Tony: Alvarez Security Series (12 page)

Walking to the snow covered dock, she pulled out her phone and declared, “Selfie time,” handing it to him. With his long arms, he made several pictures of the two of them, tucked tightly together with the winter landscape in the background. Before handing the phone back to her, he quickly sent the pictures to his phone.

He wanted to keep them from the edge of the water for safety’s sake, so they made their way back around the cabin and down the driveway. Tony walked a little way ahead to see if he could tell where the path lie. Suddenly he was smacked in the back with a snowball.

Whirling around, he saw Sherrie trying to look innocent. “Where did that come from, I wonder?” she shouted.

Without saying a word, he stalked toward her. “Oh, I think I know exactly where it came from, darlin’. And you’re gonna pay.”

Screaming, she tried to run but he caught up to her in just a couple of steps, tackling her around the waist. They rolled over several times in the snow. He moved so that she was on top, but held her tightly in place. Tendrils of blonde hair fell from her cap, framing her porcelain skin with pink tinged cheeks. Her smiling lips were rosy red and as she looked down at him, her luminescent blue eyes once again saw deep inside of him.

“I thought we needed a little roll in the snow,” she giggled.

“Oh, yeah? Well, I guess you got what you wanted, didn’t you?”

She softly said, “I did get what I wanted, Tony. What I wanted was you. All of you.”

He lifted his head to capture her cold lips in a searing kiss. The kiss quickly heated her lips and other parts of him as well. Wondering how the snow was not melting all around them, he rolled her to the side so that he could hoist himself up, pulling her along with him.

Her kiss-warmed lips opened slightly in surprise. “Where are we going in such a hurry?”

He swooped her up in his arms, kissing her soundly once again. “Wanna get you inside and get you warm, baby.”

Baby? He called me baby.
She could not help the grin on her face, realizing that she had never been anyone’s ‘baby’. Holding tightly to his neck, she pulled him in closer.

Walking through the front door, he kicked it closed behind him, then carried her over to the fireplace. Setting her down gently, he noticed her wet pants. “Start stripping and I’ll get you something warm to put on.”

She watched as he took off his jacket, pulling a gun out from the pocket, checking it and then laying it on the table by the sofa.

He saw her questioning look and smiled. “I carry a weapon, darlin’. Never know what critters may have been out there. Four-legged or two.”

“Will you show me how to shoot sometime?” she asked, looking down at it.

“Absolutely. We’ll practice later. Right now, you need to finish getting out of those wet clothes.”

Her fingers and toes ached as she pulled off her boots and wet socks. She managed to get out of her jacket by the time he returned with her sweatpants, but her fingers fumbled with the button on her jeans.

Brushing them aside, he quickly had her jeans unzipped and slid them down her legs.

“How do you do that? You were outside too, so how is it that your fingers work and mine don’t?” she asked, trying to pull her sweatpants up.

He was attempting to not look at her near nakedness as he stripped out of his outer garments as well. “Training,” was his reply.

Cocking her hip, she looked up at him. “Training? How on earth can you train to not have cold fingers?”

He laughed as he pulled dry socks onto her feet and moved her closer to the fire. “I was Special Forces in the Army.”

“Oh.”

He looked at her and smiled. “You don’t know what that means, do you?”

“Well, kind of. I’ve seen it in movies. It means you earned the Green Beret, right?” She pushed him down on the rug in front of the fire and said, “Let me get some hot chocolate for us and I want to hear about it.”

Returning a few minutes later with steaming mugs, she sat down next to him. “Okay, Mr. Green Beret, tell me how you learned to not have cold fingers.”

Laughing, he said, “Not much to tell you other than we trained for-fuckin-ever, in the water, in the cold, in the heat. You learn to withstand the elements, work through them, keep going.”

“Did you always want to go into the Special Forces?” she asked, noting the pride in his voice as he spoke.

“My father was Army. My grandfather was Army. I did college and then officer training school, by that time I knew I wanted to be part of the elite.”

“What about the others? Gabe and Vinny and Jobe?”

“We all were assigned to the same unit. They were under me. We worked in squads of twelve. Tighter than brothers. You gotta know their thoughts as well as their moves and they sure as hell had to know mine.”

“Do you miss it?”

Tony thought for a moment, the firelight playing across the angles in his face. He shook his head slowly. “Nah. I don’t miss it. If I didn’t have them working with me, then yeah, I’d miss the camaraderie. The closeness. That bond that just happens when you share the good as well as the worst. But it was time for me to get out and as it happens, they felt the same.”

“What about the security business? When did that become your dream?”

“I started thinking about it a year before I got out. I didn’t have anything except for the Army. Not after…” Rubbing his hand over his face, he said, “Just felt the need to use my skills. To protect. To…” Looking at her, he said, “You know those commercials about serving in the military to make Americans safe? Well, I knew that you don’t have to go overseas to fight in a war to want to make people safe. I could do it here in my own backyard.”

They sat quietly for a few minutes, letting the crackle of the fireplace fill the silence. He leaned back and watched her as she closed her eyes inhaling the scent of the hot chocolate.
Haven’t talked so goddamn much in years as I have in the past two days.
Smiling, he realized that it felt fuckin’ good.

*

As Sherrie cleaned
up from dinner, she heard Tony on the phone. “Tomorrow? Any chance you can get to the Marks’ cabin? It’s a driveway right off of County Road 147, Lakeview Road. Yeah, if you can get someone to plow a path from the cabin to the road, we’d appreciate it.”

She watched as he moved into the kitchen. She could watch him move forever. Lithe. Like a panther. Big and strong, but silent and always moved with a purpose.
Tomorrow?
Why, suddenly, did tomorrow not sound good? Why did she find herself wanting more days stuck out here with him?
Because I love him. I’ve loved him for a very long time. And now, maybe, it will finally go somewhere.

“So the snow plow’s coming tomorrow?” she asked, trying to keep the longing out of her voice.

He walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around and pulling her into his chest. Leaning down, he nuzzled her neck. “You don’t want to leave? You’re not sick of my company?”

She turned in his embrace, saying, “You want honesty?”

“Always, baby.”

“I came up here to get away. Get away from everyone and everything. Including you.” She leaned way back to see into his eyes. “I know what my sister became and no one in my life knew what she was like before. I felt so sick at heart after we found her. And then just numb. And then angry. And then just incredibly sad.”

He brushed her hair back from her face, listening to the words but hearing with his soul as well.
Been there. Oh, yeah. I’ve been there.
Nodding his understanding, he encouraged her to continue.

“The past couple of days with you have been a whirlwind. You want honest, Tony? I’ve cared for you for a really long time. In fact, ever since I first saw you. But I figured I was never going to be good enough for you.”

At this, his eyebrows rose in surprise. “What the hell? You not good enough for me?”

Shrugging, she said, “I always thought you just saw me as an extension of my sister. You know…guilty by association.”

“Baby, I never thought that. I got a dossier on you when I was sent in to rescue you. I knew you were nothing like Charisse. In fact, I had nothing but the highest respect for you.”

“Then why? Why did you always avoid me?”

“I promised myself after Marla and Sofia died that I’d never get that involved with someone else again. The pain of losing them was too much. I had feelings for you immediately, but tried for almost a year to bury them.”

“But Tony, life without pain isn’t really living. It’s just existing.”

He stiffened in her arms and she shot a look of concern at him. He leaned his head back, eyes closed tightly, trying to block out…
what?
She gave him a little squeeze and he dropped his head, his warm gaze spearing her.

“Are…are you okay?” she asked.

Smiling, he just nodded. “Yeah. Perfect. Now that I’m with you.”

They walked, arms around each other, over to the sofa sitting down once again. Sherrie giggled, saying, “I’m going to miss this room and fireplace. We’ve spent a lot of time right here.”

“Maybe the Marks’ will let us come visit sometime,” he suggested.

Her eyes lit up at the thought. “Would you want to?”

“Hell yeah. Baby, anywhere with you is where I want to be, but you’re right. This place has memories.”

He leaned over and pulled her onto his lap, his lips sealing hers. Slowly exploring until he captured her moan and the kiss became wilder. Cupping her face with both of his hands, he angled her head for better access. Tongues tangling, he tasted the sweet wine and essence of her. His hands slid down to her shoulders, along the sides of her breasts to her small waist, finally resting on her ass. Kneading the soft globes, his straining cock was pressed against her core.

The little moans that she continued to make were driving him wild, but he was determined that this time would be different. Special. Loving.
Loving?
Hesitating for only a second as that word flashed through his mind, he resumed his kiss with more ardor.
Yeah, love.

Pushing the coffee table away with his foot, he scooped her up, then lay her gently on the thick blanket in front of the fireplace. Looking down at her face, he saw trust.
I want to earn that trust, baby. And keep it.

Slowly he explored her body, moving his fingers lightly over her curves discovering every peak and valley. His lips followed his fingers as the firelight danced across her curves. Her skin, like silk, beckoned him to continue his discoveries.

Moans escaped from deep in her chest as her eyes shut tightly, afraid if they opened it would all disappear.

“It’s not a dream, baby. Open your eyes. I want to see you watch me love you. I need to see you,” he ordered gently.

Pulling off her pants and panties with one swift movement he then stood, quickly removing his clothes.

She opened her eyes, seeing his warm ones gazing at her as he lowered himself between her legs. Clasping her hands in his short hair, she sucked in a huge breath as he lapped her wet folds. Determined to keep her eyes on him, she watched as he licked and sucked his way to her clit. No longer able to resist the urge, she threw her head back against the soft rug and shattered into a million pieces as her orgasm rolled through her.

He watched her face in the throes of ecstasy, as he continued his way up her body. Tugging her shirt up over her head, he added it to the pile of clothes on the floor. The firelight danced across her skin as he watched the flickering reflection in her blue eyes. Quickly rolling on a condom, he seated himself at her entrance, looking down as her eyes opened up to him. The smile on her face was all the permission he needed as he slowly pushed his way in to the hilt.

She felt each stretch as her body accommodated his girth, being touched in places that were unaccustomed to invasion. Her hand grabbed his shoulders as she accepted his ride. He bore his weight on his hands looking down at her, his smile just as intense.

Over and over, he moved inside of her, bringing her to the edge once more. Lowering himself, he continued to piston as he tugged a nipple into his mouth, sucking voraciously.

That was all it took to send her over the peak, screaming out his name as he roared hers at the same time. Falling down and rolling, he pulled her across his body, arms holding tightly. Their ragged breathing slowly calmed as their heartbeats began a more regular cadence.

Smoothing her hair back from her face, he kissed her forehead, wishing the moment would never end. Wishing the last remnant of guilt over being happy would disappear. But also knowing that for him and Sherrie…it was only the beginning.

T
he next morning
dawned as bright at the previous day with the sun beaming through the slit in the curtains. Sherrie opened her eyes and stretched, the soreness between her legs reminding her of the night before and a smile crossed her face.

“Hey, beautiful,” Tony said, pulling her in closely. Missing nothing, he asked, “How are you today? Are you too sore? Did we do too—”

She pressed her fingers to his lips, halting his words of concern. “I’m fine.” Smiling again, she repeated, “Really fine.”