Chapter 4 #5
He shook his head. “Nope. Stayed there until I was old enough to enlist. But a couple of good things did happen. There was a nice elderly lady lived next door. Mrs. Colley. Strange old coot, but kind-hearted. She was scared to death of Old Man Hughes but when he wasn’t around, she invited me over and stuffed me full of food.
I grew six inches and put on forty pounds in one year.
I made sure they were forty pounds of muscle.
The old man started thinking twice about using his fists on me. ”
“Good for you,” Nicole said fiercely. Sam Reston had grown up to be the kind of man no one beat up on, not without serious consequences.
“Another good thing happened when I was twelve. My brother Harry Bolt arrived and then three months later my other brother Mike Keillor. Harry had tried to defend his baby sister and his mother against his mom’s meth-head boyfriend. The fucker—pardon my language.”
Nicole nodded and waved the expletive away with her free hand.
Fucker sounded about right for a man who hurt little girls.
“Fucker beat Harry’s little sister and mom to death.
Harry went wild. Put the guy in the hospital but not before he got both legs broken.
He was fostered out to the Hughes. I saw Old Man Hughes smile as Harry walked through the door on crutches and I knew exactly what he was thinking.
I wasn’t an easy target for his rage any more.
He needed an outlet and here comes Harry, crippled, fresh meat.
That night I took a knife to Old Man Hughes and I told him that if he so much as touched the new guy, I’d cut his miserable hide to ribbons, starting with his balls.
I meant every word, too, and I think he knew it.
By that time I was as tall as Hughes, though he had a lot of weight on me.
But it wasn’t muscle, it was all gut. Harry healed and Mrs. Colley shoved as much food down his throat as he could eat and by the end of that year, he was as big as I was.
Harry and I were really tight. And then Mike came.
It was his eighth foster home. The three of us banded together, looked after each other and we all shipped out as soon as we could.
Me to the Navy, Harry to the Army and Mike to the Marines. ”
Nicole opened her mouth to say something but he hadn’t finished. He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it, lips warm against her cold skin. Sam’s story had chilled her to the bone.
“Now, the reason I told you all of that is so that you can understand something. Me and my brothers came out okay because we looked after each other, no matter what. All three of us know, up close and personal, what it means when no one looks out for you. When no one cares. And we know, deep down in our bones, what it means when someone cares and does the right thing. We all have jobs where we see, daily, the effects of not caring for your kid or your wife or your parents or your friends.”
His face suddenly sharpened, the skin over those high cheekbones tightening, eyes boring into hers.
“So, Nicole, you will forgive me if I don’t find it a turnoff that you love your father so much.
That you’re sacrificing important things to make sure he has a dignified death and you’re making sure that he’s right where he wants and needs to be.
You’re doing the hard thing, the right thing, and I admire you for it.
I was blown away by you the first time I saw you, but by God, it’s worse now that I know what’s behind that gorgeous face. ”
She was utterly incapable of movement, of thought.
“Not want you?” Sam’s voice was raspy now, as if he found it difficult to get the words out.
He breathed out hard. His jaw muscles bunched and his nostrils flared.
“I’ve wanted you since the first second I saw you.
I couldn’t do anything about it because I was on an undercover job but I sure as hell thought about it, night and day.
Christ, Nicole, I want you so much I can hardly breathe.
I want you so much I can’t think. Say you’ll come back home with me. Now.”
This was utterly insane. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before.
There was no air in the room.
No, the answer was no, of course. She had to say no. How could she go home with him, just like that? This was crazy, she’d never done anything like that in her life.
She’d had her share of lovers but she was incredibly picky.
It took several evenings out and if there was a false note, if she was uncomfortable in any way with the idea, she just said no.
She was good-looking, she got asked out a lot, but then a lot of men were jerks.
She’d said no a lot since puberty. There were tons of reasons to say no right now to Sam, if only she could get her brain working again to think of them.
Like her hand, like her breasts and between her thighs, it was hot, melting in a sudden surge of pulsing desire.
No, of course not, are you crazy? she said, only the words didn’t quite come out that way.
Somehow, what came out was, “Yes.”