Mackie's Men (17 page)

They got to the pet supply aisle and she bent to lift a large box of scoopable cat litter, John was scowling at her when she looked up after plopping the heavy box into the cart. “What?” She followed his eyes to the box, and she wondered what the big deal was, did he have something against that particular brand of litter?

He shook his head, but the small talk they’d been indulging in came to a halt. He asked if she needed anything else, and when she shook her head, he headed for the check out lanes. He unloaded the cart, and when the total was rung up, he gave her a very nasty look when she started to hand over her debit card to the amused clerk. His card was shoved toward the woman and Mackie didn’t know what his problem was, but from the look on his face she wouldn’t have long to find out what his deal was.

By the time they got back to the farmhouse, Mackie was ready to thump him a good one. She tried to make conversation, but his grunts and short clipped replies pissed her off. He handed her the keys and asked her to get the door. She grabbed the keys and did as he asked as he gathered their purchases, then carried them inside.

She went up to the room she’d been given and picked up GreyC’s carrier. The cat wasn’t happy and hissed at her, but she settled down once they began moving. John had the plastic bin filled halfway to the top with litter and had placed it in the utility room. GreyC gave him a quick glance and jumped into the bin. Mackie was satisfied the little furball would be fine now, and went into the kitchen to begin frying burgers for their dinner. It wasn’t gourmet, but it would fill the need and she sliced tomatoes and shredded lettuce to go with the burgers, she snacked on cheese while flipping the meat patties. John disappeared shortly after they’d stepped into the house, but if he was going to continue his pissy attitude, she would take her food into another room to eat. She had everything laid out on the counter and went to the stairs to yell for his attention.

He surprised her by opening a door near the steps, and she could see that it was the door to the basement. Okay, so he hung out in the basement like the mad scientists in cartoons. The thought made her grin, and she went back to the kitchen to build her burger.

The tall sweaty body with arms that encircled her from behind while her hands were full of bun and tomato, held her close long enough for him to snatch the pickle from her plate, and then backed away quickly. She fished another pickle from the jar and added a slice of onion to her sandwich. He was waiting by the table with a cold beer extended toward her, and she smiled.

“Okay, the beer in exchange for a pickle works for me. Help yourself to the food, I made enough for both of us you know. I have basic skills in the kitchen so don’t expect me to do all of the cooking.” She bit into the bun and closed her eyes, savoring the taste. Her stomach rumbled and John laughed.

“Sugar, you need to feed that tummy, the poor thing is thanking you for the scraps that you send it.” He filled his own mouth and sat back in his chair chewing rapidly, and half of the burger was soon gone. “I worked through lunch today, so I’m hungry too.” He chewed his way through the rest of the burger and got up to make another one. “You don’t have to worry about starving around here, we all can cook some things, and when all else fails, the grill is ready to be put in use. You have heard of the unwritten law that men are born grillers, right? We keep the freezer stocked up with meat, and whoever gets home first starts dinner, or one of us brings something home when we’re here.” He sat down, and asked, “So tell me something about you, all I know is that you play with some fascinating toys, and that you might be the only female I would bet on to whip Liam’s ass in a fight. Don’t get me wrong, Darryl and I can deal with just about anything coming our way, but Liam has been trained in self-defense and at least two Asian disciplines of martial arts since he was old enough to walk.”

She shook her head, “There’s not much to tell really, when I graduated from high school, I saw a posting about female security officers. After looking into the profession a little deeper, I was interested. I took a test, and after the fact decided to apply at the FBI.” She shrugged, “I was assigned as a bodyguard for several low profile diplomats, and gradually worked into more significant assignments. That’s how I met the General and Senator Downs, I was assigned to her detail, and some radical decided it would be a good idea to shoot a high profile Senator from the USA.

“When I recovered, I decided to try freelancing, and so far it’s worked out for me.” She noticed that John was picking small pieces of his second burger off, and his hand would drop casually under the table so she couldn’t see what he was doing. “By the way, GreyC is a mooch, and I know it. It’s all right to give her a few bites, but nothing with garlic or onions because they’re toxic to cats.”

He didn’t bother to look guilty he nodded and grinned. “I am a doctor, Mackie, I also have experience with research involving animals. I’d never give GreyC anything to harm her. I figured that after the last time she saw me, and she hissed at me when I tried to help you back at the bunker, I should kiss furry ass by sharing my burger.”

His statement made her smile, and she couldn’t help the tingling running rampant through out her body, this man would be so easy to love. Remembering the sight of his naked body made her aware of the fact she was already in lust with him, well that memory, and the trickle of liquid she felt soaking her panties.

The one thing that still bothered her needed to be hashed out before she went to bed tonight. “While you’re in a good mood, how about telling me what set you off in such a pissy mood at the store, I’m not criticizing, I want to understand. One minute you were smiling and seemed happy, the next you turned into Mr. Ice.” She stood, went to the fridge and grabbed a couple more beers, if the look on his face was anything to go by, this could be a long story.

She had serious doubts that he was going to tell her anything, his face was back to that stoic appearance, and his eyes were narrowed as he looked away from her. So she busied herself by cleaning up the kitchen and putting away the leftovers. They’d used paper plates, so that was easily taken care of, and all she had to wash was the frying pan. Once that was done and she wiped down the counter, she didn’t bother to sit down, just took her beer and wandered into the living room. She sat on the couch and picked up the TV remote. The ten o’clock news was on so she left the volume low, and laid back on the leather cushions behind her. He didn’t owe her a thing, even a simple explanation.

He joined her during the weather forecast, and she didn’t say a word as he sat on the floor near her leg that was propped up on the low table in front of her. When his head dropped on her thigh, she placed her hand on the side of his head and absently rubbed her fingers through his hair. She allowed her fingers to explore his ear and down to his jaw, slowly trailing back to the thick softness of his hair. Once the news was done, she shut the TV off and sat there with him, waiting for him to make the next move. It didn’t take long before he began talking, and she didn’t interrupt.

“The answer isn’t simple, nothing about my life has been simple.” He rubbed his cheek against her thigh, and stretched his legs out. “I know it’s hard to believe, but I was a runt when I was born. I stayed small until I turned ten or so, and although I kept growing taller, no matter how much or what I ate, I stayed skinny, I’m not talking slender, I’m talking walking skeleton. I tried to eat everything fattening that I could find, and for a skinny kid in a family of grossly overweight people, my life was a living hell. I was tall, but I had no strength, and the family accused me of everything from anorexic to being adopted or switched at birth.”

He sat up and pulled one of her legs over his head as he ducked down to scoot over the few inches needed for him to sit between her legs. When he was comfortable, he laid his head back on the cushion between her thighs and reached for her hand to place on top of his head.

Mackie had to smile at his action, but she dutifully began playing with his hair and she would have sworn she heard him purr when she pulled at the strands in her fingers. The second time she pulled, she was certain of it. He started talking again, and she continued caressing him.

“My parents are southern, and a man never lets a woman open her own door, step from a car into a mud puddle, or, and especially, lift heavy objects. My dad was old school and if his sons didn’t treat a woman in what he called a decent way there was hell to pay. I could easily take care of the doors and the mud puddles, but the lifting was ridiculously hard for me to do. You can have no idea of the whippings I got for allowing my mother to lift a bucket of mash to feed the chickens, or the way I had to roll bales of hay to feed the farm animals instead of bucking a bale and tossing it in the feeding bin. They all laughed when I got good grades in school. My mother used to say that “book learnin’ ain’t gonna get you a good job”. My dad just got tired of beating on me and called me a faggot and a pussy boy, amongst other flattering names. I left home the day after high school graduation, and never went back. Three days of being homeless on the streets had me signing up for the Army.”

He turned his head and kissed the inside of her thigh, and she felt the caress through the material of her slacks, and gave his hair a good pull. He groaned and kissed the spot again. His hands slipped between the material of her pants and her ankles, and slid up to the knee, then he began to lightly massage her muscles.

“I learned a lot in the service, in fact my drill sergeant made it his business to feed me up and muscle me out. I started medical school because I was uniquely qualified for it, according to the tests they kept giving me. I still never figured out what made them continue to hand me test after test, and I aced almost all of them. They figure my IQ is somewhere in the idiot range. According to most of the people I’ve talked to, I should be sitting in a corner with chalk and an infinite slate board, drooling and shitting myself while I concentrated on the problem I was working on.

“Instead I am what you see, a man with the ability to cypher crazy things, remember anything I’ve ever read, and have flaws. I need to be needed in my personal relationships, and I have sexual masochistic streak a mile wide.”

He pulled up his legs and rolled his body without breaking from the center of her legs. He went to his knees in front of her and pulled her hands into his, bringing each one up in turn to kiss her palm. “I’m asking you to humor me here. The next time there’s something heavy to lift, even something as simple as a bucket, or a thirty pound box of cat litter, allow me to deal with it. Some things a man never gets rid of, and I feel like that weak kid whose own father couldn’t stand the sight of when that happens. I know you’re capable, and I admire that, but it takes me back, and I try not to go on that trip as much as possible.”

Mackie didn’t know what to say, the lonely little boy was begging for understanding and she knew that she would do her best to make sure he never felt less than the man he was around her. The sexual masochistic comment touched a chord deep inside of her and if he was indeed a submissive in the bedroom, the idea made her nipples harden and the liquid almost gushed from her pussy.

“So let me get this right, if I told you that I want you to wash my back in the shower, you would do it? Or, if after the shower, I wanted something more from you, you would feel happy to do what I wanted you to do?”

He smiled and nodded his head. “Anything you want me to do, yes. I would love to be your bed slave when you’re in the mood to order someone around. I won’t spank you if that’s what you like, but Liam will, he’s a bossy sucker and likes to control everyone. I’m not into pain, but a soft flogging sometimes brings my nerve endings to attention. I might even trust you to flog my back and ass while I’m licking your pretty little pussy. I won’t lie and tell you I will allow it right away, but the idea excites me. Right now I’d love to step into the shower with you and wash your back, and anything else you allow me to touch.”

He leaned onto her chest and found her parted lips with his. His hands were busy with the buttons on her blouse, and she felt his calloused fingers skim the skin exposed over the top of her bra. She whimpered when his mouth left hers to trail kisses down her jaw and neck.

His words made her hands grab handfuls of his hair as he told her what he wanted to do with her, if that was what she wanted him to do.

“I want to bath you, and shave your pussy lips, so I can lick you until you open your legs for me to taste the sweet salty cream from your pussy. I want to feel you tremble in my arms while I lick and suck every drop from your body and coax more to fill my thirst. I want to know where to touch you to give you the most pleasure a man can give a woman, and then I want to slide my cock as deep inside of you as I can get and rock us into a white hot orgasm.”

His hands pulled her breasts from their cotton covering, and mere seconds later his mouth latched onto her nipple, pulling the other nipple between his fingers and rolling it while he sucked on its twin. He switched breasts, giving each equal treatment, and she only became aware that her legs were wrapped around his waist and she was pulling him closer with the muscles in her thighs and calves, when the left one cramped. Her hands had left his hair and were grasping his shoulders with her fingers digging into the soft t-shirt he wore.

Trying to move the leg into a more comfortable position didn’t work, and John drew back when he heard her whimper of pain. He looked confused, but her “cramp” brought his attention to her leg.

“Oh you poor thing, I hate when that happens, hang on, sugar, let me help you with that.”