Highway Don't Care (Freebirds) (16 page)

  “Thanks for the heads up.”  Gabe said, “Give me some
of those.”

  I reached for the bag, but found them empty. 
Oops.  I’ve been doing that a lot lately.  I’m eating like a cow, but
still managing to lose weight.  Aces.

  “Um, no can do.  I ate them.”  I said holding up
the empty bag.

  “Wanna play?”

  “Nah.  I have about three hundred more coupons to cut
out.  Thanks for the offer.”

  “Sniper is behind you, James.”  Gabe said.

  I looked up and saw he was wearing his earphones, and then
rolled my eyes.  Whomever they were playing against didn’t stand a chance
when the guys teamed up.  Then again, they were probably playing against
twelve year olds.

 I was starting to get hot, which wasn’t that surprising
since the flat screen put off so much heat, and I was working my arms out by
cutting out all of my coupons.  You wouldn’t think that it would be that
hard, but once you hit the hundred mark your arms started to burn.  I
pulled the shirt over my head, and tossed it behind me on the couch. 

  A while later I had all the coupons cut and stacked in neat
little piles when Gabe’s voice interrupted me.

  “Would you get mad if I scattered all of those coupons when
I fucked you on the coffee table?”  Gabe asked.

  Glancing up at Gabe, I noticed that the game was still
being played, but Gabe had lost focus.  He was staring at me with an
intense expression.

  “Why do you need to do it on the coffee table?  There
is a perfectly good floor, a recliner, a couch, and a wall just right
there.”  I said seductively.

  He ditched the headphones and controller, and wrestled me to
the ground softly underneath of him in between the coffee table and the couch.

  “These pants sure make your ass look great, and this shirt
doesn’t cover your nipples very well.  I can see every bump and the
outline of your nipple through the white.  You don’t wear this out in
public do you?”  He asked while leaning down and sucking my nipple through
the camisole.

  I didn’t answer.  His erection was grinding against me
just right, and I’d lost all cognitive ability except for the direct line that
led from my hoo-ha to my brain.  I moaned long and loud when Gabe shifted
onto his back, taking me with him, and then thrust up while pulling me down
into him.  I threw my head back and savored the feelings that this man
always made me feel. 

  Distantly, I became aware of yelling in the background, and
the sounds of gunshots from Gabe’s game, but paid it no mind as his body did
delicious things to my own.

  Gabe’s hands pulled the camisole down until my breasts
popped free, and then sprang up to his forearms and devoured my nipples with
his mouth.  I was arching against him, rubbing myself hard against his
body when he suddenly stopped.

  I cried out, but was instantly appeased when my shorts were
torn off me and Gabe’s hands were between his legs, working himself free from
his tight jeans. 

  “I need to be inside you, now.”  Gabe said before
slamming into me.

  “Yes.”  I moaned out long and loud.

  This position wasn’t getting Gabe the penetration he wished
for, because one second I was on top of him, and the next I was back against
the couch with Gabe on his knees beside it pounding inside of me.  I
watched as his slick flesh penetrated me in and out.  Each stroke of his
cock taking me higher and higher.  Watching was making me closer and closer
to another orgasm, and I reached up and pinched my nipples, adding to the
already swirling sensations happening inside of me.

  “Oh, God.  Touch yourself.  I’m not gonna last when
you play with your nipples like that.”

  Complying with his wishes, I left one hand on a nipple
while the other snaked down to my clit.  The first touch of my finger,
added to the effect of his cock pounding inside of me, started the downward
spiral of my orgasm.  Flicking my clit faster, I worked myself quickly.

  Gabe’s cock hit my cervix with each rough thrust, and I
returned my gaze to where we were connected, and lost it.

  Sensations built inside of me and burst hurdling me into
another mind-blowing climax.  Gabe’s followed shortly after mine, and
still I watched our connection. 

  “Like what you see?”  Gabe asked.

  My eyes flicked to his stare, and then went immediately
back to where we were still connected.  Gabe’s erection was still hard,
not losing any of its hardness after his climax.  I let my hand travel
down from my clit and feel around our connection.  It was amazing that he
fit inside of me.  He was so huge, bigger than any man I’d ever
seen.  Not that I had much to compare it with, only the porn magazines
Cheyenne and I used to sneak out of our brother’s room when we were younger and
curious.

  “What are you thinking about?”  Gabe asked.

  “I was wondering if your cock was bigger than most.  I
don’t really have anything to compare it to, and I was curious.  I was
just trying to remember when Cheyenne and I were fifteen and looking at James’
porn magazine.  There weren’t that many penises, because it was a magazine
for men, but still there were some in there.”

  Gabe laughed and gave a little thrust of his hips, sending
his cock a little deeper inside of me.

  “I don’t really know.  Never was the type to compare
my dick with friends.”  He laughed out.

  Smiling at him, I said, “I have a ruler in the other
room.  Maybe we can measure it real quick.”

  “Nah.  I have some different plans for you at the
moment.” 

  Then he showed me those plans.

  In great detail.

Chapter 10

Sometimes I wake up grumpy; other
times I let her sleep.

-T-shirt

Ember

  All eyes turned to me as I walked into the bay area of the
garage.  Everyone was there.  Gabe, Blaine and Elliot, Sam and
Cheyenne, James, Jack and Max.  All the boys had beers in their hands, and
the girls were drinking what looked like sweet tea.

  “So who forgot to invite me to the party?”  I asked
the group.

  I was messing with them of course.  I just woke from my
afternoon nap.  It was Sunday, so I was allowed to be lazy.  I woke
up to an empty house, so I took the opportunity to try on my new workout
compression shorts that had a holster for my pistol built in.  I was
admiring how great the compression part sucked in the fat when I decided I
needed to show this puppy off, but first I had to find the gun.

  I went to the closet and started to search for my firearm
when I came across a small box on the top shelf of the closet.  Curious by
nature, I slipped the lid off and looked inside.  The box was full of
pictures.  Grabbing the box, I took it with me to the bed and had a
seat.  I dumped the entire thing out onto the bed.  Some of the
photos were old, and somewhere much newer.

  Starting at the bottom, I looked through and found a family
photo of a young Gabe, a handsome older man that looked like a slightly older
version of Gabe now, and a beautiful woman with shining brown hair.  They
looked like the perfect little family.  It’s hard to imagine that Gabe
lost such beauty in his life.  Setting the photo on the nightstand, I went
about sorting through the pictures.  Some were of old army buddies, others
of a much more tired looking version of his mom.  Even a few of him in
high school.

  I smiled when I saw the one of a group of men in the
desert.  I spied Gabe first.  He had his shirt off and tucked into
the front of his pants.  His rifle was slung cross ways across his chest,
and he was smiling big for the camera.  His dog tags hung between his
well-defined pecs, and he was wearing a pair of Oakley’s covering his
eyes.  He had both of his arms slung around two men.  They were
shirtless as well, shirts tucked into their pants in nearly the same way. 
Their guns were resting on their shoulders, and both were laughing full
out.  This one made me happy, so I decided to keep this one out as well,
and placed it on top of the family photo.

  Closer to the front was when the pictures started getting
annoying.  That was where all the women were.

  One photo in particular caught my eye.  The picture
was of Gabe in his dress uniform, and a young woman who looked vaguely
familiar.  Not sure why, but something about her stood out to me. 
Gabe looked so handsome in his uniform.  Metals were pinned to his coat,
colors of all kinds stood out starkly on his left breast.  The woman
clashed with him in the looks department.  She was wearing a form fitting
green dress that looked entirely inappropriate for what looked like an army
function.  Her hair was up in a tight do that made her face looked
pinched.  She also wasn’t smiling, but neither was Gabe.  This must
be Sidney. 

  Feeling a little killer like, I decided maybe I should put
the pictures up before I went to the back yard and started offering burned pictures
as a sacrifice.  Or seeing if I could make a voodoo doll.  I felt a
little hostile right now, and would probably jump her sorry ass if I had her in
the same room with me for any amount of time.

  Standing up, I gathered the pictures and shoved them back
into the box, making sure to grab the two that were on the nightstand and
placing them onto the dresser where I could get them later.  I put the box
back where I found it, and then went in search of my new gun.

  I found it in the kitchen.  Why?  I don’t know,
but hey, who am I to question a man’s way of thinking?

  Sliding my new Ruger into the holster, I did a few jumping
jacks to see how the fit was.  Kinda annoying, but definitely
doable.  It was definitely a heavy presence at my back.

  Slipping my bare feet into a pair of old Nike’s, I changed
my shirt into an old volleyball one from high school, and walked out the front
door.  There was no answer at Cheyenne’s place, so then I tried Blaine’s,
but had the same response.  Then I went searching and found them all in
the bay area of the garage.

  “So, how did he measure up?”  Elliott asked when he
saw me walk through the back door.

  Cheyenne and Blaine snickered and my stomach sank. 
Why would they ask that?  Looking to Gabe for a clue as to what was going
on, I found him giving Elliott the look.  You know the one where if it
were possible he would be slicing you in half with his death ray stare. 

  “How did what measure up?”  I asked confused.

  “You know.  The package.”  Jack chimed in
glancing at Gabe, and then back to me.

  Glancing around, I tried to figure out what the hell they
were talking about, but found nothing.

  “I’m confused.  What are y’all talking about?”

  “Well apparently, Ember dear, your man over here forgot to
turn off the sound on his microphone.  Your sexcapades were heard over the
airwaves.  Unlucky for you everyone was playing at the time.  So, how
big was he, best friend?”  Cheyenne teased.

  My face flamed, and I was stunned speechless. 

  They had heard the entire thing!

  Turning my own death ray stare at Gabe, I found him
contemplating the rafter’s in the ceiling.  I let my eyes travel down his
t-shirt covered chest, down to his jean-clad package.  This was one of
those times where I was supposed to let it go.  Unfortunately, my mouth
didn’t agree with my mind.

  “Well.”  I drawled, “I never got him out of me long
enough to measure him.  My Gabe has some stamina.  I did measure him
with my fists and mouth though, how big would that make him if he takes up both
fists and some of my mouth?”

 They all looked thunderstruck.

  Poor Max’s face was bright red, eyes squeezed tightly
shut.  Blaine’s mouth was hanging open, and Gabe was close to crying he
was laughing so hard.  Albeit silently.  It was the type of laugh
when you were laughing so hard no sound came out.

  Cheyenne came unstuck first.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.  Come on, let’s go
measure.”  She said grabbing onto my arm. 

  I shook her off, and turned back to Gabe.

  “Knock it off, you big galoot.”  I said to him.

  He straightened and wiped the tears that were running down
his cheek.

  “What do you think of these?”  I asked Gabe as I
turned around and lifted up my shirt.

  “That’s fucking sweet!”  Blaine yelled.

  “I thought so, but does the gun look that noticeable? 
I don’t really want anyone to know I’m carrying it.”

  I felt Gabe’s hand on my back as he traced the outline of
the gun.

  “Pretty nifty little contraption.  How does it
feel?”  Gabe asked.

  “Can you run around in it without it falling out?” 
Max asked.

  “Do a couple of rounds of the parking lot and come
back.”  Sam said.

  Rolling my eyes, I took off across the lot, did two loops,
and then came back to the garage.  All the while, the gun stayed in the
correct position at the small of my back.

  “Feels good.  No slipping or anything.”  I said
to the group as a whole.

  All the men were studying my back as I looked over my
shoulder.

  “Where did you find these at?”  Cheyenne said, “Do
they make them in maternity sizes?”

  “Amazon, and no probably not.”  These are stretchy
though.  Might try them on later and see if you like them.”  I said
to her.

  Nodding, she made a loop around me, and I decided I’d had
enough attention for the moment.  Clapping my hands and turning around,
all eyes went to my face.

  “Now, what’s for dinner?”  I asked.

  “We could go out.  We haven’t done that in a long
time.”  Blaine suggested.

  Nodding my head, I concurred.

  “Sounds good.  As long as we go somewhere that will
let me wear these shorts, we’re good.”

  Everyone had something to say about the shorts again, but I
went to Gabe and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

  “Love you.”  I whispered into his ear.

  He leaned back and took my face into his hands.

  “Love you more.”  He said gruffly.

  Ω
  We were all sitting around the table at Bodacious, a local BBQ joint,
when the woman in the photo finally clicked on where I knew her from.

  “Motherfucker!”  I said when it finally registered.

  Turning to Gabe I asked him, “What does Sidney look like?”

  “Tall, brown hair, skinny.  Dresses like a high
society princess.  Why?”  He asked perplexed.

  “Cheyenne, do you remember the lady that came and picked
Story up?”  I asked.

  “Tall, brown hair, stuck up.”  Cheyenne supplied.

  It was all starting to fit together.  Story thanking
“Sid” for the lift as the door closed.  Why the woman looked so freaked to
be at Free.  Then another sinking feeling started seeping into my chest,
and burrowing in until I couldn’t get the thought out of my head.

  Jesus Christ.  That woman had a baby.  Oh my
God.  No.

  “Can I talk to you a minute?”  I whispered to him.

  His eyes studied me for a moment, and noted the change that
had come over me.  Standing up, he grabbed my hand and lifted me out of my
chair.  Guiding me outside, he took me to the bench that ran along the
front and side of the building.  Taking a seat, he pulled me down next to
him, and waited for me to tell him what was wrong.

  “Gabe.”  I said and swallowed thickly.

  How do you tell someone you think he has a kid out there
that he’s never met?

  “What?”  He asked evenly.

  He could sense something was wrong, but he had no
clue.  This was going to be one hell of a bombshell.

  “Last month, when Story was picked up, it was by a woman
named “Sid” who I swear on my life looks like the woman who was in the Army
Ball photo of you and her that I saw in the closet.  She looks exactly
like her, just a tad older.”  I said.

  His mouth opened and then closed.

  “But she used to live in Michigan.  Why would she be
here?” he asked.

  “I don’t know, but that’s not all.  She also had a
baby with her.  It looked to be about a year and a half old.  She
looked just like you, and seeing her was what made me ask you about kids later
that day.  She made me want to have one that would look just like you,
just like her.”  I whispered.

  Gabe sat in stunned silence. 

  He sat there so long, that I was beginning to get worried.

  That is until he exploded.  I watched the seat where he
had been sitting not even seconds before, and then turned and watched him as he
stalked to his bike, started it with a roar, and tore out of the parking
lot.  Without his helmet even strapped to his head, I might add.

  Going back into the front door, I made my way back to the
tables that we’d pushed together.  My food still sat half eaten on my
plate, but I had no appetite what-so-ever.  Even looking at it made me
want to puke.  Looking around at the curious faces, I finally settled on Max.

  “I’m gonna need a ride.  Gabe needed a minute.” 
I said to him.

  Nodding he said, “Lucky for you that I had a bitch seat put
on.  Didn’t want to have to deny any rides if I wanted to pick someone up
at a bar or somethin’.”  Max said bawdily.

  Curling my lip, I started to explain what was going on, and
what I thought might be going on.

  “So let me get this straight, Gabe was seeing someone
during his last deployment, he’d gotten her pregnant, and went off to war, only
to be dropped like a hot potato and told she’d aborted his baby and ran off
with another man.  Then she lied, or possibly lied about it all, and
actually had Gabe’s baby?  Do I have all this straight?”  Blaine
asked.

  “That’s what I’m thinking.  I saw that little girl,
and she’s the spitting image of Gabe in the looks department.  I remember
thinking that she could totally pass for his kid.  Except that I think
that really was his baby.  There are just too many coincidences
here.”  I said.

  “Let’s get out of here.  I’ll call Luke and see if he
can find her last address.  We can run a check on her at the shop. 
Jack, go see if you can find Gabe.”  Sam demanded.

  I exhaled slowly.  Time to find the underlying cause of
this monster clusterfuck.

Ω

  “I’m coming with you, and I am not arguing with you. 
If you don’t take me with you, I will just go myself.”  I said to Max and
Sam.

  Sighing in defeat, we all made our way out to Sam’s
Suburban and piled in.  We were going to go stake out Sidney’s house, and
see if we could collect any more information.  I’d grabbed my Canon in
case I was able to get a photo.  I wanted to prove to Gabe that this was
his child.  I didn’t want there to be any doubt.