11. Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Billy
I t’s late. But I don’t want to seem like her daddy, sending her a text, wondering when she’s going to be home. I want like hell for her to not work both jobs, and just work here, for me, but I can’t do that without seeming territorial. I can pay her enough for full-time, but I know that she wants to be independent, so working two jobs to save for a place of her own is in order for her. Plus, that’s part of what I really like about her. She’s independent. She’s not some needy chick that whines all the time about what she hasn’t got. Nothing worse than that.
And as much as I promised her that I’d be up when she got home, I can’t stay awake any longer. Sleep doesn’t always come easily for me, either, so when I’m tired, I like to take it while I can get it. I head off to bed, taking a shower before I go, and I hear nothing, once again. And then I hear some strange cries coming from her room, and I bolt out of bed, wearing just my briefs, but I stop dead in my tracks, when I see that her bedroom door is closed. The sounds are almost inhuman, and then I recognize a clear moan, a moan from a woman that I haven’t heard in a long time. “Just...what are you doing in there, little girl?” I murmur to myself.
Feeling brave and slightly curious, I slowly, quietly, open her door, knowing full well that I’ve just bought myself a one-way ticket to hell. Piper is lying in bed, on her side, having some sort of erotic dream, clearly. From the sounds of it, I thought she was masturbating, the way I was last night, but she did mention that she isn’t experienced. Although, to her, that could mean many things. Not sure if I should wake her or not, I stand there, wondering if women are like men, with wet dreams. As she moans in her sleep, my cock twitches, and I realize that I need to get the hell away from this. It’s creepy, it’s wrong, and if she finds me here, she’s going to think that I’m the sickest dude that ever walked the face of the earth.
I head back into my room, finding myself with the same problem I was faced with last night. Problem is, I can still hear her doing her thing in there, and it’s such a fucking turn-on, I have to put my fan on high to drown it out. I want like hell to jerk off again, but that’s just too twisted and sick, getting off on that, so I force my eyes shut and go to sleep. But this time, it’s not erotic dreams that wake me up.
“Barnes! Get down!” One of my battalion mates says. Our Lieutenant Colonel has been shot dead and Striggs, my battalion mate, has decided that he’s next in charge. But my buddy, my longtime friend, Wade Dire, has been shot, and he’s lying there, left for dead. I won’t leave him, despite our whole battalion being under siege. I stare back at Striggs. His face is as ruddy as I can imagine mine is. If it weren’t for his stark blue eyes, I wouldn’t even be able to place him, under all the blood. “Come back! You’re going to get hit!” He shouts over the din of gunfire.
Everyone I’ve ever cared about is right here. All my friends, the few of them that I earned while being here, are dead. Wade Dire is the last one. I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose him. I’d rather die with him than leave him, and live on, knowing that nobody else gives a flying fuck about me. Not my family, not any of my hometown friends, nobody. As I slide on my belly, inching my way to him, I can see his hand still moving. The sumbitch is still alive. I’m so happy, it gives me another burst of energy, and I’m able to reach his hand. With every ounce of strength I have, I drag his body closer and closer to me, until he’s close enough that I can protect him from further injury, by turning myself into a human shield, as I lift him and run like I’m possessed, to find shelter.
My battalion hides in the underground barracks, where we tried to escape from, before we got hit by enemy fire, and I ease Dire down to them, where we can care for him as best as we can, until we can get help. After some water gets into him and someone applies a tourniquet to his wound, the fire ceases, and Wade’s eyes finally open. “Jesus Christ, man, I thought you were dead.” I scoff, wiping my brow with the back of my arm.
“I thought I was, too.”
“He nearly got himself killed coming after you, man.” Striggs comments sourly. “He could have gotten us all killed.”
“I’m not leaving my buddy. No deal.” I say, tousling Dire’s hair.
“Barnes! Go see what’s happening out there!” Striggs says, annoyed. I don’t like his attitude, but I’ll let it go, considering that he’s the one helping Dire now.
I crawl my way up the barracks again and see the enemy tank heading in the opposite direction. Curious, I see another member of my battalion, lying on his back, but I’m not sure if he’s moving. I shout down to them in the barracks. “I’m going in for a closer look!”
Those are the last words I say before the word goes black.
When I wake up, I’m screaming aloud, and then I realize that there are two voices. Mine and Piper’s. She’s holding me close, while I cry ugly tears, fighting for dear life. It’s like I’ve died a hundred times since I came home. In those first few nights, I only slept when medicated, and the days melted together, while I recovered from multiple reconstructive surgeries. And then, once I stopped the painkillers, this happened. Over time, it’s been better, and it isn’t every night, but the shit still haunts me to this day. I still can’t even talk to Wade Dire, my best friend. Hell, I know he’s alive, and he’s not far from me, living just outside of Houston, but the thought of seeing him again brings it all back.
“What’s wrong, Billy? Are you okay?” She gasps, crying with me.
I lift, sitting up in bed, and I realize how much of a fucking fool I am. Why did I invite Piper to live with me, knowing full well that this is what I’m faced with? I suppose it never occurred to me that I’d wake up in the middle of the night, screaming bloody murder. Perhaps this PTSD is worse than I thought it was. I’ve had some counselling, but I think that building this ranch and putting my life back together is way more medicinal than anything a shrink or a drug could offer me. But maybe I’m delusional. Maybe I’m doing all the wrong things, especially as I sit here on the edge of my bed, while Piper cries with me. “You were screaming. I thought someone broke into your room and was maiming you or something!”
“And you ran right in here?” I ask, shocked, almost angry, that she’d risk her own safety. “Why would you do that?”
She wipes her eyes and sniffles. “Because I...well, I thought I could help.” She turns my face to hers and wipes my tears with the palms of her hands. “Was it a bad dream? I’ve never heard anyone cry like that before. You were like a wounded animal.”
My body still quivers, like I’ve been brought in with hypothermia. “Yeah. I get them a lot. Sorry I woke you.” I say through chattering teeth.
“Is it from when you were in the military?”
I nod. “Yeah. It’s some fancy thing called PTSD. Post-traumatic stress disorder. I thought it was all bullshit, but I’m living proof that it’s not.”
She wraps her arms around me as if I’m freezing cold, as she pulls the blankets up over me. “I’m...sorry you had to witness this. I don’t know what I was thinking having you move in here with me like this. It was a stupid idea.”
“It wasn’t at all, Billy. Quite the opposite. You need help and maybe this is the way to figure that out.”
As she pulls me to her, I start to calm. Her touch is so gentle and loving, as she rubs my back and holds me to her, like we’ve been friends for years, and she’s well versed in this. I let myself lean my head on hers, taking in the comfort. Something I haven’t had in a long time from anyone. And I’m not even talking about sex here, either. This is tender, vulnerable, unconditional love and support that she’s showing here. It takes quite a woman to bust into a man’s bedroom when he’s crying out, and comfort him, in the middle of the night. I give her a lot of credit for doing that.
“You’re a doll, you know that.” I murmur to her as I feel my heart finally beat at its normal pace.
She answers by kissing my cheek. “Anyone with half a heart would do the same, Billy.” She kisses my cheek again. And I find myself kissing her cheek right back in thanks.
“Are you feeling better?”
I nuzzle my head on hers. “Yeah. I’m sorry to say this, and I don’t know if it’s at all appropriate, nor do I give a rat’s ass right now, but, you’re just the right medicine, darlin’.”
Another kiss, but this time on the temple. “A little TLC sometimes is all we need, Billy. It’s simple.”
“I suppose you’re right.” She holds me tighter. God love her. She wasn’t afraid to come in here to me. Either that or she was a fool. I really think it’s the former. I draw in a deep breath and let it out. “Well, I think it’s pretty safe to say that we’ve crossed the line between employer/employee relationship.”
She chuckles. “We crushed it, Billy. From the second I saw you in your towel and you saw my ass, we were well beyond that.”
“And you’re still here. Now, that’s saying something.”
“I love it here. I’m not going anywhere.”
I look at her, almost in awe. I search her eyes. “But this place is a dump. You could do so much better.”
Her eyes search mine, too. “Billy, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This isn’t a dump to me at all.” She blinks. “In fact, I think it’s a shame that you’re building another house. This one has so much character.”
I consider that for a moment. Maybe she’s right. Maybe my judgement is skewed by all this mental shit I’ve got going on. I start to question myself. “You really think so?”
With a nod, she licks her lips. “I mean, some paint, new windows, and a few updates here and there, and this little house would be completely restored to its original beauty. Even Jade and Crystal said that.”
I sit here, amazed by the amount of care that this girl has in this place, and in me, for that matter. I’m seeing her in an entirely different light. “Maybe I should turn the bigger house into...like an Inn.”
She nods. “I think that’s a great idea. You said that you wanted to do something like that.”
“That, and I have to have some accommodations for my ranch hands at some point.”
“Well, the Paxton boys are local, right?”
He nods.
“Then is it even required to have accommodations?”
“I suppose not for now. But I really think that I’m going to have a hard time getting bodies in here from in town. I’m not exactly popular here, in case you haven’t noticed.”
She gives me a small grin. “You leave that to me.”
“Now, I don’t want you getting in there with some of these men, Piper. They’ll eat you alive once they find out that you’re working for the likes of me.”
She brushes the hair off my face. “Well, I came in here, in this room, when word is that I should have been frightened. Let’s test out that brevity further, hm? It takes a lot to get my hackles up, Billy.”
I glance at her warmly. “I don’t doubt that one bit, sugar.”
Her fingers comb through the hair at the sides of my face. If I weren’t completely relaxed, now I am. “Are you okay?”
“I am now, darlin’.” I kiss her forehead. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” She lays on the pillows and pulls me back with her.
“Wh...what are you doing?”
“Well, when Jade couldn’t stop crying once, and she was so upset over a guy that broke her heart, I cuddled in next to her and slept. Did that for a couple of nights, and she quickly got over it. Sometimes human contact is so much more healing than we give it credit for.”
“Well, darlin’...I don’t know how to tell you this, without sounding like a superficial asshole...but I ain’t never slept with a woman that I didn’t have sex with first.”
She seems unscathed by that remark, as she pulls me to her, under the covers. “Well, Billy, I’ve never slept with a man, nor have I ever had sex with a man before, so this’ll be a novel experience for both of us.”
I’m lying in bed, facing her. I shake my head slowly, looking into her gorgeous eyes. “How is that possible.” My voice is a mere whisper.
“I can’t answer that, Billy. And it doesn’t matter.” She says to me softly, combing her fingers through my hair. “What matters is here. Now. This is what you need, Billy.”
I swallow, staring into her eyes. “What about what you need?”
Her kiss is soft against my brow. “I have what I need, Billy. A home, people that care about me, a budding career, and most important of all, for the first time ever, I feel like I belong somewhere. Like I’m needed somewhere, and not just a burden.”
“You’ve never been a burden to me, love. I’ve never met anyone like you before. You’re decent, smart, hard-working, independent, and you care so goddamn much about things that I never dreamed anyone else would care about. Thankfully, they’re the same things that I care about, too.”
She pulls her leg up over my thigh, so that she’s holding me with her entire body, and she plants a soft kiss on my lips. “Go to sleep, Billy. You’re safe now.”
Her pajamas are soft and warm, gently rubbing against my skin, giving me a certain comfort. Certainly, way better under the circumstances, than the tiny see-through T-shirt. I find myself wrapping my arms around her comfortably, like we’ve done this a million times before. It’s not sexual, or forced, it’s as natural as breathing. Sleep comes in minutes, and a deep, restful sleep at that, free of wild dreams, nightmares, or anything unsettling. When I wake up next to her, neither of us has barely moved. And, to my surprise, I only have a twinge of wood.
Until she rubs up against it...
“Good morning.” She says, groggily, as I pull the sheets down between us, so she doesn’t notice.
“Morning, darlin’. How’d you sleep?”
“Very well. You?”
“Best night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time.”
I hear the builders pulling up outside, lift my head, and realize that I’ve overslept. “Shit.” I rake a hand through my hair, as I try to fathom how the hell I’m going to get out of bed just in my briefs, without her noticing the hard-on. “Jesus, I’ve got to get up, and scoot out of here fast.”
“Okay, no problem. I’ve got lots of work to do today, too.” She says, and I hope like hell that she’ll get out of bed before me, as I fake a long-needed stretch.
But she stretches, too, and I avert my eyes, since her chest is swelling, making my cock twitch. I have got to get out of this bed and away from her, before I do something fuck-ass stupid. So, I grab hold of my jeans on the floor, as I turn my back to her, and I pull them on as fast as I can, only, my cock is so hard, it’s too pretty damn obvious. I can’t do up the zipper without some real effort.
“Are you okay?” She asks, concerned.
“Yeah, um. I just...I need to use the washroom. I’ll be back.”
“Oh...okay.” She says tentatively, while I shoot off into the loo, and hop into the shower, blasting the cold water on me like a goddamn avalanche. My dick shrivels fast, and when I get back, she’s in her room. I breathe a sigh of relief that I dodged that bullet. I go into the kitchen and grab a quick coffee, sticking my head outside to make sure that the guys don’t need me for anything, but they’re busy unloading. The Paxton boys should be here soon, and as I glance out the window, while Piper is in the shower, I see my brother Cassidy pull up.
“Shit.” I mutter to myself.
But it gets worse.
...he’s with my brother, Blair.