My Kenna: A Military Romance (5 page)

Butch pushed past the officers at the door, looking for Kenna.

If anything happened to her…

“He was here! I promise. He was outside the door! He knew I was in here. I don’t even know how he found me…”
 

Kenna looked up at the officers, trying to tell her story again. They didn’t believe her, they thought she was hysterical. It didn’t help that there was an open bottle of wine in the kitchen. From last night! Still, they saw the bottle and immediately thought drunkard.
 

“Have you been drinking?” They asked. What did it matter if she’d been drinking? She could have been drunker than a teenager at prom and she’d still sober up the minute Caleb showed.

“What the hell happened?” Butch burst in to the room. Relief flooded Kenna the minute she saw his brown, skull trimmed hair and hazel eyes, even if said eyes were brimming with fear and anger.

“Butch!” Kenna leapt for Butch like he was a life vest and she was drowning in open water.

“Kenna, oh thank fuck.” Butch embraced Kenna. He held her like that, caressing her hair flat against her back, for minutes on the hour. His eyes scanned the room. Even though there were officers, Butch still wanted to make sure she was safe. Eventually Butch peeled Kenna off and held her in front of him.

“What happened?” He asked, looking closely at her eyes.

“Caleb…” Kenna said, her eyes straying from Butch as though reliving memories. “He was here.” Distantly Kenna heard an officer scoff. They still didn’t believe her. “He was!” Kenna exclaimed, only looking at Butch. “He ran away when he heard the sirens. I don’t know where he is, but he’s out there.”
 

Butch pulled Kenna back in to an embrace. “We’ll find him.”
 

The cops left not much later after Butch arrived. They took Kenna’s statement one last time, a look of incredulity on their faces, and said they’d look in to it. Butch knew they wouldn’t. Kenna would become another pile of paper.
 

It took Kenna awhile to fall asleep. Butch had to rub her back and hold her tightly, but eventually she dozed off. When she did, Butch stood up and tiptoed out of the bedroom. He picked up his cellphone and called Alec.

“What?” Alec answered the phone with his usual no-nonsense demeanor.

“I need your help.” Butch started from the beginning, telling Alec about Kenna’s problem with Caleb and how Caleb had somehow made his way on to the base.
 

“This is the girl from the tavern?” Alec asked.

“Yep,” Butch replied. “And she’s got one fucked-up ex-boyfriend.”

There was the briefest of pauses on the other line before Alec answered. “I’ll call Jose. We’ll track this bastard down.” Alec hung up without another word. There was never any doubt in Butch’s mind that Alec would have his back. Butch would take a bullet for Alec while Alec would jump on a grenade for him. They were brothers. Still, it was always nice for the fact to be reaffirmed.
 

Butch settled down in to his sofa, going over plans and strategies, when he heard sounds of distress in the bedroom.

“No! Please don’t!”
 

Kenna.
 

Butch shot up straight and ran in to the other room, expecting a fight. What he found was Kenna, asleep on his bed, and apparently having a nightmare.
 

Butch gently tried to wake Kenna, brushing her matted hair aside her face and nudging her shoulder. Kenna jumped, eyes wide and frightened and looked around the room. Her chest rose and fell with heavy, frightened breaths.

“It’s just me,” Butch said.

Kenna grabbed his arm, as though affirming he was really and truly there.

“I dreamed he’d found me and you were dead,” She said.
 

Butch grabbed her chin, forcing her to focus on only him. “That will never happen. I will always be here for you, Kenna.” And then Butch kissed her. Butch had meant for the kiss to be gentle and sweet, so as not to hurt her further, but something greater than his will overcame them. He was suddenly pushing her in to the mattress, kissing her with such ferocity it surprised him, and she was kissing him back with the same if not more intensity.
 

They both needed the confirmation of each other’s existence. Needed to feel the burning blood beneath their skin, the hot sweat dripping down their backs, and their hearts beating in synchronicity.
 

“Get naked,” Butch grunted, pulling up the shirt Kenna wore. It was one of his own. The thought that she wore his t-shirts so comfortably turned him on, but right now he needed her completely naked.

Kenna nodded. He gave her enough space to pull his shirt over her head, before pinning her back down to the mattress.

“God damn,” Butch cursed as he looked at Kenna. Each time she got naked her beauty stunned him. “You’re so goddamn beautiful Kenna.” Butch lowered his head and took one of Kenna’s nipples in his mouth, sucking until she sighed.
 

“I need you inside of me, Butch,” Kenna moaned as he moved his attention to the other breast. Butch raised an eyebrow, refusing to let go of the nipple. He tortured her, sucking on her nipples and keeping her pinned so she couldn’t move.
 

Butch felt her squeeze her thighs together and relished as she squirmed beneath him, getting more and more heated.
 

“Butch…” Kenna begged. “Please, Butch!”
 

If there was anything better than the sound of a woman, his woman, begging to be fucked, than Butch had yet to hear it. It was like heroin, utterly addictive.

Butch finally released Kenna’s nipple and plunged in to her pussy, her cries of pleasure echoing in the apartment.
 

“Can’t you stay?”
 

Butch looked down at Kenna’s pleading figure. She almost looked like an angel, her light skin and blonde hair illumined by the morning light. His flannel sheets were haphazardly strewn about her body, a reminder of their lovemaking the night before.
 

He couldn’t stay. Butch had to make sure that nothing ever hurt the angel in his bed, and that meant going out and finding the demon, Caleb.
 

Butch bent down and kissed Kenna lightly on the lips. “I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

“Where are you going?” She murmured against his mouth.

“Just some military business. Shouldn’t take long.” It was a just a white lie, but Butch hated lying to Kenna all the same. He’d contemplated telling her the truth, that he was going to go find Caleb, but he figured it would only serve to upset Kenna. When all was said and done he would tell Kenna everything.
 

Maybe it was a mistake, maybe he should be honest with her from the get-go. Butch honestly didn’t know.
 

“Promise you’ll be back soon?” Kenna reached around his neck and pulled him closer. “I’m going to miss you.” She deepened their embrace, sliding her tongue in to his mouth and arching her back toward him.
 

Butch groaned. “You’re making it really hard to leave, darlin’.”
 

“That’s the plan,” Kenna said, smiling. She kissed him again and Butch responded, punishing her mouth with his. He kissed her like it was the last time, stealing her breath. When he finally decided to release her, Kenna was panting and moaning, her eyes glazed with lust. Just they way he liked her.

Butch gave her one last, teasing kissed and winked. “I’ll be back soon.”

Kenna stayed in bed for an hour after Butch left, replaying the kiss he gave her over and over. He was the
best
kisser, hands down. He was the best at everything, though. Butch was the best toucher, the best licker, the best lover. There wasn’t much Butch Ward couldn’t do.
 

When Kenna’s stomach started to growl and protest, she finally left the bed wearing only his t-shirt. It smelled like him. Like leather and earth. Kenna pressed the fabric to her nose as she opened the fridge, looking for something to eat.
 

Butch kept a pretty sparse fridge. He had condiments and beer, a pretty typical male refrigerator. Shutting the door she decided to look in the cupboards, maybe she would find some cereal—

Caleb.

Caleb in the kitchen.

Caleb in Butch’s kitchen.

Was she hallucinating?

Kenna stumbled back, tripping over her own feet. She definitely wasn’t hallucinating, Caleb Grayson had found his way in to Butch’s kitchen, like an unwanted feral cat.
 

Kenna ran in to the living room, looking for her purse where she kept the gun she recently bought.

“Looking for this?” Caleb’s voice, like a million spiders crawling down her spine, made her turn around. There he was, in the living room, holding her gun like a prize. “You know, My Kenna, it’s really easy to track down recent gun registrations.”
 

Kenna blinked, barely registering his words. He’d found her through her only form of self-defense? The irony was almost too much for her to comprehend.
 

She was officially out of options.

“What do you want?” Kenna asked, afraid of the answer.

“Why you,
My Kenna
.” Caleb said “my Kenna”
 
like she was his property. Cattle to be branded and sold. He didn’t say “Kenna” the way Butch did, with reverence and devotion. In Caleb’s eye, Kenna was just another piece of furniture.
 

Kenna slithered against the wall, looking for weapons or escape. Caleb had her gun and she had nothing. It was not looking good. In the corner of her eye she spotted her phone. If she could get to it before Caleb shot her or worse, maybe she could call the police. That was her new plan.

Kenna continued to slide along the wall, trying to get to the kitchen.
 

“Where do you think your going?” Caleb asked. Kenna darted her eyes, it was now or never. She made a beeline, sprinting for the kitchen. She grabbed her phone just as Caleb pulled her back. Her phone flew out of her hand as her head hit the kitchen counter top. Kenna saw spots. Bright, painful spots.

“That was stupid, Kenna. Now I’m going to have to punish you.”
 

In the back of her mind Kenna realized she’d lost.

Butch was out scouring the town with Jose and Alec but so far they’d found nothing. They checked the two motels that the town offered. They’d checked the bars. They’d asked locals if they saw anyone new. And nothing turned up. Everything was a dead end.
 

Now they were about to head out to the next town over, to see if Caleb was staying there.

“Hold up,” Butch told his friends, putting a finger up. “Kenna’s calling me.” Butch clicked approve and smiled in to the receiver. “Hey darlin’ miss me already?”
 

Muffled sounds were his response. At first he thought Kenna had butt dialed him, but then he listened harder. He put the phone on speaker and asked his friends to listen.

“What does this sound like to you?”
 
Butch and his friends listened to the sounds. They were faint, as though the phone was far away, but as they were about to chalk it up to nothing one, single sentence sealed it.