tightly she felt tears threatening the corners of her eyes. She brought her head back up and tucked it into the curve of his neck and shoulder, kissing his warm skin and pressing her chest closer to him so she could feel his heartbeat.
“Make love to me, Noah,” she whispered against his neck.
Noah tightened his hold on her and stood. He turned and lay her on the bed.
“Let me show you how you should be touched,” he whispered.
Noah sat back on his knees between her legs and leaned toward her. Placing one hand on her belly, he brought the other hand forward and ran his fingertips down her waist. Emma’s back arched up off of the mattress and he applied gentle pressure to her belly to hold her in place. He touched her again, patiently coaxing her forward until she felt an ache forming in her peak. Pressing onto her belly, he dipped his head forward. Emma cried out as his tongue slid through her folds and swirled around the swollen pearl, where a pleasurable tension, almost an ache, was building under his touch. He gently slipped one finger inside her and flicked his tongue again.
A completely new sensation tore through her, and Emma screamed his name as all of the tension within her body contracted around his hand, then released into a series of intense tremors. Noah moved up her body quickly, plunging into her to meet the spasms of her climax with deep, hard strokes. She whimpered and writhed beneath him as he made love to her, gazing into her eyes as he moved against her with strength and control. Emma ran her hands along his back, reveling in the feeling of his muscles shifting and tensing beneath his skin.
She lifted her head to kiss him and felt Noah's pace quicken. He moved at a fast, even rhythm until his mouth pulled away from hers to let deep sounds pour from his throat. A moment later Emma felt him push into her with a final hard thrust and growl as he began to pulse, spilling within her. She opened her arms to him and he rested down onto her, with his head against her chest.
As their breath calmed and their bodies relaxed, Noah pulled himself up look at her.
“Stay married to me,” he said, stroking her cheek, “Be my wife.”
A tear trickled onto his hand as she smiled up at him.
“Always.”
THE END
Bonus Story 10/10
A very old man who looked twenty-five looked down at Aniok Island, an isolated place just off the coast of lower Alaska.
He spoke to his companion, a very old woman who looked the same age. “This is perfect. The island is so isolated we won’t have to spend any resources keeping ourselves hidden.”
“Such foul weather. Clouds, fog and storms.”
“Those things no longer concern us.”
“But they’re ugly and they hide everything.”
“They’ll hide us.”
The woman shook her head. “It has so few humans. How will we eat?”
The man grew irritated. “We’re close to settlements on the mainland. Plenty of tender necks to feed on there. We come back to safety and security.”
Her eyes picked up movement in the forests. She focused on the furry creatures. “Why are there so many bears?”
“Good question.”
*****
Sergeant Kate Matthews flexed her powerful, curvy body and threw the 200-pound deputy ten feet across the room. Her voice was deep, commanding. She seldom smiled. “Does anyone have any questions about the Hane Goshi hip throw?” She turned around the large mat. Sheriff’s deputies sat on all four sides. She said, “Good. Practice. Concentrate. We’ll meet again tomorrow.”
She strode out of the room. Her face never changed from its authoritarian expression.
After she changed out of her workout clothes and walked into the main squad room of the Aniok Island Sheriff’s office. Sheriff Hank Thursby waved her into his office.
She sat across from him. Sheriff Thursby carried his office with ease. He’d been Sheriff of Aniok Island for twenty years. He said, “Sarge, we need another deputy. I want you to invite John Dunnigan.”
“I don’t want to do it. He’s a wimp and a loser with nothing to recommend him. I don’t think he’d bring anything to the department.”
“I appreciate your honesty, but it has to be done.” His tone became persuasive. “He’s got a good military record.”
“I respect your judgment. I’ll do as you ask. He’s going to disappoint us though.”
“I don’t think so. He’ll be in the Outriders Saloon this evening. Talk to him at least.”
Kate stood up. “I’ll do that. Maybe he has something I haven’t seen.”
She’d gotten halfway to the door when Thursby called her back. He stood next to her. His eyes were full of sympathy. “Kate. If he accepts, I want you to perform the ceremony.”
Kate looked at him in panic. “Me? Now? I can’t.” A small tear appeared in each eye. She didn’t reach up to wipe them away.
“It’s been a year. You have to rejoin the living sometime. You’re too young to live like a nun.”
She nodded. The tears ran down her face and fell to the floor. She said, “Are you sure?”
“Yes. You used to be firm and solid. You’re starting to get mean.”
She said, “I know. I don’t like it either.”
“Good. See what you can do.”
Aniok Island is at the southern tip of Alaska’s border with Canada. It’s fogged in 250 days a year and lashed by storms another 50.
Native Americans of the Anvik tribe settled the island originally. White men found the island and stayed. As they intermarried with the Anvik women, they found themselves changing into a werebear on their wedding night. Suddenly, they could run at a speed of 35 miles an hour for days on end, stand ten feet tall and weigh over a thousand pounds.
The tribe isolated itself on the southern tip of the island. In order to keep their secret, they became the law enforcement effort on the island. The semi-military discipline of law enforcement and the need to keep themselves safe meant they could control who came in or out of their little compound.
Kate dressed in a short, red dress that showed off her curves. She liked the way she looked now. She hadn’t in high school, but that was before the illness.
She walked into the Outriders Saloon on a Wednesday night. The Saloon had fifteen men and women in it. She knew most of them. She glanced carefully to the sides searching for two kinds of men; John Dunnigan and any male who liked to look at her.
He wasn’t in the room. She remembered him from her senior year in high school. He weighed no more than 170 pounds spread out over a six foot one-inch frame. He spent most of his effort and time trying to hide from everyone. She shook her head. Hardly proper deputy material.
She saw a stranger and dismissed him quickly as she took in his six foot six-inch frame and massive muscles. She watched the stranger look at the mirror over the bar and catch sight of her. He turned away quickly and moved to a booth far back in a corner of the room
She continued to make herself available and move from spot to spot. Without thinking about it, she found herself standing next to the stranger’s table. She heard a deep, masculine voice say, “Kate. I can see you’re looking for someone. Can I help?”
She had to look at him three times before it registered that he was the man she wanted. She tried to study his face, but he kept it pointed straight ahead. She walked around the table and sat down. Now, she saw an older John Dunnigan; older, but still the same weak, shy man who shouldn’t be wearing a deputy’s uniform. She sat down at the table.
“John. I’ve got an offer for you. Sheriff Thursby thinks you’d make a fine deputy.” She paused. “I remember you from high school. I didn’t see the makings of a lawman at that time. I still don’t. The Sheriff has a different opinion. The job pays well if you’d like to take it.” She waited to give him a chance to refuse.
He didn’t. In fact, he said, “This sounds good to me. I was an MP in the Marines. I know the job, and I like doing it.”
Kate sat back in her chair. She looked at John without seeing him. Her own self-pity took up all of her attention. “Look, doing guard duty at some stateside military lockup isn’t the same. Anyway, in case it hasn’t sunk in yet, I don’t want you to take the job. I’ve disliked you as long as I’ve known you. I’ll be your only partner. For as long as you work here. There’s another thing. Are you listening?”
John nodded. “Yes. I hear every word you say.”
“You can’t get out. We have an arrangement with the United States Government that lets us treat joining our police force like joining the military. It’s a lifelong commitment. If you try to leave, you’ll be found, arrested and put in prison. That should discourage you.”
“Not really. That’s the situation I lived with for two years. Why do you have that kind of commitment?”
“You don’t need to know that. Did I mention that I’m going to be your partner forever? You can’t change that.”
John shrugged. It was a small motion; but, with shoulders the size of a Buick, it looked very big. “My last partner turned out to be an insurgent working with ISIS. He tried to kill me. I don’t think you’ll do that.”
“Don’t count on it.” She sat motionless, looking at John. He looked back. After a few moments, she said, “You’re an idiot.” She paused again. “Alright, I can’t change your mind. Let’s see if you qualify.” She grunted. “I should have done this first. You’ve got as much chance of passing the tests as you do swimming to China.”
She paused again. “Look, I’m going to conditionally withdraw the offer. You’re not thinking clearly. You’ll have some time to consider leaving and finding a normal life with... with... someone else.”
“I don’t need time to think.”
She snarled, “Take it anyway.” She snorted. “Good grief, you’re stubborn. Alright, I need to put you to a series of tests to see if you have what it takes. With any luck at all, you won’t pass. Come with me. I need to go home and change then we’ll go to the range.” On the way out, she said to him, “By the way, at work I’m not Kate. Call me Sarge.”
*****
John came to the island when he was seventeen. An Army brat, he’d moved from home to home constantly. He only spent a year on Aniok Island before joining the Marines.
Kate didn’t know it, but John wanted her in high school. He never talked to her, but her looks got inside him and made it hard to think about any other girls.
He had one experience with Kate that molded his opinion of her irrevocably. He was watching a girl’s volleyball match when one of the players fell onto an exposed screw on the volleyball standard. The sharp metal gashed her arm from elbow to wrist.
Kate moved the quickest and got to her first. She cradled the injured girl in her arms and put her handkerchief over the wound. John saw her basic kindness come through. Kate cried when the girl moaned in pain. Kate comforted the girl and kept her calm. Blood soaked Kate’s jeans, but she didn’t mind. The school nurse stopped the bleeding and put bandages and pressure on the wound. Kate helped the girl to her feet and out of the gym.
They rode to a little house on the edge of town. As she walked to her house, she told him, “Come in for a moment. I’ll change, and we’ll do what we need to do.”
What happened next insulted John. He’d been insulted before in his life, but never with such calculated vindictiveness. Kate didn’t go to a bedroom and close the door. She brought back a pair of jeans, her Deputy’s shirt and shoes and socks to the front room where John stood just inside the door. She hadn’t offered him a chair.
She took off her dress and laid it across the arm of the sofa. She casually stripped down her pantyhose and let him see her in a bra and panties. She looked really good below the neck. She shrugged herself into the shirt and pants.
John saw her breasts bounce and sway and the emphatic curve of her legs, but he didn’t like it. The message was clear. He didn’t count, not as a man or even a human being. She didn’t consider him male enough to matter. His only reaction was a slight frown.
In the car, she said, “We’ll test your skill with a pistol, your ability to handle a physical attack and your thinking skills. This should end the evening. Failing a test is permanent and out of your control.”
She drove him to a gunnery range called ‘Make Holes for Fun’. She had a key and led him down some stairs and inside a dark room. She flipped the lights on. He saw four targets across the narrow room.
Kate stepped up to a lane. The man-shaped target downrange was set up at twenty yards. She pushed a button on the wall and sent the target another fifteen yards. She threw him a pistol and one magazine. “Inspect, load and fire all of the rounds. We’ll see if you hit it at all.”
He quickly slid back the slide on top of the gun and locked it back. He looked down. If the gun was loaded, he’d be able to see the bullets. He slipped the magazine inside the pistol grip and clicked off the slide lock. It slid forward, pushing a round from the magazine into the firing chamber. He stepped to the firing line and put twenty shots in fifteen seconds into a circle no bigger than a salad plate. He held the empty pistol by his side and looked at Kate.
She was stunned, which was what he wanted. She stared at the target then back at him. Her voice was mild and neutral. “Good shooting.” She took the pistol from him and walked away. She set the pistol on a table and said, “Watch yourself” and launched herself at him.
Kate taught police combat skills in the Sheriff’s office. She was strong and talented. She went at him full force with two different throws and a kick. None of them landed. None of them made him back off or lose his balance. She ended the test with herself standing three feet away from him, throwing punches at his face and belly. He blocked all of them.
She backed off, breathing hard. She stared at him. “Who the hell are you? You’re not John Dunnigan, at least not the one I knew in high school.”
He said, “People change” and walked out of the building. He waited for her in the car. She came out a few seconds later. “We have one other place to go. If you pass this test, you’re in.” She paused. “If you still want it.”
As they made their way through the streets of Aniok, she said, “You’re too big, too strong and too well controlled to be John Dunnigan. Either you’re an imposter or you’ve just got the same name. What could have transformed a wimp, loser like the John Dunnigan I knew into a man who shots and moves the way you do?”
John exhaled and took a breath. “I’m the same person I was then. I conquered my shyness and built my body into something useful. The Marines trained me to shoot and defend myself. A tour in Afghanistan made it all work together. I’m still John Dunnigan. The question is what happened to you. I remember you from the 12
th
grade. You had friends. I didn’t see any hardness in you.”
He stopped talking. He wanted an answer. She wasn’t about to give him one. She waited until the silence became uncomfortable. “That’s personal. We’re co-workers. That’s all. You’ve passed the tests I’ve given you so far. This is the last one. If you pass this one, we’ll issue you an invitation.
She pulled over in front of a typical biker bar. Ten Harley-Davidson motorcycles, parked side by side, stood in a row in front of the bar. Kate pointed to a spot in front of the bikes and said, “Stand there.” He moved to that spot.
Kate walked to one end of the row of bikes and pushed the first one over with her foot. The bikes went down one-by-one with tremendous noise. She walked back to her car and got in. John waited for the bikers to come out.