Page 18 of Free Fall

Henry had his phone out, googling, ignoring my stilted mood. He knew me well enough not to mention it. I wasn’t a big talker at the best of times. “So you and Ali fucked? You look beat.”

I found myself almost joking with him about the other pussy I’d been buried inside. But even I wasn’t that twisted up. What was happening with Zel was the first time I think I’d ever lied to Henry. He would never forgive me if he found out. Might even kill me. It was rare to catch Henry angry, but when he was, it was like the volcanoes this island was so famous for. Explosive. And I was on borrowed time. One day, he would learn and everything would change.

I ran my fingers through my beard, scratching at the skin, debating shaving it down, as I gave him a fake chuckle. “Something about plane travel and hot tubs does it for her, I guess. Maybe we should follow them to the spa after all — might get some more wife pussy.”

“Nah,” Henry said, stretching his arms wide, pulling his tight t-shirt up, exposing the tattoo he had snaking up his stomach. In a fit of anguish when Zelda was a baby and they weren’t coping, he had a massive dragon etched into his skin. I’d teased him at the time, but it looked fucking immense. “Wife pussy is never as good as anonymous pussy… or ass. I’m in the mood for some ass.”

“Have at it, dude.” I patted his shoulder. “I bet there are plenty of twinks looking for a big grumpy daddy to ravage them.”

“Fuck off.”

I laughed, my spirits lightening. Henry and I had always been far too close, sharing every detail of every exploit. Until recently. I’d watched his hard cock plow into a wet mouth more times than I could count. It turned me on, watching him get his dominating side out. Tying someone up — male or female or whoever from the fucking rainbow of genders — and letting loose. Since the twins had joined us, our limits had grown stricter. No cocks out in the same room if they’d tagged along. But we’d been through it all, the two of us. No boundary uncrossed.

The fact that I knew what both father and daughter sounded like when they came should disgust me. It did. But not enough to stop. I never thought I’d meet anyone I would be willing to fuck things up with Henry for, but here we were. She’d been under my nose for twenty-two years.

“Here’s another club,” Henry said, sitting up to focus. “Fifteen minute taxi, open tomorrow for a puppies and kittens night.” He looked at me. “You game?”

I went to nod when I heard a scream echo down the beach. I waited for the laughter to follow, for the girl to giggle — just a drunk, excited youngster enjoying her time away from home. But it didn’t come, and something unsettled in my gut.

Henry was up at the same time as me, and we were following the direction of the scream, tension rippling. It could be nothing, probably was nothing, but Zelda was out here somewhere. Without a word between us, we were on the same page.

Two figures appeared from behind a copse of palm trees and rocks. The smaller one stumbled, arms flailing. Her voice traveled on the breeze. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but she wasn’t happy.

Henry and I sped up. The smaller one — a woman for certain — marched toward us, still hollering, turning around to gesture to the other figure. The larger one, who was looking remarkably like the surfer asshole that had taken off with Zelda, shaggy hair and all, ran after her, dropping his surfboard in the sand.

When they were just a few feet from us, he was on her, grabbing her with rough hands and shoving her forward. She stumbled, landing on her knees with a yelp.

“Hey!” Henry shouted, picking up speed into a run.

It was Zelda on the sand. Her distinctive, rough-edged voice reached my ears as she yelled, “You fucking prick! Fuck off!”

Henry landed on the man, his fist smashing into the asshole’s stomach, making him buckle. I grabbed for Zelda, tugging her up, my skin buzzing where it touched hers. I spun her around while her dad whaled on the man, cupping her cheeks and tilting her face to me. We had only star and moonlight this far from the resort buildings, but I saw her with clarity. Too damn much of it.

“You okay?” I asked, regretting ever letting her leave the restaurant.

She blinked away her confusion and, before saying anything, tried to turn and look at the fight going on in the sand. They rolled around, the asshole getting the upper hand for just a second, kicking Henry in the shin before turning and legging it, making it almost past his now abandoned surfboard before Henry was up and racing after him.

“Zel, look at me. What did he do?” I implored her, kissing her mouth without thinking.

“Luca,” she said, her gaze dropping to my lips and back up to my eyes. I kissed her again, my concern for her winning over reason. Henry and the fucker were almost hidden in the dark now, but I knew my best friend would catch him. “Wait, stop him.” She tried to pull back from me.

“No, let your dad get the cunt.” I brushed my thumbs under eyes, sweeping away the wetness there.

Zelda shook her head. “No, he didn’t do anything.” She attempted to escape me again, but I only squeezed, tugging her closer. Unwilling to let her go. “We, uh, we were… making out.” She winced. “But I freaked out and kicked him in the nuts. We argued and I threw his phone in the sea before turning on my ass and running away.”

Taken aback, a laugh fell from me. The anger that she’d been kissing that fucker swarmed me, but the pride at her rebuttal overtook it. I would punish her later for kissing him at all, but for now, I was just glad she was okay. That he hadn’t been trying to hurt her.

“Oh fuck,” she said, her eyes widening. “Dad’s gonna beat the shit out of him, isn’t he?”

I nodded.

“We need to stop it.” Once again, she yanked her body from mine, but I used my strength to press her back against me.

“No,” I rumbled. “I need to replace that fucker’s touch first. He had his paws on you. He deserves his punishment.” I moved my touch down from her cheeks to her shoulders, skating down her arms. “Tell me where he touched you.”

She shook her head. “We need to stop it…”

“Tell me.”

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