Page 12 of Dusty

The climax started in the back of her throat and seemed to curl up from her toes to the top of her head. When she came, screaming out her release by calling his name, it was all she could do not to faint from the feelings. Finally, when she could hold on no longer, she slipped into an abyss that took her over the edge while she was still reeling from his moves.

~*~

Dusty held Shipley to him while he tried to get his racing heart to slow down. It was difficult, more than he thought that it should have been to get his heart to slow and his vision back. Rolling to his side, he pulled Shipley with him and was glad that she was out for now. He was clumsy in the big bed, and he wanted her to think that he was manly after having his head twisted off and put back on his body after a roaring climax like he’d just had. His body, protesting his pulling from her body, seemed to settle down when he was just lying still and not thinking about what the two of them had done. To him, it was one for the books. That was as true of a statement as he’d ever had, too. Closing his eyes, he knew that he’d sleep well tonight.

Dusty didn’t know what time it was when he was heading to the bathroom when he realized that he was trembling. He didn’t know what was going on until he had to grab onto the sink when he was standing at the commode. Christ, he was drained. More so than he thought he’d ever been in his life. Even his feet were tingling right now.

On his way back to the bed, he noticed that Shipley was getting up. Kissing her on her mouth, he grinned when she glared at him. He also noticed that she seemed to be just as much a lightweight as he’d been when he’d gotten up. It was all he could do to get back in bed with the cheese tray before she caught him wincing.

“I’m starving.” She took a piece of ham from the tray and walked to get the bottle of wine and the two glasses he’d put up here. The chocolate and fruit tray was in her other hand, and he marveled at her being able to carry so much in one hand. He also noticed that she was bleeding at her wounds and decided that he’d have his brother look at them later. Dusty wouldn’t have been able to live down his brother seeing him in such a state after sex. “How much wine did you want? I don’t usually drink it, being on duty all the time, but this is special. Christ, you’re good.”

Laughing, Dusty fed her grapes and watermelon that was on the tray. He noticed that she didn’t take the chocolate, having told him that she simply didn’t care for the taste, and made himself a mental note. Not only was she not a diamond girl, but she wasn’t a box of chocolates woman either. They settled on the bed, sharing food and talking about anything and everything that just popped into their heads.

He told her about his father and mother. And again, about how they had won the lottery so long ago. She told him about how she’d never played, having had so much fear of losing out on all the things that she’d worked so hard for. They talked about children as well.

“I don’t know how many I’d like to have but I do know that twins run in our family heavily.” He told her good, that he’d love to have little girls just like her. “Amanda and I are the first set of female twins born on my father’s side of the family, and we’re only the second set born into my mom’s family. They were all surprised by her. My mom was super tiny, being able to carry twins. She and my dad parted ways about the time she found out that she was having us. He didn’t want to ruin his body by having twins. I have no idea what sort of body that he had nor what he thought that her having us was going to affect him, but I don’t think he was very kind about my mother’s body either.”

“Our mom left when Zander was just a little baby. I think that he might have been about two when she told us one night that she couldn’t take us with her when she left and that we’d, as children, were supposed to figure things out for ourselves. I never thought about how selfish she’d been until recently. To leave six children in the care of a drunk and abuser wasn’t even close to having a good relationship with us.” She asked about Martha. “We did literally have our van break down in front of her house. Her son had hidden her can of money too high on the shelf for her to reach it to see if he’d left her anything. The house, the one that Locke lives in with Amy, was in poor shape, but it had good bones. We worked our tails off on the thing, too.”

“It’s a showcase now. Even when I would come home at times, I remember thinking about how the place had gone to shit. Amanda told me about some people that were helping Martha and I was happy. So long as you guys didn’t take advantage of her. She was a nice elderly lady. I was sorry that she passed on.”

“We were as well. Locke lived in the house after we all moved out. It was his idea that he go to college to become a nurse for Martha. At the time, she was getting around really well, but we all knew that it wasn’t going to be long before she got to the point where she would need constant care.” She told him that was the sweetest thing that she’d ever heard. “Locke was in love with her. I think that we all thought of her as our mom or, I guess, grandmother. Then, when Alex came along and moved into the house as Martha wanted, the two of them fell in love almost as quickly as you and I did. She also helped us out with our finances as well.”

“What a romantic story.” He kissed her on the nose. “I’m full now and sleepy. Are you going to get frisky with me again or can we just wait until in the morning? I have to say, I’m bushed right now. This was the perfect way to unwind.”

“I’m glad that I could be of service.” He gathered up the trays and bits and pieces that they’d gotten on the bed. Shipley stood up and gave the sheets a good shake that had him salivating again. The way that her breasts leapt with the sheet had him turned on again.

He was glad that she cuddled up with him for the first few minutes. Then, he had to back away from her when she started rolling around in the bed. She was a bed hog, he soon discovered, and was happy for the larger bed when she finally settled down. Smiling to himself, he wondered if she’d kick him out at any time and thought that he was going to be on his best behavior from now on if he wanted to be able to sleep with his new love.

Just before settling down to sleep, he thought of a couple of things that he needed to take care of in the morning. One of them was to take her to the courthouse to finally have their marriage official. Neither of them wanted a large wedding, so like his brother, they decided that they’d just do the courthouse thing and be done with it. He had asked his brother, Locke, to be his best man, and Mandy was standing up with her aunt. Amanda was going to do it, but she was worried for the baby Parker and so Mandy stepped into the void for her aunt.

By the time the sun was coming up, he had to get out of bed. He wasn’t finished sleeping, his body protesting the fact that he was actually up, but he had other things to do and besides, Shipley had left him about an hour ago to go and talk to her sister.

While he didn’t know what she had to talk to her about, he did concede that they were very close and probably were happy that they were settling down in the same country. He couldn’t believe that the two of them were hard to tell apart. He knew which one was Shipley over her sister every time when asked. He picked up his office phone, his desk getting a once over before Shipley got home when it rang.

“I have three things that I need to clear up. Number one is that my insurance needs to be changed again. I’d rather leave it for Amanda; it’s a goodly sum, but that doesn’t feel right when you’re going to be married to me.” He told her to leave it the way it was. Amanda or one of the kids might need it someday. “All right. Thank you for that. The second thing is. And this would be totally up to you. How about we spend about a week in DC just having touristy fun? The house is still in my name for now, and I thought that we could go and see the sites. I’ve only been to DC a few times and never to do the malls and such. What do you think?”

“I think that’s a brilliant idea. I’ve been a few times myself but I never got to go through most of the touristy things either. Not many of them anyway.” She told him that she’d make plans for them to be picked up and driven around as it wasn’t a place to own a car in. The parking, she told him was at a premium. “Maybe we can rent a couple of bikes to use as well.”

“I don’t know how to ride a bike.” That surprised him, and when she told him that they’d not had the money for one when she’d been a child and that she didn’t think that Amanda knew how to ride one either. “I had plans to learn, but the service was first in my life, and I didn’t want to lose outon anything that was offered to me either.”

“I understand. I’m surprised but understand. I can’t…well, I suppose that you were right in saying that you didn’t have the money for one. We didn’t either and walked everywhere we went at home. Then, with us moving here, I found one in the old barn when we were cleaning up, and we all learned. I’ll teach you.”

“We’ll see. I have lots of things that I want to keep my body in shape for, and riding and crashing a bike isn’t on the list.” They both laughed, and he couldn’t believe how much he loved her. “All right. Mandy is waiting for us to get going. I’ll see you at the courthouse in about twenty minutes. And so you’re forwarned, I’m in my dress-up clothing as my sister and niece requested. I hope that’s all right.”

“It is. More than all right.” He closed up his computer and was ready to head out the door when she told him not to forget to bring his cell phone. He’d forgotten it the other day, and she was still teasing him about it. However he had to come into his home again twice before he got to leave for the courthouse.

Once to get his cell phone, he couldn’t believe that he’d forgotten it, and the second time was to change out of his jeans for a suit jacket. If she was going to be all formal, then so was he. And when he put on his suit and patriotic tie, he felt like he could take on the world and come out on top.

As soon as he was finally there, he felt about as ready as he’d ever felt. He was dressed up, he had gotten flowers for his one true love and they were going to be married in less than an hour. There wasn’t anything that would have brought him down. This was, he knew that it would be his favorite day of all time. The day that he became a husband to the greatest woman in the world.

Chapter 6

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” When no one said anything to her, Rogen repeated herself. “Hello, what’s your emergency?”

“He’s in the house.” She found herself whispering back to the quiet voice on the phone, asking him his address. After giving it to her, the voice told her again that he was in the house. “He’s looking for me, but I don’t want him to find me.”

“All right. What’s your name?” He said that his name was Harlin Sharp. “All right, Harlin, who is it that is in your house, and why is he trying to find you?”

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